"Oh, you're too mischievous, Kasugano-kun," Asuka said with a smile.
"If you're scolding me, then why don't you put away that smile of yours. I thought you were praising me right now," Haru said with a smile.
"I'm praising you."
"I don't mind, but don't fall for me, alright? My girlfriend is twisting my waist now. Ow! Ow! Asagi, it hurts! It hurts!" Haru showed a painful expression, even though it didn't hurt.
"Hmph!" Asagi only pouted, but she didn't say much since she knew this guy's personality very well.
"Don't worry. I won't." Asuka pouted slightly and looked at Haru and Asagi with a complex expression.
"So do you have something to ask Kuro Usagi, Kasugano-sama?" Kuro Usagi asked with a miserable expression. Even though she felt slightly happy when Asagi twisted Haru's waist, she knew that she couldn't lie in front of Haru again.
"Let me be straight then." Haru looked at Kuro Usagi and said, "Kuro Usagi, your community should be in a dire situation, right?"
".............." Kuro Usagi.
"Or something happened, and your team's on the decline, right?" Haru said simply.
"............." Kuro Usagi's sweat dripped so much, and she almost couldn't maintain her smile.
"Why do you think so?" Yuu asked.
"Isn't this kind of cliche plot often appearing in light novels?" Haru asked.
"Light novel?" Asuka raised her eyebrow.
"Haven't you read a light novel before?" Haru asked.
"No, I'd only read fine literature or other things that interest me." Asuka shook her head and asked, "So why do you think what has happened to us is similar to a cliche plot in a light novel?"
"Have you heard a story where a normal high school boy is teleported to another world to become a hero that saves an entire kingdom and gets a harem?" Haru asked.
"Ah, I know that kind of story." Asagi nodded and said, "The normal high school boy will get an overpower ability then fight an enemy one after another and get one girl after another, creating a harem, and fighting a demon lord, right?"
"It's similar to that, but there's no normal high school boy here, right?" Haru said.
Izayoi might have become a normal high school boy now, but before, he was a super ultra invincible high schoolboy.
'But there's someone who has a lot of harems here.' Asagi thought as she stared at Haru, but she didn't say anything.
"There might be some changes, but it is similar. The reason why the high school boy is summoned to another country is that the country is in a dire situation. After all, if your community isn't in a dire situation, what kind of reason do you decide to invite us here? Don't tell me. You're just inviting us to play?" Haru looked at Kuro Usagi, who showed a complex, and said, "Don't forget my reward, Kuro Usagi."
If Haru asked Kuro Usagi, he knew that she couldn't lie, but this had a huge loophole since even though she couldn't lie, she could choose whether she would answer or not. Luckily, she wasn't that smart.
"Yes, you're right, Kasugano-sama." Kuro Usagi sighed with a depressed expression.
"So, can you tell me more? After all, I think that we have a right to know why you invited us here," Haru said, ignoring Kuro Usagi's expression. After all, he could see that Izayoi, Asuka, Yuu, and even Asagi could believe Kuro Usagi's every word so easily. Kuro Usagi might be beautiful and might seem stupid, but she could put on an act so they would trap everyone. It might seem that he seemed so wary, but he just wanted to make sure that nothing would happen.
Kuro Usagi took a deep breath and nodded since she knew that everyone needed to know why she had invited them. "Yes, our community is in dire straits. The communities that I mentioned to you before are kind like countries, whether those communities are big or small. So in addition to normal operations, they must declare a formal name and banner with the Little Garden."
"Formal name and banner?" They looked at Kuro Usagi curiously, wondering what the meaning of those words was.
"Something like a country's name and flag?" Haru asked.
"Yes." Kuro Usagi nodded. "Many used it to mark their territory. Up until a few years ago, our banner had flown all the way to the ends of the East Side proudly. However, one day, we were targeted by an enemy which we should have avoided at all costs, and then..." Her expression was mixed with sadness and frustration as if what had happened at that time happened yesterday. "In one night, we were wiped out....."
"How could such a large organization fall in a single night?" Asagi was confused.
"It would be simple to accomplish for certain inhabitants. They're the greatest terror upon the Little Garden, the Demon Lords."
'...Demon lords.' They were a bit speechless, but they didn't say much.
"Demon Lord?"
