A young swordsman's adventure 13

Sorry, forgot to post this here. 

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[King Dracule Mihawk]

Ever since Shanks sold his arm for the future, Mihawk feared that he would never again find a worthy opponent to sharpen his steel against. It made him grow lazy and weak.

But then Tanya got into his mail. Being known as the World’s Greatest Swordsman came with it endless Kings, owners of arenas, military leaders, and world nobles clamoring for your time and attention.

Before, he just picked ones that looked interesting and made his way over there while watching the endless ocean, just waiting for something, anything, with the strength to make him feel alive.

He remembered that day clearly. He was deep in his wine, staring at a map of the New World, charting a course to Totto Land, or Wano, or Sphinx. Was his position as a Warlord really important enough to stop him from going over there to claim an Emperor's head?

He knew that he couldn't do so alone. Their armies were too large, too powerful for him to deal with and still have enough in him to like his odds versus any of them. It would win him nothing but death.

But was it worth living in this liminal place, where he was among the strongest in the world… but he was the only one without strong comrades and followers? Sure, there was his daughter… but was that reason enough? Training her wasn't making him stronger…

But it was Tanya who provided him with an answer. She had gone through the requests that he didn't bother even glancing at, built up over two months, and charted out an efficient course across Paradise and the South Blue that they could knock out in six months… and earned them 1.2 billion beri along with seven Graded Blades and the Whip-whip fruit, which was sold to the Marines for 300 million.

While none of the future itineraries quite matched that first run, a year which earned less than one billion would be considered slow.

Mihawk had never really valued money, not really. It was easy enough to get with a strong sword-arm, and being the best swordsman instead of just a great swordsman made it even easier to demand immense sums for his time. He just let his dozens of bank accounts pile up.

Tanya’s wide smile when dealing with the large sums made the more tedious of the arrangements all worth it. You could practically see the beri signs in her eyes.

Besides, it was something to do. He double-checked her navigational plans, of course, but somewhere around her eighth birthday he'd rate her skills as roughly a match for his own in that area.

Still, while she had initially been angry with him for buying a royal title for them without consulting her, she quickly threw herself enthusiastically into running the Grimm Kingdom, such as it is, while he just drank and exercised himself teaching the humandrills better swordsmanship. Sure, only one ever managed Haki, but they're a good workout if he holds back on that.

It was nice having an ample supply of fresh fruits and vegetables, and with regular trips to her hometown meat and wine was handled as well.

It was a nice life, they were well positioned to fight pirates who made their way through Fishman Island for extra cash, and at this point he was probably the government’s favorite warlord, without having to lift a finger doing things he didn't want to do.

All it was missing was a proper successor. Tanya was going to be powerful, certainly, but she lacked the desire, the limitless thirst for power that he always felt. She was going to hit her limit one day, and while he looked forward to seeing it, she doesn't have what it takes to go beyond that limit like he did.

…That didn't mean that Princess Reiju wasn't completely out of her league, though. King Judge was a former member of the science cabal MADS that thrust Dr. Vegapunk into the limelight, and Vegapunk admitted that Project Seraphim was inspired by the man's work on his children, the thing that granted them resilience beyond normal flesh and bone.

Each of his children had a watered down devil fruit power, one so thin and weak that it managed to escape the curse, but one only needs to compare ‘Poison Pink’ to Warden Magellan to understand how that was merely a consolation prize.

Tanya’s strategy to mute the bloodlust of Shodai Kitetsu was rather clever, although he couldn’t quite say he thought it was a good idea, long-term. He was beginning to think that the test was too hard… but Tanya still can’t really muster Conqueror’s haki at will, which dealing with the moody blade should help with. He should ask Father for ideas on how to teach it better...

She stood across from Princess Reiju seriously, dressed in her combat clothing: She wore loose black pants, sturdy boots, and a loose silk shirt over chest bindings, accessorizing with a hat styled after his own and several pieces of valuable jewelry, in this case she wore mostly silver and sapphires, a choker, ear studs, and some bracelets, along with five gold rings, two on her sword hand without gems and three on the other.with an triangular cut emerald, ruby, and sapphire, although she never did explain to him why she always wore the ruby further up her finger than the other two. Some private joke of hers.

