— — — — — —
At the same time... Inside the inner hall...
Sala Doltrake, dressed in an elegant evening gown, politely declined a dance invitation from a male god. She then made her way over to Garol Gundark.
Garol was wearing a black suit today, bow tie neatly fastened, a cane in hand. He smiled, mimicking the air of a gentleman.
"Bored already?"
"The filth in those gods' eyes is practically spilling out. They're not even trying to hide it anymore," Sala muttered under her breath, irritation plain in her voice.
In this venue, only when she was with Garol, an elder she trusted, could she relax a little and stop filtering her thoughts so carefully.
"That's what the lower-tier gods are like," Garol said with a chuckle, swirling a glass of red wine. "Soft living, indulgent pleasures. They let their own desires decide everything."
"Any sane person knows that a story like 'the ShiroYoruMaou fell for a human man and even agreed to bear a divine child for him' is basically impossible. And yet they all still dragged themselves out to the far end of the East Area. Why do you think that is?"
"To… laugh at the ShiroYoruMaou?" Sala answered hesitantly.
Who would dare mock Lady Shiroyasha? Wasn't that just asking to die?
That was her instinct, at least. But she couldn't be sure everyone else thought the same way.
"About a third of them, yeah," Garol said, taking a sip of wine and scanning the hall full of gods. "Another third came to see how far Arcadia has fallen, from its former glory to this mess."
"And the last third came to vent their desires."
"You know how it is. Men who crave women, and women who are willing to trade their bodies for benefits. There aren't many places where they can shop around so freely. This happens to be one of them."
"Quite a few people here have their eyes on you. Some want to see how miserable a former Arcadia Alliance member looks now. Some just want pleasure, want to conquer a powerful woman. Most of them want both. Almost no exceptions."
"That's disgusting," Sala said flatly, her expression full of revulsion.
"Most gods are," Garol replied. Then his expression grew complicated as he let out a sigh. "If these gods were even slightly useful, the war against the evil dragon two hundred years ago wouldn't have been so brutal. Arcadia wouldn't have lost nearly eighty percent of its fighting strength."
"The three-headed evil dragon, Azi Dahaka…" Sala whispered the name.
Her grandfather, her great-grandfather, and her grandmothers had all died fighting that enemy. Her father had been gravely wounded in that war as well, lingering on for years before finally succumbing.
Because of that, Salamandra fell from a four-digit community that held a Sun Authority down to a five-digit one. In the entire community, there was no longer a single four-digit anymore.
The only exception was her, who had defected and risen to four digits on her own in the outside world.
But by then, she had already become the acting leader of the Draco Greif. There was nothing she could do to save Salamandra anymore.
"That monster is terrifyingly strong," Garol murmured. "You, me, Canaria… all of us understand that sooner or later, we'll face it again."
As Sala spoke the dragon's name, Garol's gaze drifted, unfocused, as he muttered to himself, "So Ryo was the card you left behind? Canaria… what exactly did you discuss with the Queen back then?"
Just then, a wave of startled exclamations rippled through the crowd.
"No way…"
"That person is…"
"Impossible. For an event this small, why would that one show up…"
Garol blinked in confusion and turned to look.
He saw a handsome man with black hair and black eyes, dressed in a sharp suit, walking into the inner hall while holding hands with a blonde woman in a moon-white robe, an olive wreath resting on her head.
Garol recognized the man instantly. His appearance matched the intelligence reports perfectly.
It was Ryo Yagami.
But the woman beside him…
"Pallas Athena. Why would she appear in person?" Garol muttered, his expression turning strange.
On the other side, Sala snapped out of her shock. Her face stiff, she turned to Garol.
"Elder, what do we do now? With her here, it's going to be hard for us to approach Arcadia's new leader."
"Let's stay out of sight and observe for now," Garol said quietly. "First Hermes, now Athena… looks like I stuck my nose in where it didn't belong."
Thinking of the secret letter he'd rushed to Apollo overnight, Garol let out a bitter laugh.
This time, he'd burned a huge favor and gained absolutely nothing in return.
If this were business, he'd have taken a catastrophic loss. Fortunately, he hadn't treated it like a deal.
For now, watching from the sidelines was best. The Greek side's attitude was just too strange.
Meanwhile, at the center of everyone's attention…
Ryo wore a gentle smile, tilting his head slightly as he whispered into Athena's ear.
"Are you planning to wreck my banquet?"
A banquet without so much as a word from the host, what was that supposed to be? A farce?
Before he could think further, a shrill cry rang out nearby.
"He kissed her! He actually kissed her!"
"Unbelievable! How could my goddess allow something like that?!"
"Let go of me! I'm going to die with that scum who defiled Lady Athena!"
The hall instantly erupted into chaos, and Ryo's mood went straight down with it.
Who the hell kissed her?!
This was just whispering, heads close together, that's all!
Were these people blind? This was a four-digit-only venue, wasn't it?!
At that moment, Athena turned her face slightly and asked, "What did you just say? Hmm?"
This time, it really did look like a kiss, even if it was only on her cheek.
Ryo froze for a split second, his eyes going blank. Then he quickly recovered, smiling again.
"There was something on your face. I was just helping you tidy it up."
Still smiling, he raised his right hand and pressed it to the spot he'd just kissed, smoothing it deliberately. A dark, malicious glint flashed in his eyes.
Playing mind games with me? I'll disgust you to death.
"Don't," Athena said softly, sounding a little resistant.
To outsiders, though, it looked like nothing more than coy reluctance.
'Something's wrong… Dammit. I fell for it…'
The thought had only just formed in Ryo's mind when he jolted, sharply turning his head toward the right corner of the hall.
Within his line of sight, the crowd had already parted, revealing a woman seated by the floor-to-ceiling window.
She wore a purple kimono.
White hair, golden eyes, tall and striking, with a pair of pure black oni horns rising from her head.
Ryo's mouth twitched hard when he recognized her.
That was Shiroyasha's adult form.
.
.
.