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Evening — Frosthorn Gang Headquarters, Swordsmanship Dojo, an Empty Room
At this hour, Reggie was once again in the dojo polishing his blade. But this time, it wasn't the sword he treated like a lover — it was a famed blade.
"Snowmaru" — that was the name of the sword.
Knock, knock, knock~
Suddenly, a knock came from the door.
Reggie didn't pause his movements. He simply said, in a calm voice,
"Come in."
A moment later, the door opened and Aaron walked in, his body wrapped in heavy bandages. Despite his injuries, he hadn't forgotten proper etiquette before Reggie. He bowed deeply in a disciple's salute and spoke respectfully:
"Master Reggie."
"Sit. How are your injuries?"
Reggie stopped polishing and gave a small nod as he spoke.
"They're no longer a problem. I'll be fully recovered in a few days. Thank you for your concern, Master."
Aaron replied with utmost respect.
Reggie nodded again. But as he looked at the disciple before him — so excessively respectful — a faint trace of regret flickered in his eyes.
Even now, Reggie couldn't say he truly liked Aaron. Not because Aaron was disrespectful — far from it — but because Reggie disliked swordsmen who lacked purity.
In his view, only the purest swordsmen could climb to the very summit of the sword.
Like that young swordsman he'd met more than a decade ago. The boy had been about the same age as Aaron was now, yet his swordsmanship had far surpassed Reggie's own, even though Reggie was already a famed swordsman across the Grand Line. That boy had wielded nothing more than an ordinary katana, yet he had the power to shatter Reggie's beloved blade, Ice Oni.
From that day on, Reggie had understood the vast gulf between himself and true swordsmanship geniuses. In the eyes of that young man, the so-called Ice Sword Hero was nothing but a joke.
From that moment, Reggie knew what it truly took to become a great swordsman.
It was why he had taken such a liking to Els — because in Els, he saw the shadow of that same young swordsman. Their personalities were completely different, but their passion for the sword was the same — pure and untainted.
And as he expected, he hadn't been wrong about Els. The boy displayed astounding talent, becoming a swordsman capable of wielding basic sword techniques in just a single year. Given time, he was certain Els would surpass him and become a swordsman renowned across the Grand Line.
But everything changed when Aaron appeared. Especially when, in just over three months, Aaron defeated Els — the disciple Reggie had considered his true successor. That was when Reggie began to question his own understanding.
As a veteran swordsman who had weathered countless battles, Reggie could tell at a glance that Aaron would never become a pure swordsman. He could also see the cold ruthlessness hidden beneath Aaron's polite exterior.
And during their time together, Reggie had come to understand that Aaron was a man with a past — someone carrying memories too painful to look back on. That was why he could never be a purely sword-devoted warrior.
Yet there was one thing about Aaron that Reggie deeply admired: his relentless pursuit of strength. Of all the people Reggie had met, none had shown such unwavering dedication. Otherwise, how could someone train with high-intensity sword drills for at least six hours a day as if it were nothing?
He'd even heard that Aaron secretly trained even more in private. If there was no work to attend to, his daily training could stretch to twelve hours.
Reggie had to admit — Aaron was a monster.
An ordinary person would have long destroyed their body with such training, but Aaron only grew stronger. Even Reggie himself hadn't dared to push his training to such extremes in his youth.
Admitting that he couldn't match Aaron wasn't something to be ashamed of.
Reggie had always known there were monster-like people in this world — the most famous example being the Empress of the Sea ruling the New World.
"No… I wasn't wrong," Reggie thought. "Strictly speaking, Aaron is a pure swordsman. It's just that his purity is different from Els'. Els loves swordsmanship for its own sake, while Aaron sees swordsmanship purely as a tool — a tool to pursue strength. And his obsession with that strength… is its own form of purity."
As he recalled Aaron's eyes during their sparring matches and the look he wore while training, Reggie began to understand why Aaron's swordsmanship had grown so quickly.
For a brief moment, he even saw a trace of that young swordsman in Aaron. His gaze softened as he looked at his disciple.
Aaron, however, was deeply uneasy. He didn't understand why his "cheap master" hadn't said a word and was just staring at him. He was sure he hadn't done anything that would upset Reggie.
He had always treated Reggie with the utmost respect.
Could it be because he hadn't consulted Reggie before deciding to become a small-time boss in Frosthorn Gang's slum district?
Before coming to see Reggie, Aaron had been summoned to meet Akio himself.
His slaying of Clarke and Harrett had indeed earned him the qualifications to move up. Akio decided to promote him — and offered him three choices:
Become a small boss in the commercial district controlled by Raji.
Become a small boss in the red-light district controlled by Getra.
Become a small boss in the slums controlled by Horton.
On the surface, the best choice was clearly the commercial district. It was stable, conflicts were rare, and profits were abundant. Next best was the red-light district, and the worst choice was the slums.
Yet after much thought, Aaron had chosen to go to the slums under Horton.
Why? The reason was simple — Aaron saw the slums, with their constant violent clashes, as the fastest path to rising in rank and expanding his power.
And because recent conflicts had cost many lives, most of Frosthorn Gang's people there were newcomers. That meant Aaron wouldn't have to worry about veteran members undermining him — he could quickly consolidate control over his territory.
More importantly, as a small boss in the slums, Aaron was granted the authority to recruit subordinates.
With that privilege, he could openly build his own faction within the gang — no longer needing to secretly recruit people like he had to as a patrolman, which was time-consuming and inefficient.
Normally, this authority was reserved only for Akio and the five top executives. New members could only join with their approval.
But the slums were a special case. Frosthorn Gang's territory there was vast and constantly embroiled in gang wars. Add to that the numerous troublesome outside forces, and the turnover of lower-ranked members was extremely high. Sometimes, a group of new recruits brought in yesterday would be wiped out by today.
Yet manpower was still needed to manage the territory. If small bosses lacked the authority to recruit, they could only request reinforcements from above.
But Horton was clearly not the type for management or patience. He couldn't be bothered to personally scout for recruits and then hand them over to others. And the other four executives were unwilling to send the subordinates they'd carefully trained into the slums to die.
As a result, over time, small bosses in the slums were granted the right to recruit their own men. They could bypass the usual chain of command and bring in people first, as long as they reported it afterward.
This approach did risk creating small bosses who grew too independent to control — but Akio and the top brass didn't care in the slightest.
After all, there was so little profit in the slums that no small boss could ever amass enough power there to rebel against Frosthorn Gang.
And the attrition rate was brutal. Apart from a handful of capable small bosses, most rank-and-file members didn't survive a year — most were short-lived, and even small bosses often shared the same fate.
That's why most people in Frosthorn Gang wanted nothing to do with Horton's slum district. They'd rather serve as patrol captains under the other top executives.
So when Akio saw Aaron voluntarily choose to become a small boss in the slums, he was genuinely surprised — and it made him remember Aaron clearly, the fastest-rising small boss in Frosthorn Gang's history.
Polite, hardworking, capable, and ambitious — such subordinates were the kind any leader would appreciate.
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