January 12, 1502, Age of the Sea Circle
*Ding*
*You have completed the hidden mission "Absolute Love"*
*You have obtained 2500 SP*
*You have obtained "Apothecary's Notebook"*
*A companion bond has been unlocked: Main Wife (3)*
"What the hell?" said Orion after reading the notifications that had appeared on the system screen.
He had been flying through the sky over the New World, completely bored, when he suddenly remembered that he had never undone the effect of his Art Coating on the Devil Fruits he had given to the three Boa sisters.
At first, he had planned to wait about a month before dissolving the Art Coating's effect, giving them enough time to return home safely before obtaining the Devil Fruits.
He didn't know the exact location of Amazon Lily, but he believed a month would be enough for them to reach it from the Sabaody Archipelago. However, since he had been completely focused on his acting mission over the past few months —and on spending romantic time with Victoria— he had completely forgotten about it.
Now, as he flew home, utterly bored, there wasn't much for him to do besides reading, training his Observation Haki, or letting his mind wander through all sorts of thoughts.
Finally, today he remembered that he still hadn't undone the camouflage on the Devil Fruits even though almost three months had passed, so he immediately deactivated his ability, hoping to give the three Kuja sisters a pleasant surprise.
However, he didn't expect his actions to cause such a massive change!
Reading the description of the hidden mission "Absolute Love" he had just completed, Orion learned the requirements for its completion: to raise the favorability of a woman who was a Named Character (VIP) to the maximum possible level!
He hadn't expected his gift to be so well received by Boa Hancock, to the point that her favorability would rise by nearly ten points, reaching a perfect score. Although she wasn't the first woman to achieve that score—since his wives had already done so before—she was undoubtedly the first Named Character (VIP) to reach it.
Happily, Orion thought that Hancock was truly a good girl, someone who could appreciate the good intentions of others, and he decided that the next time he saw her, he would treat her even more kindly. However, what he didn't know was that the situation wasn't nearly as simple or cheerful as he imagined.
Boa Hancock's favorability hadn't suddenly risen out of gratitude or heartfelt affection, but rather from the jealousy and obsession she had developed after her pride was wounded by Orion.
She had convinced herself that Orion had proposed to her by giving her a ring, only to then betray her trust by making that same ring turn into a Devil Fruit. In the strange mind of the young Hancock, Orion had played with her feelings, and for that, she would make him pay as soon as she saw him again!
Even so, the favorability displayed on the system screen didn't lie—she didn't harbor hatred toward Orion, but rather the indignation of a girlfriend who had been ignored. What she wanted wasn't to destroy him, but simply to teach him a lesson, and, if possible, to make him fall so deeply in love with her that he wouldn't be able to breathe without her by his side.
Right now, Hancock had begun an intense training regimen to enhance her strength and beauty, and when she saw Orion again, she would astonish him completely. Overall, there was no serious issue resulting from Orion's decision to dissolve the ring he had given her, although their next meeting might be a bit more tense than it would have been if he hadn't had that "little detail" with her.
Of course, Orion was unaware of all this and was simply pleased to have received several unexpected rewards. In addition to the SP, he had obtained a new item and unlocked a new slot for a Main Wife in the companion screen.
Currently, there were three available slots in the system for registering companions as Main Wives. Due to the high requirements necessary for registration, none of his current companions could be listed in that category, and perhaps the only woman who might soon qualify for it was Ginny.
The leader of the Southern Revolutionary Army met the necessary conditions to be registered as such, but so far, Orion had never stepped out of the ambiguous zone with her. However, that might change once he returned to Pacific Kingdom this time—though he would have to wait and see how things developed.
With a thought, Orion took out the item called "Apothecary's Notebook," which he had received as a reward this time, and began reading it with great interest. The notebook contained a vast number of recipes for all kinds of potions and medicines, some of which had effects that were almost magical.
Until now, most of the medicines and potions he had crafted were of his own creation, born from his knowledge of Medicine and Herbalism, so it was a pleasant surprise to suddenly have a collection of high-level recipes he didn't need to research on his own.
He only needed to gather the materials and prepare them to verify whether their effects were genuine. Although many of the ingredients listed in those recipes were rather rare, Orion believed they could be obtained relatively easily in the Underworld market, so he was quite pleased with this reward.
One of the potions that excited him the most was one that could increase vitality and accelerate wound recovery, essentially turning it into the classic health potion that often appeared in the video games of his previous life.
Orion couldn't wait to brew those potions and test their effects. For a long while, he immersed himself in the little notebook and its recipes, which made him overlook the fact that a group of markers had appeared on the system's map screen, signaling the presence of Named Characters in the area.
Due to the incredible speed at which he was traveling across the sky, the time it took from the moment the Named Characters entered the system's identification range to the moment he reached their location was barely half an hour.
