The living room of the manor fell into a silence like death itself.
Shiroyasha stared at Athena — tossed carelessly at her feet like a worn-out burlap sack — and felt the corner of her mouth twitch, barely perceptibly.
Just a few minutes ago, she had been fretting that Athena's "Divine Fall" would trigger a catastrophic, irreversible disaster across human history outside of Little Garden.
Just a few seconds ago, she had been debating whether she needed to forcibly break the rules and intervene as the Night-White King, bringing divine judgment down upon human history.
And the result?
That war goddess — proud and haughty among the Greek divine host, securely enthroned in the three-digit tier even within Little Garden — was now sprawled flat on the floor, her silver hair caked in dust, the ferocious aura of a Defiant God that had once cloaked her completely smoothed flat by some thoroughly unreasonable force.
"Stirring up trouble with women? Hardly — I am, after all, a Star Spirit of some standing in Little Garden. Winning my favor isn't that simple~"
Shiroyasha was the first to break the silence. She snapped her folding fan shut, coaxed a smile onto her face, and let her golden pupils drift over Tsukishiro Yuki several times:
"Still, the young lady of your household is no simple figure herself... The returning form of the Son of God, Jesus — well, that explains everything. That does explain it all."
"Animus."
"How is it that I'm gone for only a day or two, and you've already gathered this many people around you?"
Tsukishiro Yuki paid no attention to Shiroyasha's probing. She simply tilted her head slightly, her pale blue eyes fixed unblinkingly on Suke, slender fingers casually hooking into the hem of his shirt.
That expression — cool and composed on the surface, yet radiating an almost overwhelming possessiveness — swept a cold gust over the growing number of girls now inhabiting this small courtyard, and made Leticia — who had just come upstairs carrying a tray of red tea — stumble mid-step, nearly launching the entire tray skyward.
"Well, you know how it is — they were a bit short-handed on this end."
Suke felt the vague but unmistakable pressure at his waist and very naturally reached up to run a hand through Tsukishiro Yuki's silky long hair.
"This is Shiroyasha — one of Little Garden's administrators. She's the one I've been commissioning to search for those kids."
"Mm-hm."
Feeling the touch at the top of her head, the tension at the corners of Tsukishiro Yuki's eyes melted away in an instant. She even narrowed her eyes slightly, like a contented cat.
"I don't have any objections to Animus finding help. It's just... let's start with the one who escaped from my world."
She glanced down at Athena lying at her feet.
"This false god caused quite a commotion in my world and nearly hurt Hiro and the others. Would you like me to erase her entirely?"
"Hey, hey, we absolutely cannot do that!"
Shiroyasha snapped her fan shut in alarm.
Even if she had no fondness for the Greek divine host's conduct, if Athena were erased by this young lady right here in the NoName manor, things would reach a point of no return. After all, Athena was, in essence, one of the keystones of Little Garden's continued operation.
"My lady, we did agree beforehand to respect the local customs! If you let this one erase Athena outright, Indra would probably leap off the Heavenly Gate and end himself on the spot."
Suke set down the fruit knife in his hand and glanced at the still-unconscious Athena.
The once-imposing goddess's Spirit Origin was currently being assimilated and eroded by the divine aura belonging to the Lord of Hosts — evidently, Tsukishiro Yuki's casual one-fingered tap had shattered something at the very root of her being.
"Since you've spoken up, Shiroyasha, I have no objection."
"Little Garden prizes Gift Games and contracts, doesn't it? As it happens, the farm NoName is running still lacks someone capable of overseeing land management. As the Goddess of Wisdom, I think she's rather well-suited for the role."
"Land management?"
Shiroyasha opened her mouth — then fell into helpless silence.
NoName had really come up in the world. A three-digit Star Spirit serving as security, and now a three-digit goddess serving as land manager.
"Besides, Leticia can't keep up on her own, and those Problem Children are all show and no effort."
