Volume 20 Chapter (7-Side Story 2)

Chapter 7, Impact on all sides

The Barrier's existence and the offensive weapons used by Amamiya Tower were quickly spread as rumors by the sailors staying on the island

The Kingdom of Column did nothing to control the rumors, nor did it intentionally spread them, but even so, they soon reached other continents.

Aside from the Barrier, the rumor about offensive weapons was something that no country could ignore.

The Kingdom of Column and Tower were immediately probed.

However, because of the existence of the 'transfer gate', the Tower was not a place that could be entered freely, making it a very difficult place to conduct espionage.

However, there were other similar places, not limited to Amamiya Tower.

Intelligence was obtained by checking out those places.

Even if they were not official agents, there were various ways to obtain information from peddlers or to get them to gather stories.

Naturally, Alec was aware of this, but in the first place, it was impossible to completely stop intelligence gathering activities.

He believed that while some degree of restraint was necessary, there was no need to suppress it completely.

This was already foreseen when Crown and the executive branch were created, so it was not a particular problem.

Thus, information on the Tower was being gathered. However, it was mainly limited to the Fifth Floor and the other floors where adventurers were active. No information had been gathered relating to other matters. Therefore, news about the weapon came as a complete surprise to those that were trying to gather intelligence.

However, their reactions were varied.

The most common reaction was that of the Kingdom of Column, which was to spread false rumors to cover up the fact that they lost the war.

It was hard to believe that there was a weapon that could sink a large ship in a single blow.

Moreover, there were no wizards in the immediate vicinity.

The fact that it was not impossible for a group of wizards to create a similar phenomenon was a factor in their decision.

The Kingdom of Column neither denied nor affirmed the existence of this weapon.

Of course, they would have given the truth to the countries that were close to them if they had asked for it.

However, the Kingdom of Column believed that the rumors would have more truth if other countries actually tried to enter the Central Continent and caused damage.

If such a thing did happen, the Kingdom of Column would go on the offensive again.

The outside world was thinking along these lines, but those on the Central Continent, the parties involved, could not just sit back and take it easy.

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A corner of the building where the executive branch of the cities of the west was located.

In one of the conference rooms, high-ranking officials were gathered.

Leril Bacium, the lord, was present.

His expression was uniformly grave.

"As I thought, it was a mistake to leave Tower in charge of the situation…"

"So you think it would have been better to leave the Kingdom of Column to its own devices?"

"…"

What they were talking about was how to deal with the situation in the future.

Amamiya Tower chased away the Kingdom of Column's fleet.

The problem was how.

If it was just the Barrier, there was still a way to handle the situation.

Rather, it would bring the region into a favorable trade position, and they should have been able to rejoice with open arms.

But the problem was the offensive weapons.

The information was that they could only be used within a certain range from the continent.

However, this information made no sense to them.

After all, the western cities they controlled were on the continent.

Amamiya Tower did not announce whether the offensive weapons they were talking about could be used on the continent.

But it would be natural for a politician to think that the attack could be directed at the interior of the continent at any time.

And that was the current situation now.

At any moment… The fact that they could attack was equivalent to having a sword at their throats.

Moreover, the western cities had nothing in the way of countermeasures against this.

They could not directly attack the Tower, and even if the attack that sank the ship came, they could only prevent it to a certain extent.

As long as there was nothing to counter the Barrier and the attack in the first place, it would be foolish to counter it with military force.

Of course, the people gathered here are well aware of this.

"I understand what you are all saying, but aren't you being a little hasty?"

Leril, the lord, said, and those assembled looked at each other.

They all agreed that one of the few good things about this whole thing was the fact that those who would normally be dragging their feet, trying to kick each other down for the top spot, were now being brought together by the presence of Amamiya Tower.

"What do you mean?"

"Amamiya Tower never told us anything about this in the first place, did they?"

It was true that Amamiya Tower holds too much power, but the executive branch of Amamiya Tower truly did not mention it.