For that reason, Orion only noticed the presence of one of the Named Characters when he heard a great commotion rising from the sea below.
"Help!" cried a red-haired girl from the deck of a ship, seeing a strange person soaring through the skies above her.
"I've been captured by pirates!" the girl added, her voice filled with visible desperation.
Almost instinctively, and without even knowing that this girl was a Named Character, Orion opened a door in the air and immediately halted his journey toward Pacific Kingdom without a second thought. Now that he had seen a group of pirates attempting to kidnap a young woman, he couldn't simply stand by and do nothing.
Orion stepped into his Pocket Dimension, and the inertia from Kuma's ability disappeared completely. Then, emerging once again through the same gate he had just created, he descended rapidly from the heavens, using Geppo.
The pirates, upon seeing a strange man "running" across the sky toward them, panicked instantly and began shooting at him mercilessly. Unfortunately for them, if there was one thing Orion wasn't afraid of, it was projectile attacks—unless they were of an exceptionally high level.
With a flick of his hand, he opened another gate in midair, making the bullets vanish without a trace as they were absorbed into the Pocket Dimension's battle zone. Then, without losing speed, he landed on the ship's deck and attacked the pirates with precise, well-aimed punches.
Though his blows weren't lethal, they were powerful enough to knock out any of the pirates on board, who fell to the floor one after another like flies under the astonished gaze of the red-haired girl.
As for why Orion didn't use his cutlass to outright slaughter this crew of criminals, it was simply because he didn't want to terrify the young lady—whose delicate features and refined attire made it clear that she was a noblewoman who had probably never witnessed a grotesque scene like a battlefield littered with corpses.
In just a few moments, Orion had subdued all the pirates. Then, with a gentle smile, he approached the girl and said,
"Don't worry, everything's fine now. Are you hurt?"
The young lady, who had just experienced the classic scene of a hero rescuing a damsel in distress—and had also been slightly affected by Orion's passive system buffs—blushed timidly, nodded, and replied,
"Y-Yes! I'm fine… thanks to you…"
"I'm glad to hear that. However, this isn't a place for a beautiful lady such as yourself. Would you like me to escort you home?" Orion said, extending his hand.
The red-haired girl blushed even deeper, but her eyes sparkled, and without a moment's hesitation, she reached out and took Orion's hand. She was a proud woman who lived in the land of love and passion; once her heart started beating fast for someone, she would never act passively—even if a faint shyness was inevitable.
Orion took her hand and, placing his other hand around her waist, said,
"I'll use the same technique to reach the coast. Hold on to me tightly so you don't fall." Then, remembering that he hadn't introduced himself yet, he added,
"By the way, my name is Orion. What's yours?"
The red-haired girl looked at him with eyes practically turned into hearts and opened her small mouth to answer—but before she could say a word, someone fell from the sky like an enraged beast, shouting at the top of his lungs,
"Lady Scarlett! Don't worry, I'll save you!"
The newcomer, dressed in the uniform of a guard or soldier, saw a man holding the princess intimately by the waist and immediately concluded that this man was one of the ruffians who had kidnapped Scarlett.
Because of his deep concern, the warrior's mind wasn't functioning clearly, so he failed to process the entire scene, jumping straight to the wrong conclusion.
Before the girl could say anything to clear up the misunderstanding, the agitated warrior charged at Orion, brandishing his sword aggressively. Perceiving the immense power radiating from this individual, Orion didn't dare maintain his relaxed attitude from moments earlier.
With a quick motion of his hand, he sent Scarlett into the Pocket Dimension to make sure she wouldn't be harmed during the clash.
Clang!!
Kyros's sword collided forcefully with Orion's cutlass, unleashing a massive shockwave that shattered part of the ship around them. Originally, Kyros hadn't intended to attack with such strength, wanting to avoid injuring Scarlett, but when he saw her suddenly vanish, his anxiety spiked even further—and he struck with all his might.
Somewhat surprised by Kyros's raw strength, which was comparable to his own—perhaps even slightly superior—Orion used Soru to put some distance between them. However, Kyros immediately closed the gap again, revealing impressive speed as well.
Clang! Another violent clash of blades echoed, and Orion took two steps back. It was clear that in a contest of pure strength, he was at a disadvantage, and the fact that Kyros could use Haki made the situation even trickier.
Still, Orion wasn't confined to the use of his sword alone. Though proud of his swordsmanship, he would never restrict himself to the mere use of a blade. His strength lay in the versatility of his abilities, and there was no reason not to exploit that advantage to its fullest!
"Damn pirate! What did you do to Princess Scarlett?!" Kyros roared furiously, swinging his sword again as he prepared a powerful strike.
