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The moment Ryo stepped out of his room, the smile on his face didn't even last three seconds before he saw them—two long, fluffy blue ears.
His eyes landed on the bunny girl with a bright smile, and the grin on his face subtly shifted into something a bit more... complicated.
Still, Ryo quickly let out a hearty laugh.
"Morning, bunny."
"Good morning, Ryo," Black Rabbit replied with a smile. Then, after a two or three-second pause, her ears drooped and she muttered, a little dejected, "I spent so long trying to figure out what to say to you when I saw you again… but now that you're here, I can't get a single word out."
Ryo blinked, then chuckled. "Let me guess, the words were right there, but they just wouldn't come out?"
"Exactly..." she mumbled, sighing in frustration.
"I heard everything from Lady Leticia," Black Rabbit added, balling her fists as her ears perked back up angrily. "Something about you taking on some Trial… I really just wanna punch you right now!"
But the anger didn't last long. Her ears drooped again as she added quietly, "But then I remember... I can't bring myself to do it."
"Then be merciful and spare me," Ryo said with a carefree grin, stepping up and placing a hand on her shoulder as he gently nudged her forward. "Is there any breakfast left?"
"There's a sandwich in the kitchen. We saved you a portion."
As Black Rabbit let herself be pushed along, she spoke with slight embarrassment, "It was made earlier this morning by Lady Leticia and the kids."
"You didn't make it for me? Did I anger my cute bunny?" Ryo raised an eyebrow, his tone playfully teasing.
He could guess easily enough—Black Rabbit had most likely been standing guard outside his room, waiting for him to come out, and ended up skipping her usual breakfast prep.
"W-Well…" Her gaze darted around, obviously avoiding eye contact. Eventually, she grumbled, "It's your fault for making me angry with that reckless stunt!"
"Alright, alright. I won't do it again," Ryo said with a smile, not entirely convincing.
"Yeah, right. More like 'I'll definitely do it again,'" Black Rabbit huffed, pouting slightly. After spending half a year with him, she knew the kind of person he was.
Ryo might seem like a thinker, but he usually jumped into action after only giving things a quick once-over—a classic case of a bold fool who just happened to be clever.
If he ever thought something was worth it, he wouldn't hesitate to dive in, no matter how risky.
Promises? To him, they were more like polite noise.
As the leader of [No Name], Ryo had that adventurous spirit… and honestly, Black Rabbit wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.
But when she thought about it more, the previous leader, Koumei Kasukabe, and the strategist Canaria were the same way—risk-takers.
So maybe... Ryo being like this actually made him the perfect fit for [No Name].
"I guess my role is to keep things running smoothly in the background," Black Rabbit thought, then grimaced inwardly. "...Wait, isn't that basically a maid?"
Just then, Ryo glanced at her and blinked in surprise. Her hair had suddenly turned pink.
"Your hair changed? What's got you so worked up all of a sudden?"
He remembered Black Rabbit telling him that Moon Rabbits' hair changes color when they're experiencing intense emotions.
"N-Nothing's going on!"
"Oh?" Ryo raised an eyebrow.
"I said it's nothing! Hey! Don't pull my ears!"
The two of them bickered their way into the kitchen, where they were greeted by a group of golden-haired, sharp-eared, and stunningly beautiful elves all dressed in matching uniforms.
Among them, one elf stood out with a different-colored uniform and was deep in conversation with Leticia.
"The kitchen setup should include oil-resistance runes… and add automatic cleaning and temperature controls to the stove area too…"
Leticia paused mid-sentence and looked over. "Ryo, Black Rabbit—come over and help us decide how to renovate the house?"
"Oh! Sure!" Black Rabbit responded, walking over.
"I'll pass." Ryo shrugged and glanced around at the crowd of elf craftsmen.
Judging by their looks and uniforms, these elves were clearly from a community-run construction company, probably brought in by Black Rabbit and Leticia to renovate the place.
In the world of Little Garden, every outer gate was basically its own mini-country—big in both population and size. The difference was, instead of a government, everything was run by communities.
