"Let me introduce you to Mr. Grolan, you two.", Lord Trafalgar walked into the dining hall with a tall man beside him. This Mr. Grolan had short brown hair and a robust figure, hidden under a military uniform. He smiled friendly. "Nice to meet you. My name is Paul Grolan, Lieutenant General of the British Army under Her Majesty the Queen's command.", he introduced himself to the both of us. Law and I sat at the table, waiting to start with breakfast. "This is my son, Law Trafalgar and his friend Catherine Young. They came back through Uriel, as I have already told you.", the lord introduced us and we nodded respectively. "What is a military officer doing here?", I thought first, but then I remembered that Lord Trafalgar researched the portal under the queen's command and reported to her regularly. I wished he wouldn't have reported us, but there was no way he wouldn't.200Please respect copyright.PENANASjUJgvwNJs
Though seeing that Mr. Grolan only arrived yesterday at night, the lord probably reported a bit late to the queen. I could have escaped this if I could have stayed at home. My opinion was probably biased, but the military could not be trusted in general, I thought. A glance over to Law told me, he was suspicious of this man as well. He sat in the chair quite comfortably before the lord came in with the Lieutenant General. Now he had repositioned himself on the chair and eyed the man carefully. His relaxed expression was also switched with a pokerface.
"Mr. Grolan regularly visits us to receive my reports to the queen, but this time he also came to talk to the two of you about your experiences.", Lord Trafalgar said while he walked over to his chair. "It's only a formality and I won't take much of your time.", the military officer added. "But first, let's have breakfast. One shouldn't work on an empty stomach.", the lord said and sat down. Mr. Grolan sat down next to the lord.
The atmosphere at the table was clearly a bit tense. The otherwise so talkative master of the house hardly said anything. The military officer did try to loosen up the mood once or twice, but gave up when he noticed the lord didn't help him. Mr. Sheffield was not present. I guesed he would also have tried to loosen up the mood.
Once Law finished eating and was about to stand up, Mr. Grolan was about to say something, but Lord Trafalgar spoke up before him: "Mr. Grolan and I still have some unfinished business to attend to, but after that, he would like to talk to you. So please stay available in about an hour." Law nodded and walked away after a glance at the clock on the wall. I restraint a grin upon the lord effectively cutting off the officer. I couldn't know his true intentions, but I liked the idea of the lord showing the military guy whose word ruled in this house. As soon as I also finished eating, I stood up and went to my room.
I knocked at Laws door and entered, after he answered. "Catherine-ya, good timing. I wanted to ask you about that british army guy.", Law said once he saw it was me. I nodded, that was also what I wanted to talk about with him.
"What do you wanna know? I've never heard of him personally.", I started.
"So it's not like the marines with their prominent big shots. Then how does the military organization work in this world? What do I need to expect of this talk he wants?", he asked right away. "The military here is far from the marine in your world. First of all, one military organization for the whole world does not exist here. Every country has their own army. Unfortunately, I'm not very familiar with their structures, since I was never interested in it. But as far as I know, General is one of the highest ranks, so Lieutenant General should be pretty high as well. That means Mr. Grolan might have quite some authority, though that doesn't really matter to us.", I concluded. Law interrupted with a short question, why that was the case. "We're civilians. We're not part of the british army, so he cannot order us around.", I explained.
"What about taking us into custody or something alike?", he pressed. I understood his concerns, as he was used to the marines being that one organization to uphold order in his world. It was military and police at the same time. "I'm not sure, but I don't think he would be allowed to do that. Even if we did do anything against military laws, that doesn't concern us, since military law cannot be applied to us. We're civilians after all. The civil law applies to us. Another thing I guess I should mention, is that the military is not responsible for upholding order between the civilians. We have a different organization in this world called 'police'. If anything, they would take us into custody, but then as well, only if we did anything against the law. Which I'm quite sure we didn't."
"Alright. Then what do I need to expect when he says he wants to talk?", he asked once more. I couldn't give him a good answer to that, as I simply didn't know. One might assume, that the military officer meant an interrogation and simply said it in a nice way, but I didn't think that was likely. For interrogations they would take people into custody. To do that, he would have arrived with more backup. He definitely wanted to talk about the portal. Maybe he just wanted to ask for our experience, maybe how the portal worked. One thing I could tell Law, was that I was sure he didn't simply wanted to have a nice chat with us. The military definitely had some ulterior motive, if it was just to gain information.
