The Marine

Jumping away from the ship, Bill wasn’t exactly happy with how things had played out.

Captain Hina herself didn’t speak out against the Science Division getting shares for the bounties and cargo, but she also hadn’t stopped her Lieutenants and Warrant Officers from doing so.

At the end, Bill suspected that if it wasn’t for his physical prowess or family name, they would have shouted him out of the room.

It had been embarrassing for him, but Bill firmly believed that accounts should be properly settled.

It wasn’t even for himself that he thought of, despite the fact he had undeniably done the second most amount work, only behind the Captain herself.

Bill thought of Marron and the MSU Recruits who had never stopped working. He thought of the biology students who had taken care of the wounded day and night. Then he thought of those who had died and were never even given a chance.

Those who had survived all been there without hardly a complaint during the bad times, Bill found it shameful to himself that he even had to bring up that they should benefit when fortune changed.

One of the main arguments from Hina’s Officers was given how much they had lost they needed everything they could get and then they pointed out that while things seemed in their favor, it was only if nothing went wrong.

The impressment of pirates had a mixed record, they reminded Bill several times.

This argument though held little sway with him, the Science Division had lost nearly forty percent of the people they had sent on this voyage.

This had included a professional Biologist!

Bill didn’t even need to remember the outraged Sentomaru to understand how much damage a death could cause for a relatively new department.

In the end, through gritted teeth, he got fifteen million Beli from the bounties and foregone any percentage for the cargo.

He didn’t think it possible for the cargo to hold some great item. These pirates were small timers and would almost certainly have never had the self-restraint to hold on to anything valuable.

After securing their shares, he found out where the Science Division members were. Now all that was left was to go and talk to them.

Bill had decided not to take any of the money and would instead send it to the families of those who died.

Had this been another time and place, he’d want to go personally to meet with them. Unfortunately, in this world that wasn’t possible, and so he hoped the money would help.

Bill decided he wouldn’t force anyone to do what he had done, but if the rest of the Science Division followed his lead, each of the families would get just over two million Beli on top of what the regular KIA payout was.

Heading towards the town to meet with Marron and the others took hardly any time at all. Hina had given rough directions, saying that they had gone to help with the cleanup, and so while he looked for them, he crossed the sky above the town until finally seeing them.

Landing softly, he caught the group by surprise and said: “Need a hand?”

“”“Lieutenant!”””

As the group turned their heads, they greeted him one by one.

After the small group had gathered around him, he asked about the others and found that they were at medical center helping however they could.

Looking over the building they were working on, Bill asked what they were doing here.

Acting as the informal leader of the other recruits Marron spoke out first: “Just cleaning up, thankfully the fire didn’t burn the restaurant to the ground.”

While Marron spoke, Bill heard unfamiliar footsteps coming from the building but didn’t react. Now that he had absolute control over his body, it just seemed natural to slightly enhance his senses.

And if it ever became an issue, he could dim them just as easily.

“Ah! Lieutenant Ox I presume?”

As a man wearing a tall chef’s hat walked out of the doorway, the Science Division crew turned their heads.

Marron: “Ahh, Lieutenant, this is Mitsuboshi, he’s the owner and chef for the restaurant!”

Nodding his head, Bill greeted the man with a smile: “Hello Chef, I hope my comrades have been of some help.”

Mitsuboshi: “Indeed they have!! I told them they didn’t have to do so much; we built these buildings to burn after all! Hahaha”

Saying this, the MSU Recruits all did various hand waves and said it wasn’t a problem.

Marron: “We didn’t even do that much, we actually spent most of the morning exploring the caves!”

When Marron said this, something struck Bill.

It was something he knew technically, but over the months hadn't given much thought.

Seeing the MSU Recruits laugh and be awed by a cave system, Bill recognized just how young they were. Then he realized that despite their ages just what they had been through.

This group of sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds had worked beside seasoned adult Marines during an incredible disaster. In some ways, they had outworked most of those seasoned Marines.

At once, Bill dismissed his idea to ask them to give up their shares of the bounties. They had more than earned it, he thought.

Perhaps in the future he would find some other means to help the families for those who had died on this trip.

Bill: “Yeah, I’ve heard about those caves, Yoko told me that she’d show them to me.”

Tilting her head, a bit, Marron then asked: “Yoko?”

Mitsuboshi: “Oh, little Yoko, Captain Ryudo’s daughter. That little one knows those caves better than most! Hahaha, but all the kids love it.”

Nodding his head to that, Bill went on: “Yeah, I was surprised, I would think the dark would be scary for a little kid.”

Bill was also surprised that adults were ok with allowing children play in that type of environment, but his thoughts were soon dispelled by Marron chiming in: “That’s just the thing, those caves are pretty well lit! the walls are almost reflective in most places, and well, it did get dark in some places but even then, there always seemed to be a light at the end of a tunnel.”

“And it was really pretty!” One of the other MSU Recruits agreed, a girl who Bill had only tangentially interacted with.

“When I was a kid, I would have had a lot of fun in a place like that.” Came from another recruit, a guy who Bill had seen working out every day, and someone who had really taken to training with the Meditative Pushup.

After that the group all started talking amongst themselves, and at some point, they had pulled out some chairs and sat with Mitsuboshi and Bill standing off to the side.

