Crossover: The Problematic Human of Arcadia — Shaper of Anime Worlds Chapter 185: Glenda the Dragon (Bonus)

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"Co on, Nagisa, pour our guest a drink."

At that soft instruction, Nagisa—her cheeks already flushed—shyly tilted a ceramic bottle and poured the amber liquid into Ryo's cup.

The sake was slightly cloudy, not entirely clear, and its rich aroma of rice filled the air.

It tasted excellent, no doubt about that—but for so reason, Ryo felt there was sothing else in the scent. A special fragrance. Unique.

When he leaned in to get a better whiff, he even noticed the sa faint scent on Nagisa herself.

He took a small sip, then smiled in appreciation.

"Fragrant, rich, and soft. This is seriously good sake."

"It's just regular homade rice wine," Nagisa quickly downplayed, as if afraid Ryo might get the wrong idea about where the drink ca from.

He didn't press her on it or tease her about the blush spreading across her face. Instead, he smiled and said,

"Homade, huh? If it's not too much trouble, how about selling a few bottles? I'd love to take so ho."

"Selling it…?" Nagisa hesitated, her blush deepening as she fidgeted awkwardly. After a long pause, she finally murmured, "There should be three bottles left in the cellar behind the mountain. I can get them for you later."

As soon as the words left her mouth, her face turned bright red all the way to her ears.

Giving sake like this to a guy? Her heart felt like it was doing sorsaults.

Thankfully, Ryo didn't seem to know—or at least didn't ntion—the true origin of the sake. That helped ease her embarrassnt a bit.

Nearby, Nagisa's grandmother, Hisano Akatsuki, grinned and chid in cheerfully, "What are you two whispering about over there? Co on, eat up! Fresh fugu sashimi is best when it's just been sliced."

"We weren't whispering!"

Nagisa shot back imdiately, glaring at her grandmother as she pouted.

Ryo chuckled to himself, finishing off his cup of sake as Nagisa turned even redder.

After a few more rounds of drinks, Ryo eventually stood and excused himself, stepping outside into the courtyard of the shrine.

"You can co out now."

From the shadows of the thick forest, a woman in a pale blue kimono erged. It was Shirona Kuraki—Dark Shirona, more precisely.

She bowed slightly, her expression sincere. "Thank you for understanding, Lord Yagami."

Ryo, now dressed in a dark formal kimono, stood in the center of the courtyard and smiled.

"The Fourth Primogenitor being publicly delayed at the shrine by Hisano Akatsuki using her granddaughter as bait… That should be enough of an excuse for why you didn't reach the Cleansing relic in ti. You're welco."

The Lion King Organization was, after all, Japan's unofficial black-ops arm. If sothing went wrong with the Cleansing relic, they'd be held fully responsible.

Ryo's decision to attend Hisano Akatsuki's little dinner gathering had two purposes: one, to satisfy his curiosity about the sake; and two, to give the Lion King Organization a clean excuse.

Even if it was absurd, sotis a ridiculous reason was all a governnt agency needed to smooth things over.

A win-win for both sides.

Shirona said nothing, simply lowering her gaze. Her pupils shifted slightly—a sign she'd relinquished control to the ancient "Dark" consciousness sleeping for a thousand years.

With that, she bowed again and said in a calm, aged tone, "Please follow , Your Majesty. I'll take you to the sealed location."

Ryo nodded, and followed her along a moss-covered stone path toward the sacred lake nearby— Kannawa Lake.

Their pace was swift. The mont they descended the final steps, they didn't bother avoiding the overgrown brush and branches, simply pushing through until they reached the lake's edge.

There, at a small wooden pier, Ryo stepped onto a humble rowboat and stood at its bow while Dark Shirona took up the oars and paddled them out into the middle of the lake.

As they drifted toward the center, she sighed, having long prepared herself for what ca next.

"The relic of Cleansing is directly beneath us."

She looked down at the water and continued, her voice solemn.

"Ancient records say that when she awakens, calamity will return to the world."

"But if Your Majesty truly intends to awaken her, you'll need to wait until her next active cycle—and convince the Lion King Organization to stop the shrine maiden sacrifices."

Ryo glanced over at her, "So… you don't actually know the correct way to awaken her, huh?"

He already knew exactly what lay beneath Kannawa Lake.

The relic wasn't so artifact, but a dragon—Glenda—serving as a vessel of information about Cain. And guarding a set of coordinates to another world.

Right now, she slumbered deep beneath the lake's surface, in the form of a dragon egg, coexisting with a magical beast known as the Houda.

The Houda and its Avalon provided Glenda with nutrients at regular intervals, allowing her to remain stable.

Her power had steadily built up over the years thanks to that, but her emotional system had been left undeveloped, starving.

That changed when the Lion King Organization discovered the Houda's presence—and the disasters it brought.

They deduced that the creature was tied to a relic, and soon realized that sacrificing shrine maidens with strong emotional imprints helped prevent future disasters.

Eventually, an odd sort of equilibrium ford.

Glenda would grow restless now and then. In response, the Lion King Organization would send her a "sacrifice"—a shrine maiden near the end of her life. These mories helped Glenda fill in the missing pieces of her personality and calm down again.

The Organization, anwhile, mistakenly believed the dragon was a relic that required sacrifices to remain sealed.

So one side was offering sacrifices to seal a relic.

The other was growing emotional intelligence.

Both sides completely misunderstood each other—yet sohow managed to reach a strange harmony.

That's how the current situation ca to be: a belief that shrine maiden sacrifices kept the relic sealed.

And if one wanted to awaken this so-called "relic," all they had to do was stop sacrificing maidens.

That was the Lion King Organization's working theory.

"The correct way to awaken her…?" Dark Shirona muttered, glancing at Ryo.

They had guessed the relic was dragon-related based on the Houda's parasitic behavior—but they didn't have solid intel.

But Ryo clearly did know.

Which made his motive for coming to Kannawa Lake even more suspicious.

"So that's what this is about… It's her…"

A voice echoed in Ryo's mind, full of old mories.

It ca from deep within his shadow—Cyrora, the cursed soul residing there.

The true Fourth Primogenitor.

"So Cain left behind this little trump card, huh? Typical old geezer—refuses to stay dead. Annoying as ever."

Aurora's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Ryo, if you think you can fully claim the relic that dragon's guarding… you'd better snap out of it."

"She despises . Unless I vanish completely, her hatred won't fade. And to her, you—carrying my shadow—are no different from ."

"You're dreaming if you think she'll ever give that relic to you."

Ryo's lips curled into a faint smile.

He spoke softly.

"…That's not necessarily true."

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