"This man… is he really letting me roam freely around the ship's cabin?"
"Isn't he even a little bit wary of me?"
"Or… is he actually waiting for me to try stealing the treasure..."
"Then give me some sort of 'punishment'?"
Karina stood at the entrance of the cabin, staring at Rosen's back from a distance, her brows tightly furrowed.
She had seen the diary Rosen kept records in.
If at first she had still harbored thoughts of stealing treasure from Rosen and escaping...
Now, those thoughts had significantly diminished.
After all, Rosen had already recognized her true identity.
To Rosen, she was no longer just a singer who had accidentally ended up on a pirate ship.
"He knows the future… he said earlier that I would manage to sail away the Golden Emperor's ship."
"That means I won't be defeated here."
"Come on, Karina, you can get through this with your wits."
Cheering herself up mentally, Karina carried a fruit platter she had prepared in the kitchen and walked over to Rosen.
"Captain Rosen, would you like some fruit?"
Karina smiled softly, her expression calm and composed—none of her earlier nervousness remained.
"Some fruit sounds good."
"Thanks, Karen."
Rosen nodded slightly and reached for a grape from the platter.
"Allow me, Captain Rosen."
With a gentle smile, Karina picked up a grape and held it to Rosen's mouth.
Rosen didn't refuse and accepted the grape with a smile.
Rosen knew Karina was putting on an act, and Karina knew Rosen understood the trajectory of this world's history.
But neither of them broke the delicate balance.
They continued chatting casually.
Of course, Karina wasn't just chatting for fun.
She was trying to find out whether the mysterious diary that had appeared to her was something Rosen had deliberately given her.
Even after a series of hints—and even showing her own diary replica right in front of Rosen—
Karina gradually came to a conclusion.
"My diary copy must be closely connected to Rosen."
"But he didn't personally hand it to me."
"So… was it automatically given to me by that mysterious system?"
"But why would the system do that?"
"It can't be just because of those photo albums and comics Rosen made, right?"
As she continued feeding Rosen grapes, Karina was deep in thought.
Yet she couldn't ask him directly about these things—she could only keep her doubts buried.
"Anyway, it seems Rosen doesn't know I can see the content he writes in his diary."
"Maybe I can use this to my advantage—to escape, or even to steal the treasure."
"But… should I really leave just like that?"
"This man has a system and can see the future."
"If I stay by his side, maybe I can gain something too..."
As Karina continued pondering, Rosen wasn't idle either.
He was sizing her up, mentally comparing her with the Yae Miko Template.
"To properly use the Yae Miko template, the candidate needs to match at least three of these attributes: 'female,' 'pink,' 'wisdom,' 'fox,' 'priestess,' 'charm,' 'thunder,' and 'light novel.'"
"Karina obviously qualifies as 'female.'"
"She's quite intelligent too, so that's 'wisdom.'"
"In the original work, Nami often referred to Karina as a mother fox..."
"So she probably counts as having the 'fox' attribute too."
"That means Karina should be able to use the Yae Miko template, right, system?"
[Ding! Character scanned: Karina.]
[Karina possesses the attributes: 'female,' 'fox,' and 'wisdom.' She qualifies to use the 'Yae Miko Template (Basic Form).']
[If Karina agrees to become your partner, you may assign the 'Yae Miko Template (Basic Form)' to her.]
"Nice."
Seeing this information on the panel, Rosen's smile widened.
"Captain Rosen, are you thinking of something pleasant?"
Karina asked with a smile after confirming there was no new content in her diary replica.
"Haha, yes, something pleasant indeed."
"By the way, Karina—you mentioned earlier you'd be willing to become my partner, right?"
Rosen pulled Karina down to sit cross-legged with him on the deck and asked with a soft smile.
"Of course I'm willing."
Karina nodded firmly.
Then, remembering Rosen knew her real identity, she quickly added:
"Captain Rosen, I've had a past that's… not so admirable."
"Maybe you think I'm joining you too casually."
"But after you rescued me, I don't want to go back to that old life."
"So, I truly want to be your partner now."
After she finished, Karina put down the fruit platter and gently held Rosen's left hand in both of hers.
In that moment, her eyes were clear and beautiful.
[Though recording today's events won't grant more points, some things are still worth documenting in the voyage log.]
[Photo: The sincere Karina?]
[Karina said she had an unpleasant past—was she referring to her days as a con artist?]
[She said she's tired of that life and wants to join me out of gratitude for saving her.]
[So… has she been moved by me?]
Success!
"As long as Rosen believes I'm sincere…"
"He won't blame me for hiding my true identity before."
"Maybe he'll even lower his guard around me."
"That'll give me the chance to take the treasure and escape."
Karina's heart leapt as she saw the new lines in the diary.
But as she thought about leaving, a hint of hesitation flickered in her eyes.
At the same time, far away, Nami—after seeing Rosen's diary entry—muttered to herself,
"Mother fox…"
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