Ch. 56 - The Great Pretender is no longer available

[Here's the promised chapter.]

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"Can we talk?" Hearing these words, Leo was quick to agree, after all, he also has something to talk about with Moana.

"Sure. Maui's already gone. What is it?" Leo replied.

"Uhm, what are your plans after this? I mean, are you thinking of going on a journey to find your past? If so, maybe I could help. You know, I have quite an experience already and I'm sure I could be useful. I can fight, cook, sail your mighty ship and-." At this point, Moana started to get desperate after receiving no response but only stare from Leo, she even tried to list her skills, as if it would help in letting Leo agree for her to come with him.

"Moana.....You can't come with me." Leo interrupted, his voice slightly cracking as he didn't want to hurt Moana's feelings. Leo has already known about it and rejecting her like this is not easy.

"....W-What? Why? Is it because of my parents and the village? Don't worry, the village is being managed well by my father." Moana's eyes start to glisten, indicating that she's very close in tearing up.

"It's not that I don't want to but I can't bring you with me. Because I'm not going on a journey to find my past, it was a lie." After revealing the truth, Leo can't bear to look at Moana, not wanting to see her disappointed face, however her response was the least he expected.

"I already know that."

"Huh?" Leo gazed back at Moana in confusion.

"I've already known about it a few days from now. It's quite easy to see it if you're observant enough. I mean, who in this world can fight with a Demi-God, monsters, reveal a huge ship that was a gift from the gods and a weird cloth that makes you impenetrable, and his past is that he lost his memories. You 'stranded' yourself in Motunui with a purpose. And I firmly believe it is because of what I am destined to do." Moana proudly stated her discovery, the previous almost tearing up face was already gone and replaced by a confident face.

".....I knew you were a stalker." Leo teased by making a disgusted expression.

*Crack!*

"What!?" The look on Moana's face was kind of worth it as Leo had a good laugh out of it.

"Hahahaha!"

"It's not funny! I wasn't stalking you!" Moana glared at Leo's face.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Leo apologized two times, halting his laugh.

"So...." Now that the atmosphere has recovered, Moana suddenly had her hopes high as she thought that the reason why she can't go with Leo was because of the 'lie'. But now that the cat is out of the bag, perhaps she can finally go with him now.

"I'm sorry to say this but you still can't come with me." Leo answered with a shake of his head.

"What? But why?"

".....Sigh....because I'm not from this world." Leo revealed.

"Huh?"

"This world isn't my home. And when I come back, I can only bring myself, not you."

"....So does that mean this is a final goodbye? We won't see each other anymore after this?" Moana sniffed, tears started to well up in her eyes.

"Actually I can come back here whenever I can. Haha." Leo scratched his cheek while ignoring the 'most powerful' glare that Moana is releasing towards him.

"You could've told me that from the beginning!"

*Bam!*

***

After receiving a 'beating' which is more like a tickle to Leo, it was finally time to set sail.

"So what you're saying is that you can still stay for around 10 days before your time here expires?" After receiving an explanation from Leo, Moana sighed in relief that she could still spend at least 10 days with Leo.

"Yup." While handling the steering wheel, Leo confirmed Moana's question.

Cheering up slightly, Moana smiled while inside her mind, she was jumping in excitement.

'Yes! 10 days is enough for him to fall for me!' With that in mind, Moana wasted no time and started her mission of making Leo fall for her.

'The way through a man's heart is through his stomach.' One of the pieces of advice that her Gramma told her was about conquering a man's stomach. Once she displays her cooking skills and conquers Leo's stomach, conquering his heart wouldn't be a problem.

"Is there any specific food you like? I can cook for us. Goddess Te Fiti gifted us quite a lot of fresh raw meats on the barrels." Moana asked.

"....Do you know spices?" Leo didn't answer Moana's question, instead he himself raised a queston.

"Know? Of course I do, I'm not a savage that doesn't know about foods and spices. Let me tell you, mom and Gramma taught me how to cook at the age of ten! And when dad tasted my cooking, his face turned very red! Mom said it means that dad really liked my cooking and that he couldn't bear to express his feelings." Moana crossed her arms confidently and raised her head high in pride, as if she was waiting for Leo to compliment her.

