Chapter 49 - The Miserable Unluckies! Managing Roles on the Ship: Living Helm and Maid!

In the sky, a rather peculiar image was forming for the three common inhabitants of East Blue. While it wasn't an everyday sight, the girls managed to suppress their shock, and Noah simply smiled.

A small otter with brown fur and white fur around his snout is seen. He is wearing a long-sleeved, light blue jumpsuit with purple dots, as well as black sunglasses. He is flying over the area, heading in their direction with his partner, a large vulture with black feathers and white feathers near the neck. Her skin is pink, and her beak is light yellow. She is wearing a yellow aviator cap dotted with red flowers and black goggles.

They are Mr. 13 and Miss Friday, called the Unluckies by the same people who Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday works for.

Beek! Beek! Beek!

With the sound of the shells that Mr. 13 held clashing, Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday, who were on the deck of the Black Artemis, immediately panicked upon sighting the pair. After all, this meant that they were here to punish them for failing in their mission to get the whale.

"HMHM! HHMMHMHMM! HMHMMM!" Mr. 9, still tied up and unable to speak, only struggled on the floor like a fish out of water, his panicked eyes showing how much fear he felt.

"No, please! Don't kill us!" Miss Wednesday also looked terrified at the 'gift box' that was about to be sent their way and screamed in desperation. But soon she realized where she was and her gaze turned to Noah, whom she already knew was the captain of the ship, "Please, help us! We'll do anything you ask, but please help us!!"

"Anything?" Noah raised an eyebrow at this free gift that fell into his lap.

"Y-Yes!" Blushing a bit at the ambiguous way he spoke, Miss Wednesday didn't care about that and pleaded again, "Please, save us!"

"I'm just kidding." Noah smiled at her, mainly saying this to Nami and Nojiko who seemed to want to slit his throat now. Anyway, he still took a step forward, "But alright, since you insist…"

With a slightly ironic voice, Noah just unsheathed his sword and added a bit of Wind and Fire Manipulation to his attack. And like the speed of light, he attacked twice towards the pair in the sky.

Flying Slash Attack: Cross Slash!

Swoosh!

Booom!!

Under the shocked gaze of Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday, that sword strike actually flew from the sword! And what's more, it hit perfectly the gift bomb that Miss Friday (the vulture) was carrying, causing it to explode!

The smoke from the explosion covered the region where they were flying over, preventing the two from seeing what happened to their "workmate" agents.

But, even with all the smoke, under the watchful eyes of Crocus, even Nami and Nojiko, they knew very well that those two poor creatures had been reduced to two lifeless bodies. The trail of smoke that fell into the sea also proved the reality, as they slowly sank into the sea after that.

After all that, silence ensued for a while until it was broken.

"Who were they?" Nami briefly looked at the sea before frowning at the two strangers. Although she was not a murderous person herself, she wouldn't blame Noah for killing two creatures who intended to kill them.

"They-"

"Hmm! HmHm!"

Miss Wednesday was about to speak when Mr. 9 interrupted her by making a noise and shaking his head in disagreement.

"If you don't speak, then you can say goodbye. We will leave you here with the old man and you can find your own way back to wherever you came from." Noah sheathed his sword again and crossed his arms as he leaned on the deck support.

Upon hearing his words, Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 were nervous, as they knew their only hope of returning would be with them. Until a moment ago they were already wondering how they would make their route go to Whisky Peak, but now it seemed to be their cue. It was either that or more agents would come to eliminate the two.

With both knees on the ground, Mr. 9 in an odd posture, Miss Wednesday once again pleaded for help.

"I know it's selfish of us to ask for help again, especially after you've saved our lives." She looked straight at Noah, her face blushing at the thought that she already owed a favor, and now would ask for another, "Take us to Cactus Island, there is a town called Whisky Peak."

"Do you want us to help you without even revealing your names?" Nojiko also joined the conversation and had a strange smile on the corner of her mouth, "Not to mention that those things wanted to kill you. Nothing prevents them from trying again while we're helping you."

"We..." Miss Wednesday wore a strange expression and lowered her head in shame, "We are part of a particularly secret company in that city, and unfortunately we can't reveal our names. About the attacks, there's no need to worry. The island is a few days away and they have no means of tracking us at sea."

With her eyes full of guilt, she hoped that her actions now would at least touch their hearts. She was praying to any personal God that these pirates were actually good people. A request so big that it is almost a miracle.

"Let me see if I understood..." Nami glanced briefly at Noah, noticing his indifferent look and continued, "We don't know who you are, who you work for, why they tried to kill you and, on top of that, you repeatedly tried to kill Laboon in the past. And still, after saving you, you want our first island to be yours?"

