24
Marquino
There was a property owned by Luke in Windmill Village. When he moved here a year and a half ago, he originally planned to stay for life—intending to marry Makino, have two children, and live a steady life.
Who would have thought that just as he’d managed to raise a bit of favor with Makino, his cheat code arrived, and he eagerly scurried off to Shimotsuki Dojo. One could only say fate plays tricks.
“By the way, Luffy, is your grandfather home?” Luke asked casually.
Luffy’s face fell, his enthusiasm instantly vanishing. “Why bring him up?”
His ambition was to become the Pirate King, while Garp only wanted him to join the Marines. The irreconcilable conflict between grandfather and grandson meant that despite their deep affection, they couldn’t avoid arguments whenever together.
“Is he here or not?”
“He’ll be leaving in a couple of days.”
Hearing that Garp was present, Luke couldn’t help but smile. With such a powerful figure right before him, it would be a waste not to gain something—at the very least, he should acquire Armament Haki and Observation Haki.
“Let’s go eat.”
“Ooh ooh ooh!”
Those few words instantly lifted Luffy’s gloomy mood, making him squeal with excitement. The two hurried to the restaurant without delay. Luffy swiftly took a seat, already grabbing his knife and fork, clattering them noisily on the table while shouting for meat.
The owner, cigarette in mouth, came over and studied Luke for a moment before recognizing him. “It’s Luke! You’ve changed so much, I almost didn’t recognize you. When did you get back?”
Windmill Village was small, with only a handful of establishments: Makino’s bar PARTYS BAR, Mr. Gyoru’s fish shop, and this restaurant.
Since everyone saw each other regularly, nearly all the villagers knew one another.
“Just got back,” Luke nodded in response.
“Coming straight here to eat as soon as you return.” The owner smiled kindly—no chef dislikes customers who love their food—and handed over the menu. “What would you like?”
Luke glanced over the menu. “Two portions of everything on the menu.”
“Everything?”
“We can order more if it’s not enough.”
“…”
Considering Luffy’s appetite and glancing at Luke’s build, the owner decided it wasn’t too outrageous. He tossed his cigarette butt into the trash and returned to the kitchen to cook.
Each time a dish was served, the two big eaters fiercely devoured it, finishing in mere seconds before waiting for the next. Luffy kept urging them on, making the owner work so hard his hands nearly smoked. The meal lasted two hours before it ended.
“That’ll be 100,000 Beli.”
The owner, having toiled for half the day, wiped his sweat and extended his hand.
Luke felt through the money in his pocket, pulling out a few of the nearly depleted bills to hand over, his mood complicated. Thankfully, prices in Windmill Village were cheap, or he might not have been able to afford the meal.
He grabbed Luffy by the neck, pressing down hard, and said through gritted teeth, “Luffy, whatever you just ate, your grandfather is going to have to pay me back for it.”
“What, you’re treating me to another meal?” Luffy tilted his head and asked.
How did this kid become so shameless the moment food was mentioned!
“I’ll visit Vice Admiral Garp at your house later.”
“No need to be so formal. You can call him Grandpa like I do.” After eating his fill, Luffy was as docile as a golden retriever being petted, letting Luke drag him along.
“I never swore brotherhood with you.”
Luffy thought for a moment, “When Ace comes back, we can drink the oath wine together.”
“No thanks, I don’t want to die on the same day as him.”
Luke rolled his eyes. Ace was three years older than Luffy and had also set out to sea at seventeen. Ace had left just a few days after Luke arrived in Windmill Village, so they hadn’t interacted much. Calculating the time, Ace should have already made a name for himself as “Fire Fist,” and perhaps he was currently getting beaten up on Whitebeard’s ship.
He pulled Luffy along to the entrance of PARTYS BAR, where they could hear various sounds of laughter and conversation inside. The bar was the only bright spot in Windmill Village’s leisurely life—everyone loved coming to PARTYS BAR to drink, boast, and gossip.
The door swung open, and two figures, one tall and one short, entered.
“Luke, did you bring me here to buy me a drink?”