He thought she looked rather stylish, which was good. Confidence in oneself was vital to be at your best, and looking good was an important facet of that.

In contrast, Reiju had already put on her Raid Suit, the technological marvel that Vegapunk had mentioned when discussing how Judge made their pathetically weak devil fruit infusions more functional. The tiny dress was pink, of course, with odd boots that had some kind of technology to improve mobility. At her back was a set of bright purple butterfly-looking wings, which held the most dangerous parts of the suit. Almost as an afterthought, she was armed with red gauntlets that looked reasonably sturdy.

Princess Reiju dressed like she knew that she was sex on legs, and practicality was dismissed as someone else’s problem. Tanya certainly looked distracted by the neckline that went down so low it exposed the other Princess’ belly button.

The fight began. Reiju danced her way towards Tanya, who stood her ground with Shodai Kitetsu in hand, still sheathed.  Tanya easily batted away Reiju’s fists and feet as the Germa Princess probed her defenses, biding her time.

Then, the fight was over. Reiju released the poison she had been building up in a gas that was forcefully expelled, while Tanya twirled her sword around to her waist, performed a quick draw, and sheathed Shodai Kitetsu  on the other side of her opponent before the majority of the spectators could even detect her movement.

What they did detect was the explosion of bloodlust that even now marked Tanya’s face with a wide, crazed grin as Princess Reiju fell to the ground, a massive cut marking her torso, right on her exposed skin. He wasn’t worried, the Germa doctors were already primed to leap into action the instant they would be allowed.

“The winner: Princess Tanya of the Grimm Kingdom.” Garling pronounced.

Then, Tanya clutched her stomach and fell down as well. Ah, that would be the poison. With a wave of his sword, the remaining poison gas was blown away, and he walked up to them along with the doctors. “Are you alright?” He asked his daughter.

“I’ve had worse.” She said, pained. “My intestines and lungs have just seen how much fun their neighbor has making me suffer every month and decided to jump in with their own efforts.” She winced as she laughed at her own joke. “I’m now going to spend the next hour in the bathroom, if you don’t mind.”

Reiju, having regained consciousness after the doctors injected her with something, pulled herself away from the doctors and went up to Tanya slowly, tenderly clutching her wound. “Allow me to help.” She said, putting her hand to Tanya’s chin and moving her face to look into her eyes. Whatever she saw in Tanya’s eyes, Reiju took it as permission and brought their lips together in a kiss. The wings of her raid suit writhed as the kiss continued, and while at first Tanya was too stunned to respond, after a beat she started returning the affectionate gesture.

…Well. He didn’t see that coming. Mihawk looked around the audience, assessing the thoughts. Quite a bit of scandal, and the World Economic Journal’s reporter was taking pictures with her visual snail, but he didn’t see anything that he needed to take action over.

A full ten seconds after Reiju’s wings calmed down, they separated. Reiju licked her lips. “The poisons I used were strong, but they were more incapacitating, it takes hours to kill. I’ve gotten it out.” She slowly and carefully did a few medical checks of her own on Tanya, and nodded to herself. “You’ll be fine. Hydrate extra and stick to non-alcoholic drinks, eat heartily, and don’t stray too far from the bathroom for the rest of the day, by tomorrow you’ll be symptom-free.” She winced and felt her own wound. “Germa medical science will fix this right up.” She allowed her doctors to lift her up and escort her away to be treated.

Tanya was touching her lips contemplatively, her face flushed. “Right. I suppose medical training would be appropriate for someone who uses poison as their primary armament.” She stood up woozily, and nodded to him. “I don’t know how long I’ll be.” She said simply as she walked… not clumsily, but without her usual grace, to the facilities. Hm, he was going to talk her through shaking off poison with haki… but she’ll be fine with just sucking face with Reiju, he thinks.

Well, now it was time for his own duel. He grinned at Garling as the man walked to his starting position.

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[Princess Dracule D. Tanya]

After a mercifully short expulsion of the remaining toxins in her system, the duel was still occurring. As someone who’s seen as many of her father’s duels as she did, it seemed like they were drawing it out to further enjoy themselves.

