After leaving the bar, Will slowly walked through the alley.
He finally took off the ill-fitting black robe.
Will swore that he would never wear that ridiculous thing again.
Kahn followed silently behind him, seemingly preoccupied with something.
“Senior Brother Kahn, as we agreed, we’ll split the money fifty-fifty.
That’s 300,000 Beli for you.”
“Do you want your share now, or should we wait until we get back to the dojo?”
After walking a short distance, Will spoke.
Kahn froze for a moment before answering stiffly.
“There’s no need to rush.
We’ll divide it up later.”
“By the way, Junior Brother, why are you going back to the dojo?
Don’t you start training tomorrow?”
“Oh.”
“I went to the dojo looking for you, but you weren’t there.
I don’t know anyone else, so I had no choice but to ask Master.”
“Master told me to come back and see him once the deal was finished.”
Will answered calmly without even turning his head.
Kahn’s expression changed immediately.
He spoke with obvious panic and frustration.
“You told Master?”
“Why did you tell him?”
Will suddenly stopped and turned around, staring directly at Kahn.
“Why?
Shouldn’t I tell Master?”
“Oh, right, Senior Brother Kahn.”
“Why don’t we give Master a share too?”
“How about 100,000 Beli each for you and me?”
“What do you think, Senior Brother Kahn?”
Will narrowed his eyes as he looked at the tall, muscular Kahn standing before him.
Kahn’s expression became even uglier.
He hesitated for a long time.
Then, as though he had suddenly remembered something terrifying, his expression changed.
“Th-then…
let’s give Master 200,000 Beli.”
“That’s only right.”
Kahn’s voice was low.
After that, he fell silent.
Will smiled and continued walking.
He never looked back at Kahn again.
Kahn simply followed behind him in silence, his face filled with unwillingness.
When they finally reached the entrance of the dojo, Will asked without turning around,
“Want to go see Master together, Kahn?”
“I’ll pass.”
“I still need to train in the hills behind the dojo.”
“Just give me the money.”
Kahn seemed distracted.
He didn’t even notice that Will had stopped calling him “Senior Brother” in quite the same friendly manner.
Will took 200,000 Beli out of the box and handed it to him.
Then he turned around and walked into the dojo.
For Kahn, this had been an extraordinary day.
The emotional roller coaster was simply too much for his young mind to process.
A newly enrolled junior disciple had approached him with a business opportunity worth hundreds of thousands of Beli.
At first, considering the kid’s age and the amount of money involved, Kahn hadn’t believed him.
But somehow, this little junior disciple had actually convinced him.
Then Kahn had taken him to the black market.
And they had really managed to sell the information for 600,000 Beli.
Is information really worth that much?
Who the hell knows?
But when Kahn thought about the 300,000 Beli that was about to become his, he felt as though his footsteps had become lighter.
He had never seen so much money in his entire life.
And with 600,000 Beli, Kahn could finally buy himself a decent sword.
His strength would improve dramatically.
At that point, even if he stopped relying on his master, he could join the military.
Becoming a Marine wouldn’t be bad either.
With his improved strength, perhaps he could even become an officer.
Just as Kahn was about to start making plans, that little brat suddenly told him that his private dealings had already been discovered by Master.
Kahn was left feeling both terrified and bewildered.
Kahn had been following his master for five years.
He knew very well that he had never truly earned his master’s trust.
At the dojo, he normally served as the gatekeeper, errand boy, and enforcer.
Other people might not know what kind of person his master was.
But Kahn knew exactly how powerful—and dangerous—the old man was.
One of his senior brothers had offended Master.
Not long afterward, that man’s entire family mysteriously disappeared.
From that day onward, Kahn had become the model obedient disciple in front of his master.
Whatever his master said, Kahn obeyed.
Now his 300,000 Beli had turned into 200,000.
And he still had no idea how his master would punish him afterward.
Kahn’s mood became even worse.
