After walking a fair distance away from Hansen, Della stopped and looked around to see if she was still being followed by Tyke. It seemed that he was nowhere nearby.
She would've spotted him quickly if he was anyway, as someone his size can't really hide.
Reaching into the pocket of her robe, Della took out a den-den mushi before sitting down and leaning on a tree. A few moments later, the line connected, and somebody's voice came out of it.
"Nee-san?"
"Yeah, it's me. How are you?"
"I'm fine, nee-san. When are you coming back?"
"In a few weeks, at most. How's the situation over there?"
"Ahahaha, Dad's health is the only thing that's not great. Everything else is fine!"
"Tell me the truth."
"Ugh…"
Her brother had always been bad at lying. All Della ever had to do was press him a little bit, and he would blurt it out.
"Well, the situation is getting a little worse. The storms have picked up, and more people have left for Fatare."
"Hmm."
"Y-you don't have to worry about anything, nee-san! I'll take care of the situation here! You take care of yourself and come back safe, alright?"
"When did you start worrying about me?"
Shaking her head with a smile, Della sat silent for a moment before saying,
"Start getting everything ready. When I come back, we might have the opportunity we've been waiting for."
"Eh? What? Did you find someone? Who is it?"
"Well... I did find someone, but they're a little unconventional."
"Oohh, that's okay. Conventional methods won't work for our situation anyway. So, who are they?"
"...They're pirates."
"…."
The den-den mushi went silent for a moment as Della gulped down her nervousness. The silence did not last long though, as her brother screamed.
"Pirates?! Are you serious?!"
"Well…"
"No, nee-san! No way we can trust some pirates! They'll just backstab us when they get an opportunity! Stay away from them!"
"Listen completely first, you idiot. They've already fought Hansen, and they will probably pick a fight with Spike too. So it doesn't matter if they're pirates or not, for now we have the same enemies."
"Bu-"
"And I'm traveling on their ship. So there's no way I can stay away from them."
"No-"
"Alright. Don't worry too much. Like I said, I'll be there in a few weeks at most."
"Listen to m-"
*Kacha*
Pocketing the den-den mushi after unilaterally cutting the call, Della got up and dusted her robe before she started walking back to the ship.
On her way back, Della met Tyke, who stood still when she saw him and started following her again without saying anything when she walked past him.
But for some reason, she did not see Hansen and the stupid knights. The small campsite they had made was left empty.
'They probably went out to get some more food,' was what Della thought as she kept walking back to the ship. When she got back, she saw Tom and Jerry putting down big barrels on one side of the deck.
"What are those?"
Tom threw a look at Della when she asked that and snorted before saying,
"None of your business, freeloader."
"...."
Turning her head away in anger, Della walked away from there, leaving Tyke to watch his captain and vice captain wipe their foreheads after they finished arranging the barrels.
"Let's go have lunch!"
After Jerry said that, he rushed into the dining hall and was followed by Tom. Shrugging his shoulders, Tyke followed behind them.
**********
A couple of days passed while the Whisker pirates waited for their Log Pose to set. In those days, Jerry did not take Yuuki with him to go and torment the poor people on the island.
When Yuuki asked why, Jerry said,
"Why would you do something like that, Yuuki-san? That's so cruel. I did not expect this from you!"
"???"
Yuuki was puzzled when he heard that, as it was Jerry who dragged Yuuki with him to put on his eating shows. Yuuki just let it go though, as he was now pretty used to his captain and vice captain being unreasonable at times.
When the log pose finally set and the Whisker pirates started getting ready to set sail, someone on board was really worried.
Biting her nails, Della looked at the barrels that Tom and Jerry put on the ship a couple of days before.
She had gone into the island a number of times, but for some reason Hansen and the knights that were accompanying him were missing. There were literally no traces of them on the island the last couple of days.
And finally, on the day they were about to set sail, an ominous feeling rose in her as she noticed that the number of barrels that Tom and Jerry placed on the deck was the same as the number of people missing.
She tried to get closer, but she was always sent away. This just further fueled her theory.
Della finally got her chance and stopped biting her nails when the ship sailed away from the island. The moment came when Jerry managed to piss off Tom for some reason, causing Tom to chase Jerry all around the ship.
Getting closer to the barrels, Della popped open the one in the front. When she looked inside, she saw a man tied up and gagged.
Brown hair, pale skin, and black eyes, it was Hansen, and he was looking at her with red eyes filled with indignation.
"AAAHHH!"
The scream from her halted everything the Whisker pirates were doing and made them look at her. Clicking his tongue, Tom scolded Jerry.
"Look, she found out! Wasn't it your shift!?"
"What? Why would I stay there when you're trying to hit me, Tom-san?"
"Tsk tsk, it's your fault. Just accept it."
"No, this is on you."
"Irresponsible kid."
"Mean loser captain."
"...."
"...."
After glaring at each other for a moment, something snapped inside Tom and Jerry as they started their cat and mouse game again while Tyke and Yuuki went over to Della, who kept screaming as she popped open all the barrels.