Suke circled around Athena twice, then shot a glance at Tsukishiro Yuki. She caught his meaning immediately — with a point of her finger, a beam of spirit-light burst from the body of the Defiant God Athena and condensed into the unconscious form of Alger.
"That's settled for now."
"Alger's consciousness hasn't fully returned yet, so I'll hold onto Athena for the time being. If anyone from the Greek divine host comes asking, I'll leave Shiroyasha to handle them."
"Ah, this..." Shiroyasha's eye twitched again. So she was being used as a shield, was she.
"Little Yuki, deal with her. Make sure she doesn't misbehave."
"Of course, Animus."
With that, Tsukishiro Yuki snapped her fingers with casual ease.
The Immeasurable Light coiled around Athena instantly transformed into a dark-gold ring, clamping itself tight around the goddess's slender neck — like something out of a slave's collar.
Even Shiroyasha couldn't bring herself to keep watching. The Supreme Lord held dominion over all gods — those Greek divine host members had only themselves to blame for getting entangled with Them.
Morning sunlight spilled across the wasteland surrounding the NoName base.
Sakamaki Izayoi, cracking open a fresh can of Joja Cola, was leaning against the crumbled wall at the manor entrance, watching the scene playing out not far away with considerable amusement.
"Hey, Black Rabbit — who's that?"
"? Izayoi-sama, please don't joke around at a time like this..."
Black Rabbit was struggling to haul two heavy buckets of water. She followed Izayoi's gaze — and froze on the spot as though struck by lightning, the wooden buckets slamming down on her own feet with a resounding clang.
"Ow ow ow... wait — that... isn't that...?"
Several hundred meters from the manor, on a stretch of freshly cleared black earth.
A silver-haired girl of exquisite features, her long hair falling to her waist, was now dressed in a rough grey peasant work tunic, mechanically swinging a heavy iron hoe with stiff, reluctant motions.
Behind her, Leticia was giving patient instruction.
"Miss Athena, you need to till deeper here — otherwise the blessed seeds provided by the Farmer won't be able to take root properly."
"... You... You actually dare..."
Athena clenched her silver teeth. With every swing of the hoe, the dark-gold ring at her neck shimmered with a ripple of power — forcing her proud spine to bow down toward the earth.
"I am the Goddess of Wisdom. This sort of thing... this sort of thing..."
Being a goddess of wisdom and getting put to work was humiliating enough on its own.
But weren't they supposed to be talking about land management? Why was she the one doing the hard labor?!
"This is called the seniority system. Isn't it only natural for the newcomer to do the backbreaking work for those who came before?"
Leticia said with perfect composure, looking every bit like a seasoned foreman in a yellow hard hat, directing the new hire in the white hat.
"You'll get used to it. Look at the one over there — her attitude is much better than yours."
Athena followed Leticia's gaze. Not far away, along the ridgeline of the field, the violet-haired Star Spirit girl Alger was crouched in the dirt, arms wrapped around a large melon, gnawing on it with juice streaming down her face.
"What are you staring at, ugly?"
Alger mumbled through a mouthful of melon, her serpentine hair tendrils even mischievously curling up a tuft of weeds and flicking it precisely onto the tip of Athena's nose.
"Infuriating!"
Under any other circumstances, Athena would have cast everything aside and fought this Problem Child to the bitter end right then and there — then beaten her squarely and publicly before the assembled gods of Little Garden.
So this was what they meant by fortune's wheel turning.
Athena took a deep breath, and just as she reached inward for her divine power — a searing pain erupted from the ring at her neck, sending her vision black, leaving her no choice but to dutifully raise the iron hoe once more.
This entire scene made Indra — who had received word from Shiroyasha, hastily dismissed the Heavenly Army he had already assembled, and rushed over to assess the situation — question the very meaning of his divine existence.
The good news: the Divine Fall incident had been resolved at lightning speed, without so much as a scratch left behind.
The bad news: Athena, the supreme sovereign of the Greek pantheon, was now toiling away as someone's farmhand.
____
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