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"Raphael, could you stop pacing in front of already?"
Outside the palace gates, Michael finally snapped at Raphael, who had been restlessly wandering back and forth in front of him.
"You've got the nerve to complain?" Raphael nearly blew a gasket on the spot. "You were supposed to keep an eye on him, and instead you walked out yourself. What the hell was that?"
"Yeah, and on top of that, you completely ignored the contract I worked so hard to make." Sitting gloomily by the roadside, Uriel drooped his angelic wings with a resentful look on his face.
"I already told you, it was the Lord's command. A command." Michael deliberately emphasized the word twice.
"Even if it was a command, you can't just act recklessly!" Raphael grabbed Michael by the shoulders, irritation written all over his face. "You left the newly awakened Lord alone in a room with soone dangerous. What if sothing had gone wrong? Could you take responsibility for that? Huh? Could you?!"
"You three, stop arguing already."
Gabriel's delicate face looked frighteningly dark.
"If you want to fight, go argue in the Second Heaven. I don't care what you do there. You can even start punching each other... Or do you want to fight you myself?"
"Gabriel..." Raphael clicked his tongue and let go.
Michael glanced at the visibly furious Gabriel, instinctively shrinking his neck before rubbing the back of his head awkwardly, "I kind of get how you feel, but... ow!"
Before he could finish, Raphael yanked him aside and threw him straight onto the ground.
By the ti Michael recovered his bearings, Ryo had already stepped out of the palace and been imdiately surrounded by Gabriel and Raphael.
"Hey, you okay?" Uriel reached down and pulled Michael up.
"I'm fine." Michael rubbed his backside resentfully and muttered, "Being your leader is way too hard."
Every day, the other two angels constantly gave him grief, and now even Gabriel, who usually stayed out of it, had started joining them.
What kind of miserable job was this?
...
anwhile, Ryo calmly looked at the two blocking his path.
"What? Here to fish for information?"
"Ryo-san..." Raphael reached out as if to grab Ryo's hand, only for Ryo to sidestep him completely. anwhile, Gabriel casually caught hold of Ryo with no resistance at all.
Seriously? That blatant favoritism?
Raphael twitched as he looked at the stunningly beautiful Gabriel beside him.
After holding it in for a while, Gabriel finally asked the only question on her mind. "Is the Lord doing alright?"
Seeing how tense Gabriel looked, Ryo nodded. "She... He's doing pretty well. His mind is clear, he's capable of acting on his own, and he has a definite goal in mind. At this rate, he should fully recover before long."
"Then what does full recovery require?" Raphael hurriedly interrupted.
Ryo frowned slightly and gave Raphael a long once-over.
"Can you keep a secret?"
"Of course!" Raphael answered without hesitation. This was huge. If he leaked even a single word, he'd jump straight out of Heaven and kill himself on the spot.
Ryo smiled faintly, "So can I."
Raphael froze.
When he finally realized what that ant, Ryo had already brushed past him and started walking down the steps toward the far end of the island.
Wait... what kind of answer was that?
"You an you're not telling ?!"
Raphael's face darkened. Just as he was about to chase after Ryo and argue, Michael and Uriel stopped him.
"Don't push it. Let Gabriel ask instead," Michael warned.
"Bear with it for now," Uriel added in a similarly cautious tone. "I suspect this was the Lord's intention. He and Governor Ryo may have reached so kind of agreent we're not supposed to know about."
"I understand."
Raphael opened his mouth, then reluctantly swallowed his complaints.
At this point, all they could do was pin their hopes on Gabriel.
But things didn't go the way Raphael expected.
Even after Ryo passed through the corridor and approached Heaven's Gate, Gabriel still hadn't asked a single question. She simply followed behind him in silence.
Ironically, her behavior made Ryo feel a little guilty.
After thinking it over, he finally explained. "I already know the conditions needed for God's resurrection. But to avoid enemy interference, we've decided to keep everything secret for now. Once it's done, we'll explain everything afterward."
Gabriel visibly relaxed.
So staying quiet really had worked.
Seeing her reaction, Ryo gave her a suspicious look before laughing.
"Well damn, so this was all a setup to trick into talking?"
Gabriel awkwardly lowered her head and started fidgeting with her fingers without saying a word.
Ryo didn't get angry. Instead, he laughed softly. "You look all innocent and pure, but underneath that you're full of sneaky little sches. Seriously, what happened to my sweet, naive Gabriel? Don't tell that innocent act back then was fake too~?"
Gabriel wanted to argue back, but seeing Ryo's teasing grin, she held herself back. Better not give him another excuse to tease her.
Ryo shook his head slightly, "This is far enough. You should head back now."
"Oh, right. Just in case, it'd be best if Heaven starts another internal purge soon. Arrest a few more people, make a lot of noise and draw attention."
This was Ryo's cautious backup plan.
In short, while the other pantheons were distracted, he intended to secretly bring God back to life behind the scenes.
And even after the resurrection, he planned to keep it hidden, deliberately maintaining the illusion that God was already dead.
This operation would support that deception. Other pantheons would assu Heaven's sudden self-purging was proof that their god had truly fallen, while the angels' behavior would help reinforce the illusion.
As for Ryo, his job would be to quietly eliminate every god or buddha who still suspected God was alive, turning the lie into accepted fact.
Only then could God safely join Arcadia without attracting the attention of those troubleso busybodies in the upper layers of Little Garden.
After finishing his instructions, Ryo paused briefly and started walking again.
At that mont, he heard an almost inaudible whisper behind him... "Thank you."
Ryo turned his head. But Gabriel had already turned away from him.
He smiled faintly, then left Heaven at once.
There were two things he needed to prepare next.
First, he had to find a reasonable way to lure out Cao Cao, the current wielder of the True Longinus.
Second, he needed to negotiate with the vampires, because if he rembered correctly, the Sephiroth Graal (Holy Grail) was in their possession.
With those thoughts in mind, Ryo quickly returned to his residence at Kyoto's Yasaka Shrine.
By the ti he arrived, it was already past ten at night, the hour when ordinary people were long asleep.
After considering his next move, he headed toward his room, intending to contact Algol through a letter first.
But the mont he opened the door, Ryo stopped dead in his tracks.
On the tatami floor lay a neatly spread futon.
And beneath the blanket was the unmistakable outline of a person.
Ryo fell silent.
Because if he rembered correctly... this was supposed to be his room.
.
.
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