The Blind Brawler [ Roronoa Zoro X OC]

Chapter 3

"You five, are you pirates?" We all turned toward the owner of the voice. He was a giant of a man with a royal look about him. He was clean-shaven and dressed in spectacular emerald robes. His eyes were green and his brown hair was messy in a way that looked planned. He obviously spent a lot of time in the sun, but there was no sign he did any kind of hard labour. The man gave me an eerie feeling.

Luffy did not seem bothered by him. He answered without hesitation or uneasiness, "Yep."

"Don't tell him that!" Nami screeched in anger.

"What? It's the truth," Luffy frowned at her.

The large man let out a hearty laugh, his hands on his hips and his head thrown back. When he finished, he smiled at us, "You're Luffy, then?"

I narrowed my eyes and gripped the hilt of Wado, immediately on guard, "How does he know Luffy's name? The bounty?" I heard Sanji shift his weight to one leg, preparing to lash out with a nasty kick if necessary.

Our captain did not seem to feel threatened, however. He tilted his head to the side in confusion, "Yeah, I am. Who are you, old guy?"

"Old?" The man seemed taken aback before he laughed even harder. Once he caught his breath, he grinned at my captain, "Young man, I'm only thirty-four! The name is Isamu and I'm the mayor of this lovely little island."

"Nice clothes for a mayor," Sanji said a bit coldly.

"Ah, yes, well," Isamu looked down at his garish outfit, "This island is very well off if you know what I mean," He ended with a wink.

Nami's suspicions of the man blew away as berri signs danced in her eyes, "You don't say?"

I, however, did not drop my guard, "How did you know our captain's name?"

Isamu turned his smile on me and faltered at my dark gaze, "My employee informed me."

"You mean that person in the black get up?" Usopp asked curiously.

Ismau's features brightened as he turned away from me to face Usopp's confused and worried look, "The same!"

"What exactly did he tell you?" Sanji asked with a narrowed eye.

"Oh, the name of your captain, that you are a crew of five, and that you mean no harm to the village," Isamu smiled approvingly at the last part. "This is a small island with only one small village. Merchants and explorers come and go, but every now and then, pirates like you folks pass through on their way to the Grand Line. Since Loguetown has been overrun by the Marines, Sekio is the only place safe for outlaws and pirates alike to resupply!"

"That's right! We just escaped from Loguetown the other day! Luckily, we shook the Marines off our track," Usopp exclaimed.

Isamu nodded, "That's the story for most young pirate crews. They all come here, but not all of them turn out friendly. My subordinate asked you a few questions, right?"

"Yeah. It was kinda weird," Luffy crossed his arms and tilted his head with a confused and slightly annoyed expression.

"Those questions were meant to find out how big of a threat you are to my island. The size and strength of a pirate crew, along with their intentions are important pieces of information to me. If you were a large crew, you could easily be a danger to us if you so choose," Isamu explained.

"I get it. Since our crew is smaller, we don't pose an obvious threat," Sanji clarified.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Luffy cried out, taking the comment as an insult to our abilities, "We're strong! Don't take us lightly, old man!"