If they wanted to, they could always communicate their intentions as a Tower through the Crown branch.

On the other hand, Leril believed that there was no need for them to go out of their way to poke around in the bushes, although this could be said to be stirring up uneasiness.

At least in this case, there was no doubt that Amamiya Tower did not ask them to do anything for the Tower and was done for the convenience of the Tower.

In fact, they asked them to ignore Amamiya Tower's actions in the first place.

By taking advantage of that, they could have pushed aside the other side's request.

When Leril presented such an idea, several faces lit up.

Leril felt a slight headache when he saw this.

Of course, he did not show it in his expression.

He was sure that negotiations with Amamiya Tower would continue, but if he showed his emotions so easily, the outcome would not be good.

"I'm sure they will negotiate with us in the future, though, backed by the power you mentioned."

He decided to nail them to the wall to tighten their slackened spirits.

Of course, it was a relief that not all of them were like that, or rather, some of them seemed to understand without Leril having to say so.

If it were possible, he would have hoped that everyone would have expected this level of understanding, but unfortunately, it didn't seem to work out that way.

Some of them were in their current positions because of their parents' and older generation's connections, and many of them had never negotiated with each other before.

He had no intention of doing anything foolish like cutting them off, but he could only hope that they would at least stay out of his way.

"So? What are your plans for the future?"

One of them, who seemed to be able to analyze the situation relatively calmly, asked him.

"Nothing. We'll just deal with it the same way we've always dealt with it. If we poke them, they will definitely look down on us.

"Are you certain?"

"That's fine. But if you impose yourself on a level that would affect the cities, there will be repercussions."

Meanwhile, he made sure to nail it down.

Leril never took such a position, but some of them had the attitude that it was only a small-town organization's request.

But that attitude won't work anymore.

This incident had such an impact.

There was no doubt that not only the western cities, but also the other three regions, would respond in the same way.

Or they would become completely hostile forces.

Leril didn't have any idea, however, that some cities would choose not to antagonize them after learning of the power of their offensive weapons.

Rumors had already spread across the continent.

And the rumors were received positively.

It was definitely proven that Crown and the executive branch had handled the situation well up to now.

Leril sighed inwardly, thinking that even after all this time, a troublesome existence had now been created.

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Chapter 8, Reactions at Amamiya Tower

Alec and other high-ranking officials were gathered in the executive branch meeting room on the Fifth Floor of Amamiya Tower.

The purpose of the meeting was to decide on countermeasures against the current disturbance.

Of course, there were measures to be taken against forces outside the Tower, but the main topic of discussion was the measures to be taken against the residents of the town.

"So? How are the rumors going?"

Alec asked, to which one of them replied.

"Intelligence officers from various countries are working hard. It has completely circulated as something the Amamiya Tower… did."

Intelligence agents were just peddlers speaking about rumors, so there was no real way to stop them from spreading it.

[Well, not like there is a point in stopping it from spreading] Alec thought.

"What about the possibility of using it on the Tower's Floor?"

This was the part that Alec was concerned about.

There will always be those who think that an offensive weapon, which would be a dependable force to protect the town from foreign enemies, could also be aimed over their heads.

Even if such a situation would not happen, an agent could be made to think it would.

"It seems to be a widespread story, but few people seem to think it will actually be directed at them."

Alec was inwardly relieved to hear that.

If the rulers of the Tower were thought to be atrocious, their first thought would be that it would be directed at them, but the fact that they did not think so, meant that their strategy had worked out so far.

Well, in fact, Kousuke was not the kind of person to do such a thing in the first place. Naturally, those of them here knew that from meeting him face to face at one time or another. However, that was not the case for the residents here.

After all, Kousuke never revealed himself to the public.

He may be considered a living god, which was true, but that did not stop him from actually holding the real power of the Tower.

