Volume 23 Chapter (7-Side Story 3)

Chapter 7, The Peerless Nana

Currently, Cecil's group was defeating monsters right in front of Kousuke's eyes.

Two wolves and two foxes were keeping each other in check, and the two girls were using spirit magic to make sure that they killed monsters.

Kousuke's group was in a place where monsters of intermediate rank in the 44th Floor appeared in packs.

Some monsters may not be strong individually, but they worked best in packs.

This was also a floor where such monsters appeared in large numbers.

Because they attacked in packs, there was no way that the Familiars would be able to kill them all by themselves, and that was where the spirit magic came into play.

The monster they were dealing with now was a large rat monster called a Big Mouse.

Individually, it was not strong, but it was classified as an intermediate level monster because of its ability to work together with others.

If they were on their own, they would be classified as lower-class monsters, but since they were never encountered individually, they became intermediate class monsters.

The ten Big Mice were steadily being killed by the girls, and finally the last one was defeated.

One of the wolves finished off the last one, and the subjugation was completed.

***

"No, no, it was brilliant. And I didn't have to step in at all."

Kousuke said and joined in to process the Big Mouse.

He thought about stepping in if they were in danger, but there was no need to do so at all.

He had witnessed the girls in battle several times before coming here, and so far, there had been no situations where they were on the verge of being defeated.

"Thank you very much. But it is definitely thanks to Nana that we have been able to achieve this level of ease, right?"

Cecil said this and looked at Nana, who was happily eating the meat of the Big Mouse given to her by Arisa.

Nana was now about the size of a medium-sized dog, not in her original size.

Nevertheless, the monsters knew how strong she was, and even if they attacked Kousuke's group, they would not come near Nana.

Therefore, they did not approach Kousuke with Nana by his side.

Cecil and Arisa knew this as well, so they were able to concentrate on the battle without worrying about Kousuke.

The Big Mouse who attacked them were always concerned with Nana, so their coordination was slightly disrupted.

It would have been better if they had never attacked their group in the first place, but he thought that monsters have their own reasons.

They may simply be there because they had invaded their territory.

***

The request that they accepted this time was to procure the fur of this Big Mouse.

The requested number of pelts was five, but it was common knowledge among adventurers to gather more, as they might not be able to accept some of them.

In addition, Big Mouse meat could also be purchased.

It was not a luxury foodstuff, but it was a delicacy because of the remoteness of its habitat.

Of course, this was a situation in continents other than the Central continent, and it was an ingredient that was rarely available on the Central continent.

The reason why the Big Mouse was so popular was because it was confirmed that big mice inhabited this floor, and any adventurer of intermediate rank or above would be able to obtain one.

The problem was that most adventurers usually prepared a cart and brought it with them.

However, Kousuke and his group did not have a cart.

This was not because they had given up on meat, but because they had other means to collect it.

After completing the bloodletting and other processes that can be done on the spot, Cecil touched each Big Mouse one by one.

Each time he did this, the Big Mouse would disappear.

The secret behind this was the bracelet that Cecil wore on her arm.

The deeper secret behind it was that the fact that it was Kousuke who created the magic item box sealed the magic in the bracelet.

When Cecil was first given this bracelet, she was puzzled, but now she used it normally.

Of course, no ordinary adventurer would possess such a thing.

As usual, the materials used were so valuable that even Schmidt considered it impossible to mass-produce.

At first, they were targeted for carrying such items, but these days those people were few and rarely encountered.

Among adventurers based on the Fifth Floor, word had already spread that it would be meaningless to take it from Cecil.

The reason was that the bracelet was designed to react to Cecil's magical power, making it impossible for anyone other than Cecil to use it.

Realizing that it was impossible to hide it anyway, Cecil proved it in front of the other adventurers, and the story spread like wildfire.

As a result, Cecil's group no longer had to worry about carrying the monsters they defeated.

***

Having finished putting away all the Big Mouse, Cecil looked at Kousuke.

"This is the end of your request, but shall we go back soon?"

It had taken a full day for Kousuke's group to reach the Floor.

It would not have taken so long if they used the same method when Kousuke conquered this Tower, but they came here on foot because there was no need to be so conspicuous.

Floors up to the 45th Floor were Floors where adventurers were normally active, so there was no way to know where they might find eyes looking their way.

It would be fine if they were spotted once or twice, but more than that would surely cause rumors among adventurers.

For that reason, he did not call the wind dragons to use to travel.

"Hmm. That's fine, but is there anything else around here that could be worth money?"

"Of course there is."

Arisa immediately answered Kousuke's question.

Few adventurers would travel this far just to complete a single request.

It was possible to receive multiple requests at the same time, and most adventurers usually receive two or three at the same time.

Kousuke's group received only one request this time, but they were doing so because they were not strapped for cash.

"Then, let's go hunt something else before we return."

"Hunting? Not collecting?"

"Yes, Nana was watching the current battle, but she seems to want to do some hunting."

Kousuke said and turned his attention to Nana.

There, Nana was lying down, looking satisfied after eating Big Mouse meat.

After eating, she probably wanted to do some hunting.

Usually, it was the opposite.

"I see. I understand."

Arisa said and led the way to the next hunting ground.

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The next hunting ground was with Nana in combat.

Arisa led them to a place where a monster called Black Horse was forming a herd.

There were several herds, but they decided to hunt one of them.

The Black Horses, although the same species as horses, were clearly ferocious and, like all monsters, carnivorous.

The Black Horses initially charged toward Kousuke's group as soon as they recognized them, but lost their momentum halfway down the trail.

