Late at night, when everyone else had long since fallen into deep sleep, several small shadows quietly slipped out of their rooms. Moving on tiptoe, clutching their equipment, they crept out of No Name's base as stealthily as a band of amateur thieves.
"Ren Kuroda-sama definitely won't expect us to sneak out at night to fetch water," one of them whispered excitedly. "When he wakes up tomorrow morning and sees our pool, he's going to be totally shocked!"
There was no need to guess who these sneaky figures were. Of course, they were the children of No Name.
Even as they carefully avoided waking the others, each child wore a smug, triumphant expression. Some were already imagining everyone's stunned faces the next morning when they saw how much the water level had risen.
"Okay, quiet down," Lily whispered, raising a hand for silence. As the oldest among them—and the commander for this Gift Game—she carried herself with as much authority as her small frame could muster. "If we wake Ren Kuroda-sama, we'll lose any chance we have. Don't you all want to do something for the community? Then let's win this for No Name!"
Under the cover of night, Lily led the children back into the forest.
In truth, Lily had long noticed the loopholes in the game's rules. Besides fetching water the normal way, she had thought of another method: using what little funds No Name had left to buy a large quantity of water and quickly fill the pool that way.
As the one who managed No Name's finances, she could absolutely make that decision.
But she didn't.
Because she understood better than anyone that those remaining funds were already the bare minimum needed to keep everyone fed and clothed. If she used them recklessly, the community wouldn't even be able to guarantee basic survival.
So after discarding that option, the only idea she could come up with was this rather clumsy solution—working overtime in secret under the cover of darkness.
What the children didn't realize was that the person they assumed was fast asleep had been waiting for them on the rooftop of No Name's headquarters for quite some time.
The moment Lily and the others slipped into the forest, Ren Kuroda silently followed behind them.
And he wasn't alone.
He very clearly noticed a certain clumsy rabbit trailing behind him—apparently under the impression that she hadn't been discovered.
"You might as well come out," Ren Kuroda said flatly. "If you're going to tail someone, at least learn how to hide your presence."
"Eh?! I was found out?"
Black Rabbit stuck out her tongue sheepishly as she stepped out from behind a tree, utterly unaware that her behavior moments ago had been indistinguishable from that of a suspicious stalker. "I was worried about Lily and the others… and when I saw them sneak out tonight, I just had to follow. But Ren Kuroda-san, you were already waiting on the roof. It's almost like you knew this would happen."
"Well… they're kids. Their thoughts are written all over their faces."
In reality, Ren Kuroda had known about their plan because he had overheard their whispered discussion during dinner. As a half-yokai, his senses were sharper than those of ordinary humans. Even their quiet murmuring hadn't escaped him.
"You waited outside and followed them because you're worried about their safety, aren't you? You're really quite gentle, Ren Kuroda-san."
"Idiot. I came out because I didn't want them getting ahead of me," he retorted awkwardly.
"Oh? Is that so?" Black Rabbit tilted her head innocently. "Then why didn't you bring your big wooden buckets with you?"
The playful glint in her eyes instantly annoyed him. Without hesitation, Ren Kuroda grabbed one of her long rabbit ears and tugged.
"Keep talking and I'll make rabbit hot pot out of you for a midnight snack."
In truth, Black Rabbit had guessed correctly.
Ren Kuroda followed them for a simple reason: protection.
A group of underage children venturing deep into a forest at night was incredibly dangerous.
Unlike during the day, most wild beasts were active at night. And besides animals, plenty of unsavory beings—spirits, monsters, and worse—roamed after dark.
Not a single one of those kids could fight. If they ran into trouble, casualties were inevitable.
"Lily-nee… it's so dark… I'm scared…"
They were still just children. Most of No Name's members were only seven or eight years old.
When they first left the base, they had been buzzing with excitement. But now, standing in the eerie silence of the night forest, that excitement was rapidly dissolving into fear.
"It's okay," Lily said, forcing courage into her voice as she walked at the very front. "Stay close together. Don't wander off or fall behind. We have torches—wild animals won't come near the fire."
