The Old Woman looked suspiciously at Raiden Ei. She knew the little girl Janice; she was rather shy, but she hadn't seen her leave the island recently.
Logically, if a stranger appeared on this island, everyone on the island would surely spread the word. So when did Janice meet this woman?
What the Old Woman thought in her heart had nothing to do with what she said out loud: "Heh heh, oh! It's that little girl Janice!"
"I thought it was some young man. Janice's home isn't far from here. You don't know her family? I'll take you!"
Raiden Ei saw that the Old Woman insisted, so she had no choice but to agree. After all, in her Observation Haki, Janice really wasn't far, probably less than two hundred meters away.
The Old Woman led Raiden Ei, talking the whole way, not caring if she replied to her or not; she just rambled on about things that had happened on the island in the past.
Fortunately, this Old Woman liked to walk around anyway, and her health hadn't reached the point where she had to gasp after every step. The journey took less than five minutes to reach Janice's house.
The Old Woman stopped in front of a two-story small building built from clouds and said to Raiden Ei: "This is Janice's home. She should still be inside now. Just call out and she'll come out."
Raiden Ei glanced at the Old Woman. She certainly wasn't going to listen to her and shout loudly at the main entrance—that would be too embarrassing! This person was quite malicious.
No matter how much she complained internally, not a trace showed on her face. She said in a still flat tone: "No need, thank you for leading the way. Let's part ways here!"
Raiden Ei didn't wait for the Old Woman to reply and walked toward the two-story small building ahead.
The Old Woman's somewhat exasperated voice came from behind: "Hey, hey, hey! Why aren't you listening to me? Trust me, I wouldn't lie to you."
Raiden Ei ignored what she said and walked to the door, knocking once.
"Knock, knock."
Seeing that Raiden Ei was already knocking, the Old Woman stopped talking. Before leaving, she just muttered, "Boring," and slowly continued her stroll.
Raiden Ei felt like her ears were finally quiet. After listening to the Old Woman's incessant chatter all the way, she was a bit speechless. She really didn't expect her to be such a chatterbox.
However, what she said was all new information to her, so she didn't mind it. If she had to listen a few more times, she would feel like she was listening to a monk chanting scriptures!
"Who is it!"
Shortly after knocking, Raiden Ei heard Janice's voice coming from inside the house, and footsteps were rapidly approaching the door.
The door here wasn't locked. She replied directly: "Janice, it's me, Ei."
As Raiden Ei answered, Janice had already hurried to the front door. Seeing her, she looked at her with some surprise and said by the door:
"Ei, didn't you say you were going to Birka for a while? Why are you here after just one night?"
Raiden Ei explained: "Uh... because the matters there were too simple, I finished my objective ahead of schedule. After that, there was nothing else to do there, so I came to your place early. What, you said you'd welcome me, but now you're going back on your word?"
She wasn't lying; it was the truth, so it wasn't considered deceiving her!
After her surprise faded, Janice heard Raiden Ei's explanation and smiled as she said to her: "How could that be! I've been eagerly anticipating your arrival. Don't stand outside, come in and talk."
Janice reached out and took Raiden Ei's wrist, intending to pull her into her home. Raiden Ei followed the pulling force and walked through the main door with her.
Janice's home was quite simple, containing only conventional furniture and some shell-like decorations.
Raiden Ei took out a Musou Isshin from her system backpack and handed it to Janice: "This is a gift I brought for visiting your home."
This was the first time she had been a guest at someone's house in this world, and she didn't know what kind of gift to bring.
Most of the valuable items in the system backpack had some side effects. Giving gold wasn't valuable here, and giving Berries directly felt inappropriate.
The white Musou Isshin she was giving had silver stripes as decoration and a pattern carved on the hilt—it was one she had obtained from the treasure trove on Panshan Island.
This Musou Isshin was useless to her. Converting it to energy was merely a drop in the bucket for her current state; it was better to give it away! Moreover, this was just an ordinary famous sword without any side effects, and it was very light, making it perfect for Janice, simply because she found her pleasing to the eye.
When Janice saw Raiden Ei handing her the sword, her mouth dropped into an 'O' shape in surprise. After a while, she waved her hands, refusing, and said: "Ei, you're too polite. We are friends, you don't need to give me a gift, especially one that looks so valuable. Please take it back!"
Raiden Ei directly stuffed the sword into Janice's hands, which were still waving about: "Take it! Who visits someone without bringing a little gift? This isn't a valuable item to me anyway."
Janice's face immediately fell, looking like she was about to cry, and she tried to hand the sword back to Raiden Ei: "No, I can't! If you wanted to bring a gift, something simple would have been fine. You don't need to give me something so precious, and it's useless to me!"
Raiden Ei firmly pressed down Janice's hand that was trying to return the sword and said with a serious tone: "How can it be useless? If you spend a little time practicing every day, you can use it to protect yourself. Isn't that great?"
Janice quickly said: "I can't do it!"
Raiden Ei was starting to regret it now. How long would this back-and-forth take? It would have been better to give Janice some sweets; she definitely wouldn't have refused those!
However, she had no way to back down now. If something she gave was returned, wouldn't she lose face!
Seeing Janice's current state, she encouraged her: "Be more confident, you can do it. In this world, as long as you have the belief to become stronger, you will surely succeed."
Janice stared intently at Raiden Ei's serious expression and said: "Even if I accept it, I won't use it!"
Raiden Ei was relieved that Janice stopped refusing: "That's simple, I'll just teach you the basic sword techniques. Then you can practice every day from now on."
Janice's eyes lit up: "Really? I can become very powerful too?"
Raiden Ei thought for a moment. She had already found the Goro Goro no Mi. Now, the only remaining goal on the Sky Island was Skypiea. She wasn't short on time, so she said:
"Let's go find an open space, I'll teach you right now."
Janice dazedly held the Musou Isshin and followed behind Raiden Ei to an open space outside.
Raiden Ei waved a hand in front of Janice's eyes and said a bit louder near her ear: "Snap out of it!"
Janice was indeed startled. Raiden Ei just curved the corner of her mouth and began to teach her basic swordsmanship.
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