It was obviously because they were aware of Nana.

But by that time, it was already too late.

The moment Kousuke said, "You can hunt all you want", the devastation started.

The second Nana and the first Black Horse crossed paths, the Black Horse's head flew off.

Basically, Nana used her claws to hunt, but obviously, she would have used her magic as well.

The Black Horses saw the scene and immediately turned to flee, but it was far too late.

Nana then did as she pleased and ended up hunting the remaining horses.

Some horses fled in different directions to survive, but eventually, they were all caught and hunted by Nana.

***

"… What can I say, it's just brilliant."

"It happened so fast…"

These were Arisa and Cecil's impressions after watching Nana's battle.

"Well, she was powerful enough to overwhelm high ranking monsters in a one-on-one fight."

Kousuke thought that he could also do it on his own, but not as well as Nana.

"Overwhelm high ranking monsters?"

Cecil's expression turned slightly twitchy when she heard that comment.

She did know that she was strong, but she had not expected her to be that strong.

Kousuke walked over to Nana, who was wagging her tail happily beside Black Horse, and stroked her neck in praise.

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Chapter 8, Template

"Hey, you. Don't ignore me!"

Kousuke listened to the voice and thought, "Oh, a template.", but didn't really react.

Of course, the man was trying to get Kousuke's attention, but was thoroughly ignored, thinking it was not worth the trouble.

"Hey! …!!!"

A snapping sound echoed in the room where Crown's window was located.

The man, who had grown impatient with Kousuke continuing to ignore him, was about to touch him on the shoulder to force him to turn around when a dagger came towards the man involved and knocked him off his feet.

The dagger was knocked away and headed toward the adventurers who were watching the scene, but none of them panicked at that level.

Instead of panicking or making a fuss, they dealt with the dagger and concentrated on the noise.

"What? What the heck are you doing?!"

"Nothing really. However, If you do any more trouble to Kou-sama, we won't keep quiet, okay?"

Arisa said to the man as she pointed a dagger at him.

Cecil was standing right next to her, nodding her head.

"Hey, hey. You've got it all wrong, don't you? You guys are being fooled…"

"Fooled? What are you talking about? If anything, you're the one trying to fool us, aren't you?"

At Arisa's comment, a muffled "pfft" could be heard among the adventurers who had been watching the commotion.

"Hey! Who was the one who just laughed! "

Naturally, the man tried to make false accusations, but the adventurers averted their gazes and looked away.

***

This whole thing started when a man who had been paying attention to Cecil and Arisa made an accusation against Kousuke.

Apparently, Cecil and Arisa's attitude, which seemed to even respect Kousuke, spurred it on.

The adventurers who had seen this had something to say about it, but no one tried to intervene.

Normally, this kind of behavior in Crown's Adventurer Division headquarters would have resulted in a ban, but this man had only recently arrived and apparently had not learned about such things from other people.

Although it was becoming less and less common, such people still appeared from time to time.

Kousuke was about to put a stop to it, but someone interrupted him.

"Hey, hey, hey. What's all this racket? Trouble between adventurers is not allowed here, you know."

All eyes turned toward the voice, which was followed by some commotion.

It was Gazeran, the head of Crown's adventurer division.

"Who the heck are you? You irrelevant people, stay out of this! "

The man who had recklessly entangled himself with Kousuke also started to cause trouble to Gazeran.

He probably didn't know what kind of position Gazeran was in.

If he knew, he would not have done such a foolish thing.

The man had recently arrived in the Tower and was officially registered with Crown.

Gazeran, who had been accused of being a nuisance, did not look angry, but rather amused.

Since he had become the head of the department, this kind of thing had been happening less and less.

"Oh, ooh. You've got a lot of nerve, don't you? Why don't we take that bravado and put it to the test in battle?"

"….What do you mean?"

Suddenly, Gazeran's suggestion made the man snort.

"What? I'm saying, why don't you just settle this like an adventurer? Or was that just a bluff?"

The man chuckled at Gazeran's words.

"Fine. I'm in. I don't know if your cowardly ass is on board, though."

"Wait…? Gazeran?"

Kousuke protested, annoyed at the sudden suggestion.

Gazeran already knew that Kousuke was an adventurer as "Kou".

However, Kousuke stopped, knowing Gazeran's position and because he was pretending to be a new adventurer.

***

"What? Have we come to an agreement? Or are you talking about cheating because you can't win?"

The man grinned at me.

"Oh, no, no. He was reluctant, so I had to persuade him a little bit. Don't worry, we'll have a place ready, and you can duke it out over there."

Gazeran said and gave the receptionist a few instructions.

The instructions were simply to prepare an available training center.

The man went joyfully to the training center that had been prepared for him.

He thought it was only natural that he would win.

"Oh. You guys here who have some spare time better watch, okay? You'll see some pretty interesting stuff."

Gazeran said to the adventurers who had been watching the commotion.

Of course, most of the people there knew Gazeran.

If Gazeran said such a thing, then even the higher-ranking adventurers, who had not moved before, began to head for the training site.

***

"… I was trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, you know?"

"What are you saying? That's an impossible proposition when you're working with these two."

At Gazeran's words, the receptionist, who had been silently watching the situation, nodded.

"That's to be expected, I guess."

"I'm sorry."

Cecil bowed to Kousuke, who shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh, no. It's not like I need you to go out of your way to apologize."

Kousuke said so and headed for the training ground as if he had given up.

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To the man who came toward him brandishing his sword, Kousuke uttered only one word to prevent it.

Killing was supposed to be forbidden, but the man was clearly determined to kill him.

