A young swordsman's adventures 7

While photography was relatively new, live television broadcasts have been around for a little over a decade, thanks to the magic of snails. There wasn’t enough infrastructure for there to be a whole lot of the things, and while snails were good at broadcasting, media storage was a lot trickier, although there was apparently something coming out allowing musical records, a seashell-looking thing that was called a ‘tone dial’. Those were still new, though, distribution was limited to the economically largest areas of the world, of which Sabaody was one.

So there were plenty of theaters, even those of the open air variety, that showed entertaining shows played live, frequently from halfway across the world. Including the fanciest one in Grove 1, which was a bit of a trip from the Academy but it was a lot faster by boat.

“-and Mihawk breaks all four swords in a single swing! The power of the World’s Strongest swordsman is unrivaled!” The announcer shouted as Father’s opponent, an ant-man due to being a zoan devil fruit user, fell to his knees.

Tanya cheered, and so did most of the other people watching. The outcome wasn’t in question, but it was a sports show. You have to cheer when your team does well. “Carpenter had weak swords and weaker will.” It was a little difficult to tell how much Haki her father used without the benefit of her Observation, but what she did know was that he wasn’t even disappointed in the match, just bored. Learning the subtleties of his facial expressions came naturally from living with the man for so long. He probably looked annoyed or pissed off to anyone else, but that was just his eyebrows. Her father was a very even-tempered man.

“Well, even Graded blades would fall that easily to fucking Yoru.” Raisin said, reasonably. “Makes me wonder how things would change if everyone had to use crappy swords.”

“That’s one way to get everyone to hold back: make them use brittle swords that can’t handle a full-powered swing.” Tanya replied. “While it’s true that a master swordsman doesn’t need a Graded blade to fight, it’s a lot more difficult to fight when your sword needs babying. It’s a significant handicap.”

“The kid’s right, lad.” Said an older swordsman. “I must have broken seven swords before I managed to get my hands on Okami here.” He patted the guard of his straight sword. Tanya focused on it, and thought she felt a stirring from the sword.

“The next fight’s about to start!.” Said the swordsman’s friend, pointing at the screen. The conversation abruptly ended, as they all focused on the impending action.

Tanya sat back, snacking on the fried animal skins that a local merchant was selling. They tasted like blubber-fried sea king scales, and were thus delicious. Does Tanya know what animal she’s eating? No. Does she want to know? Not really.

The tournament progressed, each match provoking a discussion on the fighting styles on display. Through a stroke of fortune, or just Doflamingo’s patsies being good at fixing fighting brackets, the last match was between Father and someone Tanya also recognized: the recently promoted (at least according to the announcer) Vice Admiral Doberman.

The two men had a conversation, but the cameras that were watching didn’t have a good angle, so she couldn’t make out what they were saying through lip reading. The only thing she caught was Father asking him ‘Did you?’ in response to something Doberman said angrily.

Whatever the conversation was about, Doberman charged after yelling something, aggressively battering at Father’s defenses. “The Vice-Admiral starts the duel with a vicious opening attack sequence! He’s attacking without pause, forcing Mihawk on the defensive!”

Tanya scoffed. Father was almost always on the defensive. That’s how his fighting style prefers to conduct battle. “Seventh form, thirteenth form, fourth form, Sixth form, second form…” Tanya murmured as she saw her father brace for each blow, the metaphorical mountain that Doberman uselessly chipped his blade on. “One, five, seven, eight, twelve, nineteen, fifteen, sixteen, six…” After about thirty seconds of Doberman failing to penetrate Mihawk’s guard, Tanya started to predict which move Father would use to defend. “Two-six, one-one, five, three, one-four, two-one, three-one, STRIKE!” Tanya shouted an instant before Mihawk exploited the gap in Vice-Admiral Doberman’s defenses, adding an additional scar to the Vice-Admiral’s extensive collection and launching him backwards, as Doberman’s own Haki prevented him from being cut in half.

The crowd, both on the screen and in front of it, cheered as the announcer, shocked, announced the end of the match. “In a single blow, Hawk-Eyes Mihawk defeated Vice-Admiral Doberman, winning the tournament prize of two hundred million beri!”

