It was noon.
In the small house that Kyoma and Kagura had rented.
On the dining table, an old man and a young girl sat opposite each other, while in the kitchen came the crackling sounds of cooking.
"So, you stinky old man, are you here to mooch food again?"
Kagura shook her legs, supported her chin with both hands, narrowed her eyes, and spoke to the person in front of her with an unhappy expression.
She was very angry.
Yesterday, when she and Kyoma had been eating dinner at the restaurant, they had been suddenly interrupted by this old man. Then a bunch of other people had shown up out of nowhere, making it impossible for them to enjoy their meal properly.
And today, when she'd woken up on the sofa and opened her eyes, the first thing she'd seen was this stinky old man's annoying smile once again.
It had frightened her so much that she'd nearly thrown her Umbrella at him out of sheer stress.
However, this was Kyoma's and her new residence for the next month.
If she attacked him here, she feared that not only would their deposit be forfeited, but they'd also have to pay a large amount in compensation.
Of course, more importantly, Kagura's beast-like keen perception hidden beneath her small frame told her that this old man was very strong and that she wouldn't be his opponent.
"I met Kyoma on the street, and we had a good chat. When we parted ways, it happened to be lunch time. So when Kyoma extended such a sincere invitation, I couldn't refuse."
Kizaru looked at Kagura with a smile, then spoke while observing and taking in the environment of the house.
"Hmph, do you think I'll believe your nonsense?" Kagura curled her lips, and her eyes remained unfriendly.
Kizaru felt a little helpless.
He really had no ill intentions on this trip.
When arresting the Straw Hat Pirates yesterday, he'd accidentally learned from Straw Hat that Kyoma and Kagura were still in the Sabaody Archipelago.
Their hair color was conspicuous and distinctive, so he'd asked the Marines stationed here to keep an eye out for two young people with orange hair.
Originally, he'd just wanted to give it a try. Still, he hadn't expected to actually receive news this morning saying that the two young people the Admiral was looking for had been holding a rental contract for stamping at the Marine base.
Then he'd come, wanting to win over these two young people with extraordinary potential for the Marines.
One of them had physical capabilities that even he found impressive, and the other possessed the qualifications to become a king of the seas.
If these two young people became his subordinates, it would not only improve the future combat power of the Marines, but also ensure his leisurely working hours in the future.
After thinking for a moment, Kizaru felt that he couldn't let Kagura have a bad impression of him.
He had to make some improvements to facilitate winning her over, so he thought of a way to win over children.
"Do you want a candy?" He took out a piece of candy from his pocket.
"Hmm?" Kagura frowned, then suddenly slammed the table and said angrily, "Stinky old man, you don't think you can please me with a single piece of candy, right? Am I the kind of girl who can be deceived by candy?"
"What about three pieces?"
"..."
When Kyoma walked out of the kitchen with the dishes, he saw a heartwarming picture.
The old man and the young girl seemed to be chatting happily, and their behavior appeared even a little friendly, just like a pair of grandfather and granddaughter.
Kizaru had placed his sunglasses on Kagura's eyes, and he was playing with Kagura's Umbrella.
'What the...'
'Wait... Have I been in the kitchen for a whole year? What happened? How did the relationship between you two become so good?'
The corners of Kyoma's mouth twitched, and the expression on his face was like he'd seen a ghost.
"Let's eat."
After arranging the four dishes and soup neatly on the table, Kyoma prepared a plate for everyone out of habit, then distributed the food evenly.
It looked no different from the dishes served in a school cafeteria, except that the meat portions were more generous.
In his previous life, he'd rented a house alone after going to college and had been forced to practice his cooking skills.
The ingredients in this world were more abundant, especially fish, so when buying vegetables, he'd made sure to ask the vendors about the cooking methods of this world.
In fact, they weren't much different. Once he roughly understood them and integrated them with his own cooking skills, the food he made tasted quite good.
The two people enjoying the food in front of him fully proved this point.
"Thank you for the meal, Kyoma. I didn't expect your cooking skills to be so good. You're almost catching up with the top chefs in the Marine base."
After eating, Kizaru wiped the corners of his mouth and praised sincerely.
"Haha, it's not as good as you say."
Kyoma waved his hand dismissively.
Being praised by a Marine Admiral, regardless of the aspect, made him feel a little embarrassed.
"Kyo-chan!"
But soon, when he saw the girl holding an empty plate next to him and looking at him expectantly, he had to get up helplessly and go to the kitchen to serve her another large plate.
Watching the girl's small mouth sucking in food like a whirlpool, Kyoma was relieved that the food he made was liked by her, but he couldn't help worrying about his own savings.
Three meals a day, with each meal costing nearly hundreds of thousands of Berry. A month would cost tens of millions of Berries, and this wasn't even counting other living expenses, rent, and so on.
He'd obtained 1.3 billion Berry from the Human Auction House. Now, 500 million had been spent on shipbuilding.
The remaining 800 million would need to be used for summoning new companions while ensuring their survival.
And daily consumption would increase as the number of companions grew.
Calculated this way, it seemed a little insufficient...
Seeing Kyoma looking at Kagura with a worried expression, Kizaru smiled knowingly.
It wasn't difficult to guess what he was worried about.
He knocked on the table and said, "You don't have to worry after joining the Marines. You can eat as much as you want. Kyoma, you don't want Kagura to go hungry in the future, right?"
'Hiss...'
'Why is this guy suggesting this?'
Kyoma looked at him with a little wariness, then remained silent for a moment.
He propped up his chin with one hand and said lightly while watching Kagura eat, "Last night, I promised a new friend to help him with something. After doing this, it will be impossible for me to join the Marines again."
"What kind of thing?" Kizaru narrowed his eyes slightly and suddenly exuded an aura, the kind of presence that could make a Supernova pirate break out in cold sweat.
"Hey, I don't have any obligation to tell you, you freeloader." Kyoma seemed unaffected, looking at him without any intention of retreating in his eyes.
Kyoma didn't know why he was being so brave.
Perhaps it was the awakening of [Conqueror's Haki], which made him, an ordinary office worker who had been driven by others for many years, have the courage to confront top-tier powerhouses after coming to this world.
Kizaru then retracted his presence and stood up, his eyes full of satisfaction with Kyoma, but also mixed with pity.
He shook his head and said, "Forget it. You're not a pirate anyway. What you do has nothing to do with me as a Marine."
After that, he left.
When he reached the door, he suddenly turned back and smiled meaningfully.
"Your house is nice, but it's been closed up for too long. It needs more ventilation. Remember to open the windows at night."