— — — — — —
The community that flew the banner of fire, skulls, and molten lava had already thought everything through down to the finest detail.
Even if an ordinary person had shown up, with no gifts and no powers at all, they still could've won the game for "ownership of Leticia."
So what chance did they ever have against someone like Veyron—an existence so far above the usual specs that he shouldn't even be allowed to step onto Little Garden's lower gates in the first place?
"Oh… I feel dizzy. How can someone be this powerful?"
"Uhh… brothers, avenge me…"
"Thirty years this, thirty years that, don't...ah, damn, I forgot the rest of the line!"
"That has to be his doing. Incredible… he's even messing with our minds!"
And then, the entire community collapsed to the ground, pulling out white cloths.
With angelic smiles, they raised their white underwear high.
Shiroyasha: "..."
Leticia: "..."
Veyron: "..."
Even Laplace, the Floor Master of West Area, was speechless.
...
"Lady Shiroyasha, may I ask what on earth just happened?"
Veyron, Shiroyasha, and Leticia stepped back through the rift in the air, leaving the gate 439970 in the West Area and arriving directly inside [Thousand Eyes]'s shop at Outer Gate 2105380 in the East Area.
The blonde vampire girl sneaked a glance at Veyron before asking Shiroyasha.
"That's something you should really be asking Veyron, little miss. After all, according to the core center's ruling, you're now considered his 'property.'"
Shiroyasha tilted her head toward Veyron, then added, "As for what just happened, you were watching the whole thing, weren't you? No need for me to spell it out… Through that gift game, Veyron won the rights to your ownership."
Leticia froze.
Of course she understood that part.
What she didn't get was why. Why would Veyron bother doing that?
Was this Canaria's backup plan?
Leticia had considered that possibility, but quickly dismissed it.
It was true that Canaria, once the strategist of her former community, had frightening connections in Little Garden's upper layers. Some of her mentors were such big names that just saying their titles was enough to become bargaining chips in the middle and lower levels.
But Canaria herself had been clear: for many reasons, those lofty beings were basically never going to show open favoritism when it came to her community's affairs. Certainly not something as blatant as stepping in and publicly reclaiming Leticia's ownership.
And just looking at how Shiroyasha treated Veyron made it obvious—he was another big shot.
Leticia had met Shiroyasha before, back when her community still existed, and had some understanding of her. If she didn't already know that no one in Little Garden would ever dare impersonate Shiroyasha, she would've had a hard time believing the dignified silver-haired girl before her was really that Shiroyasha.
Which only left her with one question: why would someone as unusual as Veyron suddenly step in to help her?
"…And that's the question, huh?"
Shiroyasha turned toward him. "Well, little brother, want to explain it yourself?"
"It's just one sentence. Do we really need to make a big deal of it?"
Veyron shook his head, then said under Leticia's searching gaze, "I need your Ophiuchus Sun Authority."
"…I… I'm afraid I can't."
When she realized what he was after, the "Sun Authority"—a treasure so precious that anyone with even a little knowledge of Little Garden would understand its value—Leticia felt a strange mix of relief and guilt. She gave a strained smile. "I lost my qualifications as a Floor Master long ago…"
"You don't need to worry about that."
Shiroyasha cut her off. "Now that you've been recovered, how could we possibly have overlooked something so important? The East Area's Floor Master is me, and the West Area's is Laplace…"
"…?!"
Leticia blinked, her crimson eyes wide.
"Leticia Draculea, holding two Floor Master seats, you could be considered the Overall Floor Master once again."
Leticia felt more confused.
Her former honor and pride—the very same qualification that later became the symbol of her fall from grace and her sin—was restored to her just like that? So easily?
With the call of the Floor Masters, the gift befitting a guardian and ruler of Little Garden's lower layers—the Sun Authority of Ophiuchus—returned to her hands without resistance.
And then, without hesitation, she passed it on to Veyron.
"…Yeah. That's the feeling I was looking for."
The instant he received the Sun Authority, the very concept of the "Sun" began to resonate with his natural trait, [Photosynthesis (Gold)].
He could feel it—his body, his spirit, even his very essence—shedding old layers and rapidly transforming under the Sun Authority's catalysis. A satisfied sigh slipped from his lips.
"Alright. Time to move on to the next matter."
Once Leticia, acting in her capacity as Floor Master, reassigned the East Area's seat back to Shiroyasha and the West Area's to the Demon Laplace—returning the temporary authority Shiroyasha had loaned her just so she could call out the Ophiuchus Sun Authority—Veyron finally spoke again.
"Shiroyasha, I don't need to fetch those things myself, right?"
"Of course not."
Shiroyasha slipped an envelope-like gift card from her sleeve. Inside were exactly the things Veyron had asked for: the divine smithing techniques of various god clans, along with the corresponding materials.
There was Divine Iron, able to expand and contract freely without ever changing its mass.
Adamantine Steel, so hard it could merge with other gifts and still retain its top-tier hardness afterward.
Orichalcum, also known as ghost metal, a mysterious metal of impossible strength…
He'd expected the forging notes of Hephaestus to be in the package. That part wasn't surprising. What did catch him off guard, though, was that the materials themselves had been delivered along with it.
Take Orichalcum, for example. Known outside as stellar particle matter, it was one of the highest-grade Star Blessings, the crystallization point that sparked the Third Permanent Engine Energy Revolution. Its origin? The heart of Typhon himself.
Yes—the very same Typhon who was counted among Little Garden's seventeen Sovereigns.
"Much appreciated," Veyron said, tucking the gift card away.
"No big deal. We're just the messengers here."
Shiroyasha waved it off, refusing to take credit. "Aside from the few we personally 'named,' the rest came from the god clans themselves. Voluntarily."
Veyron thought for a moment, then lifted his hand. "Three days of shelf life. Use them before then."
Three spiral-shaped glass test tubes materialized out of thin air, each filled with a glowing blue liquid.
Two of them drifted over to Shiroyasha at his command, while the third floated gently into Leticia's hands.
"What is this?" Leticia asked, frowning as she caught it.
"Something good."
Without needing Veyron to explain further, Shiroyasha instantly recognized the contents of the two she'd received.
She stowed them away in a flash and gave a brief, almost careless reply. "To put it simply… you just hit the jackpot."
"Hmm… time to head out. I'll build something amazing in the shared space with these things—you two can come to see."
"And Leticia, your community [No Name] will soon have someone who can make it great again."
Veyron's words lit up Leticia's eyes.
From the way Shiroyasha treated him, she figured Veyron had to be a real big shot. And now that he held Ophiuchus' Sun Authority, it seemed even the Little Garden's Central Core was giving him support.
For the first time in ages, a smile spread across Leticia's face. She asked who this person would be, but Veyron only gave a mysterious grin.
He couldn't exactly say, "Just wait—it's Izayoi, the protagonist of your world. Or maybe Ryo Yagami, the MC of that fanfic." Still, one thing was certain: Arcadia would rise again, brighter than ever.
.
.
.