Are you from this store?"
"Ohh, that's right. I am Shiroyasha-sama, one of the leaders of the [Thousand Eyes], young lady. If it's a job-related request, then I will take care of it for one touch of that comparatively well-developed chest."
"Owner. We won't profit like that. The boss will get angry."
With her ever-calm voice, the female clerk drove in a nail.
Kuro Usagi, who wrung her soaked clothes and miniskirt as she climbed out of the canal, murmured with mixed emotions.
"Uu.........I didn't think even I would get wet."
"Divine retribution.........perhaps."
"Just as she said."
Kuro Usagi wrung her clothes while seeming sad.
On the other hand, Shiroyasha didn't mind being soaked at all as she looked around at Izayoi and the rest, who were in front of the shop, with a mischievous smile.
"Fufun. So you're Kuro Usagi's new companions. That people from another world have come before me means.........Kuro Usagi will finally come to my bed."
"No, it doesn't! That will never happen, no matter what!"
Kuro Usagi's rabbit ears stood on end in her anger. Shiroyasha, whose degree of seriousness for that last statement couldn't be ascertained, invited them into the shop with a smile.
"Well, that's fine. If you have something to ask, then I'll hear about it in the shop."
"Is that alright? They are [No Name] without a Banner. The regulations."
"I apologize for this ill-natured clerk who would ask for a name whilst knowing that you are [No Name]. I'll vouch for them, so if you're glared at by the boss, I'll take responsibility. So come on in."
The female clerk sulked. She was simply abiding by the rules, so it couldn't be helped that she had offended them. The five that passed under the shop curtain while glaring at the female clerk entered an unnaturally wide courtyard that was unthinkable when viewing the shop from outside.
If one looked at the front entrance, various rare masterpieces were lined up behind a show window.
"Unfortunately, the shop is closed. Forgive me for conducting this in my own room."
The five advanced across the Japanese style courtyard and stopped at the open corridor.
Behind the sliding paper doors, the room the four were invited to had things that seemed to be incense burning, and the smell which was carried on the wind titillated their noses.
Shiroyasha, who sat at the seat of honor in this room which was somewhat wide for a private room, stretched greatly and then turned to face Izayoi and the others. If one were to realize it, her kimono had dried off at some point.
"I'll introduce myself once again. I am Shiroyasha, the leader of the [Thousand Eyes] which is based at the fourth gate, number 3345. I have a little history with Kuro Usagi over there. I'd like you to think of me as a beautiful girl that has been helping out frequently ever since the collapse of her Community."
"Yes, yes, we've truly been in your care."
Kuro Usagi warded off the casual words. Beside her, Yō tilted her head and asked.
"What is that gate thing?"
"It is the gate on the outer wall that exists to indicate Little Garden's levels. As the number becomes lower, the strength of those living there increases."
This place, Little Garden, was split into seven levels from the upper levels to the lower ones, and a number was assigned to each gate which served to divide those.
Counting from the outer wall, there was the seventh gate, the sixth, and as one went further in, the number would decrease accompanied by an increase in strength.
Once one made it to the fourth gate, fighting gods would be defending so it was a demonic place outside the realm of humans.
The sky view map of Little Garden that Kuro Usagi drew was split into many multiple layers by the gates.
".........An extremely large onion?"
"No, wouldn't it be an extremely large baumkuchen?"
"That's true. If I had to say which, it would be a baumkuchen."
The three nodded in agreement. Kuro Usagi's shoulders sank in response to their blunt thoughts.
On the other hand, Shiroyasha was roaring with laughter as she nodded over and over.
"Fufu, that's a good comparison. If we were to use that, then the seven gates would be at the thinnest layer of the baumkuchen. While we're at it, just outside the eastern gate is a place overlooking the [Edge of the World]. Those living there don't belong to a community and are possessors of powerful Gifts --- like the owner of that water tree."
Shiroyasha laughed lightly and looked towards the water tree sapling that Kuro Usagi was holding. What Shiroyasha was indicating was the snake god that was living at Tritonis Waterfall.
"So saying, just who won and in what kind of game? A competition of knowledge? A test of courage?"
"No, no. Izayoi beat that snake god-sama barehanded before coming here."