Naturally, if the person who in a sense holds the fate of any populus in his hands were to be perceived as a tyrant, it would affect his future governance.

The option of deliberately engaging in a politics of fear was not even an option from the start with Kousuke at the top.

"To be precise, I guess I believe it is being passed off as if such a thing could happen."

Even if an intelligence agent posing as a peddler whispered that the weapons used this time could be directed inside the Tower, the truth was that the town's inhabitants did not take it seriously.

They don't see the need to do that in the first place.

"…What do you mean?"

"They seem to think that if they wanted to kill us, residences, in the first place, they could have done it in any number of ways, including using a large number of monsters…"

There was truly nothing to refute that claim.

It was not known that Kousuke had a large number of summoned beasts, but it was understood that the destinations of the transition gates in the Tower were obviously coordinated.

Even if there was no offensive weapon involved, Tower's rulers could, at any time, destroy the town, and everyone knew that they could do so.

But such a thing has never been done, even in the short time that the town has existed.

On the contrary, organizations such as the Crown and the executive branch were created but rarely show up in public.

In a way, this was a comfortable town to live in for its residents, different from towns that were swept up by entities such as lords and nobles that tried to manipulate their residents.

"What to say… was I just worrying too much? Well, if I let myself relax, I won't know what to do if something really does happen, so I will do my best not to let myself get relaxed."

Alec said to the dignitaries and closed the meeting.

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Alec next visited Crown.

In front of Alec were three department heads, including Schmidt.

"How's it going over here?"

"Nothing much. It's been easily accepted that such things can happen."

How resilient, Schmidt said.

"Well, they're the ones who came here to make a living in the first place. That means they have some guts and determination to begin with."

"What about the adventurers?"

"Oh, they were never a problem from the beginning. They understand that a sword is all they need to kill someone in the first place."

Adventurers who always work with death in their lives and knew they didn't need any major tricks to get rid of them.

Though, it was not known that the rulers of the Tower could summon monsters at will.

However, it was already common knowledge that they could simply close the gates to shut them away.

It should be noted that logically, the ones who took the trouble to create a safe area would never do such a thing.

"Somehow, Kousuke-dono doesn't seem to be thinking that far ahead in terms of his actions, but it seems that every bit of it is being thought of in a good way."

"Well, I guess the biggest factor is the announcement that he's a living god."

Schmidt replied with a sigh.

"…Oh, I see."

The members here have known Kousuke for a reasonably long time.

Since they have known him since before he became a living god, they tend to forget that.

But not so for the residents and adventurers.

At first, the main ruler of the Tower was an unknown human being, but now, they knew that this ruler was an actual living god.

To put it bluntly, they believe that they were indirectly receiving the blessings of a God.

"What can I say… I'm afraid I'm going to be swept away like this many times in the future…"

Alec couldn't help but mutter to himself, and the others couldn't help but laugh.

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"Well, I hope this will make the rest of the world pull back."

"No, it won't."

It was Floria who quickly denied Kousuke's mutterings.

"Ah, I knew it…"

"Because this time, they were prepared way too much before we showed that attack. In the first place, if they were willing to back off that easily, they would have already done so after that stunt you made where the Three Goddesses appeared, right?"

"What do you mean?"

Collete tilted her head, uncertain.

"It is already known that Kousuke, the ruler of Amamiya Tower, is a living god. The only thing they are interested in right now is if you will appear when the military moves, or so they said."

"Even with the Kouhi-san incident, they're still planning on doing something extremely dangerous here~"

"No, I think they might think that they had a pretty good chance of being right, don't you think?"

Floria said so and looked at Sylvia.

"Yes, they probably do. After all, normally, it would almost be impossible for a God to have a direct hand in this realm in the first place. And by the way, the only thing that a God would have direct control over was done by a messenger or a representative of said God. That's how it has been and known."

Kouhi's previous incident was only because it was a direct ridicule towards Kousuke. If it had been about Crown or the Tower, Kouhi would not have come out.