As the oldest and the unofficial big sister, she swallowed her own fear and continued encouraging the others.
Being a beastman, Lily's hearing and sense of smell were sharper than most. She believed she could detect danger early enough to avoid it.
What she hadn't anticipated was that the forest's nighttime dangers weren't limited to wild beasts.
There were other predators.
The community Fores Garo was also a four-digit Outer Gate community in the Eastern District. Its leader was a tiger beastman named Jard Gasper.
Unlike No Name, Fores Garo had a reputation.
Thanks to Jard's ruthless methods, they were currently the strongest four-digit community in the Eastern District.
In public, Jard Gasper presented himself as a refined gentleman.
In private, his methods were despicable.
Whenever he encountered so-called "talent," he rarely bothered winning them over through proper Gift Games. Instead, he relied on underhanded tactics—kidnapping children from other communities and forcing their compliance.
Once those coerced individuals joined his ranks, the kidnapped children would either be killed or sold.
Those with decent Gifts were sold to mid-tier communities for profit. The useless ones were simply disposed of.
Because they were beastmen, Fores Garo's base was also located near the forest. And at night, they would head out to hunt their chosen targets.
Tonight was no different.
But what they hadn't expected was that shortly after leaving their base, they would stumble upon a whole group of children wandering the forest together.
What did it feel like to have a pie fall from the sky?
That was exactly how the Fores Garo members felt right now.
Most nights, they might not catch any children at all. Even if they did, it would be one or two at most.
But here?
There were over twenty.
If they captured them all in one sweep, their leader Jard would surely reward them handsomely.
"Boss, look at the one leading them," one of the men whispered, eyes gleaming. "That fox beastman girl's a real beauty in the making. Even if her Gift isn't great, she'd still fetch a good price."
The five Fores Garo members licked their lips, staring at Lily's group like wolves eyeing lambs.
But just as they were about to make their move—
Two figures appeared soundlessly behind them.
"So even in Little Garden, human traffickers exist," Ren Kuroda's voice said coldly. "And judging by the way you talk, this isn't your first time. If one day you get yourselves killed because of it… you won't have any complaints, right?"
One of the Fores Garo men sensed the sudden chill and instinctively turned—
Pain exploded through his neck.
The last thing he saw was his own headless body collapsing to the ground.
The remaining four stared in horror as their companion's head fell away. They tried to shout a warning back to their community—
A black blur flashed through the air.
And then they could no longer make a sound.
Black Rabbit, who had just opened her mouth to speak, froze as five corpses collapsed in quick succession. Ren Kuroda casually flicked the blood from his blade.
For a moment, she felt a chill.
This Ren Kuroda…
He seemed like a completely different person from the one she had come to know.
"R-Ren Kuroda-san… even in Little Garden, trafficking people without ownership rights is illegal. We could have handed them over to the Floor Master, Lady Shiroyasha. Their community would've faced proper punishment…"
"There's no need," Ren Kuroda replied flatly. "Trash like this doesn't deserve to breathe one second longer.
"And even if you hand them over, do you have solid evidence? Even if you did, their community would deny everything and wash their hands clean.
"Besides, I don't want Lily and the others knowing we've been protecting them from the shadows. This way is simple and efficient.
"And on a night this dark? No one's going to know who killed them."
With that, he left Black Rabbit no room to argue and moved off to catch up with Lily's group.
Watching his retreating figure, Black Rabbit let out a long sigh.
She had thought that among the four newcomers to Little Garden, Ren Kuroda was the most normal.
Apparently not.
Doing whatever he pleased without considering the consequences—acting entirely on impulse—
If that wasn't the definition of a problem child, what was?
After quickly burying the bodies of Fores Garo beneath loose soil, Black Rabbit hurried after him.
She was already preparing a five-thousand-word lecture for when they returned.
Tonight, she would absolutely correct this problem child Ren Kuroda's dangerously skewed worldview.
..
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