The ship finally arrives at Mabo harbor after almost six days at sea.
It was a bit tiresome to be honest, not physically—as Hamon won't let me get tired this easily—but mentally.
Learning both the Navigation and Seamanship at the same time was mind-consuming. Especially with navigation, as being a Helmsman didn't require much brain work. Other than some theoretical information, it was more about sense and intuition than knowledge, the closest thing I could compare it to was cycling, where it is an instinctive thing.
However, navigation required much more mental work, it depended a lot on calculation and theory. The Navigator's sense is something you develop with long experience.
Anyway, now that we have arrived at Mabo Harbor, my educational contract has come to an end. My farewell with my teachers was full of hot tears and emotion…or that's what I wanted to say, with my lack of social energy and cold nature of Sergei the Navigator, it was mainly the old Marisol who was doing the talking.
Marisol advised me to gain more experience by traveling more in one region before attempting to go for larger distances.
I planned to take his advice on this one, but I would still use a fishing crew to reach Leverdent.
Saying goodbye to the cargo crew, I moved along the crowd to the town.
Even though they called it Mabo Harbor, it should have been more like Mabo Ports as the island had three ports, two for ships loading and maintenance, and one solely for shipbuilding.
The town looked less extravagant than Pearlag, the street was filled with carts and busy-looking people carrying tools and materials—Mainly blocks of wood—than people leisurely coming and going around.
Roads were well paved through, and the buildings looked bigger and practical rather than the fancy ones in Pearlag, even when they didn't lack decorations.
My guess it is the effect of the two islands' specialty. Anyway, I walked directly to the other port as they said the fishing boats usually go there.
And I really saw much more smaller boats there. On one side, there was even what looked like a big structure whose purpose was to maintain ships.
I asked around to see if there was someone willing to take me to Leverdent, and there were plenty of them but,
"So it is not possible? Even for a few days?"
"Yeah, sorry young man. I don't think anyone would agree to wait for you. As you can see, we are fishermen, not cargo ships. We only deliver people or small goods to islands close to our fishing routes as an extra cash." The fisherman explained to me why no one wanted to agree to my request.
It made sense, as those fishermen didn't want to stay at sea for longer than a week, or they could have changed careers at this point.
Looks like I would have to improvise something later.
"Okay, I agree. When will we leave?"
"Hmm? You agreed? Very well, we can leave by tomorrow morning!" the middle-aged fisherman decided when we should leave.
Now that my transportation to Leverdent is decided, I rented a room at an inn for a single night and made a quick tour around the town.
The open market was the most interesting thing in this town. There was a variety of goods and many more products at this market than at Pearlag. From what I knew, this island was at the borders of a sea region, so this should be the common goods of the next sea region.
I wanted to take this opportunity to grind my bargaining-Hiki, but I am quite tight on time, so I will have to pass on this one.
Going around for a bit more, I returned to the inn and rested early, I didn't even read any book, it looks like I was more tired than I thought.
On the next day, I headed to the port early morning. And to my surprise, I was actually late, the three fishermen on the small boat were waiting for me for hours.
It turned out that the fishermen were quite the early people, so they expected me to be there early too, which I wasn't.
"I see. My apologies for the delay, I should have arrived earlier." Apologizing briefly to the fishermen was what I did the moment it occurred to my head.
When I raised my head, I saw that the three fishermen were taken aback. Hmm? Why?
"Ah-Haha, there is no need for you to apologize! I should have reminded you before! Now let's get going, we have wasted enough of daytime!" The elder fisherman said to ease the awkwardness.
And I was happy to take it. Not long after, we were getting farther away from Mabo.
The trip to Leverdent was uneventful, the fishermen were busy with their work most of the time, other than the few times we stopped in a fishing zone.
I learned why they were surprised by my apology during the times they were trying to chat with me on the way.
They thought it was some form of etiquette, the head bow to be exact, and concluded that I had some kind of noble upbringing.
Looks like the normal Japanese etiquette isn't the common sense here, even if they speak Japanese. I should have realized this earlier, but I let my guard down because they were speaking Japanese.
Honestly, the language part is really strange, I am sure it is not the cliché of universal language translation like the Isekai. I really saw some kanji and words of other languages here and there, adding the little information that I know from the Manga, there may be some grand secret involved in this.
Or not. I actually don't care about this secret, or whatever. I just hope to get out of here as soon as possible.
