"Akame, Watch your captain in action," Ethan said, eager to prove himself and show her he wasn't just a freeloader.
"Understood."
"Come on! Henry Quackenbush, with a bounty of 3.8 million berries! Your head is mine!"
"Let's see if you have what it takes!" Henry drew his long sword and slashed at Ethan. Ethan deflected the strike with his own blade and countered with an upward slash aimed at Henry's crotch. 'Let's see how you like a "dick-splitter," asshole.'
Henry, seasoned from years of battle, jumped back to avoid the emasculating strike. "Not bad, kid. How about joining us?" Henry, impressed, tried to recruit Ethan.
"You are too ugly to match my handsome face. Please allow me to reject you," Ethan replied. How could he possibly like the people of the pirate world? Their average appearance score was far lower than that of characters from other anime. Most of them looked like they'd been exposed to nuclear waste in the womb.
"You little shit!" Henry roared, swinging his sword with all his might in a powerful overhead strike.
"Soru!" Ethan, who had taught himself the Rokushiki technique, vanished from Henry's sight, dodging the heavy blow, and reappeared behind him, closing the distance quickly.
Clang—
Their blades clashed as the two men locked in a struggle of strength. Henry noticed Ethan's lips curling into a sly smile, like a schemer whose plan had succeeded. Ethan's left hand reached for the flintlock pistol holstered at his side—the same overpriced pistol he'd been scammed into buying.
Bang—
A gunshot rang out, and blood sprayed from Henry's chest.
"You're despicable!" Henry cursed, his voice filled with resentment. "How dare you use a gun in a duel..."
Bang—
Another shot silenced Henry forever. Ethan blew on the smoking barrel of his pistol, mimicking a cowboy from the Wild West. As a lazy person at heart, Ethan didn't care about the unspoken rules of duels. Ending the fight quickly was all that mattered. He turned to look at Akame.
Most of the Henry Pirates had already been taken down. While Ethan had been dueling the captain, Akame had been handling the rest of the crew. "Ichizan Hissatsu," she whispered, cutting down the pirates like wheat in a field.
Despite the carnage, Akame moved with the grace of a night elf, dodging attacks effortlessly and dispatching the pirates with a single strike each. Ethan joined the fray, and soon only a handful of pirates remained, their courage shattered as they tried to flee.
"Please, spare us! We'll never be pirates again!"
"We surrender! We surrender! Stop killing us!" They begged, preferring imprisonment by the Marines to death at the hands of these two.
"And what about the innocent people you've killed? What about them?" Ethan sneered. "You've slaughtered and robbed without remorse. You don't deserve to live!" He coldly rejected their pleas for mercy.
...
[Side Quest Completed: 1 million berries and 2 bond points awarded.]
[Achievement Unlocked: "First Battle with a Companion" – 1 achievement point.]
"So poor!" After clearing out the pirates, the two searched the ship's treasure room and storage, finding only 810,000 berries. 'Well, pirates live for the moment. No surprise they're broke.' Ethan thought. "But there's plenty of food. Let's move it to our ship."
"Mm." Akame, already drooling at the sight of meat, eagerly helped.
[You can sell the pirate ship to the shop.] The system, ever the tsundere, reminded Ethan of its existence.
'Since we can't sail this big ship with just the two of us, might as well sell it,' Ethan thought, his heart aching from lack of funds. Without hesitation, he decided to sell it.
Before selling it, Ethan mimicked Doraemon's pocketing gesture, touching the ship and pretending to stuff it into his chest. The ship vanished instantly, and Akame didn't even bat an eye.
[The ship sold for 1,500,000 Berries.]
'Hey, I sold it to you for 1,500,000 berries, so why are you reselling it for 10,000,000 berries?'
[Buying low and selling high is a basic skill for every merchant.]
'…' Ethan, who was driven into autism by the system, tried to calm himself. 'I'm not angry.'
[Current Money: 8,531,000 Berries]
[9 Achievement Points]
[8 Bond Points]