— — — — — —
After her initial shock and anger, Kurousagi fell silent.
She wasn't stupid. It was obvious that Lakshmi belonged to Ouroboros, and that the World Dragon they had just met was most likely a member as well.
A force backed by Two-Digits...
Even without thinking too hard, Kurousagi knew Arcadia would be destroyed if it tried to fight them head-on.
Of course, that was assuming Algol stayed out of it.
But would Algol really throw herself into a life-and-death struggle with multiple two-digit beings just to avenge Arcadia? Obviously not.
From beginning to end, the only person Algol truly cared about was Ryo, not Arcadia.
Besides, who knew how many two-digit beings Ouroboros actually had? Even if Algol were willing to fight, victory was far from guaranteed.
With that in mind, Kurousagi had no choice but to think about Ryo's safety. He was Arcadia's pillar now. Every important member of the community depended on him.
After a long silence, Kurousagi tugged gently at his sleeve. "Ryo... accept their offer."
Ryo frowned and looked at her.
After a moment, he sighed. "I never expected you to be this clever, Kurousagi. I've learned something today."
"...Huh?" Kurousagi blinked.
Clever? She'd always been clever! She was a proud Moon Rabbit, blessed with every admirable quality.
But why was he suddenly bringing that up?
Kurousagi couldn't make heads or tails of what he meant.
"Everyone knows..." Ryo put on a solemn expression. "The best way to ruin someone is to stand behind them as their friend and stab them in the back."
"I never expected you to understand something like that." He nodded approvingly. "I'll have to reevaluate you. As expected of Little Garden nobility. You really know how nobles operate."
'He's slandering me! He has to be!'
'And Moon Rabbits are called the nobles of Little Garden for a reason! We serve as Judge Masters—the impartial referees of Gift Games.'
'Moon Rabbits are pure and innocent!'
Kurousagi screamed inwardly.
Outwardly, however, she calmly decided they should run for it.
After all, Ryo had just openly discussed infiltrating Ouroboros and stabbing them in the back in front of Lakshmi herself.
If they didn't run now, when would they?
But to her surprise, Lakshmi burst out laughing.
A loud, carefree laugh echoed through the area.
"Hahaha! You're a fascinating person. You're actually thinking about bringing down Ouroboros."
"Interesting. Very interesting."
Her eyes narrowed with amusement as she studied Ryo. "The invitation comes directly from one of our two-digit leaders. They're offering one million Contribution Points to recruit you."
She smiled, "I can give every single one of those points to you."
Ryo raised an eyebrow. "You're..."
"Making an investment." Lakshmi placed a finger against her lips. "Keep this to yourself. You'd be joining under my recommendation. By rights, that would place you under my faction."
"If my subordinates learned I'd invested this much in you... I'd have a difficult time explaining myself."
Ryo nodded, "I understand."
Kurousagi, however, looked utterly confused. "Um... Lady Lakshmi... I don't understand. What do you gain from doing this?"
Lakshmi smiled.
"It gains me quite a lot."
"Ouroboros isn't some united organization. In fact, it's little more than a loose alliance. Everyone joins for their own reasons."
She paused before smiling knowingly, "The people who destroyed Arcadia belong only to part of the First Faction."
"And that faction happens to be one of my own rivals. Do you understand now?"
"I see!" Kurousagi suddenly understood.
Simply put... the people most eager to see your enemies crushed were often your rivals within the same organization.
Lakshmi and the faction responsible for Arcadia's destruction technically belonged to Ouroboros together. But politically, they stood on opposite sides.
That was why she was willing to invest in Ryo.
Ryo had already guessed as much, so none of this surprised him. What did surprise him was the price.
Ouroboros was willing to spend resources equivalent to two Authorities just to recruit him.
That level of generosity made him think of something else. "And besides that, I should be able to negotiate a few conditions, shouldn't I? After all, that one million Contribution Points is just your personal reward."
"Smart." Lakshmi smiled. "So when you negotiate, make sure you ask for something expensive."
Ryo grinned and handed her a slip of paper.
Lakshmi looked down. Then the corner of her eye twitched violently. "You... Um... Don't you think that's asking a bit too much?"
Kurousagi leaned over curiously.
The paper was covered with single words.
"Time... Space... Fate... Causality... Creation... Destruction... Life... Death... Soul... Reality? What are these?"
"Authorities." Lakshmi corrected her. "Or rather... Limit-Authorities at the level of perfected ultimate Authorities. Most of these types are just priceless"
She sighed. "You've got quite the appetite."
Ryo simply smiled. "For Ouroboros... that shouldn't be too difficult, right?"
Lakshmi shook her head. "Some of them aren't. Others are unimaginably difficult. Out of everything on this list... You'll probably get one at most."
"What if I add in the Contribution Points I already have?" Ryo countered.
Lakshmi considered it. "Some are extremely difficult to acquire. The prices are outrageous. After all... you picked some of the finest Authorities in existence."
She folded up the paper with a sigh. "I'll do what I can."
Even she couldn't predict how much Krishna would be willing to pay to recruit Ryo. Still, since she'd already invested in him, she intended to prove her worth.
"That's good enough." Ryo was perfectly satisfied. Every Authority on that list suited him perfectly.
And from the information he'd glimpsed on the black card earlier, perfected Limit-Authorities and completed Divine Authorities were valued equally. The starting price for either was five hundred thousand Contribution Points.
Which meant... in theory, Ryo could acquire as many as eight of them.
Realistically, because he'd specifically requested the most valuable ones, he'd probably only receive three or four.
Even so, that was already astonishing.
"Don't bite off more than you can chew," Lakshmi warned him. "Your conceptual foundation is still far too weak."
"I'll work on that," Ryo answered with a smile.
Still with the Hōgyoku assisting his learning, he didn't think it would take long. Certainly not the centuries an ordinary five-digit would need.
Lakshmi gave him a sideways glance, "Anything else? At this rate, I'm going to start wondering whether you've mistaken me for your personal errand runner."
"Just one small favor." Ryo smiled.
To Lakshmi, that smile looked exactly like a fox plotting mischief.
"What is it?"
"Help me find a community that specializes in... adult films."
...
..
Half an hour later
"Then I'll leave everything in your capable hands."
Inside the reception room of a film production community, Ryo smilingly handed over the Gift Card containing Zeus' counterpart.
The community leader seized Ryo's hands with tears streaming down his face. "Please rest assured! We'll gather the finest male performers from every race to ensure His Majesty Zeus makes the most dignified debut imaginable!"
"We'll promote him throughout every corner of the Lower Layers until he becomes Little Garden's hottest movie star!"
Hearing that, Ryo slowly broke into a grin. It was a smile filled with pure, unrestrained malice.
"I'm looking forward to seeing the results."
Outside the building...
The illuminated sign gleamed brightly beneath the lights— Big Banana Entertainment Co., Ltd.
.
.
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