Chapter Seventy-One: The Letter of Appointment

As he was about to enter Marine Headquarters, Roland felt it was time to fully display his strength. A suddenly appointed colonel was something most marines would find utterly unacceptable. But if his power was sufficient, then there would be no idle gossip. Wasn’t Fujitora, in the story, appointed as an admiral through the World Military Draft?

“Dual sword style, is it?”

Smoker returned to his spot, his gaze growing more serious. He hadn’t expected that a simple sparring match would bring him so many surprises. First, there was Armament Haki, and now dual swordsmanship—just how many trump cards was this man hiding?

“Are you ready? I’m coming at you now.”

Roland smiled slightly, raising both blades as he charged toward Smoker. His footwork was nimble and swift; in the blink of an eye, he was upon Smoker.

“A Marine colonel isn’t as simple as you think, you bastard!”

Seeing Roland’s attack, which seemed to carry no real threat, Smoker couldn’t help but growl in irritation. Gripping his jitte, he met Roland’s assault head-on.

Roland was not surprised when his attack was blocked. He retreated with casual grace, then called out softly, “Single Blade Style—Air Splitter!”

With that, his left hand thrust Nara forward like a streak of white light, its speed astonishing; as it pierced toward Smoker, the air itself seemed to crack with a faint explosive sound.

But this was not the extent of Roland’s assault. As his left hand unleashed “Air Splitter,” his right hand wielded the short shark blade in a similarly fierce offensive. His dual sword style differed from others’. With memories from his past life, Roland had deliberately trained in ambidextrous combat while learning dual swordsmanship, allowing him to use two distinct single-blade techniques at once.

By now, Roland had achieved some mastery over his dual-wielding technique. Against truly formidable foes, it might still be rough around the edges. But against Smoker, he was confident there’d be no flaw to exploit.

Perhaps Smoker had anticipated this. As Roland’s short shark blade and Nara launched their combination assault, Smoker turned his body into smoke well in advance, making Roland’s attacks miss entirely.

Armament Haki did counter Logia types, but not absolutely. If a Logia user had already transformed into their elemental state, Armament Haki could not touch their corporeal form. Only if caught unaware, while still in solid shape, could they be struck.

“So you were prepared?”

Roland smiled quietly, not at all surprised by this outcome.

“Single Blade Style—Wind Cutter!”

He called out again, and his right hand’s short shark blade slashed through the air in rapid succession, more than a dozen times in a second. Suddenly, a violent gale arose, surging toward Smoker in tandem with the blade’s movement.

Under Smoker’s development, the Smoke-Smoke Fruit allowed for little beyond turning into smoke. If it were another Logia fruit, Roland’s move would not have been so effective. But against Smoker, the outcome was different.

Confronted by the oncoming gale, Smoker furrowed his brow and quickly canceled his smoke form, returning to his solid body. In that instant, Roland attacked again with the same “Air Splitter” move. This time, true to its name, the piercing force cleaved straight through the wind, scattering it.

“Sorry, but I win.”

Nara’s tip hovered steadily before Smoker’s nose, while the short shark blade pinned down the jitte. Roland looked at Smoker’s grim face and laughed cheerfully.

“You’re worthy of being a colonel.”

Smoker withdrew his jitte, staring at Roland for a long moment before finally speaking.

The entire exchange had lasted only a few minutes, but the onlooking marines were stunned. What had they just witnessed? A seasoned, veteran marine colonel had been thoroughly dominated by this newly appointed headquarters colonel.

Haki, Devil Fruit powers, swordsmanship—Roland’s techniques were endless, shattering their previous impressions of him.

“These are your and your friends’ appointment letters, uniforms, and your personal warship. It should arrive in Loguetown after crossing the Calm Belt in about half a month,” Smoker explained, handing Roland the documents Dasqi had been holding.

“So there are some in the higher ranks of the navy who aren’t just a bunch of decrepit old fools, as you said,” Roland joked, taking the appointment letter.

Smoker didn’t reply. He simply snorted and, gathering Dasqi and the other marines who had been watching, left the scene.

Roland didn’t care about Smoker’s reaction; it was only the normal envy and jealousy of a colonel who’d served for over a decade. There was no need to dwell on it. Adjusting his mindset, Roland finally examined the documents.

Skipping the opening formalities, he went straight to the main content:

“By this order, Roland Roman of the East Blue Navy is appointed Marine Colonel; Roronoa Zoro, Pirate Hunter, is appointed Marine Ensign; Nami, civilian, is appointed Private First Class, Koby is appointed Private First Class…”

The rest was more filler.

An ensign along with a colonel, was it? Roland’s lips curled in a smile; the navy was being generous. His own rank was something he’d demanded, so there was nothing to say about that. But Zoro’s ensign rank was a surprise. Dasqi had followed Smoker for so long and was only a sergeant. Zoro, meanwhile, had only joined with Roland and was immediately made an ensign, a rank above Dasqi.

As for Nami and Koby, both being made first-class privates was unexpected; given their lack of reputation, it would have been normal for the navy to make them third-class.

“Zoro, you’re now officially a Marine Ensign,” Roland said, handing the appointment letter to Zoro with a laugh.

“An ensign, huh?” Zoro didn’t seem particularly interested; he glanced at the document, then handed it back.

The recent duel between Roland and Smoker had given him much inspiration, especially Roland’s ability to wield different sword techniques with each hand. Suddenly, he felt he understood more about his own Three-Sword Style. If only he could grasp how Roland did it, his strength would surely soar.

“More than that, Roland, that thing you did with your hands just now—um, how should I put it…” Zoro scratched his head, struggling to find the words.

“I call it ambidextrous combat,” Roland explained.

“Right, ambidextrous combat. Can you teach me?” Zoro asked, a little embarrassed.

He had learned a lot following Roland recently. Especially today, when Roland had even helped him buy two fine blades, leaving him in debt again. As for Zoro’s help to Roland? There was hardly any. The only time he’d stepped in was against the octopus swordsman Hatchan, who was an opponent Zoro had wanted to fight himself. But Zoro knew that even if he hadn’t acted, Roland could have dealt with the enemy effortlessly.

And now he wanted Roland to teach him again. He felt awkward—he hadn’t contributed much, yet he owed Roland so many favors.

“Of course.” Roland smiled easily. “But before you learn this, there’s one thing you need to accomplish first, or you simply won’t be able to learn it.”

“What is it?” At the mention of improving his strength, Zoro’s interest was instantly piqued, his embarrassment forgotten.

“Draw a circle with your left hand and a square with your right,” Roland said, sketching a circle and a square on the ground with his short shark blade. “If you can quickly and accurately draw both shapes, it means you have a talent for it.”

“That doesn’t sound hard,” Zoro said, waving a hand dismissively before crouching down to try with two sticks.

But as soon as he started, he realized it was far less simple than it sounded. Drawing a circle with the left and a square with the right—eight words, but not an easy task. Zoro found that it was nearly impossible to do both perfectly at once.

He recalled how, when he was a child learning swordsmanship from Master Koshiro, the instructor would often say they were too distracted and not focused enough in their practice. Now, Zoro thought, if only he could truly focus on two things at once.

Watching Zoro become absorbed in the exercise, Roland smiled and walked away. He’d taught what needed teaching; the rest was up to Zoro’s own talent. If he could learn it, Roland would teach him everything without holding back. If not, then it was simply a matter of lacking the gift.