Chapter 6 Let’s Use the Power of the Earth Vein of the Tower Part-(6.1-6.7)

Chapter 6.1 – Adventurer Division Chief

It has been a month since Crown was officially founded.

The number of members had been steadily increasing that it has become the largest guild in the continent.

The adventurer division is much bigger than all other divisions.

Even if you combine all other divisions, the adventurer division is still bigger.

Looking at the future of merchant and craft divisions, they are expected to be bigger.

The Tower Village at the 5th floor is still on its rapid growth so the number of each division will continue to increase.

On the other hand, Kousuke is expecting the adventurer division to reach its peak.

However, it will probably still take some time for that to happen.

The current main member of the craft division is the architectural department.

Given the architectural rush in the village, it is natural.

And finally, just the other day, the creation of the field began.

Along with this are those who have decided to settle in the village.

This has been their plan since the beginning and Eck has been looking for farmers to work in the tower for quite some time and some of them are already earnestly working.

By the way, the houses in which the farmers lived were created using the function of the tower.

As for why, if they waited for the craft division to build them for them, they won't be able to create the field any time soon.

Since the season was not set in detail, they have to feel what they can cultivate and that's the only thing they can do about it for now.

They can't change the season setting of the 5th floor on their whim after all.

As for the village, the main facilities are almost complete.

However, it is still not enough to meet the demand.

The busiest member of Crown is definitely the craft division.

However, that doesn't mean that the adventurer division and merchant division are doing nothing.

As the number of new members increased day by day, those in charge of each were busy.

By the way, the people in charge of Crown are as follows:

Crown General Manager – Wahid.

Crown Assistant General Manager – Eck

Crown Adventurer Division Manager – Doll

Crown Merchant Division Manager – Sarasa

Crown Craft Division Manager – Tin

And under each of these managers are the department heads or chief.

For example, the chief of the merchant division is Schmidt.

Although there are candidates for the position of chief of the craft division, they are too busy to meet Kousuke so he is only meeting the chief candidate of the adventurer division.

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—Scene Change—

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「….are you, Kousuke-dono?」

「Yeah, nice to meet you.」

Looking at Kousuke entering the room, the man frowned.

The man's name is Gazeran Human. He is a candidate for the position of chief of adventurer division chosen by Wahid and Doll.

When we saw Gazeran, he smiled.

「Are you dissatisfied that I'm the one who conquered the tower?」

「…..dissatisfied….no, not dissatisfied….it's more of doubt. No matter how I think, I can't see you conquering the tower.」

「Hahaha. Right, that's true. I hardly fought that time. These two were the ones who fought.」

Kousuke said so as he pointed at Kouhi and Mitsuki.

「I see.」

Gazeran said so and nodded but it looked like he did not take Kousuke seriously.

That's natural. Even in an ordinary place, if you go with amateur adventurers, they'll be nothing but a burden.

Let alone the Central Tower which is rumored to be the most difficult to conquer in the world.

It's not a place where mere burden can survive.

It doesn't matter how strong those two behind him are.

「So? What can you do?」

When he was asked like that, Kousuke did not intend to spare him.

Kousuke stared straight back at Gazeran.

「…..Gazeran-san.」

「What?」

「Brace yourself.」

「...what?....kuh!?」

Gazeran was doubtful for a moment but in the next instant, he almost lost his consciousness from the pressure he received from Kousuke.

Gazeran is a first-class adventurer.

With his own power, he built up a famous guild from scratch.

Of course, he has faced high-level monsters many times.

However, those monsters' pressure won't even reach the sole of Kousuke's feet.

To be honest, he's barely holding on to his consciousness.

For Gazeran, the pressure he felt has gone for so long even though it is only for a few seconds.

Deep in his heart, he couldn't believe it but he felt how wet he was from his own sweat and accepted that everything was real.

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「...what the hell was that?」

He couldn't help but ask the man in question. He had never felt something like that before.

「Divine power」

「What?」

「I used divine power to put pressure on you.」

In response, Gazeran buried himself deeply into the sofa he's sitting on.

He has heard of magic power and holy power but he has never heard of divine power.

No, to be exact, he had heard of it from priests and priestesses.

However, he thought it only existed in the world of mythology.

「…..are you telling me that you are an actual god?」

Kousuke responded with a smile to Gazeran's stunned voice.

「No way. I'm just a normal person who can use divine power.」

「No no. There's no way a person that can use divine power is an ordinary person.」

「….ahahaha.」

Kousuke tried to laugh it away.

Gazeran can only sigh seeing Kousuke like that.

「Good grief. I've met all kinds of people but this is the first time my first impression has been so wrong.」

「So? Did I meet your expectations?」

Gazeran smiled at Kousuke.

Kousuke also realized that Gazeran's attitude until now was on purpose.

Of course, Kouhi and Mitsuki have already noticed it since a while ago. That's why they did not get angry and just watched them over.

「….maa, it seems to be interesting to work under you but…can I move all my guildmates too?」

Gazeran's guild is a guild with more than 50 members.

「Of course. If Gazeran-san would really do that, I'll be grateful.」

「I see. So, can you wait until I spoke with my guildmates?」

「Yes, of course. However, there will be no preferential treatment so please be sure to inform them that they will be treated like any other member of Crown.」

「….Maa, I guess so.」

If they give preferential treatment to members and make some people superior or inferior to some other, it will lead to internal collapse.

