"Is there a doctor here?!"
A massive man, nearly three meters tall with short hair, burst into the clinic with that booming voice.
"Huh?"
What the giant saw was me—a delicate, beautiful girl who might look about ten years old—and my father pointing a drawn sword at me. This doesn't look dangerous at all!
"Hmph!"
With that grunt, the giant punched my father and sent him flying out the clinic window. Actually, I only saw the aftermath of the punch, so I'm just guessing that's what happened.
This guy's incredibly strong!
"You all right, lass? Don't worry, I'll finish this quick."
The giant headed outside after saying that. It all happened so fast I was slow to react.
"Wait! That's my father!"
My voice echoed uselessly. I had to stop this, so I rushed outside.
"Blocking my fist? You've got skill, lad. Want to join the Marines?"
"That punch was impressive. I'd like to hear your name."
"My name's Monkey D. Garp! Vice Admiral of Marine Headquarters!"
When I got outside, the giant's name reached my ears—someone famous enough that even isolated Wano had heard of him.
Why is Fist of Love Garp here?
I wondered about that, but his name felt familiar. Ever since I'd eaten my Devil Fruit, I'd been gradually losing my previous life's memories. Maybe this was connected to those memories.
I could still remember things from my daily life as a nurse, but other things had become impossible to recall—now I just felt this sense of familiarity.
"So you're the famous Fist of Love Garp. Even in isolationist Wano, cut off from outside affairs, we've heard of you."
"Bwahahaha! Is that so!"
"You treated me to your fist earlier. Now let me return the favor with my sword!"
With those words, my father stepped forward and brought his sword down from above while Garp met it with his fist.
What? How can you deflect a sword with your fist?
I stared in shock. Not just one exchange, but two, three—sword and fist clashed repeatedly. The metallic ring of steel echoed around us.
My father was over six feet tall with a lean but well-trained build. But Garp towered nearly three meters with a massively muscled frame. Watching these two fight mesmerized me.
Dad was that strong?
Usually he was a doting father who couldn't stand up to mom, training peacefully with his students at the dojo. He'd looked a little cool when we went to sea together to fight pirates.
But I never thought he could hold his own against someone with an epithet. Mom was the dojo's master, and our family style used...
"A straight sword instead of a katana or saber? That's unusual!"
"My school's founder was apparently clumsy! He struggled with the drawing cuts and sliding cuts of katanas and sabers, so he focused purely on chopping strikes and ended up with straight swords!"
Right. Our family style used straight swords instead of the popular katanas and sabers.
Using weapons on the unstable deck of a ship, swinging with pure force could easily throw off your balance. Straight swords were also good for thrusting attacks, but point attacks were less effective against ability users, Haki users, and non-human races with strong vitality.
That's why this world favored katanas and sabers specialized for cutting—line attacks. Our family style went against that trend by using straight swords.
Honestly, I had some faith in katanas from my previous life's familiarity, and I'd thought my great-grandfather earned his surname through novelty.
But my father was holding his own against a Marine Vice Admiral.
"Dad's amazing..."
The words of praise slipped out.
No good, I came here to stop this!
"Hey, you two, stop—"
"Bwahahaha! First person since the Dark King whose sword didn't break against my fist! Want to join the Marines?"
"I can't leave my beloved wife and daughters! I must decline!"
Stop, both of you!
"You two, stop—"
"But Garp, you've got fine fists too! You're in a different league from common pirates!"
"Bwahahaha! Nothing's impossible for a fist filled with love! So join the Marines!"
Listen to me!
"Stop—"
"I already refused! But I appreciate the sentiment!"
"Bwahahaha! Then join the Marines!"
I took a deep breath and shouted with all my might:
"Enough already!"
"Enough already!"
The young lady's voice echoed around us, drawing everyone's attention. The force of her spirit made dust swirl faintly at her feet.
Was that Conqueror's Haki just now?
Compared to my rivals Roger and Whitebeard it was child's play, but that sensation that stopped the fight between me and this samurai was unmistakably Conqueror's Haki.
"Lass... what you just did..."
"Garp! You said you were looking for a doctor at first, right?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Then! Don't you have patients waiting somewhere? What if they don't get treatment in time? Bring them here now!"
"Ah."
"...Ah."
"What if their treatment is too late? Hurry up and bring them!"
"Y-yes ma'am!"
Prompted by her, I turned to run and fetch my injured subordinates.
"And Dad! If you hadn't drawn your sword in the clinic, none of this would've happened!"
"Wait, Akari...?"
"Sit down and listen!"
"Yes ma'am!"
The sight of the samurai sitting in seiza was so funny I almost laughed. But the sharp-eyed lass caught me.
"What are you doing? Go get them quickly!"
"Right! I'll bring them right away!"
This time I really started running. But what filled my head was the talent and courage the lass had shown. Conqueror's Haki that only my young subordinate Max possessed among the Marines, and the courage to interrupt a fight between clearly superior opponents. Truly a rare find.
"What an unexpected encounter!"
As I ran, glancing back at the distant village made me laugh. I absolutely had to recruit that lass into the Marines.
"But first, treating the wounded comes first, just like the lass said. Bwahahaha!"
At first it was to help that lass. But meeting such an unexpected strong opponent got my heart racing and I got caught up in the fight. But when it ended, that samurai turned out to be the lass's father—my own hasty assumption. I'd have to apologize later.
Thinking about this as I ran, I could see the ship moored in the inlet.
"Prepare to transport the wounded! We're taking them to the doctor!"
My subordinates moved with hurried but orderly efficiency. I couldn't help smiling. They were my pride.
"Welcome back, Vice Admiral! You took a while—did something happen?"
My aide Bogard questioned me. Damn, I didn't think of an excuse. Guess I'll laugh it off.
"Bwahahaha!"
"What exactly did you do now?!"
My subordinates' eyes watching from the ship went white as clouds against the blue sky as I laughed louder to deflect their complete lack of trust.