บท 28: Vacations
...
|A few minutes later after Farid sat at the dock...|
-Groan...-
Walking through the streets of Nanohana, Farid looked at some bounty posters on his hands without minding his surroundings as he furrowed his eyebrows a little bit.
"Shit, How can so many pirates appear while I'm gone for just a few weeks?"
A few weeks ago, he had left to deal with some pirate crews that were causing trouble on the nearby islands and gain some money while at it. It wasn't really a hard job, and he actually finished it in no time, however, when he finished the job and decided to go back, he ended up dealing with another pirate crew right when he arrived back at Nanohana.
It was a praiseworthy achievement, taking down two pirate crews in just a few weeks, not every bounty hunter was capable of doing so, and even less as effortlessly as he had done so.
However, what annoyed him was that despite the fact that he had dealt with two entire pirate crews, there were already new pirate crews going all around the Grand Line, replacing the ones he had taken down.
For some reason, it was as if whatever he did was meaningless.
And it probably was.
"Annoying bastards... It's as if they multiplied"
Scoffing softly, Farid sighed in annoyance, before he put the wanted posters down, and continued walking forward without a care in the world.
Like that, Farid continued walking for several minutes through the bustling streets of Nanohana, until at one moment he arrived at what seemed to be a small tavern, and furrowed his eyebrows slightly as if annoyed by something.
"Honestly, don't they ever clean up this place?"
The tavern in front of him had dust all over the floor, and there were even some spider webs on the corners of the roof as if no one had cleaned the establishment in years. All in all, the place seemed to be a rundown tavern that the owner had abandoned years ago.
"Wanna fight?!"
"Hmph, with a weakling like you? I prefer not to waste my energy"
However, thanks to the yells and noise coming from inside, it became apparent that it was not actually abandoned.
-Sigh...-
Sighing after hearing the noise coming from inside, Farid shook his head briefly while closing his eyes, before he then started walking forward and began entering the tavern without minding the rather strange noises coming from inside.
-Creaaaaaak...!-
Pushing the door and entering the establishment, the sound of the door creaking soon echoed all around the place, and suddenly after that, several gazes landed on Farid like hunters looking at their prey.
"..."
However, that lasted only for a few moments, as soon, the gazes moved away, and several murmurs started going around the tavern.
"He came back so soon? Damn... As expected of him"
"Well, It seems like I won the bet, I want my money for tomorrow"
"Damnit... How could he deal with an entire pirate crew so fast? Now I lost all my money!"
'As noisy as always'
Ignoring the murmurs about him going on around the tavern, Farid looked around for an empty table for a few seconds, before soon he found one and walked towards it.
Taking a seat and letting out an exasperated breath, Farid frowned as he started looking around for someone, before he then started tapping frantically the table with impatience, and looked at a small clock on his wrist.
'He told me that he was going to be here at this hour... Where the heck is he, then?'
-Creaaaaaack...!
Suddenly, as Farid was still looking around, the sound of the door opening once again reached his ears and interrumped his thoughts.
'Here he is...'
Turning around, Farid saw a short man in a suit with messy black hair and glasses on his face walking towards him with a calm and relaxed expression.
Straightening his posture, Farid sighed briefly, before he then raised an eyebrow when the man suddenly opened his mouth and spoke to him.
"Sorry for the delay, I got followed by some loan sharks to whom I owed some money"
"And why in the world do you owe money to loan sharks?" Looking at him in disbelief, Farid massaged his temples, before he then sighed and signaled the man to sit too.
"Hmph, well, I thought that there were some good business opportunities at Crocodile's casino, so I tried my luck. However, I made some small mistakes in the process, and somehow ended up owing Crocodile a million belly..." Sitting at the other side of the table, the man coughed embarrassedly, before suddenly a slam on the table reached his ears and startled him immediately.
-Bam!-
"A million Belly..?!" Widening his eyes in surprise, Farid raised his voice and startled everyone in the tavern, making them look at him and the man with confused expressions.
Not that he cared really that much about them either.
"No need to get so angry, Farid" Fixing his glasses, the man leaned back on his chair and crossed his arms while looking at Farid.
Letting out an exasperated breath, Farid scoffed, before he then raised an eyebrow and looked at the man in front of him with squinted eyes.
"How can I not get angry? I bet you are going to ask me for money now, right?"
"Do you really think of me as that kind of person, Farid?! I can't believe it!!"
"..."
"... Really, we have been friends for so many years... And yet you think so bad of me..."
"..."
