The Subjugation Picture Book's Banquet

『YOU LOT, READY!』

『GI GA(HA)!』

The citizens of the picture book simultaneously punched with their right

hands at Nemea's command. This morning training was the mandatory

daily training for all the folks inside the picture book. Nemea followed his

lord's instruction and taught martial arts to all the picture book's folks in

rotation.

Nemea was the beast god, the beast who had gained divinity. He had

reached his place amongst the gods after defeating the infamous evil god.

Then, he had taken the name of the king of divine beasts, Nemea, because

he took pride in being the strongest martial artist amongst the gods. But

then, he had been slapped right on the face, and he realized that he was

nothing more than a frog in the well.

Keeping aside his monstrously powerful lord, Nemea couldn't help but feel

dejected upon finding that he couldn't even beat his lord's subordinate, the

dragon god Fafnir. Even now, the number of his lord's subordinates that

could beat him kept increasing in number.

Naturally, Nemea had no intention of falling behind anyone in martial arts,

except for his lord. However, it was a completely different story when they

fought for real. The extremely nonsensical ability of his lord to collect any

and every mythical monster or god to serve him was only the tip of the

iceberg.

Nemea's abilities had evolved even further after the contact with his lord's

soul by using the mysterious picture book as the intermediate. He felt as if

his newly gained power was a gift from his lord.

Originally, [Gods' Ordeal] was a place that served as the greatest trial

for a god to become a great god. Anyone who came to take the test was

unimaginably strong. Being qualified to take the test itself was enough

proof of being a strongman. The problem was that could an already

unimaginably strongman gain even more power and evolve into an even

more powerful existence? Maybe, no one would expect that such a feat was

possible.

Thus, Nemea had always wondered just what kind of existence his lord

was? The lord had never told them the truth and just said something that

could only be regarded as a joke by all the folks inside the picture book; he

said that he was a human. Nevertheless, Nemea had never heard about a

nameless god with such a nonsensical power, even by gods' standards.

Still, he knew some people who didn't care about his lord's identity. For

example, the people currently offering their prayers in front of his lord's

house.

『… OO, Our supreme ruler!!

Forgive us, the weak and lowly bugs!

Forgive us, the stupid bugs!

Forgive us, the incompetent bugs!

We, the bugs, have the honour to receive your patronage and live in the land

you rule!

We, the bugs, will destroy every foolish mob who dares to disturb you, our

supreme ruler!

…』

Girimekhala was an evil god. His subordinates mainly included evil gods or

other wicked beings. The scene of a god, albeit an evil one, offering prayers

was comical. But, Nemea knew that they were dead serious with their

prayers. His lord was their faith.

He knew that his lord was the most sacred existence for Girimekhala and

his group. Therefore, they offered such ambiguous yet heartfelt prayers

every morning in front of his lord's house.

Opposing them were the dragons. Leading them was a giant, golden dragon

with seven heads standing in front of his lord's house.

『SHUT UP FOR A MINUTE WILL YA! WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF

PRAYING!』

Girimekhala's three eyes glared at the golden dragon, who led the dragons,

while still maintaining his praying posture.

『Ye are the ones who need to shut up! You being so noisy in the morning

is disturbing our supreme ruler!』

The golden dragon with seven heads, Ladon, fired back at Girimekhala.

『Disturbing you saaay! Are you mocking our faith!?』

『Showing respects to our supreme ruler is enough, but one must know

their limits!』

It was a quarrel between two great factions. Nemea didn't really care about

it. However, he knew that things were about to turn into a brawl, which

would disturb his lord's morning.

『Stop it! You're in front of Our Supreme Ruler's presence, you know!』

Maybe because he realized this after hearing Nemea's calm voice, but

Girimekhala immediately left for his world, leaving the dragons sprawling

here.

Nemea was puzzled that the Girimekhala faction and the dragons were

never tired of their useless quarrels.

Nevertheless, he knew that they were not actually on bad terms. The reason

for their quarrel was nothing more than the difference between faith or

loyalty they showed to his lord. Although most of the folks in the picture

book, Nemea included, were like them, the two factions stood out in this

regard.

Ladon and the dragons revered the supreme ruler, their lord who possessed

a special title called 『Dragon Slayer』, by offering meat and fruit they

frequently harvested in their world inside the picture book. Moreover, there

was another reason for Ladon and the dragons' zealous loyalty.

「Good morning.」

「Good morning, nodesu!」

『Good morning~.』

Nemea's lord, Fafnir, and Fenrir came out from the house.

『EVERYONE, ATTENTION!』

The picture book's folks, who had been immersing in their morning

training, straightened their backs at once upon hearing Nemea's command.

They cupped their hands together and bowed toward the house.

Ladon and the other dragons also straightened themselves and bowed

toward the house.

『Our supreme ruler, this is the meat and fruit harvested from the picture

book. Please take our offerings.』

Ladon respectfully spoke as he put down mountains of food ingredients on

the floor.

「Thanks a lot. Faf won't be able to eat all of it. Since that's the case, let's

have a banquet today. I remember that I received some delicious cider from

Shuten a while ago.」

Shuten was a fierce god who governed liquor. Although they were rather

moody and workaholic, the liquor they made was the best in the world.

「Banquet, nodesu! It's a banquet, nodesu! Ladon, thank you very much,

nodesu!」

When Fafnir hugged Ladon, Nemea saw that the dragons' expressions

turned into that of a grandfather spoiling their grandchildren.

Fafnir was the other reason the dragons showed their loyalty every day. The

dragons were head over heels for Fafnir; they used every chance to make

her happy.

Nemea's lord then turned his face toward the entrance of the house, toward

the silver-haired woman who let out a yawn as she came out from the

house.

「Kyuubi, you can cook, right? Give me a hand.」

He ordered the silver-haired woman.

「My pleasure!」

Kyuubi closed in toward Nemea's lord at once and put him into her

embrace with an extremely delightful expression. She was really happy that

she had the chance to be of some help to her lord.

Kyuubi and Fenrir were amongst the recent additions to the picture book.

They often went out to explore the dungeon along with Nemea's lord. They

were close enough with the lord to intrude and sleep in his house.

「Tell Girimekhala and the others too. Well then, prepare for the banquet,

everyone!」

Everyone let out a cry of joy upon hearing their lord's order and went off to

prepare the banquet.

Nemea could only look at that seemingly impossible spectacle with a

dumbfounded expression.

The ones gathered here were mythical beings or gods, who were normally

in conflict with each other. Due to their uselessly high pride, it was

impossible to see them moving together at once in one command. It was

impossible for other great gods to do the same thing as his lord.

『I really have no idea what is inside the head of my lord.』

Although he once again realized the greatness of his lord, Nemea quickly

moved around to help with the preparation of the banquet.