"Knoll, please."

Kousuke said, and for a moment, there was a flash of light in the area.

The man's sword swung down and was repelled with a high-pitched cracking sound.

"Oh, hey. What the heck is that? You've got to be kidding me!"

"Which one of us is kidding around", Kousuke thought, but since he didn't want to go out of his way to stir things up by saying such a thing, he uttered something else.

"So that's it? I mean, it's kind of hard to even scratch me if you can't break through this light, though, right? Oh, and I thought killing was forbidden?"

"Ugh, shut up! "

he said, trying to be as calm as possible, but it ended up agitating the man.

The man, who was upset, didn't even notice what was going on around him, and lunged at Kousuke the same way.

***

The man did not realize it, but among those around him who were making noise were those who could use spirits.

They must have faintly guessed what Kousuke had summoned.

Gazeran, who was standing beside Cecil and Arisa, asked.

"Is that what you call a fairy?"

Gazeran's gaze caught a glimpse of a light floating around Kousuke.

To those who could use spirits, it would appear to be a dwarf.

"Yes. Yes."

At Gazeran's question, Cecil looked at the fairy as if impressed.

And rightly so, too.

Fairies had been considered a legendary figure in the first place.

Even Collete could not summon them casually.

The fact that Kousuke was able to summon them simply by calling their names alone made him an extraordinary being.

Naturally, the people around him who could use spirits also understood this.

Even if they had never actually seen him call them, the fact that he was handling spirits would show them that the dwarf in front of him possessed power.

From that power, they could assume that it was a powerful being.

The story was passed on from the people who could understand to those who were around them.

Except for one man.

In the end, the man was unable to notice what was going on until the very end.

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Chapter 9, C Rank on Standby?

Kousuke watched with a curious look on his face as the man was carried out in an unconscious state after being hit on the head as hard as he could with a rock that Knoll had created.

"What's wrong? You look like you're not happy about it."

Gazeran looked at Kousuke as if he had found something interesting.

"Oh, no. I'm confused, or rather, I don't understand?"

"What? How?"

"Well. People like that are everywhere, but what would they do after defeating someone like me?"

Gazeran nodded his head at Kousuke's statement.

"You see, Cecil and Arisa have their own free will, so I don't think defeating me is going to help them, right?"

Kousuke turned his head with a look of sincere doubt on his face.

Seeing Kousuke like that, Gazeran was giggling.

"If they had a brain to think about such things in the first place, they wouldn't be thinking about getting involved with other people in the first place, would they?"

"….Really?"

"Yeah, of course they do. And most of the people here are like that, you know?"

Gazeran's words drew boos from those who had been watching their battle.

They had been swept away by the fairies Kousuke had summoned just a few moments before, but they recovered quickly.

And perhaps that was the trick to surviving as an adventurer.

Thinking about such an unimportant thing, Kousuke let out a sigh.

"Yeah. Well, okay. Now you have no more use for me, right?"

"Oh, wait a minute."

Gazeran stopped Kousuke, who was about to leave, thinking that he was no longer needed.

"What, there's more?"

"Since we're on the subject, why don't we go ahead and have you take the rank advancement exam? Let's bring you up to C Rank with my authority as a department head."

Kousuke was surprised at this offer.

After all, he had only been active as "Kou" for a short time.

The only achievement he had obtained was the materials he brought back just a few days ago.

It would be impossible for such a rookie to suddenly be assigned "C" Rank.

As expected, there was a different kind of booing from those around him.

"Shut up, you guys! There aren't enough skilled adventurers to go around! If you like, want to go at it too? Let's see, anyone who can beat this guy gets C-rank, okay?"

"Wait, wait…?"

At Gazeran's words, the noise stopped.

Kousuke hurried to stop him, but it was already too late.

There were a few who were already in the mood.

***

"Are those statements true, department head?"

One of them said as he came forward.

Gazeran grinned at the man.

"Hey, of course. I'm the department head. I can manage a little bit of the process."

Kousuke was inwardly troubled when he heard this.

He didn't think it was right for a department head to break the rules, but Kousuke was in no position to give his opinion to Gazeran.

"You seem to have misunderstood, but department head privileges really do exist, you know?"

Gazeran suddenly said to Kousuke.

"What? Really."

"Ooh. It's written in the company's rules and regulations. Check it out later."

Apparently, he was not lying, Kousuke thought.

Cecil and Arisa, who were watching the commotion, were nodding their heads up and down.

"Well, that's fine then… I mean, this is not good! Why do I have to go through all that trouble? I'm planning to raise my Rank the normal way, so I don't need any special exceptions! "

"No, no, don't say that. Besides, it's already too late to say so, see?"

Gazeran said and looked at the entrances to the training grounds.

Both of the two entrances were blocked by grinning adventurers.

They were not trying to lock Kousuke in, but they wanted to make sure that they witnessed all this fun commotion.

As if giving up, Kousuke's shoulders slumped.

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As it turned out, Kousuke was able to become Rank C as "Kou".

He defeated all the adventurers who approached him.

He even presented Sarah after Knoll.

In conclusion, it ended up becoming a challenge to defeat Kousuke, rather than a rank-up test.

Some of them had already reached Rank C, indicating the situation.

"Oh, splendidly done. No one will complain about Kou getting Rank C now."

Gazeran seemed satisfied with his performance.

In fact, one might say that he was relieved to see how Kousuke fought.

Certainly, he could get through most things if he could show this level of fighting ability.

Gazeran had been intimidated by Kousuke, but had never seen him actually fight, so he wanted to know exactly how good he was.