"By the way, leaving that matter aside, I heard that there's a very famous trend nowadays where you gift your best friend a million Belly in exchange for their eternal friendship"
"Go fuck yourself Altair"
"Hey, what was that for?!"
Continuing speaking like that, both Farid and the man called Altair continued talking to each other about diverse topics, sometimes yelling at each other, and sometimes laughing stupidly, until finally after a few minutes someone brought them drinks, and Farid's expression changed slightly.
"Well, why did you call me here, Farid? I don't think it was to have a casual talk with me, right?" Noticing the change in Farid's expression, Altair raised an eyebrow and looked curiously at him.
Looking at Altair in silence for a few seconds, Farid drank a bit of his beer, before he sighed and opened his mouth.
"Well, it wasn't really something so important. I just wanted to tell you that I'm going to take some vacations from Pirate hunting, and I'll go back to my home to rest a little bit"
-Pam!-
Suddenly, as Farid stopped talking, Altair stood up and slammed his hands on the table before he yelled in astonishment.
"WHAT?! YOU WANT TO TAKE A REST?!"
"Is it that surprising?" Groaning after seeing his reaction, Farid leaned back on the chair, before he started scratching the back of his ear with an annoyed expression.
"Of course it's surprising! You, Mr. "Duty comes first", are telling me that you are going to take a rest?! Am I in some kind of dream? There's no way a workaholic like you suddenly wants to take a rest, that doesn't even make sense! I mean, it's like as if all the pirates in the world told me that they decided to never steal and plunder ever again. Of course I can't believe such stupi-"
"I'm going to punch you if you continue"
"... Sorry... but why are you doing it so suddenly? I had already brought you new information about pirate crews that needed to be taken down, but here you are, suddenly telling me that you are planning on taking a rest!"
Sighing with a tired tone, Farid turned to look at the ceiling of the tavern, before he replied in a monotone tone at Altair.
"I just want to take a break, that's all"
...
Hearing his words, Altair looked at him silently for a few seconds, before he sighed resignedly, and started drinking a glass of beer in front of him.
"Who could have thought that the famous Farid, the Doom of all pirates, and the only person that rivals Baroque works in terms of efficiency by himself, would one day suddenly want to take a small rest... I guess I've really seen everything"
"Don't exaggerate"
"Hahaha, as humble as always... Well, fine. I guess I will also take a small break from gathering information for you..."
Smiling softly after hearing Altair's words, Farid stretched his limbs, before he then stood up and placed some money on the table.
"Here's the money for the drinks, it's on me today"
"Woah, as expected of you. I've never seen a man more generous!"
Laughing at Altair's words for the last time, Farid started walking towards the door of the tavern, before he suddenly remembered something and turned around to look at Altair.
"By the way, I don't assure you that the break will last long. Maybe it is a thing of two or three days, or maybe it is a thing that will last a month, I don't really know"
Hearing his words, Altair leaned back on the chair, before he let out a laugh and looked at Farid funnily.
"Hahaha, fine by me. As long as you don't become a pirate during that time, there's no problem"
Chuckling at the words of Altair, Farid shook his head briefly before he then turned around and started walking away while waving his hand without looking back, leaving only a few mutterings behind that no one managed to hear.
"A pirate? No way in hell"
...
°
°
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|Somewhere in the middle of the desert, a few hours after Farid left the tavern...|
...
"Let's make a house in the middle of the desert so that no one can find me, and so that no one can steal my things... Yeah, was a brilliant idea Farid, a fucking great idea...!"
Walking through the endless sand of the desert at a steady pace, Farid could be seen carrying an enormous bag with provisions on his shoulders, while also using it to protect his face from the sun.
"What in the world was I thinking when I decided to build my house in the middle of the desert? Am I dumb?"
Cursing under his breath, Farid looked ahead and groaned in annoyance as he felt the sand entering his shoes and making him feel extremely uncomfortable while walking.
Usually, traveling through the desert was never really a problem for him. With his enormous strength, and his unusually resilient body, he could travel between cities extremely easily and in no time at all. However, today he was carrying a good chunk of food and other important supplies in the bag since he was going to spend a long time at his house taking a vacation, and thus, having the risk of the bag tearing apart because of his enormous speed, Farid had no other option but to walk and make sure that the supplies stayed safe.
It was left to say, right now Farid was just venting his anger by cursing, and did not really think that building his house in the middle of the desert was a bad idea.
After all, it was a place where no one would find him, and where he would rest peacefully and hide from the world without problem.
