Chapter 178: Zoro: I’ll Lead The Way
“Let’s go. First, visit Isshin Dojo, then move freely. If you’re not interested, you can stay on the ship or go explore other places on the island.” Himeko said.
Yan chose to act alone. Compared to dealing with ordinary people, she preferred silently observing from the clouds.
This was a habit she had developed over thousands of years as an angel.
However, she was already trying to change, at least no longer using the Eye of Insight anytime and anywhere.
When Yan calmed down and personally observed people’s lives with her own eyes, she felt many sensations that could not be felt from the information of the Eye of Insight.
No matter how detailed the information was, it was ultimately dead, while the world was alive.
The spotless clothes and temperament of the Train Crew made the dock workers and fishermen subconsciously keep their distance, not daring to approach, for fear of offending them.
“Shouldn’t we blend in with the locals and change into local clothes?” March 7th couldn’t help but say.
The Train Crew was approachable wherever they went, but in this world, they were rejected instead.
How could they blend in with the locals and understand the local customs like this?
Hmm, blending in with nobles would be seamless.
“Do you think changing clothes would work? Let me tell you, it’s useless. You’re too beautiful, with a unique temperament. No matter where you are, you’re like fireflies in the dark, so distinct and outstanding.” Meng Huaifeng said.
“Makes sense.” Star nodded in agreement.
“It’s not that exaggerated.” March 7th’s face slightly reddened, then she said: “But at least it would look friendlier, not making people scared enough to avoid us.”
“Little March makes sense. Let’s buy some clothes while shopping.” Himeko said.
In a world with developed technology, the Train Crew’s attire was a bit unique, but it didn’t matter much, and people could accept it.
But in a backward ancient world, especially one with distinct classes, it was indeed too flashy and eye-catching, making most people afraid to approach.
Or was it a difference in art style?
“Big Brother, could you tell me how to get to Isshin Dojo?” Meng Huaifeng casually asked a fisherman.
The fisherman forced a flattering smile on his face: “Lord, Isshin Dojo is in Shimotsuki Village. Shimotsuki Village is on the northeast side of the island. Go that way.”
“Thanks.” Meng Huaifeng said.
The Train Crew headed northeast.
“Huh? They said… thanks to me?” The fisherman looked incredulously at the Train Crew’s backs.
“Aren’t they nobles?”
“Who knows, they don’t look like pirates either.”
The people on the dock were discussing animatedly.
Passing through a bamboo grove, Meng Huaifeng saw a green-haired kid running wildly, waving bamboo swords in his hands, bending all the grass blades over half a meter tall along the way.
Even stranger, he had a bamboo sword in his mouth. Whenever there was a grass blade over a meter tall on the road, he rushed over like he saw treasure, swung his head, and hit it on the head with the bamboo sword in his mouth.
Then he slashed twice with both swords, cutting the rest into several segments, before continuing to run satisfied.
“Wht r yo gys doin?” Seeing the Train Crew, the kid ran up to them and mumbled unclearly.
“Uh, little brother, what are you saying?” March 7th asked in confusion.
“You guys… hiss… what people? I haven’t seen you.” The kid slowed down his speech, saying it word by word. This time, they finally understood what he said.
It wasn’t the kid bragging; he basically had an impression of everyone on the island.
Many people from every village had escorted him home before.
“We are adventurers passing by this island, wanting to visit Isshin Dojo.” Himeko said.
Saying Stellar Train Nameless or Pioneer would not be understood by people in this world, requiring explanation, which was too troublesome, so Himeko used the similar concept of adventurer for locals to understand easily.
“Oh, you’re visiting the dojo. I’m a disciple of the dojo. I can take you there.” As the kid spoke, probably because the sentence was too long, the bamboo sword in his mouth fell out.
“Then thank you, little brother. Sister is Himeko. What’s your name?” Himeko asked.
“Roronoa Zoro.” Zoro tucked the bamboo sword in his arms, turned around hesitantly for a moment, then started leading the way.
Meng Huaifeng hesitated slightly but ultimately didn’t stop him. He was quite curious about how he got lost and wanted to experience it personally.
“Zoro, why do you have a sword in your mouth?” The Train Crew followed behind Zoro, and March 7th asked curiously.
“Because I’m a Three Sword Style swordsman!” Zoro said seriously.
“Three Sword Style? Swordsman? Wait, isn’t something off here?” March 7th was a bit confused.
“Of course something’s off, Zoro. What are you holding?” Meng Huaifeng asked.
“Bamboo sword.” Zoro replied.
“You’re using swords?” Meng Huaifeng confirmed.
