As evening approached, Nami and the others who had gone out in separate groups finally returned to the palace.
Vivi, who had already been waiting for a long time, immediately ran up to them, happily chatting away.
"How was your day? Did anything interesting happen?"
"We did, we did~!"
Just as she finished speaking, Yamato and Chopper burst through the doorway with great excitement. They hurried over and each pulled out a golden apple from their bags.
"Look what we found! Golden apples!"
"And then?"
Seeing these two troublemakers acting so thrilled, Nami and the others looked a bit confused. They were just painted apples… what was there to be excited about?
Chopper glanced around mysteriously, then leaned in as if revealing a great secret.
"These are treasures we found in the ruins~! Eating one lets you live a thousand years!"
"Yamato and I bought a bunch! Enough to share with everyone!"
Vivi: "..."
Nami: "..."
Everyone: "..."
The air fell silent. It felt as though a crow flew overhead, laughing at them while dropping the word—'fools.'
Yamato and Chopper, still proudly holding up their apples, looked at the group in utter confusion. Why was everyone quiet? Were they shocked? They must be, right?
"Ah~"
After a long moment, Nami facepalmed with deep resignation.
"How much did you pay for each?"
"O-One thousand Berries…"
Sensing something was wrong, Chopper answered carefully. Was there something wrong with the apples he bought?
But the seller had clearly told him they were real—and even warned him not to tell anyone.
"You got scammed! These are just regular apples dyed gold! How did you not realize that?!"
Nami snatched the apple from Chopper's hands and scrubbed it hard with a cloth. In moments, a normal apple appeared.
"What?!"
Chopper and Yamato's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, faces full of disbelief.
"That bastard! He tricked us!"
"We're going back to settle this!"
The moment they realized they'd been duped, the two instantly broke. Furious, they shouted about hunting down the scammer.
It was just too much—the betrayal! They trusted him! And even bought a lot!
"Forget it. He's probably long gone already!"
"Just think of it as paying for a lesson. You two seriously need to be careful next time!"
Seeing how agitated they were, Nojiko stepped in to comfort them. This incident also made something very clear—these two could not be allowed to go out alone again. They were way too easy to fool.
"B-But… we spent all the allowance Nami gave us…"
The two were on the verge of tears. They had set out full of excitement, ready to shop to their hearts' content… only to run into a scammer. And that was that.
Thinking about how stingy Nami could be, the realization hit: tomorrow they'd be stuck watching other people shop.
Another round of speechless silence filled the group.
At that moment, electricity crackled in the air, and Leno suddenly flashed into view.
The instant Chopper saw him, his tears poured even harder. He rushed forward and latched onto Leno's leg, bawling loudly.
"Eh?! Chopper, what's wrong?"
How much had he suffered today to cry like this the moment they met? Confused, Leno looked toward the others for answers.
Before anyone else could speak, Yamato jumped at him too, her voice wobbling with grievance.
"Leno! We got scammed! Our allowance is gone!"
Vivi and Nami both gave helpless looks in his direction. Leno could only let out a silent sigh.
This? He thought something serious had happened. Were they children?
Of course, he couldn't say any of that out loud. Instead, he patted Yamato comfortingly and cheerfully agreed to make up the lost allowance for both of them.
Once they had the money in hand, the two finally calmed down—though they kept darting guilty glances toward Nami.
Seeing this, a vein throbbed on Leno's forehead. Oh, so they didn't dare ask Nami for more money, so they came to milk him instead?
Choosing to ignore the two scoundrels, Leno looked around and noticed Robin still hadn't shown up.
"Where's Robin?"
"She's still in the library reading. The banquet's starting soon, so I already sent someone to call her."
"Oh~"
As Vivi spoke, she led everyone toward the banquet hall—though her heart was elsewhere. Robin was truly obsessed with history. Ever since returning from the burial site, she had been buried in books. Without someone dragging her out, she'd probably read until the end of time.
Then Nami, walking beside her, glanced back and frowned at Leno.
"And you, idiot—why isn't Hina with you?"
"Cough, cough… She… she was tired, so she's resting~"
The sudden question almost killed Leno where he stood. His eyes darted around as he gave a halfhearted excuse.
In his mind, though, he muttered, She really is tired. Very tired. And she'll probably be tired again tonight…
"Hmph~"
The moment Nami saw his expression, she instantly understood and snorted coldly before stepping away from him.
"Leno…"
Boa Hancock drifted closer, sounding pitiful and looking like she was about to be abandoned. Even Vivi, guiding the way at the front, sneaked a flustered glance over her shoulder before quickly turning away again.
Amid this strange atmosphere, Leno followed the group into the banquet hall. Thankfully, it didn't last long—because Robin soon arrived.
He walked over to her right away, looking quite proud of himself.
"Robin, I have a gift for you. How do you plan to thank me?"
"A gift?"
Robin looked at him with gentle amusement. This little man always managed to surprise her. She wondered what it could be this time.
"Why are you smiling? I'm telling you, this is a big one!"
"I spent the whole afternoon searching the entire desert just to find it!"
"Alright then. If the gift satisfies me, I'll grant you one request. Will that do?"
The more serious Leno acted, the more curious Robin became. What on earth required him to go to such lengths?
"Great! Watch closely—don't blink!"
With that, Leno stepped into an open space and waved his hand.
Boom!
A massive stone cube dropped out of thin air, slamming into the ground hard enough to shake the entire hall.
"A Poneglyph?!"
Robin's voice trembled with excitement and joy. She looked at Leno in disbelief, unable to imagine where he had found such a thing.
"So? Satisfied?"
"Mm! Very satisfied!"
Before he could even react, she rose onto her toes, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him deeply.
Leno: o(￣▽￣)ブ