— — — — — —
Ryo's question was answered with silence.
Rebuilding the Arcadia Grand Alliance? Naturally, remnants of the old Arcadia era like Leticia and Kurousagi had no objections.
As for the newcomers, the idea of a large alliance was unfamiliar territory. With the benefits still unclear, most of them were simply willing to give it a try.
After all, anyone who managed to reach Little Garden had an adventurous streak.
Aside from a very small number of people—like Orihime Inoue, who had come here purely out of gratitude to Ryo—most didn't really have a reason to oppose it.
And someone like Orihime tended to follow Ryo's lead anyway, so she certainly wouldn't argue.
"So… unanimous approval?"
Ryo folded his hands under his chin, sounding half moved and half weary.
Moved because no one objected. Weary because no one objected.
Running a one-man show could feel pretty great, but it also multiplied the pressure.
Because in the end, every decision would be his responsibility.
Still holding a trace of expectation, Ryo looked around the room. "Then about potential allies. Any suggestions?"
"What about the Draco Greif Alliance?" Leticia raised her hand and spoke up.
"They were Arcadia's allies in the past. Even after we lost our name, and even when they were struggling themselves, they still sent us resources to help with reconstruction."
"Although Garol Gundark stepped down as leader, he still serves as a strategist for them. And their new leader, Sala Doltrake, used to be one of our allies too—a member of Salamandra."
"Personally, I believe they're trustworthy. That's all."
"The Draco Greif Alliance, huh?"
Ryo nodded slightly to show he understood.
In fact, he had already made contact with them before. Leticia bringing it up just made it official.
Of course, nothing was certain until a formal alliance was signed. They would still need proper negotiations later.
With that in mind, Ryo turned to the others. "Besides them, any other suggestions?"
"What about the Valkyries?"
Lancelot spoke with some uncertainty.
"They're the direct troops under Scáthach—the queen's attendant. If we establish contact with them, it should make the community's work in the South Area much easier."
As a war god who excelled at fighting rather than strategy, Lancelot was cautious when it came to these kinds of proposals.
At most, she would offer an idea and leave the deeper thinking to Ryo.
"The Valkyries…"
Ryo thought of the beautiful woman with the long braided hair and butler uniform.
If it was Scáthach's group, making contact wasn't a bad idea.
Besides, it would indirectly reveal the queen's stance.
With that thought, he nodded to Lancelot and looked around again.
This time, no one else spoke.
Most of them had only recently arrived in Little Garden, after all. Their contacts were still limited.
Lancelot could make a suggestion only because she had been interacting with the queen's subordinates recently.
Leticia, on the other hand, had simply been cautious. Among Arcadia's former allies, plenty had broken their agreements. Among the few who hadn't, most lacked real strength.
After tallying it all up, the Draco Greif Alliance was practically the only viable option.
"Um…"
Kurousagi shrank back under everyone's gaze and spoke nervously. "Should we maybe try contacting the Seven Great Sages?"
Everyone exchanged looks, then stared at Kurousagi with strange expressions.
The Seven Great Sages had another name: the Seven Demon Kings, powerful Demon Lords of Little Garden.
"D-Don't look at me like that… I know forming alliances with Demon Lords is taboo, but we're actually on pretty good terms!"
Kurousagi hunched her shoulders nervously.
As a Moon Rabbit responsible for refereeing games, recommending Demon Lords as allies really did sound a bit… questionable.
'But Arcadia desperately needed allies right now! I'm doing this for everyone… for the greater good… yeah, that's it…'
She quietly reassured herself.
"Pretty good terms?"
Ryo blinked, then said with a puzzled expression,
"If you're talking about Sun Wukong who once had a teacher-student relationship with Canaria, that would make sense. But isn't she in the Upper Layers?"
"N-No, not her…"
Kurousagi fiddled with her fingers and sneaked a glance at Ryo.
"Then who? And why are you looking at me like that? Just say it."
"…Lady Karyou," Kurousagi muttered softly. "The Great Sage who Leaves Heaven in Disarray—Roc Demon King."
Those who recognized the title immediately understood.
Leticia, who had met the Roc Demon King a few times before, looked baffled.
"The Roc Demon King? 'Pretty good terms'? Since when?"
It was true that Roc Demon King had a personal connection with Canaria, but calling it good might be pushing it.
Leticia had personally seen Canaria pull pranks on her—getting her drunk on divine wine, secretly plucking her sacred feathers, and plenty more mischief besides.
It was basically like a troublesome older sister bullying a kindergarten kid.
Well, Roc Demon King was a demigod. Demigods matured slowly. By demigod standards, when Canaria bullied her she'd only been the equivalent of a nine-year-old human.
Honestly, Canaria had been downright villainous.
…Could it be that in Kurousagi's mind, "good terms" meant "someone who bullies you a lot"?
Actually, that made sense.
After all, Kurousagi got bullied by Ryo all the time and never fought back.
So that's how she interprets relationships?
Just as Leticia reached that realization, Kurousagi continued under everyone's questioning gaze, glancing at Ryo again.
"Last time I saw Roc Demon King sitting with you in the flower garden…"
Ryo's eyelid twitched.
"Y-You were sitting really close."
He felt everyone's eyes turn toward him. His mouth twitched.
"It even looked like you were about to kiss."
Ryo's face immediately darkened.
"Stop right there. Are you blind or something?"
"Karyou was teaching me how to get familiar with my fire divinity. We weren't flirting."
"Ooooh," Loli Athena drawled. "Teaching, huh?"
"…Yes."
Ryo twitched again, hearing the tone in her voice.
"I understand," Leticia said, wearing a half-reproachful, half-shy expression.
Leticia, that face basically screams something's going on!
Sweat formed on Ryo's forehead.
He noticed that most of the girls were looking at him strangely now.
Aside from a few who hadn't caught on yet, everyone else clearly thought they "understood" his relationship with Karyou.
Damn it. This is the one time nothing actually happened!
"In that case," Unohana said with a bright smile, delivering the finishing blow, "the Roc Demon King should be invited personally by our leader."
"Right," Athena added innocently. "With the leader stepping in, it'll surely be effortless."
"We unanimously vote for you, Leader. After all, it's for… learning."
A chorus of women speaking in exaggeratedly polite sarcasm followed.
…Seriously?
Ryo's eyelid twitched.
"This topic is suspended for now."
"There are still two other communities, Will-O-Wisp and Salamandra. I'll see whether we should try contacting them."
"That's the end of this discussion."
"Kurousagi!"
"Y-Yes!"
She snapped to attention.
Ryo stared at her, teeth clenched.
"Since you're so capable, tomorrow's announcement ending the Gift Game and the task of contacting these communities are all your responsibility!"
"That's it for today."
"Meeting adjourned!"
.
.
.