It was early in the morning, and the sun still hasn't risen yet.
I was sleeping soundly with a sleep mask on my eyes, before getting suddenly yanked out of my hard trainee bed.
'An enemy?!' I quickly alerted myself and sent a punch out at whoever lifted me up by the back of my shirt,
which was effortlessly blocked by a huge hand.
"Huh?"
Still half-awake, I exclaimed upon sighting the silhouette of a huge man in front of me.
"You really are aggressive," The huge man sighed, "Do you know what title you go by these days? The ' 47th Chaos' of Logue Town!"
Shaking my head to wake myself up, I noticed that this man was none other than—
"Captain Merlin?" I squinted my eyes, before looking around my surrounding; I currently was getting carried out of the dorm, while all the other trainees were still asleep.
"Yeah yeah, it's your favourite adult," Merlin said with a tired expression as we exited the room, slowly closing the door.
"What's going on?" I pointed my finger at the back of my shirt where Merlin gripped on, "Am I getting kicked out?"
Currently, with my mind frozen, that was all that I could think. After a short while, having reached the conclusion that I was getting kicked out of the Marine due to the inflated rumours around me, I began to thrash hard in Merlin's grip, but to no avail.
"F***!!! Do you want me to become a pirate, huh?! I'm going to murder every piece of s*** on this planet if I get kicked out, ya hear?!" I screamed relentlessly.
'Smoker—I mean me, my grandfather died three months ago, and I'm left with no relative. My hometown, from what I've seen from the newspaper, was wreaked havoc by the wave of pirates who've begun to sweep all from the four blues into the Grand Line.'
Simply put, I had no place to go back.
"Throw me out, and I will curse you for eternity!! Even after my death, I will latch onto you as an evil spirit!! I'll—"
"Shut up for one second, you mad lad!" Merlin's teeth turned sharp as he barked at me comically,
"Y-yes sir!"
which was effective in shutting my mouth down.
"...Smoker?"
Just then, I noticed that we were now at the harbor, in front of one moderate-sized Marine ship. And before the ship stood Hina and one male Marine officer, who were looking at me with a sweatdrop.
Letting a deep breath in, Merlin placed me down, stood upright in a strict fashion, and saluted at the Marine officer, "Commodore Barthur!"
"Relax, relax," This Marine officer, named Barthur, was notably smaller than Merlin in terms of size. Blonde hair and blue-coloured eyes, he was the typical handsome man that many would find themselves attracted... excluding me, of course.
"So he's that Smoker I've been hearing about in this town, eh," Barthur chuckled, before ruffling my hair casually, "I gotta say, you would've made a great comedian as well."
And just by that statement, I've come to dislike him.
"Just..." Merlin sighed as he looked at me, "Listen to your superior's orders, you got that?"
"Captain," I couldn't help but speak in confusion, raising my arms up questioningly, "with due respect, what part of my attitude did you find rebellious in particular? I was always an obedient student, wasn't I?"
"You are kidding me, right?" Hina muttered from the side, which I ignored.
Without stopping, I then asked, "Besides, where are we going anyway?"
"The headquarter of Marine, located in the Grand Line, which is known as the harshest sea of the world," Barthur answered the question with his hands on his back and a smile, "Marineford."
"Marineford... the top seed selection for the entry into the Marine officer grooming program?" I tilted my head while crossing my arms, "But only three months passed by, didn't it?"
"Normally, there will be a grand award ceremony at the end of the year for this but," Merlin massaged his temple with a tired expression, "you two are too much for us to take care of."
I raised my eyebrow, "Is that a praise or an insult—ow!"
My words were then stopped by Hina, who walked up to me and slapped the back of my head.
"Respect your superiors, Smoker! Seriously, tone down your rebellious tendency for once!"
"Oh yeah? Not everyone is an emotionless robot like you, Ms. 3rd Pov!"
"Lower your voice! Stand straight, and wait for an order from Commodore Barthur, who will be in charge of us from now on until our arrival to Marineford!"
"Haha, what a hypocrite! You tell me to lower my voice, yet your voice is so freaking high that I can hear Haruno Sakura in my ears!"
"...Haruno Sakura?" Barthur, who was watching the sudden feud between Hina and me with amusement, whispered at Merlin, "Who's that?"
"Not sure." Merlin looked at Barthur dryly, causing him to cough in embarrassment, before motioning at the marine soldiers who were on the deck.
"Well, hmhm, I suppose that we will get going now!" Barthur then jumped up at least 15 feet in my eyes, before landing on the deck of the tall ship. Noticing that the ship was now about to leave at any second, Hina and I stopped our verbal battle.
"Captain Merlin!" Regardless of how fast things were progressing, in the end, there was no doubt that Merlin has given me lots of help. I had nothing but gratitude for him, and therefore, expressed my thanks while waving my arms, "Thank you for all that you've done for me!"
Hina, on the other hand, saluted him in a strict manner, "Trainee Hina of the Logue Town Marine Training Facility, heading out!"
Merlin, whose expression softened, waved back at us, "Good luck, kids."
Using the metal ladder that was attached to the side of the ship, Hina and I got aboard it. Without further ado, along with the loud sound of horn, the ship began to sail out, away from the Logue Town that I dwelled for three months after my transmigration.
Although it was sudden, my story has finally finished its prologue; I was afraid of the unknown, yet excited about what I may be able to achieve in the future—
"Hey, kids,"
Until Barthur spoke to us with a gentle smile, while throwing two uniforms at us,
"get changed to that uniform."
"Sir, if you would not mind telling," I asked while opening the neatly folded uniform, "what may this be for?"
"It's an official way of telling that you've entered the rank of Marine."
"And what rank are we currently on?" Hina asked.
"Chore Boys."
''...That's a rank?!'' Hina and I thought at the same time.