Author's Note:
In this chapter, a certain piece of "lore" is revealed that some readers might consider unnecessary. I'm not sure whether it will come into play later on, but it's something I'd decided on since the early stages, so I figured I'd put it out there. Sorry if it's not to your taste.
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"Hmm... Another fine harvest! I can just picture the smiles on Mother and her group's faces at the dinner table!"
Suzu said this with a satisfied nod.
Spread out before her, as far as the eye could see, were magnificent paddies filled with rice stalks glowing golden, ripe and ready. The rice that Suzu and her subordinates had been cultivating had reached the season for harvest.
Currently, Suzu herself, dressed in easy-to-move-in farmer's clothes, along with her subordinates, the farmers under her command, and even additional temporary labor, were all mobilized for the rice harvesting.
Among the "temporary" workers were people recruited from the Golden Lion Pirates' Territory, primarily from impoverished nations.
Of course, they hadn't been forcibly brought here as slaves or anything of the sort. Participation was entirely voluntary, and the working conditions were far better than the average migrant labor job.
The physical demands were considerable, given the vast farmland to work, but three meals a day were provided. All-you-can-eat, at that. And the quality and taste were leagues beyond the poor fare they could barely scrape together back in their impoverished homelands.
Under such favorable conditions, anyone who completed their full employment period received a decent wage.
If someone's health gave out partway through, they wouldn't be tossed aside either. They'd be properly seen by a doctor, and in the unlikely event they had to retire early, they'd still receive pay prorated to that point.
By any measure, these conditions were vastly better than their normal lives. Suzu's "farm work part-time jobs" were the most popular "migrant work destination" in virtually every impoverished Territory.
Applications would flood in the moment recruitment opened, filling all available slots in less than an hour.
On top of everything, Suzu generously let the workers take home massive quantities of produce as "souvenirs" each time, separate from the pirate crew's food aid efforts. So it wasn't just the work itself; Suzu's reputation was among the highest in the entire Territory.
From Suzu's perspective, though, she was simply sharing the surplus because the harvest was always so abundant that Merveille's food stores would burst if they collected it all. And since everyone had worked hard together, she wanted them to share in the joy of eating it too. Simple, pure reasoning.
"Lady Suzu! Harvesting is done for paddies nine through sixteen!"
"Same for twenty-five through thirty-two! What should we do next?"
"Oh, good work, very good. Once the cutting is done, next comes the rice rack drying. Bundle the rice stalks together, and those wooden frames we built beforehand... see them over there? Hang the bundles on those to dry. For the details, ask the people with red cloth tied around their arms. They are veterans who have done this job at least twice before."
"Understood!"
"Good, work hard now. Taue-mon, I leave the rest of this site to thee. I shall go inspect the other harvest areas."
"Understood completely, Lady Suzu."
The large man with a kindly face called Taue-mon, one of Suzu's direct subordinates, gave a big nod and saw her off.
Suzu departed immediately, running through the air to her next destination.
She arrived at the next harvest site in no time. Waiting there were...
"Ah, Suzu! Over here, over here!"
"Ohhh, Lady Suzu, welcome indeed."
"Look, every vegetable has grown splendidly!"
Luwen, Lily, Pansfry, and numerous other Giants were there.
On this island, Suzu's Territory, many Giants who would find it difficult to live on ordinary islands had settled. During harvest season, Giants living on other islands also came to lend a hand, much like the fisherman duo Bobby and Pogo over there.
So this time of year offered the rather extraordinary sight of large numbers of Giants busily engaged in farmwork.
"Still, starting from just Bobby and his partner, the Giant population has really grown... I had always assumed Giants were, well, a rare folk one does not often encounter."
"By ordinary standards, sure, we're a rare race. But so many of us gathering here was probably half-inevitable."
"Indeed. On islands where the little humans live, we draw stares for eating too much and taking up too much space, and the moment we let our guard down, human traffickers come after us. Hardship is a constant companion. Compared to that, life here is truly Paradise."
"No fear of threats, free to live at ease. And on top of that, delicious food until our bellies are full! For those of us who don't seek conflict, ahh, this is truly Paradise."
