By the time Kurousagi returned carrying the drinks, she found Sachi and Ryo chatting cheerfully together. Sachi was all smiles, Ryo looked perfectly at ease, and the atmosphere between them couldn't have been more relaxed.
Beside them sat one particularly greedy little troublemaker, happily picking peanuts out of a bowl.
The three of them looked so harmonious that, for a split second, Kurousagi thought they resembled a happy little family.
'...Wait. A family of three?' She immediately spat to the side in embarrassment. 'What am I thinking?!'
Those were her great-great-grandmother and great-grandmother! Sure, the actual family connection was so distant that everyone simply dropped the countless "greats" for convenience, but they were still her ancestors. How could she have such disrespectful thoughts?
"Finally! The liquor's here!" The moment Asura spotted Kurousagi, she jumped to her feet to grab the wine jar.
As Kurousagi handed it over, Asura leaned in and whispered hurriedly, "I've got a really bad feeling about Mother today. Find an excuse to get me out of here later."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Kurousagi blinked, completely confused.
Asura looked at her as if she were hopeless and gritted her teeth. "I think Mother brought me here... for a matchmaking meeting."
After saying that, she shut her mouth immediately. If she said anything more, Sachi would definitely notice something was off.
She hugged the wine jar, pretending she simply couldn't wait to drink, and quickly started pouring herself a cup.
Naturally, Sachi caught her. "Asura, what did I teach you at home? Why are you pouring for yourself first? Pour some for Ryo too."
"...Okay." Asura obediently filled Ryo's cup with a bright smile.
Watching the scene unfold, Kurousagi suddenly felt her mind go completely blank.
At that moment, Sachi patted the seat beside her. With the ease of a hostess welcoming a guest, she smiled warmly at Kurousagi. "What are you standing there for? Come sit with Grandma."
"...Okay." Kurousagi forced a smile and sat down beside her, while inwardly crying tears of blood.
'I was here first... I was supposed to be the hostess... How did things end up like this?'
_ _ _
Meanwhile, Asura finished pouring four cups and placed one before everyone.
Without waiting for anyone else, she took a sip herself, munching on peanuts between drinks. Every so often she'd toss a handful into the reservoir, apparently trying to feed the dragons living below.
Ophis continued floating blankly on the water's surface, seemingly content just soaking in the reservoir.
Great Red glanced at Asura with obvious disdain before swimming away on his own.
Only Shirayuki-hime came rushing over. She still hadn't gotten over being denied the divine bull earlier and was practically in tears as she fought over the peanuts.
Watching a gigantic white serpent over ten meters thick shamelessly compete for peanuts was more than even Ryo could ignore. He reached into his Gift Card, pulled out several large chunks of beef, and tossed them into the water.
Shirayuki-hime looked at them and turned away in disgust.
She didn't want ordinary beef. She wanted the divine-blooded wild bull Kurousagi had fed them earlier. This cheap stuff wasn't even worth sniffing.
Ryo rolled his eyes, "Fine. Stay hungry, then."
Seeing that, Sachi couldn't help laughing. "That... unusually white snake—is she your pet, Ryo?"
She had almost called Shirayuki-hime a dragon, but after taking a closer look, she smoothly changed her wording and asked if she was Ryo's pet instead.
Even she found the thought ridiculous. Three pure-blood dragons in one reservoir?
She laughed at herself internally.
...No, wait. Two was also absurd.
Across all of Little Garden, there were so few pure-blood dragons that you could count them on your fingers and toes—and that was including every corner of the world and even the stars beyond.
Yet somehow, Ryo's community had gathered a whole nest of extraordinary monsters.
Even the Greek pantheon's headquarters in upper layers probably couldn't boast a lineup like this.
Sachi certainly didn't believe these dragons were leftovers from Arcadia's glory days. Ryo had clearly managed to charm them over somehow.
Whether it was his silver tongue or simply impossible luck... She was genuinely at a loss for words.
Thinking that, the way she looked at Ryo subtly changed.