The instant she sat down, Father’s speed doubled and he leapt above his enemy, kicking off the air with a gravity assist for further momentum as he attempted to skewer his opponent from above, Savage Star. Garling managed to avoid the attack, but was just a bit off-balance from having to rapidly dodge the powerful attack, which gave Father time to turn his sword stuck into the ground into another of his signature flying slashes, the Earth-Crawling Slash. The rapid drill-like waves of the attack carved a trench along the ground, too fast to dodge.

Garling managed to parry it, going further off-balance from the attempt and even stumbling from the attack breaking up his footing, which left him wide open to Father’s finisher, Kokuto Issen. It was a flying slash so quick that even with Haki it could not be perceived, it was as if he had extended the length of his blade for the one slash rather than send out a projectile.

The Knight-Commander, just like last time (assuming Father was telling the truth in his retelling), fell with a massive slash across his torso. It was a testament of Father’s control that not a single person beyond his target was harmed, despite the potential for massive collateral. The Figarland’s medical staff immediately started tending to him, as while the duel wasn’t quite first blood, it was to one injury, just like hers.

…With Princess Reiju. Once more, with a glance to the girl in question, who was dressed in a much more modest dress now; although it seemed an inappropriate word to use for a neckline that plunged as low as the nineteen-year old princess’ did, the kiss flashed in her mind, warming her face in what she knew was a blush. Was that really necessary to extract the poison? Was there an alternative?

With the duel over, the various spectators started to dissipate. She went up to Reiju, coughing awkwardly as she tried to clear her now-suddenly dry throat. “Ah, I would like to apologize.” She said, “For my lapse in composure.” While she wasn’t entirely sure how much of a faux pas it was to stick your tongue down the attractive doctor’s throat, it was definitely not something she should have done.

Glancing at her siblings, Reiji waved them off and took Tanya aside. Once they were in a small alcove just outside the courtyard, she turned to Tanya and smiled. “It’s fine. I’m sorry for stealing your first kiss like that, but it was the fastest way.”

Tanya’s flush redoubled at the reminder. That… was her first kiss, wasn’t it? At least, in this life. Really, first as a girl in general. “Ah, changing away from that topic,” Tanya said, scrambling for another topic. “Something’s been bothering me about your brothers.” Besides the fact that she can’t pick up on their emotional states with her Observation.

Reiju giggled. “Ah, yeah, they’re rather inconsiderate. If Father didn’t tell me to challenge you, I wouldn’t have bothered.”

That makes sense. “Well, that’s not what I mean.” Tanya clarified, “It’s just… their names. Ichiji, Niji… but then it goes straight to Yonji. First, Second, and Fourth.” She frowned, “Was there a Sanji?” She asked.

All emotion vanished from Reiju’s face even as her emotions became a storm. “There was.” She said woodenly, “But he’s gone now.” She mechanically moved her hair out of her face. Wait… those eyebrows…

“...You know, those spiral eyebrows are very distinctive.” Tanya said, memory flashing back. “There was a boy, blonde, that I met once, by the name of Sanji.”

“Stop.” Reiju said immediately. “Do not say another word. I never heard you say that name, and I will hear no more about this completely unrelated person who I do not need to know the location of.” Her expression was intense, tinged with desperation.

…There was something very interesting happening here. “Well, I think you’re right. It’s probably a coincidence.” Reiju’s expression calmed back down to the emotionless state. “Really, he seemed far too happy to be royalty. Don’t know why I thought of him.”

Reiju smiled again. Observation showed the truth of it, this time. “I believe that’s more than needs to be said between us. Put simply, don’t worry about it. Just try kissing some other people, boys and girls, and figure yourself out.” With that final piece of older-sister-style advice, Reiju departed and went after her family.

…Well, shit.

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One thing that came out of that lapse was that the World Economic Journal’s gossip columnist desperately wanted a meeting. It was scheduled in one of the hundreds of private tea rooms scattered throughout Pangea Castle.