“Man, that damn Hawk-eyes.” Grumbled an off-duty Marine. “Making us look bad.”

“Hey kid, that was a pretty good call there.” Said his friend. “You ever think about joining the Marines?”

“Isn’t there a minimum age for that sort of thing?” Tanya asked, confused.

“Well, yeah, but I mean when you are old enough. You only need to be thirteen to sign up.” The marine said, “With instincts like that, you’d be a shoo-in for Officer training.”

The sad part was, it wouldn’t even be a record for her to join the military at ten years old. “Wait, how old are you, anyway?” Raisin asked.

“I’m ten.” Tanya said.

“...Really?” Raisin asked, “I thought you were just short. You’re way stronger than a ten year old has any right being.”

Tanya spread her arms. “I don’t understand what’s confusing you. I'm blatantly prepubescent.”

“The shorty’s right.” Said the Marine. “I mean, there’s all kinds, so appearances don’t mean much, but if I had to guess, ten’s about right.”

“Hang on, Hawk-Eyes is getting interviewed.” The other marine said.

They all diverted their attention to the screen. “Mihawk, is there anything you’d like to say to any prospective challengers to your title?”

Father’s face was contemplative, although the reporter shied back from his gaze. “Never accept being strong enough.” He eventually said, “Push yourself, always strive for more. Without the ambition of a conqueror, your strength will plateau below mine.”

‘You heard him, folks!” Said the reporter, “Mihawk says: just want it more!” The sad part was that given how Haki works, that was actually good advice. This world…

“Arrogant bastard, “ muttered the swordsman from before. “-as if it’s that simple.”

“It’s the most important thing.” Tanya rebuked, glaring at the man. “Not even the finest teacher, nor the most refined sword style, nor the strongest blade, will let a swordsman without ambition sit on the top of the world.” It was something that Father liked saying when Tanya was training her Haki. Given that Haki was a word that meant ambition… although it just occurred to her that the one country who understood that called it something else. Weird… the point is, while Haki wasn’t quite invincible to those without Haki, it was basically magic, and Dacia knows what happens when you face mages without something to even the scales.

“Oh yeah?” The swordsman said warningly, his hand gripping Okami, the sword on his back. “Looks like Hawk-Eyes isn’t the only arrogant one here. Someone should teach you a lesson.”

Raisin gripped Budo and took an aggressive posture. “Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?”

“I’ll avenge you.” Tanya promised as the Marines started clearing some space for the two swordsmen. Given that this crowd had just finished watching a swordsmanship tournament, there was an awful lot of people with swords calling out bets and offering to fight the winner. Tanya started removing her earrings, as she wore some dangling pearl ones today and she didn’t want to fight while wearing them. Choker, bracelets, she skipped out on any rings today, so no issues there… Yeah everything else can stay.

“My name is Cham Yah!” The man shouted as he drew his sword. “Warrior of Gloom Island! My home has been savaged by war, and in that crucible I have grown strong!” Tanya recalled reading about that in the papers. The Muggy Kingdom dissolved three years ago after a civil war erupted with some kind of disaster, and one of the announcements from the last governmental summit was that the World Government was offering to sell the whole island and everything in it cheaply to whoever wanted to buy it as private property for one billion beri. It was actually pretty close to Nishihoshi, if she recalled, just closer to the North Blue than the West. Apparently, someone bought it, and then sold it back to the government for less than they paid, only for it to go back on the market for a little less than before. This has happened three more times in the last two years. It was currently on the market for only half a billion, if she recalled the last announcement correctly.

“My name is Charlotte Raisin, and I am a proud son of Whole Cake Island!” Raisin shouted back. “The blood of an Emperor flows in my veins, and I will not fall to a common warrior of a fallen Kingdom!” He drew his own sword.