"But we did protest as Amamiya Tower, didn't we?"

"If he had protested that directly as a living god, the result might have been different."

"I see~. Since he protested as Amamiya Tower, did they decide that the Gods would not be directly involved in the protest?"

"Someone in the kingdom must have made the final decision, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were clergy in between the decision making process."

Kousuke nodded in agreement to Floria's words. Kousuke himself did obviously have the power to directly act.

However, this was a fact not widely known to the public. In fact, only the members of this group knew about it.

They thought there should be a good reason why the other countries would continue to march on, and this was apparently the reason.

What was being discussed here was only speculation, but it was, in fact, quite true to reality.

Those that decided to raise their arms really believe that God would not directly interfere with their invasion. However it was a miscalculation. Although Kousuke did not appear, and was simply using the Tower's function, it had turned into an unexpected way of preventing the invasion without using the power of God.

"Well, surely, even if by some chance he does have the power of a God to interfere directly, he wouldn't go out of his way to use it."

Kousuke was sure to get a lot of criticism from other members of the group as to what other offensive weapons there were, but to Kousuke, they were just part of the Tower's functions.

He did not know if the other Towers had such a function, but he thought that it would not be surprising if they did.

He believes that the fact that the usable range being deliberately limited to within the continent was evidence of this.

In fact, they would not know for certain until the other Towers did the same and they could confirm it.

Incidentally, the other members of the group also thought the same way, so it could be said that the girls had been tainted by Kousuke's way of thinking.

Whether this was a good thing or a bad thing, they did not know at this point.

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Chapter 9, It's been a while…

Leaving the rest to Alec and the executive branch, Kousuke and the others went back to their usual administrative duties.

Kousuke added that it would be fine to rely on him in the event of an invasion from another continent, as was the case with the Kingdom of Column this time.

Aside from the offensive weapon, they were able to earn enough Divine Power to maintain the Barrier to surround the entire continent every day, so there was no problem.

Currently, the Towers of Four Attributes were capable of producing a steady flow, so there was a surplus in Divine Power.

He could use it in any number of ways if he wanted to, but he was willing to keep up a Barrier to protect the continent.

There was also the question of how far Kousuke, who was a living god, could go with this, but Asura told him he was free to do as he pleased, so he stopped worrying about it.

But with that being said, Kousuke did not intend to meddle in such matters without limitation.

Despite being a God, Kousuke's powers were currently limited and not really useful in battle.

Then again, in the current case, he was only using the Tower's function, so it had nothing to do with his authority as a deity.

When it came to combat, Kouhi and Mitsuki would certainly be superior, so in that sense, it was a power that was not that useful.

Once he even tried to see if he could find an enemy's weak point or something, but unfortunately such a useful feature did not come out.

Kousuke was once again aware of the fact that he had no idea what his own power was.

"What are you worried about this time?"

While he was thinking about this, Shrein asked.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, she snuggled up next to him.

"Oh well. I was just thinking about something. I was not worried."

"I see."

Shrein nodded at Kousuke's reply.

"So? Did you need me for something?"

"Muu. Do I need to come only when I have something to discuss?"

"Ah, no. Not at all."

Shrein looked a little peeved, while Kousuke hastily denied.

"I see."

Perhaps satisfied with his response, Shrein returned to her usual expression.

They spent their time in silence for a while.

When he was with Shrein, they often did not talk about anything. They were often silent, just being together like this.

However, the atmosphere was not one that would make someone distressed. In fact, it made the atmosphere more reassuring.

Kousuke, thinking about this, suddenly remembered the first time they met and chuckled.

"Hmm? Is something wrong?"

"Ah, no. I was remembering the first time Shrein came here."

Shrein seemed to be momentarily caught off guard, but she quickly recovered her composure.

"Kousuke was terrible back then."

"It can't be helped. In my original world, vampires didn't have an excellent image."

