Chidori

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"Chidori..."

Corvin studied the long blade on the table.

A row of diamond patterns was engraved into the hilt. The sheath was a deep blue from end to end, long and textured, with white flower-like markings scattered irregularly across it.

Blue and white interwove, creating a sense of depth at first glance.

After studying it for a while, Corvin became intensely curious about the blade inside the sheath.

Sunny, by contrast, had no interest in the sword at all. She focused entirely on clearing the bottom of her bowl, refusing to spare even the smallest chopped scallion.

Sol slurped a mouthful of steaming noodles and turned to Corvin. "What, want to see how it feels?"

Corvin nodded instinctively. "Yeah. The blade looks incredible. I wonder how it feels in the hand."

"Heh. Then try it and find out."

Sol freed one hand, picked up Chidori, and offered it over.

Corvin's face brightened. He reached out to take it.

At that instant, Sol's smile vanished. He flipped Chidori around like a stick and tapped Corvin on the forehead with it.

"When you do something, do it properly. You haven't even learned the basics of shooting, and you're already interested in blades?"

Corvin rubbed his forehead and stared at Sol, whose smile had vanished in a heartbeat.

He only wanted to look at the blade. Was that really necessary?

Knowing how sensitive Sol was about this topic, Corvin did not talk back.

That night, he had just been thinking about whether to write down a second requirement. Then Sol happened to buy Chidori from the auction.

Because of that, Corvin wanted to personally feel the charm of a named blade from this world.

He had not expected Sol to refuse even letting him touch it.

Sol hated things related to swords so much, yet he was obsessed with collecting named blades.

Corvin truly had no idea what filled the old man's head.

He looked at Chidori after Sol placed it back on the table, regret plain on his face.

Soon, however, he remembered that named blades were usually placed on shelves, and that Sol went to the pleasure district almost every morning for exercise.

Corvin quietly looked away, already calculating.

At that moment, he failed to notice Sol's meaningful look, as if the old man were saying: Give it up, brat.

The next morning, thin mist drifted through the air.

The sea's damp saltiness filled every breath.

Corvin woke, put on the weights, and immediately ran to the shop.

"How is it not here?"

Looking at the shelves, unchanged from the day before, Corvin's expectations collapsed. Disappointment covered his face.

Hearing him, Sunny came over from the corridor and looked at him curiously.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing."

Corvin gave a perfunctory answer.

He did not want to say it, but Sunny looked at the shelves, then thought of his behavior the night before, and immediately guessed what he had in mind.

"Don't bother. Any blade Sol wants to collect will never be put on a shelf for sale. He doesn't need named blades to make the shop look good."

"Is that so?"

Corvin grew even more disappointed.

He had been holding on to the small hope that Sol might admire the blade for a few days and then put it on the shelf. Sunny crushed that hope in a single sentence.

"The expensive blades he buys are all kept in his own room. And I advise you not to try anything. If even an ant entered that room, Sol would know."

Sunny glanced at the disappointment on Corvin's face and walked toward the kitchen.

"Breakfast will take a little longer today. Clean the shop first, then come over."

"Okay."

Corvin answered weakly, then looked at the shelves again.

There were many long blades there, but none gave him the same immediate spark Chidori had.

The difference between them felt enormous.

After all, reputation did not come from nowhere.

Chidori was one of the Skillful Grade blades. Even setting aside the presence a named blade naturally carried, its quality alone was far beyond the blades on the shelf.

In reality, the blades on the shelves were not bad. They were much worse than Chidori, but not to the point of an absolute divide.

Corvin felt that way mostly because of reputation.

There was no helping it. Influenced by the story he remembered, he naturally believed that only the ranked blades were truly good blades.

But the world was so vast. How could there be only about a hundred good blades?

Even a blade of average quality, if used for years by a swordsman skilled in Armament Haki, could be shaped into a superior blade through long-term Haki tempering.

Though he could not touch Chidori, Corvin's desire to obtain a blade grew stronger.

He would have to get one secretly and hide it in his room.

When he had free time, he could take it out and familiarize himself with the feel.

Once the idea took root, Corvin did not rush.

Copying the notebook mattered more. After dinner, he had to return it to Sunny.

No longer obsessing over Chidori, Corvin cleaned the shop as quickly as possible, then asked Sunny for a new notebook.

It took him more than two hours to copy down all the intelligence.

He already had an impression of the information in Sunny's notebook, and after copying it once, some details became clearer in his mind.

Corvin estimated that, even without using bounty photos for comparison, he should be able to identify many targets on sight.

Most of the day passed, and the weapons shop remained as quiet as ever.

Not a single customer came.

Only around mealtime did Sol return slowly, carrying a pot of liquor and smelling of alcohol.

The moment he entered the weapons shop, Sol glanced at the weights on Corvin's legs.

"Skipping lunch."

After saying that, he went straight upstairs to his room.

It seemed he had already eaten his fill outside.

Watching Sol go upstairs, Corvin returned to the shop and glanced at the half-closed door.

He thought that once Sol fell asleep, he probably would not wake for several hours.

In that case, if Sol was not there to supervise his training that afternoon, perhaps he could go out and look for prey.

The moment the thought came, Corvin decided to act.

He was not going to eat either. He went back to his room.

First, he removed the weights. Then he hid two flintlock pistols close to his body. He did not bring Usopp, because the old wear on the gun was too easy to recognize.

"About five hundred thousand Berries..."

Corvin counted his remaining private money, then tucked it carefully into his pocket.

It was money he had taken from his prey after hunting them.

Once he was ready, Corvin quickly went downstairs to the shop.

"Sunny, I'm going out."

He threw out the words quickly and gave Sunny no chance to respond. Opening and closing the door in one smooth motion, he vanished almost instantly.

Behind the counter, Sunny stared blankly at the door for a long moment before gritting her teeth.

"Cor-vin!"

But soon, she realized how fast he had moved when he slipped away.

"That can't be right. It's only been a few days..."

Sunny was stunned.

Even if his talent was frightening, wearing weights for only two days should not have produced such obvious progress.

She could not understand it.

Walking through the alleys, Corvin suddenly remembered that there were still a few neighbors he had not visited.

But since he could pay those visits any time, and since his time was limited, he left that thought for later.

"Come to think of it, this is my first time going out during the day."

Corvin could not help sighing. Then he began thinking about where to go.

His first choice was naturally a tavern.

Taverns were a mixed mess of people, but the chance of finding suitable prey there was higher.

That said, Corvin was also curious about seeing Lookout Point Street during the day, along with other weapons shops, and the place Sol often visited for morning exercise...

He mentally cleared his throat.

The more he thought about it, the more interested he became, and his pace quickened.

But in his rising mood, he did not notice the gaze watching him from behind.

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