Then Aslan was snapped back to reality by a smack from Shiroyasha's fan.
"Seriously! I'm not joking. Was this all your doing?"
Shiroyasha's face showed no trace of jest. With her golden eyes, she stared at him intently.
Shiroyasha slightly opened her mouth, speaking silently.
Instantly, Aslan realized the gravity of the situation.
Shiroyasha's superiors? Who was Shiroyasha?
Shiroyasha, the Geocentric Theory, the Spirit Star of the Sun and White Night. If she reclaimed her Geocentric Theory, she would be a Two-Digit-level entity.
No one in Little Garden stood above Shiroyasha.
Except for the two creator and end goddesses, Alpha and Omega, who would dare claim to be above Shiroyasha?
The Goddess of the Beginning [Alpha] and the Goddess of the End [Omega].
They represented the start and end of the Little Garden world, the rules of Little Garden, and the prototype of the world equivalent to the initial creator (Alpha) and the final creation (Omega).
They had existed since the construction of Little Garden began, and even among the Two-Digit beings [Full Authority Domain], they were exceptionally special existences.
Thinking of this, Aslan sighed.
"I didn't expect this would disturb those two."
"I haven't even started causing trouble."
"Alright, I'll be honest. It's related to me, but not by much."
Aslan spoke very seriously. He was merely a butterfly that had slightly flapped its wings.
The storm that arose had nothing to do with him.
The cause of all this was Athena's doing; he had only leaked a tiny bit of information.
"You little brat, so it really is connected to you."
Shiroyasha was stunned. Hadn't Aslan just been playing with Karyou or wandering around with her these past few days?
How did he have the energy to cause trouble?
(I really underestimated this kid's ability to stir up chaos.)
"It's not that exaggerated."
Aslan waved his hand, urging Shiroyasha not to make a fuss and to stay calm.
"Enough with the 'stay calm.' It's already way too exaggerated."
Shiroyasha rolled her eyes, speechless. She hadn't forgotten the mess Aslan caused in Perseus.
However, that was just a surface-level commotion. It seemed big, but its impact would fade in a few days, and people would forget it.
In contrast, the chaos he quietly created directly affected the situation in Little Garden, throwing it into complete disarray.
It even scared Ouroboros enough to pull out Arcadia's flag to draw attention.
"Fine, let's just say this has nothing to do with you."
Shiroyasha winked at him. She planned to keep it hidden from her superiors. After all, the trouble Aslan caused wasn't small.
Aslan had many secrets. If he were truly caught by her superiors… well, it might not be a problem.
Shiroyasha scratched her head irritably.
Her superiors might act like the Halloween Queen, betting big on Aslan and nurturing him.
But Shiroyasha didn't want Aslan to catch her superiors' attention.
Shiroyasha didn't know what her superiors were thinking, but what hadn't she done? She had been obedient and calm for years; a little rebellion wouldn't hurt, right?
Shiroyasha thought with a guilty conscience.
Then she took out a piece of wood engraved with the symbols of the beginning [Alpha] and the end [Omega] and placed it on the table.
Next, she took out an incense burner, lit three incense sticks, and inserted them into the burner.
In front of Aslan, she waved her hand in front of the wooden shrine.
"Superiors, I've investigated thoroughly. This has absolutely nothing to do with Aslan."
Then Shiroyasha put the items away. She glanced left and right guiltily before looking at Aslan, who had a slight smile on his face.
"What are you looking at? Never seen someone burn incense before?"
Aslan suppressed his smile, waved his hand, and said to Shiroyasha with a touch of emotion.
"Indeed, I haven't. So, this is how you contact the two goddesses?"
Aslan showed an expression of newfound knowledge. But it made sense, considering they were Two-Digit-level beings.
Two-Digit beings knew everything that was spoken, so the simplest and most efficient way was to burn incense directly.
"Hmph~"
Shiroyasha snorted with a bit of pride.
"Of course. If you want, you can contact me this way too."
"I've learned something new."
Aslan couldn't help but clap, looking as if he'd just gained some insight.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Meanwhile, in an indescribable place, a place that existed only before the beginning and after the end.
A tall, holy figure and a petite, slightly plump figure sat at a table filled with tea and snacks.
Listening to the voice coming from Shiroyasha.
"Superiors, I've investigated thoroughly. This has absolutely nothing to do with Aslan."