Close to noon of the third day, I have finally arrived at Leverdent.
The island didn't have a harbor, the closest thing they had was some kind of stone platform that was used for one. And it was even higher than the deck of the boat, so I had to get over the roof of the cabin and jump over.
"That's it, Bo-chan! We will have to go now, good luck with your search!" The middle-aged fisherman yelled from the boat as he controlled the ship away from the coast. The other two waved goodbye to me, too.
I too awkwardly waved back, until they gained some distance.
Only then was I able to observe my surroundings closely.
The stone platform was really a makeshift harbor, it had the basic essentials of a harbor. And from it, there was a road that led to a collection of houses that looked like the settlements of the island residents, from what I can see. A bit further beyond it and a bit to the side, I can see what looks like a mountain forest-like area, with two rocky peaks.
Leverdent was known to have a mountain forest like most of the islands in the sea region, that's why it is called the Phiri-Gir region, which means the Green Mountains in the ancient language of the region.
From that direction, I can see someone walking towards me. It looks like I was noticed by the residents, and someone came to inquire.
Alright, let's see how this will go. Before they came closer, I took out the Sparrow Compass to see which direction the Devil Fruit is.
Moments later, I can see the Compass pointing toward the mountain forest side, the distance is about 3 to 4 kilometers, as the counter is stopping between the two.
"So it is plan A." I had a few plans depending on where the Devil Fruit was on the island.
If it were with the residents, then I would pretend that I am a wandering merchant and a collector to buy it from them. I am confident that I can make an offer they won't refuse.
However, if it were in the wild area—which was my first guess—then I would go with plan A.
"Hello sir, welcome to Leverdent! Can I ask you what has brought you to our remote piece of land?" An old man holding a walking cane that looked like he didn't need it, asked me in what seemed to be a polite tone.
From his profile and his attention, he was trying to be careful. In the Golden Age of Piracy, small islands and villages were usually the target of pirates. Thus, when a stranger suddenly appears on the island, it is usually not a good sign.
While the old man looked old, his back was straight, his shoulders looked wide, and his gaze was sharp. And if I have to guess, the cane in his hand is not just a cane.
"Ah, yes, sorry for my sudden visit. I am actually searching for a rare herb." I stated, keeping my tone as calm as possible.
"A rare herb?" the old man asked, surprised by my unexpected reply.
"Yeah, it is called the Luminara Petal. This is an illustration of how it looked." I took out a paper from my right hip bag and handed it to the old man.
The old man took the paper warily and examined the drawing.
No need to examine it this much, this herb doesn't exist.
Indeed, this is the excuse I made. If the Devil Fruit is not with the resident but on the wild side, then I can search there with the excuse of searching for a rare herb.
"Sorry young man, but I have never seen this herb before. What is it even used for?" The old man asked.
"It is used to make a cure for a certain illness. I need it for one of my acquaintances, so I was hoping to find it here." My lie continued.
"I see, but are you sure this herb of yours is here? I have been living on this island for most of my life, but I have never seen it." The old man passively questioned if this quest of mine was true.
He is still wary of me. If I continue to answer his questions like this, he will find fault in my words, and trouble will start.
The solution for this is like this…
"To be honest, I'm not sure. From what I've read in books, it grows in this region and is rare to find elsewhere. I've been searching for it all over this part of the sea but haven't had much luck, so I need to look everywhere. Could you please inquire with the local residents if they have seen this Luminara Petal? I will search for it in the mountain forest. I apologize for any inconvenience, and thank you in advance." Saying those words, I began to walk towards the mountain forest with hurried steps.
Overwhelm him with info, express your urgency, give him a chore to keep him busy, and leave immediately.
Our minds can't handle so many tasks at once, especially in a very short time. That's why people either panic or freeze once surprising things happen, their mind becomes suddenly overcrowded with things to process, making it hard to think deeply about everything.
"Huh? Wai-Wait! Don't go into the forest! There is a strong Mountain King there and many other dangerous beasts!" the old man yelled at me from behind to warn me, but I didn't slow my steps.
"I will be careful to only search the outskirts, and get back to you, sorry for all the trouble!" I replied as I continued to head to the mountain.
All of these lies made me feel bad. My only solace is that I wasn't exactly lying, I am really searching for a plant on this island, just not the one I said it was.
…
A\N: Well, That's it for now.
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