There was a large amount of murmuring and surprise at Raisin’s announcement. Tanya noticed the marines whispering to each other. “Raisin doesn’t have a bounty, if you were curious. He’s here legally.” Part of the World Government’s hubris as a nation meant that there wasn’t any such thing as visas or whatever, as there wasn’t any extensive citizenship registration… sort of. If you were from a non-affiliate nation, you could still walk around and conduct trade as well as any affiliate nation would, although each individual kingdom may have applicable tariffs and tolls. World Government taxes, called the Heavenly Tribute, were purely population based, and Cipher Pol One conducted censuses of member nations every ten years in secret to calculate the necessary tribute. It was up to each individual government to figure out how to structure their taxation to pay that price on top of their own expenses.

Raisin, despite having an inferior blade, managed to defeat Yah, the fourteen year old boy’s brute strength sufficient to leave his opponent laying insensate in a crater. “I am Oboe!” Shouted another bald man. “Gladiator of San Faldo! Your strength means nothing to my Slug-Slug fruit!” indeed, the man’s skin suddenly became slimy and eyestalks sprouted out of his head, giving him four eyes. Hybrid form, presumably.

Indeed, Raisin struggled to do damage past Oboe’s devil fruit boosted regeneration and boneless agility. But Raisin emerged victorious, the slug-man’s swordsmanship being rather shabby. “You rely too much on your devil fruit, old man!” He shouted, “You would be easily defeated by the least of my mother’s subordinate crews!”

“Now what would that make you, then?” Said a third swordsman.

“Young enough to be shameful to lose to!” Raisin replied, grinning. “What is your name?”

Raisin managed to eke out a victory against the third swordsman, but fell to the fourth. “Alright, my turn.” Tanya announced, using Koka to get a burst of speed into the center of the arena. Tanya noted which of the onlookers seemed to have been able to detect her movement and which ones seemed to think she just teleported. “My name is unimportant, but know that I have learned swordsmanship from one of the greatest in the world. I am still but a student… but as my Master would say, steel sharpens steel.” She glared at her enemy. “Tell me, do you have the will to sharpen my blade?”

Her enemy, Kurumi of the Orin Kingdom, snorted. “Arrogant. The monks would have a field day humbling you, brat.” He took a stance. “Two-sword style: shell splitter!”

“Form six.” Tanya said as she caught both of his blades at once with her own. The clash of the blades rang out loudly, as the bald man with the incense burns on his forehead attempted to overpower her.

Unfortunately, her stance was too stable, the force of his pushing easily channeled into the ground through her body with optimal leverage. Kurumi changed forms, attacking cautiously as she easily deflected or blocked each strike. “Four. Eleven. Nine. Twenty-one. Seven. Nineteen. Two. Six.” To prevent him from attempting to capitalize on her repeating a form, she followed up that block with a counterattack, Gintama flashing black as she cut through his non-Graded blades with ease, scoring a bloody cut on the man’s nose. “Who’s next?” She announced as the man cursed, holding a cloth to his nose as he retreated from the clearing.

As she expected, her announcement of the forms she was using, when she did the same thing when watching Mihawk fight, was beginning to get at least some people to put two and two together as to which ‘greatest swordsman’ she learned under. The fact that she wore a matching outfit with her Father to the tournament showing helped. Several people with swords discreetly backed away from the front row, while others surged forward. “My name is Yaki, and I am of the Three-Eyed Tribe!” One particularly muscular man announced. As he said, he had a third eye on the center of his bald forehead. “I will not lose to someone who will defend the brood of that fat hag!”

“That’s hardly called for.” Tanya said, “Raisin is my friend, his mother doesn’t enter into it.”

Raisin spoke up: “He was Mama’s thirty-first husband.” Sometime after the third fight, a doctor and his small cadre of nurses had shown up to tend to the losers, and he was getting bandaged up by a cute nurse with his shirt off.

“That explains that…” Tanya muttered. Really, the surprising part was that Big Mom actually married her various paramours. This fight was much more difficult, as Yaki was skilled in Observation Haki. More skilled than her, actually. But he lacked skill in Armament, so she was eventually able to overpower him and his ordinary sword, breaking it and winning the duel.

“Next!” She shouted, and the next challenger stepped up.

