When Ryo noticed Asura staring at him, he froze for a moment. "Why are you looking at me? Did you get on your mother's bad side or something?"
"W-Why would I ever offend Mother?" Asura protested, her cheeks flushing as she quickly looked away.
"I see, I see." Ryo nodded with an exaggerated look of understanding.
"Hey." Sachi calmly took a sip of wine. "I'm still sitting right here. If you're going to slander me, at least have the decency to be subtle about it."
The corner of Ryo's mouth twitched.
He turned his head... only to find Kurousagi gazing at him with unmistakable resentment.
His expression stiffened even further, and he silently looked up at the sky instead.
Asura blinked, then looked up as well. "Is someone hiding up there?"
"No." Ryo sighed. "I'm just worried someone might be aiming his spear at me from above."
He might as well have said he was worried Indra was lying in wait to snipe him.
"Haha, don't worry about that." Holding her wine cup, Sachi laughed. "That idiot won't object. And if he does, tell me. I'll make sure he stops."
"..."
Ryo looked speechlessly at the domineering beauty before him.
She said it with such confidence... But he had a feeling that before he ever got the chance to complain to her, he would already have "stopped."
Still, there was no way he could simply ignore what she'd proposed.
After a moment's thought, he said, "I don't really understand how you powerful people operate. But I do know there's no such thing as a free lunch."
He tapped the table lightly, his expression turning serious. "A complete Authority... And a four-digit rule-breaker powerhouse. What exactly are you and Indra after?"
"You," Sachi answered without the slightest hesitation, smiling brightly. "We're after you."
"Mother!"
Asura finally couldn't sit still anymore. Her face bright red, she shouted, "Have you been drinking too much?!"
Then she immediately started frantically signaling to Kurousagi. "Quick! Rabbit! Take Mother somewhere so she can sleep it off!"
"..."
Kurousagi glanced at Asura but didn't move.
Instead, she quietly muttered, "I think Lady Sachi seems perfectly sober..."
Asura stared at her in disbelief.
Four or five seconds passed before she finally managed to squeeze out, "What are you after?!"
She had always assumed Kurousagi and Ryo were in that kind of relationship. Even when she'd been complaining about Kurousagi earlier, she'd never doubted it.
But now... She genuinely had no idea what Kurousagi was thinking.
'What am I after? You, obviously...' Kurousagi mumbled to herself.
A four-digit powerhouse marrying into Arcadia certainly made her feel as though someone had plopped a giant green hat onto her head.
Then again... After everything that had happened, her hair might as well have turned completely green. From the women Ryo had brought back from the Demon Slayer, Campione!, Strike the Blood, Bleach, and High School DxD... What was one more Asura?
Even if her feelings were complicated, wasn't this ultimately a good thing for Ryo? A good thing for Arcadia?
If everyone else stood to benefit, then she had no reason to oppose it.
Unfortunately, Asura's glare was so intense that Kurousagi instinctively shrank back.
"So you're in on it with Mother!" Asura's eyes reddened as she glared angrily at her.
"Of course not!" Kurousagi immediately protested. "This is the first time I've ever met Lady Sachi!"
"You are! I saw it!"
"I'm not!"
"You are!"
Watching the two oversized children argue, Ryo couldn't help twitching his lips.
He understood where they were both coming from.
Asura thought Kurousagi and Sachi had secretly teamed up. But Ryo knew that was impossible.
As for Kurousagi's behavior... He understood it perfectly.
This was basically another Aishelia situation.
After all, Ryo was technically still engaged to Aishelia, the leader of Perseus. Had Kurousagi ever seriously objected to that?
Not really.
That was simply the kind of person she was. If sacrificing herself benefited her companions, she'd accept it without hesitation.
Or rather... Moon Rabbits were like that.
In a sense, it was practically a racial flaw.
Suppressing a sigh, Ryo looked back at Sachi and quietly transmitted his thoughts. "Enjoying teasing your daughter?"
Sachi smiled sweetly, "Don't you think teasing Asura is fun?"
She paused, "Walking a dog... I mean, teasing."
You definitely said "walking a dog" the first time.
Ryo resisted the urge to point it out.
"Ryo, why do you think I'm insisting on sending my daughter here?" Sachi then said meaningfully.
Ryo paused. Then something clicked. "Because of Indra exposing his injuries?"
"Smart." Sachi smiled approvingly.
Previously, Ryo had cooperated with Asura to ambush Indra, inadvertently revealing that his injuries hadn't fully healed.
The consequences of that incident had finally begun surfacing.
Although Sachi and Indra supposedly lived apart, it was obvious their relationship wasn't nearly as cold as outsiders believed.
If anything, they still deeply cared about each other.
Which meant that once Indra's weakness became public and his deterrence diminished... It naturally affected Sachi as well.
"Internal politics within the Asura race?" Ryo guessed.
"Exactly." Sachi nodded before sighing. "There's also this silly puppy joining Ouroboros as a guest member without asking anyone. And now there's all the chaos surrounding the Godslayer War. I'm worried someone will use this child as a weapon against both Indra and me."
Ryo immediately understood.
So that was why she was willing to pay such a steep price to send Asura here.
Because everyone knew the newly ascended strongest being, Algol, was widely believed to be Ryo's backer.
That made Arcadia, in practical terms, the only truly safe haven in the lower layers.
A sanctuary protected by someone at the two-digit level. Even the hardliners within the Asura race wouldn't dare make a move against Asura there.
And anyone hoping to use her against Indra would first have to consider whether they wanted to offend Algol.
As for the Authority of Shattering... that had simply been the "rent."
Sachi's relentless teasing of Asura probably carried a little maternal revenge as well. After all, her daughter had accidentally exposed her own family's greatest secret.
Everything fit together now.
Ryo tapped the table thoughtfully and narrowed his eyes.
At the end of the day, this whole mess had started because of him and Asura. He had no reason to refuse responsibility.
If he'd helped create the problem, then he should help deal with the consequences. He was already inclined to agree.
Before he could say yes, however, a black card slid across the table toward him.
"...What's this?" This time he spoke aloud.
Sachi's action had already caught both Kurousagi's and Asura's attention.
"An Ouroboros Black Card. It has five hundred thousand contribution points stored on it. Two hundred fifty thousand came from Indra. The other half is from me." She blinked playfully. "Think of it as her dowry."
"Deal." Ryo accepted the card with a grin and casually handed it to Kurousagi.
The first two hundred fifty thousand was Indra's agreed-upon share from "selling himself."
The remaining two hundred fifty thousand... that was the actual boarding fee.
As Ryo silently mocked Indra for being stingy, he also had to admit one thing. Being supported by a rich woman really did feel amazing.
As for whether all that money had originally come from Indra anyway... Who cared?
"Mother!" Asura practically jumped to her feet. "What on earth are you thinking?!"
The next instant, Sachi's eyes filled with tears. "It breaks Mother's heart to send my precious little girl away... But Asura, you're a grown woman now. And... well... You're not exactly the brightest. So Mother had no choice but to half-sell, half-marry you off like this..."
As Asura listened, she slowly drew the blade strapped across her back.
Her expression became colder with every passing second.
"...I'll stop." Sachi immediately raised both hands with an innocent smile before turning to Ryo. "I'm leaving this child in your care."
Ryo nodded solemnly. "Don't worry. I'll take good care of her. At the very least, I'll make sure she gets to live the kind of life someone with average intelligence deserves."
The next instant, a flash of steel split the air.
"You two don't say another word!" she roared, veins bulging on her forehead.
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