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The next day.
"Princess Lashara, there is an envoy from the Holy Land."
Chiaia's eyes lit up as she watched the approaching ship in the distance and turned to report.
"Oh, wonderful. I can finally hand this Seikijin business off to someone else!"
Lashara exhaled with visible relief.
"I can finally hand this Seikijin business off to someone else!"
Just as Lashara was savouring the thought, a voice came from behind her, mimicking her words with cheerful precision.
She turned.
Kaito was stretched out on a deck chair, Coke in hand, wearing an expression of pure enjoyment. Behind him, Sakuya stood in her maid uniform, holding a tray of homemade desserts.
"Hmph. I genuinely cannot tell who the employer is supposed to be. He lives better than I do."
Lashara glanced at Sakuya, quietly standing at her post behind Kaito, and the look on her face was seven parts envy and three parts grievance.
She had only known Sakuya for a few days, but in those few days Sakuya had thoroughly won over everyone on Swan.
She handled every household task flawlessly, picked up anything new in moments, and her combat ability was something else entirely. Her cooking was in a category of its own. Even Kenshi, who was capable of practically everything, had freely admitted he could not match Izayoi Sakuya in the kitchen.
"You are welcome to be envious. Sakuya belongs to me and no one else."
Kaito said this with a proud expression. Behind him, Sakuya's cheeks coloured slightly.
"Tch."
Lashara clicked her tongue and did not rise to it.
She had learned. If she kept going, she would be the one to lose.
"Heh. Getting wiser."
Kaito looked at her with an expression of genuine surprise.
"Mr. Kaito, please stop provoking Princess Lashara. We are almost at the docking area — shouldn't you be packing?"
Chiaia said to him with a helpless expression.
"Fair enough. Come on, Sakuya."
It was a strange thing, Kaito reflected as he stood up. Ever since advancing to the Soul Transformation Realm, everyone around him had started to feel very young. Now that he was a Golden Immortal, the gap felt even wider — by how many years exactly, he could not say.
He was only 23. Twenty-four soon, actually.
That thought gave him pause. He had been in this world for almost a year without it registering. A great deal had happened in that time. He had a family now. Loyal subordinates, more than he could easily count. And a country he had built from nothing.
'I wonder what Rimuru is up to. Clayman must have been dealt with long ago.'
One Piece World
"Hmph hmph! I am the Empress of the world. My word is law!"
Rimuru, Milim, and Ramiris stood in a united front, all three of them pointing imperiously at the figure standing by the grill.
"Rimuru-sama, we have run out of ingredients!"
The figure explained with a pained expression.
"What? Shinobu prepared mountains of food. How is it already gone? You must have been eating on the side."
Rimuru stared at him in flat disbelief.
The figure immediately pointed across the deck.
"They ate everything. Go ask them yourself if you don't believe me."
Rimuru looked where he pointed. Guy, Veldora, Benimaru, and several others were happily drinking and working through skewer after skewer at a pace that explained everything.
"Veldora! You all ate every last bit of it!"
"Guy, how could you eat everything? There is nothing left!"
"That is right, Master. You eat too much!"
The figure let out a quiet breath of relief, having successfully redirected the situation.
He did not say it aloud, but he had plenty to say in the privacy of his own head about his old man. A former Emperor of the Sea, now serving as security captain of Academy City — fine, that was his business. But did he have to drag his son into this life as well?
He, the great Fire Fist Ace, was working as a waiter in a barbecue restaurant. Running himself ragged for that infuriating woman every single day, and now on top of everything else, grilling meat for these people.
Was this what his abilities were for?
He thought, not for the first time, about his two younger brothers. Luffy was out there sailing freely with his crew, adventuring wherever the wind took him. Sabo was rising steadily through the government ranks. And here he was.
Whoosh.
Souka appeared before the group in an instant. She pressed her right hand to her chest, bowed to Rimuru first, then turned to Ace.
"Ace. A mission. Souei-sama requires you to investigate the Germa Kingdom, currently operating in the North Blue. They appear to have unfriendly intentions."
Ace's expression transformed immediately.
A mission. A mission was good. A mission was far better than this.
He cleared his throat and turned to Rimuru with a look of deep professional regret.
"Rimuru-sama. As you can see, duty calls. I will have to find someone to take over the grill."
He did not wait for a response. He was already heading for the rail. When he reached the water's edge he pulled a capsule from his pocket, pressed it, and tossed it in. A puff of smoke, and a single-person yacht was bobbing at the surface. Ace was on it and moving before the smoke had cleared.
"Are we that frightening? He left so fast."
Rimuru watched the rapidly shrinking wake with a speechless expression.
"If it would please you, Rimuru-sama, I would be happy to prepare the meal."
Diablo, who had been serving as butler nearby, saw his opening and stepped forward at once.
"That would be fine, but there are no ingredients left."
Rimuru gestured at the empty plates.
"That is no concern at all."
Diablo's eyes lit up. He raised one hand, and a moment later an abundance of fresh vegetables and cuts of meat had appeared before them all.
"Diablo! That is incredible! You had everything ready already!"
Rimuru looked at the spread with genuine delight.
"Your praise is more than I deserve. This is simply my duty."
"I am confident the cooking will not disappoint you!"
He had, in fact, spent considerable time consulting Sakuya specifically so that he could impress both Kaito and Rimuru. Those who knew Sakuya's cooking understood what that standard meant.
"Then I'll leave it to you, Diablo!"
"The honour is entirely mine..."