Three days later, at dawn, in front of Nami's house.
Garen lightly knocked on the door and called inside,
"Nami, it's time to go!"
The door suddenly swung open. Nami stood there in front of Garen, groggy and still in her baggy pajamas.
"Go? Go where?"
She tugged slightly at the overly loose collar of her sleepwear, but the sudden movement pulled at the fresh wound on her arm—left behind from changing her tattoo.
The stinging pain jolted her fully awake.
On the very first day after the Arlong Pirates were defeated, Nami had gone to the village tattoo artist and had the Arlong emblem on her arm replaced with a windmill and orange design she liked.
"We're setting sail for adventure!"
Garen announced solemnly.
"Wallace is just about ready. You should get your things together too!"
With that, Garen casually walked right into Nami's house and found himself a comfortable spot on the couch.
"I'll wait here."
Nojiko was making breakfast in the kitchen. When she saw Garen, she greeted him with a smile.
After three days of living together, Garen had already gotten quite close with Nami's family and the villagers.
"Hmph!"
Nami frowned at Garen's overly familiar attitude and suddenly felt an inexplicable, complicated emotion.
"Pack what stuff? I'm not even officially your crewmate yet!"
"Eh?"
Garen was momentarily stunned, his face full of surprise.
"You're not? I thought…"
Although they hadn't known each other for long, Garen felt that things between him and Nami had naturally fallen into place.
"Speaking of which…"
Nami suddenly changed the subject and asked a seemingly vague question:
"What's your dream?"
"My… dream?"
Garen was completely caught off guard. He stood there dumbfounded, unable to answer.
This world was strange. One of its quirks was that nearly everyone could clearly state their dream.
Drawing the world map, becoming the world's greatest swordsman, becoming the Pirate King, becoming an admiral of the Navy—these were all very different, yet very concrete dreams.
But Garen, like most people from his past life, was a dreamless slacker.
Perhaps it was only in the world of manga that everyone had a grand dream.
In the real world, just surviving was already exhausting. Who had time to chase after dreams?
"You don't even know what your dream is…"
Nami stared straight into Garen's eyes, her tone sharp and pressing.
"Then where exactly are you taking me if I sail with you?"
"I…"
Garen couldn't find the words. He could only force something out.
"We'll figure it out after we set sail."
"Tch!"
Nami gave him a look of disdain and said bluntly,
"You should just sail off by yourself!"
"No!"
Garen's expression suddenly grew firm. He looked at Nami with a burning gaze and declared,
"I want you to come with me."
Nami's deliberately cold expression wavered under Garen's intense gaze. Her face flushed slightly as she pouted,
"And why should I?"
"Because…"
Garen drew out the word dramatically, but didn't follow it up immediately.
In that brief pause, Nami's face reddened even more, and a trace of anticipation flickered in her gemstone-like eyes.
Then Garen said, in all seriousness:
"Because I don't know how to sail."
"You—!"
Nami turned her head away, puffing out her cheeks in frustration, refusing to look at him.
But Garen didn't dwell on it. He stood up decisively and headed for the door, leaving behind a single sentence:
"I'll be waiting at the dock. Don't take too long!"
"Jerk! What kind of captain is that!?"
Nami stomped her foot in a mix of anger and embarrassment, glaring at Garen's retreating back.
Nojiko, meanwhile, watched with a knowing smile. She understood her sister all too well—this wasn't just a spat between a navigator and her captain.
…
A small single-masted sailboat quietly floated at the dock.
It was a ship Garen had asked the villagers of Cocoyasi Village to lend him. Though not large, it was of good quality—perfect for a small crew like his.
Garen and Wallace were already aboard with their luggage and were waving goodbye to the villagers gathered at the dock.
Eventually, the villagers returned to the village, and the sun climbed higher in the sky.
But the boat still hadn't set sail—because one person was still missing.
After waiting a bit longer, Garen turned to Wallace and said,
"Let's raise the sail. When Nami gets here, we can set off right away."
"Um…"
Wallace hesitated, then asked,
"Lord Garen, are you sure Miss Nami is coming? She hasn't actually said she would join you, has she?"
"She'll come."
Garen nodded confidently, a faint smile on his lips.
"Girls are just too shy to say it directly."
"This morning, I went to her house and saw that her luggage was already packed and sitting in the living room."
"I see."
Wallace nodded, then hurried to help Garen raise the sail.
As soon as the small sail was hoisted, the wind caught it and the boat began drifting away from the dock—held back only by the mooring line.
But then, out of nowhere, a sudden violent gust of wind blew through.
The sail ballooned with force, exerting so much tension that the knot on the mooring rope was torn loose.
"Crap!"
Garen cursed inwardly.
So that's what all those knots Nami taught me were for…
It was too late for regrets. The little boat had already been pushed far from the dock by the fierce wind.
…
Just then, Nami arrived at the dock after saying goodbye to her family. Her expression froze when she saw the drifting sailboat.
She dropped her heavy pack to the ground and shouted,
"That idiot really left me behind?!"
But in the next instant, the sailboat was suddenly blown right back toward the dock.
Garen's figure came clearly into view as he struggled with the sail ropes.
"Nami!"
Garen called out excitedly while fumbling with the lines.
"I've been waiting for you!"
"You…"
Nami, with her expert navigator's instincts, could feel the strange shift in the wind. She puffed up angrily.
"You clearly got blown back by the wind!"
"Haha…"
Garen chuckled awkwardly.
"I did say I can't sail."
"You can't just raise the sail and go with the wind like that against the breeze!"
Nami crossed her arms and began explaining, almost out of habit:
"If you want to sail against the wind, you have to keep the sail angled sharply to the wind and tack in a zigzag pattern. That way, you can use the wind's lateral force to move forward."
"But you have to control the angle precisely—not too wide or too narrow. Ideally, about twenty-two degrees."
"If you want to go faster, you can't just rely on the wind pushing from behind. You need to adjust your heading so the sail redirects the wind and creates a reactive force—"
"Uh-huh."
Garen's expression grew grim as he realized where this was going.
Word by word, he interrupted:
"I don't get it. Please stop."
"You—"
Nami let out a sigh, then picked up her luggage and stepped onto the boat with one foot.
She casually tossed her bag onboard and said, half exasperated,
"You're impossible."
"Just follow my instructions and control the sail properly!"
Under the guidance of the expert navigator Nami, the little sailboat—previously at the mercy of the wind—finally set off from the dock of Cocoyasi Village.
The familiar sights of home faded away, replaced by the vast expanse of the unknown.
"Garen…"
Nami looked out at the boundless sea and asked once more,
"Have you figured out what your dream is yet?"
"My dream?"
Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Nami at the bow, Garen's voice was full of confidence.
"Something that vague and illusory isn't worth worrying about. I just need to know where I'm going next."
"And where's that?"
Nami asked, curious.
Garen thought of the reputation he'd begun to build in the East Blue as a knight and replied without hesitation,
"To take down a scumbag."
"Who?"
Nami asked, clearly intrigued.
Garen dug up a not-so-impressive name from his memory.
"A man who commands five thousand EXP-farming minions."
(End of Chapter)