As promised, I was allowed to explore the island for research and observation—on the condition that I wouldn't cause trouble for the locals.
Honestly, aside from the Seven Star Sword, the ruins were just… ruins. Old stone, weathered corridors, nothing especially remarkable at a glance. I'd also been warned about hidden caves and dangerous traps—places where an amateur could get lost, or where the floor might simply give way beneath their feet.
With that in mind, I decided to admire the ruins from a safe distance.
Fortunately, Maya's grandmother—Ms. Izaya, as I learned—more than made up for it. With the ease of a practiced storyteller, she shared countless legends and myths from Asuka Island.
According to those tales, the island had once been stained by blood over the Seven Star Sword… and the beautiful shrine maiden who guarded it.
Three young men, each hopelessly in love with the maiden and desperate to possess her, sought the Seven Star Sword, believing its invincible power would secure their victory over the others.
The conflict that followed claimed countless lives. Resentment fed greed, greed fed violence—and the sword, steeped in it all, became a cursed blade.
To end the curse and stop the war, the shrine maiden sacrificed herself, performing a sealing ritual.
The three men—shattered by remorse when they realized their obsession had cost her life—vowed to protect the island together from that day onward.
The Seven Star Sword's power was sealed by the maiden's rite and three sacred treasures known as the Sacred Orbs. It was locked away deep within the ruins so tightly that its curse would never again provoke bloodshed.
…Hmm. I see. An interesting story.
I couldn't tell how much of it was true—whether it really happened, whether something else lay behind it and this is simply what survived through the ages.
It sounded like a fairy tale on the surface.
But in this world, you can't dismiss things like that too easily.
The seas are full of the uncanny.
Take cursed blades—like the Kitetsu line—said to drag their owners toward violent deaths, one after another. Zoro even claimed he could feel them, as if they gave off an aura.
Or Vivre Cards: miraculous paper that always points to someone's location, changes size with their condition, and doesn't burn or decay. "Fate" and "connection" are practically woven into the thing, and yet it's strangely easy to obtain if you know the right hands.
And if you really want to talk about the occult, you can't ignore Devil Fruits and Haki. At some point, you just shrug and accept it. That's how the world works.
Personally, the thing that still hits me hardest—even now, nearly thirty years after my reincarnation—is the Klabautermann.
A ship's will given form. A little figure in rain gear and boots, like a fairy, appearing for sailors who truly love their vessel.
Even now, thinking about the Going Merry's farewell at Enies Lobby still makes my chest tighten.
So yes… the "Curse of the Seven Star Sword" doesn't sound impossible at all.
And if I, an outsider, can feel that way, then the people who've grown up on this island—raised on that legend—would believe it even more deeply than I ever could.
Which meant it was probably best to back off quietly.
No more pestering them with, "But can't I just take a peek?"
…Still, what a shame.
A blade with that kind of story, even nicknamed the "World's Most Beautiful Sword"… I wanted to see it. Just once.
I wished some kind of trouble would happen—something unavoidable, something that wasn't my fault—and I'd end up with a chance to witness it.
…That sounded like I'd just raised a flag, didn't it?
No. No way.
---
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
"P-Pirates! Pirates are attacking!"
---
For the record, I'm innocent.
---
Third-person POV
As alarm bells rang across the island, the battle between the Self-Defense Corps and the invading pirates was already underway.
The pirates had come chasing rumors: dazzling treasure, and among it a legendary blade—a masterpiece so beautiful it could only be called a hidden treasure.
Unlike Sue, they were the real thing—brutes who believed plunder was their right.
With swords and guns, they stormed the village. The Self-Defense Corps held them back in desperation, buying time for women and children to evacuate.
At the center of the front line was Saga.
"Damn it—what's with this guy?!"
"He's clearly injured, but he's insanely strong!"
"Don't back off! He's already gasping! We outnumber them—keep pressing and we'll win!"
Huff… huff…
Saga didn't answer. He couldn't. Pain bit into every breath, and he had no spare air for words.
He surged forward anyway, sword flashing.
Pirates fell in droves. Not one of them breached the line he defended.
But the wounds he'd already suffered were merciless. Even without taking a fresh hit, his breathing grew ragged, sweat pouring down his face as if he'd been dragged through a river.
To anyone untrained, he looked like he was on the brink. And yet he refused to fall.
In the end, he cut down the last pirate.
The villagers—who had watched with clenched hands and held breath—erupted into cheers.
…Only for that joy to die almost instantly.
"Hey! It's not over! The pirates are still here!"
"Huh?!"
"What do you mean—?!"
A Self-Defense Corps man grabbed the messenger who'd come sprinting in, panic still shaking his voice.