For that reason, no matter where they came from, they'll be treated the same as the other members who joined Crown.

On the other hand, that is the reason why some guilds may refuse to accept a transfer.

If they exempt even one, other guilds will come later with the same request.

If that happens, solo adventurers won't dare join Crown.

Even if there's only a little exemption, there's no mistake that most will be dissatisfied.

Because of that possibility, Kousuke will never exempt anyone.

「As long as you can do that, we will welcome all your guildmates to Crown.」

「I understand.」

「Wahid or Doll will tell you the details later. With regards to practical work, I've already completely left it to them.」

「Okay, I'll do that.」

After saying so to each other, Kousuke and Gazeran shook hands and parted ways.

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With that discussion, Gazeran became the chief of the adventurer division of Crown.

That quickly spread among adventurers further spreading the name of Crown.

By the way, Gazeran's guild has encountered trouble. However, Gazeran is a clever man so he took his willing guildmates and had them join Crown with him.

The remaining guild members will continue to operate under the same guild name but without Gazeran, they will not have the same power as before.

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Chapter 6.2 – Current Status of Each Floor

The Crown Adventurer Division is now being led by Gazeran. The movements of Crown adventurers have become more organized.

Naturally, Crown has a certain control over the movements of adventurers in the form of quests but presently, the profits from the materials the adventurers bring to the merchant division weighs more.

Crown is presently making more profit from the materials that adventures bring to the commercial sector. This is expected since the merchant division and the craft division are the main sources of the quests of adventurers.

In addition to the materials that the adventures brought as they pleased, if there's a shortage of material that could be found in the tower, there will be quests showing up to gather them.

Therefore, the main request of Crown to its adventurers is to create maps of each floor.

Of course, the purpose of making maps is to make the job of the adventurers easier and for another reason.

By creating a distribution map, they can determine what materials they lack.

If the material can be found in the tower's console, it will be installed using the tower's function.

If the desired material can't be found in the console, it will be brought from outside the tower and tried to plant it there.

However, that's only an ideal situation. More importantly, aside from resources, technology may become unbalanced if they stay indoors.

That's why Kousuke is not thinking of closing the teleportation gates.

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Kousuke has been thinking for a while about it but he finally decided to stop interfering with Crown.

He now realized that he should just focus on the operation of the tower which was the main objective of that project in the first place.

Nevertheless, the original goal of efficiently earning divine power by bringing adventurers and settlers into the tower was working well.

It is even better than expected.

Due to the large number of adventurers who came to defeat monsters on each floor, there was a large amount of divine power coming from the monsters defeated by the adventurers.

The problem is when those monsters stop spawning. However, even Kousuke doesn't know if that would happen.

He doesn't even know how many monsters are naturally spawning there in the first place.

If there are more monsters killed by adventurers than the naturally spawning, the number of monsters on each floor will decrease.

However, he doesn't see that as a problem.

He doesn't see that as a problem because when that happens, the number of adventurers in the tower will also decrease.

The ideal situation would be more adventurers being able to subdue intermediate class monsters and have them subdue monsters from summoning circles.

However, in order to get to that point, it would be necessary to build several more bases before the intermediate floors so that adventurers would be able to immediately target intermediate class monsters.

Whether it will work out that way or not is completely unknown so Kousuke wouldn't even bother thinking that far at the moment.

In any case, as for the 5th floor, Kousuke decided to stay out of the way as much as possible and just watch over what's happening.

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—Scene Change—

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As for the demi-human villages, they are doing well.

First, the elf village.

The village was built around the world tree and it can be said that the world tree has matured.

The number of houses that have residents has increased which means migration is going smoothly.

The only contact with the outside world of the current elf village is through the connection to the village where the elves used to live.

Since the original village has no contact with the outside world, it has become almost a world of its own.

Perhaps because they were originally in that kind of village, they never had a problem. For now, it is okay to let them live as they are.

As for Kousuke, he has no intention of forcing them to get in touch with the outside world especially since the divine power obtained from the world tree is quite high.

In fact, he wonders how far the world tree can grow.

He asked Colette about it once but she gave her a short "I don't know" reply.

She was told that the growth of the world tree depends on the surrounding environment which means it might not grow further given that it's in a closed space of the tower.

In the first place, it is said that even the elves and high elves don't know the limits of the world tree's growth.

As such, the current situation is that they can only watch the world tree grow.

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The next stop was Vamilinear Castle and the igrid village.

Since the place was starting to feel like a castle and a castle town, they decided to call it Vamilinear castle town.

The divine power obtained from the Vamilinear Castle, or rather, the Vamilinear Jewel, has increased thanks to Shrine.

Kousuke can't believe what he heard about the condition that he must have sex with Shrine first.

However, the divine power that he received is increasing so he had no choice but to agree that the lore that had been handed down to the Vamilinear Family was true.

It's a good thing so Kousuke has decided to accept it as it was.

Anyway, as for the Vamilinear castle town, he set up a teleportation gate to the village on the 5th floor.

