Chapter Fifty-Six: The Lustful Cook and the Green-Algae-Head

As it turned out, tossing Sanji into the sea had been an extremely wise move on Rolan's part.

Sanji, having swum back from the water, now lay calmly on the deck right in front of the restaurant’s main entrance. At this moment, all desire had left him.

“Hey, you swordsman over there, that man just now—he’s with you, isn’t he? Who exactly is he?”

Lying on the ground, Sanji caught a glimpse of Zoro from the corner of his eye and suddenly sat up, curiosity gleaming as he asked. Though his desire had been extinguished, there was still a lingering sense of indignation in his heart.

How could there possibly exist a guy taller than him, more handsome than him, and so much stronger to boot? If that weren’t enough, why was there a beautiful woman at his side, making them look almost like a family of three?

Zoro, carrying a terrified Koby, looked back at Sanji, who was trying to hide his dissatisfaction behind a mask of calm, and grinned as he replied, “Well, without his permission, it’s not really my place to say too much. All you need to know is that he’s a good man!”

“A good man?”

Sanji was hardly satisfied with this answer. He didn’t want to know whether the man was good or bad—he wanted information.

But by the time he prepared to ask more, Zoro had disappeared.

More accurately, he hadn’t vanished entirely.

After leaving Sanji behind, Zoro strode along briskly, but upon reaching the restaurant’s main entrance, for reasons unknown, he suddenly veered off, heading toward the deck where the ships were moored.

“Mr. Zoro, you’ve taken a wrong turn—this way, this is the main entrance…”

Watching Zoro’s baffling route, Koby broke out in a cold sweat. He was genuinely stunned. How could someone as intimidating as Mr. Zoro have such a terrible sense of direction?

“…”

Hearing Koby’s reminder, Zoro’s expression changed dramatically. He glanced at the ships ahead, then at the direction Koby was pointing, and finally, with a resigned sigh, turned and walked toward the main entrance.

“What an idiot…”

Watching the green-haired swordsman, Sanji could only rub his forehead in exasperation. To think someone could get lost with the door right in front of him—was that a talent, or was he simply a fool?

“Hey, moss-head swordsman, who exactly is he?”

Just as Zoro was about to push open the door, Sanji called out to him again.

But this time, Zoro didn’t answer. He simply glanced back at Sanji, then pushed the door open and entered the restaurant.

From the moment they’d docked, Zoro realized that what he’d said before had been far too one-sided.

Even here, he could smell the enticing aroma wafting from the hall—one could easily imagine how delicious the food inside must be.

If what Rolan meant by “relaxation” was this sort of thing, then he wouldn’t mind coming here often.

After all, eating and drinking are the essentials of life.

How else could one find the strength to master the art of cutting iron unless one was well-fed?

“You’ve already started eating?”

Entering the restaurant, Zoro immediately spotted Rolan and the others and walked straight over to join them.

Seeing that most of the dishes had already been devoured, Zoro felt a little disgruntled. Hadn’t that guy promised to treat him to a meal? How could they begin without him?

Even as he grumbled, Zoro wasted no time picking up the menu and ordering.

Leftovers? Nonsense. He needed to order some signature dishes to soothe his wounded soul.

Zoro was well aware that Rolan was no stranger to spending money. Back in Shells Town, when Rolan bought a practice sword for little Donna, he’d spent four or five hundred thousand Berries without so much as blinking.

Compared to those hundreds of thousands, what was one meal, no matter how expensive it might be?

The chefs at the Baratie were impressively quick; soon, the dishes Zoro and Koby ordered were brought to the table.

There was one thing Zoro had to admit about these dishes: they were truly delicious.

No wonder Rolan had insisted Nami steer the ship here the moment he learned they’d pass by the Baratie—he certainly knew how to enjoy life.

“Moss-head swordsman, you were really rude just now, you know?”

Sanji, who had appeared beside Nami at some point, presented her with a plate of heart-shaped steak, continuing his sycophantic ways. “Beautiful lady, this is a special heart-shaped steak I made just for you. Please—”

Before he could finish offering her a taste, Nami shoved the steak toward Rolan with a look of utter disdain. “Rolan, why don’t you eat it for me?”

Back at the door, Nami had already been worried that this lecherous chef might do something to make Rolan suspicious, so there was no way she’d give him the chance now.

Looking at the oddly shaped steak before him, Rolan felt awkward. He wanted to try Sanji’s cooking, but the heart-shaped steak looked especially greasy, no matter how he saw it. Perhaps it was best not to.

Rolan hadn’t expected that, even after being tossed into the sea, Sanji’s thieving heart remained undeterred, and he still entertained strange thoughts about Nami.

He had no designs on Nami himself, but to have someone try to steal her right in front of him—wasn’t that rather inappropriate?

Shaking his head, Rolan handed the steak over to Zoro and looked at Sanji. “You’re the chef here, right? Then please bring us four regular steaks, one for each of us.”

Zoro didn’t stand on ceremony. Grinning, he sliced the heart in half and began chewing with gusto, shooting a provoking glance at Sanji as he ate.

For some reason, he found the curly-browed chef before him extremely disagreeable. Maybe it was because of Rolan, or maybe because of the strange nicknames, but he just didn’t like the guy.

“Moss-head, that’s not how you eat steak—”

Sanji watched as his specially prepared heart-shaped steak was so roughly handled and instantly ground his teeth in frustration, glaring at Zoro. If not for the knowledge that the tall, handsome man was stronger than he was, Sanji would have kicked the swordsman in the face right then and there.

He couldn’t say exactly why, but he too felt a certain dislike for this swordsman.

Wait, why “too”?

“Lecherous chef, hurry up and make the steaks, will you? We’re the customers here—you wouldn’t want to pick a fight with the guests, would you? And make that six steaks. I think I could eat plenty more.”

Wolfing down the steak, Zoro had to admit that, even if the chef’s character left much to be desired, his cooking was truly excellent.

“Very well. Please wait just a moment.”

Sanji shot a glance at Rolan, clenched his teeth, and turned away.

He didn’t really care about fighting with customers—he’d done it plenty of times before. If Rolan weren’t sitting there, he wouldn’t have put up with the swordsman’s arrogance for a second.

Watching the two men, who clearly rubbed each other the wrong way, Rolan suddenly laughed.

Although they weren’t bickering or coming to blows as they did in the animated series, this familiar air of mutual provocation was still deeply enjoyable.

If Sanji didn’t keep harboring his hopeless fantasies about Nami, Rolan would have invited him to join the Navy without a second thought.

But as things stood, that invitation would have to wait.