45 Change of plans

Shun was thinking about what he should do now. Leaving the village and informing Catalina he thinks is the best option. There is only one problem, he killed 3 gyojins one of them an officer.

He knows it's a matter of time before the Arlong Pirates, know something is wrong since Chew didn't come back from collecting taxes from the villagers.

The problem is whether he informs Catalina of this or not. If he does Catalina may refuse to give him the information as it caused problems, plus the Arlong Pirates may not leave this village alone after losing 3 companions.

And if the villagers confess that they came on behalf of the navy, Arlong could warn Nezumi and from there things will only get more complicated.

The most viable option is to not tell Catalina about this little event and get the information from Eldorrago as soon as possible, however, this would take a few days since they had agreed to meet in person, and in that time Catalina may find out about this.

"Are you okay?" asked a voice in a low tone addressing Toma.

Toma turned and noticed Ines with a worried expression as she looked at him. Toma was using his sword as a cane to keep from falling, he felt some of his ribs from crashing into a wall at full speed were broken.

"Yeah... Ouch..." said Toma who as he turned around felt pain again, "Well, not so much" added Toma with a slight smile.

"Thank you for saving me, at my house I have some bandages" said Ines.

"I didn't do anything, it was Shun who saved you..." said Toma scratching his head somewhat embarrassed.

"Also thank you" said Ines looking at Shun and quickly looking away from him, "But if it wasn't for you saving me at that moment, I wouldn't be here anymore" added Ines in a grateful tone.

What she was saying was true, if Toma didn't act and wounded the gyojin's hand, the gyojin would have shot and killed her.

Toma smiled sheepishly and scratched his head somewhat embarrassed, he had acted without thinking and almost died, but it felt good to have tried to do something and not stand still in fear.

"What shall we do now!?" asked a villager after regaining his composure.

"Yes, that's right! It's only a matter of time before Arlong finds out that his subordinates didn't come back!" said another villager in fear.

"If they find out that one of his officers died in our village, it will be the end of us!" another villager exclaimed in despair.

"What... shall we... do...?" said a villager as he knelt.

"If those marine envoys had not intervened..." said a villager in a low tone, but Toma and Shun came to hear him.

Toma frowned and a vein could be seen on his forehead, he was angry with these villagers who did not want to help Ines and her two children.

In his village, they experienced something similar with Gally, and when a villager couldn't pay the fee many volunteered to help him, Silk was one of those.

"That's right! You guys are from the marine, right?" said a well-dressed and somewhat plump villager, as he turned to Shun and Toma.

"You could say so..." replied Toma.

"That's good! Call your superiors and have the marine do something to stop the evils of Arlong and his henchmen" said the plump man.

The other villagers began to cheer in support of what this man was saying.

"That's kind of difficult...we need to send the evidence first-

Before Toma could finish speaking, the plump man shouted angrily:

"Then why did you intervene!? Now all the lives of this town are in danger! You must take responsibility!"

Toma felt anger and guilt as he listened to the recriminations the man was making to him, on the one hand, anger because they did nothing to save Ines. And guilt because he knew he was right, Arlong would not leave the village alone after 3 of his pirates died.

Shun was still thinking, staring at nothing, upon hearing this his expression changed to one of anger, and looked at the chubby man.

Sensing Shun's cold stare, the man backed up a few steps with fear on his face.

"Listen, fatso, how long could you have survived after they raised the quota again, 1 month, 2 months, maybe 3?" asked Shun in a tone that all the villagers could hear.

The chubby man felt offended at being called fat but said nothing. Then he put on an ugly expression since what Shun said was true.

"Besides nothing guarantees them that the next month the fee won't increase again, knowing that, the only thing they would do is pay and wait for their eventual death?" asked Shun with a smirk.

"B-but if we manage to survive one more month, we'll have a better chance of the marina doing something, but now it's useless" countered the chubby man.

"Well you're right about that... as long as they survive when the marine decides to save them" said Shun nodding his head.

"What do you mean by that?" asked in a shaky tone the man.

"It's simple. How long ago did Arlong arrive in the Conomi Islands?" asked Shun.

"2 years..." replied the man, as he began to understand where Shun was going.

"Tell me, do you think in 2 years the marine doesn't know anything about the movements the Arlong pirates are making?" asked Shun rhetorically.

All the villagers hearing what Shun was saying began to understand and their hope of being saved began to dwindle.

"Y-you're saying the marine knows what's going on here and does nothing?" asked the man stammering.

The only one who had been told about Nezumi being corrupt was Ines, as Shun told Toma that it was better not to reveal that information to the villagers. Since it would jeopardize their mission and he preferred to spare them.

However, now Shun didn't mind telling everyone that the marines were corrupt anyway, he had killed Che and the other two gyojins. Which in itself complicated his mission.

