— — — — — —
"Say cheese!"
Mata, silver-haired with crimson eyes, hooked her right arm around Ryo's neck while holding a North Area–made smartphone in her left hand. She flashed a grin at the camera.
Ryo instinctively smiled. Click. His face and Mata's were captured together in a clean, front-facing shot.
"Not bad~ You actually know how to cooperate," Mata said, flicking through the photo with her finger. She tightened her grip on Ryo's arm and laughed. "Another one?"
"Mata… you're crossing a line…" a woman's voice said gently, carrying a note of warning.
Uesugi Kenshin walked over, looking at Mata with faint exasperation. "Delete it."
"How could I?" Mata shot back without thinking. "I worked hard to trick him into a photo."
Kenshin glanced at her sideways. "And tomorrow you crop out his face and post it in some tabloid gossip rag?"
Mata opened her mouth to argue, then grabbed at empty air with her left hand. She froze.
At the same time, Ryo calmly took the phone, deleted the photo, and said, "A souvenir is fine. Ending up in the papers isn't."
He tossed the wiped phone back to her.
Mata checked it, confirmed the data couldn't be recovered quickly, and clicked her tongue. "One second ago I thought you were pretty cute. Not anymore."
"Sorry to disappoint," Ryo said with a shrug. Then he glanced at Kenshin. "So, which big shot is this?"
"Shouldn't you be asking me directly?" Mata protested immediately.
"Prithvi Mata," Kenshin said flatly. "As you can see, she's a woman who loves snooping into other people's privacy and never filters her mouth."
She then looked at Ryo, her gaze flickering slightly. "By the way, I haven't congratulated you yet on becoming Arcadia's leader. Want a present?"
"A Gift? Or cash?" Ryo replied with a grin.
"You really don't hold back," Kenshin sighed. She pulled a palm-sized silver alarm clock from her clothes and tossed it to him.
Ryo caught it easily, felt it over, then looked up in surprise.
"An emergency contact device from the Heavenly Army," Kenshin explained. "If you run into a powerful Demon Lord, use it."
After that, she glanced at Athena nearby. "If the Heavenly Army can't respond in time, the Cross's angels, Olympus's Twelve Gods, or the Twenty-Eight Constellations will take over and deploy immediately."
A life-saving item… or maybe more like calling the cops to clean up after the fact? Probably the former. Ryo didn't refuse. He carefully stored the alarm clock in his Gift Card.
"Hopefully I'll never need it."
"Everyone who gets one says that," Kenshin replied, her expression subtle.
"Oh come on, why are you suddenly getting so serious?" Mata laughed, still hanging onto Ryo's neck. She yanked him closer, nearly tucking his head under her arm. "This kid's tough and fast enough to snatch things from me. He looks like the type who can always run away!"
As she joked, Mata suddenly lowered her voice and sent a hidden transmission. "Ares just left Mount Olympus. Current whereabouts unknown. The Asuras also suddenly pulled back their forces. Kid, watch yourself."
Ryo's pupils tightened slightly. He said nothing about it, only responding calmly, "If it's about speed, I'm fairly confident."
Mata blinked, then burst out laughing. "Hah! You really know how to dress up 'running away' to sound respectable."
She turned her head and raised an eyebrow at Athena, who had been watching the whole time. "Wow, you care that much about this little guy? Don't tell me you're serious about him."
Athena's expression didn't change. She smiled softly, but her words carried a sharp edge. "If I see gossip written by you in tomorrow's papers, I won't mind crushing your business."
Mata stiffened, her face freezing for a moment before she forced an awkward laugh. "C-come on, at least consider a goddess's dignity!"
"Sorry," Athena said calmly. "There are a few days every month when I specifically don't care about dignity."
"And I hope I won't have to say this a third time, Prithvi Mata."
Mata's mouth twitched. She got the message.
If anything even slightly explicit hit the papers tomorrow, Athena would really kill someone.
That crazy woman… Mata cursed under her breath as she quickly sent a message to the newsroom, telling them to halt the article. She had no desire to be targeted by Athena.
What a shame. This scoop would just have to make other tabloids rich instead. Mata shrugged in resignation.
Just then, Athena glanced at the arm still hooked around Ryo's neck.
"…Seriously? You're policing this too?" Mata muttered, then released him, speechless for a second.
She suddenly sensed something on herself. A faint, incomplete, hidden mark.
Her mouth twitched as she turned to look at Ryo, who wore an utterly calm expression. "Brother, what's with marking me?"
Too little time. The mark wasn't fully formed. Ryo sighed inwardly in regret, then explained, "Nothing much. I just thought it'd be good to establish better communication with someone as well-informed as you."
Yeah right. You just want to beat up shady editors, don't you? Mata didn't believe a single word.
Good thing she let go quickly. If the mark had fully formed, she could've run to the ends of the earth and still been dragged back for a beating.
This guy looked gentle, but his heart was ruthless. No wonder Athena liked him.
"I think you're repaying kindness with hostility," Mata complained.
She'd just warned him, and he responded by slapping a tracking mark on her. That was cold.
"It seems you've misunderstood me, Lady Mata," Ryo said with a smile.
"How so?" Mata asked, startled.
Ryo paused, then replied, "You can remove the 'I think' part."
Mata's smile vanished instantly. She looked at Ryo, then at Athena, and silently retreated behind Uesugi Kenshin.
"Serves you right," Kenshin muttered under her breath.
She then looked at Ryo and Sala. "Things are going to get chaotic in the lower layers. Be careful."
With that, she grabbed Mata by the back of the collar and started dragging her away.
"Hey! Kenshin, what are you doing? Let go! I can walk on my own!"
"What were those two even here for?" Sala asked, watching them leave with a strange expression.
"To give a warning," Ryo replied. He then looked at Garol. "So, after the banquet, want to come by my place?"
As he spoke, Ryo suddenly sensed a presence.
His expression paused. Seeing the seriousness on Garol's face, he understood and turned to look toward a corner of the room.
There, a white-haired girl with pure white oni horns sat on a sofa, staring at them with clear impatience.
"Who's that?" Ryo asked.
"The Asura Queen," Garol replied quietly.
Then he added, "She didn't come with good intentions."
"I understand," Ryo said, nodding.
He gave Athena a brief apologetic look, signaling that he needed to step away alone. Then, with an easy, unhurried expression, he walked toward the woman across the room.
.
.
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