— — — — — —
Inside Bubble Room 177—
A noblewoman dressed in an elegant black kimono sat gracefully at the table. A pair of jet-black oni horns rose from her forehead, lending her an air of regal authority. Without the slightest hesitation, she casually pressed the button to raise the bid.
Moments later, Turtle's excited voice echoed through every room, "Guest Number 177 bids 1.35 million! Going once! What?! Guest Number 1011 bids 1.36 million! If I were Indra, I'd just sell myself at this point!"
"Pfff!"
The woman beside Sachi burst into laughter.
Dressed in a crimson kimono patterned with cherry blossoms, with snow-white oni horns atop her head, Asura laughed so hard she nearly doubled over.
"Hahaha! That turtle is actually pretty funny! Hahaha!"
"..."
Sachi glanced at her daughter. Seeing her laugh so freely, even she couldn't help curling the corners of her lips. "That's enough. You're a queen now. It's not very dignified to laugh like that."
Asura grinned and wrapped herself around her mother's arm. "But there aren't any outsiders here, Mom."
"Even then, you should mind your manners." Sachi lightly flicked her daughter's forehead before hearing Turtle announce another bid. "So that counterpart was really released by Arcadia?"
Asura thought for a moment. "According to the information we bought from Thousand Eyes, yes. Though I heard Ryo obtained him from Algol."
"Ryo Yagami..." Sachi looked thoughtfully at her daughter. "You two are close?"
"I guess?" Asura recalled the events. "I originally went there to kill him. That didn't work out, and we ended up joining forces against the Greeks instead. Later he helped me with something, so... we're acquainted now."
"I see..."
Sachi nodded before asking casually, "How many people are in his family? Are his parents still alive?"
Asura blinked in confusion. "His family? Does Kurousagi count? As for his parents... he's never mentioned them. I think he came here from an Observed Universe."
"A hero, huh..."
Sachi looked rather satisfied.
There were two ways people from the Observed Universe entered Little Garden: voluntarily or through summons. Great heroes could sometimes be directly summoned by the Little Garden Central System, one of the primary sources of newcomers from the lower worlds.
Sachi had apparently assumed Ryo belonged to that category.
"Does he have many women around him? Besides that fellow's follower, I mean."
"Huh? Well..." Asura scratched her head before looking at her mother in confusion. "There are usually a lot of girls around him. They all seem to get along with him pretty well. Um... Mom, if you want to know more about Ryo, why not just buy information from Thousand Eyes? I don't really know that much."
"...Intelligence reports can't tell you everything," Sachi answered calmly before changing the subject. "You gave him the Limit-Authority of Shattering I gave you?"
Asura nodded, "Of course. Repaying kindness is important. You're the one who taught me that."
Sachi replied evenly, "You're still young. You need to understand that not all favors carry the same weight. This time, what you gave him wasn't enough."
She looked straight at her daughter. "He helped you while risking permanently offending that idiot. Remember that."
"I understand." Asura nodded obediently. "I'll find another way to repay him later."
Then she asked curiously, "Mom, the price has already reached two million Ori Points. Aren't you going to bid again?"
"No need to rush. Let the price climb a little higher first."
Sachi paused before fixing Asura with a meaningful look. "I've changed my mind. Contact Ryo with your communication Gift right now and arrange a meeting."
"..."
Asura slowly realized... something about this felt very, very wrong.
---
"Following?"
Inside Room 133, Mata smiled knowingly at Indra, whose face had gone the color of spoiled liver.
His former lover had appeared specifically to buy his counterpart. The message couldn't have been any clearer.
She wanted to force Indra to meet her.
Mata only had to remember the expression on Sachi's face to know that a spectacular drama was about to unfold.
Tomorrow's headline practically wrote itself: {"Is Indra Wearing the Horns? The King of Homewrecking Finally Gets Cucked by His Own Counterpart!"}
That would sell like crazy.
Meanwhile, Indra sat there with a dark expression as Turtle continued announcing bids.
The price climbed by ten thousand at a time, quickly reaching 2.32 million, before slowing to increments of one thousand.