"Well, I do understand."

To begin with, some people in this world still did not have a good impression of vampires.

If he had not met Shrein, he might not have known that actual vampires were different from the image he had in his original world.

In that sense, meeting Shrein was a good educational experience for Kousuke.

"Thank you."

Kousuke suddenly expressed his gratitude, and Shrein silently took Kousuke's hand without saying anything.

The conversation would have ended on a more positive note if it had ended there, but instead, Shrein placed Kousuke's index finger in her mouth without saying a word.

"….Hey. What are you doing?"

He tried to pull his hand out, but he was caught so tightly that he couldn't remove it.

"Thish ish for being mean…"

Shrein made muffled noises as she sucked his finger in her mouth.

For a moment, there was pain in the fingertip, but it quickly subsided.

The pain was caused by Shrein sucking blood from his fingertip.

The fact that it stopped immediately was apparently one of the abilities of vampires.

If there was constant pain when sucking blood, the target would try to escape immediately.

Apparently, they seem to secrete a serum that eliminates the pain.

The reason he used 'apparently' was because he had never been able to investigate the subject in detail, so he did not really know what it was.

Even the blood-sucking family never pursued this matter in depth.

In fact, they do it unconsciously when they suck blood, so there would be no way for them to conduct an experiment since they cannot release the component consciously.

Kousuke also did not particularly want to know about it in depth, so when she told him about it, he was convinced that it was just how it was.

"It's about time we finished."

Deciding that she had enough, Kousuke pulled out the finger that had been in Shrein's mouth.

The fact that he was able to pull it out so easily without any resistance from Shrein was not due to Kousuke's superior strength, but simply because Shrein now lacked strength..

Shrein had a look of ecstasy on her face.

"Ah, ugh… As usual, you're such a meanie."

Shrein was getting Kousuke's blood(?) like this at regular intervals, but every time she did it, she would look like this.

Occasionally, she lets out a huff and a laugh. This means that there was a gap between her current self and her usually extreme self. The blood sucking usually ended when she was half-way between the two.

"No flirting… Huh?"

As Shrein was in the middle of ecstasy, Collete entered the room.

She immediately notices Shrein's condition.

"The usual again?"

Collete asked as if accustomed to the situation.

"Yeah, I guess."

Whenever Shrein sucks his blood, it always ends like this, so the members had already become accustomed to it.

The reason for this was already discussed many times by the person herself.

It had been mentioned many times that for Shrein, Kousuke's blood was the best luxury she could have.

After that, Shrein talked about various things, but neither Kousuke nor the other members were really paying attention to what she was explaining regarding blood.

Except for Shrein, they neither like the taste of blood nor do they enjoy it.

Even if she would talk about it enthusiastically, they would only reply with something like, "Wow, that's great".

Shrein was also aware of this, so she would only explain when she was asked.

After drinking blood, however, Shrein becomes unhinged in many ways.

If poked in this state, she would start talking, so now it was standard practice to leave Shrein alone when she was in this state.

It was almost like treating Shrein as a drunk.

Kousuke wanted to run away if possible, but he was unable to do so because Shrein clung to him so tightly that he could not escape this time.

On this occasion, too, Shrein was wrapping herself tightly around Kousuke's arm.

Generally, flirting was not allowed in the relaxation area when others were present, but in this case, Shrein was the only exception to the rule.

However, it appeared that Collete was unable to resist looking at them enviously, and she kept staring at his arm.

While they were in this state, other members of the group gathered around.

"Ah. I couldn't see it this time. Too bad~."

Peach, who came last, looked at Shrein as if teasing her.

Shrein had already come to her senses, and her face was completely beet red.

It was the same state as when someone sobers up from a drunken stupor and becomes calm, and then recalls their earlier behavior.

She was aware that she would be made fun of, so she tried to keep her blood sucking limited to her private space, such as her room or Kousuke's room. However, there were times when she would do it on impulse, like what happened just now.