“I am Koma, of the Prodence Kingdom!” Shouted the fat swordsman. “I will honor my King with victory!”

Koma had a lot more physical strength than pretty much anyone else Tanya had seriously battled before, but his lack of Haki and merely respectable speed made dodging his blows rather simple. She didn’t dare try to block the blows of his Graded sword, the blade thick and heavy, basically a sharp club. Still, as the rest, he fell, bleeding from several wounds.

Taking deep, measured breaths, Tanya swung Gintama in a flourish. “Next!”

One by one, Tanya defeated five additional swordsmen, the last by the skin of her teeth. Drenched in sweat, knees shaking, panting for air, she glared at the gathered crowd. “Does anyone else want some?” Tanya shouted, clutching onto that feeling of desperation. It reminded her of that day over Norden, when she fought on fear and magic alone.

“I am Dango.” Said the pale, well-dressed swordsman. “You're exhausted, an easy victory for me. You’ve fought well. Surrender.”

She should. It’s not like there are any stakes but pride. But as Father liked to say, a swordsman’s pride is their most important treasure. She felt that stepping down now would be giving that up, her father’s words echoing in her mind. “Wounds on the back are a swordsman’s shame.” He didn’t mean it literally. She noticed a glint of light in the distance, up on a branch of the giant mangrove tree, and saw Grandpa, watching from afar. It was a brief refraction of light from his glasses. He was grinning, his knee bouncing with energy as he sat.

No. She should fight until she falls, like Raisin did. He understood the unspoken rules of this impromptu tournament. She spent several lifetimes following the rules of her station in life, she’s not going to stop now. She turned her gaze to her enemy, and firmed up her flagging resolve by imagining her enemy as Being X. “No.” She said in a near whisper, but her voice reverberated, cutting through the background noise to be clearly heard.

Dango shuddered at her gaze, and idly Tanya noted that some of the spectators had passed out for some reason. She grinned wide, and rushed forward to attack.

Surprisingly, Dango also had an aerial movement technique, which he called Moonwalk. Further, he could launch flying slashes with his legs, which Tanya resolved to learn herself. But they couldn’t hold a candle to her own flying slashes, even in mid-air.

Landing on the ground, Tanya looked up at her opponent, who seemed to be winding up a large attack. “Storm Leg Sky Slicer!” He shouted, lining up a flying slash with both legs along with a swing from his sword, creating a three-in-one flying slash of uncommon strength.

Unfortunately, he miscalculated. Shifting her stance, she firmly planted her feet on the ground and lined up as many muscles to contribute to the swing as was physically possible, the swing she liked calling the ‘one-inch slash’ in her head. “Ginto Issen!” She shouted as she swung Gintama. She could hear the sword’s spirit shouting in triumph as she cut the flying slash apart and cut the man behind it in one swing.

He fell to the ground painfully, bleeding from the deeper than usual cut she inflicted on him. “Tch. Sloppy.” She said, invigorated by her victory. “Anyone else?” She called out, grinning widely as the adrenaline kept her heart pumping. She can’t stop now.

No one stepped forward. Everyone who she swung her gaze at took a step back. Tanya’s nervous energy escaped her throat as a giggling fit, and the exhaustion she felt before her last battle came back, strength redoubled.

Raisin, pretty much recovered from his loss by now, stepped beside her. “Okay, no one else wants a piece, champion decided, yadda yadda, come on let’s get back to the Academy.”

Tanya barely had the presence of mind to sail her boat back to school.

-------------------------

Of course, her idyllic school life had to end sometime. According to the last letter sent by Father, he had decided to settle down a bit and get some land, which allowed him to both use up the time for her to finish the semester, and also spend the massive quantity of money he had earned selling his sword collection, winning that tournament, doing that unspecified job with Doctor Vegapunk, and turning in a few bounties.