As Shrine had planned, several members of the Vamilinear clan had left the tower to set out on a journey to find the rest of their clanmates.

Perhaps it was because of that, several Vamilinians had come to the tower the other day.

There are always two or three vampires guarding the teleportation gate on the 5th floor.

In the beginning, there were some adventurers who insisted on letting them through but now, the number of such adventurers seems to be decreasing. Of course, that doesn't mean that there are none.

However, at least it can be said that they are decreasing.

The igrids have settled in Vamilinear Castle Town and more and more of them are moving from their underground dwellings to houses built above ground.

Incidentally, since the migration of the ingrids to the tower seems to be completely over, the teleportation gate that originally connects the tower to their former residence has been removed.

The igrids staying in Vamilinear Castle Town agreed with it.

Or rather, they were the ones who proposed that and Kousuke accepted it.

Because of their past history, they don't want the location of the underground world to be known to anyone so it was removed when all the immigrants had moved.

The igrids, however, have gradually begun producing special products using their skills like the crown card decorations.

It became their bread and butter with their trade with the Crown's merchant division and used what they earned to purchase the things they needed for their everyday lives.

To be precise, it was the Vamilinians who represented them to keep the igrids' presence unknown to everyone.

Even if they were found out, the vamilinians will protect them so their interests are aligned.

The vamilinians are the ones who are in charge of exchanging goods.

They seem to have adopted the same methods they used in the past so there's no particular problem.

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The next stop was the village of the succubi.

They were the last one to move in and were the most delayed as expected.

One of the reasons for the delay was that they had prioritized hiding the traces of their original village before building their houses in the tower.

Those who hadn't yet found a place to live were living in tents but they knew it was only a matter of time before their permanent residence would be built and they didn't have to be afraid of surprise attacks so they were relieved.

The succubi are taking care of it on their own and Kousuke had no intention of telling them what to do.

Since most of their clanmates who had scattered across the continent from their original village have returned, Peach reported that it might be time to remove the teleportation gate that's still connected to their previous village.

In addition, there's already a teleportation gate installed there connected to the 5th floor.

Like with the vamilinians, the teleportation gate on the 5th floor is controlled by the succubi.

The defrayers were brought to the tower in order to be the information gatherer and without that gate, it would be impossible for them to do their job.

This is completely subjective but Kousuke had the feeling that the succubi are quite loyal to him.

He doesn't know if it is because they are people who originally take care of behind the scene work or if it is because they think he gave them a place in the tower.

He thought it's unnecessary to ask.

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「….frie herb?」

That day, Kousuke had received a proposal from Schmidt.

He wondered if there's a cluster frie herb somewhere in the tower that the adventurers can go to.

「Yes」

「I've heard of it too. I heard that it is a valuable herb. If there's really a cluster of it in the tower, it should make us a lot of money.」

Gazeran, who had been sitting with them, joined in the conversation.

「Yes, it's a kind of herb that is used to prepare certain medicines but it grows only in limited areas so you won't be able to see them in the market.」

「….hnn? How do you know it's an ingredient if it can't be found in the market?」

「The recipe is well known among pharmacists.」

The fact that it is known to the public but doesn't have a share in the market means there's something in it.

「….there's something fishy about it, am I right?」

「No, it's not really a big deal. However, it is true that the place where that herb grows is very limited.」

「Yes, that's right. Originally, it is a grass that can only grow naturally on the south continent but it has been drastically reduced because of the over foraging of adventurers.」

According to Schmidt, this is one of the reasons why adventurers are not allowed to gather more than a certain number of medicinal herbs.

Now, in the areas where herbs can be foraged, collecting without request is strictly forbidden.

「…..considering what you have said, won't we receive some grudge if we suddenly find it here?」

Schmidt shook his head in response to Kousuke's question.

「No. If it is another herb, that will be the case but not with this one.」

「….why?」

「The country that supplied the medicine that uses frie herb is called Smith and that country is already paying to find a supplier.」

「….what do you mean? 」

Did they attempt to monopolize the medicine for profit?

If it was a country managing it, then it is indeed possible.

Of course, Schmidt answered Kousuke's question.

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There's a disease that can be cured with that medicine and it is something like an endemic disease peculiar to the south continent.

It is said that it can be suppressed with the medicine that uses frie herb but with the number of medicines currently in the market, it is impossible to produce enough to treat the general public.

The endemic disease was not deadly but there was a considerable difference in the physical condition of those who drank the medicine and those who didn't.

As the only country in the world that can produce the medicine, Smith, has been receiving requests from various countries to distribute their medicine but they already have their hands full with just their domestic supply alone.

Of course, if they keep the medicine exclusive for domestic use, they will be criticized by other countries(even though it's not their fault) so they sacrificed their domestic supply to secure a certain amount for overseas use.

This naturally brought criticism from within the country as well so they are currently caught between the two.

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「….I see. 」

After listening to these explanations, Kousuke nodded in agreement.

「To put it bluntly, one country alone can't produce enough medicine to monopolize and profit from it. 」

「Yes, that's right. When the cluster of frie disappeared, they tried to cultivate it in other countries but all have failed. 」

「….I see. Gazeran, have you found any frie? 」

Of course, what he means is if he found it in the tower.