The messenger's face was white.
"They split their forces when they landed—multiple groups! Some came in from the rear beaches. There were no guards there, so they went straight into the ruins, and… and…"
"And what?!"
"Ms. Izaya and Maya… they said they couldn't let the ruins be desecrated, so they went to the place where the Seven Star Sword is sealed…"
"…Maya…!"
Saga moved before the words even finished.
He forced his ruined body into a sprint, driving heavy limbs with sheer will as he raced for the ruins.
Along the way he cut down a raiding party—slower than usual, clearly straining, every swing costing more than it should.
Still he ran.
When he reached the heart of the ruins, he found Maya pinned down, pirates leering over her. His blade flashed once—several pirates dropped in the same sweep.
The rest turned on him at once.
Saga fought like a man possessed, shielding her, pushing himself beyond sense—beyond what his battered body could endure.
And then the sprint, the injuries, the relentless strain… it all caught up.
An attack blasted him backward.
He hit the stone floor hard, the impact rattling through bone and blood. Every movement turned into agony. Even lifting a finger felt impossible.
And yet—
Driven by something he couldn't name, Saga reached out.
His fingertips brushed against something.
Clatter… scrape… thud.
"…! Saga, that's—no!"
At the center of a small stone chamber stood a coffin-like box carved from rock. The lid slid aside beneath his touch.
Saga's hand slipped inside.
His fingers closed around something cold.
Metal.
"Stop… NO—NOOOO!!"
He gripped it.
The cursed holy sword—the Seven Star Sword, sealed in stone—was in his hand.
Thump.
In that instant, Saga rose.
The exhaustion vanished as if it had never existed. Pain retreated. His stance steadied, his breath smoothed—unnaturally so.
He turned toward the pirates.
And with the Seven Star Sword, he butchered them.
Each swing was clean. Swift. Final.
No one had time to resist. No one had time to run.
Maya stared, trembling.
Saga's eyes held a glow—faint, wrong, unmistakably ominous.
She understood at once.
The curse…
The curse of the Seven Star Sword had awakened.
"Kukuku… kukukuku…!"
With the pirates dead, Saga scooped Maya into his arms and strode out of the ruins.
Then—as if the sword itself delighted in its broken seal—wild laughter spilled from it, echoing through the air.
"Kukuku, hahahaha… hahahahaha… HAHAHAHAHA—"
"Hey. What's a guy who can barely stand doing out here?"
"HA—bwuh?!"
A Japanese umbrella cracked against the back of Saga's head.
He pitched forward and kissed the ground.
The Seven Star Sword slipped from his grip. Maya tumbled too—
Sue caught her in a flustered panic before she could hit the stone.
Standing there with the umbrella still raised, Sue blinked between the collapsed Saga and the shaken girl in her arms.
"…What was that?"
---
When the pirates attacked, I joined the defense.
With Observation Haki, I realized immediately that they'd split into multiple teams and struck from several points at once—yet the islanders didn't seem to notice at all. So I left the areas they were already handling to them and focused on clearing the unguarded zones.
Four locations in total.
A tight schedule.
First, I told Maya and Ms. Izaya to evacuate. They'd been guiding me through the ruins as part of my "research," but from where we were, they should've been able to reach the shelter without running into pirates.
Then I moved.
I reached the first landing point in under a minute and wiped out the first wave before they could even get off the beach.
One down.
The second was close enough that I ambushed them right after they landed, before they could scatter.
I erased them in one sweep.
I used Paper Razor Blizzard, and the shoreline ended up drenched in blood—so much that the sand looked like it had swallowed it, turning everything into something out of a horror film.
…Sorry about that.
At that point, only two targets remained.
One had apparently been handled by the Self-Defense Corps—or rather, Saga. He'd taken them down himself. I guess that counts.
…He fought like that with those injuries? Is he trying to die?
The last group, though, was trouble.
They'd rushed into the forest immediately after landing, so hunting them down was tedious. Even with Observation Haki, it was work, and I needed more hands—so I had my Kirigami deal with the stragglers while I searched.
And then something unexpected happened.
Despite telling her to evacuate, Maya headed straight for the ruins—pirates on her heels.
I sprinted back.
Saga arrived a little before I did… and got taken down.
Then he stood back up with a presence that didn't belong to him, slaughtered the pirates, cradled Maya in his arms, and started laughing like something had crawled into his skin.
So I smacked him.
Partly to stop whatever that was.
Partly because I was genuinely mad.
And that brings us to now.
"…So that's it," I murmured. "The Seven Star Sword's curse."
"Y-yes… most likely," Maya said shakily. "I could feel the sword's malevolent energy—coming from Saga himself. I'm almost certain."