“Finished.” Tanya said to herself as she locked her trunk on Kamisogi. All of her stuff was now back on the boat. She looked over the dock, seeing several other boats that weren’t normally around getting loaded up by students moving out of the dormitories, either temporarily or for good. Notably, there was a smallish two-masted ship that looked like it was a floating gingerbread house, where a familiar swordsman was talking with a youthful-looking woman with a sword that was nevertheless taller than the quite tall Raisin. As Tanya didn’t recognize her, she was not one of Raisin’s siblings that had a specific bounty associated with her. The ship was coated with the local resin, ready for a dive.

“Going back to Totto Land?” Tanya asked.

“Yep.” Raisin said, “You should come visit sometime.” He glanced towards Kamisogi. “But Custard isn’t going to wait for your ship to get coated.” The woman in question nodded in agreement.

“My grandfather is a coating mechanic, so I definitely could get it done today if I needed to, but I’m afraid I can’t spare enough time for the trip.” Tanya said, politely deferring the meetup. Big Mom was not someone Tanya will ever want to be near. “It was nice having a sparring partner to keep my skills sharp while I studied.”

“You better work hard, because I’ll be training every day to surpass you.” Raisin said dramatically. “For we are no longer friends, but rivals! The next time we meet, we will be crossing swords.”

Tanya laughed at the boy’s middle school rant. He was fourteen, the perfect age for such dramatics. “I accept your challenge.” She said, grinning. “The next time we meet, we shall let our swords be our greeting.” With those parting words, Tanya spun on her heel and walked away dramatically.

“You realize I’m going to tell everybody about this.” Custard said before Tanya walked out of earshot.

“I have a destined rival, your words mean nothing to me.” Raisin said proudly.

So chuuni…

-------------------------

Lucy was still packing when Tanya leapt onto her balcony, which… huh. “I thought you were staying for five more semesters.” Tanya asked, confused.

“Plans have changed.” Lucy growled. “Apparently, one of those pictures caught the eye of Saint Junelle, so he paid my father five hundred million beri so I would marry him.”

Ouch. The Celestial Dragons were… unreasonable when they didn’t get what they wanted. Grandpa told some stories… “Sight unseen?” Tanya asked.

“Nope, haven’t met the guy, the wedding’s in a week.” She said, before screaming in frustration, throwing the suitcase she was packing across the room. “Damn it Daddy! Why did you have to be so greedy! I hate you!” She fell to her knees, sobbing.

Tanya started rubbing her back. “There, there.” She said soothingly. “Have you spoken with your father about it?”

“Just long enough for him to tell me what’s happening. He didn’t let me get a word in.” She said, hiccuping between sobs.

“I suspect that he had less choice in the matter than you may be thinking.” Tanya said, “Not that it improves matters much.”

“N-no… it doesn’t.” Lucy agreed, “It just means he’s weak, not fighting for me.”

Tanya sighed deeply. It was tragic, but… “Well, look on the bright side.” She said, putting on a smile. “You’ll be getting to live in Marejois, the most luxurious city in the world.” She’s been there before, although not for very long; her best clothes are from their boutiques, although she only wears them for special occasions. Her current outfit, which she affectionately refers to as her ‘cosplay’, was from there, an identical match to Father’s coat, hat, and pants, although she wore a button up silk shirt with it. She wore her copy of his necklace-knife on her neck in addition to a few miscellaneous jewelry, as she had gotten into the habit of accessorizing. “Servants waiting on you hand and foot, it’s a cage, but it’s a gilded one.”

“I guess…” Lucy said, “But it makes me feel like my whole schooling is going to waste.”

“Trust me, there’s always a way to demonstrate your skills. With your skills and ambition, you’ll be running the vast estates within the year.” Tanya said, pumping her fist to encourage Lucy.

Lucy seemed heartened by the pep talk. “Yeah… I will!”

As if called by her declaration, the door opened, to reveal a grim-faced Tim. “Oh. You’re here.” He said sourly, looking at Tanya. “Can you leave?”

Tanya frowned. “...No.” She said, handing Lucy a handkerchief. “Whatever you have to say, it can wait or you can say it in front of me.”

Tim stared searchingly at Tanya. “...Come in.” He said to someone behind him.