Bizness Mai was in her early fifties, but could easily be mistaken for her own daughter, age-wise. While Tanya’s memories of her mother were rather faded by now, she could still see the same features that she saw in the mirror in both lives: the same fluffy hair, grown to mid-back, the same sharp face, the same piercing gaze with thick blonde eyelashes. She wore a dress that was distinctly less fancy than Tanya’s own, a statement that she was not trying to out-do any of the actual royalty that may take offense to a person of lower status trying to compete with them in beauty, but not to the point that she was obviously doing so.

Of course, it also reminded Tanya that her physical development still had quite a ways to go before it would be completed. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, finally.” Tanya said, forcing a smile.

“Oh? I didn’t think I’d rate so highly in the eyes of a Princess. Now, what were you thinking when Princess Reiju started kissing you?” Mai said, tittering.

Tanya frowned. “Well, you are my Grandmother. Nunya was my mother. She often pointed to your articles while mentioning our relation.” Not a lot else, but still…

Mai paused in the middle of writing down Tanya’s words for the transcript. She looked intently at Tanya’s face. “...Tunyav?” She asked.

“I prefer Tanya,” She said chidingly, “-but yes.”

Mai suddenly tore out the page in her notebook that she was writing the transcript down on. “Let’s start over.” She said, “The topic of my article has just changed. First, what exactly did Prince Ichiji say that provoked that response?”

While turning the scandal of her duel’s conclusion into a small smear piece on the Germa royal family wasn’t exactly her intent, she’ll take it. She got to fit in an interview for a separate article about the Grimm Kingdom and how they were accepting immigrants and had enough agricultural and industrial production to be well-placed for some mercantile visits, which was her goal. The North Blue was an important market that they needed to get the word out, and getting that interview published in the North Blue edition was important for her plans.

“As brutish as his words were, dear,” Mai said at the conclusion of the interview, putting her notes away, “-he isn’t wrong that you would look much better with longer hair.” Tanya winced, “After all, look at mine.” Mai ran her hand through her hair, showing off the style that, if it was anything like her hair in her second life, probably took hours to tame. There was a reason she kept it at precisely the correct length according to military regulations, and it wasn’t because she liked dealing with it at that length. She’d have cut it shorter if it was an option.

“I like it this way.” Tanya said defensively, running her own hand through her light fluffy locks, taking away the headband adorned with silk flowers. Hm, actually she could use a trim, now that she thinks about it. The stylist they went to before the festivities didn’t do anything with the length.

“But if you keep dressing like you did at the duel, you’ll be attracting more princesses than princes. It’s unbecoming of a young lady, dear.” Mai said authoritatively. “With the fact that you’re so strong, you could use all the help you can get in not scaring the boys away.”

That sounds like a reason to keep doing it, to her. She doesn’t want to deal with princes yet. “I think I’m too young to be concerned about that, as of now.” Tanya said diplomatically. “I’d much rather discuss economics and politics.” The irony was not lost on her, but it remained true.

Still, with the woman’s snail number she now had a very favorable contact within the world’s premier newspaper. Although Mai would likely prefer bragging about the princess contact she had secured instead. Maybe it’ll get her promoted! Which will only increase her value as a contact. A mutually beneficial relationship, just how she liked it.

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Having conducted a duel in plain view of everyone did what the title of World’s Strongest Princess failed to do: It got people interested in talking to her, and that included the military men of the Kano Kingdom, Admiral Don Sai of the Happo Navy and his ‘Honored Grandfather’, Don Chinjao. From their presences, Chinjao was the stronger of the two, despite his advanced age. Which, given how Chinjao was literally twice his grandson’s height and five times the width, was understandable.

“I agree, your Eight Impact Fist combat style is impressive…” She mused as she saw Sai do a kata that destroyed several training dummies that were provided. “How does it work, though?”

“Kakakakakaka!” Sai laughed, “The secret arts of the Happo Navy is not something I’ll just give away!”

“Can it be used without haki? If not…” She looked at her hand, garbed as it is in the delicate lace of her current dress, dress number four. It was a soft yellow color with purple ribbons and white lace, it was rather revealing but was intended to be worn with a purple shift underneath. “...I suppose it would be similar to my ability to create a cutting edge with my will alone.” It could also be similar to steel-cutting, which technically uses haki but is really more of a precursor technique, barely scratching the surface of what’s possible. She used to need something vaguely blade-shaped, but she’s grown beyond that by now. She would not recommend cutting vegetables with one’s bare hands, though. It’s messy.

