"Phantom Step? You mean that ghost-like movement technique you used when you fought Baichuan, Master?" Jora's voice trembled with excitement. Whether for escaping or killing, that footwork was an absolute weapon.
"That's right. Though that technique won't be very useful against someone at the level of a Great Swordmaster, it should be more than enough for you for now. And once you break through to Great Swordmaster yourself, you probably won't need it anymore."
"Then how long will it take me to learn it?"
"That depends on your talent. Someone gifted can grasp it in about half a month. Someone less talented might need one or two years."
"Really? Then I should be able to master it in ten days."
Jora was not bragging. His talent really was that strong.
"Hmph." Orl seemed very displeased by Jora's arrogance.
"You can go out now. As for how you explain it to Baichuan, that's your business. Whether he accepts you or not is his business."
"I understand, Master."
Jora then left the room and sat down in the courtyard, watching Baichuan train and grow familiar with his strength.
"Done talking with your master?" Baichuan caught sight of Jora from the corner of his eye, wiped his sweat with the towel hanging around his neck, and stopped training.
"Yeah. I want to go to sea with you."
"Pfft... what did you just say?" Baichuan sprayed out a mouthful of water. This was the first time anyone had made such a direct request to him.
"I said I want to go to sea with you."
Jora repeated himself, his attitude firm and his tone serious.
"Sure."
Baichuan agreed just as straightforwardly.
"You agreed?" This time, Jora was the one stunned. He had not expected Baichuan to say yes so cleanly.
"Why wouldn't I? Sailing alone does get a little lonely. Having one more person around makes it feel less solitary."
"But if the two of us sail together, then in the Marines' eyes, that already makes us a pirate crew. We'll need a crew name and a Jolly Roger. What should we call ourselves?" Baichuan lowered his head and sank into thought.
"How about the Greatsword Pirates? Your epithet is Greatsword anyway," Jora suddenly suggested.
The moment he heard the words "Greatsword," Baichuan's face darkened instantly.
"Don't ever mention those two words in front of me again."
That title, Greatsword, could be called a lifelong stain on his reputation. It was simply too crude and too tasteless.
"Then how about the Swordmaster Pirates? Both of us are swordmasters anyway," Jora suggested again.
"No. We'll definitely have more companions in the future, and there's no way they'll all be swordmasters."
"Then what do you want to call it? This won't do, that won't do. Why are you so damn picky?"
Jora said impatiently. He had racked his brains over these ideas, only for Baichuan to reject every single one.
"I'm picky?" Baichuan's mouth fell open. How am I being picky? A pirate crew's name concerns its reputation for its entire lifetime. How could it be chosen casually?
"Then why don't we just call it the Baichuan Pirates, like the Roger Pirates, and name it directly after the captain?"
"That's not a bad suggestion, but it still won't work. How about the Silver Pirates instead?"
"The Silver Pirates? Why that name?"
"Secret."
"Fine, whatever makes you happy. But usually, aren't pirate crews named by the Marines anyway?"
"It's fine. As long as we shout once before fighting the Marines that we're members of the Silver Pirates, they'll naturally know our name."
"Fine." Jora sounded helpless. Still, he felt like that kind of behavior was especially chuunibyou. Especially stupid.
"It's okay. We only need to shout it once."
Baichuan seemed to notice Jora's embarrassment. In his mind, he could already picture the scene, and it really did look extremely stupid.
"Yeah, that's acceptable."
What Jora did not know, however, was that in the end, he was the only one who ever shouted that line. The only one left awkward was him. Baichuan never opened his mouth at all.
"Then what about the Jolly Roger?"
"Don't worry, I've already designed that too."
As the symbol of a pirate crew, the Jolly Roger was basically the face of the entire crew.
Baichuan drew his blade and sketched a few patterns on the ground. It was a standard pirate skull, but above the skull was a sword plunged into it, one that looked very much like the Sword of Damocles hanging above Baichuan's head.
"Well? Isn't it incredibly domineering?" Baichuan smiled in satisfaction at the result.
"Why does this Jolly Roger feel a little unlucky?"
Standing beside the design, Jora studied it carefully before speaking.
"The skull is already the symbol of pirates, and then you went and stuck a sword in it from above. Are you trying to doom yourselves?"
"Now that you put it that way, it really does feel a bit like that."
The more Baichuan looked at the design, the more unpleasant it seemed to him too.
"How about replacing the two bones underneath with two swords instead?"
Baichuan's eyes lit up.
"That's a great suggestion. I didn't expect your naming skills to be so bad, but you've actually got real talent when it comes to design."
"Hmph. That's not talent for drawing. That's called quick thinking."
"Now we've got the Jolly Roger sorted. When we have time, we'll go have a few made at the workshop in the village. But right now, we don't have a ship."
That little fishing boat absolutely could not become Baichuan's first pirate ship. At the very least, it needed to be a small sailing ship like the Going Merry.
"That really is a problem. The village doesn't have any large sailing ships like that either."
"If all else fails, we'll just snatch one from another pirate crew."
"That method works. Simple, crude, and convenient. But you'll probably have to handle that yourself," Jora said to Baichuan.
"What are you going to do?"
"For this period of time, I'm going to train with Master and learn Phantom Step."
"Phantom Step? The movement technique your master used against me?"
"That's right."
"Yeah, that technique really is incredible."
Baichuan recalled his battle with Orl. Looking back now, that technique might not seem like much, but against swordmasters, or opponents with strength equal to that level, it was almost impossible to deal with.
"Then how long will it take you to master it? If it takes too long, I can't wait around."
"About ten days."
"Ten days?" Baichuan thought it over carefully. "That should be just right. Finding a pirate ship that suits my taste will probably take some time too."
Dealing with pirates was not hard. The hard part was finding a pirate ship he actually liked.
Still, even after finding one, it would only be temporary. He had to go to Water 7 and build a pirate ship that truly belonged to him, one capable of sailing through all the strange weather of the New World.
"Then go train with your master. I'll head into the village and have the Jolly Roger made first."
"Mm."
/-\
Enjoying the story? Want to read ahead?
Support the novel and unlock early access to unreleased chapters!
~ +20 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon! (+1 Chapter daily)
https://p-atreon.com/Its_Zack
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access Patreon normally)