If she'd been merely satisfied before... Now she was extremely satisfied.
That look immediately made Asura uneasy. She desperately shot signals at Kurousagi, begging her to hurry up and get her out of there.
At this rate, she was doomed.
Unfortunately, Kurousagi was still drowning in her own misery and completely failed to notice Asura's frantic gestures.
'Come on, rabbit...'
Asura was dumbfounded.
Wasn't this exactly when she should be doing everything possible to sabotage this "matchmaking session"?
Unless... had she misunderstood? Maybe Ryo and Kurousagi weren't that close after all, which was why Kurousagi refused to help?
The more Asura thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
And that only made her even more miserable.
_ _ _
Meanwhile, Ryo was explaining how Shirayuki-hime had come into his care, making sure to complain about the shameless snake while he was at it.
Sachi laughed repeatedly. "That explains it. I'd heard Lady Shiroyasha has a habit of collecting pretty little mixed-blood girls with fair shiny appearances just because she enjoys looking at them. That snake must have caught her eye somehow. Naturally, she took her in."
"But Shiroyasha can barely take care of herself, let alone anyone else. So whenever she inevitably raises another child into a disaster, she dumps them on a trusted friend who's actually good with kids. She's been doing that for ages."
Ryo couldn't help complaining, "So I'm running a daycare now?"
"Not quite." Sachi waved a hand with a smile. "If she entrusted the girl to you, she's definitely not planning to take her back."
Ryo wasn't particularly bothered.
After chatting for a while longer and finishing about half the wine, Ryo—his cheeks faintly flushed—finally steered the conversation toward its real purpose.
"So..." He smiled. "You didn't come all this way without a reason, did you?"
Sachi laughed, glanced at Asura—who was absentmindedly licking wine from her fingers with a vacant expression—and the corner of her mouth twitched before she continued, "Come to think of it, I never properly thanked you for yesterday."
"Yesterday..." Ryo immediately thought of the auction house, but his smile never changed. "You must be mistaken. I never left home yesterday."
Sachi paused. She stared at him for a long moment, her eyes searching his face.
Eventually, she let out a sigh, "I understand now."
"Understand what?" Ryo blinked.
Sachi sighed, "I finally understand why Indra dislikes you so much... and yet can't help helping you."
Ryo frowned, "Why's that?"
Sachi smiled knowingly. "Because you and that shameless old rogue are the same kind of person."
"I don't go after married women," Ryo replied without thinking.
The instant the words left his mouth, he realized he'd probably said the wrong thing.
Sachi, however, didn't react in the slightest.
Instead, she grinned, "Good. That's one thing you've got over that shameless old man. Your values are much healthier than his."
'Comparing me to Indra...'
Ryo felt personally insulted.
But in the next second, all thoughts of that vanished.
Sachi had taken something out.
"...Is that... the Authority of Shattering?" He stared at the white dagger in her hand.
It continuously cracked apart, only to reassemble itself again and again.
"That's right." Sachi smiled. "It's the Shattering Authority with 75% of its restrictions removed. It complements the 25% you already possess perfectly."
Ryo immediately understood.
This wasn't just another fragment, nor a Limit-Authority. She was completing his Shattering Authority, raising it to the level of a true divine Authority and unlocking its full potential.
"...You're too generous." He tapped the table awkwardly. "I'm afraid I can't accept something this valuable."
The gift was simply too expensive.
And whatever Sachi wanted in return... he wasn't sure he could afford to pay it.
Sachi smiled, "So... Is my offer not high enough?"
"That's not what I mean," Ryo answered somewhat stiffly. "You know me. I'm a man of principles."
Sure, he liked making money. But this wasn't haggling.
Then Sachi smiled sweetly, pointed at the absentminded Asura beside her, and said, "What if I throw this silly girl into the bargain too?"
"...What?" Startled, Ryo turned his head.
At the exact same moment, Asura looked over as well.
Their eyes met.
And Asura's face was filled with pure panic.
.
.
.