"Yes... just being able to raise our children safely, without worrying about food, is truly something to be grateful for."
"I love it here too! I love Suzu-chan too! 'Cause she's tasty!"
"Hey, that makes it sound like you're gonna eat Miss Suzu."
What they were harvesting were enormous vegetables and fruits sized to match their own massive frames.
In their Homeland, Elbaf, the trees, the crops, the fish, everything was enormous to match the Giant Race. Seeds and saplings brought from there and kept in storage had adapted well to the Sky Island environment, allowing harvests like this.
Some varieties had even been further improved by Sou's hand, increasing yields or improving flavor.
Because the island had developed into an environment where Giants could live, before long, Giants who had been searching for a place to belong had gathered around Suzu. Not as subordinates exactly, but seeking safe haven in exchange for their labor.
Now, over twenty Giants of all ages and genders lived there.
Including those like Lily who didn't live there permanently but visited from time to time, the number of Giants with ties to the island was even greater.
"My wife and two kids... a family of four, living happily without going hungry... I never had the guts to become a warrior, so I thought this was a dream I could never hope for... but here... Miss Suzu, thank you, truly...!"
Not every Giant lived for battle like the Giant Warrior Pirates or the warriors hailing from Elbaf. Some naturally preferred peace over conflict.
For such people, this place was truly... an ideal home.
"Now stop that, 'tis embarrassing. Being thanked does not feel bad, but a grown man should not bow so low to a mere lass like me. Stand tall as the pillar of thy household."
"Can't help it, Suzu-chan. My husband's always been like this. Born in Elbaf but couldn't become a warrior. Compared to him, you're really something, Suzu-chan... I hear you're a full-fledged pirate whose name is known even in the New World now. How gallant! I'd want you as a bride for my boy, honestly."
"? Mama, did you say something?"
"Nothing! Now hurry up and finish harvesting those Gigant Pumpkins before lunch!"
"Okay!"
Calling out instructions to "her boy" who was harvesting pumpkins as big as a Giant's face some distance away, the Giant woman spoke in a teasing manner.
Everyone knew she was joking, but since they all agreed that Suzu was indeed strong and gallant, they laughed and said things like, "She's got a point!"
"But y'know, Suzu-chan, all of us really are grateful. Like someone said earlier, Giants have a hard time finding a safe place to settle no matter where they go, for all sorts of reasons. Especially bringing along children who can't fight worth a lick, trying to find happiness as a whole family... unless you're in Elbaf, it's practically a fairy tale."
"Mm... is that so."
"Yep. So this place is genuinely heaven for us... and everyone living here is family. You too, of course, Suzu-chan! If you ever need anything, just say the word. To protect our home, and more than anything, to protect our family, everyone will give it their all! I'll kick my husband's rear into gear too if I have to!"
"Hey, you don't need to do that, I'd do my best too when the time comes..."
The onlookers roared with laughter at this married-couple comedy routine.
Suzu was laughing along with them, but then, something crossed her mind.
'...Family, huh.'
Watching the Giant family of four laughing happily together before her, that thought drifted through her mind.
Of course, to her, family meant, though they shared no blood, her two younger sisters... plus the new sister (and niece) who had come from the future, and her mother, Sue. There were also Shiki and Sou.
She could proudly declare all of them "my family," and she loved them from the bottom of her heart.
Yet on rare occasions, when she happened to witness a scene like this, a thought would flit across her mind: 'Do I have any blood relatives?'
Wano Country, a place she knew only as a fact to be her homeland. She had been taken from that country when she was barely old enough to have any memories, without even knowing the circumstances that led to it, and brought to that Poison Island.
She knew nothing of before that. Not the faces of her father or mother, not even whether she'd had a family at all.
Of course, since she existed, a father and mother must have existed too.
So it wasn't that she felt dissatisfied or lonely... but she couldn't say it didn't cross her mind at all.
Blood relatives... a father or mother, grandparents... or perhaps siblings.
Did she have any?
