Chapter 79: Debt

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"What should we buy first? I have been lacking a few clothes lately as well... Shall we go to the clothing shop, Robin?"

"Hn... Let's try to lay low while we are at it, as far as I understood, this area is under the jurisdiction of the marine, so there's the possibility we might get recognized while shopping..." Robin nodded briefly as she glanced at the blouse she was wearing today with a smile on her face.

"Seriously...? I guess many pirates must be coming to this island every day... But I haven't really seen that many marines since we entered the island... I wonder why?" Nami. who was still looking around in case there were any nearby clothing stores, looked around her with confusion as until now they had yet to see any patrolling marine.

Robin, of course, was paying close attention to her surroundings in case there were any nearby marines patrolling the area, but surprisingly for her as well, there were none even after minutes of going around the shopping mall.

"There's indeed a worrying lack of marines... If it was another island, then we would already have dozens of marines chasing us down... Maybe something happened at the headquarters again? Shadow Raven has certainly been creating havoc during the past few months... It is probably something happened there once again..." Robin muttered in a low voice while observing her surroundings with suspicion. The scarce amount of marines on an island where dozens of pirates pass by day by day was definitely not normal.

"Wouldn't we know if something so big happened there again? The last time everyone around the world got to know immediately how that Shadow Raven guy stole the Sea-stone right under their noses, I think we should have already known if something bad happened there..." Nami raised an eyebrow and looked towards Robin, as she was curious about why could she say such a thing out of nowhere.

When Robing heard Nami, she shook her head briefly before she then looked at the people talking with a calm gaze on her eyes. Both of them stayed silent for a few minutes until Robin finally opened her mouth once again.

"I used my devil-fruit to overhear some conversations of the people here... And although most of them seem to be talking about nothing in particular, I managed to overhear someone talking about a certain rumor in a low voice... It had something to do with the destruction of MarineFord... So I'm guessing something must have indeed happened, but the Marine is blocking every rumor and new about it at all costs"

"Destroying MarineFord?! No way... Even we all together couldn't deal with an Admiral... But he dealt with the entire Marine forces all alone? It's a bit hard to believe..."

"Fufufu... Maybe the rumors got exaggerated... People tend to do that when something big happens" Robin chuckled when she heard Nami speak about her thoughts, and then continued looking around in case there were any marines nearby while also paying attention to the conversations of the people.

"Either way..."

*Sigh*

"... We still have such a long road in front of us... Let's just hope we can get to the last island safely..." Nami sighed in exasperation thinking about the long way they still had yet to traverse in order to achieve theirs and their Capitan's wish.

However, right as she was going to speak once again, Robin signaled her to stop talking and then pointed in a certain direction of the mall.

"There's a marine there... Let's try to lower our voice, for the time being, there's a clothing shop in the distance so we just need to pass by this marine if we want to buy or clothes. He has his eyes closed, so it doesn't seem to be that hard..."

However, unlike all Robin's expectations, not only did not Nami hear her at all, but she also started walking towards the Marine on her own!

The marine in front of them had short black hair, and a great frown on his forehead that made him look like he was thinking deeply about something in particular and wasn't paying proper attention to his surroundings, but to the small relief of Robin, he didn't seem to be that strong either.

He looked pretty skinny for being a marine, after all, those guys were usually trained enough to develop at least a few muscles. However, the young man in front of them looked like he had just become a marine, as he had no other muscle aside from the usual ones that come with the age, and he didn't have that much of a combatant aura either... No... He looked more like... A civilian...?

Be it because she was a bit startled due to the young man's weak presence, or curious about Nami's sudden action, Robin ended up simply watching Nami walk towards the frowning young man while raising an eyebrow.

However, right as Nami was about to touch the young man's shoulder, his eyes opened slowly and he spoke in a low voice with a threatening tone. Though, he didn't seem that threatening while saying it.

"Who wants to die so eagerly...?"

However, right as the young man lifted his head to look at the person who woke him up, his expression stiffened momentarily when he noticed that it was Nami who was in front of him.

Right after that, the young man jumped out of his seat and retreated several meters away while trying to pull his rifle in order to defend himself. Robin and Nami were a bit startled by the sudden movement of the young man, but as soon as Robin was about to restrain him in order to avoid getting Nami shot, the young man suddenly tripped over his own feet and fell backward, accidentally releasing the rifle away from his hands in the process.

