"Ahem, ahem. As compensation for offending me, you shall become my divine attendant."
Clearing her throat lightly, Ishtar, dressed in a silver-red gown, pretended to be nonchalant, but Ryuya, familiar with her, immediately noticed her sneaking glances at him.
"Become the goddess's attendant, huh."
Deliberately putting on a thoughtful expression, Ryuya decided not to go to Uruk first this time, but to visit the other tribes instead.
"That's right! Being this goddess's attendant is a great honor. The aura about you... I'll reluctantly grant you the highest position of Divine General."
Her face slightly flushed. Actually, among a goddess's attendants, the highest rank was the one known as the Oathsworn. But this status was an ultimate achievement no one had attained for millions of years, because the Oathsworn was less of an attendant and more like a lifelong partner bound to the goddess.
"Divine General... It's tempting, but I'll have to decline."
"What do you mean by that?"
Shaking his head, Ryuya's voice wasn't loud, but it stirred up a storm in Ishtar's heart. Glaring at him with a displeased look, Ishtar didn't understand why Ryuya would refuse her.
'Had I, Ishtar, become too weak, or was this guy just too arrogant?'
"Exactly what it means."
Grinning, Ryuya found Ishtar quite amusing. He hadn't noticed during the previous simulation, but now it seemed this cute, lovely goddess was really quite simple.
For a goddess like Ishtar, one didn't need to be overly cautious or submissive. Just being one's true self, with a little gentleness and combining it with 'the price must be right', was enough to tame her.
"Ishtar, you can sense it too, right? The kingly nature about me."
"Mmm... Yes. Such a dazzling nature, even that arrogant guy from Uruk can't compare to you. And you don't seem entirely human, you have the scent of other Phantasmal Species too." She answered with a nod.
In Ishtar's view, Ryuya, bearing the titles of Sun-Crowned King and Ultimate Being, had a kingly aura that practically pierced the heavens. Never mind that Gilgamesh hadn't grown up yet, even if that arrogant guy matured, he would definitely not be Ryuya's match.
This was Ishtar's judgment, and she was certain of it.
"If you can sense it, then how can I, as a king, become your attendant? Don't you think so?"
Noticing Ishtar's body tense slightly upon hearing this, Ryuya continued, "A king and a goddess should be the closest of friends, right?"
"Friends?"
Blinking, Ishtar had no friends at all. Even the Bull of Heaven that always followed her was just a pet.
Seriously pondering the word 'friends' spoken by Ryuya, the more she thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. A certain goddess, who served as the intelligence benchmark, suddenly stood up and patted Ryuya's shoulder.
"You're right! We are good friends!"
Staring directly at Ryuya, Ishtar was so close he could feel her breath.
Laughing happily, a certain goddess, who had never experienced friendship before, felt that this feeling was really quite nice.
[You established a never-before-seen relationship with Ishtar. Ishtar, the intelligence benchmark, followed you, and the two of you headed towards the territories of the other tribes.]
[Your first stop was the self-proclaimed strongest Phantasmal Species, the Demon Tribe, ranked among the top three alongside the Beast-kin and Youkai. Here, you encountered strange-looking Black-Horned Demons, enchanting Succubi, burrowing Beetle Demons, Goat-Horned Demons, Bull-Horned Demons, Balrogs, and a whole host of various demons.]
[Among these diverse demons, most had rather Cthulhu-esque appearances, and their aesthetic standards were the same. In their eyes, races like Elves, Humans, and Succubi were simply ugly.]
"I can't take it anymore! Ryuya, what exactly are you trying to do? These demons are too annoying!"
Being looked at with the gaze reserved for idiots every day, even the omnipotent Ishtar felt uncomfortable. In the demons' eyes, she didn't see appreciation for beauty, but admiration for the courage of an ugly creature daring to go outside. Ishtar was about to break.
"Ah... but I think it's alright? They don't seem to find me ugly?"
Logically, with Ryuya's looks, he should also be considered ugly by demon standards. But the Ultimate Being Bloodline endowed him with the blessings of the Red and White Dragons, Fairies, Youkai, etc.
Under these multiple effects, his charm was nearly maxed out, as if he had a built-in filter.
Put it this way: the demons thought Ryuya's appearance wasn't up to par, but they would subconsciously view him through a 'photoshopped' lens, finding him not ugly but even... uniquely cute?
"I feel like you're tricking me, but I have no evidence."
Glaring angrily as Ryuya handed another bag of gems to a noble demon in the royal capital, Ishtar felt more heartache than anger.
"Ryuya, can't you be a bit more frugal? Those are my treasured gems!"
Yes, that's right. Ishtar, who valued treasure as her life and treated gems as her very existence, actually gave her gems to Ryuya.
This was as absurd as Monkey D. Luffy joining the Marines, Uzumaki Naruto wanting to be a Missing-Nin, or Kurosaki Ichigo recognizing Aizen as his godfather.
But the catch was, Ishtar did it voluntarily.
That was somewhat terrifying.
"Ishtar, trust me. This money is just an initial investment. We can earn it back hundreds, thousands of times over later."
To be honest, traveling among the other tribes was far more laborious than Ryuya had anticipated. As the saying goes, the first step is the hardest.
The difficulty of going from 0 to 10 million far exceeds that of going from 10 million to 20 million.
At this moment, Ryuya was stuck in such trouble.
The gold he brought from the Underworld had long been used up. Reluctantly, he started borrowing money from Ishtar.
Initially, he thought the goddess would refuse, since Ishtar's love for money was known throughout the Nasuverse.
But contrary to his expectations, Ishtar actually, albeit stingily and reluctantly, opened her little treasure trove and tremblingly handed over the wealth she had accumulated over many years to Ryuya.
"Ryuya, you are this lady's friend! I can't just stand by when a friend is in trouble!"
"You must remember this favor! When you make it big later, you have to repay me, hundreds, thousands of times over! Got it? Waaaaah..."
The more she spoke, the more wronged and sad she felt. Unable to finish her sentence, Ishtar ultimately couldn't bear to watch her gems leave her, so she simply gave all her gems to Ryuya.
At this moment, in Ishtar's heart, Ryuya, this 'friend', was her most important treasure.
Bar none!