Chapter 7

The next morning.

Maud opened his eyes, his face full of weariness.

Last night, while organizing information, he inadvertently stayed up until the early hours of the morning.

He fell asleep exhausted, only to wake up less than two hours later.

Fortunately, he had completed a hunt yesterday, or his body wouldn't have been able to handle the strain.

Once awake, Maud couldn't fall back asleep.

He lifted the thin blanket, got out of bed, and stood up.

He had no idea what work Sol would assign him.

Anyway, to settle down as quickly as possible, he had already taken on the role of a laborer.

Rubbing his cheeks, Maud opened the door and walked out.

The corridor was so quiet that the slight creaking of the wooden floor was abnormally audible.

At the end of the corridor, in a blind spot, there was a window nailed shut with wooden boards. The morning sunlight filtered through the gaps, forming specks of light that fell to the ground.

Maud glanced at the other tightly closed doors, didn't linger for long, and walked towards the stairs.

He followed the stairs to the first floor.

The corridor to the right led directly to the shop, while the one to the left led to the living room and kitchen.

Perhaps it was still early, as the shop door was not yet open.

However, Sonny was already awake, sitting at the dining table eating breakfast.

Maud went to wash up briefly, then came to the dining room connected to the kitchen.

He was starving.

Yesterday, he could still endure it, but today he couldn't. He wondered if it was because his body was recovering well.

Sonny looked up at the famished Maud, pushed a glass of milk to his seat, and gestured for him to sit down and eat.

Maud didn't hesitate, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

He noticed a set of plates with some residue on another empty seat, presumably left by Sol.

Maud raised the wooden cup and took a sip of milk, his brows furrowing as he tasted the unique pungent flavor of raw milk.

He forced himself to drink the raw milk despite the discomfort, then picked up a piece of steak. After a few bites, he felt a sense of coming back to life.

It had to be said that the food here, though the place looked shabby, was actually quite good.

But what made Maud most comfortable was the casualness displayed by Sol and Sonny, which was quite different from the pirates he had expected.

Moreover, in a certain sense, Sol was his savior.

After swallowing a few more pieces of steak, Maud slowed down.

He glanced at Sonny, who was almost finished eating, and thought about the note from yesterday that said he couldn't go out during the day or night. His mind began to work.

"Sonny, what kind of place is Mad Hat Town?"

"Why don't you go out and see for yourself?"

"???"

Maud was puzzled.

The content of the note from yesterday was still fresh in his mind.

Seeing Sonny's expressionless face, Maud thought she might be retaliating for his casual response to her yesterday.

Swish—

Just as he was thinking, he heard the sound of Sonny pushing back her chair.

"Clean up after you finish eating, then clean the shop. You have half an hour."

With that, Sonny went upstairs without looking back.

Maud shook his head, finished the remaining breakfast, and started cleaning up.

If his job as a laborer was just to clean, it was too easy.

After tidying up the dining table, Maud took the cleaning tools to the shop.

While cleaning the shelves, Maud was particularly careful.

After all, one of the instructions Sonny gave was not to touch the weapons for sale.

He couldn't touch them, but he could look.

There were three shelves in the shop. The first shelf displayed various types of knives and swords, the second shelf displayed flintlock guns of different lengths, and the third shelf had a mix of knives, swords, and guns.

If he remembered correctly, the blood-stained long sword that Vater brought yesterday was cleaned by Sol and placed on the third shelf.

Looking at the third shelf, which clearly had the most items, Maud recalled Sol's熟练动作，不禁陷入沉思：“……”

专门放二手货的货架？

而货源自然不必多说。

不过，严格来说，像刀剑这种冷兵器，只要没有实质性损坏，是不是二手都无所谓。

目光从第三货架移开，转向摆放着十几把枪的货架。

数量不多，反倒显得货架空荡荡的。

Maud看着那些枪。

无论是地球还是猎人世界，枪的存在感一直都比冷兵器强。

相比刀剑等冷兵器，Maud更了解枪。

他在猎人世界的时候，尽管修为已经达到不需要再依赖枪的程度，但还是会随身佩戴一把手枪。

在枪术方面，不敢说玩得很溜，但能保证基本的射击精准度。

只不过，他也清楚在海贼王世界里，刀剑等冷兵器的存在感比枪械强得多。

在那些修炼到一定程度的狠人中，多数也都是使用冷兵器，而非枪械。

但也并不是说枪械的上限不够，只是能将枪械的【射程优势】发挥到极致的人，在原著里露过脸的可谓屈指可数。

“基努的配枪也在里面吗？”

Maud突然想到昨天来到店里的基德。

那个所谓的基努配枪能让基德如此执着，想来品质方面肯定不低。

仔细端详着货架上屈指可数的枪，只熟悉现代枪械的Maud实在看不出个所以然来。

以他对燧发枪的现有认知，根本分辨不出这十几把燧发枪的好坏，更别说是找出基努的配枪了。

“得尽快搞一把来用。”

虽然燧发枪的威力不及现代枪械，但并不影响Maud看重它们。

眼馋地扫视着货架里的燧发枪，Maud心绪浮动。

初期的狩猎，最缺的就是像枪械这种简单粗暴的杀伤性工具。

忍住从第三货架里顺走一把二手燧发枪的冲动，Maud麻利地擦好货架。

打扫结束后，他将清洁工具丢回储物间，时间正好过去半小时。

然后，Sonny准时下楼，来到店里。

Maud敏锐地察觉到Sonny的心情似乎不错。

他哪知道，Sonny之所以心情好，是因为她想到今后一段时间内不用再做那些粗脏累活。

如果Maud不会早夭，那这个时间将会无限延长。

在Maud的注视下，Sonny从柜台里抽出一把细尺，然后走到货架前，对着上面的商品细细比量起来。

那举动看得Maud头皮发麻。

靠，玩这么大？

他以为Sonny拿细尺去比量货架商品，是为了检查他有没有随意触碰商品。

但慢慢看下来后，他发现并不是这样。

默默看着Sonny在比量之后将一件件商品微调摆正，Maud只觉得头皮更麻了。

不敢去打扰Sonny，Maud在一旁耐心等待。

一个小时后，Sonny终于完事，这才开始新一天的营业。

“索尔呢？”

见索尔迟迟没下来，Maud有些奇怪。

坐在柜台里的Sonny看了他一眼，面无表情道：“索尔去花街晨练了，一般会在午饭前回来。”

“哦，去晨练了啊。”

Maud恍然，难怪索尔年纪那么大了还能保持不弱的实力。

嗯？

等等。

好像哪里不对？