Chapter 90: Temporary Teacher and Meeting a Dragon
_________ POV Narration_________
Enel obviously ended up agreeing to Robin's proposition. Seeing no real downside to it, as training, someone was exceedingly easy with Garp's methods.
"I can work with that..." Robin was pleased to hear his acceptance, but his following words managed to disappoint her quite a bit.
"But I will only be around for 2 months at most." Enel wasn't about to spend the following 2 years training her, he valued his time.
'I should be able to get whatever information I need within 2 months of staying with the Revolutionary Army...'
Robin sighed, making her disappointment audible as Enel just shrugged.
"I'm a busy man. I'll spend some time on Baltigo, but I have some other tasks to take care of as well..."
Robin ended up just nodding at Enel's words. He was an Emperor, after all, he certainly had bigger things to worry about.
The young archaeologist clenched her fists as her lips trembled into a smile.
'Still, even two months is enough! If I can learn something from him in that time then it will be worth it!'
"We'll start your training formally when we reach Baltigo. Just so you know, I don't hold back just because you are a woman, so expect to not be able to move the first few weeks..."
Robin's smile trembled a bit once more, this time it wasn't really out of happiness or excitement.
"W-well... As long as I grow stronger, it should be worth it..." Robin regained her calm after saying that. Her eyes sparkled a bit as she looked back to the books on Enel's desk.
"Should we get to it? I can help you with the books you're currently reading, I'm assuming you'll have more during your stay with the Revolutionary Army."
Enel also smiled when hearing that.
"Sounds perfect... I was a bit curious about the history of Alabasta..."
The two of them proceeded to talk like that for the rest of the journey.
Sometimes taking breaks to sleep and/or eat. Robin mostly ate her meals inside Enel's room, but the two of them would sometimes move over to Robin's room if it was convenient.
During the day they would also sometimes go on the deck and read there. The captain of the ship immediately assumed that the two of them had some type of arrangement.
Normally one would think they were a couple, but no one would think of an Emperor as a normal individual, so that wasn't exactly the first thing that came to mind.
The ship they were on was fast, incredibly so, Enel also aided that by sometimes pushing it forwards with a laser or two, boosting its speed greatly and allowing them to reach Baltigo in a week.
Enel felt rather strange when seeing the island. It truly deserved to be called the 'Island of White Soil'.
He had been following a few landmarks on his map, and he was able to find out that the elusive island was actually somewhere within the Grand Line, more specifically, on the border with the Calm Belt.
The sea around it seemed to be shrouded in a strange fog, and one could easily get lost and turned around by the sea when trying to cross the fog.
Thankfully, the revolutionaries seemed to be trained in how to pass the fog, otherwise, Enel would've just had to fly to Baltigo at that point.
Due to its secluded location, the island was not yet discovered by the World Government, one of the few bastions that still escaped the influence of that massive power.
Enel whistled a bit as he noticed just how large the Revolutionary Army was when feeling the island.
It was a full country hidden in that fog, an extremely large city was built in the middle of the island where most of the population seemed to be gathered.
Robin was also staring at the island in the distance with interest, she couldn't exactly feel how many people there were on it, but she now at least had an understanding of the Army's size.
The city could be seen in the distance, and Enel did end up telling her more about what he was feeling on the island as well, as he figured she'd also find it interesting.
The Captain was pleased with the time of arrival, he quickly went to report the situation to his superior.
Meanwhile, the rest of the crew started making living arrangements for the former slaves that they had rescued, Robin and Enel weren't moved in with the rescued slaves.
Enel was just there to speak to their leader, and Robin was a special guest, one of the few people in the world still able to read Poneglyphs.
Both of them were to have special accommodations. But for now, they were waiting for the one to escort them to Dragon, as both of them would have to meet him first.
Eventually, Enel could feel a familiar face approaching them...
A blonde young man with a rather large scar on the right side of his face, covering his eye. His eyes were round, similar to those of Luffy.
He was wearing a long black jacket, with a blue shirt and vest, a frilled tie, and a simple belt holding a pair of loose light-blue pants with black boots.