It was an impulse, so when she realized what she was doing, she had already ended up like this.

She flirted with Kousuke so much in front of everyone that they could make fun of her. However, in a sense, she deserved it. Meanwhile, Kousuke decided to leave things as is.

After all, if he interfered, he would get involved.

So, once again, Shrein got teased by the other members.

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Sidestory 1, The Spiritualist and Familiars (Part 1)

There was an unusual visitor to the Administration Floor.

Wanri brought Cecil and Arisa with her.

When they entered the relaxation area with Wanri, Collete noticed them.

"Oh? A rare visitor. What's the matter?"

""Collete-san!""

The two who noticed Collete called out her name in unison.

They had refused to come to the Administration Floor in the first place, but Wanri had forced them to come.

They were a little afraid that they would meet an unknown Administrator first, when they were already afraid to meet anyone else.

They were a little relieved that the first person they met was Collete.

"I brought both of them here because I need to consult with big brother."

"Consult Kousuke? Is something wrong?"

In response to Collete's question, Cecil began to explain the situation.

Cecil was better at explaining things like this than Arisa.

"… aha. I see. If that's how it is, I'll help you out too."

""Oh, thank you very much.""

"It's okay. We've had a hard time with that ourselves."

Cecil and Arisa looked at Collete closely.

Before coming to the Administration Floor, Collete had been an adventurer with Sylvia.

They had only seen Sylvia a few times, but they could certainly guess that the two of them would certainly have faced unnecessary difficulties, mainly with the opposing sex.

Their situation right now was a bit in a similar state of being favored, but not really close enough to directly interact.

Somewhat conscious of their shared situation, Collete decided to help out by offering to be a liaison.

The two came to Kousuke for advice, wanting to take the foxes as their party.

To begin with, they were slaves who had been bought as receptionists for Crown.

They were considered to be beautiful.

Of course, they were not the kind of people who would be prideful about it.

And they had met Kouhi and Mitsuki many times, who were always by Kousuke's side.

They weren't very eager to compare their beauty to those two.

Regardless, it was a good thing that the two had steadily risen in the ranks of adventurers, but this was becoming a problem.

The two had also grown as spiritualists, and their popularity among adventurers made it impossible for them to party together comfortably.

There was also the peculiarity of their activities.

They often received designated requests, mainly from Crown, so they could not easily find a partner to form a party with.

In addition to that, their popularity was on the rise.

That was all well and good, but there was another reason they came to consult with Kousuke this time.

Since both of them were spiritualists, it became necessary for them to be partnered with a vanguard.

As spiritualists, they were growing steadily, but the ranks of the monsters they could defeat were not increasing.

After a discussion between the two of them, they came to the conclusion that they really needed a vanguard, and that's when the problem mentioned earlier came up.

"I see. So, you want to form a party with the foxes you have become friends with?"

""Yes.""

They nodded at Kousuke's words.

"Hmmmm…"

"Kousuke?"

Collete, not expecting Kousuke to be troubled, called out unexpectedly.

Arisa and Cecil also looked worried.

"Hmm? Oh, no, it doesn't mean you can't. Considering what you two are trying to accomplish, I don't think foxes will be enough."

"Oh, that's what you think."

Collete understood what Kousuke was trying to say and agreed.

"The wolves too…?"

A little later, Wanri also understood what Kousuke was trying to say.

Arisa and Cecil, on the other hand, looked as if they were unsure.

In the end, without understanding, they were taken by Kousuke to the 81st Floor.

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Surrounded by so many wolves, they were at first bewildered, but soon became accustomed to them.

It was only because Kousuke had brought them along, but they seemed to have lost their fear, as they looked almost like dogs.

Collete warned them not to mistake this as normal, though.

Of course, the two of them understood that this was an impossible scene.

They thought they were used to it with the foxes, but they were still surprised.