「Ah, I never received any news of someone finding it. Frie herb itself is something that adventurers have never seen before. Even if there are indeed some in the tower, there's a possibility that they missed it. 」

「Right….yeah. I also don't know which herb can be found on each floor in detail….. 」

Hearing him say that, Schmidt and Gazeran looked disappointed.

If they have it there, there's a possibility that it will become a new source of income for Crown.

「Maybe I should just check it out in a slightly different manner. 」

「Can you do that….!? 」

「Maa, there are some circumstances so I don't know if I can really find it. 」

Kousuke said so while thinking of Eris.

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—Scene Change—

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So, they asked Eris through Sylvia and she answered their question.

The answer was that it didn't grow in the tower but it did grow right outside the tower. At the foot of the tower to be precise.

So, Kousuke used the teleportation gate to quickly move to the entrance and came out of the tower from there.

The members he had brought with him this time were Kouhi, Mitsuki, Collete, and Sylvia.

Kouhi and Mitsuki insisted on coming with him since the base of the tower was filled with high-level monsters.

As for Colette, he brought her with him hoping that she knew about medicinal herbs because she's an elf.

As for Sylvia, she's Eris' contact.

Incidentally, recently, Sylvia has been able to receive Eris' words without any particular need to concentrate as long as she carries the divine tool with her.

According to Eris, that is her thanks for her continuous connection with her even for a short time.

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Even Collete didn't know anything about frie herb so they were given with Schmidt a drawing that depicted the characteristics of frie.

They strolled around the tower while shaking off occasional monster attacks with the help of Kouhi and Mitsuki.

After half a day of walking around the tower, Collete finally found the frie herb they were looking for.

Just to be sure, Kousuke also checked with his left eye and there's no doubt that it was a frie herb.

Since they had found it, it was up to Collete to do the rest.

They'll take the frie in a way that it can take root in the tower.

Incidentally, they planned on planting them on the 2nd floor and the elf village.

They are hoping that the adventurers will eventually be able to come to the 2nd floor to gather herbs.

As for why in the elf village, Collete requested it.

She hopes to use the herb to develop a medicine that the elves can use.

Because of that, they gathered a certain number of frie herbs in order to make them grow in clusters so that they would not die.

After that, they went back to the tower and planted them on the 2nd floor first.

Kousuke put up a barrier to prevent monsters from destroying the area.

After that, they went to the elf village and gave the frie herb to the elves.

The location and other details will be left to their judgment.

Collete had no say in that matter.

On the other hand, she knew that they would plant it in the right place without bothering to tell her.

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After planting the frie herb on two floors, something pleasant unexpectedly happened.

Kousuke never expected that bringing frie herb from outside would make it an external item just like the Familia treasure of the Defrayer clan.

However, that's not all the good news, because it is possible to set it up as a cluster just like any other flowering plant.

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Name: Frie Herb Cluster

Installation Cost: 100000pt (Divine Power)

Description: A cluster of frie herbs. The cost varies depending on the size of the installation. It was registered because it was brought in from the outside and took root.

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As for the installation cost, it's the same cost as other flowering plant clusters.

Since he doesn't know how big it would be unless he tried, Kousuke set it up right away.

The location is the 2nd floor, inside the barrier.

Since he might need some other herb or flower, he set them up at the lowest cost.

Even so, it seemed to have been installed at a larger area than the area inside the barrier.

Now that there's a cluster of frie herb there, that area would be crowded with adventurers.

However, they still don't know whether the distribution of frie herb will spread so he'll leave it to them to decide how to collect it.

Kousuke decided to leave everything related to the cluster with Crown.

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Chapter 6.4 – Chief, Craft Division

Kousuke had visited Gazeran to report that frie herb was found on the 2nd floor.

He had planned to just let the adventurers discover it on their own but since none of them were visiting the 2nd floor, he decided to tell it to others directly.

By the way, he has the ability to check how much the teleportation gate has been used from the management menu.

The gates on lower levels, the 4th floor and below, seem to be unpopular with the adventurers due to how weak the monsters that appear there.

The reason why he installed the cluster of frie herbs on the 2nd floor was to have adventurers go to the lower levels as well.

However, if no one came to the 2nd floor, there's no way anyone would know that there are frie herbs there.

That's why he came to tell Gazeran that the herb was found on the 2nd floor.

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「Yow, how can I help you today?」

When Kousuke came to Gazeran's office, he raised his right hand in greeting.

He told him that he doesn't need that much courtesy so they have a very frank relationship.

「I've come to tell you that frie herb was found in the tower.」

The truth is, he installed them using the tower's function but of course, he won't say anything about that.

「....what? Seriously!?」

「Seriously desu」

「Where…!?」

「2nd floor desu」

Hearing Kousuke's simple answer, Gazeran facepalmed.

「....ah! Seriously!」

Gazeran thought it was a complete blind spot.

The higher you go in the tower, the better the materials you can get so no one's actually paying attention to the lower floors.

Some parties have traveled to the lower floors before but they turned back after reaching the 3rd floor.

「Seriously desu ne」

「....I see….」

Gazeran closed his eyes and crossed his arms, thinking.

