"Fish, what's wrong?"
Watching Mandfeish continuously rubbing his eyes on the deck, Rushaka was a bit worried about his physical condition.
"It's nothing, just... I might be seeing things. Look at Tiger, why do I feel like he's glowing?"
"No, he's the same as usual. Tiger looks exactly the same as always."
Rushaka stared at Tiger for a long time but couldn't see any glow. As a sea bream fish-man, Tiger didn't have any luminescent organs. She couldn't understand why Mandfeish felt that way.
"Something's not right... Maybe I really ought to get checked. Anyway, I'll take Tiger to the monastery first, then I can show you around here."
He had his own suite on Ghost Island, but there wasn't much to see there since he stationed overseas for long periods, leaving his room mostly empty.
People on Ghost Island would clean his room regularly, so it could be considered tidy, but there's nothing new or exciting to speak of.
Compared to the theme park built on the island he was stationed at, this was a stark difference—hundreds of acres turned into just a small room of dozens of square meters.
His task was to bring Tiger here. Afterward, professionals would take over. In terms of preaching, Misu had already demonstrated her ability, even better than Shaina.
"Follow me, the monastery is right here, Sister Misu is already waiting for you."
Saying this, Mandfeish led the way out of Hidden Port into the bustling area of Hakumai.
...
"This is Wano Kuni, the base we've been building for over ten years. This area is now called Hakumai, currently managed by Lady Shaina."
Most Hundred Beasts' infrastructure was constructed in Hakumai. The Pokemon Center, the monastery, the Squirtle Fire Brigade, and the original Hidden Port are also important hubs for external communication, so this area was handed over to Shaina.
"I read in the documents that Wano Kuni was once a very closed-off country, right?"
The documents mentioned by Tiger were part of the teachings. According to them, Wano Kuni had closed itself off to the world for many years, even more than Fishman Island.
Fishman Island would encounter outside ships daily, but due to the geographical factors, Wano Kuni rarely saw outsiders. Without internal supporters, there would be maybe one or two outsiders coming by through accidents in decades.
"That's true in the past. Is there a problem?"
"These people don't seem to be afraid of me."
As the Captain of the Sun Pirates, Tiger had sailed the sea for three years with fish-men. They hadn't entered the New World in those years, but in the First Half of the Grand Line, they visited many islands.
As Ah Long mentioned, humans had skeptical and fearful gazes toward fish-men. Unlike mermaids' beauty, fish-men's appearances are mostly rugged, equating them to monsters in many people's eyes.
The fear stems from the unknown. Just because they didn't understand them, people assumed fish-men were terrifying beings based solely on appearances.
Even islands with ongoing external contact were like this, so closed-off countries like Wano Kuni should be more severe.
As far as he knew, there weren't many fish-men in Wano Kuni. As for Jack, his appearance was very close to humans. People wouldn't be able to tell he was a fish-man without being told.
He lacked the signature features of fish-men, looking more like a giant than a fish-man.
This was Hakumai's central economic area, with high foot traffic, mostly locals from Wano Kuni. You could tell by their clothes—few youths showed some change, while most adults retained traditional Wano Kuni attire.
Even children were playfully running around him, and the adults weren't rushing to pull them away. During Koala's farewell on Fuerxhe Island, he could see fear in the other villagers' eyes, but here there wasn't any.
To these people, he seemed to be just another ordinary person.
"Why be afraid? You're just a bit intimidating. Ten years ago, they might have treated you as a monster, but things are different now. There are many here more monstrous than you, no—actually, they are monsters."
Previously, Wano Kuni was indeed exclusionary. Kawamatsu, Nekomamushi, and Inuarashi were almost burned as demons.
Kawamatsu's mother told him to call himself a kappa before she died, showing that, to outsiders, the mythical kappa was more acceptable than a fish-man.
But now, everything has changed. With Hundred Beasts becoming the actual rulers of Wano Kuni, more Pokemon began appearing here. Each Pokemon was a new life form, making prejudice a taboo in Wano Kuni.
Over the years, as Pokémon integrated into people's lives, Wano Kuni gradually got used to intelligent beings with different appearances. Pokémon transitioned from monsters to Grass Gods.
Speaking of which, Tiger felt slight tremors from the ground. A giant boar-like Emboar over ten meters tall came over carrying a large boulder.
This made him understand what Mandfeish meant.
[There are many here more monstrous than you]
Fish-men looked monstrous at most, but this gigantic Emboar was an actual monster. Yet, people didn't flee—they waved at Emboar, even calling out, "Mountain God, sir."
"This is..."
"You can call it Emboar. It used to be a giant boar, later transformed by Lord Arceus. Looks like it's time for some bridge repairs."
"That's wonderful. This must be the scene Princess Otohime most wanted to see."
Without prejudice, people from any race could freely walk in the streets, basking in sunlight. He seemed to glimpse the ideal country only existing in Otohime's dreams.
"That, I wouldn't know. Wano Kuni is vast; you can take your time to admire later. Follow me now, Sister Misu has been waiting for you."
Though he didn't mind being a guide for his wife, he didn't want to keep babysitting Tiger. Right now, their communication was normal; once he linked it to religious matters, he'd get headaches, so he headed directly toward the monastery.
At the monastery, Misu was leading the children to clean it. There were no tuition fees, plus boarding and all educational tasks were covered.
All attendees must work as much as they can, including Rami. This was a way to train them early, to understand there's no free lunch in the world.
What the monastery offered was top-tier quality, on par with the supplies given to General Hiyori in Flower Capital. Even ordinary people from Wano Kuni wanted their children here, but the monastery didn't admit them.
The monastery could be seen as Hundred Beasts' "noble" academy, only accepting orphans and Hundred Beasts members' children.