Above all, the presence of Nana, who was still with Kousuke and remained close to him, was more than a surprise.

"You can take whichever of those children you like."

Kousuke said something like that to them, but there was no way they could choose by themselves.

"I mean, don't you both speak the spirit language?"

"No, I don't think so."

" We need to improve some more."

"Oh? Really? What about Collete?"

"Kousuke, what are you trying to imply by that?"

Kousuke, who had been staying in the Tower, did not know exactly what level Collete was at as a spirit user.

Of course, he thought she was at a certain level, but that was about it.

Her adventurer rank was not growing because she was having the same problems as the two of them.

No matter how much they both were growing, it was not enough to overtake Collete.

Besides, there was another problem.

"Well, I understand what you mean. First, I know spirit language can be used because I'm an elf, and not every one of our race could learn it."

"Oh, you mean like a racial trait?"

Shrein could also use spirit language.

However, Shrein was not so good at spirit magic.

Arisa and Cecil would certainly be better compared to her.

"That's the thing. They both might be able to use it eventually, but right now, I think they can only get a feel for it, you know? Kousuke can do that too, right?"

Indeed, Kousuke, who could see fairies, was also able to sense their temperament to a certain degree.

"I see… Then let's ask Nana to choose one."

As Kousuke said that, the miniaturized Nana got up and walked towards the wolves.

Nana completely understood Kousuke's words and knew what he wanted.

After wandering among the wolves for a while, Nana chose one black wolf for each of them.

Nana put the tip of her nose on their necks, and the wolves came up to meet the pair.

He had no idea what criteria she was using to choose them, but at least neither of them seemed to be averse to being petted.

In fact, their tails were wagging wildly as they were being petted by the two.

For some reason, the fox that was following along with them was also rubbing up against them, as if losing out.

"It seems to be all right. Or perhaps it's because of Nana?"

"Yes."

Kousuke and Collete looked at them, smiling.

It was amusing that Nana came to Kousuke for pampering, as if she had finished a good job.

Incidentally, Kousuke noticed that Wanri was looking at him enviously next to her, but Kousuke politely pretended not to notice.

"Are those children okay?"

Kousuke asked them, thinking it was about time for them to go.

""Yes!""

Kousuke nodded in satisfaction, glad to hear that they both liked the idea.

"Oh, that's right. Not that I'm taking those four animals away, but please come back and report on how the battle went occasionally."

Originally, the wolves and foxes had never fought with humans, even though they had been fighting together with their own kind in the past.

He wanted to know what that would entail.

"Oh, um… Is it okay if I put a collar on them?"

Arisa asked with a sense of timidness.

"Collar?"

"Yes. A collar for familiars. If they don't wear it, they might be hunted down as monsters."

"Ah, I see. Are there any problems with doing so?"

Kousuke turned his gaze towards Nana and Wanri.

Wanri nodded in response, and Nana… For some reason, she began to lick Kousuke's cheek.

"Um… Nana seems to want a collar too."

Collete translated what Nana wanted to say.

Kousuke was forced to make a collar for Nana after.

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Sidestory 2, The Spiritualist and the Servant (Part 2)

When Cecil and Arisa visited the adventurers' quarters at Crown headquarters, the place buzzed for a moment.

Of course, that was to be expected.

The two had never brought any followers with them before, but now they had brought four.

The two C-ranked ones had become well-known in their own right.

Of course, there were others who were C-rank or higher, but the two women who were working alone as two slaves were the focus of attention.

The fact that they were both spirit users, which was rare among humans, added to the attention.

There had been moves to add them to their party even before they moved up to the C rank, but this accelerated further.

Rumors were circulating that they were not currently working with any party, but that was why there were so many people trying to move to acquire them.

As they approached the counter, Cecil chuckled at the receptionist, who was wide-eyed to see them.

"If you keep on being dumbfounded, you will make the boss mad at you."