Gesturing with a hand Bill then glanced towards the restaurant Baratie and asked: “Chef, what did you mean that you built this to burn?”

“Ah, well…”

Unflustered by this question, the chef Mitsuboshi went on to describe the islands’ situation.

It turned out that Little Blue East island was just too close to the Calm Belt and too far from any other islands so that it was easily overlooked despite its more or less good condition.

“We hardly even get News Coo!” The man said with a laugh, but then turning a bit more serious continued: “And well, the word got around in some circles. Now we have to deal with pirates from time to time.”

Listening to the man pause, Bill asked: “Instead of designing your buildings to withstand burnings, why don’t you form a militia?”

For the first time in a long time, Bill saw the man looking at him like an older man would a sixteen-year-old.

Mitsuboshi explained they on the island were just too few, and they couldn’t stand the thought of losing a single person just over some simple cargo.

While he talked another older man joined them.

“Ah, Lieutenant Ox, this is our town’s Mayor, Fabre.”

After shaking the older man’s hand, the mayor looked up and said: “I overheard a bit of your discussion. I know it may seem a bit weak to a strong young man such as yourself, but truthfully, as long as everyone remains safe, we can continue on.

Thankfully now we have Captain Ryudo living here and the loss of any more of our people is even less likely.”

Hearing this, Bill wanted to say it was irresponsible for them to just run and hide. There were children on the island, and he had seen himself that the people of this world could get stronger with effort.

But in the end, he didn’t admonish the older men. Firstly, he didn’t think it was his place to do so, and secondly, he thought that they would surely understand the realities of this world just as well as he did.

Later he would find out his errors, but for now he went with a different tact.

“This island has a good climate; it could probably support a couple thousand people from the amount of fresh water I’ve seen.”

Understanding where Bill was going with this, Mitsuboshi slightly cut him off by saying: “The island itself could support a moderate population but the ocean around here is too deep.

It’s basically impossible to fish these waters because of the sea kings. If we relied on farms the water would be used up too quickly…”

Now the Mayor spoke up again nodding his head to agree with Mitsuboshi: “Indeed, we have calculated that the island could support perhaps a thousand people together with livestock and farms they would need in total, but those calculations also come with concerns due to population growth and soil fertility!

Lieutenant Ox, we are more than willing to listen to any suggestions you have for our security – we would welcome it even!

But we have already thought of many of the easy solutions, and for one reason or another, they just aren’t feasible.

For now, it’s enough for us to just ensure everyone’s safety.”

To this Bill was stumped.

If their calculations were correct, and he had no doubt that was a good rough estimate, that would mean the island could have around three hundred fighting aged men and women.

Would having that many really be different than having only a couple dozen?

While considering this, it struck Bill once again just how precarious security was in this world. He stayed silent for a long time considering that number: ‘three hundred.’

There were roughly that number of pirates on the three ships which just invaded the island,

Despite the bounty, the leader of this pirate convoy was little more than just a large person. So, with a couple hundred extra people, this island probably could have deterred them from attacking.

But that didn’t account for any superhumans.

He thought if even one moderately strong person was thrown in the mix, then instead of a population with a few hundred becoming a deterrent, it would instead make them a target.

Because more people meant more potential cargo to steal.

‘Ugh…’ Bill thought to himself.

Because he had been quiet for nearly a minute, looking somewhat down while he thought about the problem, the two older men looked at each other before looking back and him, then the Mayor spoke: “Sir, don’t worry so much about it!

Our situation can’t be said to be the worst, far from it in fact!”

Mitsuboshi: “That’s right! Hey, Lieutenant, my kitchen is just clean enough to cook in, have you ever eaten at the famous Baratie?”

These men were trying to console him, Bill knew as much, but their words also appealed to the old problems he had wondered about when he had first learned of this world’s makeup, before he even knew superhumans existed in this world.

He suddenly realized that over time he had integrated so much to this unique environment that these considerations had been forgotten.

Still, not wanting to sour the mood, Bill looked at the chef questionably and said: “No, I’ve never been to this island?”

Mitsuboshi: “No! not this Little Baratie! I mean the really famous one in the East Blue!”

Seeing Bill shake his head that he hadn’t, the chef then said: “Well you’re in luck! Take a seat and I’ll prepare something for you and your crew!”

After he said this, the chef didn’t wait and leapt into action before Bill could stop him.

Now standing with the Mayor alone, the older man reached up and slapped Bill on his shoulder while saying: “It looks like we’re in for a treat!”

Smiling and giving his ‘ok’ the two walked towards the group of MSU Recruits.

Some time passed and Bill didn’t even notice when suddenly half the town was in front of the Little Baratie, many people having brought their own chairs since the fire had taken destroyed several of the booths in the restaurant.

Looking around he saw Yoko playing with Marron while some slightly older kids were hanging around the other Recruits.

He saw Ryudo helping Mitsuboshi and the Mayor talking to some big, faced swordsmen.

“Hey Boy, Are You Listening?!”

Turning his head back to the old woman he had been talking to, Bill politely said: “Oh, yes ma’am.”

?: “That’s more like it, now as I was saying……”

As the old woman spoke about her old village Bill didn’t realize just how much this day would stick out to him.

It would be something he remembered for the rest of his life.