"Well, is that all… So? Can we end this with the Rank Up?"

Kousuke confirmed to Gazeran, looking tired.

No, he was actually tired.

"Oh, yeah. I'll take care of the rest! Can you process it?"

Gazeran said, addressing the official who had been watching what was going on.

But the official shook his head from side to side.

"No, I can't do that. That's impossible."

"What? What do you mean?"

"It's just as the department head said earlier. It's a special exception, so we can't handle it ourselves. You have to do it yourself."

"Oh? Oh? Is that so?"

Kousuke looked at Gazeran surprised at this and gave him a stern look.

***

"After that. we're done here, right?"

"Why the question?"

Kousuke asked Gazeran, who tilted his head and handed him a Crown Card for "Kou".

"Gahaha. It's my first time making a special exception. I don't know if I'm doing it right!"

"Don't be so bossy."

That line, uttered in a snappy tone, did not reach Gazeran.

No, he probably just ignored it.

Kousuke was sure of it when he saw the receptionist, who had been watching him, nodding.

"Well, never mind."

When Kousuke checked, it had indeed been properly revised to Rank C, and there was nothing particularly wrong with it.

"Well, since it's a good time, I guess we should take some requests and leave."

Kousuke said to Cecil and Arisa, who had been watching over them.

They nodded in agreement.

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After receiving the appropriate request, the three of them returned to the inn they had reserved.

Cecil and Arisa already knew the reason why they were going to the inn, so they did not question it.

Usually, instead of staying at an Inn, they would have gone straight back to the Yurino Shrine, but since Kousuke was going to the Inn, they had decided to stay there as well.

They could not leave Kousuke alone, no matter the cost.

Even though Nana, the strongest guard, was by his side.

***

"Ah, I'm tired. I'm tired."

Kousuke muttered as he sat on the bed in the inn room.

As a matter of course, he was not in the same room with the other two.

Although Nana, as expected, was by his side.

For Kousuke, the events back at Crown headquarters were more exhausting than killing monsters.

Not so much physically, but mentally.

But it was a good experience for Kousuke because he was able to become Rank C.

He knew that Gazeran was trying to do just that.

However, it was also true that he was tired, so he decided to go straight to bed that day.

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Chapter 10, The Awakening of Peach

On the Administration Floor, where Kousuke left, the Tower was still being run by the remaining members, although not as usual.

The management of the Tower, unless they do something special such as summoning a new golem, was just a matter of placing a summoning circle for the current dependents to feed.

For that matter, there was no problem since the golem was already doing it automatically at regular intervals.

As for the towers other than Amamiya Tower, there were no problems, since most of them were mostly removed from Kousuke's custody even before he left.

However, there were times when they felt a sense of loneliness, but that was to be expected.

Kousuke, who used to be a central figure in the group, was no longer a part of the group.

***

In the midst of all this, Peach was resting in her room after finishing her usual work at the Tower.

Spending time alone like this, she couldn't help thinking about Kousuke.

She had never thought that she was so dependent on Kousuke, but it made her understand that there were things that she could see when he was gone.

Of course, it may be because of her nature as a succubus.

She wondered if it was really her nature as a succubus, or Peach's own disposition, or both.

Either way, at least she was able to know her own feelings, which was one of the good aspects of Kousuke's absence.

She could finally think about positive things.

As she lay on her bed thinking about this, she fell asleep before she knew it.

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She found herself drifting in the sky.

It was not as if she were floating with magic power, but rather, she felt as if she was really drifting.

Looking closely, she realized that she had no arms, legs, or feet.

It was a strange sensation, but it was as if she were flying through the air with only her vision.

Peach, somewhat amused by this new sensation, decided to take a tour of the area.

She did not know where she was going, but it was just an ordinary flat land.

It was impossible to pinpoint her location because of the surroundings being very similar.

Strangely enough, there was no sense of danger that she might not be able to return to where she was.

She wondered why she was drifting, and suddenly remembered that she had recently been in a similar situation.

It was the same feeling she had the first time she had almost manifested the power of Kousuke's blessing.

At that time, she did not have a body like she did now, but it was definitely not the same sensation, it was a similar but more intense one.

***

She felt something like a premonition, and moved in the direction of the premonition.

She had been wondering how long she had been moving.

Perhaps because she was physically absent, she had no sense of time at all.

It seemed as if she had traveled a considerable distance, but at the same time, it seemed as if she had not traveled very far.

However, she was sure that she had arrived at the place she wanted to go.

Because Kousuke was there, the man she wanted to see.

There were also two other women by his side.

It was Cecil and Arisa.

***

"Kousuke-san…!"

She tried to call out, but remembered that she did not have a body.

Of course, she couldn't speak.

She tried to see if she could do something like telepathy, but that was also impossible.

She panicked and tried to do whatever she could, but inevitably she could not do anything.

The reason why she was in such a panic was because a monster was approaching Kousuke.

She could see it because she was looking at it from the sky.

Kousuke did not seem to notice it yet.

This may have been understandable, since they were so far away from each other.

But there was no doubt that the monster had spotted Kousuke.

***

The Familiars, who were working together, were hunting in a remote location, directly opposite of the monster.

At Kousuke's request, he was observing what would happen if he and the Familiars hunted alone, giving only instructions.

Nana was supposed to be the escort, but she was concentrating on hunting the monsters that Kousuke had instructed her to hunt because she was absolutely committed to what he said.

Because Nana, who was highly perceptive, was not around, neither Kousuke himself nor Cecil and Arisa noticed the monster.

Whether they were aiming to take advantage of this opportunity, the timing could not have been better.

