What happened next unfolded more or less in line with how the original story had gone.
Black Rabbit brought the three Problem Children summoned from another world back to the community, and patiently explained to them the workings of Little Garden — its rules, its systems, the concept of "Gifts" as the name given to supernatural abilities and powers. Each of the three girls received the information in their own way, each quietly turning it over in her mind.
Of course, certain things were different from the original. After all, Sakamaki Izayoi — who in the original story had stood unchallenged as the strongest of the three — had been effortlessly defeated by Suke's side, and the unruly girl had clearly pulled her horns in considerably since then.
"So these 'Demon Lords' are what caused the community to fall apart?"
Inside the No Name community's grounds, Sakamaki Izayoi cracked open a can of cola left over from the earlier feast the children had enjoyed — she hadn't expected to find that kind of drink in Little Garden of all places; apparently even this world kept up with the times — and took a long sip.
"That's correct. Our community was once thriving. Then, in a Gift Game orchestrated by a nameless organization of Demon Lords, we lost everything."
Black Rabbit's expression grew distant as she recalled the past.
"Our banner was stripped away. Our comrades were taken from us. I'm sorry... it all happened so suddenly. We weren't even given the chance to prepare."
"Interesting — so they can ignore Little Garden's rules and force others to participate in Gift Games against their will?"
Izayoi rubbed her chin thoughtfully. The headphone-wearing girl with her slightly androgynous air turned the information over in her mind.
"Black Rabbit, you summoned us to help rebuild the community, right? In that case, why don't we just gather up, find this Demon Lord, and beat him down? Simple as that."
"Eh?"
Black Rabbit blinked, having half-expected some kind of profound insight. She let out a sigh and shook her head helplessly.
"That's... not quite feasible. Even the weakest Demon Lords operate at a five-digit power level, and on top of that, they can force Gift Games with rules stacked entirely in their own favor..."
"And the ones who attacked our predecessor community weren't just one Demon Lord — it was a nameless coalition made up of many. They come and go without a trace. I asked Lady Shiroyasha to look into it before, and even she came up empty."
"A Demon Lord coalition? Demon Lords have communities too?"
"Yes. And among their numbers, I suspect there are even some at the four-digit tier."
"Your abilities are remarkable, all three of you — but even so, if we were to face them head-on with our current strength, the odds of winning would be..."
Black Rabbit let the sentence trail off. She, who possessed a simulated divine class and could temporarily elevate her own power to the four-digit range, understood better than anyone just how terrifying the Demon Lord alliance that had once destroyed No Name's predecessor, "Arcadia," truly was.
As a general rule, dealing with a single five-digit Demon Lord required either multiple five-digit combatants or a single four-digit powerhouse. And this coalition potentially fielded multiple four-digit Demon Lords. The calculus was grim.
"Really? I think our side's got more than enough firepower, personally."
Izayoi raised an eyebrow. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at the man and the girl at his side out on the open land beyond the No Name manor — doing something she couldn't quite make out.
"The one who defeated me is seriously strong. I don't know how you'd rate her in Little Garden's system, but honestly? She might be the most terrifying thing I've ever come across in my entire life."
"Her ability... I'd guess three-digit, at least. That crushing pressure — if she hadn't been holding back, I probably would've been completely humiliated."
Izayoi exhaled, shaking her head with something almost like admiration. Her intelligence matched her combat ability — after only a brief exchange with Black Rabbit and a quick review of the information she'd been given, she had already formed a fairly solid picture of how Little Garden worked.
And she wasn't wrong.
"Uh... th-three-digit...?"
Black Rabbit's eye twitched. She didn't quite know what to say.
She had witnessed with her own eyes as the Silver Key fell from the heavens — an overwhelming, unstoppable force that had punched clean through multiple layers of Little Garden's hierarchy.
But that alone wasn't what had frightened her so deeply before. The real problem was this: they had caused that enormous a scene — and not a single member of the "Heavenly Army," the force responsible for maintaining order across Little Garden's tiers, had shown their face.
As a Little Garden noble, Black Rabbit couldn't think of a single analogy adequate to describe how utterly wrong that was.
It was like a terrorist attack carried out in broad daylight in the heart of a bustling metropolis, right in front of the most powerful figures in the world — and those figures hadn't so much as blinked.
In Black Rabbit's experience, when something like that happened, there were only two possible explanations.