“Not telling.” Sai said, grinning impishly.

Chinjao laughed. “It wouldn’t work well with a sword, anyway.” He said, rubbing his bald head for some reason. “It’s more for blunt force. Managing it as a spear is difficult, but not impossible.”

Tanya hummed. “I’d like to see how well it stacks up to our trained soldiers, to be certain.” She said idly, take the bait…

“You have soldiers?” Sai asked incredulously.

Close enough. “The soldiers of the Grimm Kingdom are all powerful brutes who have all learned the arts of war very thoroughly.” She gestured to the five meter tall Don Chinjao. “Only General Oyabun competes with your Grandfather’s size, but the rest are all at least larger than you.” There was no realistic way that they could defeat a New World seasoned combatant like Sai, but the real question was if they could pick up the Eight Impact Fist fighting style… “But it’s in everyone’s best interests that they instead contribute to our economic production. Plowshares over swords, after all.”

“Wise, Princess.” Said the previously silent King of Kano, whose name was Ramen. Don’t laugh at it, don’t laugh at it… “It is to your credit that your armies are willing to work the fields in times of peace. If only more soldiers were so diligent.” He paused, “But perhaps you would be willing to confirm a rumor that your country has been selling weapons.”

“To the Navy, yes.” Tanya confirmed, “The majority of our industry is more or less inherited from the defunct Muggy Kingdom, it was far easier to bring those logistics back online rather than develop new ones.” She tilted her head curiously. “Were you interested in our catalog? Our production really isn’t at a level that we can provide even enough for the Navy’s demand on top of our own use, much less other customers. Maybe in a few years.” Well, for personal armaments. “Unless you’d just like a few shipments of shot and powder.” As the shelf life of such things was relatively short, they could only hold it for so long. Without a war to use the stockpiles beyond some war games, selling the output of the munitions factories was smarter than just letting it rot, which also helped keep the institutional knowledge.”I was unaware that Kano Country was in need of additional arms.”

“We’re not.” King Ramen insisted. “But…” He looked around conspiratorially. “-are you aware of the name, ‘Joker’?”

Tanya nodded. “Arms dealer, flesh trader. One of the Kings of the Underworld, deals with Kaido and Big Mom more than Whitebeard and Shanks.” She also heard… “Something about artificial devil fruits? Dr. Vegapunk mentioned that Joker probably had one of his old colleagues working for him.” Specifically, the one he thought most likely to be pursuing that project was Caesar Clown, which was… certainly a name. One of the names of all time.

“Well, I would just warn you to be careful. I expect him to attempt to expand his reach in your direction, it would be a great benefit for such a person to get a connection with a Royal Warlord, and if your Kingdom seeks to advertise your willingness to make money…” He trailed off. “

“I understand.” Tanya said, bowing respectfully. “I appreciate the advice, and will be attentive to any attempts.” Slave trading was repugnant, anyway. They didn’t need to bow to the Kings of the Underworld, they could make plenty of money legitimately.

“Also… I’m not sure if this is related…” King Ramen added, “But avoid Dressarosa. There are… irregularities that are difficult to explain. If you have agents, do not send them there.” She doesn’t have them… yet. Spies would be rather useful… She couldn’t use humandrills for that, though.

“I have no intention of going into Doflamingo’s territory, don’t you worry.” She said, “But I’ll keep your words in mind.”

“While your father is a fop whose only value is his sword arm… you’re different.” King Ramen said, which Tanya frowned at. “I’ve been watching you, and I think you’ll make a fine Queen. Just make sure you keep King Mihawk from ruining your kingdom with his pirate’s greed.”

“There’s a saying, you know.” Tanya said, failing to smile. “Greed is good. It’s not quite an ironclad rule, but I find it a useful enough truism.” She finally succeeded in making a wide, toothy grin. “After all, this world’s waters run red, and only the most competitive can survive the feeding frenzy.”