"Oh and he definitely was taught how to... I'll just call it sweettalk. It's not really the fitting term, but I can't think of a better way to call it now. What I mean is that he'll know his way with words. He might ask questions that seem irrelevant, but will get him the answer he wants. Maybe in a roundabout way. Something like that.", I said. A smirk appeared on Law's face. He mumbled something about this being interesting, if I heard correctly. I knew that Law was eloquent himself, so I didn't worry about him that much. I would fall victim to such sweettalk a lot easier myself.
"That reminds me, where is your sword?", I suddenly asked while I looked around the room. Law had his nodachi leaned against the wall in a corner of the room before, but I couldn't see it anywhere. "I don't have it yet. When James-ya and I were on our way to get it, Carmilla-ya told him about the arrival of that military guy. James-ya said it would be better to keep it stored away until his departure.", he explained. I agreed with Mr. Sheffield's words. I would have advised Law to hide it when Mr. Grolan came to talk to him too. One never knew how he would react to an actual sword.
Law looked at his wristwatch before asking me what the lord wanted to talk about with me after he had left. I told him that Lord Trafalgar had offered me to stay at the estate if I wanted to, since I couldn't go back home. As I had promised the lord, I didn't talk about the possibility of returning through the portal. "So? Are you going to take him up on the offer?", he asked with a hint of curiosity in his voice. "I don't know yet. I guess it would be interesting to help them with their research on the portal, but it would be hard to distract myself from the thoughts of my family. Since they would always be in reach.", I answered. Both options I had, had up- and downsides, so it wasn't that easy to decide. This decision I had to make might be life-changing.
"It will be hard at first, but time helps. Sort of.", he said. I snorted slightly, before responding: "Time will heal, huh?", disbelief painted my voice. But Law shook his head. "No. Time doesn't heal. You just learn to live with it.", he said remorsefully. A moment of silence filled the room.
*knock* *knock* *knock*
"Come in.", Law answered the door. "Was it already time?", I asked myself, expecting the Lt. General to come talk with us now. My expectations were met. The military officer entered the room. His surprised look probably originated from seeing me here as well, but it quickly faded into the second pokerface in the room. "Ms. Young, I didn't expect you here. But that is alright, I can talk to both of you at once, if that is alright with you.", he said in a friendly tone. I couldn't tell if it was forced or sincere. No one had a problem with me staying here, so I did. The officer sat down with us at the table. I noticed a trail of smoke following the man. So he smoked.
"Let me introduce myself again. I'm Lt. General Paul Grolan from the British Army. I'm here to ask you some questions about your travel through Uriel. That's the code name we use for the portal connecting our world and the world you two came from.", he explained in a monotone way. "If you agree, I will record our conversation with this recorder.", he said and pulled out a little device from the inner pocket of his uniform. It was a recorder you'd see in movies, when journalists interviewed someone and recorded it. Both Law and I nodded. "Then, from now on, I would like to ask you to only refer to the portal as 'Uriel'.", he explained further, pressed the red 'RECORD'-button and placed the device at the center of the table.
"First, I would like to confirm. You were both born on this planet. Is that correct?", he asked the two of us. We confirmed.
"Alright. Then, Mr. Trafalgar, you went through Uriel on the 2nd of August. Is that correct?", Law confirmed. "Then, could you describe me how you opened the portal at the age of 4?"
"I don't remember how I did it.", he responded.
"Then what do you remember?", the officer pressed.
Law shook his head while answering: "I only remember it being pitch black and then very bright. Nothing else."
"That's alright. No problem. What happened after you went through Uriel?"
"A couple took me in and raised me.", Law's answer was short and crisp. Since he wasn't this reticent before with Lord Trafalgar and Mr. Sheffield, I assumed he wanted Mr. Grolan to know as little as possible.
"What is the world on the other side of Uriel like?"
"Could you be more specific?", Law asked back, after a short moment of silence. That was reasonable, I thought. I wouldn't know where to start either, if I was asked to describe a whole world.
"What is the daily life like?", Mr. Grolan now asked.
"That's hard to answer. Could you describe daily life in your world?", the pirate asked back again. He still held an earnest expression, but I started to think Law was playing with the Lieutenant General.
"You don't need to be very specific. It would be enough to say whether it's peaceful or if the people need to constantly fear for their life or belongings. Something like that.", Mr. Grolan explained.
"Oh so you actually meant to ask whether there are any constant dangers. Why didn't you say so from the beginning?", Mr. Grolan explained that he wanted to hear Law's thoughts on the matter without indicating him into any direction.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know that. Well now that you explained, I guess that isn't possible anymore. Anything else you want to know?", Law responded innocently. He had now succesfully avoided answering the question altogether. Mr. Grolan hesitated for a moment. He had definitely realized what just happend.
Nevertheless, the next question was asked: "Yes. How far advanced is your world concerning technology?". Another moment of silence by Law followed.
