Chapter Ninety-Three: Waiting

The moment before, he had been about to mutter something about Maude.

The next, Maude pushed the door open and walked in.

If it had only been Maude, Wolf Rat would not have been thrown off at all.

What he had not expected was that Maude would bring the girl from the weapon shop with him this time.

As for the snow-white fat weasel, Wolf Rat did not care in the slightest.

“A girl closely tied to the Ghost Gun...”

Wolf Rat swiftly schooled his expression. To cover up his momentary lapse, he sprang down from his chair.

“Usopp, you finally made it! Tatam got in several bottles of Bacardi rum a couple of days ago. We should have a proper drink later, hmm? And who is this lovely little miss? Don’t tell me she’s your... heh heh heh.”

He greeted them warmly, then let his gaze flick back and forth between Maude and Sunny, a rather lewd smile spreading across his face.

Maude ignored him and turned instead to the counter.

“Tatam, fix us something to eat. Anything is fine, as long as it’s meat.”

“Understood. Three portions?”

Tatam glanced at the white weasel, who had not been seen for months and had somehow grown several sizes.

Seeing that Tatam had counted him in as well, Beli was moved beyond words.

He still remembered it clearly: when Maude had first dragged him to this bar, it was precisely this bear of a man who had said he could not eat, and that one sentence had spared the world a catastrophe.

“Yes, three portions.”

Maude nodded at Tatam.

It was remarkable that Tatam had remembered Beli at all. One could only say that he possessed a care and attention utterly at odds with his build.

When Sunny heard Tatam’s voice, so sweet and pleasant it was almost girlish, she was startled, though only for a moment.

Her attention remained mostly on Wolf Rat.

“He’s your friend?”

“Yes.”

Following Sunny’s gesture, Maude looked over at Wolf Rat, who had been ignored yet showed not the slightest embarrassment.

“Oh? You’ve got terrible taste in friends.”

Sunny gave Wolf Rat’s lewd grin a sidelong glance.

For some inexplicable reason, Wolf Rat felt as though an arrow had just struck him.

“Don’t say that. Wolf Rat may look a little sleazy, but he’s actually a decent guy.”

Maude smiled and stepped in to smooth things over for him, though in the process he could not help but tell the truth.

A second arrow...

Sunny frowned. “Then do you think I’m cute?”

Maude considered it and replied honestly, “Not in the slightest.”

“So, is something wrong with you, or with him?”

“It’s definitely Wolf Rat who’s wrong.”

Maude answered without a moment’s hesitation.

Sunny nodded in agreement.

“?”

Wolf Rat’s mouth twitched.

A third arrow...

As expected, like father, like son.

“Don’t just stand there. Come on, sit down.”

Wolf Rat did not dare make any more jests. Pretending he had not heard the exchange between Maude and Sunny, he waved them over to sit.

Maude and Sunny took their seats, while Beli occupied two chairs, one for sitting and one for his tail.

Tatam went into the kitchen to prepare the food, and Wolf Rat took over, reaching into the bar for two glasses and sliding them in front of Maude and Sunny.

Then he picked up the bottle and was just about to pour when—

Bang.

Beli slammed a paw onto the counter with great force.

The noise immediately drew Wolf Rat’s attention.

When Wolf Rat looked over, Beli slapped the counter again, first pointing kindly and smiling at the glasses before Maude and Sunny, then glaring viciously at the empty stretch of countertop before him.

Before coming to spend money at Nightshade Bar, Maude had told Beli not to speak like a human.

So Beli could only make his meaning known through gestures.

And his meaning was perfectly clear: where was his share?

Wolf Rat immediately understood.

But he ignored Beli and instead looked to Maude at his side.

“Usopp, this fat ball wants a drink?”

“Yeah, Beli likes drinking. Pour him a glass.”

No sooner had Maude spoken than Beli grabbed an ashtray and hurled it at Wolf Rat.

Clearly, the name fat ball had angered him.

Of course Wolf Rat was not going to be hit by an ashtray. With a casual motion, he caught it in midair.