「However…..what are we going to do next….」

「? Is there a problem?」

「Not really. There is a considerable distance that needs to be traveled to the 2nd floor. I'm not sure if it is profitable to go there and collect some….」

If there are no parties that will go and pick frie herbs, everything will be for naught.

It's not worth the effort.

That's Gazeran's opinion.

「If you're going to ask a high-level party then yes. However, what if the request taker are low-level adventurers?」

「No, you can't….」

Gazeran tried to say that if the task is left to a chick, the chick will be killed immediately but he suddenly changed his mind.

It is as Kousuke said. The task is gathering frie herbs. As long as you can collect medicinal herbs, you don't need to be an expert in combat.

On lower floors, only low-level monsters come out.

He can just ask some high-level adventurers to team up with low-level adventurers.

「Right, we can do that….but I don't think it is a good idea to let everyone gather them freely.」

If they knew that they could make money by doing so, adventurers would flock that place.

However, given the nature of the herb, it was difficult to decide whether or not to allow adventurers to freely gather at will.

Gazeran thought it would be better for Crown to seize the gathering site on their own and asked Kousuke's opinion.

「If you think so, I'll leave it all for you to decide what to do with it. I think it's better to consult Schmidt-san since it involves logistics as well.」

「I guess so. I'll do that.」

Gazeran agreed to Kousuke's suggestion.

He thought it might be better to build a base there.

However, Gazeran is having doubts if it will be all worth it just for the sake of gathering frie herb.

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—Scene Change—

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Wahid and Schmidt came into the room while they were talking about the adventurers and frie herb.

Aside from the two of them, there was another one following them.

Wahid spoke on behalf of the two men.

「Excuse me, Kousuke-sama, do you have time?」

「I should, right?」

Kousuke looked at Gazeran and the other party nodded.

「Then, let me introduce Dares.」

Wahid said while pointing towards the man.

Dares, who was introduced by Wahid, bowed to Kousuke.

「My name is Dares Pares. I've been assigned as the chief of the craft division of Crown.」

「….Oh, I see. My name is Kousuke. I look forward to working with you.」

Kousuke found out from Dares' greeting that there's finally a chief for the craft division.

「What? In the end, you still accepted it, Dares.」

It was Gazeran, who had been talking with Kousuke, who said that.

Dares was a craftsman who had been involved in the construction of the village since its early days.

The construction rush was still ongoing and he had withheld his reply when he was invited by Crown.

However, the village has grown so big that they can no longer wait for his answer.

「What do you mean? Do you want to say anything?」

「No no. On the other hand, I wanted to ask you if there's anyone else more worthy than you. However, since you've accepted it already, I guess there's no point in asking.」

Gazeran waves his right hand in response to Dares' provocation(?).

The two of them stared at each other and Kousuke couldn't help but look at Wahid.

He thought that they didn't get along.

Wahid, who had been stared at, returned his gaze with a wry smile.

Kousuke thought that given Wahid's expression, there shouldn't be any problem.

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He has nothing major to say to Dares at the moment so he just told him to do his best.

When he tried to say that he would leave because he had nothing else to say, he passed by Schmidt so he told him about the frie herb.

「….with that, discuss it with Gazeran and decide how you'll handle it.」

「As you wish」

After seeing Schmidt nod, Kousuke was accompanied by Mitsuki back to the management floor.

Dares, who saw them off, mutters.

「So that's the tower manager…」

「Can't believe it?」

Gazeran laughed at Dares.

「Yes, you can say that.」

「Well, I guess so. I was like that at first too.」

Gazeran and Schmidt nodded to Dares' reply.

「However, since you took that responsibility, you should take a better look. I think you'll be quite surprised with what you'll see.」

「I totally agree.」

Schmidt agreed with Gazeran's advice.

Schmidt's impression of Kousuke is completely different from that of the first time he met him.

He thought he was just an ordinary young man who was being protected by two strong people but now, he doesn't dare think of something like that.

Dares nodded with a mysterious expression on his face as he listened to the words of Schmidt, a successful merchant, and Gazeran, who was undoubtedly one of the strongest adventurers he met.

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Chapter 6.5 – The Race Called Elf

Kousuke's head turned white at what he's currently seeing.

He's currently in his bedroom on the management floor. By the way, he rarely sleeps alone.

He always sleeps with someone so it is normal for him to see someone in his room.

However, the problem is the person.

When Kousuke went inside his bedroom that day, he was greeted by Collete.

And for some reason, she's wearing a maid's uniform.

It looks good on her but given her attitude, it's impossible for someone like her to wear something like that.

He also wondered where she got such an outfit but the biggest question is why is she wearing that and why is she there.

「...t-thank you for your hard work, m-master.」

That's it.

Her face and ears turned red while looking at him. His consciousness immediately returned after hearing her talk.

「Wait wait. What's this? Why are you here? Is this some kind of punishment game!?」

「N-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-nooooo! Of….course not desu!」

That's what Collete said but Kousuke doesn't believe her.

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Kousuke just stared at Collete.

「…..e-etho? M-master?」

Stare…..

「...…..」

...…..

「.....I…..I'm sorry.」

Kousuke can only sigh when Collete apologizes.

