'Conquerors Haki, huh?' I thought as I looked at the fleeing and passed out animals all around me.
'I can't use it in public unless I want to draw a large target on my back, and even if I want to, I can't use it since I don't know how,' I rubbed my chin thoughtfully as I tried to imprint the feeling of the energy coursing through my body into my mind.
'having it and awakening it this early is still a win even if I can't use it, for now. I merely have to practice it and get used to it as we sail the seas,' I concluded with a nod and then turned my attention to Satori.
I can now clearly hear its breath, and I can feel it radiating an aura of peace and harmony, which was quite weird for a sword, but I guess it isn't called sudden enlightenment for no reason.
'I might have to get a better sword in the future,' I think to myself as I put Satori back into its sheath.
Don't get me wrong, Satori is a good sword, but that's it. It isn't great. It's just good, which is honestly not good enough for me, but that was a matter for the future, and as such, I'll leave it to my good old reliable future self.
'Might as well keep exploring the forest then since it's still too early, and I'm only feeling a little headache from my conquerors Haki outburst just now,' I thought with a shrug of my shoulders as I kept going deeper into the forest.
I came across different types of animals as I explored the forest, both large and small. Most of them were hostile and would attack on sight, but some of them were docile and even friendly, as they had no problems coming close to me and asking for food as they sniffed at my backpack.
The hostile animals were the carnivorous species like hyenas, weird colorful ions, and even a flytrap plant that seemed to infest some clearings in the forest.
The docile animals were mainly the herbivorous species, like giant squirrels, giant white elephants, and small koala-like creatures that lived in packs.
I also came across different kinds of plants and fruits. Some were poisonous. Some were medicinal. Some were delicious, and some were foul-tasting, but none of them were very useful or particularly tasty, so I didn't take any with me.
I kept walking around the forest while muttering some random songs and shanties from my past life until the sky darkened, and I decided to go back to the inn in favor of continuing my exploration tomorrow.
I found myself standing in front of the town's gates before I knew it and on my way inside after greeting the same guard that warned me about leaving the town, who looked somewhat nervous as he greeted me back and made way for me to enter.
I just shrugged my shoulders without bothering myself with him any longer and headed in straight into the inn where the crew and I were staying.
I entered the inn with no fanfare and took a second to see if my companions were in the inn or not. I then took a seat alone after not finding any familiar face.
I ordered some food and drinks after I made myself comfortable and enjoyed my meal while listening to the music played by a band in the inn after a server brought my order.
Two girls who seemed to recognize me for my actions in Ballywood offered to keep me company after noticing that I was alone. They were probably just gold diggers, but who was I to judge them for that? So I accepted their offer and ordered them some expensive drinks and enjoyed their company as they sat on sides with my hands around their wastes.
The girls kept me company, and an hour passed before I even knew it as Laffite entered the bar and made his way to the table I was sharing with the two girls.
"Run along now, girls. I have to talk about some business with my friend over there," I whispered to the two girls as I pointed my chin at Laffite's approaching figure since my hands weren't free.
The girls looked at each other, then at me, and stood up to leave. The girls, however, didn't forget to kiss me on both of my cheeks before leaving while giggling flirtatiously.
"It looks like you're having fun, captain," Laffite said with a raised eyebrow as he sat in front of me.
"Tehahaha, it's just a little bit of harmless fun," I said with a smile as I drained the alcohol cup in front of me, and Laffite smiled while shrugging his shoulder to show he didn't mean anything by his remark.
"so, did anything interesting happen while I was away?" I asked as I poured him a glass of wine, which was his favorite drink.
"Not really. I just spent the day looking into that guy you told me about yesterday," he stated as he took a sip from his wine glass.
"Oh, and what did you learn about him?' I asked again in a leisure tone while opening another wine bottle.
"His name is Byron. He comes from a long line of musicians. He makes excellent wine, and is said to be good with using axes," Laffite said with an uninterested expression on his face as he took another sip from his wine.
'Byron, a musician who is good at making wine?' I thought as I tilted my head to the side, trying to remember someone like that in the original work.
"That's it?" I asked, while rubbing my chin in thought.
'Now I remember. Byron should be one of the slaves who were sold at the Human Auctioning House in the Sabaody archipelago after getting caught by slavers. If I remember correctly, he was a pirate musician.'
"That was all the townspeople were willing to share about him, before some hypnotism, that is," Laffite stated, and I merely muttered, "oh?" without saying anything else, encouraging him to keep going.
"He's the only living descendant of a pirate crew that left Toroa island several decades ago to enter the grand line and never came back," Laffite concluded with a shrug.
"You're as reliable as ever, Laffite," I said and paused as I noticed Wilson approaching us from the corner of my eye. "Unlike that lazy gorilla who's only is only useful for carrying luggage," I concluded with an exaggerated sigh as I tilted my head to the side to dodge Wilson's fist.
"Sais the captain, who's only useful as a jukebox," Wilson replied with a snort of disdain after his failed attack and took out a bottle of wine he keeping under his jacket.
"You know, I'm beginning to regret teaching you to talk,' I said with a dumbfounded expression on my face as I put my hands on my chest in a mock show of hurt, causing both Wilson and Laffite to chuckle.
We kept chatting and taking jabs at each other for the rest of the night, with Elly and Bob arriving a while later and joining in on the fun. I, however, decided to call it a day early, shortly after they arrived, so I can wake up early and finish exploring the island before we set sail again.