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Itogami Island, Basement Level Six of the Keystone Gate—
In the past, a security platoon equipped with specialized anti-demon gear had been stationed here year-round.
Their mission was to prevent magical criminals from sabotaging the deeper foundations of the island beneath the Keystone Gate, a special unit created precisely for that purpose.
After Ryo formally established the Dawn Empire, a third of this unit voluntarily retired. And the remaining members were transferred under Natsuki Minamiya's direct command.
Then, a year ago, when Asagi Aiba set up the Technical Development Bureau on Basement Level Six, this platoon also took over responsibility for the bureau's security.
...
A guard wearing a gas mask put away his instrument and saluted Ryo and Asagi.
"The inspection is complete. Thank you for your cooperation."
After speaking, he signaled to his teammates. Six fully armed guards immediately stepped aside, clearing the passage.
Asagi slipped her identity chip back into the pocket of her lab coat and turned to Ryo with a grumble.
"This is seriously annoying."
"Doesn't it strike you as ridiculous?" she went on. "The King himself getting stopped by his own subordinates just because he doesn't have an ID chip."
Ryo glanced at her. "I think you're doing this on purpose."
She was the one who'd brought him straight down to Level Six, yet now she was playing the victim. Petty, much?
Granted, the empire's founder vanishing for over a year right after its creation was pretty ridiculous too.
Asagi's voice shot up, her cheeks faintly red. "You're accusing me. Got any proof?"
Ryo didn't answer. He simply looked her up and down, sniffed slightly, then gave a low whistle.
"What are you doing? That look is creepy." Walking ahead, Asagi asked uneasily.
Ryo's lips curled into a half-smile. "You've grown up a lot, Asagi."
"Huh?" She froze, then her face instantly turned bright red.
"Mind your own business!" She spun around in a huff and deliberately picked up her pace. "Anyway, later you'll need to provide some blood data. I'll make you a DNA chip."
"Oh, a blood sample." Ryo nodded, then added, "If you want it for research, I can give you extra."
Asagi stopped short and turned back, surprised. "Aren't you usually really guarded about that?"
"And where did you hear that I'm guarded about it?" Ryo asked, equally surprised.
"From Natsuki," she replied, then paused before continuing. "She told me that when you first entered Itogami Island, you refused to let the guards collect a blood sample."
Ryo smiled faintly. "That's because I didn't trust them."
So that means… I'm someone he trusts?
Asagi blanked out for a moment, then pretended nothing had happened and started walking again.
"Oh. I see."
Ryo followed behind her, looking at her apple-red ears, and couldn't help laughing. "What's got you so happy?"
"Happy? Me?" Asagi patted her cheeks reflexively and put on a puzzled expression. "By the way, weren't you in a hurry to get information on Cain's legacy? Why are you walking so slowly?"
Ryo didn't answer. He only added a reminder. "Just so you know, don't waste too much effort studying my blood."
The blood of a Saint contained the power of Cosmos, but it also possessed extreme resistance. Trying to extract meaningful results from it wasn't impossible, but it was notoriously difficult.
"You're so annoying," Asagi muttered.
She sped up, and the two of them soon arrived before a massive metal door over six meters tall.
After fingerprint authentication, DNA verification, spiritual power validation, and a mental scan, a visibly tired Asagi pointed at the now-open archive room.
"For now, everything the empire's been able to collect is in there."
Beyond the door was a sea of computer servers, lit only by blue indicator lights and completely isolated from external networks.
Ryo looked mildly surprised. "No paper documents?"
"There used to be. Like I'd sit there reading a pile of that stuff."
Asagi led him inside.
Before the door closed, Ryo looked around for a light switch. Finding none, he asked in surprise, "Can you actually see in here?"
"I may not be amazing at it, but I did train in spiritual power for a while under guidance from the Lion King Agency."
As she spoke, Asagi walked to the only terminal along the wall, powered it on, and began typing at lightning speed.
"Information on 'The Cleansing', remaining evil god ruins, Cain's legacy, and the Deva.... they are basically all stored here. If what you want isn't here, you'll probably have to check the Empires of the Three Primogenitors, or maybe the remnants of MAR."
"The remnants of MAR?" Ryo asked from behind her, surprised.
"Huh? Right, you didn't know about that."
Asagi stopped typing and turned to him.
"A year and a half ago, after the senior members of MAR were killed by Meiga Itogami, abnormalities were found during the postmortem. They turned out to be decoys."
"Because of that mistake, Meiga refused the position of Chief of the Guard. He's apparently been chasing down the real MAR leadership off the island ever since."
Her expression grew more serious. "Based on the intelligence he's sent back, the MAR Group's leader, Sharyar or something like that, might be a Deva who's survived into the modern era."
"A Deva?" Ryo's brow twitched. "You're saying the leader of MAR is a god?"
"Exactly." Asagi nodded firmly. "Both the blood he left behind after being injured by Meiga, and the spells he used, prove he's Deva-class."
"Hold on." Ryo raised a hand, his expression strange. "Meiga injured a Deva? Head-on?"
"That's right."
Asagi looked puzzled, clearly not understanding why Ryo was fixating on that point.
"Meiga is one of the top combat mages around. Is it really that strange for him to wound a Deva?"
"And besides, Meiga is someone you recruited, right? He's your subordinate."
"No… that's not what I'm hung up on."
Ryo rubbed his temples, his expression complicated.
"How should I put this… In my experience, no, in Little Garden, gods are at least Five-Digit level. Even the weakest among them could wipe out surface civilization with their own power."
"…Huh?"
Asagi froze for a second, then stared at him with a thoroughly baffled look.
"Wait, are you seriously stuck on the idea that… Deva are way too weak here?"
"..."
Ryo fell silent.
Only now did he realize that his otherwise solid plan might have developed a very small, but very troublesome, flaw.
.
.
.