A man in armor entered the room, the sight rare enough that it took Tanya a moment to recognize it: it was a Royal Knight of Marejois. “Ruffian, is this her?” He asked, gesturing to Lucy.

Tim scowled. “That is Lucy Heart, Saint Junelle’s betrothed.” He said stiffly.

“The portrait depicted her well “ the knight said approvingly. “Saint Junelle will be pleased.” he looked over the richly appointed room, and the unpacked luggage. “You won't be needing any of this. Leave it.” He said imperiously.

Tanya raised an eyebrow “-and you would be?” Tanya asked.

The knight glared. “I am Sir Poria, Royal Knight.” Sir, not Saint, so not a Celestial Dragon himself. She wasn’t entirely sure if they went straight to the Holy Knights or not. “You must be a paramour.” Tanya frowned. “Now, we shall leave for Saint Junelle’s yacht immediately.”

“I'm not leaving behind my things.” Lucy insisted, crossing her arms. “If you're in a rush, help.”

“Your worthless peasant clothes don't deserve a berth on the Phantom Emperor.” Sir Poria spat, presumably referring to the yacht. “Now start leaving the room or I’ll judge you as resisting.”

Tanya snorted. “-and if she was resisting?” she asked dangerously.

Sit Portia took out from his satchel a thing that was officially unspoken of in Sabaody Archipelago… which meant that her grandparents had very thoroughly briefed her. He held a slave collar. “Saint Junelle was very clear: if his ninth wife was to resist relocation in any way, I was to properly collar his property to ensure compliance.” That’s a lot of confidence there for someone holding a bomb in his hands.

Lucy’s eyes widened, her knees buckled under her as she stared at the bomb, dumbstruck. Tim’s already reticent body language closed further, his expression darkening as he stopped looking at what was before him.

Ah, so that’s the situation. It wasn’t a proper marriage, but instead more of a sex slave purchase. Celestianity did forbid sex before marriage, after all, and even the Celestial Dragons hesitated to break religious edicts when there was a perfectly fine loophole to exploit. Well, that’s her line on this travesty. “No.” She said, drawing Gintama. “You will not be doing that.”

Tim looked up in shock, tears streaming from his face. The eyes that she could barely make out behind Sir Portia’s visor narrowed, and he unslung his spear, the quality of the weapon apparent.  “You should step carefully, brat.” He said, anger suffusing his tone. “Do you really seek to oppose the will of God?”

Will of God? Tanya felt her temper, already frayed by seeing her friend so distraught,  snap. “Every minute of every day, echoing throughout eternity through countless lifetimes, I will oppose that bastard’s very existence with every drop of my hatred!” Tanya shouted, “Do not speak of ‘God’ to me.” She whispered as Sir Portia flinched at her vehemence.

The Royal knight shuddered at her words, before… falling over. Tim staggered, but remained standing. “What… was that?” He murmured, woozily.

“Lucy.” Tanya said, before noting that Lucy was also passed out, foaming at the mouth. She sheathed Gintama. “Tch. Alright, let’s do this fast.” She pointed at Tim. “Start helping or be cut down.”

Fearfully glancing at the Royal Knight, he nodded. “What do you need?”

“Take off her jewelry and pack it in that box, lock it down. I’ll prepare her a go bag.” Tanya said, “She’ll need that start-up capital for her new and exciting life wherever I can find to stash her.” Where? Totto Land? Fishman Island? Amazon Lily? Which place would be most receptive to ‘escaped slave of a Celestial Dragon’?

…She needs to ask Grandpa what to do. This time of day… hopefully He’s still out for his morning swim, it really depends on how much he drank last night.

With Lucy’s most practical outfits, useful tools, and a few necessary supplies packed away, she took the jewelry chest from Tim, safely packed up. “How good of an actor are you?” She asked.

“Pretty good.” He said confidently.

“Right, well, if anyone asks, I decided to conclude my education with a bit of lucrative piracy.” She waved vaguely. “You know, get my money back. I’m sure you can understand who needs to be told that story and not the truth.” Tanya raised her fist. “Do you need a bruise to help sell it?”

