— — — — — —
No Name— or more precisely, Arcadia HQ.
The meeting room hadn't been used for nearly half a year, and today on September 26th, Ryo led the current core members inside.
"..."
When the Black Rabbit entered the spacious hall, she didn't sit down right away. Instead, she walked up to the head seat and looked at the golden flag hanging on the wall.
It was the Arcadia Alliance Banner — the one Ryo had reclaimed from Mithras.
In the Little Garden, it wasn't uncommon for a community to use its own name and flag as a symbol for an alliance, and Arcadia was one of those.
So, in their case, the community's flag and the alliance's flag were one and the same.
"Finally… it's back again..."
The Black Rabbit murmured to herself as she looked around the empty seats.
For a moment, she almost saw a vision — a woman with short golden hair, dazzling features, and that ever-present mischievous smile, sitting at the strategist's position, watching her.
"Canaria…" she whispered softly.
At the same time, Ryo had already dropped himself lazily into the leader's chair, crossing one leg over the other — even going so far as to prop it up on the long table.
"Doesn't feel that special, honestly."
His tone was teasing, deliberately casual.
Passing by him, Leticia smiled as she moved toward her seat. "Our leader is so cool."
Ryo quickly lowered his leg, coughed awkwardly, and straightened up in his chair.
It didn't last long. Within seconds, his elbow was on the table, chin propped in one hand, posture slipping right back into lazy ease.
Leticia just chuckled softly and said nothing, taking her place — the first seat on the right side of the table.
That had once been her seat, and by Arcadia's tradition, it was also the seat ranking for senior officers.
By that order, only three people had ever outranked her: the leader, Koumei Kasukabe, at the head; the strategist, Canary, opposite him; and the chief officer, Sun Lion of Suraya, first seat on the left.
Suraya's higher rank came from his immense power and prestige — he had once held the Leo Sun Authority generations ago.
Compared to him, Leticia's Ophiuchus' Sun Authority put her slightly below in status, but not by much.
"Oh my, this makes finding a seat kinda tricky." Lancelot scratched her head as she entered the room.
With Leticia seated first on the right — second only to Ryo Yagami— that put her… what, a few spots down? Counting the Black Rabbit and Athena, that would make her third seat on the left.
Just then, Athena appeared — still in her petite, childlike form, olive wreath resting neatly on her silver hair.
She smiled at Ryo as she entered, then walked toward the second seat on the left.
"You can sit in the first seat," Leticia said kindly. "Don't worry about rank; the seats don't mean anything."
Ryo couldn't help but think, 'You saying that pretty much confirms they do mean something…'
Still, he didn't interfere. It was his first time presiding as leader, and deciding internal seating order was the kind of thing best left alone.
Athena, however, tilted her head slightly, raising an eyebrow at Leticia.
"If it's not about rank," she said, smiling faintly, "then it's about emotional closeness, huh?"
Emotional closeness?
The Black Rabbit froze for a moment, her thoughts derailed. Almost on instinct, she glanced toward the first seat on Ryo's left side.
'Should I… move farther down? Maybe the corner seat…' Lancelot thought in mild panic.
'Athena, don't make me look like some kind of scumbag,' Ryo groaned inwardly, forcing a strained smile.
"Black Rabbit, you take the first seat."
That blatant favoritism earned him a pointed look from Athena.
Leticia, smiling with amused resignation, said, "Go on, Black Rabbit. Sit there."
"Ah— I… shouldn't, really…"
Black Rabbit took half a step forward, hesitated, then stepped back again, nervously glancing up at Athena.
'Wait, why am I nervous? It's not like she and Ryo are closer than we are,' she told herself.
"Hmm? Why are you all frozen like that?"
The voice came from Luo Hao, who had just walked in, glancing around curiously.
She noticed the few empty seats, snorted lightly, and said with cool indifference, "Arranging seats by strength? Works for me. Saves the fuss."
Then she calmly took the second seat on the right.
Pandora and Sita, though now in the Little Garden, weren't attending — their status didn't qualify them as full members.
'This is supposed to be a community, not a damn harem drama,' Ryo thought helplessly, letting out a sigh.
"By strength, huh? That's fine," Athena said with a grin.
She then slid into the first seat on the left, resting her cheek in her hand, facing Leticia directly.
"....."
'But I was the first one here…' Black Rabbit thought with mild despair, glancing at the head seat, then giving Ryo a look of wounded grievance before sitting next to Athena.
'Don't look at me like that… I tried, you didn't take it,' Ryo sighed internally, knocking his knuckles on the table.
"Alright, we'll leave the seating as is."
Looking up, Ryo eyed the long hall — a table that could seat over a hundred people — and gave a self-deprecating laugh.
"Just us."
This grand chamber had once been the high council's meeting room — back when a four-digit rank was the minimum requirement to even sit here.
'Yeah… still a long way to go,' Ryo thought wryly, smiling at his own expense. Then his tone shifted, serious again.
"Next— the meeting on community development."
He straightened slightly.
"I plan to raise us to a five-digit community soon — and formally announce Arcadia's return to the Little Garden."
He swept his gaze around the table.
"All in favor? Any objections?"
.
.
.