In Sherwin understanding, the defining traits of a map should be a rigorous mathematical foundation, a system of symbols, textual annotations—something that allows one to intuitively grasp the topography and landscape of an area.
But this thing in front of him? A few circles drawn here and there to represent islands, with proportions that were obviously way off. And instead of indicating the distance between islands in kilometers or nautical miles, it used descriptions like "takes 2–3 days to sail"...
Sherwin didn't even need to flip open the Hunter Manual to know that this useless thing definitely couldn't be used to advance the dynamic map progress.
No wonder it was so cheap...
Sherwin mouth twitched, but he didn't just toss away the map in his hand. Even though it wasn't accurate—more precisely, it had absolutely nothing to do with the word "accuracy"—at the very least, it could help him determine the directions of those islands.
Besides, maybe he could even use the names of the islands and countries marked on the map to awaken some memories.
For instance...
So the Flower Country was also in the West Blue?
As a pirate crew with a more Chinese-style flavor, the Happo Navy still left a deep impression on Sherwin… although that so-called "Chinese" style was rather half-baked.
It was a pity that the martial art–like combat style, the Hasshoken, seemed to be taught only to those who officially joined the Happo Navy. Otherwise, Sherwin would have really liked to learn it.
After putting away this extremely disappointing West Blue chart, Sherwin flipped through the few expired newspapers.
Some of the reports were actually quite interesting, but unfortunately not of much help to him. Still, he hadn't expected anything from the papers to begin with, so after browsing them, he casually tossed them aside.
After wandering the streets for a while, it was about time for dinner. Sherwin immediately took the two cats and headed to a restaurant in the center of town.
As guards hired by Cody, of course meals were included. Before parting ways with Bucks, he had already told Sherwin where they'd be eating that evening.
Upon entering the restaurant, they were soon led by a waiter to Uncle Bucks table.
"Mr. Cody still has business to discuss. We'll just eat on our own," Bucks explained while pulling Sherwin to the table.
"Uncle, is it okay for you not to be by Mr. Cody side?" Sherwin asked in surprise.
Bucks let out a hearty laugh. "Mr. Cody, being the good guy he is, still made a name for himself in a West Blue crawling with gangs—not just because of the money he made."
From the sound of it, Mr. Cody might actually be stronger than Bucks, who was both his butler and bodyguard?
Guess you really can't judge a book by its cover...
Sherwin clicked his tongue in mild surprise, but after a moment thought, it did make sense.
If he didn't have the skills to back it up, how could Mr. Cody dare to separate from his ship crew, bringing along only Bucks as his somewhat capable bodyguard?
This bit of information—Bucks hadn't shared it with him yesterday. Probably because only after hiring them did he start seeing them as part of his own people?
That was Sherwin guess, and during the meal, he tried to keep probing Uncle Bucks for more information.
And it seemed things were indeed just as Sherwin had suspected—this time, Bucks even actively added some details when answering his questions.
For example, the map that had screwed Sherwin over earlier—accurate nautical charts weren't nonexistent, it just that most people had no use for them.
For civilians who didn't go out to sea or only fished along the coast, they might go their whole lives without ever needing a map.
As for pirates, just knowing the general direction was good enough. Instead of spending time drawing sea charts, it'd be better to find a reliable navigator.
Even for merchants like Cody, they usually just traveled a few fixed trade routes—whether they had a map or not made little difference.
Only when planning to expand their business would they bother preparing more detailed sea charts.
Sherwin thought back carefully. That actually seemed about right. In the manga, apart from Nami drawing maps for Arlong in the beginning, and the occasional treasure map popping up, there didn't seem to be much mention of charts.
Especially after entering the Grand Line—everything was based on Log Poses, so sea maps were basically useless.
So then…
What use did Arlong, who came from the Grand Line, have for maps of the East Blue? And he was a Fishman, too—maps were even less useful to him.
Aside from the map issue, the well-informed Bucks also told Sherwin quite a few things that weren't even mentioned in the manga.
For example, good blades in this world weren't limited to the so-called "Twelve Supreme Grade," "Twenty-One Great Grade," etc.
While the Supreme Grade might really only have twelve, there were still many blades in the Great Grade or Skillful Grade tiers. The so-called "Twenty-One Great Grade" or "Fifty Skillful Grade" were just the more famous among them.
This part Sherwin could easily understand. After all, no matter how amazing a named sword was, it was ultimately forged by a blacksmith. As long as blacksmiths continued to exist, there would always be new good blades.
It not like all the blacksmiths in the world could suddenly die overnight and all forging techniques vanish completely, right?
The only thing Sherwin wasn't sure about was whether the weapon page in his Hunter Manual required the blade to be a named sword, or if any good sword ranked above Sharp Blade would count.
There was another thing Sherwin hadn't expected—Bucks actually had some connection to Brook…
To be precise, he and Brook were from the same country, and he'd learned his swordsmanship after joining the royal guard of that country.
It just that by the time Bucks joined the guard, Brook had already set out to sea. He had only heard the legend of the Three-Verse Humming Slash.
"Let have a spar, Uncle Bucks."
The moment Sherwin found out that Bucks swordsmanship shared the same roots as Brook, his interest was instantly piqued.
"Oh? Sure."
Bucks stroked his chin and readily agreed.
Although Klee Meow had shown off some impressive power earlier, she relied on her massive explosives.
Aside from her fast movement when tossing bombs, her own combat ability hadn't been fully displayed, and Sherwin hadn't even made a move from beginning to end.
While Bucks understood that someone who could "tame" Klee Meow definitely wasn't weak, Sherwin, who claimed to be a swordsman, didn't even have a proper sword—he had to pick up weapons from gang members.
Coupled with that obviously young face of his...
It was only natural that Bucks would underestimate him a bit.
...
After dinner, Sherwin and Bucks, accompanied by a crowd of sailors, arrived at a clearing just outside town.
"Go Sherwin-nii! Meow!" Klee Meow waved her little paws, acting as a cheerleader for Sherwin from the sidelines.
"Boss, Sherwin still a kid—go easy on him!"
"Sherwin, kid! I'm rooting for you, give Old Man Bucks a good beating!"
The other sailors were all hooting and laughing, making a ruckus. Some even took the opportunity to start a betting pool, but those who said they supported Sherwin didn't actually place any bets on him winning.
Just as the betting was about to fall apart, a furry little paw reached out in front of the sailors.
"I'm putting one hundred Berries on Sherwin to win. Meow." Sanji Meow pulled out all the pocket money Sherwin had given him.
"Here a thousand Berries! Klee betting on Sherwin-nii to win too, meow!"
Hmm… girls should be raised rich—this was wisdom passed down from the ancestors, not Sherwin playing favorites.
The noise of the onlookers didn't distract the two about to face off. Bucks didn't even bother drawing the western sword at his waist.
He just hooked a finger toward Sherwin with one hand: "Dual swords, huh? More weapons doesn't mean stronger, kid."
That was… more than a little underestimating.
Sherwin, who originally wanted to spar properly with the opponent, fell silent for a moment. Then he drew the two pirate cutlasses he'd picked up just today and raised them high in a crossed stance.
Demon mode, activate!
(It a fanfic after all… so of course some settings had to be added.
Also, the crude version of the map wasn't something I made up—many maps in ancient times were like that, lacking precise scales and only showing rough directions.
Given the severely unbalanced level of technology in the pirate world, I believe it entirely possible for ordinary civilians to be using maps like that.)