" Yes, it's not too hard to figure that out" Shun said disapprovingly.

"Aren't you guys envoys from the marine? They must do something..." said the man crestfallen.

"Yes, we need your testimonies to blame Captain Nezumi who is the marine that is allied with Arlong, however, once we deliver the evidence the process for you to arrest Nezumi will take time" said Shun.

"After that, they will need to plan a strategy to defeat Arlong and all his pirates which will also take time. All that will minimally take 1 month at best. Can they wait that long? Do they have the money to pay for several more months?" asked Shun.

All the villagers were silent, even the chubby man. Many like Albert only had enough to pay for this month after the raise, so his death was only a matter of time.

"So... What shall we do...?" the man asked hopelessly.

Shun didn't answer and looked at Toma who was having a hard time standing, "Let's go to your place and put bandages on him or something" Shun said looking at Ines as he pointed at Toma.

"That's right, follow me!" said Ines worried as she saw Toma's condition.

Toma, upon seeing Shun's gaze, had no choice but to go to Ines's house. When Ines arrived she laid him on a bed and began to cure him.

"I am not a doctor, but I know a few things since there is no doctor in this village" said Ines as she bandaged Toma.

"Sorry for the inconvenience..." said Toma.

Ines's two sons looked at Shun curiously, especially Arthur the older one.

"What shall we do now Shun? We can't leave... Ouch... just like that..." said Toma as Ines continued to dress his wounds.

Shun frowned and started to think, he felt all the villagers outside Ines's house. They were nervous about the situation, it was a matter of time before more gyojins arrived looking for their comrades.

Pereperepere

The small den den mushi in Shun's pocket began to ring, he quickly answered and heard Catalina's voice sounding nervous:

"Have they completed the tasks yet?"

"Yes, you could say so..." replied Shun, but before he could elaborate, Catalina interrupted him.

"They'd better leave the Conomi Islands as soon as possible. Captain Nezumi and his most trusted subordinates set sail today. I gather he's headed there since he never goes on patrols with his ship, the only thing that attracts him is money, he won't put his life at risk to catch pirates."

"Today is the day the villagers have to pay the tax" Shun said.

"That explains why that rat is heading there, he's most likely going to collect the bribes to keep quiet" commented Catalina with hatred towards Nezumi.

"Wait, how do they know it's payday?" she asked.

"Well..." said Shun as he started to tell her everything that happened, how the gyojins came to the village to collect the taxes, and how Toma intervened by attacking a gyojin, so Shun had to intervene.

Catalina was not angry, as they saved a villager, even though she knew the greater good would be to have let the situation pass, she agreed with Toma's action.

"They did well, especially that boy Toma" said Catalina praising him to Toma who came to listen and blushed a little.

Shun was surprised that Catalina was not angry, as this village was now implicated in the death of 3 gyojins and hence was in grave danger.

"I know this wasn't part of the deal, but please protect the village! You just have to hold on until I get there" said Catalina.

"What and the plan? Weren't you supposed to find evidence so you could remove Nezumi from office?" asked Shun blankly.

"Yes... but with what you told me, I know that time is worth gold for the lives of the villagers, they can't wait any longer we must act now. I have a group of marines following me, we will catch Nezumi red handed" replied Catalina with determination.

"Aren't you forgetting something, how will you deal with Arlong?" asked Shun.

Catalina didn't answer, after a few seconds, she said, "I have an idea in mind, but you must protect that village, then I will give you the information, will you do it?" asked Catalina.

Shun stood silently contemplating, he felt Toma's gaze on him, clearly he wanted to protect these villagers, " Fine... I hope the information is worth it" replied Shun.

"Thank you! Thank you!" said Catalina very excited, " They should only hold out for 1 day, goodbye" she added in a hurry, as she had to set sail as soon as possible.

Although Catalina knew that it was almost impossible to face Arlong, she could not let the days go by and see how the villages were being destroyed, the villagers have been living in such hell for 2 years now.

Besides, knowing that Shun killed one of Arlong's officers, she knew that her chances increased. Shun hadn't told her how easy it had been for him to defeat Chew, so Catalina thought it was a tough battle.

"Why do you have that silly grin on your face?" asked Shun looking at Toma.

"It's nothing..." said Toma chuckling.

Ines had also heard the conversation and could feel hope for the first time, as there were people who wanted to save them and were on their way, but what gave her more assurance was that Shun would be protecting them until the others arrived.

She had seen how Shun defeated the gyojins without any difficulty, so she knew how powerful he was.

"I guess all of you heard the conversation too" Shun said as he stood up and opened the door. As he opened the door several people fell out, one of them was the chubby man who was glued to the door listening intently.