— — — — — —
Leaving the underground safe room, Ryo walked through Arcadia's castle and out into the backyard.
Compared to before, the farm behind the castle had expanded enormously. Thanks to Kurousagi's relentless land purchases, it now covered more than 16,000 square kilometers.
In the outside world, that was roughly the size of an entire major metropolitan region. Most of it was rich, fertile farmland. The remaining mountains and valleys had been specially reshaped to grow rare crops that required unique environments.
It was no exaggeration to say that, out of Arcadia City's 120,000 square kilometers, Kurousagi had bought nearly all of the land best suited for farming.
Standing at the edge of the endless fields, Ryo watched with a proud smile. "My bunny is really talented."
He had never objected to Kurousagi spending money on land. If anything, she hadn't bought enough.
Among Upper-Level four-digit communities, it was practically standard for every faction to own an agricultural planet to feed their members.
Kurousagi's farms were all inside Little Garden itself, so the land had been more expensive than average, but compared to what true four-digit communities owned, this was still a drop in the bucket.
...
Following the stone path through the backyard, Ryo caught Kurousagi's familiar scent, circled halfway around the castle, and found her beside the reservoir.
At the moment, she was gripping a brown wild bull by the horns before effortlessly hurling the entire animal into the reservoir that supplied irrigation water to the lower fields.
Nearby, another dozen bulls stood trembling in terror.
Then with a loud splash, the brown bull disappeared beneath the surface.
Ryo distinctly saw a massive crimson silhouette waiting at the bottom. It seized the bull in its jaws before slowly sinking back into the depths.
His expression turned odd, "...What's going on? Why is Great Red living in the reservoir?"
"Huh? Ryo? You're finished already?" Kurousagi answered while casually grabbing two more bulls and tossing them into the water.
A moment later, Great Red surfaced again. Before long, a long black serpentine body rolled through the depths beneath the water, apparently competing with Great Red for the freshly delivered meal.
Ryo burst into laughter. Especially when he spotted the white snake, Shirayuki-hime, cowering pitifully in one corner.
"So Ophis and Great Red have moved into the reservoir now?"
"Oh, that?" Kurousagi blinked before continuing to feed the dragons. "When the two Dragons first arrived, they were waiting for the Center to assess their Spirit Rank."
"Lady Athena happened to pass by then. She said they hadn't fully matured yet—that they were still too thin—so she recommended fattening them up first."
"So she sent them here." She pointed toward the pavilion in the middle of the reservoir.
Growing there was a jade-green sapling that resembled carved emerald, tirelessly drawing moisture from the surrounding air.
"That's the divine tree Lady Athena brought. I heard it's a four-digit Gift."
"That was thoughtful of her." Ryo nodded appreciatively.
Having someone like Athena personally teach Arcadia how to raise dragons was a favor worth remembering. After all, very few people truly understood how pure-blooded dragons grew.
His idea of raising two Dragons had sounded good in theory... but he had to admit he was mostly winging it.
Compared to someone like Athena, who held authority over livestock, embodied wisdom itself, and had extensive dealings with dragons, he simply couldn't compete.
Thinking of that temporarily displaced goddess, Ryo asked, "Speaking of which, where is loli Athena?"
"She's at the academy, teaching the newcomers who just arrived in Little Garden. Um... Akeno and the others."
Ryo smiled.
He honestly felt sorry for Akeno Himejima and the rest.
They had finally made it into high school back in the lower world, only to arrive in Little Garden and start studying all over again. Life really wasn't being kind to them.
While Ryo looked amused, Kurousagi wore an awkward expression, "Um... Ryo... Is it really okay for Lady Athena to keep living here?"
"Why wouldn't it be?" Ryo looked at her in confusion. "She doesn't have any complaints. What are you worried about?"
"Well..." Kurousagi's face twisted with embarrassment.
She couldn't exactly tell him that Algol had spent the morning calling Athena shameless for trying to steal another woman's man.
The worst part was... Athena had smiled and admitted it without the slightest embarrassment.
'Does this mean I'll have to compete against the Goddess of Wisdom? I'm doomed...'
"Kurousagi, what exactly are you worrying about?" Seeing how uncomfortable she looked, Ryo frowned. "Did Algol stir up trouble again?"
"N-No! Of course not!" Kurousagi shook her head so hard it looked like it might fly off.
Even if Algol really had caused trouble, Kurousagi would have tried to smooth it over.
Besides, all that had happened was another argument with Athena. Even loli Athena had been caught in the crossfire and gotten annoyed, yet she hadn't said anything to Ryo herself.
With so many larger-than-life personalities living under one roof, there was no way Kurousagi could possibly mediate all of them.
Her poor rabbit heart simply couldn't take it.
"If nothing's wrong, then keep feeding them." Ryo pointed toward the reservoir. "Ophis is getting impatient."
The Dragon God had already floated to the surface in her true form, lazily blowing bubbles.
She looked perfectly content.
Judging by her leisurely expression, she'd clearly been enjoying Kurousagi's attentive care these past few days.
Having experienced that level of service himself, Ryo had to admit—Kurousagi was exceptionally good at taking care of people. No wonder Shiroyasha was always trying to poach her away from Arcadia.
"W-Wait just a moment." Kurousagi hurriedly tossed the remaining bulls into the reservoir.
The animals weren't domesticated livestock. They were premium offerings from the Beast Forest outside the city. Rumor had it they were descendants of Zeus himself.
Though Zeus's name came up constantly, quite a few beasts in Little Garden's lower layers really were his offspring.
Some had even been born after Zeus transformed into a female and had children with various races.
There was a reason people joked that if you gave Zeus a zoo, he'd eventually populate the world with thousands of new species.
...
Watching Kurousagi finish feeding the dragons, Ryo suddenly slapped his forehead. "Right, I almost forgot. Kurousagi, the Asuras are arriving today. Did you prepare everything I asked for?"
"You mean the liquor they like?" Without slowing her work, Kurousagi answered immediately. "It's all stocked in the warehouse. When you need it, just have Lily and the others bring it out."
The Asuras were much like the oni—heavy drinkers who would happily consume almost any alcohol.
Their favorite, however, was the Monkey King's Oni Sake, brewed by Shuten Dōji's community. It was a collaborative creation between Sun Wukong and Shuten Dōji, and was considered one of the finest wines in Little Garden.
Ryo had gotten along quite well with the current generation of Asura during their last meeting, so with them visiting again, it was only proper to prepare a few thoughtful gifts.
"Good." Ryo let out a relieved breath. "At least we'll be able to welcome them properly."
In his view, guests deserved good food and good wine. This wasn't exactly a family banquet, but serving drinks was the bare minimum.
Asura was a friend he genuinely got along with, so naturally he wanted to maintain a good relationship with her clan.
"What do you mean, 'welcome us properly'?"
A slightly goofy voice drifted down from the sky.
Ryo and Kurousagi looked up together.
A gigantic drake was circling overhead.
On its back rested a small palace, and leaning out from one of its windows was a white-haired, red-eyed girl, peering curiously at the pair below.
The Asura clan had arrived.
.
.
.