Furthermore, despite having to bring some supplies with him so that he could survive in his house for at least the next month, this was actually one of the very few times where he
stayed home. After all, Farid spent most of his time outside of the house capturing pirates or moving between cities.
Thus, there was almost never really a need for supplies, since he never was at home in the first place.
Furthermore, It was also because Farid had traveled so much during the past 6 years that no one from the Royal Guard was able to find him or track him to his house. Otherwise, if he had stayed in one city and built his house there, having Pell or any other person find him would have been inevitable.
It was also because of that, that Farid never took vacations during the past years, and always kept moving between islands to capture pirates so that no one would be able to find him or track him unless he wanted them to.
However, since so much time had passed already, and knowing the fact that the possibilities that the Royal Guard was still looking for him up to this day were very slim, Farid didn't consider it necessary for him to continue traveling so frantically anymore, and for once in many years, he decided to finally take a vacation.
-Shhck-
-Shhck-
-Shhck-
However, maybe taking a vacation in a desert wasn't the best of all ideas...
"Shitty sun... shitty sand, shitty everything..."
Continuing walking through the hot and dry sand, Farid's steps and curses echoed amid the silent desert, as the sun continued hovering above him mercilessly.
What was once seconds, turned into minutes, and what was once minutes soon turned into hours.
"..."
However, even then Farid didn't stop, and he continued walking further without looking back.
Then finally, it happened.
Suddenly, as Farid finished climbing a dune, a small sigh escaped from his mouth, before the corner of his lips raised slightly.
"Finally... I thought I was never going to arrive"
In the distance, a small and shabby house beside an oasis could be seen.
The roof was covered in sand, and there were even spider webs hanging everywhere around the building, however, even then, Farid didn't seem to care.
Calmly, Farid began walking in the direction of the house, before he then arrived in front of the door after a few minutes, and sighed in exhaustion.
"It seems like I will be busy for a while" Muttering something like that, Farid looked at the outside of the house carefully, before he smiled slightly.
The house was dirty to no end after months of not being occupied. However, since he had time to spare now that he was on a break, he didn't really mind it and instead considered it as something else to get busy with during his vacations.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, however, a small frown appeared on his face, as he noticed a small and almost indistinguishable footprint at the entrance of his house.
Kneeling down to look at it more in detail, Farid raised an eyebrow, before he turned to look at the door of his house and noticed that it was actually open.
'... The footprint looks fairly recent and considering that the door is still opened... Whoever had entered is either still inside, or has already left long ago after seeing that there was nothing really valuable... Shit, they better have not stolen my furniture, or I will hunt them down to the end of the world. After all, it was a pain in the ass bringing them all the way until here...'
-Creaaaack-
Standing up with a serious expression and pushing the door open, Farid entered the house and squinted his eyes before he then started inspecting carefully his surroundings.
Then, sighing in annoyance, Farid scoffed before he then crossed his arms and raised his voice.
"I know you are hiding behind the wall. Come out now if you don't want me to beat the shit out of you right now"
"...!!"
As if responding to his yell, suddenly some sounds started coming from one of the rooms, as if whoever was behind the wall had panicked, before suddenly three figures appeared from behind there, and walked up to him with a rather nervous and slow pace.
"What in the...?"
Frowning deeply, Farid took a step forward, before he accidentally spat out a curse in surprise after seeing the three figures.
The mysterious figures were actually three kids in a very malnourished and horrible state, that were looking at him with scared eyes as if worried that he would hit them.
There were two girls of similar age and one small boy seemingly younger than the two girls beside him. Judging by the way they were acting, grabbing each other hands, and staying really close between them, Farid could guess that they were probably siblings, or at least close as ones.
'But why in the world are they in my house?'
Pondering about it silently, Farid looked at each of the kids with a sharp gaze, before he then sighed when he noticed the scared expressions on their faces, and decided to ask them directly instead of trying to figure it out by himself.
Kneeling down to talk to them more properly, Farid sighed, before he then relaxed the frown on his forehead, and did his best to act amiably to the kids.
"Hey, brats, what are you doing in my house?"
It was left to say, if there was something that Farid lacked, was certainly a good language and manners.
"WAAAAAAAAH!!!"
"MAMAAAAA!!"
"WAAAAH!!"
Frightened by Farid, the kids fell on their buttocks, before all of them started crying loudly.
Seeing this, Farid took a step back, before he then started massaging his temples.
"Shit... What do I do now?"
...
-To be continued...-
°°°
(A/N: Ah, Farid is on vacation... I'm so jealous...
Just two weeks more, and I will have my vacation too :)))
...
Please end my suffering...)
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