The receptionist gasped at these words and quietly looked behind her, but fortunately, their boss had not yet noticed.

"…I beg your pardon. Thank you."

The "thank you" was a whisper in the back.

"So, how can I help you?"

Neither of them had a request form in their hands by the looks of it.

The receptionist assumed that they were not accepting a request, but were on another errand.

"Yes. Today, I thought I would register these children as followers."

"Okay, of course. Do you also need collars?"

"Yes. Can you bring some for these children and an extra one?"

The other one was for Nana, as requested by Kousuke.

Kousuke asked them to prepare a collar for Nana, and they were going to give it to him after returning to give him a report.

"Please wait a moment while I prepare the collars."

The receptionist said and headed behind the counter.

While waiting, they filled out a form to register their servants.

The receptionist soon returned.

In her hand she held five collars.

Of course, there was an official seal of approval for being a familiar.

Monsters wearing these collars were officially recognized as familiars and could roam freely in town.

However, they still need to be accompanied by their owners, of course.

At the same time, they were also excluded from being hunted for materials.

Familiars were treated as the property of their owners, meaning that if they were taken away from their owners, it would be considered as theft.

Anyone who hunted another person Familiar without the owner's permission would also be charged with the same crime as burglary.

"You have filled out the form… you are done. Now, if you put on the collar, they will be officially recognized as a familiar."

The collar itself was embedded with a recognition plate as a registration certificate, so if the owners registered their magical power, they would be recognized as official familiars of the owners.

Registration on the plate and registration with the Crown (Guild) were two different things.

Registration with the Crown was necessary to be allowed to work in the town, but it was not necessary as long as the owner was outside the town.

However, without a collar, they would not be distinguishable from other wild monsters, so a collar would be necessary to distinguish them from other wild monsters.

Incidentally, Kousuke once took Nana and Wanri to Nansen, but they were not wearing collars at that time.

That was not a problem, since familiar registration and wearing a collar were not particularly mandatory.

But of course, if one was attacked because of this, one could not complain about it.

Kousuke was not aware of this at the time and broke out in a cold sweat when he heard about it later.

However, both Nana and Wanri told Kousuke to run away quickly if he was attacked when they were not around, so it would not have been a serious problem.

They had successfully completed the familiar registration, but that was not the only thing they had to do.

"Now, could you please purchase some materials for us?"

Before coming here, they had conducted some light subjugation to check their cooperation.

They had accumulated materials from that time, and they wanted to sell them off.

Even if they were not commissioned, as long as the material was a commodity, the guild would be willing to buy it any time.

Crown, in particular, also had a merchant department, so they could make purchases at the same counter.

However, the purchase process required specialized knowledge, so it would be done by a different person.

"Yes. I will go get the person in charge."

There is of course a dedicated counter for purchases, not a reception counter like this one.

However, since it would take a lot of time and effort to go all the way to a different counter, so the same counter could also be used for the purchase.

This feature of Crown could be utilized.

The person in charge of the purchase came right away.

"Sorry to keep you waiting?"

"No problem. We're asking for it to be purchased over here, so waiting this long was expected."

They didn't make the two felt like they were waiting too long, so they just took it as a safe bet and said so.

In fact, in the worst cases, they would have to move to the dedicated purchase window.

"Well then, let me take a look."

With this statement, the two of them brought out the materials one after another.

The bag they were carrying and the capacity of the materials they were taking out did not seem to match.

The bag they were carrying was a storage bag given to them by Kousuke.

Thanks to Kouhi and Mitsuki, the magic of the item box was used to create it.

Unfortunately, the capacity required was reduced compared to using magic directly, but it would still be a highly sought-after item for adventurers.

In fact, the receptionist, who was watching them, was wide-eyed at the amount of material they were putting out.

The person in charge of assessment was not surprised by this and nonchalantly appraised the materials that came out.

However, every time he picked up a piece of material, he made an admiring sound of "Houh" or "hmmm".