They couldn't help but let out a pleasant little laugh.
"Looks like Little Shiroyasha isn't naughty."
The taller figure spoke in a teasing tone, as if looking at her sweet daughter who had started to rebel.
The main thing was Shiroyasha's guilty appearance right now, so adorable that they couldn't bear to expose her.
"Indeed, Little Shiroyasha is naughty. What should we do? Maybe we should give Little Shiroyasha a little punishment."
Omega looked at Alpha curiously, expecting Alpha to offer a suggestion.
"It's rare for Little Shiroyasha to grow a bit, so let's let it slide this time."
Alpha pondered for a moment, holding her chin, then decided to forgive Shiroyasha's little rebellion this time.
After all, this kid couldn't cause big trouble, and Shiroyasha's small rebellion had brought them plenty of amusement.
"However, she still needs a little reprimand."
Alpha showed a mischievous smile.
"Since Little Shiroyasha has her own little money pouch, let's just tighten the financial management of Thousand Eyes a bit."
"Alright, let's do that."
Omega had no objections. It was just blocking Shiroyasha's path to using community funds for personal gain.
Poor Shiroyasha still had no idea what was coming for her.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
"Hatchoo!"
Shiroyasha rubbed her sharp nose, looking around warily, then staring at Aslan and observing Kurousagi.
"What's wrong, Boss?"
Aslan looked at her with slight confusion. What was Shiroyasha doing? Why was she suddenly so cautious?
"I don't know, but I feel like this has something to do with me. But it shouldn't be a big deal, right?"
Shiroyasha scratched her head, puzzled. She was a bit doubtful whether her Two-Digit status was fake.
Someone was plotting against her, and she couldn't sense it? That was impossible. Or was it just pure illusion?
"Forget it, I don't care."
Shiroyasha chose to stop thinking. No matter how much they schemed, they couldn't possibly kill her.
Surely her superiors didn't think she was too prosperous and wanted to make her life harder?
No way, absolutely no way.
"Alright, alright. We've played and caused enough chaos. Let's continue talking about your community's flag."
A smile appeared on Shiroyasha's face. She happily opened her folding fan, marked with the symbols of the two goddesses, and fanned herself lightly.
"I got word that your community's flag will be the grand prize of a Gift Game. Only if you achieve the final victory can you reclaim your flag."
"However, I don't know the specific details of the game, but the only thing I can guess is that its scale likely won't be less than that of a War."
"A Divine War scale isn't out of the question."
A massive Gift Game involving multiple Four-Digit-level participants, played on a planetary-scale arena.
If held in Little Garden, it would involve several Four-Digit communities, overseen by the Heavenly Forces.
Above the scale of a War was a Divine War between Pantheons, a high-intensity conflict with Four-Digit-level beings as generals and Five-Digit-level beings as soldiers.
Six-Digit-level beings didn't even qualify to participate.
As she spoke, Shiroyasha's expression gradually turned serious. She looked at Aslan with utmost gravity.
"Are you sure you want to participate?"
"You could just wait for Arcadia's old allies, like the Greek Pantheon, to win, retrieve the flag, and return it to you."
Though Canaria was never hesitant to stir up trouble, in reality, from the Dystopia War to Absolute Evil, Arcadia had built many connections.
Especially Dystopia. Many Pantheons owed Arcadia favors. Using this opportunity to repay them wasn't impossible.
In other words, if Aslan and the others were willing, they could just sit back in the community and still retrieve their flag.
But that would also lower the gods' evaluation of the current No Name and the future Arcadia.
A reborn Arcadia like this might lose its qualifications to carry its past ideals and to face the Last Trial of Mankind.
If even their flag required others' help to reclaim, who would believe they could bear the great responsibility of confronting Absolute Evil?
Kurousagi didn't speak, only looking at Aslan with hope. She didn't have the authority to make decisions for him.
She knew full well that Aslan had no real ties to the past Arcadia. The only connection was one fabricated by Shiroyasha.
It was already generous enough for a stranger to lead No Name to survival. What more could she ask for?
But deep in her heart, she couldn't help but hold a sliver of hope, wishing Aslan would truly become Arcadia orbaned the leader of Arcadia one day.
To truly become her family, to truly merge with Arcadia.
Aslan could lose No Name, and it wouldn't affect his life one bit, but if No Name lost Aslan, they would truly lose their chance at revival.