'I wonder if we would look alike, share the same hair color. Would they be skilled with a blade? What would their trade be? And what sort of standing does the Kurozumi Family hold in Wano Country? Just ordinary commoners, or, given they produced something like the Secret Arts Scroll, a house of some repute...?'
It weighed on her mind, but she had no means to find out.
According to what her grandfather Shiki had told her, Wano Country was where one of the Four Emperors, the "Strongest Creature," Kaido of the Beasts, had established his Territory. Not a place one could casually approach.
'With the near-certain future conflict against the Big Mom Pirates already looming, taking on the Beasts on top of that would be reckless beyond measure. But... should the chance to go there ever arise... it might not hurt to search, just to pass the time. For my "family"... no, my "blood relatives," as it were.'
As she had said, it wasn't loneliness or dissatisfaction.
But there were times, watching her mother Sue talk with her own blood relatives Shiki and Sou, when she couldn't help wondering what that felt like.
Blood kin, sharing half the same blood... the mother who carried you in her womb and brought you into the world...
If she had such people, what would it be like? What would it feel like?
Would such an opportunity ever come?
If that time came, and she saw Wano Country's current state with her own eyes, what would she think? What would she do?
And would she find those blood relatives?
...No one knew yet.
***
"Seconds!"
"Y-you're still eating?!"
"That's already your tenth bowl... aren't you gonna burst, Leona?"
"I'm fine! I digest this much in no time! Right, Aisa?"
"Don't drag me into this... I've only got a normal appetite. And honestly, just watching you is making me full..."
This was the Sky Island, Skypiea.
At its center lay the island with Vearth, Upper Yard.
At Upper Yard's center stood the former golden city, now known as the Seat of God and Symbol of Peace and Friendship: the city of Shandora.
In a restaurant situated in one corner of that city, a place specializing in dishes made from the pumpkins that had become Skypiea's signature product, Leona, visiting Skypiea for the first time in a while, was enjoying her meal to the fullest.
She had become a considerably heartier eater compared to when she'd lived here, which left the people around her somewhat, no, quite, no, extremely surprised.
"At this rate you're gonna eat through this place's entire stock... those companions of yours and your two pets over there are putting it away too."
Raki cast a half-exasperated glance toward the companions Leona had brought along for this homecoming visit: Lupus and Shizu from the Maid Squad, plus two pets, each eating different dishes.
Two hearty eaters among the Maid Squad, plus the pets... two wolves.
Named Shan and Dora respectively, Dora was a Skypiea-born Cloud Wolf, while Shan was a Blue Sea-born Wolf Unit.
Shan, incidentally, had been picked up by Leona fairly recently and added to the Merveille Animal Kingdom. Leona had brought Shan along this trip with the reasoning, "There's a similar one here, so maybe they'll get along."
Everyone except Shizu had "run" through the sky to get here, and then gone straight to play in the forest near central Upper Yard with Aisa and Nola, so they were hungry and eating heartily.
That said, Shizu, who had flown here using thrusters, was also hungry due to energy consumption.
"Ha ha ha, that's perfectly fine. There are plenty of other restaurants around, so eat to your heart's content."
"Thanks, Auntie! Oh, hey, if you want, how about we share some of the vegetables and wheat we grow at our place? Then everyone here could eat all sorts of different stuff too. Suzu's fields grow so many different crops, I bet you'd be amazed!"
"Hey now, you can't just go offering that without consulting anyone. Your mother... Sue, she's supposed to be some bigwig among those Blue Sea 'pirates,' right? At the very least, you should ask her first..."
"I think it'd be fine though. Even now, they're struggling because they don't have enough storage warehouse space."
"(Gulp) Still, you should at least consult her, Lady Leona. It's probably within the scope of Lady Suzu's discretion, but..."
"Even so, Lady Suzu might already have plans for how to use those supplies... and anyway, doing things without permission is unacceptable. Lady Sue would be angry."
"Ah, yeah, that's true... okay, I'll ask later."
"Before that, check with the people here first to see if they even want the stuff. If you suddenly show up with a mountain of vegetables, that'd be its own kind of trouble."
