Chapter Twenty: Rossiya Island

“Oh, you’re still awake?”

Returning to his room, Roland planned to take a shower and then find another place to sleep. After all, the day had been nothing but storms and fighting, leaving him reeking of blood.

But as soon as he entered, he saw Nami sitting on the bed, hugging her knees, her face pale as a sheet.

“You saw me kill someone just now, didn’t you?”

Roland smiled as he tossed his shirt to the floor, walked over to Nami, and tried to reassure her.

“Those people were all pirates—you probably know that better than I do. As for why I killed them all, you can go downstairs and ask anyone about it, and I guarantee, after hearing what they have to say, you won’t think I was out of line.”

“Oh, and I’ve already given the order: on this ship, you’re free to go wherever you wish. No one will touch you.”

He ruffled Nami’s short hair before turning and heading into the bathroom to soak in the tub.

A perfect day began with waking to the sunrise and ended with a comfortable bath.

Lounging in the large bathtub, Roland felt utterly relaxed. All the exhaustion of the day melted away with the hot water.

Half an hour slipped by quickly. When Roland returned to his room wrapped in a robe, he found Nami gone, which immediately made him anxious.

One of his main reasons for coming to the East Blue was Nami. Now that he’d finally found her, how could he let her get away?

He hurriedly got dressed and rushed to the deck, where he immediately spotted Nami, smiling awkwardly, surrounded by a few pirates who were watching her.

Seeing that Nami was still there, Roland breathed a sigh of relief. But noticing the pirates staring at her, he understood what had happened and asked directly, “What’s going on here?”

Nami smiled awkwardly and stayed silent.

One of the pirates nearby sighed helplessly. “This young lady came down and said she wanted to look around. Because of your instructions, Mr. Roland, we didn’t stop her. But then she ended up at Captain Krieg’s cell and nearly let him out…”

At that, Roland instantly understood. Most likely, Nami hadn’t found any treasure in his room, and after hearing she could go anywhere, decided to look elsewhere for loot—accidentally stumbling upon Krieg.

It wasn’t that Roland was thinking ill of Nami, but given her greedy nature and the burden she carried, she was exactly the sort to do something like this.

“All right, you can all go back and rest. There’s nothing more for you here.”

Roland glanced at Nami, whose guilty conscience was written all over her face, and shook his head, dismissing the pirates.

When they left, Nami blushed even more, sticking out her tongue and mumbling, “Sorry.”

After being stopped by the pirates from freeing Krieg, Nami also learned from them that Roland hadn’t lied to her—everything he said was true.

The reason these pirates obeyed Roland’s orders was because he had won them over with his charisma.

“Come back to the room with me. We’ll talk there.”

Roland shook his head, saying nothing more as he turned and walked back to his room.

Had he said this before, Nami would have had all sorts of wild thoughts and privately cursed him. But this time, for reasons she didn’t understand, she felt no resentment at all.

Blushing, she followed behind Roland, hardly aware of how she’d made it back to the room.

“Let’s hear it. I only gave you permission to move about freely on the ship, yet while I was bathing, you nearly let that notorious pirate out. What exactly were you planning?”

Roland sat on the bed, putting on a stern expression.

“I just…”

Nami knew she was in the wrong this time. If that pirate had been freed, who knew how many on this ship would have died by his hand.

Though these people were all pirates, Nami herself couldn’t explain why she didn’t seem to dislike them all that much.

Maybe it was because she didn’t resent Roland, and by extension, didn’t resent these pirates either.

Yet if she truly knew what these pirates had done before, she might have wished for nothing more than their deaths.

“I’ve never lied to you, so there’s no need for you to lie to me either. Let’s leave it at that for tonight. I’ll sleep in another room.”

Roland shook his head. He didn’t expect Nami to open her heart to him just yet, so he said no more. As long as she stayed on this ship, that was enough.

He left the room and headed straight for the infirmary.

Compared to the rest of the ship, it was relatively quiet there.

“Master Roland.”

Inside, Gin, who was recovering from his wounds, looked surprised and a bit anxious to see Roland.

After all these days, Roland had done little besides check on his condition daily. Gin was worried Roland might have changed his mind.

“No need to worry. Just focus on getting better. I already have plans for your future—just concentrate on recovering for now.”

Roland, seeing the anxiety in Gin’s eyes, shook his head and lay down on another sickbed, separated from Gin by only a curtain.

“Yes, sir.”

With Roland saying no more, Gin dared not question him further, and simply rested in silence, curiosity gnawing at him.

The next few days passed in a peaceful calm.

No storms, no pirates, no navy or merchant ships.

On the vast sea, their solitary ship sailed onward.

Roland stood on the deck, gazing toward the distant horizon.

According to the navigators, they would reach Rosia Island by afternoon.

Nami stood beside him, her face filled with frustration.

Over these days, as she came to understand Roland better, she found herself growing more fond of him.

But fondness didn’t mean she wanted to stay here forever—she still needed to “earn” money to buy back Cocoyashi Village. How could she just linger here?

Yet every time Nami tried to say she was leaving, Roland would steer the conversation elsewhere, never giving her a chance to bring it up.

And whenever she tried to sneak away, Roland would always show up in time, smiling as he asked what she was up to—only for the cycle to repeat again.

She’d lost count of how many times she’d tried to escape, only for Roland to catch her and bring her back.

She couldn’t figure out what he wanted, keeping her here yet doing nothing, and refusing to let her go.

“Is that Rosia Island over there?”

A black dot appeared on the distant sea. Roland quickly raised his telescope and saw that it was indeed an island.

“We’re almost at my home. Won’t you come and see it with me?”

Roland turned and gave Nami a brilliant smile.

He’d been fully aware of what Nami was up to these past few days. The reason he’d kept her with him was because he’d already decided to eliminate Arlong and his gang.

Once Arlong was gone and the entire Fish-Man Pirates destroyed, would he still need to worry about Nami leaving his side?

And as for not letting her leave, the reason was simple.

Where were they? The East Blue. By the timeline, Luffy had already set out to sea.

If he let Nami leave now and she ran into Luffy, then what?

Maybe it was selfish, but who in this world isn’t selfish?

Even Luffy, the protagonist, had turned Impel Down upside down for his own reasons and set loose so many vicious pirates.