「.....haa. So? What kind of joke is this?」

「Ah, no….wa-wait. This isn't a joke or anything but ….」

「? What are you trying to say?」

Collete can no longer handle Kousuke's stare so she can only sigh and give up.

-0-

—Scene Change—

-0-

It all started when Sylvia noticed that Collete was acting differently.

No one else had noticed it but Sylvia, who had known Collete for quite some time, had noticed that something was wrong.

She has noticed that Collete has been acting strangely since a while ago.

It's not like she never acted like that before but she's been acting like that for a long time so she decided to ask her directly.

However, there's a possibility that she will not say anything since there were always other people on the management floor so she waited until they were alone. She thought that she should ask her at the foot of the world tree.

Even the elves who live around it rarely go near the foot of the world tree.

Kousuke and the others are exceptions.

Normally, anyone will be stopped by the guards but Sylvia was not stopped as she was allowed to approach that place.

Taking advantage of this, she walked up to Collete.

-0-

As if she had noticed that someone was approaching, Collete, who9 had been lying on her face, looked up and confirmed that it was Sylvia who had approached her.

「A-areh? Sylvia, what's wrong?」

「….what's wrong? I'm the one who should be asking you that. You have been acting weird for a long time. What's wrong with you desu wa?」

「…eh!?」

Seeing Collete is surprised, Sylvia herself is stunned.

「No way, to think that you haven't noticed it yourself?」

「What are you talking about?」

「You've been acting a little strange this morning, or rather, for a long time ago desu wa. Is there anything bothering you?」

Hearing what Sylvia said, Collete became more surprised.

「Bothering? Me!?」

「….haa. This is exactly what I'm talking about desu wa.」

Sylvia clearly sees that she's acting strange but it seems like she really didn't notice anything at all.

「Maa, desu wa. For now, could you tell me what you are currently thinking here?」

「Eh, no, it's not a big deal….」

「It's fine.」

Collete tried to refuse but Sylvia pushed her too hard.

She was forced to tell her everything she wanted to know.

Furthermore, after listening to Collete's story,

「….you're so dense.」

「Eh!? What are you saying?」

Sylvia, who saw that Collete was serious about her question, thought that this was something too much for her to handle.

She started thinking about who to consult and remember that there's the right person they can go to. She took Collete to where that person was.

-0-

The place they headed to was Dolly's tree.

To be precise, Sheryl's place, Dolly's shrine maiden.

Sylvia, who had almost dragged Collete along with her, told Sheryl exactly what she had just said.

However….

「….is there something with that?」

That's the reply she received.

When Collete heard that, she nodded and said she's right since there's really no problem.

Sylvia, who saw the two of them acting like that, held her head with her hand.

It seems that it is a racial problem.

In addition, she was convinced that it is the main reason why their birth rate was falling.

As Sylvia was wondering what she should do, a friend came to the rescue.

Dolly.

「….ano. Elves are close to us but you can't compare them to humans on that aspect.」

「….obviously.」

「So, this is my proposal, how about consulting a race that is expert on those kinds of things?」

「Expert? Who?」

「I'm sorry. I don't know her name but I'm sure you have a succubus friend, right?」

She's talking about Peach.

Sylvia agreed. When it comes to things like that, they are indeed the experts.

-0-

She told Collete to stay where she was and went to Peach's place returning with her in tow.

When they arrived at Dolly's place, she told her what she told the others earlier.

「I see～」

After hearing it, Peach immediately came to a conclusion and nodded.

「So, how is it?」

For some reason, it was Dolly who asked her seriously.

「Areh areh～? Why is Dolly-sama so interested?」

For some reason, Dolly is more concerned than the person who's experiencing it, Collete.

「It's because it has something to do with the race called elf.」

She pointed at the two confused elves who were with them.

「Haa～ right. I have an idea but it would probably be treated as some kind of rough treatment for her.」

「It can't be helped. Given an elf's sense, it would be impossible for her to notice it herself.」

「Are you telling me that all elves are afflicted with that condition?」

For some reason, Dolly nodded vigorously at Peach's disturbing words.

Sylvia also looked at Collete and nodded.

Collete, who was watching the situation, had a bad premonition but did not run away. That is something she ended up regretting immediately.

0

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Chapter 6.6 – The Race Called Elf (2)

The elves are a long-lived race compared to humans.

Naturally, the way they grow is also different.

Humans grow both physically and mentally at the same time although there are some individual differences.

However, elves, who have long lifespan, will grow physically first and mentally later.

If you ask the elves, they will say that they are not growing slowly but they are thinking deeply over time but at least answers differ per individual.

In case of relationships with others, most prominently, romantic relationships, it becomes somewhat similar to a hindrance.

That's the reason why their birth rate is low.

To put it simply, even if their body remains young, they are no longer capable of being in heat.

By the time their mental growth catches up, their mating period is already over.

The worst part is that the elves and even the high elves themselves are not aware of their mating period which makes it more difficult for their race to reproduce.

In short, by the time they feel love in their heart, their bodily desire has long subsided.

It is not right to say that the elves don't feel love, it is just that they are not that intense in terms of love compared to humans.

-0-

「…maa, how's my theory～?」

Dolly, who heard Peach's analysis, nodded as if she was convinced.