As Peach had predicted, the monster rushed toward Kousuke.

Perhaps because she was a little too far away, Nana was unable to respond in time.

Unexpectedly, Peach tried to close her eyes, but since she was not looking with her eyes to begin with, she had to watch everything that followed.

***

Kousuke noticed the monster heading towards him, and without panicking or causing a commotion, he motioned for something to be done.

He knew that Nana's absence would create an opening.

Soon, Peach also noticed the fairy besides Kousuke.

It was probably Knoll, the earth fairy.

Perhaps the monster that rushed toward Kousuke had been hit by something and could not get its fangs to Kousuke in time with that instruction.

Nana, who finished her battle in another area, immediately rushed in and gave chase to the monster.

The rest was now Nana's sole domain, and in no time at all, she had put the monster away.

Cecil and Arisa both moved close to Kousuke to see what was going on.

They were probably checking to make sure he was not injured.

Peach was relieved to see that Kousuke was not injured in any way.

***

Kousuke, who was petting Nana after she defeated the monster, suddenly looked at her.

Peach couldn't help but feel a twinge of relief when she felt his gaze.

She was not even physically present, but his gaze was clearly fixed on her.

Kousuke did not know what she looked like, but somehow he knew that she was seeing him as Peach.

The moment she thought her face had turned into a smile, she felt as if her consciousness was rapidly surfacing.

She wanted to stay a little longer, but she just couldn't resist the sensation.

***

Peach snapped her eyes open on the bed in her room.

For some reason, Sylvia was in front of her.

Even though they were good friends, she wouldn't go into someone else's room without permission.

"Are you okay? You look like you were having a nightmare."

Peach understood the reason.

It seemed that what she said when she called out to Kousuke came out in her physical body as if she was talking in her sleep. It was loud enough to be heard outside the room.

And it was apparently loud enough to be heard outside the room.

Peach blushed slightly, but more importantly, she had to tell everyone what had just happened.

She remembers exactly what had just happened.

"I'm fine~. I apologize for worrying you. More than that, I have something I want to tell everyone."

Keeping quiet was not at all what she had in mind for gaining that sense.

Because in many ways, Peach's experience this time would have a positive impact on the girls.

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"Kousuke-sama, is something wrong?"

Cecil asked Kousuke, who was staring at a point with a smile on his face, tilting his head.

"Oh, no. It's nothing. You could say that something good happened."

"I see."

Cecil tilted his head and asked, "What do you mean, a good thing?"

Kousuke didn't bother to explain either.

Kousuke thought that if he explained what he had just seen to Cecil, it would be even more confusing.

Even for Kousuke, he was not confident if he could describe it well in words because he only perceived it with his senses.

It was light, translucent, or something else, but not something tangible.

But he certainly felt the presence of Peach in the sky above him.

It was through the power of the blessings that he sensed it.

Kousuke had expected it to take two weeks at the earliest, but it took only a week or so for her to get the chance to manifest her power.

It wasn't enough for him to return, but he knew that things had been proceeding as planned.

Currently, it was only Peach, but he hoped that eventually the others would get a sense of their own blessings soon.

If Peach could do it, the others would think that they could also accomplish it as well.

Besides, there was no need for all of them to achieve results right away.

If just one person could produce results, it would be a relief for everyone.

Of course, that would include Kousuke.

That was why Kousuke was still suppressing his desire to return.

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Sidestory 1, Thoughts of the Lords

The entry into the Amamiya Tower on the four cities with transfer gates was immediately delivered to Leril, the lord of the city to the west.

The news was not so much a surprise as it was a revelation.

Aside from Kennelsen and Mixen, the other two towns had not publicly criticized the Tower, but they were not exactly friendly either.

However, this was only from the perspective of their rulers.

The incorporation of cities into the Tower was accepted by the inhabitants of each city without any confusion.

If anything, they were fascinated by it.

The only people who criticized or opposed it were those who were clinging to old interests that had failed to catch on to the new trend.

Aside from those who were hanging on to those interests, the rest of the population was not listening to their arguments.

***

The Tower itself was accepted as a matter of course, so it was safe to say that at least the four cities were on the right track.

To put it bluntly, Leril did not want to make an enemy of Alec, who was serving as the city's deputy.

He was handling it so brilliantly.

It was already known that Alec was the former third prince of the Kingdom of Flores on the eastern continent.

How someone of such a status could be sitting on the sidelines as a deputy in the town of Tower was unknown.

The information about him was unnaturally hidden from the public.

However, this was of no concern to Leril, the lord of the city to the west.

As a former third prince, he was well-educated and extremely talented.

The ruler of the Tower, Kousuke, was the only name people heard of, but he was rarely seen in public.

In effect, it was Alec who was responsible for the city.

Moreover, from now on, in addition to Kennelsen, which had been under the control of Alec, three other towns would also be under the control of Alec.

Not only that, but the surrounding small villages and towns would certainly be brought under its influence as well.

In this way, Kennelsen alone would be no different from a small nation.

Whatever its official position ended up, Crown's logistics and the movements of its adventurers would make it difficult to resist.

***

To begin with, Alec was not trying to forcefully incorporate by force.

What they were doing was suppressing the flow of goods to the villages and towns by seizing the logistics, including the big trading companies.

To put it bluntly, this was more of a threat to small villages than the threat of military force.

This was only possible because Crown had the financial resources to finance both the merchant and adventurer divisions, as well as a large merchant corps.

Ostensibly, Crown was an organization separate from the executive branch, but no one would take that at face value.

It would be fair to assume that the town within the Tower was initially founded by Crown.

