Pirate's Freedom

Surrounded by mountains, there are fields of different sizes, dotted with ponds, criss-crossed streets, and smoke rising into the air.

"what--"

After painstakingly climbing over several hills, Ila stood on the top of the mountain, under a pine tree with strong branches, and looked down the mountain in surprise.

"The houses here are so strange!"

The architectural style here is completely different from that of Cocoa West Village. For the three people who left their hometown for the first time since they can remember, this was enough to surprise them.

"This is the sea! This is the world!"

Nami was in high spirits.

"Nokiko, Nami, where are we going now?"

The mountain breeze brought the fragrance of vegetation, and Ila squinted her eyes comfortably.

"There!"

Nuo Qigao had very good eyesight, and she pointed to a certain place at the foot of the mountain.

“The house is the biggest there!”

……

Although a large piece of land was enclosed by a wall, the gate at the entrance was left open and unguarded.

Looking left and right around the long house with black tiles and white walls, the three of them raised their heads again and looked at the plaque hanging high under the eaves.

"What does this sign say?"

Nokigao and Nami obviously have little research on calligraphy.

"Um……"

Ila recognized it for a while and read it word by word.

"One...heart...Tao...field..."

"Isshin... [Dojo]?"

Nami asked doubtfully, catching the key words keenly.

“What does [Dojo] sell?”

"Go in and see if you don't know."

Nokigao was unimpressed.

After walking through the stone path, I entered the door and saw a slightly yellowed white painted screen wall. I stared at the crooked words on it for a while...

Three little girls peeked in.

"Hi-! Hi-! Hi-!"

The dark green shorts just covered the knees, the same dark green top was sleeveless and collarless, and the gray cloth belt around the waist was tightly tied.

The neatly arranged boys stared straight ahead with serious eyes, waving the bamboo swords in their hands again and again.

"Looks amazing!"

Ila's eyes were bright.

"I understand, Nami, this is a place to teach people to fight!"

"Really! Ira, why have I never thought of this!"

Nami also suddenly woke up and sighed with bright eyes.

“In this world, everything is sold!”

After a while.

"So handsome! So powerful!"

Ila whispered excitedly as if she had discovered a new world.

"There's a girl there!"

Taller than the boys, a girl wearing red shorts and a white T-shirt, with short black hair reaching her ears, stood at the end, waving her bamboo sword up and down with a calm expression.

"Really! But..."

The other two people also discovered it, and Nuo Qigao turned around to look for it again, saying with some disappointment.

"She seems to be the only one."

"It's ok."

Ila analyzed it seriously.

"She has the loudest 'swoosh' and looks the most powerful!"

"Actually, it's not that great, Ira, you haven't been in a fight."

Looking at Ila's expression, Nami felt inexplicably unhappy.

"It's no use yelling like 'hey hey' during a fight!"

"Huh? Is that so?"

Ila looked inquiringly at the eldest sister of Cocoa West Village.

"Noqigao?"

"Well……"

After pretending to think for a while, Nokigao pretended to be serious.

"In a chaotic battle, rigid moves are useless."

"ok, I get it."

Ila nodded in understanding.

After a while.

"Hey! Look!"

Pulling the sleeves of Nami and Nokigao, pointing to the corner of the room, Ila suddenly lowered her voice and whispered.

"Look at that guy!"

"Which one?"

Nokigao and Nami cast their glances and found two men standing there.

A man wearing a gray gi uniform, a long ponytail on the back of his head, small round glasses, curved eyebrows, and crooked eyes was watching the boys practice with a smile.

A man wearing a blue Taoist uniform, with thick eyebrows and thick moustache, and a strong build was looking at the movements of the boys seriously.

The two of them stood there with their arms folded, talking to each other from time to time.

"The one on the left."

Ila said, staring at the smiling man.

"Eh--"

Nami disagreed with her, and so did Nokigao.

"He looks even thinner than Jian."

"wrong!"

Ila looked serious.

"He is strong!"

"why?"

Nokigao and Nami looked left and right, but couldn't see anything.

"Obviously the person next to him is more powerful, right?"

"Because that person has squinty eyes."

Ila said seriously.

"Dad said that anyone with squinting eyes is a monster."

"No way! Tata Tot must have lied to you!"

"Dad wouldn't...!"

Nami and Ila argued, keeping smiling expressions, and the man with narrowed eyes glanced slightly sideways.

"Hey! Hey!"

After a moment, Nozhigao spoke hastily.

"Stop making noise! ​​Look!"

In the room, just as the two little girls were quarreling, it seemed that some fixed session was about to begin. All the boys retreated to the corner in an orderly manner and sat down.

The man in blue gi walked to the center of the field, and besides that——

The boy with short green hair and two bamboo knives in his hands stayed in the field with the girl.

"Then, get ready to begin."

The man's voice was very solemn, and everyone outside the venue was silent.

"Salute to the altar!"

The three of them turned around and bowed together to the niche on the wall.

"Salute to each other."

The girl and boy stood facing each other and bowed to each other.

"Look there!"

Noki was very happy, and Ila also looked expectant.

"They're going to fight!"

"The atmosphere is so serious..."

Nami felt a little uncomfortable.

"start!"

Two bamboo knives were placed in front of him, one behind the other. The boy stared at the girl, leaning down slightly.

The girl stood still, holding the handle of the knife with her right hand, making a motion to draw the knife, and the raised bamboo knife stood upright in front of her.

"Ahhh-!!!"

With a yell, the boy attacked in one breath.

The two bamboo knives brought up gusts of strong wind, and the crackling sound of the blows was so continuous that it was almost indistinguishable.

Under the fierce attack, the girl retreated.

One step, two steps, three steps, as if holding a breath, waving the bamboo knife like a whirlwind, the boy moved forward step by step.

After the first three steps, the girl stood still.

pop-

She opened the two bamboo knives and took advantage of the moment when the bamboo knives swung away. She took a step forward and struck down with the raised bamboo knives.

Snapped! !

Two bamboo knives were placed above his head, and the boy who blocked the blow took a step back.

"...!!!"

Veins popped out on his neck and he took a deep breath.

"Ahhhh-!!!"

After regaining his breath, the boy's offensive became more fierce.

But then comes step two, step three...

After adapting to the rhythm, the girl no longer backed away.

And after a boy attacks fiercely in one breath, he will always be knocked back by a straight sword attack from the girl.

Next...

Even a layman could see that the girl holding a sword was beating back the boy holding two swords.

until a certain moment.

From top to bottom, straight down.

The bladeless bamboo knife turned into an afterimage and struck the opponent in the face.

Snapped--! ! !

"Ugh!!"

After a loud crack, the green-haired boy fell to the ground.

"One point! That's it!"

The teacher on the sidelines raised his hand and announced the winner of the competition.

"Victor Kuina, 2000 wins and 0 losses!"