First: the disturbance was something those powerful figures had agreed upon in advance, part of a pre-arranged plan, and therefore entirely within controlled parameters.
Second...
Those powerful figures had judged that the consequences of not intervening were smaller than the consequences of intervening.
Truly fearsome, Black Rabbit thought. If Arcadia had possessed that kind of strength back then...
She found herself staring out the window, lost in thought.
If even the girl who accompanied Suke was this terrifying — and yet Suke himself had seen through Shiroyasha's identity and chatted with her as an equal, treating even Indra and the other high-tier existences as though they were beneath notice — then what manner of being was he?
"What? I think my suggestion is perfectly reasonable — simple, effective, and direct."
"It's... definitely direct, yes. But how to put this... those two aren't actually members of our community. They've just been staying here for the time being."
"?"
"They're actually going to be our neighbors in the future — they're apparently planning to establish their own community. Right now they're... well... I suppose you could call it a scouting phase."
Black Rabbit ventured this interpretation tentatively, piecing it together from fragments of the conversation she'd overheard between Shiroyasha and Suke.
"In other words, those two are here under someone's commission, and will be our neighbors going forward — but they have no actual obligation to provide No Name with any direct assistance."
"...?"
Rumble... rumble... rumble...
Before Black Rabbit had even finished speaking, the ground began to shake — gently at first, then unmistakably.
Everyone turned to look toward the source of the vibration. On a vacant lot several hundred meters from the old No Name manor, a lavishly appointed small courtyard was rising up out of the earth as if being lifted by invisible hands.
The man called Suke stood with a wand-like implement in his hand, giving it a casual wave.
Statues and all manner of decorative furnishings materialized out of thin air, guided by some unseen force as they slotted themselves one by one into the courtyard, filling it out completely.
The whole structure had an aristocratic air about it — an ivory-white courtyard rising in stately elegance, forming the most striking of contrasts with the dilapidated old No Name manor not far away.
"Whoa, look at that!"
"What a beautiful building — is that their Gift ability?"
The children who lived in the No Name manor had all stopped to stare, their attention thoroughly captured by the magnificent structure appearing in the distance.
Nothing had been taken from them. And yet an odd, uncomfortable feeling stirred in Black Rabbit's chest all the same.
"Speaking of which..."
Sakamaki Izayoi seemed momentarily at a loss for words.
"Black Rabbit — what exactly does our community have right now?"
"Ah, we have, um..."
Black Rabbit blinked rapidly, her mind spinning at full speed.
"Oh — I remember now! Miss Asuka and Miss You defeated the Water Deity! We have a water tree sapling now — with that, everyone won't have to walk all the way to the riverbank just to water the crops!"
Sakamaki Izayoi stared at her in silence.
This rabbit... what is she on about? That's basically nothing. And that water tree sapling is something they brought here themselves!
"Please, please don't make that face, Miss Izayoi! I believe that with everyone's hard work, things will only get better for all of us..."
Black Rabbit's rabbit ears drooped flat. She knew better than anyone that No Name currently had next to nothing — even the can of cola Izayoi was drinking right now had been provided by Suke earlier.
"Alright, enough."
Izayoi pressed two fingers to her temple and rubbed.
"If we can't rely on anyone else, then we rely on ourselves. Basically, we just need to enter Gift Games and win resources for the community's development, right?"
"Yes..."
"Perfect. Then allow me to—"
Izayoi rolled her neck. Her joints cracked with a satisfying pop.
She had never been the type to accept coming in second place. And now, right next door, their neighbor had built something this extravagant and eye-catching — even if that neighbor was an existence so far beyond her she couldn't begin to measure it, it didn't mean she was willing to just lie down and take it.
Can't win on raw power? Then win somewhere else. — What Suke didn't know was that in simply building a structure with his Furniture Catalogue wand, he had inadvertently lit a fire under Izayoi, snapping her out of the half-hearted, coasting attitude that had characterized her in the story's early arc.
CREAK——
"So this is that worthless little community? Get your person in charge out here — we've come to collect what you owe us from that Gift Game you lost!"
At that precise moment, a discordant voice rang out from outside — punctuated by the sound of a burly man kicking the front door open. Izayoi's eyebrow arched upward.
Well, well. Speak of the devil — and he kicks down the door?
____
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