— — — — — —
"Hermes… was killed."
Staring at the headless corpse, Jack-O-Lantern's smile froze solid.
Even if Hermes was considered one of the weaker members among the Twelve Olympians. Even if his personality left much to be desired.
None of that changed the fact that he was still one of the Twelve, a symbolic pillar of the Greek pantheon.
And his true body existed in the Three-Digit tier, possessing a full Authority Domain.
Killing an incarnation of a god like that was easy enough. The real question was whether anyone could handle the consequences afterward.
In the Lower Layers of Little Garden, almost no one dared to do something like this.
Yet Ryo Yagami did it.
Not only that, he did it after Hermes had surrendered.
That crossed the line. 100%.
The Greek pantheon. A colossal power in the Lower Layers. As individuals, they were top-tier. Over ten of them were Four-Digit feaks.
That level of strength would still count as first-rate even in the Upper Layers.
If the pantheon had a two-Digit figure holding the fort, Greece would already be an absolute super-tier power.
What they lacked was a single, ultimate peak powerhouse.
Even without that, Greece was already a giant. Their influence stretched across the East, West, South, and North Areas, reaching every outer gate of the Lower Layers.
They were, without exaggeration, the rulers of the Lower Layers.
Provoking a force like that was practically suicide.
And yet Ryo did it without hesitation, right in front of a crowd of gods and Buddhas.
Worst of all, he didn't even flinch.
"Jack, you don't look so good."
Noticing the change in her subordinate, Willa asked in her usual calm tone.
Cold sweat trickled down Jack's face. He forced a bitter smile. "Willa… coming here to help might have been a mistake."
"I know Arcadia's former leader helped us evade Demon Lord Maxwell, and we owe them for that. But backing them this time… I don't think we can afford it."
"Arcadia's new leader is a madman. He actually dared to provoke the Greek pantheon."
"Oh." Willa opened her mouth slightly, then closed it again. Her expression returned to complete calm.
Seeing that, Jack nodded and hurriedly called out. "Ayesha, start packing. We're heading back!"
He stood up at once, ready to gather their luggage.
"Huh? We're leaving already?" Ayesha blurted out, stunned.
Didn't they just arrive?
But if Arcadia had offended Greece…
Yeah, this really wasn't a place to stay.
That was the Greek pantheon they were talking about. If that giant decided on indiscriminate retaliation, wouldn't everyone be done for?
"Does Ryry-chan have a bad temper?"
"Ryry-chan—" Ayesha nearly sprayed laughter.
What kind of nickname was that? Ryo became Ryry-chan? Lol.
And seriously, Sister Willa's habit of giving people pet names was getting a bit out of hand. If Arcadia's leader ever heard that, wouldn't it cause trouble?
Jack O'Lantern, who had just packed a bit of luggage, froze for several seconds before asking with a strange expression, "You don't seem eager to abandon this operation. Is Arcadia's new leader really that special? Enough for you to care this much?"
Jack had assumed Willa favored Arcadia because of Koumei Kasukabe. But now, it seemed he was wrong.
"Queen Halloween said Ryry-chan nearly killed Maxwell. He only escaped by sheer luck."
Willa answered quickly, without any attempt to hide it.
Jack, long accustomed to her personality, knew that meant it was true.
Ryo had fought that perverted bastard Maxwell who'd harassed Willa? He even nearly killed him?
And this came from the Queen herself?
Wait... Queen Halloween was paying attention to Arcadia's new leader?
You should've said that earlier! Jack slapped his forehead.
"Ayesha, we're not leaving! We'll stay for tomorrow's banquet and see how things play out."
"Eh?!" Ayesha yelped.
"A helping hand to the one in need is worth more than a golden dish to the one who is full. Got it?"
"I get it, but—"
"No buts. Put the luggage down. Who told you to pack?"
"You did!"
"Shut it. Do you still want dinner or not?"
"That's not fair!"
Ayesha's complaints echoed through the guesthouse.
---
"Advisor…"
Sala of the Draco Greif Alliance, turned stiffly to look at Garol Gundark. "Lord Hermes… has been killed."
"Yeah. I saw."
Garol yanked at his fur, squinting in pain before letting out a wry smile.
"That kid really lives up to being Canaria's pick. His talent for courting death is exactly the same. Even the Chinese pantheon would call that excessive."
"Oh? Lady Canaria did foolish things too?" Sala asked in surprise.
"Oh, plenty. Years ago, when Canaria was still young, she fell in with Baron La Croix, that pedophilic creep picked up a thing for lolis, and ended up licking Lady Shiroyasha's boots."
"At the time, that one hadn't sealed off all her Divinity and still had Three-Digit power."
"Almost got beaten to death. Especially when Canaria blurted out that she was Halloween Queen's disciple. She nearly dragged Baron down with her."
Garol thought back with a mix of nostalgia and emotion.
Sala listened, her mouth twitching.
So causing disasters was an Arcadia tradition now?
Last generation flirted with Shiroyasha. This generation provoked the Greek pantheon.
Thinking about it… the former actually sounded worse. After all Shiroyasha was a Two-Digit at the core.
Uh. No wonder the Big Boss was so calm. He was used to it.
Shaking his head, Garol said helplessly, "Still, letting things sour with Greece like this won't do. I'll write to Lord Apollo later and ask him to mediate. He should be willing to give me some face."
"If that fails, we'll have to go higher up. Hopefully, the dirt Canaria dug up back then is still useful against Zeus."
As expected of the Big Boss… casually talking about smoothing over something this big.
But still…
Just how practiced are you at this?!
Sala couldn't help but think.
After venting internally, she asked, "At tomorrow's banquet, will you be making a public stance?"
Garol smiled. "Would you refuse a guaranteed win by offering help at the perfect moment?"
"…" Sala sighed and said nothing.
Seeing that, Garol chuckled. "I know you don't like this scheming stuff. You don't need to get your hands dirty. Just understand it. But leader-level meetings and social mixers are unavoidable."
Sala shuddered, suddenly sounding like she had matchmaking trauma. "Boss, forget it. I'm only interested in men who are stronger than me and younger than me."
"What are you thinking?" Garol rolled his eyes. "I was planning to introduce you to Arcadia's new leader."
"But I've met the kid a few times. He's that close with Canaria's bunny. He is stronger than you and younger than you but sigh~ Do you even know what level of charm a noble Moon Rabbit has?"
"So what if she's a Moon Rabbit?" Sala snapped as she stormed out. "Born seductive doesn't mean unbeatable. She's just flirtatious."
Garol watched her leave, snorted, and laughed coldly.
"Brat. Two hundred years old and still single. Tomorrow's banquet will be rough on you."
"Still…" he muttered, eyes narrowing. "Should we try pushing things on Ryo's side? Though I don't know if Black Rabbit's already locked him down…"
He clipped a cigar and fell into thought.
After a while, he sighed. "Forget it. We'll see at the banquet. A little push then will do."
"..."
"Ryo Yagami… the timid, sickly boy from before. Just how much had you changed after Arcadia's fall?"
.
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