— — — — — —
After handing over Zeus and collecting fifty thousand gold coins, which was roughly the referral fee from a single adult film's revenue share, Ryo left Big Banana Entertainment, idly twirling a blue card between his fingers.
Since Zeus's ownership rights and slave contract were still legally in Ryo's hands and this r-18 community was only using him on loan, Ryo would receive a cut from every film Zeus appeared in.
As for whether Zeus liked it or not... Who cared? If nothing else, it was a good way to squeeze some value out of him. At the very least, Ryo intended to earn back the five percent auction commission he'd paid.
Though he had no idea how many years that would take. The commission alone had cost him around 5,700 Ori Points. By Ryo's estimate, one Ori Point was worth about ten thousand gold coins.
"So I'll need about 1,140 films just to break even. Three shoots a day for a full year..." he muttered while doing the math. "Even the hardest-working people don't grind that much."
Bored, he actually calculated it seriously and came to one conclusion... This business was absurdly profitable. An income of 150,000 gold coins per day was enough to comfortably support the operation of a mid-sized Community with over ten thousand members.
As they stepped outside, Kurousagi, who had looked thoroughly disgusted by the Community's line of work, finally spoke. "Ryo... are we really okay handing Zeus over to them? Are you sure this is a good idea?"
Ryo couldn't help but laugh. "Relax. Big Banana is backed by Amun-Ra. He's got a score to settle with Zeus and would love nothing more than to make a joke out of him. We'll be fine."
If there were any real risks, Lakshmi never would have recommended the company in the first place.
Although she had looked rather awkward when introducing it.
'She probably never imagined I'd ask for something like this,' Ryo thought with a silent chuckle.
He took a deep breath before turning to the still-worried Kurousagi. "Anyway, next up is heading home. We'll leave through the Boundary Gate. And we'll do it openly, so nobody has an excuse to come looking for trouble."
The auction Ryo had organized drew countless gods from upper layers to Elm City. Most attended through their incarnations, descending as four-digit Heretic Gods.
And naturally, following behind them were the various divine kings from each pantheon, all hoping to compete for the coveted Two-Digit position.
These divine kings all maintained human Spirit Ranks. Their strength was generally fixed at the Five-Digit level, each starting with only a single ordinary Authority. If they wanted to grow stronger, if they wanted to win the Godslayer War, their human incarnations and the Heretic Gods had to slaughter one another like venomous insects trapped in a jar until only one survivor remained.
That was the Godslayer War.
But Ryo had absolutely no interest in getting caught in the middle of it. The black market auction's protections were already weak. Someone could easily decide to strike from the shadows. And as the man who had lit the fuse, despite not even being a participant, Ryo had made himself plenty of enemies.
If he wasn't careful, he'd end up surrounded.
Kurousagi blinked before letting out a snort. "Nobody would be dumb enough to pick a fight with you in the lower layers..."
The moment she finished speaking, Ryo fell silent.
A moment later, Kurosagi paused and looked toward the intersection ahead, where two figures had just appeared.
The atmosphere instantly froze.
She muttered under her breath, "...There really are people that stupid."
The words made the expressions of the two newcomers immediately sour.
A moment later, one of them, a tall, lean blond man wearing a Greek-style helmet, stepped forward. "Ryo Yagami... you criminal. Just as I thought. This is where you've been hiding."
"Hm?"
The word criminal made Ryo raise an eyebrow. His expression darkened, and he gave a cold snort.
The sound alone made the tall man instinctively take a step back, cold sweat breaking across his face. "Y-You're not thinking of attacking me, are you?"
His voice rose sharply. "Anyone who has not signed the Godslayer War Treaty and attacks a Heretic God without authorization will be hunted down by the Heavenly Army. Ryo Yagami, don't throw your life away."
"So you're with Greece."
It wasn't a question.
Ryo had offended plenty of people recently, but the only ones who still bothered to play by the rules were the Greek gods.
If it had been Ouroboros, they would've skipped the conversation entirely and gone straight for an ambush.
The blond man paused before lifting his chin proudly, "My name is Jason."
"Jason?" Ryo looked him up and down with mild surprise before narrowing his eyes with a smile. "Your wife Medea is quite something."
He was referring to the Fate version of Medea.
She was gorgeous.
Though he did wonder what the Little Garden version looked like.
"...What?" Jason froze.
Your wife is quite something?
What kind of comment was that? What exactly was he implying?
The hidden meaning behind those words made Jason's face redden until it looked like raw liver.
Beside Ryo, Kurousagi completely ignored the remark. As far as she knew, Ryo had never even met Medea.
She simply assumed it was his way of mocking Jason's earlier provocation.
"You..." she frowned. "Why are you attacking Ryo now? And why are you deliberately provoking him?"
"Ryo isn't a participant in the Godslayer War. If you continue making insulting remarks, then as an official judge appointed by Little Garden's Central Authority, I have the right to file a complaint and compel you to settle this through a Gift Game."
'He insulted me first! And you're sentencing me to death for it?' Jason stared at Kurousagi in disbelief.
For the first time in his life, he found himself questioning the legendary fairness of Little Garden's nobility.
"So this is how Moon Rabbits use the rules." Grinding his teeth, Jason forced himself to swallow his anger.
Kurousagi stood behind Indra's backing, and Moon Rabbits held a unique status in Little Garden. Picking a fight with her wasn't an option.
He turned back to Ryo, pulled out a scroll, and tossed it over. "This is the Godslayer War Treaty. His Majesty Zeus wishes to settle things with you in the Godslayer War. If you still consider yourself a human hero, then sign it."
Ryo caught the scroll, opened it, and gave it a quick glance.
After confirming it was genuine, he casually tucked it away.
"All right. I've got it."
Then he looked at Jason with a warm smile. "Now kill yourself."
.
.
.