This little beast has gotten cocky...

Wolf Rat slowly set the ashtray down and stared at Beli as though looking at prey.

Beli merely smiled in disdain, thinking that with such a towering backer standing right beside him, how could he possibly fear some sleazy brute like this?

He immediately shot a glare back.

“...”

Seeing Beli’s naked dependence on his master, Wolf Rat’s eyelids twitched several times as he struggled to resist the urge to smash the ashtray straight into Beli’s head.

But he held back, and even poured Beli a glass.

Only then did Beli nod in satisfaction.

After filling the glasses, Wolf Rat casually searched for a topic.

“Usopp, where have you been wandering off to all this time? We haven’t seen a trace of you, and you show up this late, bringing along... cough, cough.”

He nearly let Sunny slip into the sentence, but stopped himself just in time.

He had no desire to be dragged out and publicly whipped over it by Sunny again.

Maude took a sip of wine and sighed. “It’s a long story.”

Wolf Rat said, with some exasperation, “Then don’t tell it. Just drink.”

By now, he no longer needed to probe around for information by roundabout means.

He only had to wait. In no more than three days, Gion and the others would arrive in Mad Hatter Town.

By then...

Wolf Rat raised his glass and let a sidelong glance drift over Maude and Sunny.

Because he feared and respected the Ghost Gun, he had never dared to get too close to the weapon shop where the Ghost Gun stayed. Even when gathering information, he had been extremely cautious.

That was why, after spending so long here, he had never truly come into contact with Sunny.

This was the first time.

Compared with Maude’s presence, Sunny was the real leverage for keeping the Ghost Gun in check.

Although Gion’s side still had not uncovered the precise relationship between Sunny and the Ghost Gun, it was obvious that it was no ordinary one.

Otherwise, if they were to capture a Ghost Gun with no attachments and no burdens, as Gion put it, the difficulty would be extreme, and the risks just as high.

A short while later, Tatam emerged from the kitchen carrying three generous plates of pan-seared steaks.

The steaks were drenched in a sauce made with red wine, giving off an aroma that made one’s mouth water.

“Please enjoy.”

Tatam wore a gentle smile.

“Thanks.”

Maude had been hungry for a long time and dug in at once.

Sunny and Beli did the same.

The reason they had come out tonight was, on the one hand, to relax.

On the other, Saul had been summoned by Arthur to the Flower District, allegedly because a new courtesan had appeared there, fair-skinned and beautiful.

Before heading out, Maude had originally meant to go to a tavern.

But it would have been noisy and crowded, and after thinking it over, he remembered Tatam’s Nightshade Bar.

It was indeed quiet, though he had not held high hopes for the food.

And when Tatam brought out those heaping plates of pan-seared steak, Maude felt that bringing Sunny and Beli to Nightshade Bar had been the right call after all.

From within the counter, Tatam watched Maude and the others devour their meal, a smile on his face.

Yet deep in his eyes, a trace of hesitation flickered.

Through Wolf Rat, he still did not know what the navy intended to do, but he did learn Maude’s true name and identity.

Of course, in public, he still had to call Maude Usopp.

...

At the far end of the alley outside Nightshade Bar, Sabo and Koala came to a stop.

They merely stood at a distance, looking toward the bar, with no intention of going over.

“There are customers, and that navy man is there too.”

Sabo studied the softly glowing sign of Nightshade Bar.

Using some concealed means of communication, he had received the information Tatam had arranged from the portions of the sign where the lights were missing.

“So what do we do...?”

Koala hesitated.

“We wait,” Sabo said calmly.

They had plenty of time before Molly arrived in Mad Hatter Town.

Personally, I think the Revolutionary Army’s Western Army commander sounds a little too effeminate, and since he’s a giant, the name Molly suits him better than Mori, so that’s the name I’m using.

Also, with my writing speed, the two owed chapters... are really a pain to deal with... Maybe next week?

I’m so adorable, of course you won’t mind, right?