*Thud!*

"Ack!"

"..."

"..."

As the young man recovered himself from the hit, he stood up once again and saw the two ladies looking at him with dumbfounded expressions.

"... That was unexpected..." The youth massaged the back of his head with an annoyed expression and looked at Nami and Robin for a moment before he then turned around to run away immediately.

Unfortunately for him, Robin used her demon fruit to restrain his movements and made him fall directly on his face.

*Thud!*

"Mob tactical retreat failed..." The young man muttered in an inaudible voice as he turned to look with an annoyed expression at the two women approaching the "helpless" him with expressions that made it evident they weren't gonna allow him to leave just like that.

Robin because he was a marine, and she didn't want him to alert his companions... And Nami... God knows why...

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A few minutes later...

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"Say, why are you here this time? I thought you could stay at Arabasta since you didn't look exactly like someone that likes moving from one place to another..." Nami, who was walking alongside the sulking Sid, looked at him with a curious expression on her face, as she wondered what was the reason they actually met once again.

"I was assigned here... It seems like the headquarters of the Marine have some problems with personnel right now... So a friend of mine and I were sent here in order to fill up the lacking marines on this island... I'm pretty sure more marines will arrive later to fill up as well..." Sid, who was trying to find the best opportunity to run away, looked nervously at the watch on his hand as the main act was about to begin in a few minutes more. He had tried using his improved Mob-Aura, but for some reason, these two always managed to catch him whenever he tried slipping away silently.

'Am I lacking practice, or is their protagonistness more powerful than I thought...? It seems I still need to practice more...!' Sid shook his head in disappointment and then continued looking around as if expecting something.

"Hey, we met a couple when we were arriving at the island, they mentioned you and laughed happily while talking about you... Were they perhaps your parents?" Nami, who recalled that strange moment when the couple passed by their boat talking about him, asked while raising an eyebrow after seeing the change in expression of our Mc.

Sid's frown deepened when he heard Nami mention his recently met parents, after all, although they resembled his previous parents before he was reborn in this world, they were certainly assholes.

"Something like that..."

"But didn't they look like pirates? And even like that, you still ended up becoming a marine?" Nami placed a finger on his mouth as she glanced at Sid with a teasing grin on her face, Robin on the other hand, just laughed at her antics silently by the side.

"The pay was good, that's all"

"..."

"..."

Both of them turned speechless at Sid's simple answer before they shrugged it aside, and then continued talking about different things while dragging him along them.

Meanwhile, as Sid continued walking alongside them, he remembered exactly how he ended up following them along against his will.

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Flashback...

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"So, do you have the 1,000 bellys I lent you?" Nami approached the defenseless Sid lying on the ground and gestured with her hand for him to show the money.

"No, I don't have any money on me right now...(Lie)" Sid said while wearing his most innocent expression.

Nami raised an eyebrow as she glanced at him before she then placed her hand on her chin and started pondering about something in silence for a few seconds.

"Then... Can I leave?" Sid tried backing away from both of the women in front of him but was soon stopped by Nami who grabbed his shoulder right when his feet started moving backward.

"We happen to be looking for a clothing shop, I guess you can guide us in exchange for the 1,000 bellys you owe me" Nami grinned seeing that her prey was trying to get away without paying, and smiled mischievously as she trapped him completely from leaving.

Robin of course was keeping an eye on him so that he couldn't escape. At this point, she would have already knocked him out in order to avoid getting discovered, but since Nami seemed to know him she decided to just stop him from leaving.

"But I have work to..."

Nami's grip tightened slightly right as he was tried to decline in the most mob way, which made Sid understand that she wouldn't back off no matter what he did.

"Yes ma'am"

"Good"

 Soon he was grabbed by the wrist by Nami and ended up being forced to accompany both ladies across the shopping mall without chance of escaping in any mob-way.

'Sigh... This woman is truly greedy for money. Good thing that I'm not like that'  (A/N: ???)

Sid shook his head seeing the predicament in which he had got involved and then sighed in resignation.

Whatever thing was bound to happen, would happen. All he needed to do was to be the mob he was destined to be, and everything would be okay.

Flashback End...

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