“Who’s going to go first?” Arata asked the most important thing of them all. “I suggest it has to be you, mister cowboy. “Stop calling me cowboy, Arata.”“Alright, cowboy.”Arata never gave Owari a chance to explain this sudden attitude. The man just saw Owari as a cowboy because of his cold demeanour with a gun in his hand. Nothing more, nothing less. Eventually, Arata stopped calling Owari names such as the recent “Cowboy” attempt and continued on with the meeting.Owari let whatever Arata wanted to call him slide and be the first one to elucidate what he had found out.“I got the chance to meet Sebastian.”“You did?” Arata couldn’t help but react. When he saw Owari’s eyes throwing daggers in his direction, Arata nodded to himself and muttered, “Yeah. I thought so. Sorry.”After a faint cough, Owari resumed his story. “I met Sebastian’s holographic image…” Owari paused for a second and studied Arata’s confused look on his face. “In your world, I assume you also have some kind of ho
“Pirates… and soldiers working together for this global war.” Arata pondered to himself for a while before handing Owari his answer. “Don’t you think the Kingdom will be the one who gets to decide the last? If you’re asking me, I’ll… notify the pirates back from the Abandoned Barnacle ship and ask them about this. But knowing them, they will definitely agree to it too.”And that's what they did. As soon as the meeting ended, Owari and Arata got out of the town hall and told everyone they had to gather around the plaza. An announcement would occur in a few moments, and that was enough to attract the people’s attention, including Arata’s pirates.While that was happening, a messenger appeared before Owari and Arata, the two leaders of the Honeywood town and the pirates respectively. When Owari noticed this was the same messenger, Luke Formis, he greeted the mailman of this world and asked what was the matter.“We’re about to send a message to the King about the situation. You're just in
Arata wasn’t the type of person who could present a speech, nevertheless in front of the crowd. Owari, on the other hand, was a scientist. He had always showcased his research to everyone, and the entire world would be watching him. But the thing was… Arata had learned something valuable. And that was, he knew that these people would listen to him and cheer for his name. It wasn’t because he was willing to control the town, but he wanted to lead the place into a brighter future. Much so with Owari.That was why Arata had to be the first to do this. He was the one who paved the path.“Citizens of the Honeywood town!” Arata shouted. “My name is Captain Arata, leader of the pirates! As you may know, the pirates and the soldiers, at least, for this village of Honeywood, have decided to unite with one another! Although I have yet to live a long life, I know, for a fact, that my mentor, Captain Israel, the former Captain of the pirates, had wished this kind of thing to happen. And it happe
Prologue Arata Kazuto’s Perspective __________________________ “You know the difference between watching a documentary of a lion eating a zebra and a zebra running away from a lion?” I asked Owari, while casually walking on the aisle of corpses and bones piled like a carpet. This place was called Skull Island, after all. “It’s the fact where you choose which side you are on. If you first watched the zebra getting eaten by the lion, you’d feel tragic for the zebra. But if you watched the lion eating the zebra, you’d say it’s the circle of life." “And I might’ve said something cool. Shit,” I continued. But, in reality, I didn’t know what I was saying. It was completely bullshit. The crashing sound of waves entered our eardrums as the heated fight came to an end. I was the victor. After stealing his powers, I managed to overpower my enemy and, somehow, turned the tides in my favour. But despite overwhelming him, the man remained calm, like a gust of wind outside this skull cave. H
“Hey, big brother Arata. If I grow up, can I be a musician!” “Of course, Kirameki. Just follow your heart’s content, and your big brother will do everything for you, okay? Just make sure you’ll pass your entrance exams, learn a lot of musical notes, and, and-...” “Boo… brother. You’re so stingyyy,” Kira, my sister, grumbled and pouted. “Fineee~. I’m going to learn the fiddle! And I want you to be the first one to hear it!” “That’s a promise?” Kirameki added, and placed her pinky in front of my face. “I promise!” But that day never happened. ………. “When you’re a pirate, everything’s free!” Well, the truth was, I got what I wanted. But not what I needed. The partitions surrounding me were just enough to accommodate two people on a single bed. It had two rooms: one for the bedroom and one for the kitchen… For everything. Every month, we paid roughly around forty-thousand Yen - the cheapest of them all. I traveled around Tokyo to find an apartment that was enough for us to live
……I intended to execute my work without fail and make a few Yen before coming home. I would use the money I would earn for my sister. It was for Kira’s sake. Despite the risk involved, I ventured onward and covered my face and identity in case anyone noticed me. I put on a mask and hoodie as I prayed for my fate.I can still remember the first time I committed this crime. I came across a club that held betting matches, prostitutes, and the sorts. There was not a time I was interested in checking out or hanging out in one of those livelihoods. But what piqued my curiosity was the amount of money those customers had been throwing. Like holy shit, these people in the clubs were the children of famous companies - rich kids who cared little about their parent’s wealth! Talk about a jackpot right there.It seemed that those people involved in such businesses had at most five hundred thousand Yen in their pockets. So I sat around and lingered for an opportunity to strike. The next thing I k
“H-Hey, hey!? Where did all my money go? And my wallet?! MY MONEY INSIDE MY WALLET’S GONE!” the man shouted, and got up from his seat. “All he left are the casino chips?!”His screeching voice was then followed by the woman beside him, which I had also played with earlier. “M-Mine too! I have five hundred thousand Yen! I-It’s all gone! B-But my ID card is here… My credit cards are all stolen! The only thing the thief left is the vouchers!”Yeah. Why would I even want those beauty product vouchers? It was not like my sister and I needed it for anything. Money was my priority, so I took the cash inside their wallets and got out as snappy as I could without grabbing much attention.It was not even just them. Besides those people that heckled and belittled me, there were dozens I had passed by. And I stole every money they had and left those casino chips, considering I had to exchange them first before turning them into cash.Just like what I had envisioned, I took the lift and followed t
…………….. “Ladies and gentlemen, let us give a round of applause to-...” The announcer introduced a girl and her band on the stage. There was an audience in front of them. Hundreds of seats filled the area, and the patrons attended the project meant for the graduating students. A reserved seat caught the attention of many. But since the chair was taken by someone, nobody dared sitting in the space without anyone’s consent. Not even the teachers. The school’s program included re-creating a play where the actors would express their dialogues, and the music group, which had a member named Kirameki, would be in charge of the sounds. Kira had a solo play for the event. And everyone who had rehearsed with her saw right through her talent. Once. It only took one audition when Kira was accepted for her role. Kira was supposed to play when the prince arrived for the princess. A classic tale and romance. Her musical piece should capture everyone’s hearts, including the one Kira cared about th