“I’m good!” He said, waving her off. “Pirate doing pirate things, Lucy was kidnapped, not a runaway, understood.” He paused, “Are you going to take her to Amazon Lily?”

“Maybe.” Tanya said, “But she’s weak, so maybe I’ll take her elsewhere instead.” Supposedly, the Kuja equated strength to beauty, so she’s not so sure they’d be welcoming to a pampered merchant’s daughter. “My grandparents will know what to do.”

Tim nodded seriously. He clearly remembered the small detail from their last meeting of Grandma being an ex-kuja pirate.

While fitting anyone over Tanya’s shoulder was an exercise in frustration, Tanya did manage to wrap her arm around the girl’s narrow waist, using a strap to carry Lucy’s luggage on her back and holding the jewelry box in her other hand. “Pass out.” Tanya commanded, and the bodyguard obeyed.

Outside, there was a carriage surrounded by more Royal Knights. Perfect. Tanya kicked a hole in the wall, escaping through there even though there was a perfectly serviceable exit in the form of the balcony. It was difficult to jump in the air while dealing with such a large, awkward load, but she managed it for the hundred or so meters between the dorm and the dock.

By the time she was done stashing her ‘booty’ (read: strapping Lucy in Father’s bed-coffin and throwing her luggage amongst Tanya’s own), Tanya looked around to see that he boat was now surrounded by royal knights.

Well, almost. With a stomp, Kamisogi sank two feet into the water, before the absurd buoyancy of the wood made the ocean launch the boat at speed. Due to the angle of impact, it flung it in a direction that was away from the shore, and her maneuvering of the rudder handled the rest.

“That pirate is stealing Saint Junelle’s new wife!” Shouted the captain of the Royal Knights. “Kill him!”

Heh. The knights brought out rifles and took up a firing line, shooting at Kamisogi with surprisingly accurate gunfire. Eight shots? Those were better guns than she knew existed…

Tanya drew Gintama and, guided by her Observation, deflected every bullet that would hit something inconvenient. Then, she launched a series of four flying slashes at the formation, knocking the armored knights down before they could finish reloading and fire again.

Victorious, Tanya unfurled the sails and angled it to catch the wind, quickly gaining speed.

This chase could use some pirate music… “Racing all around the salty seas…” She sang as she sailed away before they could mobilize anyone actually strong. “Chasing all the girls, and making robberies… causing panic everywhere they go, party hard and sing loud!” She quickly took out her vivre compass and slotted in her grandfather’s vivre card. If she’s lucky, she can catch him on the water.

There was just one more obstacle… As she turned to escape, a Marine ship, one of the smaller ones, moved to intercept. “Attention pirate!” Shouted the lead marine, talking into a microphone that was attached to a snail with a speaker. “Surrender and prepare to be boarded! Or you will face the wrath of Vice Admiral Redfox!”

Does anyone actually surrender? Tanya brandished Gintama and sent a flying slash at the Marine ship’s sail. Discerning her intent, Vice Admiral Redfox leapt upwards and intercepted the attack with his own body, tearing apart his shirt… to reveal hard black steel underneath. “You cannot harm me!” He shouted, “For I am an iron-man who has eaten the iron-iron fruit! My skin is the finest steel! Behold my Supreme-Grade defense!”

Tanya quirked an eyebrow at the claim. Did he pattern his flesh off of a Supreme-Grade sword? That… actually sounded powerful. Still, she needed to get away with her prize. She shouldn’t let some arrogant twit goad her into a duel. She made a hard turn, stomping down on the ship to get an extra boost of speed from the ship’s buoyancy. Kamisogi cut through the water, angling to go around the ship from the angle they were least able to affect: right behind them.

‘Least able’ didn’t mean ‘unable’, however: they still had cannons that they were already angling to hit them. But if she couldn’t manage to cut two measly cannonballs in half, what was the point of all of that swordsmanship training? They exploded like artillery shells in mid-air, sound and fury, amounting to nothing.

The Vice-admiral had a fair set of lungs on him: she could hear him cursing as she slipped away, powerless to stop her.