— — — — — —
"Damn. This is way over the top."
The moment he stepped onto the frozen grounds of Olympus, Ajuka couldn't help drawing in a sharp breath.
Just looking at the sheer scale of the ice was enough to make him feel cold.
"That's only because you haven't seen the people inside the main hall. If you had, you'd be even more shocked," Azazel grumbled as he rubbed his goosebump-covered arms and walked out.
"How's it going in there?" Ajuka asked.
"Serafall's handling it. Ice powers are her specialty, after all. Though before I came out, she was busy making fun of Aphrodite."
Azazel wore a strange expression, as if the memory itself was amusing.
"I see..."
Ajuka relaxed slightly.
Serafall could be a complete airhead sometimes, but when it came to serious matters, she was dependable. As for her mocking Greece's greatest beauty, it was probably best to pretend he hadn't heard about it.
As he thought that, he looked around Mount Olympus and sighed at the frozen landscape stretching in every direction.
"That person really went too far."
Charging into enemy territory alone was already outrageous enough. The most frustrating part was that he had actually won.
When your leader was this absurdly capable, what were the rest of them supposed to do?
"Tell me about it. So many cute goddess ladies got hurt. It broke my heart." Azazel said it with a grin, though there wasn't the slightest trace of sympathy in his eyes. If anything, he seemed pleased.
Everyone knew about the bad blood between the three factions and the Greeks.
The Greeks had looked down on their side as weaklings and chose to target the Fallen Angels. Naturally, the Fallen Angels had wanted a bite back.
In short, they were enemies.
Back in Europe, they had spent plenty of years fighting over territory.
...
After chatting for a bit, Azazel patted Ajuka on the shoulder, "He's waiting for you at the shrine behind the mountain. Probably something important. Put in a good word for your old buddy, will you?"
"I'd rather not have an old buddy like you."
Ajuka shot back, though he didn't brush Azazel's hand away. Instead, he turned and headed down the mountain path that circled toward the rear.
Even though only a few days had passed, Ryo's intention to groom Ajuka had become almost impossible to miss.
Anyone paying attention could see it. On Ryo's side, the people he valued most were talented individuals.
Second place probably belonged to beautiful girls.
But in the end, talent outweighed everything else. That was why Ryo agreed to Aizen's request to build a community of his own. He was worth it.
Naturally, a mountain of binding contracts was signed after Aizen joined the Arcadia Grand Alliance. Ryo had no intention of trusting a master manipulator like him without safeguards. After all, this was Aizen.
...
Not long afterward, Ajuka found Ryo inside the shrine behind the mountain.
Ryo had just finished examining Gaia, the Mother Earth.
Literally examining her.
Ignoring the heavy breathing coming from another room, Ajuka looked directly at Ryo and bowed, "Governor."
Technically, Ryo should now be addressed as the Supreme Leader. However, among insiders—especially those who had taken part in the peace talks—many still called him "Governor." It was a subtle way of signaling familiarity. At least, that's what they thought.
"You're here."
Ryo wiped the slime from his hands with a handkerchief before turning around with a smile, "Ingville and Lavinia aren't angry at me, are they?"
Ajuka smiled faintly, "Perhaps you'll need to spend some time explaining yourself when you get back."
"Ooh…" Ryo could only sigh. After all, he was the one who hadn't kept his promises to the two of them and had disappeared for two whole days.
Ajuka's expression then turned serious, "Governor, according to our intelligence, remnants of the Old Satan Faction have made contact with surviving members of the Council. We still don't know what they're planning."
"At the same time, there's trouble in the East. Susanoo has died under mysterious circumstances. The evidence left at the scene is… somewhat unfavorable to us. And Indra of Mount Meru was attacked as well. He suffered only minor injuries, but the details are still unclear."
"Besides that, several smaller organizations seem to be stirring in our rear areas. Looks like we're about to become everyone's favorite target."
"Target, huh." Ryo stuffed the handkerchief into his pocket, completely unfazed.
The Old Satan Faction and the Council were most likely Rizevim and the remnants of the Seventy-Two Pillars.
As for Susanoo's death and Indra's minor injuries, they were actually part of the same incident.
Indra had gone to kill Susanoo. And the result was that Susanoo ended up dead, while Indra walked away with only minor injuries.
Taken together, it meant trouble for Indra.
Taken separately, it meant trouble for all three factions.
After all, who had just invaded Greece with great ambition and captured a large number of goddesses? The three factions.
The bird that sticks its head out first always becomes the target.
"Should we deal with them?" Ajuka asked, sounding surprisingly inclined toward military action.
"Not yet. Let things play out a little longer. One problem at a time. We handle the urgent matters first."
Ryo wasn't in a hurry.
There was no point. With this many issues piling up, the only way forward was to tackle them systematically.
"Ajuka, what about that talent development project? How's the preparation coming along?"
"You mean the plan to select members from the three factions and provide them with the new educational program?" Ajuka's tone remained calm.
The so-called new education referred to knowledge about Little Garden.
In Ryo's eyes, that was far more important than most people realized.
Bringing people back to Little Garden wasn't difficult. The problem was that a divine war over there had practically just begun. Throwing complete rookies straight onto the battlefield would be sheer stupidity.
Training them beforehand was essential. And thanks to the time difference between Little Garden and this world, they could complete that training in advance.
Better safe than sorry.
"The preparations are already underway. Candidates should be in the process of being assembled."
Ajuka's answer sounded almost bureaucratic, but the work was genuinely progressing. At the very least, Ryo had a great deal of trust in his abilities.
Not that he had much choice. Among the three factions, there were only a handful of people who could actually get things done, and every one of them was buried under work.
Even the already-dead Creator God was complaining that Ryo's labor practices were exploitative.
"Ajuka... I'll make some time to review the training program myself. During that process, I'd also like to meet with representatives from the vampire side. That shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Ajuka immediately understood, "Are we persuading them to surrender, or recruiting them?"
Ryo caught the meaning instantly.
Ajuka wasn't asking about the vampires themselves.
He was asking what stance the three factions should take toward this small fringe power.
Ryo narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Neither. It's an order."
.
.
.