After the attack three years ago, [No Name]'s base had been left old and falling apart, and it was long overdue for a full remodel.
Before, they couldn't afford it. But now that Ryo had earned some money through Gift Games, Black Rabbit didn't want him and the kids living in a crumbling old castle anymore.
So yesterday, she and Leticia went to the city and hired a renovation company.
While they handled the interior design talks, Ryo headed over to the giant fridge, found the sandwich Leticia had left for him, and started eating while watching the others work.
Before long, the elves had finished their discussions. Their team leader pulled some materials out of a Gift Card, enchanted them with temporary spirit traits, and then—
Ryo finally saw what "magic renovation" looked like.
Ever seen bricks with legs that apply their own cement?
Because Ryo just did.
He stared in disbelief. "Is this even allowed?"
Leticia walked over just then, stretching a little. "At this pace, the renovation should be done by noon."
"Well, we did hire the best company in the city," Black Rabbit chimed in, then glanced at Ryo. "What's with that face?"
Ryo shook his head and finished his sandwich. "Nothing. Just never seen renovation done like that before."
By the time he was done eating, the dining hall had already been transformed. The new look had warm tones, a soft and cozy atmosphere, with a subtle touch of elegance.
A 500-square-meter dining hall.
Ryo took a sip of the red tea on the table and nodded approvingly. "Not bad at all."
Leticia smiled as she poured herself a cup. "I heard it was the newest style. I liked how it looked, so I asked them to go with it."
Black Rabbit, however, was less thrilled.
"Yeah, it's nice and all… but the renovation cost us 1500 gold coins," she muttered. "Add the 10% tax on top of that, and after paying the 150-coin fee, we're left with… maybe 100 coins total."
Leticia's hand paused slightly as she was about to add a splash of fresh blood to her tea.
"Well, quality matters. Might as well go all in. Besides, elf enchantments are famous in Little Garden."
1500 gold coins. In modern terms, that's like 300 million yen or 2 million dollars.
Here in Little Garden, the cost breakdown worked differently.
Rare materials and intricate designs were dirt cheap. What actually cost a fortune was the enchanting craftsmanship of the elves—those elegant little details that made everyday life feel magical.
Things like automatic dishwashers, castle-wide dust-clearing enchantments, and so on.
That's what cost real money.
Leticia, of course, had picked all the fanciest stuff according to her tastes.
And considering she is a pure-blood Vampire, it was no surprise that her taste leaned toward the luxurious.
But after living frugally for so long, Black Rabbit couldn't help but worry.
"Some of those '100% natural' features they bragged about were just unnecessary. Even goblins aren't that good at sales pitches…"
Leticia chuckled softly, adding more drops of blood to her tea. "You're always so cautious. Where'd you even pick that up from?" She took a sip and glanced over at Ryo, teasing, "Looks like Little Rabbit is getting stingy. What do we do about that, Leader~?"
Ryo raised his teacup with a grin. "Guess we better go rob a city. Make some fast cash."
Leticia's eyes sparkled. "Great idea!"
Black Rabbit froze. "Wait, hold up! You two! We're a legitimate community!"
Ryo just smiled. "And even legitimate communities have legal ways of robbing people, right?"
"There's no such thing as legal robbery!!" Black Rabbit cried out, clearly panicked.
"If we just go around looting, the Central Garden will label us as a Demon Lord!"
"I was a Demon Lord," Leticia added innocently, blinking at her.
"Lady Leticia!!" Black Rabbit was on the verge of losing it.
Ryo chuckled. "Alright, Leticia, stop teasing her."
"Fine~" Leticia giggled, sticking out her tongue before sipping her tea again.
Black Rabbit blinked, realizing she'd been trolled, then huffed in frustration. "You two! You were messing with me the whole time?!"
"We weren't messing with you," Ryo said with a shrug. "You said it yourself—legal robbery, right?"
He set his teacup down, a sly smile spreading across his face. "You know, that 10% tax we had to pay…"
"Huh?" Black Rabbit blinked, confused.
Then her eyes widened as realization struck.
"Wait—you mean… we're going to challenge for territorial control?!"
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