But leaving Kahn aside for the moment…
Will entered the dojo and went straight to the room in the middle.
He knocked lightly on the door.
“Master, it’s Will.
I’d like to speak with you.”
“Come in.”
Niss’s calm voice came from inside.
Will entered the room, found a cushion, and sat down in front of Niss.
He got straight to the point.
“Master, I just went to the black market with Senior Brother Kahn and sold some information.”
“We received 600,000 Beli.”
“I gave Senior Brother Kahn 200,000 Beli as his share.”
“This is your 200,000.”
As he spoke, Will took 200,000 Beli from the box and placed it in front of Niss.
“Oh?”
“Since you and Kahn were the ones who sold the information, why are you giving me a share?”
Niss spoke calmly.
“Although Master didn’t participate in the transaction, this is your dojo.”
“Kahn and I are both your disciples.”
Will looked honestly at the old man as he answered.
Will had always firmly believed that anyone who didn’t know how to conduct themselves properly would have a hard time surviving anywhere.
Especially when they were still weak.
You can be greedy.
Like Kahn.
You can be short-sighted.
Like Kahn.
But you absolutely cannot be someone who doesn’t know how to conduct himself.
Like Kahn.
Niss smiled with satisfaction.
Even if Will’s talent for swordsmanship turned out to be mediocre, he would still have another capable assistant at his side in the future.
Of course, this assistant’s background was currently unknown, and he was still very young.
But there was plenty of time.
He could observe him slowly.
Besides…
If they were talking about people of questionable origins, Niss was probably the number one person in all of Loguetown.
“Hmm.”
“I’ll accept this 200,000 Beli.”
“Since you’ve made money selling information, you don’t need to continue working for Red.”
“Come live at my dojo.”
“Except for the two rooms beside mine, you can choose any unoccupied room.”
“Starting tomorrow, come to me after dinner.”
“I’ll teach you some things about swordsmanship.”
Will silently praised him.
As they say, experience really does make the difference.
Of course, Will wasn’t about to disappoint Niss.
“Master, my mother used to deal in information.”
“So I know quite a few valuable secrets.”
“Why don’t we sell information together?”
“There’s no need to rush.”
Niss smiled.
“Although selling information is extremely profitable, it’s also dangerous.”
“You need to know your limits.”
“Don’t sell information too frequently, or you’ll easily attract trouble.”
“From now on, I’ll have someone else represent the two of us.”
“They’ll take one share.”
“I’ll take four.”
“You take five.”
“What do you think?”
“No.”
“Master, you should take five.”
Will answered without even thinking about it.
Niss didn’t bother refusing.
He simply said,
“Hmm.
Very well.”
“Kahn hasn’t returned to his hometown to visit his parents in quite some time.”
“It’s about time I gave him some leave.”
“He should go home and see his parents.”
After saying that, Niss closed his eyes.
It was an obvious signal that the conversation was over.
Will understood.
He said goodbye to Niss and left the dojo.
As he slowly walked through the streets, Will felt that his teacher was anything but simple.
He had no idea how strong Niss actually was.
But at least, the old man seemed quite reliable when it came to handling affairs.
For now, I’d better go back and say goodbye to Red.
When Will arrived at Red’s shop, he found Red working on a large ship component.
It appeared to have broken down.
Will walked over and said,
“Boss, I’ve come to resign.”
“Because of some other circumstances, I won’t be able to continue working here.”
“Here’s 50,000 Beli.”
“Consider it repayment for the 3,000 Beli you lent me, plus interest.”
“Thank you for taking me in.”
“I still have something to do, so I’ll be going.”
Before Red could say anything, Will turned around and walked away.
As he went, he casually waved goodbye over his shoulder.
Red stood there for a moment, unable to react.
By the time he finally came to his senses, Will was already far away.
Perhaps this little shopkeeper had no idea what he had just missed.
Perhaps he had just let go of a favor from the future world’s greatest swordsman.