'Oh dear. These 10 days would surely be hell for me.' Leo's face slightly scrunched up, knowing that Moana's mom was probably lying to her when she was a child in order to not hurt her feelings.

"Words won't prove anything." Keeping up a poker face, Leo answered.

"Good point." Moana then haughtily turned around, sauntering towards the kitchen below the deck.

'God and Goddesses, please guide me and deliver me from harm. Amen.' Leo quickly made a short prayer inside his mind, hoping that it would be enough for him to tackle the difficulty that he'll face.

***

*Fwooosh!*

Staring down at the bowl, Leo was raising an eyebrow.

'I mean, it doesn't look that bad thankfully.'

'All that's left is the taste. Will it live up to its appearance or not?' Wanting to get the answer, Leo softly grabbed the handle of the wooden spoon and scooped a piece of cooked meat and soup before inching it towards his lips.

'The moment of truth.' Glancing at Moana's expectant gaze, Leo sipped on the spoon.

*Sip!*

"Hmph!" Widening his eyes in surprise, Leo wasted no time in grabbing the entire bowl and ate the content with gusto, surprising Moana.

'I was expecting a bad taste, not a good one.' Leo said to himself, it didn't take long before the bowl became empty.

"I'm not even gonna ask if it's good." Meanwhile, Moana was smiling very wide, seeing how Leo finished her cooking in just a minute, and he's now leaning back on the chair while patting his stomach.

"It was good. Probably the best I've eaten." Leo complimented, which made Moana excitedly cheer in victory inside her mind.

'Finally! Stomach conquered! Now, all that's left is his heart!' With that in mind, Moana will definitely make sure to get Leo's heart.

***

'I failed. He's harder than I thought.' Moana was down on the ground in defeat, it's been 9 days since she conquered Leo's stomach. Who knew only his stomach was easy to conquer while his heart was not.

Moana has always tried everything such as seducing, giving hints and even admitting it in front of Leo.

And his answer?

"I don't want to go to jail. Maybe once you reach the age of 18." Leo said with an awkward face expression.

'Jail? What is even a Jail? And why do I need to reach 18 when 16 is already old enough to marry in my village?' Moana complained in her heart, finding Leo's reason to be unreasonable.

"It is time. My time has come." Staring at the sun, Leo looked at the transparent screen in front of him.

[Time remaining: 2 minutes and 33 seconds.]

"Do you really have to go?" Moana tried to convince him for the last time. Unfortunately for her, Leo didn't budge. Even if he wants to stay, it's not like he can do anything. He still needs to get strong and staying in Moana's world isn't enough.

"Don't worry. I'll be back. Here, you can have this." Leo then took out a necklace from his inventory.

[Necklace of Ra - Necklace that was created and blessed by the Egyptian Sun God Ra, capable of the following...

Passive:

- Sun's Blessing - Basking in the sun would enhance the wearer's strength, healing capabilities and stamina.

- Sun's breath - By wearing the necklace, those nearby would feel a slight heat emanating from the wearer, instilling pressure and heat.

Active:

- Nova - By releasing the pent up sun energy inside the necklace, the wearer can release a huge explosion that would vanquish everyone and everything in the vicinity. The necklace would then be destroyed in exchange.

- Companion of Ra - Activating this, the wearer would be able to summon the Flame Spirit, Ifrit to aid and protect the wearer. Can be used once a month. Ifrit can only be summoned for ten minutes.]

Although the necklace was good enough for Leo, he felt like he was already strong enough and Moana would need it more than he did, especially since in this world where Demi-Gods, Gods, and large monsters exist.

'I don't even know why this is considered as D rank.'

"What's this?" Moana asked, staring at the beautiful necklace that looks like the sun, she can also feel something hot coming out from it.

"This is for you. This would not only serve as a promise that I'll come back but also to protect you." Leo said.

Moana didn't even need to speak as she turned around and let Leo wear the necklace on her.

"It's beautiful." Moana stared at the necklace and muttered to herself.

"Thank yo-." Just as she wanted to thank Leo, she turned around and found nothing there, except for a small note on the deck.

Picking it up, Moana read its contents.

[Please take care of Black Pearl. I'll leave her to you.]

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[Next Chapter: Ch. 57 - The Great Pretender's back!]

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