Nami shot the duke a suspicious look.
"You'd better explain yourself properly, or there's no way we're going to trust you!"
If the ship built by the duke's daughter were really such a treasure, why would the duke be in such a hurry to get rid of it?
The duke thumped his chest and declared, "Mr. Norton, it is absolutely a fine ship! In terms of shipbuilding skill alone, my daughter Funing is without question one of the very best in this country!"
Norton looked calmly into the duke's eyes.
"I swear it on my family's honor!" the duke vowed.
"You're this generous?" Norton asked evenly. "The nobles I know are all self-serving to the core."
The duke drew in a deep breath.
"Mr. Norton, you will not find a better ship anywhere in the East Blue than one built by Funing."
"The reason I want you to take that ship…" He hesitated briefly. "Is because Funing's luck… is a little similar to Mr. Sanosuke's."
Similar to Sanosuke's?
Norton and Nami exchanged a glance.
Luck like Sanosuke's was not a good thing.
The duke wasn't surprised by their reaction.
To be honest, if he hadn't been deeply moved by the force of will Norton had displayed when subduing the Sea King, he never would have decided to place his hopes on him.
My fist is above your bad luck!
Even now, Norton's bold voice from that moment seemed to echo in the duke's ears.
The duke's eyes gradually grew brighter.
Over the course of the ride, Norton and Nami slowly pieced together the whole story from the duke's explanation.
...
The duke had only one daughter, though he had many sons, so he had always doted on her.
Whatever his daughter Funing wanted, he did his best to give it to her.
But there was one thing that left him helpless and deeply troubled.
From an early age, Funing had shown an intense love for ships. As a child, she loved collecting all kinds of ship models.
That much was fine. The duke could indulge that easily enough.
The problem was that as she grew older, Funing's love for ships became an obsession.
Her dream was to build the greatest ship in the world.
But for a noble, shipbuilding was considered disgraceful work—something only commoners were supposed to do.
Deep down, the duke truly disliked the fact that his daughter had gone into shipbuilding.
It invited ridicule from other great nobles and made him lose face.
But because he adored Funing so much, he never forbade her. Instead, he supported her in silence.
Unfortunately, Funing's path as a shipwright had been anything but smooth.
This year, Funing was seventeen.
She had started building ships at the age of twelve, and over the past five years, she had built three ships.
When the first ship was completed, it was destroyed in a fire.
When the second ship was completed, it was struck by lightning and burned down as well.
The third ship escaped both fire and lightning, but it was requisitioned by the king for war and was soon destroyed by the enemy.
In shipbuilding, Funing had suffered setback after setback—one stroke of bad luck after another.
The nobles all said it was fate. World itself, they claimed, didn't want Funing sinking deeper into work fit only for the lower classes.
But Funing refused to be discouraged.
If anything, every setback only made her more determined.
At the beginning of this year, she began work on her fourth ship.
Having learned from the past, she decided to make this one the sturdiest ship in the world.
Unlike the first ship's splendor, the second ship's delicacy, or the third ship's complexity—
This one would fear neither lightning nor fire, and no cannon shot would be able to destroy it.
It was built in pursuit of ultimate practicality.
And now—
That ship was almost finished.
...
"I don't want Funing's ship to be destroyed again," the duke said solemnly. "That ship carries all of her heart and effort. I want to find someone who can protect it… someone who can stand against fate itself."
"You really believe in that?" Nami asked. "You really believe the ships your daughter builds are destined to be destroyed? That it's fate?"
"There's no other explanation," the duke said with a sigh. "This goes beyond normal bad luck. Misfortune… no, fate… is real."
Norton listened quietly to the duke's story.
At that moment, the sound of hooves outside the carriage came to a stop, and the butler's voice came through the curtain.
"Your Grace, we've arrived."
"I know," the duke replied.
Then he looked toward Norton, clearly wanting to say more.
But Norton raised a hand, cutting him off.
"Since we're here, let me meet Miss Funing and see her ship first."
The duke was briefly stunned.
A moment later, he nodded.
One by one, everyone disembarked from the carriages. The pirates gathered together, waiting for Norton's orders.
After stepping down, the duke instructed the butler, "See to these guests."
"Yes, Your Grace." The butler bowed, then turned and beckoned to the pirates. "This way, please."
The pirates stirred eagerly, but restrained themselves and instead looked toward the duke's carriage.
Norton stepped down slowly and gave them a slight nod.
"Go on. Don't cause trouble, and don't steal anything."
Then he added, "Sanosuke, keep an eye on them."
"Understood."
Sanosuke leapt down from atop the carriage and followed behind the pirates, his gaze locked firmly on them.
The pirates felt their scalps tingle.
Come on, man. We all used to serve Captain Redbeard together. You switched sides that fast? Not even a shred of old loyalty?
Nami hopped down from the carriage with a hand on Norton's shoulder. Pouting, she shot him a sidelong look, feeling like that last line had been aimed at her too.
The butler led the main group toward the banquet hall.
Meanwhile, the duke brought Norton and Nami through the castle and toward a secluded dockyard beside the moat.
There, a young and beautiful girl was working alone, applying the final anti-corrosion coating to a ship.
She had naturally white long hair, with a single high ahoge rising from the crown of her head.
She was so focused on her work that she didn't notice Norton, Nami, or the duke arriving at all.
"She's really focused," Norton said softly.
The duke nodded in agreement, a kindly smile appearing on his face.
"Yes. Funing becomes completely absorbed when she's building a ship."
"Why is she the only one here?" Nami asked. "That's a huge ship. The workload must be enormous."
The duke hurried to explain, "Funing doesn't like other people interfering with her work, so I didn't assign anyone to help her."
Norton's gaze shifted away from Funing and settled on the ship itself.
It was a white three-masted sailing ship, nearly one hundred meters long. Its streamlined hull was sleek, narrow, and low, while the figurehead at the bow was a statue of a girl holding a bird, giving the vessel an elegant, mysterious air.
Although it lacked a bow cannon and stern cannon—making it seem slightly "incomplete"—the thirty-two cannons lining both sides of the hull silently proclaimed the terrifying broadside firepower this ship possessed.
"A magnificent ship." Norton's eyes lit up.
The instant he saw it, one thought rose in his heart with absolute certainty.
This ship had been made for him.
He could already hardly wait to claim it.
"What's this ship called?" Norton asked as he walked over to Funing's side.
"It's called the White Pearl! My fourth child!" Funing replied cheerfully.
Then, a moment later, she realized something was wrong and turned to look at Norton.
"Who are you? Why are you here?" Funing asked, staring at him blankly.