Want to Learn to Shoot?

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Ragren was not arrogant.

He would never take Wolf Rat's friendly advice, but the fear Wolf Rat had shown made him realize there was something unusual about the weapons shop.

For that reason, he did not rush inside. Instead, he spent a little money to have a disposable pirate go in and scout for him.

The result was exactly as Wolf Rat had said.

Inside the shop were an old man and a scarred young woman.

Other than them, there was a black-haired boy around fifteen or sixteen years old.

In other words, that boy was the killer.

Ragren did not know why the boy had killed his crewmates, but that was not his concern.

His job was to settle the matter before his own crew returned.

If circumstances allowed, he would take the boy alive.

The captain would surely be happy to spend some time torturing the killer.

Ragren quietly left the area around the shop and went back to the tavern street.

He wanted to ask around and learn more about the weapons shop.

The reason he was being this cautious was mainly because of Wolf Rat's indirect warning.

Otherwise, he would have already gone in with his blade and started trouble.

After all, it was only a weapons shop opened in an alley, not one of the shops on the main street protected by the town's rules.

Even if he caused trouble inside, he would not need to worry about consequences.

Ragren believed he had not exposed himself.

But as early as the moment he and Wolf Rat had entered the residential district, Sol had already seen everything.

Naturally, that included the shifty-eyed pirate who entered the shop to scout.

At six in the evening, the weapons shop closed on time.

"Net profit, fifty thousand."

Sunny carefully recorded the day's revenue in the ledger.

As for why it was net profit, Corvin could figure that out easily enough.

After recording the sale, Sunny went to the kitchen to prepare dinner, while Corvin stayed in the shop to clean.

As for Sol, for once, he did not immediately slip upstairs.

He remained behind the counter, his gaze drifting toward Corvin again and again.

Corvin finished sweeping the floor, then looked up at Sol.

"Old man... do you have something to say to me?"

"Oh, you noticed?"

Sol knocked the ash out of his pipe.

'How could I not? Your eyes are practically hanging off my neck.'

Corvin complained silently, then put on an expression ready to listen.

Sol looked at him and followed the opening.

"Want to learn to shoot from me?"

"Huh?"

Corvin was startled. He had not expected Sol to bring that up so suddenly.

For a moment, he did not know how to answer.

He knew Sol was not an ordinary man. After all, Sol knew Shanks personally, and Yasopp addressed him with respect.

That meant his skill with firearms was probably far from ordinary as well.

However, after seeing the characters from the story he remembered, Corvin was honestly more inclined toward the blade or hand-to-hand combat than guns.

Because of that understanding, he treated guns as a temporary measure. Once his constitution improved enough, he would consider developing toward martial arts or swordsmanship.

That was why he had not rushed to commit a second growth aspect to the Hunter's Ledger.

The three blank slots he had deliberately left open were meant for the future.

Seeing Corvin take so long to answer, Sol did not mind. He waited patiently.

He truly could not think of any reason Corvin would refuse.

After a moment, Corvin said carefully, "Actually, I wanted to learn the blade more. Do you know how to use one?"

Sol went still.

Sol flinched as if Corvin had stabbed him in a sore spot. Then he climbed onto the chair and shouted against his own conscience, "You want to learn the blade? That garbage can't compare to a gun!"

Seeing Sol react so strongly, Corvin wisely closed his mouth.

Sunny had told him that Sol planned to buy one of the fifty Skillful Grade blades at the auction at the end of the month.

That had made Corvin think Sol must also be highly skilled with a sword.

Now it seemed there was another story behind it.

"I'm telling you, learning the blade gets you killed fast. Learning the gun is different. You can set up from far away and ambush someone. If things go bad, you can withdraw in time. Can a blade give you that advantage?"

"In short, you were born for the gun. Stop thinking about learning blades or whatever else. Be honest and learn to shoot from me. Understand?"

Sol kept pressing his case.

He had thought Corvin would accept with gratitude. Instead, it felt as if he were the one begging Corvin to agree.

If Sol had not seen that Corvin possessed a natural feel for guns, as well as the aptitude to learn Observation Haki, he would not waste so many words.

It was the same as the shop's business principle.

Learn if you wanted. Leave if you did not.

What Sol did not know was that the natural gun sense he saw was actually marksmanship Corvin had trained hard in the Hunter world.

As for his aptitude for Observation Haki, that had to do with a perception technique from the Hunter world called Listening with the Spirit.

That afternoon, when Corvin avoided Arthur's reaching hand, he had relied on Listening with the Spirit.

It was not a Hatsu in the usual sense, but a trained form of perception with levels of mastery. At its core, it let him read intent before motion fully arrived.

Otherwise, given Corvin's condition at the time, even if he had been on guard, he would never have dodged Arthur's hand.

Sol had been present then, and that was what made him judge that Corvin had the aptitude to learn Observation Haki.

For a sniper, Observation Haki was essential for anyone who wanted to reach the top tier.

Without that aptitude, even someone who spent a lifetime improving their marksmanship would never reach that level.

As for gun sense, its importance was lower than Observation Haki, but it was still necessary for becoming a top-tier sniper.

Some people with natural gun sense could hit targets by instinct even if they had never touched a gun or cannon before.

That was gun sense.

A person born with it, as long as they received the right training, would achieve something impressive in the future.

"I understand. I understand."

Corvin did not know why Sol suddenly wanted to take him as a student, but refusing under the circumstances would have been foolish, so he nodded.

More importantly, after thinking about it another way, learning to shoot from Sol would not prevent him from developing martial arts or swordsmanship later.

In any case, he had no intention of wasting a requirement slot on marksmanship.

Most importantly, he could keep Sol as a powerful ally. Why not take it?

Seeing Corvin finally agree, Sol let out a breath of relief.

Then he paused.

'Why am I relieved?'

Sol's lips twitched.

With his identity and experience as an old pirate, if he went aboard the Red Hair Pirates' ship and said he wanted to pass down some experience, younger pirates would line up to learn from him.

Yet now, when he wanted to accept Corvin, he had actually been afraid the boy would refuse.

'Forget it. For talent like this, I'll endure it.'

Sol thought silently.

He really had been worried that Corvin would choose the path of a swordsman.

In Sol's eyes, that would be a complete waste of talent.

If Sol knew what Corvin was truly thinking, he might do more than flip a table.

"All right. Go do what you were doing."

Sol glared at him.

Corvin grabbed the bucket and mop without another word and ran.

Watching him leave, Sol thought of the people who had come after Corvin during the day.

'Daring to touch one of mine?'

Sol's gaze sharpened, and the first signs of protectiveness surfaced.

He went to the third shelf, the one that held secondhand goods, and casually pulled out a flintlock pistol in decent condition despite its age.

After seeing Corvin's talent the previous night, Sol's view of him had fundamentally changed.

And now that Corvin was his student, how could he let small-time trash threaten him?

That night, a lead shot flew several kilometers and struck Ragren with perfect accuracy while he gathered information in a crowded tavern.

One shot.

Dead.

The tavern immediately fell into an uproar.

Ragren, a pirate with a bounty as high as nineteen million Berries, died just like that.

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