“Of course swords.” Zoro tilted his head strangely looking at Meng Huaifeng. Did this big brother not even recognize swords? Was his head not working?
“Then why are you a swordsman?” Meng Huaifeng asked.
“Swordsman is swordsman. What’s the problem?” Zoro said.
“Of course there’s a problem! You’re using swords, why are you a swordsman?” March 7th said frantically.
“If not swordsman, what?” Zoro asked puzzled. What were these people trying to say? So weird.
“Of course blademaster.” March 7th said.
“Blademaster? Never heard of it.” Zoro shook his head.
“You say you’re a swordsman, so where’s your sword?” March 7th asked.
“This is it.” Zoro raised the bamboo sword in his hand.
“Isn’t this a sword?”
“It is a sword.”
“Where’s the sword?”
“This is it.”
“…”
“Ah~!!!”
March 7th held her head and let out a groundhog-like scream. As a true swordswoman, March 7th could not accept this practice of not distinguishing between swords and blades at all.
“Weirdos.” Zoro scratched his head and continued leading the way.
“Alright, don’t argue with a kid.” Himeko comforted.
“This world is like this, no distinction between swords and blades. Don’t dwell on it.” Meng Huaifeng also had complaints but had already accepted it since he knew beforehand.
March 7th lowered her hands, her face numb.
“Three Sword Style, is the third sword the one in your mouth?” Star accepted it well and said to Zoro.
“Yeah.” Zoro nodded.
“Isn’t it inconvenient to bite with your mouth? Why practice with three swords?” Star asked.
“Of course more swords mean stronger, but unfortunately I can only use three at most.” Zoro said somewhat regretfully.
“I see.” Star realized.
“Hey, you don’t think more swords mean stronger too, do you?” March 7th had accepted this world’s sword-blade setting and rolled her eyes at Star.
“Others use at most two swords, but I use three. Each hand blocks one sword, how does the third block?” Zoro gestured with the bamboo sword.
“Makes sense.” Star agreed.
“By that logic, you must be unbeatable in the dojo, right?” Meng Huaifeng asked.
Zoro’s gesturing paused, then he said: “Excluding one person, everyone else in the dojo is no match for me.”
“Why exclude one person? Can’t beat them?” Meng Huaifeng directly attacked the weak point.
“She’s older than me, practiced longer…” Zoro tried to explain.
“Oh, so you can’t beat her.” Meng Huaifeng looked enlightened.
“Shut up! That’s because my Three Sword Style isn’t perfected yet. I can beat her soon!” Zoro broke down completely, glaring at Meng Huaifeng and shouting.
“Huai Feng.” Himeko lightly called Meng Huaifeng.
Meng Huaifeng shrugged and let the broken-down little Zoro off.
“I know a guy who does Seven Sword Style. I’ll introduce you sometime.” Star said.
“Seven Sword Style? How do you wield seven swords?” Now it was Zoro’s turn to be shocked.
Zoro imagined holding one forward and back in each hand, totaling four, biting two in his mouth with gritted teeth, how to use the last one?
Armpit? No, affects hand strength.
Butt cheeks clamping one?
Seems feasible. This way, no worry about enemies behind!
“Flying Sword. Hold one in hand, six flying behind, controlled by will.” Star said.
“How can swords fly? Do you think I’m a three-year-old kid?” Zoro rolled his eyes at Star, thinking she was teasing him, and ignored her.
Zoro continued leading, twisting and turning seven or eight times.
“No, this direction is the way we came.” Dan Heng suddenly stopped.
“What’s wrong? I’ve walked this road thousands of times, how could I get lost?” Zoro said confidently.
“How long until Isshin Dojo then?” Dan Heng asked.
“Two or three hours, maybe.” Zoro said uncertainly.
“Two or three hours? Is this island that big?” March 7th was incredulous.
“This island is huge. Sometimes you walk a whole day and still don’t reach the sea.” Zoro said affirmatively.
Dan Heng’s mouth twitched slightly. From the distant sea view, the island wasn’t that big. Even a kid couldn’t take a day to reach the sea.
And what was “sometimes”?
Did the island change size?
“You don’t think we’re bad guys, do you? Think we’re here to cause trouble at Isshin Dojo, so deliberately leading us astray?” Dan Heng said suspiciously.
Zoro belatedly became vigilant: “You’re not really bad guys here to trouble the dojo, are you?”
“Hey, we don’t look like bad guys at all, do we?” March 7th said indignantly.
“Jie jie jie, since you’ve discovered it, then stay…” March 7th pushed away the weirdly laughing Meng Huaifeng.
