Takumi's decision left Shanks feeling quite frustrated.
"You really don't want to fight me, huh?" Shanks asked, half-laughing, half-exasperated.
Takumi ignored him, getting straight to work cleaning up the mess in the hall.
Though he could have easily walked away without caring about Shanks' request, he had, after all, been living and drinking there for over two months.
More importantly, he had nearly finished off Mihawk's wine collection...
Cleaning up after a banquet was no big deal in comparison.
Seeing Takumi silently starting to clean, Shanks had no choice but to sheathe Gryphon and help with the cleanup, though feeling a bit dejected.
"I can't believe you," Shanks muttered as they worked. "We've known each other for so long. Can't you do me a favor and accept just one of my challenges?"
"No," Takumi replied flatly.
"Why not?" Shanks asked, sounding a bit indignant.
"Fighting you is boring," Takumi said nonchalantly.
Hearing that, Shanks couldn't help but groan. "There you go with that excuse again… You don't even know if it's boring since we've never fought! I don't care, though. Before I leave this island, I'm going to duel you at least once!"
Takumi remained silent.
"You two," a cold voice suddenly came from the upper corridor. Mihawk appeared, his face expressionless, his eyes locking onto the pair below. "Who drank my wine?"
Instantly, both Takumi and Shanks fell silent.
Mihawk's sharp gaze swept over them, landing on the bottle of wine sitting on the table—a bottle from his personal collection.
And it just so happened to be closest to Shanks…
"Shanks, was it you?" Mihawk's eyes narrowed as they fixed on Shanks.
Just as Shanks was about to respond, Takumi cut in, "It was him."
"Huh?" Shanks turned to Takumi, a mix of amusement and disbelief on his face.
Takumi averted his gaze, feigning innocence.
Shanks chuckled, shaking his head before turning back to Mihawk, raising his hands in defeat. "Yeah, it was me. My ship's stocked with plenty of wine. However much you're missing, I'll replace it. Fair enough?"
"Fill it up," Mihawk said coldly before turning and disappearing into the shadows of the corridor.
As soon as Mihawk left, Shanks playfully reached out to hit Takumi on the head.
But just as his hand was about to land, Takumi used a quick step technique and dodged.
"You're getting better at passing the blame," Shanks said with a smirk, reaching for the bottle of wine on the table. "Fine, I'll take this bottle. Since I already took the fall for drinking all of Mihawk's wine, one more won't hurt."
Takumi didn't respond.
Shanks suddenly thought of something, and his face lit up with a mischievous grin. "You love wine, don't you? How about this: agree to fight me, and I'll give you all the wine left on my ship. I'm doing you a favor here, after all. I'm taking the blame for you, and I'm offering you wine. If I were you, I'd definitely accept."
"But you're not me," Takumi replied with a faint smile. "So, I still refuse."
"You…" Shanks was at a loss for words, utterly exasperated. "What am I even doing here? I've spent the whole day being rejected by you and Mihawk! Fine, Mihawk's injured and can't fight, but you? You're supposed to be my friend, and you can't even accept one simple request?"
Takumi nodded, unfazed.
Shanks laughed, though it was more out of frustration than amusement. "Alright, fine. I give up. You're lucky I'm such a patient guy. If it were anyone else, they'd have forced you to fight by now. Let's just finish cleaning so we can get some sleep."
Just as Shanks finished speaking, the system notification rang in Takumi's mind.
[Ding! You have refused Shanks' duel challenge. Sign-in progress increased by 20%. Current total progress: 60%. Reward: Armament Haki Level +1. Current Armament Haki Level: Lv9.]
Feeling the power surge through his body, Takumi had to suppress a laugh.
He hadn't refused Shanks because he was avoiding the fight; he just found it amusing to mess with him.
Who would've thought that rejecting the duel would count toward his progress? This was better than expected.
It seemed that leaving Kuraigana Island would be possible sooner than he thought.
Half an hour later, the door to the castle creaked open once again.
Lucky Roux and Benn Beckman, along with several other crew members, entered.
When they saw Shanks and Takumi cleaning up the aftermath of the banquet, they were stunned.
"Well, now this is a rare sight! The two captains are actually doing the cleanup themselves?" one crew member laughed.
"No way… Captain, you've never cleaned a day in your life! Do you even know how?" another added.
"Am I seeing this right? Even Takumi is helping clean? I always thought he was like our captain—never lifts a finger for anything."
"Maybe we should leave. Pretend we didn't see anything," another crew member joked.
Seeing that they were serious about leaving, Shanks quickly shouted, "Hey, you guys! You're already here, so help us finish! Otherwise, Takumi and I will be stuck here until midnight…"
"Seriously? You can't handle a little cleaning?" one crew member teased. "You two captains really are spoiled! Looks like we need to put you to work more often."
"Hurry up and finish so we can get some rest," Beckman said with a smirk, walking further into the hall.
Following him, Lucky Roux added, "Benn, you've spoiled the captain too much. His laziness is all your fault."
Beckman chuckled. "Aren't you the same?"
With the rest of Shanks' crew pitching in, Takumi quietly set down the plate he was holding.
"Don't even think about slipping away," Shanks warned, instantly noticing Takumi's attempt to leave. "You're not getting out of here until everything's clean."
Takumi: "…"
"What the heck is going on here?" Enel's voice echoed from the doorway.
Behind him, Kaku entered and saw the scene. He was especially surprised to see that Takumi, who was known for avoiding chores, had his hands covered in grease. "Wait, am I seeing things? Is that really Captain Takumi cleaning?"
"Perfect timing," Takumi said, "You two can take over from here."
And with that, Takumi used a quick step technique and disappeared from the hall.
Leaving Enel and Kaku standing there, utterly bewildered.
"That brat is quick," Shanks grumbled, cracking his knuckles. "Don't think you've gotten away. Benn, you guys finish up here. I'm going after him."
Before Beckman could say anything, Shanks had already dashed off.
Neither Shanks nor Takumi returned that night…
After cleaning the hall to spotless perfection, Shanks' crew left the castle, grumbling as they headed back to the ship.
Meanwhile, Enel and Kaku retired to their rooms in the castle to rest.
In the middle of the night, after confirming that Mihawk, Takumi, and Enel were all sound asleep, Kaku sneaked out of the castle. He made his way into the dense forest and retrieved the hidden Den Den Mushi he had stashed earlier—a special snail capable of contacting the World Government.
************
Please support me on Ko-fi at ko-fi. com/gered to read up to chapter 310!