East Blue.
Aboard the pirate ship of the Giant Tiger Pirates.
"Hey, are you alright?"
After mentally recording his battle, Rosen stepped over to the only remaining woman on the pirate ship.
"P-Please don't kill me!"
"I'm not with the Giant Tiger Pirates!"
"I was just captured by them!"
The woman—Karina—raised her hands in front of her, looking at Rosen with a worried expression.
"Relax, I don't plan to kill you," Rosen said calmly.
"I saw how they were about to hurt you earlier."
"By the way, what's your name?"
"I-I'm Karina..."
"Hm? Karina?"
"Y-Yes, is there something wrong with that name?"
"No, not at all. It's a nice name—very pretty."
"R-Really?"
Karina pursed her lips, looking Rosen up and down, and instantly categorized him as just another man who's after her body.
"Hmph, fine then," she thought.
Perfect—I can use this guy to get out of this sea area.
If I've calculated correctly, that treasure hunter Mad Treasure and his crew should be arriving soon.
With that in mind, Karina deliberately stumbled and fell into Rosen's arms.
"Thank you for saving me, my savior," she said softly.
"I know it's a bit bold of me to ask…"
"But could you help me one more time?"
"What do you want me to do?" Rosen asked.
"I want you to take me away from these waters. Someone is chasing me!"
"Oh? Could it be the comrades of these pirates lying here?"
"No, they're stronger and far more dangerous than these guys."
"I see. Did you offend them somehow?"
"No, not at all. They're slave traders. They want to sell me to some nobles as a songstress."
"Human traffickers, huh... What if I told you I'm strong too, strong enough to beat them?"
"That's too risky," Karina replied quickly. "There's a ship here—we can just leave quietly. Please, I beg you."
"…Alright. Since you're asking so sincerely. By the way, what do you do?"
"Me? I'm just a singer at a hotel, nothing more."
"Really?"
"Really!"
"Then how did you end up with the Giant Tiger Pirates?"
"I escaped from the slave traders but ran into the Giant Tiger Pirates shortly after."
"I see… Fine, I'll take you out of here. But in exchange, how about you sing me a song?"
"No problem, savior," Karina nodded and then adjusted her posture, slowly starting to sing.
Rosen smiled, watching her performance. Using the system's camera function, he snapped a perfect photo of the singing Karina.
[Photo: Karina Singing!]
[Interesting. I actually ran into Karina here.]
[I didn't recognize her at first.]
[That's partly because of how she's dressed now, but also because the real-life Karina looks a bit different from her manga and anime versions.]
[But that's okay. She's still beautiful in the real world.]
[Can't believe the first "doujin heroine" I encountered in this world is her.]
[And she actually claimed to be just a simple singer!]
[Hah! She has no idea I'm a transmigrator and know all her secrets.]
[A great thief who once roamed the East Blue with Nami, a woman who makes her living using wit and charm—how could she possibly be a mere singer?]
[Still, I have to admit—her singing really is impressive.]
[No wonder she becomes the Golden Emperor's star diva in the future.]
[What a shame. This one definitely has the cunning to match Nami. They're on the same level in that regard.]
[As for the "potential wife rankings," though… she's not getting a top spot.]
Rosen propped up his chin with one hand, finished writing in his diary, and began cleaning up the pirate ship while listening to Karina's singing.
At the same time, Gion (Momousagi) was looking at Rosen's log, deep in thought.
"He didn't recognize this girl named Karina right away?"
"In that case... maybe if I dress up a bit, Rosen won't recognize me either."
Gion murmured to herself, a new plan to approach Rosen forming in her heart.
Nami frowned, her eyes scanning the new diary entries.
"This Rosen guy… he actually knows that Karina and I used to work together?"
"Does he really know the past and the future?"
"And Karina—she's run into those treasure hunters again?"
"Those guys are seriously hard to shake off..."
"No, that's not what I should be worried about right now."
"Foxy woman… You've been recognized by Rosen."
Nami let out a long sigh. Right now, all she could do was hope Rosen wouldn't hurt Karina.
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