This means, in essence, that it would be difficult to get the Tower town administration to disassociate itself from Crown.

If Crown could be separated from the town administration, it would be possible to change the current trend, but that was not currently an option.

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"I guess it doesn't work out that way."

Leril muttered unintentionally, but fortunately, there was no one by his side.

To be honest, he was a little envious of the four cities that had decided to join the umbrella of the Tower.

He would never mention such a thing in front of his subordinates, though.

The purpose of what Alec was doing was clearly to create a country on the continent that would be on an equal footing with the rest of the continents.

Such a thing would be a feat that no one had yet accomplished on this Central continent.

The same thing that had been done in cities on other continents and the surrounding towns in the port side of the continent could be under them.

But even if it was possible, it would be only become a puppet of a state from another continent.

He could assure such a thing because he was Leril, the lord of the city in the west.

Alec was able to do what he was doing now because of the previous incidents, no doubt.

Because of the presence of a powerful weapon used by the Tower, other countries could not carelessly interfere with the Tower's movements.

As long as there was no means of countering it, if they made a bad move, they would be retaliated against.

However, there were some who were beginning to suspect that the offensive weapons might actually be a bluff.

Nevertheless, not a single nation has decided to attempt testing such a weapon with their own armed forces.

Leril believed that at the very least, the Column Kingdom would not be trying to attack them in the foreseeable future.

Of course, this was based on information gathered from various sources.

***

The current situation made it more and more difficult for the city of the west to get a hold of them.

To begin with, there was a branch of Crown in this city.

This was because they wanted to send people who had interests in Crown to the branch and try to gain influence from there.

Of course, not only the city to the west, but other cities in the other three directions would be establishing branches as well, but they would be attempting a similar goal.

But unfortunately, that plan never worked.

Or, more accurately, it was going exactly as originally planned.

But it would be more accurate to say that they were getting incorporated as a result.

After all, the other side had an enormous resource supplier called the Tower.

The reality was that when they tried to take a bite out of the other side, the other side was also aimed to swallow them whole.

If there was a country established in the central continent, like in other continents, and if there was such a thing as a feeling of being their hometown, the result would have been different, but unfortunately, there was no such thing in this continent.

Of course, there are those who were proud of being one of the largest cities on the continent, but that's all there was to it.

The city happened to be geographically located close to the continent to the west, so it was colonized a long time ago.

Thanks to this, it was able to grow as a city through distribution from the other continent, but it was more of a town dangling from the western continent.

However, this is not the case for the towns under the umbrella of the Tower and Crown.

They were even beginning to take pride in being a city and an organization on the Central Continent.

He was surprised to see how different people's awareness could be changed depending on their backgrounds and origins.

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"I guess I can't keep thinking about that forever, can I?"

Leril was the lord of the city of the west, and had to deal with what was happening now or would happen.

The Central continent was going to be moved again in a big way because of this matter.

As Lord, he must respond to the situation.

No one would doubt anymore that the Tower was trying to create a nation.

They may have been trying to create a country from the beginning, or in the process of doing so.

However, the reality of the situation was that the movement had reached a point where it could not be stopped.

Even if the Tower's executive branch denied it, the public would simply not believe it.

Their expectations had already been too great to ignore.

The question was what other moves would be made in response to that move.

The city to the west itself had no intention of making a positive move.

Leril personally believed that it would be a good idea to just go with the flow, but as a lord, he could not say such a thing even as a joke.

This sort of matter would not go well if it was done from above.

***

One interesting thing about this was regarding the southern cities.

The southern continent had always been relatively favorable to Crown because of the Friesian grass.

Even if the southern cities were to become part of the Tower, they would not be openly opposed.

They were probably aware of this situation.

The politicians of the southern city also seemed to have begun to consider the possibility of joining the Tower.

However, this move would not be overlooked by the other three cities.

Perhaps the fate of the Central continent could change again, depending on the moves of the southern city.

At that time, Tower would definitely be at the center of it.

What would happen to the city in the west at that time?

Leril was sure that he would be busy as a lord.

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Sidestory 2, Pirates? (Part 1)

Schmidt was in his room at Crown headquarters, reviewing recent developments.

Business itself was going well.

Crown's main sources of income were the materials sold by adventurers and the crafts made by the Ygrite tribe.

The Ygrite crafts were not only a specialty of Amamiya Tower, but were also requested by clients.

Originally, Ygrite crafts had the custom of having the maker's name on them.

It seemed that those who noticed the names spread the custom.

Nearly a dozen craftspeople had already been commissioned from the Ygrite craftspeople based solely on their names.

The Ygrite Tribe was also able to meet requests for designated projects because they were good at responding to orders.

Some craftsmen refused requests because they find it boring just to make what their customers specify, but so far, none of the Ygrite craftsmen seem to have fallen into that category.

However, it was possible that the Vermilinia clan, who was the intermediary between the two parties, was making sure that everything was tightly coordinated.

As an intermediary, there was no problem because they finished the project within a tight time frame.

***

Materials from adventurers were procured from stores in the safety area, which was very different from other places.

Other merchant guilds besides Crown had already opened a business office in the safety area, but the cost of transportation was high.

On the other hand, Crown, which moved goods around using the transfer gate, had been able to reduce that cost significantly.

The other merchant guilds requested permission to use the transfer gate as a matter of course, but Crown would not budge on this matter.

Nominally, the gates to the stores in safety were not controlled by the government, but by Crown directly.

This would mean that the other merchant guilds would have no one to complain to.

The only recourse would be to complain to the Tower administrator and ask for permission to use the gates.