“Are you sixteen yet?”
“Yes, yes, I’m sixteen by traditional counting.”
“Makino, one beer and one juice.”
The tall, imposing figure stepped inside. His face, already handsome enough to easily charm girls, stood out even more among the ordinary folks and odd characters. Paired with his robust, perfect physique and a polite smile, he instantly became the center of attention in the bar.
“Is that… Luke? It can’t be.”
“He does look a bit similar, but Luke shouldn’t be this handsome.”
“Dammit, I hate handsome guys. The moment they show up, the girls stop looking at me.”
“Idiot, even if they didn’t show up, the girls wouldn’t be looking at you anyway?”
The patrons in the bar murmured among themselves, casting curious glances at the two—or rather, at Luke. Men naturally felt a physiological aversion to overwhelmingly outstanding members of their own gender.
Women, on the other hand, were already thinking about how to snag such a man.
The focus of attention simply smiled and spoke to Makino.
“Long time no see, Makino.”
Makino, in her work uniform, didn’t express astonishment at Luke’s transformation. She just smiled faintly and placed the drinks he’d ordered on the counter.
“Long time no see, Luke.”
They exchanged simple greetings.
Luke admired Makino’s beautiful eyes and gentle smile, feeling as if he’d fallen in love.
We pirates need our own Ayame too!
He had zero resistance to capable, family-oriented, gentle, and considerate girls like her.
“Makino, I came to see you as soon as I returned.”
Luke said with deep affection.
Wait, wasn’t the first stop clearly the restaurant?
Luffy, ever the honest child who never knew how to lie, was about to refute this when Luke covered his mouth. Luffy widened his eyes, struggling to pry Luke’s hand away, but couldn’t budge it no matter how hard he tried.
What’s going on? How is Luke so strong?
Makino, however, remained composed, showing no emotional fluctuation, merely smiling without a word.
“Is my room still kept for me?” Seeing that Makino wasn’t responding, Luke changed the subject, bringing up old times in hopes of jogging her memory.
Back when Luke worked as security at the bar, Makino had let him stay in an empty room. They had gotten along very well, almost to the point of getting involved.
“Sorry, but not long after you left, Aunt Erin came to stay here. Your room is hers now.”
Makino shook her head apologetically, her gaze shifting to the plainly dressed middle-aged woman sitting to the side.
“Aunt Erin is now working as a tavern helper.”
Luke raised an eyebrow, about to see who had taken his spot when a figure stood up and approached him, blocking his view.
Just because Makino didn’t respond didn’t mean others wouldn’t.
The bold woman walked right up and started hitting on him—it was Lila, the owner of the village fishing gear shop. In her thirties, with delicate features and a figure that strictly adhered to the female physique standards of the pirate world—very ample!
The younger girls who saw this were already cursing inwardly.
Bitch!
“Little Luke, how come you’ve built such a great physique after just one year apart? I’ve been working out lately too—could you teach me some techniques?”
Lila bit her red lips, her eyes seductive as silk. She moved closer to Luke, attempting to wrap her arms around his sturdy biceps while shooting challenging glances back at the women glaring daggers at her.
Young girls might hold back from pursuing such prime material due to shyness, but she was different from these inexperienced kids who’d never tasted real pleasure.
Only women her age truly knew what was best. Just looking at Luke’s build told her he was the kind of man who could leave her dehydrated, not to mention that handsome face.
But soon her smile froze because her hands failed to capture their target.
Luke dodged Lila’s advance and declined with a laugh, “Sis Lila, I just train randomly without proper methods—I’d be a terrible teacher. Besides, I’ve got lots going on recently, no time to spare.”
Had Lila chosen a different location, she might have succeeded.
He glanced at Makino, who remained unmoved despite seeing him being flirted with, downed his beer in one gulp, and picked up Luffy who was clutching his juice.
“Let’s go, Luffy. Time to visit Vice Admiral Garp.”
“He keeps saying you should just call him Grandpa.”
“In that case, I won’t stand on ceremony.”