Watching Leona and the others chat in their easygoing way, Aisa, who had already finished eating and was waiting beside them, wore an expression of genuine admiration.
"You know... I'd heard about it before, but your family down on the Blue Sea really is amazing, Leona. They're pirates who are super strong, and on top of that, they grow all this food?"
"Hm? Well, Suzu's whole farming thing is apparently just a hobby she does however she wants. And I get to do pretty much whatever I please at Merveille too. Picking up animals from here and there, that sort of thing."
Leona glanced at the two over there, Shan and Dora, as she spoke.
She picked them up, and without fail, befriended every single one of them. The Queen of the Merveille Animal Kingdom, though she had no awareness of this title.
Recently, she had even befriended some of the Homies that Iris had created, a category distinct from "animals" or "former-animal TABOOs." This was especially pronounced with the ones derived from animals and the like.
As a result, Leona possessed the power to mobilize a fighting force of animals that could easily surpass a New World-class Pirate Crew, should she choose to.
Of course, since she viewed those very animals as "friends" and "family," she had absolutely no such intentions. But should danger ever threaten Leona, it wasn't hard to imagine every animal in Merveille rising as one.
Aisa already knew about Leona's personality and nature, so she felt no jealousy toward this other "family" of hers.
No anxiety or jealousy, but there was curiosity. What kind of people were they? What kind of place was it? What was life like there?
Whether she sensed this or not, Leona quickly emptied another refilled bowl (made from pumpkin) and let out a satisfied breath.
"Hey, if you want, Aisa, why don't you come visit my place next time? Come to think of it, I've come back here to visit plenty of times, but you've never been to Merveille."
"Really? Is that okay?"
"Of course! I'll tell Mama about it next time, hehehe... I could even show you around all sorts of places besides just Merveille! Oh, and while we're at it, how about Raki, Conis, and Nola too?"
"Whoa, hold on, that's way too sudden... and if you brought Nola along, wouldn't that freak out all those animals? She's got a gentle temperament, sure, but she's still an enormous snake."
"It'll be fine! We've got other big animals at our place, and big people too, for that matter."
"Wow... Leona, your home sounds incredible..."
Seeing Aisa's eyes light up, Leona felt happy too, already looking forward to when that day would come.
Needless to say, Aisa was one of Leona's precious "family" as well.
If that family member could have a good time, Leona would be happy. If showing Aisa around Merveille, where she currently lived, could make that happen, even happier.
And of course, if Aisa could get along with her "family" and "friends" in Merveille, if they could all have fun together and find happiness, then happier still.
For Leona, "family" meant all those who were dear to her, blood-related or not, whom she wanted to see happy, whom she wanted to be happy alongside.
And she believed without a shred of doubt that the number of people she recognized as such would only grow in the future ahead, and that the more it grew, the happier she would be.
***
'...Family, huh...'
And now... the scene shifts once more.
An island somewhere in the New World.
Uninhabited. Nothing particularly noteworthy about it. Just quiet.
Alice had come here alone.
She hadn't told anyone about this visit. Not her sisters. Not Sue.
She'd simply said "I'm going out for a bit" and left the house, coming here by herself.
For a certain personal errand.
Before Alice's eyes stood a grave marker.
A great naginata, several meters tall, was thrust into the ground. A large coat, weathered by wind and rain yet still holding its shape, and a distinctive white-mustached Pirate Flag decorated the large marker.
Engraved upon it was a name that anyone living in this era would know.
Edward Newgate
Someone had visited before Alice, it seemed. A bouquet of flowers had been placed there.
With a soft chuckle, Alice silently set down the bouquet she'd brought beside it.
"Seventy-two years old... so you lived that long. No wonder you became a man who could pull off a mustache with that much gravitas."
Slowly settling into a cross-legged position, Alice spoke to the grave.
Her tone was oddly familiar, lacking in distance. Something different from the men that Whitebeard had called his sons, and different too from the fearless Luffy.
"Back then... when I saw you at Marineford, I still hadn't remembered. If I had remembered you then, would anything have changed? ...Just kidding."
