"…It's nothing, Captain Rosen."
"My stomach just hurts a little."
"I'll excuse myself for now."
Karina shook her head and quickly turned to run toward the ship's cabin.
As she ran, she kept glancing at the contents of the diary copy.
'I'm doomed!'
"I should have known."
"He used swordsmanship wreathed in flames when fighting the Giant Tiger Pirates."
"That's clearly the power of Yoriichi Tsugikuni!"
"What should I do? He knows I was lying!"
"Don't tell me... he's been acting with me this whole time?"
Thinking of this, Karina grew increasingly uneasy.
At that moment, she noticed new content had appeared in the diary:
[Heh, Karina actually took the initiative to want to become my songstress.]
[Too bad—my ideal songstress is Uta.]
[Come to think of it, Karina probably doesn't sincerely want to be my crewmate.]
[Most likely, she's just planning to secretly steal the Giant Tiger Pirates' treasure that already belongs to me.]
'He knows! He really was acting with me?!'
Karina's eyes widened. She turned back, nervously glancing at Rosen.
Rosen noticed her reaction and responded with a big smile.
[Photo: Karina, looking a bit nervous.]
[Heh, Karina looks kind of tense.]
[So, is she already making plans to steal my treasure?]
[If she does that, it would mean she's become my enemy.]
[And if that's the case, there's no way I'd let her off without some punishment…]
Seeing the diary's new entries, Karina trembled involuntarily.
She quickly looked away from Rosen, completely avoiding eye contact.
The moment she saw the new photo Rosen had taken, she realized that her overly anxious behavior had exposed her guilt in front of him.
'Rosen's rule is clear: repay kindness with kindness, repay hatred with vengeance.'
'So if I do try to steal the treasure…'
'He really will punish me, won't he…'
'Could it be… he'll make me do the things described in those doujinshi he drew?!'
At that thought, a blush appeared on Karina's cheeks.
Apparently, even she felt shy about the lewd doujinshi Rosen had drawn.
After all, despite years at sea, she was still just an innocent young woman.
"Calm down, Karina. Things haven't gone that far yet."
"Rosen doesn't seem to be able to see the diary copy I'm holding."
"That's an opportunity."
"As long as I act based on the contents of his diary, I can avoid becoming his enemy."
"If that works, he won't do anything too outrageous to me, right?"
"Wait... does lying to him earlier already count as making me his enemy?"
As this crossed her mind, Karina's briefly calmed emotions began to tense up again.
Elegia Ruins
"Trying to invite me to be your songstress? At least you've got some taste."
"But I'll never be a pirate crew's songstress again."
Uta sat on the ground, pouting angrily as she stared at her diary copy.
And no wonder she was upset—Rosen had written in the diary about wanting to become a pirate.
Just recently, Uta had also discovered some gravure art and doujinshi starring herself in her diary copy.
"How awful. With drawing skills like that..."
"Why waste it on those kinds of drawings?"
"What a bad boy. And bad boys need to be punished."
Pouting, Uta was already mentally drafting up ways to punish Rosen.
But soon, her attention shifted back to the new diary entry:
[Still, getting Uta to become my pirate crew's songstress is going to take some work.]
[Right now, she probably still hates pirates deeply.]
[And who can blame her? Her father—Red-Haired Shanks, one of the Four Emperors—abandoned her when she was just a child.]
[Even though they've since cut ties, if I want her to join me, I'll still have to deal with Shanks.]
"He knows that?!"
"So he does know about the past?!"
Uta's eyes widened, her attention fully fixed on the floating diary copy.
Meanwhile, Gion frowned deeply, staring at her own copy in disbelief:
"Red-Haired Shanks has a daughter?"
"And he abandoned her?"
"Why?"
As a Marine, Gion fully understood what Red-Haired Shanks represented.
If Uta really was his daughter—and Rosen managed to recruit her—
then her plan to persuade Rosen to join the Marines might be finished.
Worse still, the Red-Haired Pirates would gain a powerful new ally.
"No matter what, I can't let Rosen make contact with the Red-Haired Pirates."
Gion's gaze turned steely as she looked out over the vast ocean.
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