「I see. Given what I've seen, I can say that your theory is correct.」

「—I'm also convinced.」

Sylvia, who was also listening beside her, nodded while looking at Collete.

On the other hand, Collete and Sheryl, who were the subject of the theory, looked confused.

「….ehto, what exactly are you talking about?」

Collete, who had been the main target of the three's gaze, could no longer stand and asked.

「Maa, in other words, elves are super insensitive. That's it.」

Peach and Dolly nodded to Sylvia's harsh words.

「Even though their bodies are well developed.」

「Dolly-sama, you're a meanie desu～」

「The survival of your race is at stake so I at least have to say this much.」

It can't be said too much since this is basically one step forward.

-0-

「You know a lot, aren't you, Peach?」

「Ah, it's nothing desu～. We, succubus race, are kind the opposite desu yo.」

「…what do you mean?」

Hearing her saying that, Sylvia was confused.

「To put it simply, mentality～ we leave love and relationship behind desu～ and satisfy our bodily desire first desu yo.」

「…I see.」

「In fact, there were many examples that it worked well when we connect our bodies first. Our mentality will grow later and will feel love and attachment to others after.」

That may sound like an extreme example but Sylvia thought that she shouldn't judge them with her human ways.

「There's even a rumor in the old times, when other races misunderstood our practice, that the succubus race is carnivorous desu～」

「I see…」

Sylvia was surprised by the unexpected past of the succubus that Peach revealed.

However, she suddenly realized that the rumor hasn't spread much now.

「Ara? That's not how you do things now, right desu wa?」

「Yeah, we have fortune telling now～」

Sylvia was convinced with Peach's words again.

In short, rather than finding partners by using their bodies, they are now using fortune telling to check compatibility.

To reword it, they are not that different from the matchmaking that the humans are doing.

The role of an aunt who matches you with someone will be taken care of by a fortune teller.

When Sylvia was thinking about it, she realized that the story had changed a lot.

「So, what are we going to do with Collete?」

「Right, desu ne～ How about letting her do our ancient ways of matchmaking?」

Saying so, the two of them looked at Collete, smiling. Collete, felt chill from those and tried to escape.

-0-

—Scene Change—

-0-

Kousuke finally understood that what's happening is something Sylvia and Peach planned behind the scenes. However, he's still confused about why she is dressed like that and why she is in his room.

「Okay, I get what happened. However, why are you dressed like that here?」

「I-I'm not sure myself. When we went to the succubus village, the fortune teller said this would be for the best. Thus, I came here dressed like this…」

Collete turned red. Kousuke, who can't help but be fascinated by her, somehow read the intention of the two.

「…..Sylvia and Peach. Come in….」

Since this is Sylvia and Peach's plan, Kousuke thought they should be around to check the situation. He thought they should be by the door.

Then, Sylvia, who looked embarrassed, and Peach, who's smiling mischievously, came into the room.

「No….this is, Kousuke-san is the only one who can solve Collete's troubles. Please do your best desu wa.」

「Right, desu ne～ The fortune-telling is surely correct. Especially in that aspect～」

Kousuke can only hold his head after hearing the two.

Both of them are fully aware of their intention(Though Collete doesn't seem to know) but Kousuke's not comfortable with it.

-0-

And as when he was thinking about it, someone else broke in.

「I heard about everything. I think the two of you are doing it wrong.」

It was Mitsuki.

「Do you think so?」

「Yeah, do you remember your turn, Silvie?」

When Mitsuki asked her that, Sylvia suddenly became convinced.

「—right. We're talking about Kousuke-san here. Even bug would have done better.」

Hearing the conversation of the two, Kousuke tried to escape but he was unexpectedly ambushed.

「I apologize, my lord.」

It was Kouhi.

Kouhi firmly suppressed Kousuke from behind so that Kousuke couldn't move.

And then, she whispered something to him that Collete couldn't hear.

「Please violate your principle this time. This is for the sake of the whole elf race.」

「No, but…」

Kousuke, who tried to refute it, was persuaded by something unexpected again.

『Can't you just accept it with grace?』

That voice came from Sylvia's sacred treasure, in short, Eris.

Before he knew it, he suddenly had several questions to ask the other party like how could she use the connection like that and how could she seem to connect on her own but the situation did not allow him to.

「Is there no other way?」

「If there is, the birth rate of the elves would have not fallen.」

Hearing Kouhi's words, Kousuke sighed as if he had given up.

He then approached Collete, who looked like she was left behind by everyone.

Seeing Collete confused, Kousuke moved even closer, and finally, their lips met.

Collete was stunned by the suddenness but Kousuke continued. Her mind went blank.

「If you don't like it, just say so and I'll stop.」

Kousuke's words kept repeating in her head but in the end, Collete never said anything about disliking something.

Rather, when she woke up the next day, she was so delirious that made everyone think if she's the real Collete.

-0-

—Scene Change—

-0-

By the way…

「You were usually so aggressive, why are you holding back now?」

It was Kouhi who asked that to Peach, who usually immediately joins in.

「Of course, they need to do it first before I join in～.」

「Is that so?」

Kouhi nodded to Peach without changing her expression.

「Are you not going to stop me～?」

「Should I stop you?」

「Shouldn't you～?」

Peach was confused but Kouhi was confused as well.