Hearing everything she had to say, Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 felt more and more the pressure and absurdity of their request. After all, only here at the entrance of the Grand Line could the Log Pose be set to one of the routes within it. Setting a wrong route and only finding out later was a waste of time and very dangerous to make the journey back.

But even so, Miss Wednesday lowered her head in shame. It was this or death. And she can't die now.

"Yes, please!"

Seeing how she still agreed, Nami knew that either she was very cheeky, or valued her life above all. So she could only leave it to whoever was in charge of the ship.

"Captain?"

Remaining silent for a moment, Noah stared fixedly at Miss Wednesday, who still had her cheeks blushing with embarrassment, but her gaze was firm and pleading. His usual smile appeared after he felt it was enough tension for the poor princess to handle.

"It looks like we have a set course then. Let's go to Whisky Peak."

°°°

After saying goodbye to Crocus, with him smiling happily and at the same time seeming to want to hold back his manly tears when bidding farewell to Laboon, Black Artemis began to follow the course set by Noah.

Now with a new member who did not fit on the ship, the large whale would simply live his life calmly while accompanying them from the bottom of the ocean. If they were to go to places where Laboon cannot enter or pass, his task would be to protect the ship, in case the crew leaves, or then seek the exit point of the island so that he waits there.

Now that they were sailing in the Grand Line, they could not in any circumstance relax in the face of the dangers of this sea. Therefore, whatever they were going to do, someone would have to be at the helm to guide the ship when needed.

“And this is your task.” Noah said as he tied Mr. 9 to a piece of wood and tied his hands to the helm, “Don't scream, don't speak loudly… don't speak, to be honest. Keep an eye on the sea and sail in the direction that Nami orders. Do any nonsense and it will be the end of your life. Understood?"

“Ye-” Mr. 9 was about to speak when he felt his hand almost break with the force that the white-haired guy put on. Then he remembered that he was not to speak and just nodded repeatedly.

“Great.” Noah felt satisfied with his work, using techniques he learned from a brief girlfriend of his, a goth who liked these things on Earth.

He might not be a master at it, but he knew how to tie a knot in a rope to restrain someone.

Before he left, he seemed to remember something and then looked at Mr. 9 with a smile... a smile that contained more threats than his previous speech.

"One more thing. If I catch you looking at my women, consider yourself a dead man. Capeesh?" Lightly tapping on his shoulder, Noah seemed very friendly.

Mr. 9 felt the hand of that white-haired demon almost break his shoulder every time he hit and could only nod like a chicken. His eyes were almost shedding tears, wondering what he did to deserve this…

°°°

In the kitchen.

"Excuse me, could you repeat that?"

Miss Wednesday asked with a somewhat strange expression. In her right hand was a mop, while her left carried a bucket with soap and water.

"You're going to clean the Black Artemis. The whole ship." Noah looked at the little princess in front of him with a quite calm expression, "First the deck, then the lower deck, and the rooms. Wash the clothes, make the bed, and do everything a maid does. Can you cook?"

"More or less-"

"That's enough. You'll also cook for us when we're hungry." Being quite rude, Noah didn't care about her feelings when speaking so harshly.

"A-All right..." Being treated like a mere maid, and with such brutality, Vivi (I'll call her that now, previous name is too long) felt her heart hurt a little.

She also felt that this handsome man in front of her was nothing more than that. He was just like any other pirate: Bad and brutish; but just happened to be exceptionally handsome.

And while these thoughts sank into her head, she suddenly felt a hand lightly patting her head. Looking up in fear, Vivi was shocked to see a beautiful smile adorning the handsome man's face.

"I'm just messing with you." Noah said in a calm voice while holding back from pinching her face. The sad and obvious expression she made was fascinating to someone who liked to provoke others, "You said you would do anything if I saved you, right?"

"I-I did..." Vivi instantly blushed, her heart pounding with the way his hand went from patting to stroking.

Seeing her like this, Noah decided to add more fuel to the fire.

"You're very cute, you know?" Removing his hand from her head, he saw her eyes widen and turn completely red before he waved, "No need to be hard, just clean a little. And about cooking, I was messing with you. I'm going now, take care."

Leaving a completely red Vivi standing where she was, still holding the mop and bucket, Noah left without looking back. But, even after the kitchen door closed on its own, the graceful princess was still standing there with her heart racing.

'He is so...' She was still thinking about the way he smiled at her and the feeling of affection in her head was still there. And when all this still mixed with the scene of him casually swinging his sword in an imposing way, saving her life...

Vivi's gaze suddenly became determined and she focused on the task she must do.

Clean every inch of this ship!