[Innate ability 'Blessing of Agni God' acquired]

[Blessing of Agni God] (SSS)

Grants the user immunity to any type of fire under Tier 5.

"What?"

He let out a bewildered voice. After confirming the girl still breathing softly while asleep, he heaved a sigh of relief.

'Jen, so that dream wasn't a dream but reality?'

(...Yes, please don't ask me. I'll only be able to tell you everything when you become strong enough.)

'...That guy was horrifyingly powerful, even crushing me in Demon's Wraith Mode. Yeah, I feel I can use the skill now.'

(Don't do it, with your current stats you can't manage it for more than a minute or two. The realm in your dream was a spiritual one rather than material, allowing you to use it without any side effects.)

"Just how many things are you hiding from me?" he mumbled in an irritated voice.

(...I'm sorry, but your life will get really chaotic if I tell you now. So please try to focus on your lovers and increase your strength for now.)

'Fine, I'll face things as they come. Not like I can oppose that guy or anything if he wants to do something. I'll go and prepare breakfast for them.'

He himself wasn't aware of the changes going through his mentality, but Jen who always watched him knew his instincts were far more tamer compared to the day he came to Tortus.

Leo quietly slipped the girls to the side and went out of the room after cleaning his body with water magic.

'I'll check the new upgraded functions later.'

He spotted a couple in the hallways, the black-haired boy had average height with a kind face, while the black-haired girl's face was beautiful enough to rival Shea's beauty.

He waved his hands at them. "Hey, are you Nagumo Hajime by any chance?"

The couple looked startled by his greeting.

"Y-Yes, I'm the only Nagumo Hajime here."

He was scared inside, thinking what he did to get this demon's attention.

Kaori stepped in front of Hajime with a look saying 'I will kill you if you touch him'. 

"I won't let you bully or harm Hajime-kun."

He shook his head. "I just wanted to thank this guy for creating artifacts that bought enough time for me to come."

Seeing them still silent, he tossed a ring at Kaori and walked past the couple.

Hajime looked at Leo's back with a complex expression.

"I see you want to protect her, but can you if the one who wants you dead is the very God of this world? The way you tell others is up to you. Haha, I wonder how you get this inside that thick-skulled Hero. By the way that ring is filled with rare ores I collected in the abyss, now they belong to you. Because one way or another War will come knocking on Heiligh Kingdom's door once again and believe me the ones you need to fight would be the same as my Valkyrie companion."

Hajime's mind went blank at the sudden message inside his mind. He held Kaori's hand and rushed back to his room.

"H-Hajime-kun?!"

***

I said my piece, the rest is his responsibility now...

He spotted a tall woman in the hallway. She was wearing a maid outfit. Her height was quite tall for a woman.

"Hello there, can you please show me the way to Kitchen?"

The silver-haired maid turned around and bowed deeply.

"Please address me as Helina, Leo-sama. Let this servant guide you to the kitchen."

"Thanks, I guess."

She led the way while making small talk. Apparently, she was the personal maid of Princess Liliana. She led him to an extravagant kitchen, even though he himself was rich back on Earth this treatment was too much.

"I can prepare the food if Leo-sama wants."

"Don't worry about it, I believe the girls will be happy if I cook with my own hands."

He said with a gentle smile on his face and pondered over what to cook.

Helina calmly watched the magic tools or artifacts. Her thoughts were quite contrary to the calm look on her face.

Leo rolled up his sleeves and wrote down the ingredients he needed and gave it to Helina. She smiled and ran out to fetch the best quality items from the merchants in the Kingdom.

She returned ten minutes later. Her clothes and hair were a complete mess. He shook his head and took the ingredients, while she adjusted herself back to maid mode.

***

Two girls peeked their heads and observed Leo immersed in cooking while humming cheerfully. A silver-haired maid standing on his side, staring at him with a captivated face. 

"Irene, what are we even doing here? Stalking Leo-san?" whispered Shizuku.

"Shh, let me watch him cook. I want to be the first to taste his cooking," Irene replied in a barely audible voice.

"Then why did you drag me here from my training?"

Irene squinted her eyes at the girl lying with a calm face. The pink aura leaking from Shizuku's body when she looked at Leo was enough proof that she was head over heels for him. But a blue aura of sadness was also present with the pink aura.

"You sure about that? Then, I'll tell Eri to never let him talk to Shizuku onee-sama. Besides, you won't ever be able to see him if he goes back to his journey."