He also wore a pair of brown gloves and the same top hat with goggles over the band.
Enel could easily recognize that person...
"Hello there! My name is Sabo! I'm the chief of staff, I was told to take you guys to your rooms."
Enel nodded a bit. "Well, I'm Enel, just a newbie pirate. Glad to see the Revolutionary Army is hospitable..."
Sabo was technically the second in command, he came out to greet him and Robin personally, which was something he could appreciate.
Sabo sweated a bit when hearing Enel call himself a 'newbie pirate' but decided not to comment on it.
"My name is Robin, though I am sure you've already been informed of our identities..." Robin tilted her head a bit, her calm smile making her voice sound rather serene.
Sabo scratched the back of his head a bit as he gestured for them to follow.
Robin did just that, walking shoulder to shoulder with Sabo, not really shy or scared for her safety in that situation.
"Well, it's only polite to introduce yourself~" Enel shrugged his shoulders as he stepped forwards, tagging along a few steps behind Robin.
Enel was the main reason why she wasn't exactly scared of the Revolutionary Army, if they tried to do something shady, then she at least had Enel.
The long-earlobed fellow had already rescued her captain and his brother while fighting the entire Navy all at once.
She also now had a deal with him, so she could at least trust that he'd look after her, at least for the two-month period he'd be there with her.
The three of them didn't speak a lot along the way, but most of the people that they passed by seemed to be rather friendly towards Sabo, most of them smiling and waving at him as he passed by.
Enel couldn't remember much about either the Revolutionary Army or Sabo, they weren't a group all portrayed all that often, so the details about them and their internal structure were rather foggy.
Eventually, the three of them arrived in what appeared to be the biggest building on Baltigo, at least from what Enel could see/feel.
It was built in the middle of the island, carved out of what seemed to be a large and spiked mountain.
No one stopped them from going in, the guards at the door simply parted and looked at them warily.
Mostly at Enel, as no one knew exactly what he was after. At this point, most of the upper echelon knew that Enel meant no harm, as he could've easily killed most of the people on the island already.
But the regular soldiers were still rather stressed out due to his presence, unlike the ones that had been on the ship with him, who were rather used to him by now.
Sabo stopped in front of a large double door.
"Dragon is expecting you already, I'll be heading off to arrange your homes. We aren't sure how long you'll be here, Enel, but I'll still prepare something preemptively." Sabo smiled warmly as he scratched the back of his head once more.
Enel also smiled when seeing how polite Sabo was. "Could you do me a favour and make our houses close to one another?"
Robin looked a bit at Enel when he said that. 'His way of talking will definitely cause a misunderstanding in the future...'
"O-of course..." Sabo looked at the two of them for a bit, before walking off.
'I think he might have already done it... Oh well, who cares?' Robin just ended up shrugging and started entering Dragon's office.
Enel followed her, not hurrying as his mind was still studying the island a bit more.
He wasn't paying all that much attention to his words, his mind preoccupied with understanding how the island remained hidden for so long...
Eventually, his eyes caught sight of him... Monkey D. Dragon.
Dragon was a tall middle-aged man with spiky black hair and a dark red tattoo on the left side of his face. He also had a bit of stubble on his chin.
He was wearing his usual long green cloak, underneath which he wore the orange garb of a revolutionary.
He seemed to smile warmly when greeting Robin, but his expression was a lot colder when his gaze met Enel's.
"Emperor Enel..." "Revolutionary Dragon..." Neither of the two smiled as they both tested themselves with their gazes for a few seconds.
The atmosphere in the room took a turn as the two of them had similar thoughts.
'He sure is worthy of being called an Emperor...' '... So he's also at the level of an Emperor, huh?'
"Ehm..." Robin's fake cough managed to break both of them out of their staredown. Enel smiled awkwardly and looked at Robin with an apologetic gaze.
Dragon's usual grin also returned, as he also nodded to Robin, silently apologising for ignoring her like that.
And just like that... The meeting began.
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Hope you liked the chapter :))
And the WN is back to normal. Don't know how long for. Gonna keep posting here as well, cuz why not?
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