Chapter 6: １人目

Luffy and Zoro fight Captain Morgan and the Marines. Coby takes a punch to protect Luffy's secret. Zoro calls Luffy "Captain" for the first time, and the two sail away from Shells Town as a crew of two. The dialogue shifts between combat urgency and the quieter beat of two people deciding to trust each other.

Vocabulary

Grammar

～からには (now that, since)

Introduced in the Chapter 1 companion, this pattern reappears here in combat. It attaches to a completed or decided action and marks the consequence as unavoidable. 海軍と一戦やるからには means the decision to fight is already made, so what follows must be total commitment. Michi Stage 4, Ch04 covers cause and consequence patterns.

～てもらわないと (you'd better)

Literally "if I don't receive the favor of you doing X." The speaker frames someone else's action as something they personally need. なって貰わないとおれが困る means "if you don't become [the greatest], I'll be the one in trouble." The underlying grammar is the receiving verb もらう plus the negative conditional. Michi Stage 2, Ch10 covers conditionals.

～けりゃ (casual ければ, review)

This contraction appeared in Chapter 1 with Roger's line. Here it returns in faster, shorter exchanges during the fight. By this point in the volume, けりゃ should feel familiar. If not, revisit the contraction table on the "Before You Start" page.

Structural Glosses

Zoro, accepting Luffy's command for the first time:

お安い御用だ、船長

お安い-御用-だ、船長[topic]

Easy job, Captain.

お安い御用 is a set phrase meaning "no trouble at all." The お prefix is honorific, 安い means cheap or easy, and 御用 means business or service. Zoro uses it casually, but the real weight is in 船長. This is the first time he calls Luffy "Captain." One word changes the entire relationship.

Luffy, telling Zoro what he expects:

なって貰わないとおれが困る

なって-貰わないと[=もらわないと] おれ-が-困る

You'd better become [the greatest swordsman], or I'll be in trouble.

貰わないと is the negative conditional of もらう: "if I don't receive." Luffy frames Zoro's dream as something Luffy personally needs. 困る (to be troubled) is deliberately understated. He is not commanding. He is saying that Zoro's success is now a requirement for his own plans.

Zoro, committing to the fight:

海軍と一戦やるからには

海軍-と-一戦-やる-からには

Now that we're fighting the Marines...

This is a sentence fragment. The consequence clause follows in the next speech bubble. からには marks the point of no return. 一戦やる (to have a fight) is treated as the completed decision, even though the battle is still happening. The grammar looks forward: everything after からには is obligation.

Reading Notes

Chapter 6 is short and action-heavy. Many panels have no dialogue at all. When text does appear, it tends to be clipped. Particles drop frequently during the combat sequences. Complete sentences return for the emotional beats: Zoro's お安い御用だ、船長 and Luffy's line about 困る.

Watch for the contrast between Coby's polite speech and everyone else. Even under pressure, Coby maintains です and ます. When he finally shouts at the Marines, the shift in his register is the loudest thing on the page.