In Little Garden, vampires were known as the "Knights of the Boxed Garden." Whether in raw strength or reputation, they were hardly inferior to the Moon Rabbits, who bore the title of "Boxed Garden Nobility."
And yet—if one were to compare Black Rabbit to Leticia—there was still a very real gap between them.
Black Rabbit was not the only Moon Rabbit in Little Garden.
But Leticia was no ordinary vampire.
Her original form was the legendary Demon Lord of Impalent—Dracula, the King of Vampires.
Even though she had lost her Divinity, the weight of her true na and past glory far surpassed what Black Rabbit—who rely carried the title of "Boxed Garden Noble"—could hope to reach.
And even if Leticia's current master were willing to trade her for Black Rabbit, Leticia herself would never agree to such an exchange.
In fact, despite Black Rabbit's repeated questioning, the group ultimately couldn't even find out the na of the Community Leticia now belonged to.
The Gift Ga against Fores Garo had ended.
For No Na, it was their first victory against another Community since the Demon Lord's attack that had stripped them of everything.
According to the rules of the previous ga, Fores Garo's territory and all their property now belonged to No Na.
However…
Because of Leticia's earlier rampage through Fores Garo, most of the buildings were reduced to wreckage—barely worth selling.
Even after Izayoi and the others scavenged everything they could physically carry, the final tally amounted to supplies worth only two or three Twin Goddesses' gold coins.
Clearly, Fores Garo's funds had either gone into gaudy decorations—or been squandered by their leader, Gald, on a corrupt and decadent lifestyle.
They were supposed to be a fairly capable Community at the Seventh Outer Gate of the East District. They had even secretly engaged in slave trading.
And yet, in the end, they turned out to be barely less broke than No Na.
Pathetic.
Still, while the material spoils were disappointing, the news of No Na's victory in a Gift Ga brought overwhelming joy to the children of the Community.
For the longest ti, the ones most anxious about No Na's future weren't Black Rabbit… nor Jin, their young leader.
It was the children.
If No Na had dissolved, their futures would have been bleak.
The talented few might have found acceptance in other Communities.
But the children of average ability?
Their fate would have been grim.
Fortunately, none of that needed to be considered anymore.
By defeating Fores Garo, No Na was no longer the weakest Community at the Outer Gates.
The threat of dissolution was gone.
Hope had returned.
And yet…
While the children celebrated, one mber of No Na simply could not find joy.
In fact, she looked increasingly restless.
The Moon Rabbits were direct retainers of the main god-level being Indra.
Moved by their race's willingness to sacrifice themselves in blazing infernos to save others, Indra had granted them spiritual authority—thus giving birth to the "Boxed Garden Nobility."
Because of this origin, Moon Rabbits possessed an instinctive trait:
When they saw soone in need, they could not help but throw themselves into danger.
Leticia had once been one of Black Rabbit's most respected seniors within No Na.
Learning of her forr comrade's suffering only intensified Black Rabbit's urge to sacrifice herself to save her.
And so—
Late that night, when all of No Na had fallen asleep, a lone figure quietly slipped out of the residence.
She moved carefully.
Stealthily.
Trying not to make a sound.
However—
Before she had gone far, several voices suddenly spoke from behind her, nearly making her jump out of her skin.
"Planning to go solo?" —Yō Kasukabe's calm voice drifted through the darkness.
"Sneaking out to have fun at night and not inviting us? That's just cruel." —Asuka Kudō chid in teasingly.
"That vampire loli was seriously strong. If we could bring her back into the Community, it'd be a huge boost to our future plans." —Izayoi added casually.
"And here I thought your gloomy look during the celebration ant you had so grand strategy in mind. Turns out you were just planning to sneak off in the middle of the night. So the average IQ of Moon Rabbits is only about the sa as our Community's kids?" —Ren Kuroda finished dryly.
Black Rabbit turned around.
Seeing their silhouettes in the moonlight—and hearing the Problem Children's rciless comntary—her eyes imdiately welled with tears.
Without hesitation, she threw herself at Yō and Asuka in a tight embrace.
Unfortunately, Ren and Izayoi, being male, did not receive such treatnt.
"Since you chose to act in the middle of the night," Ren said, grabbing Black Rabbit's fluffy short tail to stop her from clinging too long, "that ans you know Leticia's exact location and planned to act on it. Right?"
Black Rabbit sniffled before answering.
"When I t Leticia-sama earlier… I left a small tracking mark on her while I hugged her."
Ren raised an eyebrow.
"I can confirm that Leticia-sama hasn't left the North District's Outer Gate yet. She's most likely at the Community she now belongs to. So… I was planning to visit them tonight and negotiate. To see if they'd be willing to release Leticia-sama."
"Negotiate?" Ren replied flatly. "You an go deliver yourself on a silver platter."
Black Rabbit flinched.
There was no need to spell it out.
Her idea of "negotiation" almost certainly ant offering herself in exchange for Leticia.
After all, No Na had nothing else valuable enough to buy back a mber of the Boxed Garden Nobility.
It was completely in line with the Moon Rabbits' sacrificial nature.
And that was precisely why she had tried to sneak out alone—she knew Ren and the others would stop her.
"Now that we know the location," Ren continued, his tone leveling out, "we'll make contact first."
He paused.
"And if they refuse to compromise… then we can consider using special asures."
Black Rabbit stiffened imdiately.
"Special asures? Ren-san, you don't an the thing you suggested doing to Fores Garo before the Gift Ga, do you?"
She vividly rembered Ren's earlier shocking proposal: to massacre Fores Garo under cover of night before the ga even began.
The idea had been terrifying.
But…
As it turned out, that proposal had been effective.
Because before Asuka and the others even began their Gift Ga against Fores Garo, Leticia—who had shared Ren's line of thinking—had already cleaned them out almost entirely.
Only Gald, their leader, had remained.
From the perspective of orthodox Communities, actions like Leticia's and Ren's were strictly forbidden.
But if no one knew…
Who would enforce it?
The Little Garden Central Authority only governed matters concerning the official systems of Gift Gas.
What Ren and Leticia had done existed in a gray zone—technically skirting the edge of legality.
Perhaps the Floor Master, Shiroyasha, would intervene if she found out.
But as long as she didn't know…
Then there was no problem.
Right?
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