— — — — — —
The moment he heard that voice, Ryo's head snapped toward the source.
It came from his right—barely three meters away, from the couch.
Sitting there was a man in a deep purple suit with the collar undone, nails painted a glossy blue, and long blue hair tied into a loose ponytail. His posture was casual, almost flippant: one leg crossed over the other, arms resting along the back of the couch, watching Ryo with a half-smile that was hard to read.
Ryo's pupils tightened slightly. He swept his senses across the room and instantly noticed something off.
Leticia, Athena, Lancelot, Luo Hao, and the kids—gone.
The leftovers from last night's gathering had vanished too. The place still looked like his living room, but everything familiar was missing.
An alternate space?
Only then did he realize he and Black Rabbit were both still on the floor—he lying down, she sitting with her back against the sofa, fast asleep.
His head was resting on her lap.
Black Rabbit must've seen him doze off last night, let him stay there, and ended up falling asleep herself.
'We did drink a ton of divine wine last night,' Ryo thought, trying to ease the pounding hangover behind his eyes.
That wine had been a gift from Shiroyasha—apparently something she passed along after Black Rabbit impressed the god of wine during a Gift Game.
A brew strong enough to knock out even a four-digit god… too bad the wine god's community had made it clear the stuff couldn't be sold.
Ryo let out a quiet sigh, closed his eyes again, and mined deeper into Black Rabbit's lap.
"Tch."
The sound came from the blue-haired man, clear and annoyed. He clicked his tongue.
"You brat. You know who I am and you still dare take advantage of my great-granddaughter?"
Ryo turned his head toward him, expression faintly dazed, and muttered, "Guess I'm still dreaming. Maybe I should wake up my silly bunny."
"…." Indra fell silent for a moment, then sighed. "Cut it out. I'm not ready to face her just yet."
"Because he still feels guilty about failing to protect the Moon Rabbit tribe two hundred years ago…" Ryo immediately connected the dots.
Back then, the Moon Rabbit tribe had numbered over a thousand—nearly a thousand four-digit beings. But in a single night, they'd been wiped out by the Demonic Dragon, leaving fewer than ten survivors.
The Last Embryo of the three-digit level really was terrifying. Ryo couldn't help wondering how many "cosmos senses" he'd have to awaken to ever stand up to something like that.
Still, he could see now why Shiroyasha had said Indra was a god born with human emotions. The man was avoiding Black Rabbit out of guilt for failing to protect her people.
With that thought, Ryo slowly sat up, gently lifted Black Rabbit, and laid her down on the couch. He fetched his jacket from the coat rack and draped it over her.
Only after that did he turn and take the seat across from Indra, meeting his gaze calmly.
The god's grin looked paper-thin. "Hah. You're even more annoying than I expected."
'What, still mad I stole your cute granddaughter's heart?' Ryo complained inwardly.
Instead, he asked evenly, "You're here because of Mithras, right? I thought you killed him."
That was the only recent incident connected to Indra that made sense, so Ryo figured it had to be that.
At the name Mithras, Indra's lip twitched.
"You really aren't lovable at all."
He didn't bother to explain that Mithras hadn't actually died by his hand. Even if he didn't want to take the blame for his superior, arguing about it wasn't worth the trouble—especially with the Buddha in the mix.
"This matter's been settled," Indra said finally.
Settled? Ryo raised an eyebrow.
So he takes the Sun Authority, reports Mithras, and maybe even kills him—and it's just… settled?
Indra's tone stayed calm. "You're allowed to use that power now—openly, even. But only after you've ascended to four digits."
He paused, then added, "I know what's bothering you. Your growth's been too fast. So fast that people start pinning everything suspicious on you—world wars, godslaying incidents, take your pick."
'Well, they're not wrong,' Ryo thought dryly.
Indra let out another sigh. "Regarding the Cross, Buddhism, and Thousand Eyes have reached an agreement."
"Everything before your four-digit promotion will be given an official explanation. Even my superior is willing to help cover it up."
"But for your promotion itself, you'll need a plausible reason."
He gave Ryo a knowing look. "You promised Athena you'd act as her proxy, right? Observing unknown worlds in her stead?"
'So he's already dug up that much, huh… Probably because Thousand Eyes shares intel with the Buddhists.' Ryo nodded. "Yeah."
Indra returned the nod. "Then here's the deal. Choose a relatively safe parallel world to observe. Do that, and afterward, you'll ascend to four digits.
We'll make the whole process look legitimate—you'll be known as a lucky soul whose spirit rank skyrocketed after discovering a new world.
That kind of thing wasn't uncommon back in the dawn era. Given the current environment, we'll probably see more of those soon.
Once you ascend, you can freely use the Sun Authority. The Buddhists, the Heavenly Army, and Shiroyasha will all issue you a license, making its origin appear perfectly reasonable."
A teasing smile crossed Indra's face.
"As for the official reason—we've already come up with a few. Shiroyasha's little brother? Her godson? Maybe even her lover—well, she didn't approve that last one, but I heard there's a blade connecting you two, so you can pick whichever story you like."
'Shiroyasha, huh… She's been ignoring me ever since I started training my Cosmo.' Ryo sighed inwardly, then said, "Got it. I'll handle it."
Observing a low-risk world sounded reasonable enough.
He'd already spent a thousand points shortening the cooldown for the Bleach World—it'd be a waste of time to wait another month and a half before doing something again.
Still, the idea of becoming Shiroyasha's "something" made him hesitate.
Lover? Yeah, no—she'd kill me. Brother? Technically, she and I share the same spiritual essence; that's just… selfcest. Son? Ugh.
Forget it. I'll just let everyone else guess. The gods love gossip anyway, and none of them ever guess right.
He nodded slightly at his own conclusion.
Indra stood, glanced at Black Rabbit, and sighed. "Take good care of her."
Then he gave Ryo a sharp look. "You can fool around behind the scenes, but only behind the scenes."
Ryo smirked. "That coming from a 'senior expert' in the field?"
Everyone in Little Garden had heard the rumors—Indra knocking on widows' doors at night and all that.
Indra clicked his tongue. "You really are impossible."
He straightened, voice cooling. "This silent play will break once you use four-digit level power. I've got things to do, so I'll leave it at that."
With that, his figure vanished, dissolving into arcs of silent blue lightning.
Ryo waited, scanning the area carefully until he was sure Indra was truly gone. Only then did he let out a long breath and slump onto the couch beside Black Rabbit.
"So he just came to check on her and deliver a message from the higher-ups in Buddhism and Thousand Eyes, huh?"
He muttered to himself, "And maybe toss in a little warning while he was at it. Typical divine double standard."
After grumbling that much, Ryo exhaled deeply, let his mind drift, and sank back into the cushions.
He gave himself another ten minutes of quiet before finally gathering his thoughts to sort through everything he'd learned today.
.
.
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