One Piece: Start by Rebuilding Kuri

Yukiko led them along the winding corridors of the garden. The serpentine, zigzagging walkways and the clear, flowing pond water gave the entire garden an almost spiritual aura.

However, while the scenery was beautiful, it was clearly unbearable for the likes of Oden and Kin'emon, who were more straightforward and rough around the edges.

Kin'emon grimaced and whispered to Denjiro, "Wouldn't it be faster to go straight? Why all this twisting and turning?"

It was clear that Oden shared the same sentiment. At first glance, the garden was indeed picturesque, but the meandering corridors made the otherwise short distance feel unnecessarily long. Although the greenery and water features along the way were lovely, and the rockeries and carved railings were exquisitely crafted, they still felt somewhat uncomfortable.

These long corridors intertwined like intestines (a labyrinth of twists and turns), and though one could easily leap across the gaps (which were only a few meters wide), they were forced to follow the prescribed path step by step. This made Oden feel extremely uneasy.

Or rather, constrained.

At this moment, he felt particularly stifled, as if both Kuri and the Flower Capital were equally oppressive. It wasn't just the path they were on, but also the rigid rules of Kuri that made him want to break free.

However, he failed to realize that acting on impulse couldn't truly be called "freedom."

Some of the rules that made him feel constrained were necessary for order.

Of course, he hadn't realized this yet, and in the future, he would be even less able to understand it.

For now, all he wanted was to break out of this framework as quickly as possible, to shake off the shackles that bound him.

"Hey, woman! Tell me which room the daimyo of Kuri is in. I'll go find him myself!" he shouted at Yukiko.

Hearing this, Yukiko, who was walking ahead, slowly stopped and turned to face him.

"Find him yourself? What do you mean? Do you think I would let a bunch of rude people like you roam freely here?" Yukiko said coldly, her tone sharp. She didn't like Kozuki Oden, and while Dan-sama had ordered her to receive him, he hadn't specified that she should be courteous.

Moreover, the daimyo's residence was home to many maids, whom she had gone through great pains to gather—they were part of the harem she had built for Dan. The inner quarters were off-limits even to those marked by the Serpent Mark. Who knew what these men might do if they saw those beautiful maids?

"Rude people, you say…" Kin'emon gritted his teeth, clenching his fists, clearly furious. "Woman, don't you dare mistake who you're talking to! The man standing before you is—"

"Wait, Kin'emon. I'm no longer the shogun's son," Oden interrupted, leaving Kin'emon speechless.

"But, but…" Kin'emon and the others couldn't understand why their Lord Oden was still maintaining his composure.

They didn't understand, but Dan, who was watching all of this from the high tower. It was because Oden, with the blood of the Kozuki clan, was exceptionally good at enduring.

Seeing this, Dan casually reached out and summoned a maid.

Keiko, who was on duty to serve Dan today, hurried over with small steps. Looking at the back of her lord, she bowed respectfully and said, "Dan-sama, do you have any orders?"

Like Yukiko, Keiko was not marked by the Serpent Mark. In fact, most of the maids were not marked. Although they had all been gathered by Yukiko, there had been no coercion in the process.

If anything, it had saved them from their suffering.

Keiko had originally been a resident of another village. Because of her beauty and humble background, she had caught the eye of a local wealthy man. When the man's marriage proposal was rejected, he flew into a rage and orchestrated the collapse of her family, leaving them with insurmountable debt. She had been on the verge of being sold into the pleasure quarters to repay the debt.

After hearing about Kuri, Keiko thought that since she was going to be sold anyway, she might as well go to Kuri, where the pleasure quarters were said to offer better conditions and a lower risk of disease.

Keiko had seen some of the women who had fallen ill, and their miserable state terrified her.

After much hardship, she arrived in Kuri. During registration, Yukiko took a liking to her, paid off her debts, and brought her to the daimyo's residence.

Having escaped the tragic fate of being exploited by countless men, Keiko, who now had no one else to rely on, had come to see the daimyo's residence as her home. Moreover, the daimyo was exceptionally handsome, making her feel as if her life had taken a turn for the better.

"Keiko, send someone to tell Yukiko to bring those people to the first floor. No conflicts," Dan said.

"Bring them into the tower?" Keiko gasped, covering her mouth in surprise.

"Yes, go."

"Understood."

The tower, or high-rise building, was the most expansive building in the daimyo's residence, resembling a giant pagoda with nine floors.

The bottom two floors were where Dan handled official business. The third floor served as a dining hall, typically used for banquets. Each floor above had a different purpose, but all were off-limits to anyone except the maids.

Usually, outsiders were received in the outer hall's meeting room.

Apart from this towering structure, there were other buildings, such as quarters for servants, kitchens, training dojos, and private academies.

In the garden, Yukiko was glaring at Oden, clearly displeased. Oden didn't mind being called rude to his face. In fact, he took pride in it.

Sometimes, he deliberately broke the rules just to experience the thrill of breaking free from constraints. Dan didn't dislike bold and straightforward people. In fact, his opinion of Kozuki Oden had evolved over time.

Initially, he had no strong feelings about Oden. But later, when Oden shirked his responsibilities as a man and made a series of baffling decisions, coupled with the "everyone must love him" narrative that rivaled even Shanks' charisma, Dan began to feel disdain for him.

However, this disdain paled in comparison to what he felt for Oden's son.

Sometimes, Dan would entertain dark thoughts—whether it would be better to prevent that "must-die" individual from being born or to let him be born and then suffer a torturous death.

"Kozuki Oden, since you've admitted you're no longer the shogun's son, in Kuri, you must abide by Kuri's rules," Yukiko continued, though Oden's face was now twisted into a grotesque expression, as if layers of flesh were piled upon each other.

Yukiko was furious. If it hadn't been for a maid arriving with Dan's message, she might have already drawn her sword and attacked.