However, since the Tower administrators rarely came out in public, they were unable to do anything about it.

As a result, Crown's merchant division enjoyed a huge advantage over other merchant guilds in the Tower.

Naturally, there were voices that said it was unfair, but since the person who raised such voices was required to get permission from the Tower administrators, the issue was always left unresolved.

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Schmidt received a piece of information.

The person who brought the information was the person in charge of the trade route from the city of Ryussen to the city to the north.

Rick alone would be responsible for observing all the trading routes, but of course, he could not watch them all by himself, so it was further divided into eight sections and assigned to different people.

It was the person in charge of one of them who brought the information.

"Pirate activity is becoming more and more active?"

"Yes."

The content of the conversation was that pirate activity was becoming more active on the north and northeast side of the Central Continent, in other words, in the waters of the area this person was responsible for.

Crown fundamentally moved by land in large merchant convoys.

However, land transportation was still no match to sea transportation in terms of cost and speed, so as a matter of course, transportation by ship was also being conducted.

***

"So? How much damage has been done?"

"No. We do not have a large number of ships to begin with, so there is no damage that can be considered as casualties."

Since they relied mainly on transportation by large overland merchant convoys, their numbers were low in numbers.

But indirect damage was starting to occur, such as merchant guild ships making a profit from Crown purchased goods being harmed.

"I see. So, that's what's going on."

Schmidt listened and became sullen.

If Crown's ship had been directly damaged, then he could have approached them about using Tower's functions.

But if the damage was indirect, as it was this time, it would be difficult.

If they didn't draw the line somewhere, there would be no limit to how much they would be asked to help.

That said, he was not inclined to offer help to a completely unrelated place.

"That said, if they go to the trouble of coming to you to report it, then there must be some damage that is beyond recognition, right?"

"Yes. Some places are already responding by carrying more adventurers instead of goods."

Considering the damage pirates could do, it was better to deal with them by increasing the number of adventurers.

"It's still okay for now, but rumors are starting to emerge that prices will be affected."

"…There's been some problems on that side, too."

Inadvertently, the expense of dealing with pirates would naturally be diverted onto the price of the product.

It wouldn't be as much of a change overall when it comes to price, but if the purchase price goes down across the board, the impact would naturally be felt by Crown.

"Alright, I understand. In the meantime, we will examine the situation here, so please keep a particularly close eye on the pirate's information."

"Yes, sir."

The subordinate who had finished his report bowed and left.

Schmidt, who was left behind, let out a big sigh.

It was not something that could be handled by the merchant department alone, no matter how hard he thought about it, so he needed to talk to other departments.

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"So? What's the actual damage?"

Gazeran asked after hearing Schmidt's report.

Dulles, head of the crafts department, and Hewrick of the production department were also here.

The production department appointed a rotation among Kennelsen's six marquises as department heads.

Hewrick was currently in charge.

"Well… Damage has been done, I'm certain, but…"

Schmidt's expression was indescribable when asked.

"What? Is there something wrong?"

"The cargo that was stolen by those pirates, it was sold to the very place it was originally intended to be sold."

"What? What do you mean?"

Gazeran questioned after hearing Schmidt's words, but Hewrick immediately replied with a nod of his head.

"I see. I see, that's what this is about."

"Yes. The continent to the east is where all the items flow"

"Only one location?"

"No. No. There are several places where the goods are dropped, but not that many."

Schmidt and Hewrick were the only two people who were talking quickly, leaving Gazeran and Dulles behind.

"Hey, hey. Could you please explain it to us, so we could understand?"

Gazeran's question made them giggle.

"Sorry. I was just getting ahead of myself since we were talking about business."

"The point is that the merchant guild that says they are being victimized might be in cahoots with the pirates."

"Well, it's not confirmed yet."

"They're in cahoots… you mean, they might be doing some backend deals?"

While they pretend to have been attacked by pirates, they actually deal with those pirates and sell the goods at a somewhat lower price.

The pirate would then sell the goods exactly as they were originally intended to be sold.

The merchant guild claiming to have been attacked would come up with an idea to make up for the low price by saying they were attacked by pirates and buying the goods at an even lower price.

Normally, the price of goods would go up when attacked by pirates, but since the merchant guild was the one being attacked, they thought they could negotiate by saying that they would make up the difference in the purchase price.

"Well, that won't last long. Other guilds would shut them down soon enough."

Hewrick said, but Schmidt shook his head.

"Well, I'm afraid that's not going to be the case this time"

"What?"

"Though the group is acting as pirates, it seems that there is a country behind it."

When the others heard the story, they immediately knew what was going on.

When a country was involved in the intervention, it was not merely a profit-making scheme, but also showed a different agenda.

"… Are they aiming at us?"

"It's not that blatant, but well, I'm almost certain of it."

Considering the ships that were being targeted, the majority of them were carrying goods that Crown was handling.

"Well, then again, things are starting to get messy, aren't they?"

Hewrick said with a scowl, and everyone present was thinking the same way.

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Sidestory 3, Pirates? (Part 2)

Reus of the Minerva Chamber of Commerce was surprised to see Schmidt, the head of Crown's merchant division, at the negotiating table.

Although it was a big deal in its own right, the deal between Crown and the Minerva Chamber of Commerce was only one of many.

No one in Schmidt's position would have bothered to appear for such a deal.

In fact, in the many transactions that had taken place in the past, negotiations were always conducted with the person in charge accompanying Schmidt.

But why would Schmidt appear at a place like this, Reus thought.

On the contrary, Schmidt's appearance made him think that he came out of the woodwork because he had some grasp of this case.