After what felt like forever, Indra finally gritted his teeth, "Mata... lend me some money."
Mata smiled sweetly. "Indra, I've got valuables worth another 900,000. I'll lend you 90% of their value, and you'll repay me 130% of the principal. Interested?"
"Fine!"
Indra clenched his jaw, accepted without hesitation, quietly exchanged a few words with Sachi through a private channel, then slammed the bid button.
Onstage, Turtle froze before erupting with delight. "Guest Number 133 bids 2.4 million! Any higher offers? Anyone?"
Before anyone else could respond, Indra deliberately cleared his throat, "Ahem."
It wasn't loud. But every single participant heard it perfectly.
Zeus raised an eyebrow and signaled the attendant below him to stop bidding.
Amun-Ra snorted, flames flickering around his body, before simply closing his eyes.
Odin, who had still been hesitating, immediately gave up and settled back in silence.
Some gods sneered. Others smirked knowingly.
But every one of them stopped bidding.
The ever-rising price finally came to a halt.
Mata burst into laughter. "Hey, that's against the rules. You just threatened everyone."
"Nonsense!" Indra immediately protested. "My throat's just sore! Since when is clearing your throat considered a threat?"
She shrugged, "I don't care either way. Just remember, you still owe me interest."
"I know, you money-grubber."
Rolling his eyes, Indra poured himself a drink and settled back confidently while listening to Turtle continue the count, "2.4 million, going once! 2.4 million, going twice! 2.4 million..."
"Oh!! Guest Number 177 bids 2.5 million! Any higher offers?!"
The wine overflowed from Indra's cup, spilling over his hand.
After a long silence, he finally squeezed out a single word, "...Fuck."
Then, looking utterly miserable, he muttered, "The Asura clan shouldn't have that kind of wealth. Sachi must've sold the love token I gave her."
The realization left his emotions in complete turmoil.
_ _ _
"...Seriously? So Indra got stabbed in the back." Ryo smiled knowingly, "Heh! Nothing hurts like an old lover turning on you."
Shiroyasha chuckled as she pulled out a communication Gift, "Oh? Sachi's contacting me."
She glanced over the message, then raised an eyebrow. "Hmm... she's asking for a loan? The collateral is two Divine Authority artifacts. Well, well. So that's how she's doing it."
Kurousagi immediately understood. "Great-Grandmother sold her love token...? That's..."
Ryo patted her head. "Let's stay out of this. Relationships like theirs are nothing but trouble."
As soon as he finished speaking, his own communication Gift buzzed.
He pulled it out, looking puzzled.
"Asura wants to meet me?" He blinked. "Is she asking to borrow money?"
Shiroyasha stared at him. "The funding gap's that big?"
Then her eyes narrowed suspiciously, "...Hold on. Why would she come to you for money? The way you two get along is starting to look a little suspicious."
"Oh, get lost." Ryo rolled his eyes and accepted the invitation.
After all, Asura had once given him a top-tier Limit Authority before.
She was one of the few people in Little Garden he could actually call a friend. Meeting her once wasn't exactly something he could refuse.
Just as Ryo finished replying, Turtle brought the hammer down with a loud bang. "Sold! 2.5 million, going three times! Congratulations to Guest Number 177 for purchasing this Indra!"
"And now... on to our second item!" Smiling broadly, Turtle watched as Indra's counterpart was teleported away from the stage before solemnly introducing the next lot.
An elderly man with white robes and a long white beard slowly appeared beneath the lights.
Bang!
Turtle struck the table again.
"Our next item is..." He dramatically raised his voice. "The legendary man said to be capable of breeding with any race imaginable! Man or woman, it makes no difference. Even a tree isn't safe from his advances..."
"The god who rules the skies and commands the lightning... the current King of the Greek Gods... Zeeeeeeus!"
He paused, "...Or rather, Zeus' counterpart."
At that moment, Ryo narrowed his eyes and stood up, "I'm stepping out for a bit. I'll be right back."
"Hm?"
Shiroyasha studied him for a moment before nodding.
Ryo glanced once at the stage, then turned around.
The next instant, he vanished into thin air.
.
.
.