Crossover: In the Little Garden, Becoming a God by Proving Once and Forever

Black Rabbit's explanation came too late. By then, Galdo would never hear it; the savage tiger had died in the concrete jungle.

"The game is over. Dispose of his corpse, then take your people and inventory all the Force Garo community's assets."

"Take possession of all their land, people, and property. At the same time, raise our flags over all those shops I told you to note down earlier."

Qin Qi gave his orders to the vampires standing beside him. The battle was over, and now it was time to enjoy the spoils.

"Yes!"

The vampires all left to summon their subordinates and begin taking stock of the spoils.

Once the vampires had disposed of Galdo's corpse, the temporary law enforcement authorization in Qin Qi's hand immediately caught fire on its own.

In an instant, it burned away without leaving even a speck of ash.

"Let's go, Black Rabbit. We're heading back."

Qin Qi brushed the nonexistent dust from his hands and turned to leave. He still had a blond vampire maid over at White Night Yaksha's place.

It was time to bring her back and think about how best to put her to use.

"Coming, Mr. Shopkeeper."

Black Rabbit hurried after Qin Qi. Looking at him as he walked ahead, she hesitated again and again before finally speaking.

"Mr. Shopkeeper, I think it would be better to do this sort of thing on the sly. As a Noble of the Little Garden, Black Rabbit has a duty to uphold the Little Garden's laws."

"So next time, it would be best not to let Black Rabbit see it."

Black Rabbit could pretend she didn't know, but only if he didn't do this sort of thing so brazenly right in front of her!

If you do that, how am I supposed to pretend I don't know?!

"The sneakier you are, the easier it is for problems to arise. The more openly you act, the fewer flaws there are to find."

"I had you, a Noble of the Little Garden, act as the referee precisely to prove that everything I did was lawful and reasonable."

"And that's the truth. Didn't the Little Garden's ruling also prove that what I did was lawful and reasonable?"

Qin Qi smiled, reached out, and gave Black Rabbit's ears a squeeze before continuing.

"Now I have White Night Yaksha's temporary law enforcement authorization and the contract as evidence."

"And I had a rabbit who's a Noble of the Little Garden as the game's referee and witness. Tell me, who could find fault with me over this in the future?"

Qin Qi wouldn't leave anyone an opportunity to find fault with him. He had indeed taken the chance to absorb and annex other communities.

But did it matter? No. Everything he had done was out in the open and recognized by the Little Garden.

"Th-that does seem right!"

Black Rabbit's ears immediately stiffened. The world of merchants was so dark! Would a pure little bunny be all right here?

Not long after Qin Qi and the others left, the vampires took documents issued by the Little Garden and went to take over the shops.

The first person they sought out was the subordinate who had reported to Galdo earlier.

"Your community's leader has been killed for violating the Little Garden's laws, and you also lost to us in the game."

"I'm going to examine your community's past bills and all its business dealings. No problem with that, is there?"

Shalltear, one of the people Qin Qi had turned into a vampire with the Stone Mask, surrounded Galdo's subordinate with her people and spoke.

"N-no problem!"

The subordinate looked at the Qin Qi community's emblems on Shalltear and her people's clothes and immediately told them everything.

He had long anticipated that this day might come and had prepared to surrender, so he immediately brought out the various account books.

"Check them."

Shalltear immediately ordered her subordinates to examine the accounts, comparing them against the Force Garo community's business dealings they had investigated themselves.

"Mm!"

Cold sweat immediately began pouring down Galdo's subordinate's face. He had caught a glimpse of the contents of those ledgers.

Their records were even more detailed than his community's own internal account books. Sensing trouble, he edged backward, preparing to run.

"Do you take us for that fool Galdo? You actually brought out these phony accounts for us to see."

"But that's fine. I happen to be hungry. If you don't want to work properly for us, you can be our food instead."

Shalltear's eyes glowed blood-red. She hadn't eaten dinner yet, and her stomach was a little hungry.

"Ah!"

With a scream, matters on Shalltear's end were settled.

On the shopping street, shops that had already closed were reopened, and their owners were summoned.

"We haven't seen you in a few days. Why do you look so unwell?"

Little Di and Little Lan smiled at the shopkeeper they had woken as they spoke.

"Try getting woken up in the middle of the night yourself. Let's see how well you look."

The shopkeeper had been sleeping soundly when he was suddenly awakened. Annoyed, he spoke in a huff.

"We look good, very good. Seeing you looking unwell makes us feel even better."

Little Di gave a look to his subordinates behind him. They immediately tore down the shop's flag and replaced it with the flags of the Twin Goddesses and Qin Qi.

