— — — — — —
Kalki, who had chosen to stay behind, was quickly taken away by Kurousagi, who had rushed over as soon as she heard the news.
Waiting for him would be round-the-clock surveillance and intelligence gathering under the watchful eyes of two Greek machine gods.
As for Lamia, after exchanging contact information with Leticia, she took her leave alone, returning to Ouroboros to report back and propose the new terms.
By the time everything was settled, it was already one in the afternoon.
At the municipal center cafeteria—inside one of the private dining rooms once used by Arcadia City to attract investors—Ryo hosted the members of Will-O-Wisp for lunch.
The meal was prepared by professional chefs. While it might not rank particularly high by Little Garden standards, it was top-tier for the city. Paired with local specialties, both sides found it thoroughly satisfying.
After everyone had eaten their fill, Ryo smiled apologetically at Willa.
"I've kept our lovely ally waiting for quite a while. My apologies."
Willa shook her head, her expression calm as ever, "Lamia… is very cute."
Ryo blinked for a moment, then chuckled. "That much is true."
He assumed Willa's favorable impression came from Lamia killing Maxwell, which made her unconcerned about the delay.
But then Willa added, "She smells very nice. Though… it's a little chaotic."
The smile on Ryo's face faded instantly.
He frowned, ignoring the curious looks from the others, and asked directly, "Willa, did you notice something?"
"A curse."
Her answer was brief, but blunt.
"It's rare, but the scent of a curse on her is very strong. Something is suppressing it, though."
At that, Leticia—who had been trying not to interrupt—finally couldn't hold back. "Are you able to identify what kind of curse it is?"
"Yes."
Though curses weren't her specialty, Willa was still a Great Demon. She was more than familiar with such things.
"It's most likely a bloodline-type curse. I can't determine the exact form, but… among direct relatives, it will inevitably bring calamity."
Ryo paused for a moment, then let out a quiet sigh. "Your perception is as sharp as ever, Willa."
"Oh? You noticed it too, Ryo-san?" Jack-O-Lantern looked surprised.
Willa sensing it made sense—her demonic nature gave her that kind of sensitivity. But Ryo? His Divinity should have been the most common human type.
Ryo shrugged. "I've worked with the Demon Star before, after all."
"Ah… I see…" Jack let out an awkward laugh.
In the past few days, rumors had spread like wildfire through the lower levels about Ryo's secret dealings with the Demon Star Algol.
And not long ago, Jack had even received intelligence—through Queen Halloween's faction—that Ryo had betrayed Algol.
To be honest, he hadn't expected Ryo to speak of it so casually.
Betraying an ally was a massive scandal. Most people would go out of their way to hide something like that. Even if Algol had a terrible reputation, being a traitor was worse.
Willa, however, showed no interest in that matter.
Instead, she studied Ryo thoughtfully.
She had already been puzzled by the sense of familiarity she felt toward him. Now, hearing that he had worked with Algol, she began to piece things together.
At the very least, the idea that Ryo had betrayed Algol didn't seem real.
The fact that she felt such a strong affinity toward him suggested their connection had been extremely deep—deep enough that traces of that power still lingered on him.
As one of the exceedingly rare demons left in Little Garden, Willa even suspected that Algol might still be residing within Ryo, rather than having fled as the rumors claimed.
Otherwise, it was hard to explain why that sense of attraction toward him remained so strong.
But just as quickly, she dropped the line of thought.
Regardless of the truth, Will-O-Wisp and Arcadia were now formally allied. There was no reason for her to expose him.
Setting aside the binding force of their alliance alone, Ryo had already resolved the threat Maxwell posed to Will-O-Wisp. That alone ensured her friendship.
Their alliance had been formed for two reasons: to strengthen their community—and to deal with Maxwell.
Now that Ryo had fulfilled his part, Will-O-Wisp would naturally honor the agreement and stand as a proper ally. On that point, Willa was perfectly clear.
After a moment, she glanced at Ryo, then at Leticia—whose expression had turned grim—and said softly, "Bloodline curses are difficult to deal with. You should prepare yourselves."
The presence of such a curse on Lamia almost certainly meant something had happened to her mother.
Following that line of reasoning, it was highly likely that Lamia's mother was being held by Ouroboros—used as leverage against Arcadia.
Which, in turn, meant that Ouroboros still harbored strong hostility toward Arcadia… and held a powerful card in reserve.
For Ryo, that was a serious disadvantage.
"Thank you for the information, Willa."
As the host, Ryo expressed his gratitude. After chatting a bit longer, Willa took her leave with her subordinates, preparing to return to the North Area and adjust her community's strategy to better coordinate with Arcadia.
With that, the alliance between the two sides was officially established—bound to support each other in both offense and defense against future enemies.
In a sense, Arcadia had now extended its reach into the North Area. From here on, intelligence and resources from that region would naturally be shared with them.
The same went for Will-O-Wisp. In fact, under Arcadia's protection, they could act far more freely in the North without worrying too much about offending local powers.
After all, the reputation of a four-digit rule-breaker carried considerable weight in the lower layers.
For now, it might seem like Will-O-Wisp had gained more from the arrangement—but in terms of long-term positioning and resource control, Arcadia actually held the advantage.
In the end, it was a mutually beneficial alliance.
...
Once everyone had left, Ryo let out a quiet sigh, finished off the fruit on the table, and looked at Leticia, who wore a guilty expression.
"What's wrong? Didn't everything work out? Why the long face?"
Leticia bit her lip, pushed back her chair, then dropped to one knee, one hand pressed to her chest.
.
.
.