The question was to what extent Crown had a grasp of the situation, but even if everything was known, there would be no particular problem.

Reus did not know who was behind the pirates.

Reus negotiated with the pirates, not their backers.

It was a common occurrence to negotiate with pirates and limit the damage.

That was why Reus was confident in accepting the offer this time.

He had suffered a great deal of damage as a result of the pirates.

To make up for it, he had no choice but to lower the price in this deal.

At least, that's what Reus was willing to do.

Although he may be a bit pushy, Reus was confident because he understood that the Minerva Chamber of Commerce's sales channels were beneficial to Crown as well.

He also believed that Crown would be willing to accept a lower price because it would not be so easy to find another sales channel that could replace it.

At least, that was what Reus believed was natural… until negotiations with Schmidt began.

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Reus couldn't help but to repeat what the Crown representative said.

"Can't you agree to a price reduction?"

"No, Crown cannot accept any further reduction in price."

"No, but that's…"

The unexpected words made Reus impatient for a moment, but he quickly recovered his composure, thinking that this was part of the negotiation.

The other party knew that he would be demanding a reduction in the price.

If that was the case, they were probably aiming to suppress that price reduction as much as possible.

"I see. What should we do then? As long as we are suffering from the damage, we can't send out the next shipment without reducing the price to compensate for the escort fee…."

"No. No, you don't have to send out the next shipment."

"….Huh?"

"As I mentioned, it is not necessary for you to purchase our products under the current circumstances."

Reus was perplexed inwardly, but he managed to keep up appearances and ruminated on the words of his contact person.

"Under the current circumstances, what do you mean?"

"Until the damage from the pirates is over, I suppose. Of course, once the pirates are gone, we can trade again at the same price as before, right?"

"No, but that's…"

Reus was at a loss for words at this unplanned turn of events.

The person in charge was right. If the damage caused by pirates was eliminated, there would be no extra costs.

Then there would be no reason to demand a price reduction.

Reus' hope was that he would succeed in negotiating a lower price this time and continue to trade at that lower price when the pirate damage had been eliminated.

That prospect would be destroyed by the current course of events.

"… Even if the pirates are stopped, there may not be enough space left to load your goods then, right?"

Realizing that negotiating directly for a lower price was a bad idea, Reus decided to play a game of bargaining.

If the ship could not accommodate the cargo in the first place, there would be no way to buy goods or anything else.

"Well. if that would be the case, I'm sorry to say that we would have to cut off our connection."

Hearing those words, Reus became impatient.

That was to be expected.

For Crown, the Minerva Trading Company's sales channel was something he really wanted to secure.

However, he was willing to accept the loss as long as all sales channels were secured.

"Um… I'm going to ask you a question, but are you saying you don't mind if you lose our sea routes?"

"I don't mean that we want to lose our sea route, but we have a land route as well. There is no advantage in us lowering the price in consideration of the overland route."

Hearing these words, Reus immediately thought of Crown's own large trading convoy.

Crown was making full use of its large-scale trading force, which other trading companies had not yet succeeded in doing, and was spreading it throughout the continent.

He realized that it might be possible to achieve such a result by using a large-scale trading force.

At the same time, the advantage that Reus had until now would disappear.

After all, they were saying that they could do this without having to go to the trouble of putting Reus and the Minerva Chamber of Commerce between them.

Reus realized that the scenario he had envisioned just before the start of these negotiations had completely fallen apart.

Reus regretted why he had not thought of the overland route, but it was already too late.

For Reus, not being able to transport Crown's goods would be a huge loss.

He could not go back to the time when Crown was not involved, but the materials and other products Crown was providing were bringing considerable profits to the Chamber of Commerce.

There was no way he could give it up now.

In the end, he had no choice but to continue trading at the same price as before.

He thought that it was going well, making a deal with the pirates. However, he would have to lose everything if he mentioned it.

He was thinking that he had to cut off ties with the pirates as soon as possible, etc., when he suddenly remembered something.

All the negotiations up to now had been conducted by the person in charge.

Schmidt hardly ever said a word, except for an initial greeting.

If he was not here to negotiate, then what was he doing here?

Finally, it dawned on him.

***

"Um… Why did Schmidt-san visit us?"

The size of the Chamber of Commerce he controlled was far superior to that of his competitors, so his attitude was reasonable.

He used to be just a peddler, but that had nothing to do with his current achievements.

"Oh, well. I heard a rumor that you made direct negotiations with the pirates. I wanted to hear about that if it was alright with you."

Schmidt said this with a smile on his face, and Reus inwardly broke out in a cold sweat.

At the same time, he was glad he didn't do a bad job of turning the tables on the pirate.

If he said something bad here, it would have blown up his precious business, so he decided to tell the whole story.

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"In the end, we didn't get the other side's tail, did we?"

The person in charge came to him after the negotiations at the Minerva Chamber of Commerce.

The place they were at now was not the Minerva Shokai, but the building that Crown owned.

"I guess that means they are that wary of us."

After all, if they were to show themselves in a bad way, Tower's offensive weapons might be sent at them.

It was natural for them to be wary.

"Anyway, we pushed through without discounting this time, but the situation will change if any real damage comes out, so please be careful."

"I understand."

There was actually more than one company that negotiated a discount like Minerva Chamber of Commerce.

Although not all of the trading companies that Crown had been doing business with were affected, several of them were in the same situation.

In some cases, those merchant associations could really be affected without any underlying dealings.

At that time, the way to deal with the situation would change again.

Schmidt was prepared for the possibility that this case might drag on for a while.