"Your boss Galdo lost to us in a Gift Game. Every business under the Force Garo community belongs to us now."

"You're still the shopkeeper, but from now on you can only buy your stock from us, at five times the original purchase price."

"Your selling prices must match the market prices we set."

Looking at the shopkeeper's expression turn ugly, Little Di felt immensely satisfied.

When they had brought their goods over before, this shopkeeper had looked awfully arrogant when he said he didn't want them.

"Master Di, you've raised the price fivefold, but you won't let me raise my selling prices. I-I can't do business like this."

The shopkeeper immediately began pleading.

"If you can do it, do it. If you can't, get lost. The moment you leave, we'll find someone to replace you and take over this shop."

Little Di snorted, then turned and left. They still had to repeat the same thing at other shops.

How could they have time to listen to the shopkeeper plead?

In just one night, Outer Gate 2105380 had changed completely. Force Garo, once its largest community, had vanished.

Its flags were all replaced by those of Qin Qi and the Twin Goddesses.

――――――――――

The design on White Night Yaksha's fan is the Twin Goddesses' flag. I'm trying to create the design for the protagonist's flag.

Chapter 31: The Floor Master's Authority, White Night Yaksha's Revelation!

The next morning, the people Galdo had threatened and coerced all came to Qin Qi. They had something to ask of him.

"Um, thank you for defeating Galdo. Um... do we belong to your community now?"

The group had chosen a representative, who stepped forward trembling and asked Qin Qi.

"Some of you can join my community, but the rest cannot."

"Galdo kidnapped children and women from other communities to threaten them into playing games. Apart from the first cases,"

"the remaining kidnappings were carried out by some of you. Those people cannot join my community."

"Nor will they be allowed to remain in my territory. I'll drive them out of this outer gate."

Qin Qi took out a list and told everyone on it to leave of their own accord, so he wouldn't have to drive them out himself.

"Thank you all the same, but we have one question. Our children..."

Those people knew their sins were grave. Whatever their reasons, they had indeed helped Galdo do evil.

But even at the very end, they were still wondering whether their children and families were safe.

"I've already sent people to bring back those who were kidnapped. They've been settled elsewhere for now."

"You can look through this list to see if your family members are on it. If they are, you can take them with you."

"If they aren't on the list, that means they're dead."

Qin Qi took out another list, this one of the hostages who had been found, and handed it to the person before him to search through himself.

As they looked at the list, some wore expressions of joy and excitement, while others were in terrible anguish.

But those matters no longer concerned Qin Qi. What he had to do was arrange work for the new additions to the community.

"I'll provide you with temporary accommodations. There's food and water there. You can take a bath and rest first."

"Then I'll have people assess your identities and abilities, and assign you work based on the results."

"As for the children... they can go to school. Our community has its own school, and they can attend for free."

"They can learn the skills they'll need to survive in the future."

Qin Qi had long been prepared for this. After he finished speaking, people stepped forward, ready to take them to rest first.

"Leader, thank you for your kindness."

The people bowed one after another. Getting their families back and finding another place to call home was already more than good enough.

Not to mention it was a powerful commercial community. They were satisfied with that. As for rebuilding their own communities...

They had already given up. After Galdo's torment, all they wanted was a peaceful life.

"Don't call me leader. Just call me boss."

Qin Qi looked at the crowd, who were preparing to bow deeply in thanks again. "All right, don't dawdle. Be a little more efficient. Go rest quickly, then finish registering and get to work as soon as possible."

"Yes, boss!"

Everyone answered in unison, then followed their guides away.

"Suddenly, I feel like I've been so busy these past few days. It seems like I'm always staying up late."

Qin Qi rubbed his forehead. He had been busy ever since returning from the JoJo world. He went back to his shop,

thinking he wouldn't do anything today. He would laze around for the day and give himself a break.

"Master, your breakfast is ready."

When he opened the door, Leticia appeared behind it. She was wearing little black round-toed leather shoes over white stockings.

The blue-and-white maid outfit set off her beautiful blond hair. The only flaw was that Leticia was currently in her loli form.

"Breakfast... do you know how to cook?"

Qin Qi looked at Leticia. She looked like a young lady from a wealthy family. Was the food she made edible?

"And where did you get those clothes? So..."

"So pretty, right? I spent ages putting that outfit together. Originally, I wanted her to wear a kimono."

"But her blond hair didn't go very well with a kimono, so I chose this maid outfit instead."

White Night Yaksha came running out of Qin Qi's shop, stroking her chin as she looked at Leticia as though admiring her own masterpiece.

"No, what awful taste. And why are you in my shop?"

Qin Qi said.

"To eat, of course. I've been busy all night. I need a meal and a rest too."