It didn't take a genius to understand what the problem was. Reputation was a woman's currency in worlds like this. Or, more accurately, this sort of reputation in specific.

The young woman might have thought that this was a funny joke to play on her elders, but clearly she hadn't thought of the fact that doing such a thing put Leonel in danger.

These women were all of high status and the pressure they gave Leonel was not small. They made the burly man and even Chef Lucca look like jokes. Leonel had no doubt that if they wanted to kill him, or at least someone in the Fifth Dimension like himself, it would be a simple matter.

These women had likely not even known what kind of establishment this was before they came, only deciding to dine here at the poking and prodding of the woman. And now Leonel was stuck in the middle of this mess.

In their eyes, the easiest thing to do would just be to kill Leonel and be done with it. As for the young woman, at worst she would get a light reprimand. The fact that she had dared to do this in the first place reeked of coddling. This young woman had definitely been doted on and spoiled all her life.

But, at the end of the day, Leonel wasn't a normal person. The hint of killing intent he had sensed was all it took to flush the embarrassment out of his system, his own gaze even flashing with its own coldness for a moment as he stood straight.

However, as quickly as the coldness had appeared, catching the oldest woman of them off guard, it vanished.

This older woman was the only one to have shown killing intent, but that didn't mean the others wouldn't have caught on quickly. It was just that this woman was the most experienced of them and understood the magnitude of the situation very quickly, so much so that she was ready to act almost instantly. Clearly, given her strength, Leonel's own thinking speed might actually be inferior to hers.

That said, that didn't mean that Leonel's reaction would be slow.

Just when the coldness in his eyes vanished, he revealed a bright smile. Taking a step toward the table, he did something that left the women speechless.

Leonel picked up a large pitcher of water, raised it high, and poured it.

This much would have been fine if his aim was a cup, but to the horror of the women, he poured the water toward the head of the mischievous young woman who had caused all of this to begin with.

The young woman squealed, expecting a splash of water to drench her through. The other women were so caught off guard by the happenings that they, too, didn't know how to react. Was this young man crazy? Did they scare him so much that he lost his wits?

Despite having the strength to dodge the water quite easily, as Leonel had deduced, this young woman had been coddled all her life. If even her seniors couldn't react to such a ridiculous situation, how could she?

She ducked and covered her head with her hands, her speed actually fast enough for Leonel to raise an internal eyebrow.

Other than this, though, Leonel was quite calm. In fact, he was sighing a breath of relief. So long as they didn't act now, they wouldn't act later, at least not until much later, that is.

Luckily, they hadn't thought of the possibility that he could be trying to start a wet t-shirt contest. If they did, then he really would be finished. But, to these prim and proper older women, when would they have ever stumbled into such a thing? They would probably only realize the problem after the young woman was drenched.

That said.. Leonel never had any intention of actually doing that.

Just when the water was about to hit the young woman's hand-covered head, Leonel's free hand rose and sparkled with a delicate blueish-black energy.

Like that, the flowing water became a sled of ice, the ice cubes that had once been in the pitcher following the winding trail of Leonel's fingers.

The ice cubes became like sleds flowing down a mountain of snow, curving and often nearly falling time and time again as though they were in a real race.

The ice track wound around Leonel and the young woman's bodies, filling the room with a refreshing cool air that it had lacked before.

Then at the end of it all, the ice cubes fell from the end of the track and it seemed as though Leonel had finally made a mistake. But, to the astonished gazes of the women, one by one, the ice cubes neatly stacked themselves into a tall tower, wavering only slightly, but ultimately remaining steady.

"Wah!" The young woman had long since risen her head, watching this scene with a hint of unconcealed delight in her eyes. She had never seen anyone with such masterful control of Force before.

At that moment, Leonel clapped his hands and the slide of ice shattered into twinkling crystals that he quickly caused to gather up above his hand.

With a pitcher in one hand and a twinkling ball of ice in the other, Leonel brought them together once more. Just like that, there was a plop of water and the ice had once again become a pitcher of liquids, the frosty Force having been pulled out entirely.

Leonel flicked his wrist, allowing the frosty energy to shoot toward the ceiling as he used his now free hand to pick up another pitcher of water. Then, he began to pour them both over the tower of ice cubes without even the slightest hesitation.

Right then, the ball of frosty energy he had thrown into the air fell back down, colliding with the two streams of water and the ice cube until they all formed a giant cube of ice about the size of a head.

Leonel placed the two pitchers of water down and revealed a charming smile. He tapped his foot on the ground, causing the table to quake and allowing a butter knife to fly up, spinning into his hand.

Then the butter knife began to glow with a golden light that caught the older women off guard and left the young woman dazzled. historical