Inside Master Fushi's office, as the princess was talking with the members of the royal court
"Master, may I ask what the Wrathful Five are currently up to?" Valerie asked her former master, who was still seated at his desk drinking a cup of tea.
"I am afraid I cannot answer that at the moment, seeing as I haven't heard from them since their last visit, which took place around the time that you were helping Sister Bridgette purchase the supplies that would be needed for the renovations of the orphanage."
"Oh, so they came to the dojo while I was out of the island for six months then? I really wish that they would at least wait for me to arrive. It would have been nice if we got to reunite with each other while they were visiting you."
"They were not visiting on their day off."
"Oh? So they were giving you a report on their mission?"
"That is correct Valerie."
"That's good to know. I just hope that they'll be alright during their mission."
"That is actually what I am concerned about. They used to contact me on a weekly basis in order to keep me up to date on the events relating to the mission that I had assigned them. But they have not been contacting me for four months."
"Huh? I thought that you were officially done with assigning them their field missions."
"Oh, that was my mistake. I meant to say that I requested their aid in keeping tabs on a former disciple of mine."
"Master, please don't tell me that-"
But before Valerie could finish confirming the identity of the person that her former master was referring to, the door to the office opened and the Utshani princess and the Utshani royal messenger entered the room. After a few seconds, the princess began to address the two people in the room.
"Forgive me for interrupting your conversation, but I have news in regards to what the members of the royal court had to say on your declaration. They have accepted your former disciple as a mediator on your behalf, which means you will not be required to send them a letter of recommendation Mister Fushi."
"Ohohoho~ I knew that you would be picked as a mediator on my behalf."
"Do you mind telling us why they decided to allow me to act as a mediator for this matter?"
"They only needed to hear your codename before they viewed you in a positive light."
'Huh, I wasn't expecting the codename that I was given during my time I was a marine to be popular in such an isolated country. Guess I was more famous than I initially thought, which should make it easier for me to act as a mediator.'
"So Princess Kathelo, when will you two be departing for your home island?"
"I was hoping to leave at the break of dawn tomorrow, but I am willing to wait till noon of the following day if it will not be comfortable for you to leave the island that early."
"Yeah, I think I will have to take you up on the offer of leaving at noon. There are some things that I will have to prepare before we leave the island and head over to your home base."
"Very well then. I shall be waiting for you at the shore located on the south most point of the island."
"I'll be sure to do that princess. If you'll excuse me, I'd better head out and start making preparations for the trip to your kingdom." Valerie responded to the princess' question before bowing down before her former master and exiting Master Fushi's office. And once Valerie left the room, the elderly martial artist addressed the princess.
"Princess Kathelo, do you and your messenger have a place to stay at for the night? We have a guest room that you can sleep in for the evening."
"We already have a suitable place to spend the night during our stay on the island, but I appreciate the offer of a roof over my head Mister Fushi."
"That is good to hear princess. Just be careful while you are here. A number of the island's residents do not appreciate folks like us."
"Of course Mister Fushi, I will be sure to do that. Now if you'll excuse me, I also need to make some preparations for the trip back to our home island." Princess Kathelo responded before she also exited the office.
'Now, I believe that I'll need to organize the training rooms for tomorrow's lesson.' Master Fushi thought to himself before he headed towards the training rooms within the dojo.
Around the outskirts of the island, half an hour after Valerie left Grand Master Fushi's dojo
Within the courtyard of an orphanage with a small building, three boys were currently surrounding a bespectacled man of average height as they excitedly jumped around him in glee.
"Mister, Mister, can you tell us more tales from the Grand Line?" a boy with wavy shoulder-length brown hair that covered both of his eyes asked the man in glasses.
"Yeah! We wanna hear more about the tales of the Grand Line!" another boy with spiky blonde hair backed up his brown-haired friend.
The third child with a chubby face and a round frame simply looked at the bespectacled man with puppy eyes while hugging his leg.
"Ok, ok. I'll tell you about the Grand Line. But you should know that this tale is going to be pretty long."
"Yay! We get to hear about the stories that are told in the Grand Line!"
"Thank you mister!"
"You're the best Mister!"
And a few moments after the kids expressed their joy, the bespectacled man made his way to one of the empty benches located within the orphanage's courtyard. The three kids sat on the bench, with one of them sitting on his lap. Once they were all seated, Hughes cleared his throat before he began to tell them of one of his adventures in dangerous seas.
"Once upon a time, inside a small and worn out shack located at the center of a dark and swampy part of an island where none of the locals dared to explore, there was a big and scary looking bald man with a stocky build who went by the name of Brum. Brum loved to do a whole bunch of activities, from strange things like eating mice and frogs, taking a bath in mud pools, to the surprisingly normal activities like watching the sunrise and sunset, taking long walks in parts of the island where no one ventures towards and lying under the sun. Brum especially liked to spend his time alone, away from the eyes of the locals of the island who mostly lived near the shores of the island."
"One day, while Brum was taking a bath in the pool of mud just a few steps away from his tiny shack, he heard the shouts of nearly a dozen people approaching him with a majority of them shouting angrily, with a single voice crying out for help. Annoyed by the fact that he had to cut his mud bath short, the large man hid himself by making his way towards the part of the mud pool where he could hide his body, ready to scare the uninvited guests that were coming his way by hiding himself from the incoming voices."
"As the voices began to grow louder, he-"
"Hey there kids! I'm sorry to interrupt if I talk with Hughes for a moment?"
"Aww, and we were really looking forward to hearing the story that he was going to tell us about."
""Yeah Valerie, we wanna hear about the stories from the Grand Line.""
"No need to worry kids. We won't be talking for too long."
"""You promise?"""
"I promise."
"""Ok."""
"Alright then. Hughes, if you could follow me for a moment." Valerie said before she walked away from the bench that the kids were sitting on.
"Yes Valerie."
After distancing themselves a few steps from the bench, Valerie began to address Hughes.
"So, I'm going to be going to an isolated island in order to act as a mediator on behalf of Master Fushi's and I want you to accompany me during my travel to the isolated island. You wanna come with me?"
"Yeah, I don't mind coming with you on this trip. When do we have to leave the island?"
"We should leave the island by noon. So be sure to pack your stuff, since we may have to stay there for a while and meet me at the shores on the southern side of the island."
"You got it boss! I'll be sure to arrive there on time. If that's all you have to say about the mission, may I go back to the kids?"
Valerie nodded her head, to which Hughes gave a thumbs up and went back to the three boys and continued from where he left off.
'I sure am glad that Hughes decided to accompany me on this voyage. I just hope that the princess will be able to accept his presence.' the green haired woman thought to herself as she watched Hughes tell the kids his story for a moment longer before she headed towards the entrance of the building which she once called home.