"Un fleur," Orion murmured, materializing a hand behind Kyros and launching several Shigan strikes coated in Armament Haki in rapid succession.
Kyros instantly sensed the danger and, with a swift movement, dodged Orion's attacks from behind. However, he dropped his guard for a moment against Orion's real body in front of him. Stepping forward, Orion gathered a surge of electricity between his hands, then thrust his palm directly toward Kyros's chest.
The warrior took the blow head-on but managed to avoid serious damage thanks to his Armament Haki. Even so, Orion's strike destabilized him momentarily, giving him the opening to launch another attack.
"Kamusari!" Orion shouted, unleashing a mighty slash that sent Kyros hurtling backward. The warrior managed to block at the last instant with his own sword, yet the impact still sent him flying a great distance.
Orion didn't pause to give him a chance to recover. Opening a door in the air, he entered the Pocket Dimension, vanishing completely from the original spatial plane. A heartbeat later, he emerged right behind Kyros, who was still flying forward like a cannonball, and thrust both fists outward in a powerful strike.
"Rokuogan!"
"Arrgh!" Kyros cried out in pain as the tremendous impact hit his back, then he crashed forward, landing on his knees atop the ship's shattered deck.
Even so, Kyros's endurance was far beyond normal, and such damage wasn't enough to stop him. Still determined to save the princess, he tried to rise and continue the fight—but just then, a massive boulder appeared magically over his back, forcing him to remain kneeling where he was.
"You should calm down a bit. The young lady is fine," Orion said, pressing the edge of his sword against Kyros's throat. The warrior glared up at him, his eyes filled with resolve and the desire to keep fighting.
Orion sighed softly and, with a motion of his hand, opened a gate to the Pocket Dimension, allowing Scarlett to reappear. Now that Kyros had been momentarily restrained, it was the perfect time for the girl to try to bring him to his senses.
"Kyros! What are you doing?! You're attacking my hero!" Scarlett exclaimed indignantly at the actions of the captain of the royal army, who had launched an assault on Orion without waiting for any sort of explanation.
She already held a rather negative opinion of him and had opposed the idea of him becoming the royal army's leader. Now that his actions had interrupted her moment of intimacy with the handsome hero who had just saved her, she was even more irritated.
"Lady Scarlett, I thought—"
"I don't care what you thought! The problem is that you acted too rashly! You need to learn to keep your composure if you're going to be the head of the royal army!" Scarlett continued scolding him sharply.
Kyros simply lowered his head and didn't try to defend himself further, as the princess's words were true. He had just assumed this role as commander of the royal army and still wasn't fully comfortable in the position, constantly fearing he wasn't suited for the job and might make a grave mistake.
That was why, when he learned that the princess had been kidnapped by pirates right under his nose, he immediately lost his composure, consumed by the fear of betraying the trust King Riku had placed in him.
If he couldn't even protect the daughter of his benefactor, then what meaning was there to the life he had been struggling to give purpose to for so long?
When he finally reached the ship of the pirate kidnappers and saw the princess in the arms of an unfamiliar man, his agitated mind was unable to process everything clearly, which had led to the brief but intense clash with Orion.
Ultimately, it was true that he had failed to keep his composure, and that was something he needed to improve upon if he wished to become the protective shield of King Riku and the kingdom.
Fortunately, Orion had no intention of harming him, so although his blows had been powerful, they had not been fatal. Likewise, because of his unstable mental state, Kyros had been unable to use his true combat power. These reasons had been what prevented the situation from truly spiraling out of control and ending in a serious accident.
Now that his mind had settled, Kyros understood this, and immediately felt a sense of gratitude toward Orion, who had clearly restrained himself during the battle.
At the same time, Orion was also thinking that he had been fortunate Kyros wasn't in good mental condition, for otherwise, the result of the fight might have been uncertain.
"In any case, I want you to apologize to Orion for your rude behavior," Scarlett concluded, her hands resting on her hips in the classic posture of an aristocratic young lady reprimanding a servant.
"My apolog—" Kyros began, but Orion interrupted before he could finish.
"There's no need to apologize. You were only trying to help this young lady. Don't worry, I have no intention of reproaching your actions. In fact, I find them respectable," Orion said with a kind smile, then sheathed his cutlass and made the large rock he had used to keep Kyros down vanish.
Extending his hand toward the warrior to help him up, he said,
"Nice to meet you. My name is Orion."
Kyros's impression of Orion improved once again as he witnessed what he considered chivalrous behavior, and extending his hand, he shook Orion's firmly.
Then, standing up with Orion's help, he said,
"My name is Kyros, and I am the Commander of the royal army of the Kingdom of Dressrosa. It's a pleasure to meet you!"
Without realizing it, Orion had arrived for the first time in the country of love and passion—and it would not take long for him to understand why this land was known that way.