"How do you define technology?", was, what he had come up with as another counter.
The interviewing military officer didn't need to think about this. "Technology is the scientific knowledge used in practical ways in industry, for example in designing new machines. The term also applies to machinery or equipment designed using technology in the first sense.", the explanation sounded a lot like it came right out of a book.
"Hm, that's interesting.", Law purred. "So something as simple as a screwdriver is technology, as well as complex machinery like planes. That's quite a broad term you have there. Which reminds me, there's a legend about a floating island way up in the sky in our world. Though I've never been there in an attempt to confirm it. Do you have floating islands?"
"No. We don't.", Mr. Grolan said. Floating islands were a thing of dreams and fantasy on this planet. "That's unfortunate.", Law commented.
"Mr. Trafalgar, I had hoped for a little bit of cooperation on your behalf.", I was a bit amazed Mr. Grolan still kept his monotone voice. I would have been running low on patience by now.
"I'm sorry. I'm just trying to answer your questions to the best of my knowledge, so I just wanted to ask what exactly you understand under the term of technology.", the pirate claimed. Listening to the back and forth of the two was quite entertaining. "So now that you know how broad the term 'technology' is, surely you can elaborate on the technology you know from the other world.", the military officer didn't seem to want to back down this time.
"Sure I can. But wouldn't it be much more helpful, if I told you about the differences in our technology compared to this world?", Law had repositioned himself in a more comfortable postion on the chair. He leaned back and his left ankle was resting on top of his right leg.
"That might be, but that was not my question.", the man interviewing Law pressed. "I don't understand. If there is information more valuable to you, why are you still asking for the less valuable one?", Law argued. "I'm simply curious.", he said. Well, there wasn't much you could say against that, I thought.
"But wouldn't it benefit you to come back with more valuable information, rather than to satisfy your own curiosity?", Law's voice held concern. It was as though he wanted to say that he simply wanted the best for the man sitting in front of him. No doubt was it played.
"I appreciate your concern, but it is not necessary. But if you insist on sharing your thoughts about the differences in technology between the two worlds, go ahead.", Mr. Grolan smiled friendly again.
"Well, it doesn't seem like you're interested. I wouldn't want to bore you." There. One eyebrow of the Lt. General twitched. Law had managed to crack his pokerface.
Lieutenant General Grolan stubbornly continued asking questions about the world Law came from, while the pirate captain continued to avoid them in a clever way. Mr. Grolan asked for example about the military forces or the governmental structures, but Law obviously wasn't willing to share any crucial information. He would sometimes give tiny pieces of - rather irrelevant - information, but they also only seemed to work as little baits of hope for the interviewer to still get something out of him. I was still amazed by the stubbornness with which the military officer continued his work. Without loosing his composure.
"Have you ever traveled to any other worlds?", this question, Law simply denied. Mr. Grolan continued asking whether there was any other traffic between the One Piece world and other worlds, to which Law again replied in a way without really confirming nor denying it: "Not that I know of. But I imagine the government to be quite secretive about things like that, so who knows?"
The patient man in front of us finally went on to the next topic: "Alright, then to the last topic. Do you intend to activate Uriel again and go back to the world you came from or do you intend to stay here at your birthplace?"
"I intend to go back.", Law finally said.
"How are you going to activate Uriel?", Mr. Grolan asked right away. I assumed he was eager to know, but he showed no hint of it.
"As far as I know, Wilfred-ya has the instructions on how to activate it.", Law replied.
"Lord Trafalgar still hasn't achieved the activation of Uriel despite those instructions. How are you going to activate Uriel?", the military officer kept his monotone voice.
"How about trial and error?", Law countered again with a question of his own, as a smirk found it's way on his face. Mr. Grolan seemed to finally grow tired of the game they played. He formally thanked Law for his time and adressed me. He thanked me for not interrupting the interview and asked Law to do the same. It would be my turn now. I quite enjoyed how Law managed to play with the Lt. General. Unfortunately, I didn't have that skill myself.
"Ms. Young, as far as I know, you ended up in the other world by accident. Is that correct?", Mr. Grolan asked. I confirmed.
"Do you remember how exactly you traveled to the other world?", the pattern seemed to be the same as when he asked Law.
"No I don't.", I replied. I anticipated the next question, but waited for it nevertheless.
"That's no problem. What do you remember?", he asked the expected question.
"I remember walking home, while I listened to some music over my headphones. But after that, I don't know. The next thing I remember was when Law found me in the other world.", I said.
"Where did you return from? And when did that happen? As exactly as possible, please.", the military officer now asked.