Kuro Usagi said proudly and Shiroyasha raised a voice of shock.
"What!? He didn't clear a game, but instead beat him head on!? Then that child is a prodigy carrying Divinity?"
"No, I don't think so. Since you would be able to tell with just one glance."
"Mu, that's true. But one should only be able to defeat divinity if one possesses the same Divinity or the power balance between their races has collapsed. If we're comparing the strengths between races, a human is like an acorn to a snake."
Divinity didn't mean that of a natural-born god, but indicated a Gift that transformed the body into one of the highest rank.
If a snake was granted Divinity, it would become a giant snake god.
If a human was granted Divinity, he or she would become a living god or a prodigy.
If an ogre was granted Divinity, it would become a fierce god able to shake heaven and earth.
Also, Divinity would increase the strength of other Gifts. A great deal of the Communities in Little Garden had obtaining divinity as a primary aim in order to fulfill their goals, so they were amassing power, aiming at the higher levels.
"Shiroyasha-sama, were you acquainted with that snake god?"
"Not just an acquaintance or whatever; the one who granted him Divinity was me. Though that's a story from some hundred years ago."
Puffing out her small chest, Shiroyasha laughed heartily.
But hearing that, Izayoi's eyes flashed dangerously as he posed a question.
"Ohh? Then you're stronger than that snake?"
"Fufun, of course. I'm the eastern "Floor Master". There is nobody that can compare with me out of the Communities at the eastern fourth gate and those underneath, since I'm the strongest Host."
[Strongest Host] --- these words made the eyes of Izayoi, Asuka and Yō sparkle simultaneously.
"Yes.........fufu. That is to say, if we were to clear your game, our Community would become the strongest in the east?"
"Of course, that's what it means."
"That sounds great. It saves us time."
The three looked at Shiroyasha with their fighting spirit bared. Shiroyasha seemed to realize that as she gave a high-pitched laugh.
"What shrewd children. While making a request, they challenge me to a Gift Game?"
"Eh? W, wait, you three!?"
Shiroyasha held back the flustered Kuro Usagi with her right hand.
"It's fine, Kuro Usagi. I've also been constantly thirsting for someone to play with."
"You're quick on the uptake. I like that."
"Fufu, I see. ---However, there's one thing I'd like to confirm before the game."
"What is it?"
Shiroyasha drew out from her kimono's sleeve the [Thousand Eyes] banner emblem --- a card with the goddesses turned towards each other, and said one thing with a fierce and gallant smile,
"Is what you desire a [Challenge] or --- possibly a [Duel]?"
In an instant, an explosive change happened in the three's vision.
Their sight lost meaning and various scenes began to revolve in their minds.
What flickered in their minds was a swaying field of golden grains. A white hill peeking out from the horizon. A forest's lake shore.
The places they had no memory of repeated in flux and devoured them starting from their feet.
The place they were thrown into had a snowy field and frozen lake --- a world where the sun went around horizontally as well.
"......Wha.........!?"
The three gulped at the excessive abnormality.
The sensation was completely different from the time they had been summoned to Little Garden; it was already a work of god inexpressible through words.
There was a single star in the distant twilight sky. Slowly revolving horizontally around the world, just that one white sun.
It was as if a miraculous power had decided to create one star and one world.
Shiroyasha once again asked the three who were rooted to the spot in blank amazement.
"I will rename myself and ask once again. I am the [Demon Lord of the White Night] --- the celestial spirit of the sun and the white night, Shiroyasha. Is what you desire to [Challenge] a trial? Or an equal-footed [Duel]?"
Demon Lord Shiroyasha. The three gulped once again at the ghastliness that was unthinkable for a girl's smile.
[Celestial Spirits] refer to the master spirits that reside on stars of at least the size of a planet. They are a species of the highest class, such as fairies, demons, devils and so on, and they are also on the [Bestowing Side] of Gifts.
Izayoi focused on Shiroyasha and smiled while taking in the pleasant sensation of cold sweat on his back.
"A sun that revolves around horizontally and.........I see, white night and yasha. You're representing yourself."
"Indeed. This white night's lake shore and snowy field. The sun that forever casts twilight over this land, they are but one of the Game Boards I have.