In the end, Mitsuki brought everyone out.

0

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Chapter 6.7 – Spirit

Kousuke happened to have some free time so he was lying down on the sofa on the management floor.

He's only half-conscious because he's on the verge of sleeping.

Then, someone tackled him.

「Oniichan, I have a request」

「….guhooo!」

It was Wanli in human form.

Even though she's small and light, he was taken by surprise.

Seeing Kousuke writing for a while, Wanli became teary-eyed and apologized.

「I'm sorry….」

Seeing Wanli like that, Kousuke patted her head.

「Ah, yeah. Just be careful next time.」

「Ah, yeah. Just be careful next time.」

「Yeah….!」

He smiled at her and Wanli smiled back.

「So, what do you need?」

「Right….」

-0-

The other day, Wanli said that she and Collete had visited the Elf Village.

At that time, she saw the world tree and there were many beautiful spirits flying around it. She also wants her place to be like that.

She can feel that there are many spirits there but not on the level as the place around the world tree.

In addition to Wanli, the sky and earth fox can also feel spirits and it will strengthen them too if the spirit concentration on their place is high.

When Kousuke heard that, he crossed his arms and began to think.

He's thinking about how to realize Wanli's request.

In fact, the effect is something he himself wished for.

However, he has no idea how to increase the number of spirits in a certain area.

No matter how much he thinks about it, he never found an answer so he decided to ask an expert.

-0-

—Scene Change—

-0-

「Oh, I see. So that's why you came to me for advice.」

The one who said that is Collete.

Incidentally, Collete is also hugging Kousuke's arm.

Since the incident the other day, Collete has come to prefer being in contact with Kousuke.

On the management floor, where there are some other people, she has learned to control herself and does nothing. However, once given the chance, she will link arms with Kousuke.

In the past, when Sylvia and Peach do that to Kousuke, Collete used to tell them to refrain from doing so.

When Collete started doing that too, Sylvia and Peach told her to refrain from doing so when there are others around.

Still, Collete continued to do so which Sylvia and Peach considered unfair because she's the one who first asked them to not do so when there are others around.

However, they were the ones who made Collete like that.

Eventually, they managed to have Collete accept their advice.

She was reluctant at first but when Sylvia told her "If you go too far, Kouhi and Mitsuki will be angry.".

Collete knows what exactly will happen if she offended Kouhi and Mitsuki.

In the worst-case scenario, she would not be allowed to even go near Kousuke.

For Collete, that was the only thing she can't accept at the moment.

This is why when he visits the elf village, she takes full advantage of the fact that she can't be pampered by him on the management floor.

At first, the residents of the elf village rolled their eyes when they saw her like that but now, they have accepted it as normal.

Incidentally, when Sheryl saw them for the first time, she whispered "…I envy you.".

According to Dolly, the elves were changing their attitude toward Collet, who was showing her affection without the fear of being seen.

The couples(including married couples), who used to act like a matured couple, were starting to look like newlyweds after seeing and hearing Collete's behavior.

Kousuke wondered if that was a good change but Dolly confirmed that it's definitely a good chance.

Or at least this was what Dolly was hoping for.

It's not that Kousuke doesn't like being linked with Collete(in fact, it makes him happy), so he does as he was told.

-0-

Collete nodded when she heard about Wanli's request from Kousuke but her expression quickly became difficult.

「I want to increase the number of spirits….but…I don't know if we can install something with that effect.」

She thought about it for a while but shook her head in the end.

「No, you can't remember because you didn't pay much attention. How about we go back to the management floor?」

「How about your job?」

Kousuke asked her about her job as the shrine maiden of the world tree.

「I'm fine…I was just finishing it up…and I'm sure you're glad to see me dressed like this.」

What Collete was showing off was, of course, her shrine maiden outfit.

「N-no, it's not like that….」

「…really? I'm sure you prefer this to my everyday clothes especially when….hmff」

Kousuke realized that Collete was about to say something dangerous so he blocked her mouth.

Wanli looks confused while Mitsuki smiles.

He also felt that the gaze from the women around has become colder.

「Ahahaha….sorry for the trouble I caused you～」

While covering Collete's mouth, Kousuke left with a smile on his face as if to cover it up.

-0-

—Scene Change—

-0-

Instead of heading to the management floor immediately from the foot of the world tree where Collete was, he picked up Sheryl and Dolly first before moving to the management floor.

He thought Sheryl, the former shrine maiden of the world tree, should be knowledgeable about spirits.

In addition to that, there's another reason.

Kousuke would like to confirm with someone about the installations on the management screen.

That someone is Dolly.

Dolly, like the world tree, is growing well and can appear elsewhere in a short time with Sheryl, her shrine maiden.

However, since Sheryl only moves around the elf village and the management floor, they haven't been able to confirm if she can go to any other places.

There's no complaint about their narrow scope of activities.

Well, Sheryl doesn't seem to be dissatisfied because she's the shrine maiden of the world tree and she rarely leaves its side.

Rather, when she came to the management floor and found out that Dolly could come with her there, she was both surprised and happy.

She was pleased that Dolly could move freely.

With that, he decided to look for something that he can install that would attract spirits with everyone and that includes Dolly.