After thoroughly explaining Saeko and Shizuka's Gifts and their future growth plans,
Aslan glanced into the distance. Kurousagi showed no sign of returning. She probably wouldn't be back anytime soon after going shopping.
"Damn it, Kurousagi—why hasn't she returned yet!"
"Alright, Saeko and Shizuka, please take care of the children here."
Aslan turned and said to Saeko and Shizuka.
Although they now had rapid growth buffs with no time limit, the total achievements they possessed were finite. Right now, even if they trained blindly, they could still grow. But doing so would prevent them from maximizing their achievements, and their development would be riddled with gaps.
To avoid compromising their potential, Aslan decided to wait for Leticia's return and seek her advice.
After all, Leticia was an antique who had lived since the dawn of Little Garden.
She had once been a high-ranking official in Arcadia. Surely, she had vast experience in training others.
"Their community was just destroyed by a Demon Lord."
"A Demon Lord?"
Saeko asked curiously. Her instincts told her that a Demon Lord was likely a formidable opponent.
"Yes. They are disaster-like entities who recklessly use Master Host Authority to force others into Gift Games, robbing them of everything."
"Unless you possess the power to destroy a star, you cannot defeat a Demon Lord."
Aslan explained briefly, then looked at Saeko.
"Saeko, if you want to stand against a Demon Lord, you must first reach the limit of your current growth before you can become their equal."
"Is that so?"
Saeko couldn't help but show a bloodthirsty smile. After obtaining the Murderer Spirit Status, her true nature was becoming increasingly difficult to suppress.
However, since this was an intervention by Little Garden's Central Core—Gifts granted based on achievements—there were naturally no obvious side effects.
One only needed to vent regularly, and with strong willpower, these effects could be nearly ignored.
Clearly, Saeko's willpower, which had suppressed her true nature for years, was not weak.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
After assigning tasks to Saeko and Shizuka, Aslan sought out the oldest and most mature child among the remaining No-Name children.
"Lily, you're in charge of fetching water from the river, and..."
A green-haired boy, about 130 cm tall, stood before a group of children, directing their next actions.
Hearing about fetching water, Aslan sighed slightly. He could only say that communities in Little Garden truly lived in hardship.
After all, in Little Garden, whether it was great mountains and rivers, small roadside streams, or city water systems—all had owners. To obtain water, people had to pay or complete others' Gift Games.
But where could No-Name, in its current state, get money? How could a group of children participate in Gift Games?
So they could only go to rivers with no owners to fetch water.
Many small communities survived this way.
What about digging a well?
All the fertility of No-Name's land had been stripped away—of course, groundwater was included.
"Oh right, and please everyone, count how much supply No-Name has left now."
Seeing the young boy organize the children so neatly, Aslan couldn't help but sigh. Little Garden's children were truly extraordinary.
Over a hundred children, none older than six or seven, were organized with perfect order.
If he had to manage these kids himself, his head would surely ache.
"Alright, kid. No need to count the supplies. I have plenty here—it'll never run out."
Aslan tapped the head of this green-haired boy, who was also the leader of No-Name before Izayoi and his friends arrived in the original story.
Jin Russell—a young child with a not-bad Gift.
Aslan had no shortage of supplies. He knew exactly how much he had prepared when getting ready to go to his first world.
It was almost enough to sustain a large city of millions for several years.
From food, vegetables, drinking water, seasonings, to gasoline...
Now, all these goods piled up in his hands...
After all, for someone like him, now a god capable of freely traveling between worlds, obtaining supplies was extremely easy.
Even in the High School of the Dead world, so many people had perished. If he truly wanted supplies, it would be effortless.
"No, thank you, Mr. Aslan."
Jin shook his head and declined. He didn't want them to depend on others. He knew full well that Aslan had only joined No-Name temporarily.
One day, he would surely leave.
They didn't want to become a burden.
If they just wanted money and supplies, his father, as the former treasurer of Arcadia,
Knew several of Arcadia's hidden treasuries. Even in this villa, there were still many Gifts meant only for extreme emergencies.
If sold, they could generate a lot of money.
No-Name's situation wasn't that dire.
But he knew he had no right to use Arcadia's properties. He couldn't even reveal that he knew about them.
At least not until No-Name grew to a certain level.
Because he was a member of the Russell family, and the Russell family were those who received Gifts after passing King Solomon's trials, they were naturally marked by King Solomon and the Cross God-group.
Moreover, the Russell family still existed. If his family learned that Arcadia still had remaining assets, they would surely support him becoming No-Name's leader. Then, under the Russell family's or King Solomon's behind-the-scenes operation, No-Name would rise again—and eventually be acquired.
After all, Arcadia had been destroyed, but that didn't mean all its connections were gone. And only Arcadia's headquarters had been destroyed.
Large organizations like Arcadia commonly hid Gifts elsewhere to prepare for disasters.
As the son of Arcadia's former treasurer, he understood all this clearly from his father's teachings.
Rising wasn't difficult. The difficulty lay in ensuring No-Name's purity and protecting Arcadia's dream from being tainted.
Not becoming a puppet for those divine groups.
So, let alone using those assets—he'd better not even develop his own Gift, Genie Contractor.
But doing so would make No-Name's growth extremely difficult. At least, until the seeds planted by the seniors in the outer world came to Little Garden, they couldn't possibly stand out.
Once they did stand out, yet lacked sufficient strength, they'd surely be surrounded by wolves.
The name Arcadia—having surpassed Anti-Utopia, nearly defeated Absolute Evil, and almost built a great Floor Master alliance in the Lower Floors—was far too prominent.
If they failed, it didn't matter. But if they showed even a hint of ambition to fight, investors would come uninvited.
(If only Mr. Aslan were a member of Arcadia.)
(Sadly, Mr. Aslan was merely someone left behind by Lord Shiroyasha to care for them.)
"Kid, don't overthink things. Just follow the adults."
Aslan saw Jin refusing his goodwill and tapped his head in mild annoyance. Jin winced in pain and held his head.
"Darn, all these kids are mature before their time."
"Just tell me where to put the supplies. Kids should act like kids."
After all, Aslan couldn't bear seeing a group of children forced to fetch water from the river themselves.
Besides, Shiroyasha had asked him to take good care of these children. How could he let them live in such pitiful conditions that they couldn't even meet their basic needs?
"Alright, Mr. Aslan."
Jin was slightly helpless. He could only lead Aslan to the supply storage area inside the villa now.
Since Arcadia still had some wealth before being attacked by the Demon Lord, and this was also a backup plan prepared by Canaria and others for sudden attacks.
In fact, the furniture and equipment in this villa were quite complete.
There were some supplies—just not many.
After all, how many people thought there would ever be a day when this backup plan would actually be needed?