The tone and manner of someone speaking to someone very dear.
If anyone had been watching, they surely would have wondered why this girl, who should have had no connection whatsoever, was addressing someone old enough to be not just a parent but a grandparent in such a way.
"I went there recently... it's called Sphinx, that village. Right now, Ace-san and the others are looking after it as their Territory, but... in that lawless wreck of a country, you really managed to build such a gentle village. No human traffickers, no conflict... everything is so different from when we were there... if I hadn't heard about it beforehand, I don't think I'd have ever recognized it."
Alice spoke while fidgeting, almost self-consciously, with her golden hair, which had grown just long enough that she could see it with her own eyes.
"It's been over sixty years now, hasn't it... since I was taken by human traffickers there, and I was the only one carried away... since we were separated. ...Well, for me it was only a few years ago... the Rainbow Mist sure played a cruel trick on us. When we met again, you were the world's strongest pirate... and I'd lost my memories... there was no way either of us could have recognized each other..."
With a sigh that carried just a touch of loneliness, Alice reached into her bag and produced offerings, along with a bottle of liquor.
"Grandpa told me. He said you liked cheap liquor. And Marco-san and the others told me too... that you were always mooching other people's drinks. How embarrassing, honestly... you were 'Pops,' so you could've had a little more dignity about it... well, no, it's fine. If that's what made you happy."
She produced two glasses.
One was on the small side, suited to Alice's frame. The other was conspicuously large, nearly mistakable for a beer stein.
Pouring the bottled liquor, she emptied it perfectly between the two glasses. The ratio between the large and small glass was roughly nine to one.
She placed the large glass at the foot of the grave and held the small one herself, clinking the two together with a bright, clear ring. As if toasting.
Or perhaps... a tribute to the departed.
Alice tossed back the cheap liquor in one gulp.
"We were a pretty mismatched pair of siblings, weren't we? I was tiny, and you were absolutely enormous, strong as anything. I was always goofing off, and you were serious and a bit of a stiff... hey, did you maybe use me as an example of what not to be? ...Not that it matters now."
"But... there were some things we had in common, huh. Wanting family, loving family. Maybe it's because we both lost our only blood relative and got separated... that we ended up feeling that way? ...Well, that doesn't really matter either."
"Ace-san and the others still proudly call you their father, you know. Are you watching from the afterlife, exasperated? Or proud? Good for you, Newgate. You ended up with such wonderful family, people who feel that way about you. ...I'm sure you had plenty of regrets... but in a way, maybe you were able to go satisfied...?"
"I've got family too now, you know. Doesn't matter that we're not blood-related. A mother, and sisters... oh, but recently, a family member who actually is blood-related came from the future! Ahaha, makes no sense, right?!"
"...But it's still not enough. I'm greedy... I want more and more. So I'm going to keep adding to the count. More and more, dozens and dozens... people I love, and the fruits of that love. Blood-related family, and family that isn't...!"
"Well... it'll probably be decades in the future still... but someday when I head over to your side, I'll bring you all sorts of stories and things to brag about. And by then, I'm sure... children who share our blood will be spread across this whole sea. Nihihihi, look forward to it! In every sense of the word!"
After that, she continued chatting in her light tone about various things, entirely one-sided, which was only natural given that her conversational partner was a gravestone. Then she rose smoothly to her feet.
Turning the same tender, affectionate gaze she'd had from the start toward the grave of the Great Pirate Whitebeard, she smiled.
"Well, I'm off now. ...Oh yeah, you always complained that your sister's name was too long and never bothered to learn it properly... you shortened it right up to the end. And your own name was longer, you hypocrite. I never did figure out if that was on purpose or if you were just like that... oh well. ...See you, Newgate."
With those exasperated final words, Alice turned her back on the grave marker and walked away.
Among the bouquets left at the grave, tucked inside the one Alice had placed, was a small handwritten message card.
Written on it was a brief message, just three lines.
To my brother, 55 years my junior.
Good work out there. Rest easy now. I'll make sure to grow our family, don't you worry!
From your sister, Edward Arcelis.
To be continued...