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For the first time, the little reindeer began to grapple with the contradiction of his dream.
Kureha quizzed Chopper on several points from the heavy book he had just finished. At first distracted, the little reindeer snapped back to attention and answered each question with cheerful enthusiasm, believing it was some kind of game.
"From now on, call me Master Kureha," the old woman announced grandly, one hand on her hip. "Or… 'Doctor Mother' is acceptable too."
Chopper's face lit up like fireworks. "Doctor Mother Kureha!"
For once, Kureha allowed herself a satisfied nod. Her new student wasn't human, not even close, but talent didn't care about species. And this little reindeer had it in droves. With a long, stretching yawn, she asked, "By the way, where are those two?"
Right on cue, Liam and Robin strolled up.
"We were just about to head into town for supplies," Liam said.
"Perfect," Kureha replied at once. "I was planning to go myself."
Without Wapol and his medical team, the people of Drum had been left without proper doctors. Kureha's presence was a lifeline.
Robin politely offered her money to take along, but Kureha waved it off with disdain. She tugged her sunglasses down and flashed a grin.
"Do you even know who I am? Doctors heal, people pay. Whether it's food, clothes, booze, or jewels, it's all fair exchange. Heeheehee…"
"You sound more like a pirate than we do," Liam muttered.
Kureha burst into booming laughter. "Not a pirate, more like a bandit! Ahahahaha!"
Then, with a quiet pause, her voice dropped. "Long ago, there was a real bandit here. A nasty brute. He left for the sea and, knowing him, turned pirate. He's probably bones somewhere by now…"
As they neared the entrance of Stand Castle, Chopper suddenly gasped. "Ahhh! I just remembered, there's a ghost outside!"
Robin arched her brow, amused. "Haven't we been living inside its body this whole time?"
"Inside the ghost's body?!" Chopper almost jumped out of his skin, antlers rattling as he scrambled behind Kureha's legs. But then white liquid welled up at their feet like something alive, and the little reindeer shrieked again.
"Uwaaaaaahhh!!"
"And you told me not to scare him," Liam said dryly to Robin.
"I wasn't trying to," Robin murmured, touching her chin thoughtfully.
With an exasperated sigh, Liam reached out to pinch her cheek again, his usual reprimand, while the "ghost" rose up from the floor, molding itself into armored form.
"See?" Liam grinned, gesturing grandly. "That's the ghost. Look at the armor, the eyes, the flame patterns. Isn't it cool?"
"Wooow…" Chopper's eyes grew starry, drawn to the black armored figure.
Robin smiled faintly. Kureha, meanwhile, took a swig from her ever-present bottle, unimpressed.
The ghost, B.I.B., lowered its helmeted head toward Chopper. Twin narrow eyes glowed, and with perfect mimicry, it returned Liam's thumbs-up.
"He even knows how to… thumbs-up…" Chopper whispered in awe, nearly breathless. "Such a cool ghost…"
......
In the blizzard winds, Kureha walked into Drum City with Chopper trotting at her side.
On the streets, a group of young men training under Dalton's lead were arming themselves with makeshift weapons. "From now on, every town must send people to guard the ports!" Dalton declared.
"That's right!" another villager shouted. "This country belongs to us now! Never again will we let Wapol crawl back and torment us!" Voices cried out in agreement.
"And pirates!" someone yelled. "We mustn't let pirates, "
The rest of the words died in the icy air. Silence fell. The thought lingered.
What if those pirates return? Could they even be stopped?...
Dalton's voice carried quietly, but steady. "…Let's move out."
The men trudged on, their determination billowing like the snow around them. The crowd parted when Kureha entered the city. No one dared question her; Dalton merely gave the old doctor a nod, his stern gaze flickering once toward Chopper before he turned away with his men.
Chopper craned his neck, watching Dalton and the villagers vanish into the storm. In their footsteps, he saw courage, and doubt.
"Come on, Chopper," Kureha beckoned lazily, swinging her wine bottle. "I smell someone sick."
Minutes later, she smashed open the door of a shop with a single kick.
The villagers inside froze, startled. But Kureha only smirked, raising her voice cheerfully.
