Chapter 78: The Man Who Confessed
Without waiting for Momousagi to say a single word, Axel quietly took his place and resumed practicing the most basic sword swings.
Seeing how obediently he returned to training, Momousagi showed a faint look of satisfaction before turning to leave.
Although the transfer of her duties had bought her a little free time, she still had things to take care of. More importantly, there was another reason she had to go out.
Ordinary people could only train with a sword for a few hours a day. Beyond that, muscle strain and accumulated damage would only do more harm than good.
But Axel was different.
Ever since the day he arrived, he had practiced from morning to night, repeating the same motions over and over like a machine. If Momousagi had not personally taken him for an examination and confirmed that nothing was wrong with his body, she would have suspected he was somehow faking the whole thing.
Even though Axel's body recovered on its own every time, she still felt it was safer to keep applying medicine. If some hidden aftereffect appeared later, it would be troublesome to treat and would waste valuable training time.
The medicine in the room was almost gone, so she needed to replenish it.
After Momousagi left, Axel kept swinging his sword while replaying the earlier exchange in his mind.
His computational power had sharpened his memory to an abnormal degree. Every tiny detail of the clash could be reconstructed with terrifying clarity.
From those repeated images, he came to a clear conclusion.
Momousagi had not used Observation Haki from the very beginning. She had only activated it after he moved.
What beat him was not raw power, nor the technique itself, but pure skill.
Skill so refined that the instant he attacked, she naturally found the best possible response.
There was no hesitation, no wasted thought, no visible process.
Just instinctive perfection.
Sensing the difference between them did not discourage Axel. On the contrary, it gave him a clearer target.
Facing the sea, he continued practicing his basic swings while using his senses to monitor the flow of surrounding energy. At the same time, his brain endlessly analyzed posture, angles, leverage, and the most advantageous path for each strike.
Days slipped by.
Then weeks.
And before he knew it, three months had passed.
In front of the quiet hut by the sea, Axel lay face down on a long wooden chair while Momousagi applied medicine to his back.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sudden roar of cannon fire shook the air.
Both of them were startled.
This was Marine Headquarters.
Who would dare open fire here?
For a split second, Axel even thought of Kaido. That lunatic just might attack Marine Headquarters for the sake of excitement.
But the answer came quickly.
It was not Kaido.
The sound of a warship cutting through the sea came from the shoreline, followed by a figure leaping off the ship in a single bound. The man covered dozens of meters in an instant and landed beside the hut.
Then, holding a bouquet of flowers, he dropped to one knee and declared with complete sincerity,
"My beloved Momousagi, this is my fiftieth confession. I love you. Please go out with me."
Momousagi raised one brow. Her lips twitched, and she rejected him without even a moment of hesitation.
"Sorry. You are not my type."
Her tone carried the exhaustion of someone who had answered the same question far too many times.
Hearing that, the man's bouquet slipped from his hand. A look of despair spread across his face.
"Ah, another failure..."
But only a second later, he straightened again with almost frightening determination.
"Still, I will not give up. I will keep pursuing you."
He gave off an indescribably strange aura.
The moment Axel saw him clearly, he already guessed who this man was.
Tokikake.
His face was sharp and rough around the edges. Thick brows. Small eyes. A wide mouth. Not exactly handsome, and somehow carrying a faintly unreliable air. He wore a top hat, wooden clogs, and a sloppily altered uniform that looked more eccentric than dignified.
Axel stared at him for a moment, then thought to himself, At least dress properly when you confess. Who shows up looking like that?
Still, he did not underestimate him in the slightest.
This was a man acknowledged as having Admiral level strength. He had once been an Admiral candidate. No matter how odd he looked, he was unquestionably one of the Navy's monsters.
While Axel was observing him, Tokikake finally noticed the boy lying nearby.
Until then, all his attention had been on Momousagi.
Axel was shirtless, stretched out on the chair while medicine was being applied to his back. At first glance, it was easy to misunderstand.
Tokikake froze.
Then, as if suddenly realizing he had seen something improper, he slapped a hand over his face and turned away.
"Excuse me."
Except the way he covered his face was utterly useless. His fingers were spread apart, leaving plenty of room to see through.
Axel's expression immediately became strange.
If he really had been a girl, this would have looked like gentlemanly restraint. But from another angle, it looked exactly like a shameless old man sneaking glances while pretending to be decent.
No wonder Momousagi kept rejecting him.
Then, after peeking through his fingers for a moment, Tokikake glanced meaningfully at Momousagi and seemed to reach some sudden conclusion.
"Little sister, want to come play with uncle?"
Axel nearly choked.
That line sounded like something a criminal would say while luring a child away.
He refused without hesitation.
"No."
In the shock of the moment, he even forgot to correct the misunderstanding and say he was male.
Naturally, Axel had completely misunderstood Tokikake's intention.
From Tokikake's point of view, Momousagi was allowing this child to stay close to her, applying medicine to her personally, and taking obvious care of her. That meant the girl must be someone important to her.
Since directly conquering the fortress had failed fifty times, he was now trying to break through from the side.
The strategy itself was not stupid.
The problem was that it sounded incredibly suspicious.
Axel's rejection did not wound Tokikake in the slightest.
Compared to being rejected by Momousagi fifty times, one rejection from a child meant nothing. His heart had long since been tempered into iron.
Taking advantage of the moment, Axel jumped up from the chair and hurriedly pulled his clothes back on.
When Tokikake opened his eyes again and saw Axel already dressed, an unmistakable trace of regret crossed his face.
"The medicine is not finished yet," Momousagi said coolly.
She lifted the medicine bottle and shook it lightly. There was still about a third left inside. The dosage had been measured by the medical staff, and using it consistently would produce the best effect.
She had no intention of wasting it halfway through.
"I know, but I feel fine. I can skip it today," Axel said as he backed away.
Strictly speaking, with his body protected by vector manipulation, he would never really be injured by ordinary training anyway. Normally, having Momousagi apply the medicine was not exactly an unpleasant experience.
But now, with Tokikake standing there and staring, the whole thing had become unbearable.
From Momousagi's perspective, though, there was probably no issue at all. In her eyes, they were both men, so there was nothing awkward about it.
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]