“…you can’t go.” Star added with a weird laugh. March 7th wanted to stop it but was too late.
“I’m not afraid of you! Come on!” Zoro quickly bit a bamboo sword in his mouth and assumed a combat stance.
“You two, stop causing trouble! Sister Himeko, control them.” March 7th helplessly complained to Himeko, then said to Dan Heng: “How do you stay unmoved while they mess around?”
“Oh, used to it.” Dan Heng said expressionlessly.
“Is this one thing subduing another? I thought Dan Heng would be the trouble, but it’s March. Just explain clearly. Why bother?” Himeko smiled with her eyes.
March 7th glared at Meng Huaifeng and Star respectively, then hurriedly explained: “Little Zoro, don’t misunderstand. These two are acting crazy. We’re really good people. Have you seen pirates like us?”
“No.” Zoro somewhat suspiciously put away his bamboo sword.
“At such a young age, daring to risk yourself alone to protect the dojo by luring others away. Kid, you’re great, very brave.” Dan Heng praised.
Zoro blushed a bit, and Meng Huaifeng’s mouth twitched as he held back a laugh.
“Take us to Isshin Dojo. We’re really not bad guys.” March 7th guaranteed again.
Zoro adjusted direction slightly and continued leading.
The surrounding scenery started becoming familiar; obviously they had passed here before.
Though previously deliberately led astray, now going back, seeing familiar scenes was reasonable. Dan Heng thought.
After two reasonable times, three was unreasonable.
『Yan: What are you doing? Why keep circling?』
Hidden in the clouds above, observing island life, Yan couldn’t help messaging.
『Meng Huaifeng: Ghost hitting wall. Want to come down and play? Pretty fun.』
『Yan: ?』
『March 7th: ?』
Dan Heng stopped again, somewhat speechless to Zoro: “Kid, you’re not a fake Isshin Dojo disciple who doesn’t know the way, are you?”
“Who’s fake? I’m a real dojo disciple!” Zoro said.
“Then why are you still leading us in circles? We told you, we’re really not bad guys, not here to trouble the dojo.” Dan Heng emphasized again.
“Where did I lead you in circles?” Zoro denied.
“We may not know the way, but we know if we’re circling.” Seeing Zoro still deny, Dan Heng shook his head, somewhat tired. Why was this kid so stubborn?
“Is it possible this kid is just directionally challenged?” Meng Huaifeng said.
“I’m not directionally challenged!” Zoro flushed red.
“Even directionally challenged wouldn’t not know the way at home.” Dan Heng didn’t believe it either.
Non-directionally challenged people can’t imagine how challenged a true one can be.
“Forget it, we’ll find it ourselves, no need for you to lead.” Dan Heng said helplessly.
The Train Crew passed Zoro and headed to the northeast as the fisherman first said.
“Believe me, I’m not directionally challenged! I can definitely take you to the dojo!” Zoro anxiously followed beside the Train Crew. He had to prove himself!
After just a few hundred meters, turning over a hillside, a dojo appeared before them.
Dan Heng glanced at Zoro, confirming at such close distance, no one could get lost.
This kid was deliberately delaying them.
Though somewhat speechless, he was a good kid, just a bit stubborn.
“Eh, who are you people?” A dojo disciple saw the appearing Train Crew and asked.
“Stellar Train Nameless, adventurers, here to visit.” Himeko said, holding two small gifts.
For such lawful good small forces, the Train Crew didn’t mind giving small gifts when visiting to show goodwill.
“Please come in.” The dojo disciple welcomed.
“Master, guests!” Someone ran into the dojo first to notify.
When the Train Crew entered the dojo, a bespectacled, extremely mild-looking squinting-eyed man came out to greet them.
“The dojo hasn’t had guests in a long time. Welcome everyone. I am the master of Isshin Dojo, Koshiro Shimotsuki.” Koshiro welcomed, pondering the visitors’ purpose in his mind.
Challenge, learn swordsmanship, recruit, or other?
Himeko introduced the Train Crew members and handed the small gifts to Koshiro: “We are adventurers passing by this place. Hearing that Isshin Dojo has protected this area’s peace for decades, we came specially to visit, with no other intentions.”
The small gifts weren’t valuable. Considering this was a kendo dojo, one was a set of ordinary sword techniques from a certain planet, the other was specialty food from the train.
“Hahaha, you’ve troubled yourselves. Protecting this island is our duty.” Taking the gifts, Koshiro’s laughter became heartier. They even brought gifts; seems truly no malice.
“Kuina, quickly pour tea for the guests. Everyone, sit.” Koshiro handed the gifts to a girl about ten years old beside him and greeted enthusiastically.