Shizuku waved her hands frantically. "W-Wait, t-that's cheating. You are abusing your power."

"That's why we'll stick together until we have our own place in his heart. Don't you agree?"

Shizuku shook her head with a self-deprecating smile. "No way he'll like someone crude as me when he already has so many beautiful girls with him."

"There you go again with your drama, you think you're crude and unladylike? You're the girliest woman I saw in my life. You told Kouki to deal with his feelings then what about yours? You don't seem very honest about your own feelings."

Shizuku, unable to look into Irene's piercing silver eyes, averted her gaze and let out a sigh.

"...I'll try."

"Just come inside and stop stalking me, will you?"

Both of the girls turned stiff before entering the room in an embarrassed manner.

"H-Hi, Leo. I see you are cooking something. Need some help? I'm pretty decent at cooking," Irene asked with her poker face on.

"Good morning, L-Leo-san."

Leo glanced at the embarrassed Shizuku. He felt bad after hearing their private talk. Although it was nothing more than whispers, he heard everything clearly. 

So I was right, but what am I gonna do about it? It's not like I hate her but I don't have any romantic feelings... Whatever, it's not like she is confessing today. I'll see when the time comes, the same goes for Irene.

Irene noticed his behavior and a wide smile appeared on her face.

He also noticed her feelings, I wonder what he will do about it? Irene thought.

"Good morning, Shizuku. Can you girls taste my cooking and give an honest review about it."

"Of course!"

Irene raised her hands in excitement. He stared at her blankly before serving the piece of pancake covered in honey on a silver plate.

Irene grabbed a fork and knife from the kitchen and cut off a piece. She slowly placed the sweet looking cake in her mouth.

"Hmm… Delicious!"

She exclaimed happily, her silver eyes shining with glee. Being a native of Tortus, she never tasted something like pancakes.

She ate up the rest, her manners were pretty refined considering she ate while standing.

"Amazing, Leo. Who could have thought you were such a good chef? You are perfect husband material~" she teased with a wide smile on her face.

If it was yesterday he could have brushed it off as her teasing him but after hearing her talk with Shizuku. He knew she was damn serious about it.

"Shizuku, you also want some?"

"Yeah, sure. I still need to train."

He served another pancake for her. She put a small piece in her mouth. A sweet taste exploded in her mouth. Her eyes squinted in delight while Leo smiled in satisfaction.

Shizuku tilted her head to the side. "More?"

Cute...

He fought the urge that wanted him to pat her head and served them till they were full. He got back to the kitchen to cook something else.

After a few minutes…

"Time for dessert."

He placed the tub of vanilla ice cream on the table. It was the only recipe he remembered from Earth. Irene grabbed the tub, one bite after another, she ate like she was starving for days.

"Leo, why are you so *Eeiii*?"

Irene's face winced before she stopped eating.

'Did she just experience a brain freeze? Quite ironic for an ice mage.'

She calmed down and saw three pairs of eyes staring intently at her. She could feel the heat growing on her cheeks.

"Cough! Leo, just for the sake of eating this delicious food, I'll come with you on your journey."

Before he could reply a voice interrupted them.

"Pardon this one for the trouble, but can this one talk to the young man with white hair?"

Leo turned to find a black-haired woman standing near the door. Her lustrous black hair reached her waist. A beautiful face with golden eyes, pointed ears like an elf, but shorter.

She was dressed in a black Japanese kimono, her bountiful bosom threatening to burst out of clothes as she walked toward Leo in big steps.

"You are Tio Klarus, right? Can you wait till I am free?"

A surprised expression appeared on her face before she nodded with a smile. "This one can surely wait a year or two for the benefactor."

He placed the food on a trolley with Helina's help.

"Please excuse me then," Helina bowed and went off to finish her duties.

Leo dragged the trolley to his room, a gentle smile etched on his face.

Tio walked beside him, her curiosity rising for the young man.

"Benefactor, are you one of the summoned heroes?"

"Yeah, I'm Leo and how is your body now? Not to be rude but I did a lot of damage to your dragon body."

Her breathing turned erratic for some reason, she took several deep breaths to calm herself.

"This one expresses gratitude for asking, but this one's body is perfectly fine. Magic power is overflowing inside this one."

"Well, it's good then."

He pushed open the door and looked at the girls changed into new clothes.

"Breakfast is ready~"

He met three pairs of cold eyes. The girls had a beautiful smile on their faces. However, their eyes contained a cold and unemotional look.