Monster Hunter of the One Piece World

After sailing for a while, the fleet finally docked at an island called Gules, which was also the venue of the trade fair.

According to the map Sherwin had collected, the island of Gules was considered one of the larger islands in the entire West Blue.

Under the control of the mafia, a nation had even been established here. Although due to certain affiliations it hadn't become an official member state, with the backing of those mafia groups behind it, there weren't many clueless pirates who dared to stir up trouble here.

Although there were still a few days before the trade fair officially began, merchants who had arrived early had already started selling some of their less important goods in the city. Even though Cody was forced to attend, he still brought some goods along and had his subordinates sell them.

As for himself, he brought Bucks, Sherwin, and a few other experts, and checked into an inn in the city.

"Uncle Cody, can I take Klee and them out for a walk?" After settling down in the inn, Sherwin came to the employer with a helpless face, flanked by two excited cat-cats.

He really did want to carry out his duty as a guard, but he had been pestered endlessly by the two cat-cats—more precisely, by Klee Meow—so he had no choice but to come and symbolically ask the employer.

After all, in Sherwin view, there was no way Uncle Cody would agree to such an unreasonable request.

As expected, even before Cody could refuse, Bucks on the side already scolded him: "Sherwin, you're currently a guard hired by Mr. Cody!"

Although he had a good relationship with Sherwin, Bucks was, first and foremost, a competent steward.

So after hearing Sherwin request, his previously kind demeanor disappeared instantly and he became stern. "What kind of guard leaves his employer behind to go wander around!"

After saying that, Bucks even cast a glance at Klee Meow beside Sherwin. Though he didn't speak further, Sherwin understood exactly what that glance meant—

Not only was he not staying by Mr. Cody side to protect him, but he was also dragging around a cat-cat that could very well provoke the mafia—Sherwin was really doing a poor job as a guard.

"See? Told you it wouldn't work." Sherwin spread his hands toward Klee Meow beside him.

He never really intended to take the cat-cats out anyway, but he also didn't want to upset Klee Meow. Now that Uncle Bucks had jumped in to take the blame, he had an excuse to keep Klee Meow from running around.

"Uu..."

Klee Meow immediately drooped her ears, her fluffy little face looking pitiful, but although she seemed a bit disappointed, she didn't keep insisting on going out.

Seeing the little furball like this, Sherwin almost wavered. Fortunately, he still valued professional ethics, so he could only coax her gently:

"Let wait until the trade fair is over, then we'll go have fun, okay?"

"I don't think that very good," the one who spoke up unexpectedly was Cody. With a smile on his face, he said,

"Since Klee wants to go out and have fun, then Sherwin, you go ahead and take her for a walk."

"Mr. Cody?" Bucks looked at him in surprise.

Cody waved his hand and said, "It fine. This inn belongs to the Buono family. They wouldn't risk ruining their own reputation. Besides, even if the mafia has some kind of scheme, the trade fair hasn't officially started yet. The guests they invited haven't all arrived, so they wouldn't risk alerting anyone at this stage."

"But…" Bucks hesitated for a moment and didn't continue, though his eyes once again glanced toward Klee Meow.

Even Sherwin had a "Are you sure you want to do this?" expression on his face.

Indeed, Uncle Cody analysis made a lot of sense, but all of it was based on the assumption that Sherwin and the others wouldn't provoke the mafia controlling the island once they went out.

That assumption was practically impossible, because in the eyes of those mafia groups, Klee Meow and Sanji Meow were basically walking stacks of Beli. It was impossible for no conflict to arise.

"That not something to worry too much about either," everything Sherwin and Bucks could think of, Cody naturally had considered as well. But he acted completely unconcerned.

"In order to successfully hold this trade fair, the mafia will definitely restrain themselves before it officially begins. Besides…"

He paused, the smile on his face deepening. "I also want you all to go and test their real attitude and intentions."

In fact, even without Sherwin and the others, Cody would have found a way to have someone do a bit of probing. Kind as he may seem, anyone who could grow their business to this scale clearly didn't lack strategy.

And among all the members of the trade caravan, Sherwin and his cat-cats were undoubtedly the best candidates—whether for baiting someone in or for their actual combat strength.

After Uncle Cody explanation, Sherwin and Bucks more or less understood what he had in mind. Bucks was still a little concerned, but Sherwin wasn't too bothered. After all, this was a request from Cody as the employer—he just needed to follow orders as the bodyguard...

And while he was at it, he could also see if he could find a good blade to unlock the weapon compendium.

Just as Sherwin was making plans, Uncle Cody once again came through in the nick of time… handing over the remaining half of the payment to Sherwin.

"Since you're taking Klee and Sanji out to have fun, it always good to bring some extra money." Cody looked kindly at Klee Meow, who was already cheering, and said this to Sherwin.

Ahem… anyway, well-behaved Klee Meow wouldn't spend that much.

...

"There are three major powers pulling the strings behind this country. Besides the Buono family that Mr. Cody mentioned earlier, there also the Capone family and the Simuent family."

Before Sherwin and the others left the inn, Bucks gave a serious briefing: "There are other mafia groups in the city too, but these three are the ones you really don't want to mess with, so try not to get into conflict with them."

Hearing a familiar name out of the blue, Sherwin instinctively raised an eyebrow.

As expected, that Capone-something super rookie really was from the West Blue.

Since he had already suspected as much before, Sherwin wasn't particularly surprised—just raising an eyebrow counted as paying respect to a character from the original story.

Bucks glanced at the little plush cat beside Sherwin who was clearly itching to run off already, sighed helplessly, and continued his instructions:

"Even if it does come to a fight, try to hold back a bit. At least leave some room for negotiation afterward."

He knew very well that it wasn't realistic to completely keep Klee Meow under control, so all he could do was emphasize it again with a sigh...

"At the very least, don't blow up the whole street like you did back in Colored Paper Town."

"Klee, did you hear that?" Sherwin gently knocked on Klee Meow little head.

"Yeeees~" The little plush cat stretched out her words and wrinkled her nose in annoyance. "Klee knows you're not supposed to set off bombs in the city, meow."

"Then why did you set one off last time?" Sherwin turned his head and widened his eyes at her.

Klee Meow widened her eyes right back at him, just as surprised. "It was Sherwin-nii who told Klee to go for it, meow!"

Sherwin mouth twitched. He really must've been out of his mind back then—why did he tell Klee Meow to make a move? Even if it wasn't convenient to draw Longsword at the time, with his skills he could've easily snatched up a random weapon on the spot...

It all the cat fault—too cute, totally clouded my judgment.

Sherwin sighed and stubbornly tried to cover up his mistake: "You didn't have to use bombs… Besides, I did tell you to go easy."

"You said it too slow! Klee had already thrown the bomb by then, meow!" Klee Meow retorted, sounding completely justified. "And you never said bombs weren't allowed, meow!"

"That right, meow! This is totally not Klee-chan fault. It all Sherwin the dummy fault for not explaining properly, meow!"

Just like always, Sanji Meow had no hesitation picking Klee Meow side.

Tch...

Little cats were super cute, but when they acted out, they could really get under your skin...

If only next time he could summon a more mature Felyne… then he could dump the whole "discipline the little troublemaker" task onto them.

A certain unscrupulous monster hunter rubbed his chin and side-eyed Sanji Meow, who was currently yowling at his feet.