Leon leaned back against the marble seat in the ornate bath.
"Ahhh... this will always be nice."
The scented water was perfectly warm against his skin, reaching up to his collarbone. The lingering pain from a night spent tearing himself apart with Bloodless slowly faded.
"I need to find time to practice Memory Flare."
He recalled Rika yelling at him for all the noise he'd been making at night.
The train horns from Nise-Kisha Interlocking and electronic music from Nocturne Skyline was waking everyone in the mansion up.
"And I need to figure out how to fail at casting Essence... Both Memory Flare and Bloodless are essentially me failing to cast Mana and Chi, which means that once I learn to fail at casting Essence, I'm out of skills..."
No. I'll just have to find a different way to grow stronger.
"AND! I have that meeting with all the guild masters today. Ahh, so much to do!"
Leon dunked his head beneath the water, submerging his entire body.
Even with Maria, I can only sleep once every seven days. But I don't need sleep, or rest, or food, or water or air or anything. Yet I find myself busier than ever.
And I haven't even started on the biggest problem of them all.
Ichor.
Maria had explained more of her time living in Nykthos' castle over the past few days. She had never been on the front lines, so she'd never eaten a human before Leon. Only Ichor.
A food substitute that demons could survive on. Though it likely contained some humans.
She'd told him of how her parents used to get humans. Nykthos' originally bribed the Mare with humans and a comfortable paradise along his castle wall. Thus, ensuring the strongest defensive magic would protect his castle.
Though, Maria and many of the younger Mare had only ever been fed Ichor. The demon race of Sloth is too lazy to complain, especially since they're already there, getting free food and rest with no effort.
I mean, it makes sense. Nykthos would need a more sustainable food source than actual humans. Time to grow humans, feeding them, upkeep, transportation logistics, and all that.
Leon paused his thoughts for a moment. He realized he was thinking practically about all of this, but he couldn't help feeling less human.
He looked around the bath.
His body hadn't once asked for air.
How long had he been underwater? How long had he been holding his breath?
Those questions didn't matter.
He had a more pressing one on his mind.
Could I use myself to make Ichor?
A world where monster girls... and I guess guys too. A world where demons, demiurges, vampires, and whatever other monsters existed could live peacefully.
Leon popped his head out of the water.
"I'd have to make sure my Ichor didn't make them more powerful, like it's doing for my fiancées. I'd need to create a cultural shift too. Have demons view eating humans the same way humans view a dark mage sacrificing people for more personal power..."
He paused.
"And it should taste better than humans too. That alone might be enough."
Leon began walking to the stairs of the bath.
"Looks like I'm destined to clash with Nykthos. Not because I'm a hero summoned to save the world in an epic victory. But because I'm a solution to a logistics problem. How utterly mundane and practical in a fantasy world!"
Eh, I guess I'm more of a cheat code but the lameness still stands.
As soon as he stepped out of the bath, he immediately jumped back in as the door opened.
Rika, Valeria and Celestine entered the bath chamber. Followed by Tsukihi, who was carrying a sleeping Maria by her horns, leaving her feet dangling well above the ground.
The five girls were wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around their torso as they headed to the bath and noticed Leon.
"What are you doing here, Farm boy?!?!"
"What do you mean? I was here first!"
"Leon, close your eyes! And Tsukihi! You said you checked!"
"I did, he wasn't here. If I knew he was, then I wouldn't be a towel. Leon already saw me in a towel so where's the fun in that!"
Did she come check when I was underwater?
"Celestine, what are you going!?"
Leon looked back up to see Valeria had hugged Celestine from behind and was pulling her away from the bath.
"Hey! I'm just going to wash his back! That's a completely romantic and non inappropriate thing to do!"
"If that's the case, then I'll do it first."
"What? No!"
"Exactly! Away you go!"
As he watched Valeria and Celestine wrestle, Leon felt a small heel kick him in the head. Knocking him back into the water.
"Weren't you told to close your eyes."
Leon popped his head out of the water.
"Like I said I was here first. Also why are you all here at once?
"Naked Bonding! I want to try the tradition from your world."
"I guess that's nice. Though be careful bringing Maria into the water. I feel like she'd drown before she woke up."
"I was actually going to test that..."
"Farm Boy! Out! Now!"
"Alright alright. At least look away while I get my towel."
"..."
"At least pretend to look away!"
An honest effort was made.
But no one succeeded.