We moved elsewhere to talk.
After Saga collapsed—through my own fault, admittedly—we carried him to the village hospital.
Never thought I'd bring the same person there twice in one day.
Beside his bed, I asked Maya what happened.
Saga had accidentally touched the sealed Seven Star Sword. The curse poured into him—an influx of malice—and although it revived him, it didn't revive him as himself.
If I hadn't intervened, he would've become a walking disaster.
When I knocked the sword out of his hand, Maya—as a shrine maiden—felt the malice draining from him. She believed he was likely safe now.
Either he'd released it quickly… or we'd stopped it just before it fully took him.
In the end, it wasn't the curse that kept him down.
It was his injuries.
They'd worsened. He needed strict bed rest, again.
And then there was the larger problem.
The Seven Star Sword.
"M-more importantly…" Maya swallowed hard, eyes fixed on the blade in my hand. "Is it… really okay? Are you sure you're not being affected?"
After knocking Saga out, I'd picked it up.
Just like that.
Unlike Saga, I didn't feel it trying to control me—at least, not successfully.
To be precise, there was a sensation. A presence. Something that pressed against me… and then recoiled, blocked by my Haki.
So yes.
There's a curse on it. I can tell.
It just can't get its hooks into me.
Anyone with solid Armament Haki could probably resist it.
"No matter how many times I see it…" Ms. Izaya murmured, voice trembling. "To hold the Seven Star Sword and remain sane… it's unbelievable…"
"…Honestly," I said, "I was more shocked by you earlier, Ms. Izaya."
After we got Saga and Maya settled (Maya woke right away—she wasn't injured at all), I showed Ms. Izaya the sword and asked what I should do with it.
She jolted so hard she straightened her hunched back—
…and promptly grew to over three meters tall.
I nearly screamed.
It was like she'd been folded up all this time and suddenly unfolded into a giant.
Judging by the villagers' reactions—complete, open-mouthed panic—most people didn't know either.
---
Later, Saga woke up.
He remembered everything after touching the Seven Star Sword. He described it as a terrifying sensation of losing himself, like something clawing its way inside his mind.
Since I was the one who'd knocked him out of it—literally—he bowed deeply and thanked me. He even said he trusted me now.
For a while, I'd worried how this would end.
But in the end… it settled into something decent.
Something I could be grateful for.
All's well that ends well.
It's nice to be trusted, but… I was leaving the island soon anyway. My research here was basically finished.
That said, there are a couple things about what comes next.
First: when I leave, I'm taking the Seven Star Sword with me.
They never intended to keep it here forever. But because touching it curses you—except for Maya, who can suppress it as a shrine maiden—they couldn't move it. They couldn't destroy it.
And they couldn't just toss it somewhere on land or in the sea. If someone found it…
So since the curse can't take hold of me, they asked me to remove it from the island and secure it.
And yes, I can feel it.
The presence of a truly legendary blade.
It lives up to the nickname "the World's Most Beautiful Sword." It's stunning.
If they're offering it… I'll accept.
…Though I already have a sword, so I don't know when I'll ever actually use this one. For now, I'll turn it into paper with Enigma and store it inside my body.
Leaving it out where someone might touch it would be dangerous—and it doesn't even have a sheath. Keeping a cursed blade unsheathed is a bad idea for more than one reason.
Second.
Saga's right arm.
According to Maya, it's been paralyzed since an accident in the past. No one could treat it here, and doctors told him it would never recover.
But… what if that wasn't true?
So I offered.
"Do you want me to introduce you to a doctor I know?"
Maya's eyes lit up so fast it was almost painful to watch. She accepted immediately.
That meant calling in my people.
If Drum—the medical superpower—couldn't help, no one could. With their technology, maybe they could repair damaged nerves.
And lately, Papa's researchers have been developing all sorts of Revival-style drugs that restore bodily functions. I've heard of cases where even damaged nervous systems recovered.
Officially, Papa gave refuge to doctors exiled during the Doctor Hunt.
Unofficially, he'd been thrilled to acquire that many skilled professionals at once. The doctors stopped being destitute, Papa got talent—everyone won.
Alright, then.
We needed to get a medical team here.
Their base wasn't far.
Worst case, we could have them swing by while they were already in the area.
We'd also need an escort—someone who could guarantee safe passage across the sea.
Given the location and timing…
Yeah. There's only one obvious choice.
I lifted the Den Den Mushi.
"…Hello? It's me, Sue. I need a favor. I need someone to transport and escort a medical team. Yes—Asuka Island. As soon as possible. Thanks. I'm counting on you… Gasparde."
To be continued...