"Klahadore, what happened?" Kaya asked as Kuro stepped into the villa.
"Haha, Klahadore, don't tell me you believed Usopp. Don't you hate him most of all and think nothing true ever comes out of his mouth?" the second butler, Merry, laughed.
"But his expression didn't look like a lie. He told me to get Miss Kaya to flee at once. For all his love of tall tales, he seems to care about Miss Kaya. There's no reason he'd toy with her—once a lie like that is exposed, Miss Kaya would surely despise him," Kuro said.
"Then… pirates are really here?" Merry grew unsettled. Kaya, beside him, panicked as well.
"Klahadore, what should we do?" Kaya looked to Kuro, flustered. At a critical moment, the chief butler seemed more reliable.
"Miss Kaya, how about we run first and come back when the danger passes? Where there's life, there's hope," Merry suggested.
Kuro vetoed it. "They have two pirate ships. If they intend to round us up, they'll leave one ship patrolling offshore to stop escape. If we bolt now, it will be difficult. We should meet them head-on. Klahadore and I will rally the villagers. Merry, take half the guards, locate the pirates, and report back at once," Kaya said—raised as a lady of means, but able to decide once she steadied herself.
"Understood, Miss Kaya!" Merry nodded without delay, then said solemnly to Kuro, "Klahadore, I'm leaving Miss Kaya in your hands."
"Rest assured. I'll keep her safe. Until I fall, not a hair on her head will be harmed," Kuro replied gravely.
Merry led half the guards out. Halfway along, they ran into Usopp, and the two of them headed in the direction of the approaching Money Pirates.
"Miss Kaya, we should go as well," Kuro said.
"Alright."
Kaya and Kuro took the remaining guards toward the village. Dong, dong, dong—the gong boomed in the village center. The guards fanned out to notify households far from the square.
Doors opened across Syrup Village as people stepped into the street and made for the center.
"What's going on?"
"Looks like Miss Kaya is calling us together!"
"Then hurry."
Unlike Usopp, Kaya was a lady of a notable house, with great influence in Syrup Village. Soon all the villagers were gathered in the central square. Kaya glanced at Kuro; seeing him nod, she raised her voice.
"Everyone, I've gathered you because pirates are about to invade Syrup Island!"
"Nani?" A roar swept the crowd. Their island was remote; no pirates had come by in over ten years.
"What do we do now?"
"Miss Kaya, since you called us, you must have a way to see us through this!"
"Everyone, Syrup Village is ours—our families are here: our parents, brothers, sisters, children. Each of us has a duty to defend our home. Only if we unite, as one heart, do we have a chance to drive the pirates off." She bowed deeply.
Her words set the villagers' blood ablaze.
"Miss Kaya is right. Syrup Village is where my forefathers lived for generations. My family stands behind me. How could I back down now? Miss Kaya, I'll fight with you to drive them off!"
"I'm in too!"
People sprinted home and came back with whatever they could wield—hoes, fish spears, axes, long knives. Against weak pirates, united, they might just push them back.
Just then a guard ran up in haste. "Everyone, follow me!"
Kaya led roughly three hundred villagers in a great rush toward the spot where the Money Pirates were preparing to land.