Father may not be the most diligent administrator, but he’s also a walking… well, nuke would probably be an exaggeration, but he does represent military force on a strategic scale. As long as he was in the country, there was nothing to fear from any invasion short of one of the Four Emperors waltzing up personally at the head of their armies.

Everything else is her job.

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Reverie was a success beyond Tanya’s expectations. She cultivated contacts, schmoozed, and overall thought she had impressed people with her capabilities. It was a dream come true.

They rode the Prodence Kingdom’s flagship, the Muscle Hustle. Tanya had invited Princess Vivi along, to pick up the purchased devil fruits. King Cobra did not really like Vivi’s plan to infiltrate Baroque works, but not to the point that he would forbid it. The idea of her getting a devil fruit, couched in terms of her improved safety, was an easy sale. As one of the original World Government nations, they had a wealth of institutional knowledge that was far more valuable than mere gold and silver, and simultaneously something that they could pay despite the economic hard times that they had fallen into as of late, which was the whole reason Vivi wanted to go.

It was quite fortunate that Vivi was such a charming young woman, intelligent and well-read, because the alternative company was… Prince Elizabello the third. The boy seemed nice enough, but he wasn’t particularly studious, and she suspected that his father… actually the advisor, Dagama, seemed more likely, instructed him to attempt to flirt with her.

He was bad at it.

It was kind of a shame, actually. He reminded her of Neumann, or possibly Grantz. In different circumstances, she thought they could be friends, or comrades. But alas, their respective statuses meant that she must keep her distance from him and his distractingly chest-level… ahem. She does remember being a teenage boy, so she won’t be too harsh in her assessment, but he could really stand to learn some more discretion.

At least the details of the agreement between Grimm and Prodence were successfully ironed out during the two-day trip to Grimm, including a snail call with Vice-Admiral Zephyr where he agreed to lend a pair of prison ships and a skeleton crew of sailors to the task of relocating the refugees, now that he didn’t need to worry about where they needed to go.

Once there, Tanya brought out the two devil fruits from the vaults. It was a bit of a relief, finally getting rid of them. Devil fruits did eventually rot, although it took about a year and a half to do so if they were kept in a cold, dry place. Long enough that most people didn’t even know that they even had a shelf life, but it also meant you couldn’t just sit on them, they had to be eaten within a reasonable time frame if you wanted to make use of them. They’ve been sitting on this pumpkin for about ten months, so it was over half-way rotted.

“Eugh…” Vivi said as she swallowed the first bite. “It’s squishy…” She opened her mouth and moved her head closer to the pumpkin, which could be smelled now that it was bitten into. Its odor was a combination of fresh entrails with notes that reminded Tanya of that mass grave that got blown up on the Rhine that one time. Now that was a stench!

“You only need to take one bite.” Tanya said immediately.

“Oh thank God.” Vivi said immediately as she threw the pumpkin into the garbage. Silently, Igaram did the same with the rest of the penguin fruit. The man suddenly squawked as his face was replaced with a wicked beak.

“I’ve never really had the chance to discuss devil fruits much with any user,” Pretty much just a few members of Gekko Moria’s crew, really, but they all had Paramecias. “-but what little I have heard is that there’s a bit of a learning curve.” She pet Saifu, who was sprawled over her lap with a doggy grin on her face. “Zoans in particular have minds of their own, literally.”

Vivi looked at her hands, and emitted a small mist. “Oh!” She exclaimed, surprised. “...How did I do that?”

“Dr. Vegapunk said that devil fruit powers are controlled by your imagination.” Tanya explained, “So just imagine something.”

She waved her hands and sand started spilling out of them, but it didn’t really function like normal sand. It flowed and whipped around on invisible wind, and a sandstorm erupted… that didn’t actually affect anything. “It’s an illusion!” Tanya declared, before frowning. “I would have eaten it if I knew it could do that…” If there’s one thing she knew, it was how useful illusions could be. “How long can you stay for training?” She asked.

Vivi startled, looking at Tanya as if she had forgotten she was there. “Huh? Oh, maybe a month at most?”

Tanya cracked her knuckles. “Well, it’s a bit short, but I’ve worked under pressure before.”