— — — — — —
Inside the hotel arranged by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Second Primogenitor, his purple hair tied into twin tails, sat on the sofa painting his nails. "So the one staying next door is that pure-blooded spirit medium from the Kingdom of Aldegyr?"
Opposite him, Giada was on the floor doing yoga, legs split cleanly. "Feels like it, yeah. That scent. A pure-blooded spirit medium…" She shrugged. "Aldegyr's saintly bloodline has always been pretty stable. It's normal that Ryo noticed them."
"Heh. So Ki Juranbarada still hasn't forgotten the past. He didn't have the heart to wipe out his own bloodline."
Aswad let out a soft scoff, smiling faintly. "Bet he never imagined that daughter who refused to become a vampire would go on to build a whole kingdom."
"Guess that's the karmic debt he left behind in his youth."
Giada chuckled at the absent First Primogenitor, then rolled her neck. "Still, saint-type bodies that are easy for higher-dimensional energy to possess do have some value."
"I don't really get how things work in Little Garden, " she added thoughtfully, "but a bloodline that can reliably produce angels? Ryo's definitely going to care about that."
Hearing this, Aswad glanced up at Giada and said flatly, "Four-digit beings are called true gods. If you're a god, you naturally need angels to serve you."
"I wonder if Little Garden's descent techniques are any different from ours…"
Giada mused for a moment, then suddenly looked toward the door.
At the same time, Aswad shifted his gaze as well.
They both sensed someone outside.
Knock, knock.
"Your Excellencies, His Majesty requests your presence." The voice beyond the door belonged to Sayaka.
— — —
The living room door opened.
Ryo, seated on the sofa, looked up toward the entrance.
Sayaka, hand still on the doorknob, stepped aside to let the two guests enter, then quietly closed the door behind them.
Ryo's gaze landed on the man to his left—though he looked completely like a woman.
Long dark-purple hair tied into youthful twin tails. A face that looked young, even bearing some resemblance to Asagi, yet his eyes were aged and weathered, completely at odds with his appearance.
"Aswad Guul Aziz, " Ryo said, his tone confident.
"That would be me, " Aswad replied, inclining his head slightly, calm and composed.
"Have a seat."
Ryo gestured to the sofa opposite him, then shot Giada a warning look when he caught her playful expression.
The two Primogenitors sat down one after the other.
Ryo spoke casually, "Red wine or apple juice?"
"Red wine."
"Apple juice."
Aswad and Giada exchanged a glance.
An old man pretending to be deep. An old woman pretending to be young.
They silently shared the thought, then looked away.
Ryo opened a bottle of red wine. As for the apple juice, he grabbed a can from the side.
"Honestly," he said, "I'm pretty surprised that two of the three Primogenitors are willing to follow me to Little Garden."
"Mind telling me why?"
As he spoke, his gaze rested squarely on Aswad.
He was genuinely curious about this Second Primogenitor. Rumors painted him as a hardcore shut-in, but what he'd seen so far didn't match that image at all.
Being stared at by someone as unfathomably deep as Ryo made Aswad feel slightly uneasy.
But he quickly reined it in, showing not a hint of emotion, and replied with a half-smile, half-sigh, "Because it's interesting. And because it's fuel for people like me."
Ryo couldn't help laughing. "That… sounds exactly like something an old acquaintance of mine would say."
Beings who lived too long had their minds worn down by time. Some became unshakably resolute. Others grew numb beyond repair.
Like Avalokitesvara, who was originally male but willingly changed to a female form as faith shifted. Or Zeus, king of the Greek Gods, who still managed to commit countless absurd acts.
These immortals fought for power and indulged their desires for many reasons, but at the core of it all was one thing.
Boredom.
Little Garden itself had been created to address that very problem. A place for long-lived beings to find amusement.
But hardly anyone remembered those origins anymore.
After a moment of reflection, Ryo looked back at Aswad with a faint smile. "You might actually be well-suited to Little Garden."
"Yes... But before adapting to the environment, survival comes first. In an unfamiliar world, without Arcadia's protection, I'm afraid I wouldn't even be able to grow safely." Aswad's tone was sincere, as if without Ryo's help, he really would be helpless in Little Garden.
"Don't lay it on that thick."
Ryo laughed and waved it off. "Even before gaining a Divinity, you already meet part of the five-digit requirements. Once you're in Little Garden, you'll be at least five-digit."
"That already makes you a powerhouse in the lower layers. If you couldn't survive, that would be weird."
"But just a local powerhouse, right?"
Aswad's smile turned subtle.
Take Sayaka, for example. In some rural part of Japan, she'd be considered a top-tier attack mage. That counted as a powerhouse too, didn't it?
But compared to the entire Strike the Blood world, what was one Sayaka worth?
And Little Garden was an even vaster place. The gap between its upper and lower layers was probably countless times greater than here.
A 'local powerhouse' in the lower layers was nothing more than an ant in the eyes of mid-tier four-digit beings.
Aswad had grown accustomed to being a giant in this world. If he went to Little Garden just to become an ant, where was the fun in that?
Better to find a reasonable organization to rely on.
And Arcadia just happened to be perfect for that.
Ryo didn't respond immediately. After a brief silence, he asked, "So this is a deal, then?"
Ryo would provide early-stage protection. Aswad and Giada would offer their full cooperation.
That was what he needed to confirm.
Aswad turned his head and exchanged a look with Giada. Then he smiled, "This can be a deal."
Ryo tapped his index finger lightly against his thigh, thought for a moment, then said, "There's something I need to make clear first."
"Please."
Aswad's expression grew serious. Anything Ryo took seriously was not something he could afford to dismiss.
Ryo narrowed his eyes, his tone turning firm.
"In Little Garden, the concept of vampires is already under someone else's control."
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