"When a Demon Lord challenges someone to a Gift Game, they cannot refuse, and our community is forced to participate in one of those Gift Games and in the end...."
"Your community is destroyed, right?" Izayoi continued, but everyone looked at him with an unpleasant gaze.
'Can you be more subtle?'
They weren't stupid, and they could tell what Kuro Usagi wanted to tell them, so even if Kuro Usagi didn't put that into her mouth, they knew what she wanted to tell them.
"Yes..." Kuro Usagi nodded depressedly. "The Demon Lord's power was overwhelming. Our community lost the Gift Game, was stripped of its name and banner, and became "no-name."
"No names, huh?"
"Yes."
"Currently, we no longer have any members that can make up our core. The only people we have who can participate in Gift Games are the current leaders, Master Jin and myself. The remaining almost one hundred twenty members are children aged ten or younger."
"Worst situation ever, huh?"
"That's right!" Kuro Usagi smiled before she lowered her head depressingly. "Still, everyone is trying their best to survive. The children go to get water from a far-off river every day. The only land that isn't infertile and can support crops is the very land they live on."
"With such a situation, why don't you just make another organization?" Asuka asked with a confused expression.
"We can't do that!" Kuro Usagi became agitated when she heard such a sentence.
"Why?" Asuka asked.
"We... we want to protect the homes of our friends. And someday, we want to get our names and banners back from the Demon Lord and rebuild our community. That's why we have no other choice than to depend on players with great power like you and others!" Kuro Usagi then bowed her head without hesitation and pleaded. "Please... please help us!" She was so desperate, and if they rejected her, then her community would be really finished...
"I don't mind," Asuka suddenly said.
"Eh?" Kuro Usagi was surprised.
"I'll help you," Asuka said with a confident smile. She had come into this world, leaving behind all her possessions, and if she got into an easy game again, there was no way that she could be happy about it.
"Me too." Yuu nodded.
"Asuka-sama... Yuu-sama..." Kuro Usagi was moved when she heard the answer of Asuka and Yuu.
Kuro Usagi then looked at Haru and Asagi, waiting for their answer since she knew that they were the keys to how to save her community.
"Sounds good."
"Huh?" Kuro Usagi looked at Izayou with a confused expression.
"Don't "huh" me. I'm going to help you. Be happier," Izayoi said with a smug expression.
"Ah - um, thank you." Kuro Usagi wasn't that happy when she heard Izayoi's words and showed her professional smile.
Izayoi frowned, but he didn't say anything since the world was realistic. The one without power couldn't do anything.
"Haru?" Asagi asked while looking at Haru.
Haru stood up and said, "Well, I'll make my decision later since I have a place that I want to go to."
"Huh?" Kuro Usagi was dumbfounded.
"Asagi, let's visit the edge of the world first," Haru said.
"Well, I don't mind." Asagi nodded and felt that the matter of the community wasn't in a hurry. She also hadn't seen the situation in the community, so she also couldn't make her decision. After all, she had seen a lot of beautiful criminals in her original world.
Haru then looked at Asuka, and Yuu then asked, "Do you want to follow us?"
"Eh?" 2x
Asuka and Yuu were surprised.
"I want to go." Yuu nodded.
"We're going to the edge of the world?" Asuka asked.
"Yes." Haru nodded.
"Then bring me too." Asuka nodded since she was quite curious about the edge of the world.
Haru then didn't waste his time and made Asagi, Yuu, and Asuka fly with his gravity magic to the edge of the world.
"Hey, bring me!" Izayoi shouted.
"Sorry, my power is limited," Haru said without turning back.
".........."
Kuro Usagi looked at Haru and his group, who had walked away, and looked at them in a daze before she chased after them. "WAIT!!!" Her hair turned pink, and she chased them at a fast speed.
"Wait, Kuro Usagi, bring me!" Izayoi shouted.
"Wait there for a moment! I'll return as soon as possible!" Kuro Usagi left directly.
"..........."
Izayoi saw that everyone had left him, and he was alone in the middle of a jungle. Somehow without power, this silence brought him terror, and even though he didn't want to admit it, he felt quite scared right now. 'Dammit!' Clenching his fists, he thought that he would bring his power back!
However, can he?
The answer is obvious, right?