"I had just bought a music box and a powerbank and was walking from the bus stop on my way back home. I don't remember the exact date. It was in early August. As for the time... it must have been around 4 p.m. when the blackout begins.", I guessed the time based on when I went out. "If you find out anything, please tell me.", I added.
"It might be diffcult to get any information on that matter, since we don't have the exact date it happened. What happened when you found yourself in the other world?", Mr. Grolan continued asking.
"As I said, Law found me right after I woke up. Then he helped me get back home.", I was hesitant to talk about Law's submarine and his crew, as well as him being a pirate, since he himself didn't talk about it. I also didn't know what the lord or Mr. Sheffield had shared of what Law had told them. So I didn't even know if the story of Law being the mobile hospital would be new to the military.
"Right. What would you say if you were asked about the technological advance on the other side of Uriel?", as I had expected, the man now tried to get the information out of me, he didn't get from Law. But I had already thought of a convenient answer: "There was nothing surprising.", I said truthfully. I guessed the telephone snails to be the most unusual thing if one'd got thrown into this world without any prior knowledge. But since I already had said prior knowledge, they were no surprise. Mr. Grolan glanced over to Law for a moment to see his reaction to my statement. I could only see that Law didn't have any obvious reaction out of the corner of my eye, but I wouldn't have seen any subtleties.
"What about the military forces or any governmental structures?"
"I only spent a few months there and always traveled with Law, so I didn't really get much of both. Besides, I'm not interested in politics or the military, so I didn't pay any attention to it.", I explained.
"What exactly is his occupation? Did you just travel around the world? How did you earn money?", I was surprised to be asked about Law. Especially since he was sitting right next to me. Wasn't that rude? My eyes turned to Law for a moment out of reflex, but he just stared silently at the Lt. General with no expression. I resorted to the story Law had told Lord Trafalgar. "Did the lord not tell you about that?", I asked the military officer.
"I'm afraid not.", he replied shortly. "You see, Law is a traveling doctor, so I was really lucky to have been found by him.", I said. I didn't need to force a smile. The memory of the lord imagining his son as the traveling hero already made me smile. "That is also how he earned the money necessary to live?", I was asked. Now this was another easy question. "I guess. His finances were none of my business.", I simply said. That was no lie either, at least not completely. I never had to pay any attention to the finances of the Heart Pirates. They were none of my business.
"Alright. Let's move on to a more important topic. You came back to this world through Uriel, right?", he asked. I confirmed again.
"How did you activate it?", I already wondered when he would ask. He didn't ask Law, probably since he had always avoided answering the questions.
"We followed the instructions we had.", I said. We didn't really do anything different than they already did here. The only difference was, that it had rained onto the portal site and we had the correct materials.
"What were those instructions?", was the next, obvious question.
"We found instructions on what crystal we needed to grow and a drawing of the ritual circle. Those were actually just the instructions to create the portal site you already have ready here.", I explained. But Mr. Grolan wasn't satisfied with that, so I further explained how we had prepared the portal site: "At the end, the crystal was place at the center of the circle. That was all we had to do.".
"Uriel activated itself after that?", the military officer asked again. I gave him an affirmative nod to emphasize my verbal confirmation.
"Alright. Thank you for your time. That would be all.", Lt. General Grolan said after a moment of silence and stopped the recording. He stored the device back into the inner pocket of his uniform. He spoke again as he stood up: "If I may ask, Ms. Young, have you decided where to go? The lord told me something unexpected happened, so that you couldn't go home for now. Although he didn't go into detail."
"No I haven't decided yet. The lord offered to take me in, but I'm still thinking about it.", since he had asked after turning off the recording, I assumed it was his personal interest, so I didn't hesitate to ansewr his question honestly. Although he was a high ranking officer in the british army and definitely fulfilled his duties first, he seemed to be a nice person. "It would be helpful if you decided to stay here.", he commented. "I suppose so.", I replied neutrally, before the man exited the room.
"Well, that was interesting, to say the least.", Law smirked. "You gave him quite the hard time.", I said. I couldn't help but find it amusing. Law's smirk grew at my remark. He asked me why I didn't mention the rain, that actually caused the portal to activate. The first thing that came to mind was, that I didn't need to mention it to answer the questions truthfully. "And... I guess I don't want them to gain access to your world.", I also said. The people on this planet always found a thing to fight about and the military especially found reasons to wage war. I didn't want them to infiltrate the One Piece world, I explained to Law.
# FYI - I took the definition for technology from the Oxford Dictionary and just built the sentences around it. I first looked at the definition on Wikipedia, but that was too complicated for my tired brain (my sleeping rhythm is totally in chaos right now). So if you were looking for a simple to understand definition or not, there you have it.200Please respect copyright.PENANAQBeqOf2i2b