Robin half-turned her body, staring at Kyle with suspicion. Her small hand clutched the thick book even tighter, as if it were her only shield. His smile was gentle, not like the twisted, disgusted faces the adults in town made when they saw her. His eyes were a pure gold, like the warmest afternoon sun, and she couldn't see any evil in them.
Mihawk's sharp gaze darted between Kyle and the little girl, his expression unreadable. He thought about the two young maids back at Kyle's villa, and the girl Perona who always clutched her teddy bear. Now, here was Kyle, being gentle with another strange little girl. Was it just his imagination, or did Kyle have a special patience for girls this age?
Kyle felt Mihawk's silent judgment and his lip twitched. I've been framed! he screamed inwardly. I'm not some kind of creep! It just so happens that a lot of the people I've needed to help have been young girls! Is that my fault?! Of course, he knew Mihawk wasn't serious and was probably just teasing him in his own silent way. The man had surely noticed something else.
Sure enough, Mihawk's gaze lingered on Robin for another moment, and his sharp eyes caught a small, unsettling detail. On the corner of the girl's old dress were several dark red stains, like dried blood. So that's it, Mihawk thought. Bullying. It's the same pathetic display everywhere. He understood now and said nothing more. For the truly strong, bullying the weak was the most boring thing in the world. The weak drew their blades on those even weaker; the strong aimed their blades at those who were stronger.
At the same time, Moriah, who had been quiet, also sensed something familiar from Robin. It was a feeling of isolation, of being pushed away by the world—a loneliness that no one else understood. It felt like an invisible thorn pricking at his own heart.
Perhaps sensing the trio's silence, little Robin's fear spiked again. A vague memory surfaced—bounty posters she had seen in old newspapers the scholars had thrown away. Pirates! They're dangerous pirates! The man with the black hair and golden eyes... he must be the strongest one!
Pirates brought disaster. Fear won out over curiosity. Little Robin suddenly turned her head, a determined look in her eyes. The next second, something strange happened.
Swish—!
From the ground and the nearby tree trunks, countless pale little hands sprouted out of thin air. They all opened at once, surrounding the three men with an eerie, threatening presence. Even Moriah was startled by the sudden display.
Taking advantage of that brief moment of surprise, little Robin bolted like a frightened deer deep into the forest without looking back. Her small figure quickly vanished from sight, and the arms on the ground and trees receded like the tide, disappearing as if they had never been there.
Kyle's hand, which he had held out, froze in mid-air. The smile fell from his face. He slowly brought his hand back to cover his heart, looking completely crushed.
"Do I... really look that evil?" he muttered, hanging his head in despair. "I'm just a handsome big brother passing by!"
Mihawk glanced at him, choosing to ignore the drama queen's performance.
Moriah, however, spoke up, his voice holding a complex tone. "She... is very afraid of us."
"Let's go. We'll follow her," Kyle said, instantly dropping the act. His expression was calm again. "Something big is going to happen on this island soon."
The three of them moved quietly through the forest, following the faint tracks she had left behind. Soon, the trees opened up, and the sound of waves crashing on a beach grew louder. On an open stretch of sand, little Robin was stumbling toward a gigantic figure.
"Saul!" she cried out, her voice thick with tears.
A mountain of a man was sitting there. Hearing her cry, he turned, a simple, loving smile on his face. He reached out with his massive hand, gently scooped up the running girl, and placed her on his shoulder.
"Derishishishi, what's wrong, Robin? Why are you running so fast?" the giant, Saul, asked. His voice was gentle, a surprising contrast to his enormous size.
"There... there are pirates..." Robin stammered, pointing back toward the forest.
The smile on Saul's face crumbled away like a sandcastle hit by a wave. Three figures slowly stepped out from the shadows of the trees. The black-haired, golden-eyed man in the lead wore a helpless, wry smile.
Boom—!
It was like thunder exploding in Saul's mind. His massive body froze, and his pupils shrank to pinpricks. A storm of panic surged through him. No... I must be seeing things... Is that him?! The 'Wave Guiding King,' Aaron Kyle!
Saul blinked hard, convinced he had to be hallucinating. But it was the same face he had seen years ago in the highest-level emergency reports at Marineford—a face burned into his memory. And the two men behind him... a swordsman with a gaze sharper than any blade and that other strange, towering man... they had been with him back then, too! Ohara was a World Government nation, a sacred place for scholars. How could a monster of this level be here?
As a former Marine Vice Admiral, Saul knew better than anyone the terrifying power that Kyle's name represented. Icy fear flooded his heart. But his instincts took over. The first thing he did was carefully lower Robin from his shoulder and shield her small body behind his own. He forced his trembling legs to hold firm and gathered all his courage to face the three approaching men with a deadly seriousness he had never felt before.
Kyle stopped. He looked at the giant who was braced for a fight, then at Robin peeking out from behind him, and he couldn't help but let out a long sigh. "Do I really look that much like a bad guy?"
"What... what do you want?!" Saul's voice was hoarse with tension. "Ohara is a peaceful island! You're not allowed to cause trouble here!"
"We don't want anything," Kyle said, spreading his hands. He sounded tired. "We just came here as tourists to see the legendary Tree of Knowledge. We didn't know we'd scare you this badly." Seeing that talking was getting them nowhere, Kyle dropped the casual act. The smile vanished from his face, and his golden eyes looked calmly at the giant.
"Jaguar D. Saul."
When he heard his full name spoken so clearly, Saul's pupils contracted sharply.
"We have no ill will toward you, this child, or this island," Kyle's tone was flat, but it carried a weight that couldn't be ignored. "We're just passing by. We only came to say hello because there's something you should know."
He paused, his gaze shifting past Saul's shoulder to meet the dark eyes of the little girl, which were filled with a mix of fear and curiosity.
"Little girl, remember this: knowledge is not a sin. And wanting to uncover the truth of history is even less of a sin."
After saying his piece, he didn't wait around. He turned and started walking back into the forest.
"You're just leaving?" Mihawk asked as he fell into step beside him.
"What else?" Kyle shrugged. "They don't want us here, so we can't exactly stay, can we? I'm a civilized pirate, after all."
Moriah took large strides to follow them, glancing back one last time. On the beach, the giant was still frozen in his defensive stance. It wasn't until the trio's figures had completely disappeared that Saul's body went limp, and he collapsed onto the sand, gasping for breath.
"Saul?" Robin asked timidly, tugging on his clothes.
"...It's nothing, Robin," Saul forced a smile that looked more like a grimace. He reached out a massive hand to pat her head. "They... they're gone."
Gone? Robin looked at the empty forest, her small head filled with big questions. What did that man, Kyle, mean by his last words? Knowledge is not a sin...
Two days later, on a secluded cliff on Ohara's coast, the three men sat casually. Kyle lay back with a blade of grass in his mouth, his hands behind his head, staring at the line where the blue sea met the blue sky.
Suddenly, he sat up straight. He spat out the blade of grass, and his once-lazy eyes became incredibly intense. He stood and walked to the very edge of the cliff, letting the strong wind whip through his black hair and clothes. He stared out at the empty horizon, as if he could see through space itself to something far away.
"Don't rush."
Mihawk and Moriah exchanged a confused look. They followed Kyle's gaze, but all they could see was the blue sky, white clouds, and the endless sea.
"What are you looking at?" Mihawk frowned. His Observation Haki already covered a huge area of the sea, but he couldn't sense anything out there.
Kyle didn't turn around. He just stood there, watching.
In his "vision," however, the scene was entirely different. Dozens of massive, steel warships were cutting through the waves, moving with unstoppable force, speeding directly toward this sacred island of knowledge.
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