Windmill Village earned its name from the massive windmill at its entrance that turned year-round.
It lay on the far edge of the Goa Kingdom—quiet, peaceful, like a paradise detached from the brutal world of pirates.
It was also said to be the hometown of the Navy's hero—Monkey D. Garp.
"I've told you how many times already—I'm not interested in your pirate games at all. Stop bothering me, Luffy!"
On the beach, a boy dressed in sleek black training clothes frowned, impatience written all over his face.
His name was Ares.
He had no surname—or rather, he didn't even know what his surname was.
Barely ten years old, yet his eyes were far steadier than those of other children his age. Between his brows lingered an unshakable shadow of gloom.
As for his origins, he only knew fragments—things Village Chief Woop Slap had told him.
His parents were merchants who traveled between the islands of the East Blue, constantly drifting across the sea.
But as the saying goes—walk by the river long enough, and your shoes will get wet.
Even though pirates were fewer in the East Blue compared to the other seas, they were never truly absent.
When Ares was three years old, his parents' merchant ship was attacked by pirates.
In the chaos, his mortally wounded mother entrusted him to a bodyguard.
The guard leapt into the sea with him, placed the child into a wooden washbasin, and drifted for an entire day upon the waves—until he exhausted all his strength.
By then, they had already drifted close to Windmill Village.
The guard clung to the basin, letting the current carry him, until he was finally discovered and rescued by fishermen heading out to sea.
At that time, Ares was barely breathing.
The villagers worked together to save him, caring for him day and night until he finally survived.
But the bodyguard—who had risked everything to protect him—passed away shortly after recounting what had happened.
All he left behind was a name:
"Ares."
And the story of the pirates who destroyed everything.
When the fishermen returned to Windmill Village, they told Village Chief Woop Slap what had happened.
His wife had passed away decades earlier. He had no children, and never remarried.
For years, he had lived alone.
After hearing Ares's story, the old man's heart softened—and he adopted the boy.
Over the years, the two lived together like grandfather and grandson, bringing warmth and laughter into the old man's twilight years.
The boy pestering him now was named Monkey D. Luffy—the grandson of the Navy hero.
For reasons unknown, Garp never raised Luffy himself.
Instead, he left him in Windmill Village.
Woop Slap and Garp were old acquaintances, so he naturally kept an eye on the boy.
And that was how Ares came to know Luffy—three years younger than him.
At first, the two got along well.
Everything changed one year ago—when that pirate crew arrived.
A group of pirates swaggered into Windmill Village.
Ares's heart nearly jumped out of his chest.
He thought the village would be slaughtered.
But instead, the pirates did nothing of the sort.
They simply drank at the tavern every day, like ordinary people.
As for where their money came from—perhaps from killing other pirates…
Or perhaps from robbing civilians.
Ares knew better than anyone that pirates were monsters.
His entire family had been destroyed by them.
He hated pirates—but he wasn't blinded by rage.
He was still just a child. Killing them all was impossible.
What's more, when he helped Makino deliver drinks, he saw that red-haired man.
The terrifying aura emanating from the sword at his waist nearly crushed him.
In a daze, he seemed to see a griffin soaring through the sky—roaring straight at him.
From that moment on, Ares dared not act recklessly.
He knew that in that man's eyes, he was nothing more than an ant—
No, even less than an ant.
Yet Luffy got along extremely well with that pirate captain.
He spent every day in the tavern with the pirates, listening to their stories.
From then on, Luffy became close friends with the red-haired man.
Every time he came to see Ares, all he talked about were Shanks's adventures at sea—
And he even nagged Ares daily to join his future pirate crew.
"Damn it! Shanks wouldn't let me join them! Then I'll just make my own pirate crew!"
"One day, I'll become a free pirate and find my own companions!"
"Hey! Ares, come aboard my ship! I'll make you vice-captain—perfect since you're a swordsman!"
Ares had tried to persuade him:
Pirates were still pirates.
If he wanted freedom, he could travel the world—why insist on becoming one?
But Luffy was like someone who had been brainwashed.
No matter what Ares said, he refused to listen.
He even shouted:
"Don't you dare say bad things about Shanks!"
From that moment on, the distance between them grew wider and wider.
They were clearly not walking the same path.
When words don't align, even half a sentence is too much.
Recently, after staying in Windmill Village for nearly a year, Shanks finally left.
Before he departed, he gave his straw hat to Luffy.
As the Red Force sailed away, Luffy shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Shanks! I'll gather a crew that's just as strong as yours—and then I'll become the Pirate King!"
Back in the present—
Luffy blinked at Ares.
"Ares, listen! Not long ago, Grandpa threw me into Mt. Colubo. I met two great friends there—one's named Ace, and the other is Sabo!"
"They're amazing people! I'll introduce you sometime! Shishishi!"
Ares's eyes shifted slightly.
"Oh? Don't tell me their dreams are to become Pirate King too."
Luffy's jaw dropped straight to the sand.
Because he had eaten the Gum-Gum Fruit, his body could stretch like rubber.
"Huh?! Ares, how did you know?!"
Ares stared at his dangling jaw.
What an unbelievable power.
He had once read about Devil Fruits on Woop Slap's bookshelf.
Even though Luffy had shown him before, it still felt unreal every time he saw it.
Ares wiped the sweat from his forehead and tossed the firewood cleaver aside.
This was his daily training.
He refused to stay on this tiny island forever.
One day, he would set sail—
And join the Marines.
To wipe out pirates from this world.
"…Just a guess."
He sat on a nearby rock, his gaze deep and steady.
"Luffy, I'll ask you one last time.
Even knowing that pirates burn, kill, and plunder—
You still want to become a pirate?"
"Your grandfather is a Marine.
Do you know how much it would hurt him if you became one?"
"Do you really want to face him as enemies on the battlefield someday?"
Luffy pouted, his voice trembling with emotion.
"That's not true! There are good pirates too—like Shanks and his crew!"
"They're the real pirates! The ones you talk about don't even deserve that name!"
"So," Ares said quietly, "that's your answer?"
"I already made a promise with Shanks! I'll gather companions as strong as Beckman and the others—then go find him again!"
Luffy locked eyes with Ares, inhaled deeply, and shouted:
"I'm going to become the Pirate King!"
The sea itself seemed to fall silent.
A breeze swept across the shore, lifting Ares's bangs.
His face was calm—detached.
"…Very well. I understand."
"When we meet again in the future—after you've become a pirate—
we will be enemies."
Luffy tilted his head, confused.
"Why?"
"Because I will become a Marine.
And Marines and pirates…
are destined to be mortal enemies."