"Brats, are you feeling happy?"
Gasps rang out. The usual scramble of apologies filled the air.
In the corner, a man lay pale and sweating on a cot. At his side fussed the young girl Loth, trembling under the family's anxious eyes as she tried to treat him with clumsy hands.
"Brat."
Kureha's shadow fell over her. Loth looked up in alarm. The old doctor's voice was cold and cutting as steel.
"If you want to heal people…" Kureha tilted her head, faintly amused. "…then learn properly. Understand?"
She brushed the girl aside without hesitation, taking over the patient with effortless command. Loth bit her lip, retreating into the crowd, her face burning as she watched the old witch doctor's hands move with frightening skill.
"…" Kureha twirled her surgical scissors with a flick, eyes glancing back. The girl fled through the door without a word.
Kureha didn't bother watching her leave. She sutured the man neatly, then stood with a stretch. "All right, just take this medicine every day and you'll be fine. As for my fee…"
Her grin widened.
Now the real trouble would begin.
......
Out in the snow, a small reindeer trudged behind Dr. Kureha, a crate of food strapped firmly to his back.
His round blue nose twitched, carrying the sharp sting of frost in every breath. He paused suddenly, peering through the drifting snow.
For just a moment, between the gusts, he thought he saw a pale shadow gliding across the mountains.
Floating silently, hugging her knees, lost in her own lonely world, Loth. A girl carried by invisible currents of air, drifting further and further away like a ghost swallowed by the storm.
......
"So you see," Liam announced with great authority inside Stand Castle, "people calling you a snow monster has nothing to do with your nose being blue. Seriously, what's so weird about a blue nose? There are people out there whose noses are bright red and perfectly round like a ball. Did anyone call them monsters? No!"
Upstairs, Kureha had already buried herself back into her mound of research notes, muttering to herself while scribbling down margins. On the couch, Robin reclined gracefully with a cup of steaming tea in hand, reading an ancient tome as though the chaos below didn't exist.
And on the floor before a massive mirror conjured by Stand Castle itself, Liam was lecturing Chopper with the earnestness of a strict teacher.
"The real issue isn't the color," Liam continued, wagging a finger. "It's the shape. Even once you fully transform into a person, your nose remains exactly the same, it's still a deer's nose."
Chopper, standing stout and broad-shouldered in full human form, immediately reached up to touch the offending blue nose, his round eyes anxious.
"Mirror," Liam called, knocking against the wall.
The slick surface rippled like water before hardening into glass. A giant floor-length mirror appeared, reflecting Chopper's nervous face back at him.
From the side, Giorno leaned in with a relaxed air, draping an arm companionably across Chopper's shoulders. With a flick of his finger, he tapped the tip of the blue nose.
"Look," he said calmly. "It's exactly the same nose you had as a deer. To you, it's normal. But to people living in these snowy lands, one glance and their mind screams, 'that's a deer's nose, on a man's face.' To them, it's unnatural. Too human to be an animal, too animal to be a man. That's why they call you a monster."
"Ooooh…" Chopper's lips curled down, cheeks puffing in frustration as he pouted. The towering "blue-nosed man" in the reflection looked more hurt than frightening. "But even when I was just a regular deer, the moment I spoke… they still attacked me…"
"That's different." Liam squatted down so he could look Chopper in the eye, his expression steady and reassuring. "That was their fault. Their ignorance." He grinned suddenly, full of mischief. "One of these days, we'll go back and teach them a good lesson. How's that sound?"
The little reindeer's gloom cracked into a smile. "Yeah!"
"That's the spirit." Liam straightened up, folding his arms. "But listen, apart from learning medicine from the old hag, you also need to train yourself to master your Human-Human Fruit. If you're going to take human form, then don't just look human. You have to be human. No more clinging to old deer instincts."
Chopper's eyes lit with determination, his small fists clenching tight. "Got it!"
Across the room, Robin turned another page and laughed softly over the rim of her cup, the rising steam warming her gentle smile.
The storm might have howled outside the castle walls, but inside, a strange little family was forming, bound together by medicine, adventure, and dreams yet to come.
(End of Chapter)