Kousuke, having finished his farm work at the new base, was asked a question by Floria, who was relaxing in the mansion’s living room in the same way.
“Speaking of which, I haven’t seen Kouhi since yesterday. What happened?”
Kouhi rarely left Kousuke’s side for long.
The only time this happened was when she was taking care of the children, so Floria asked out of curiosity, assuming it was the same this time.
However, Kousuke’s answer was not what she expected.
“Ah. Kouhi is in Seichun’s Town.”
“Seichun? …Ah, the usual one.”
Floria couldn’t recall what kind of town Seichun was for a moment, but she quickly remembered and nodded.
Kouhi, who boasted the number one rank at the arena in Seichun’s Town, occasionally still gets requested by the Arena Guild to show off her combat prowess even after being inducted into the hall of fame.
Kousuke allows her to go, just in case her hard-earned rank becomes useful, but it hasn’t been of any help so far.
Kousuke nodded as he looked at Floria’s face.
“Well, that’s true. However, it’s a bit debatable whether it’s still necessary.”
“What? You thought it wasn’t necessary either?”
Floria directed a slightly exasperated gaze at Kousuke, as he brought up what she had intended to ask while the topic was already being discussed.
“No, well, that’s sort of true. I just felt like Kouhi seemed to be enjoying herself, so I couldn’t bring myself to stop her.”
“…Is that so?”
Floria cast a doubtful gaze at Kousuke in response to his words.
It was natural for Floria to make such a face.
At least, she herself had not realized in the slightest that Kouhi was in such a state.
She had more or less assumed Kouhi was only going because Kousuke told her to.
The reason Kouhi didn’t show any reluctance or displeasure was because it was Kousuke she was dealing with.
Kouhi never harbored negative emotions about anything Kousuke asked her to do.
However, that didn’t mean Kousuke thought she held positive emotions about it, as he mentioned.
Kousuke wasn’t the one who answered Floria’s doubt here; it was Mitsuki.
“She definitely looks like she’s enjoying herself, doesn’t she?”
“You think so too, Mitsuki?”
Seeing Kousuke and Mitsuki nod at each other, Floria tilted her head.
“…I can’t understand it at all?”
“Really? I think it couldn’t be more obvious. Well, regardless of that, I think she enjoys being able to engage in serious battles against other people, even if she can’t go all out.”
“Ah, I see. So that’s what it is.”
Floria nodded with a look of understanding after Mitsuki’s words.
Even though they were both battles, the nature of fighting against people and monsters was quite different.
Kouhi would sometimes go fight monsters at Kousuke’s request, but she rarely fought against other people.
The battles at the Seichun arena served as a good change of pace for Kouhi.
Floria asked Mitsuki, who had a clear understanding of Kouhi, tilting her head.
“I understand that, but is it okay with you, Mitsuki?”
“Me? In return, I get to spend time with Kousuke-sama, so I’m fine with it.”
Floria replied “I see” to Mitsuki’s sly answer and smiled.
The thought occurred to her that even if their positions were reversed, she would likely get the exact same answer, which she found amusing.
Kousuke tilted his head slightly at Floria’s expression and, without asking further, continued talking about what he had been thinking.
“Even if she has business in places like Seichun or Gazenran Tower, she can approach them through other means, so it’s not necessarily true that Kouhi’s current position will always be needed.”
“Well, that’s true. And if it ever becomes necessary, Mitsuki could just go get it then.”
“No, that’s true as well, but couldn’t Floria go now?”
Floria’s combat ability clearly surpassed Riku, who had been certified as S-rank.
Considering that, Floria could also easily take the top rank.
There was no need to leave it solely to Kouhi.
Floria rubbed her cheek with a bashful expression at Kousuke’s words.
“Well, I suppose that’s true… but at least as long as Kouhi is there, I don’t feel like stepping forward.”
“No, I wouldn’t go that far. Unless she genuinely wants to herself.”
Besides, Floria and the others could have spar matches with Kouhi whenever they wanted.
Floria had no intention of deliberately putting herself out in public to be a spectacle.
“The rank at the Seichun Arena Guild is only valid within the town, after all.”
As Floria said, a rank in a limited location like Seichun held little actual meaning.
Moreover, Seichun now had a Crown as well, and ranks there were similarly considered important.
Considering that, there was no point in going through the trouble of acquiring a new rank.
“That’s right. …Well, regarding Kouhi, I’ll discuss it with her when she gets back. It’s a good opportunity, after all.”
Kousuke decided to talk with Kouhi, taking advantage of the fact that Floria had brought it up.
That said, if Kouhi wanted to continue, he had no intention of forcing her to stop.
The discussion at that time ended on the understanding that it was entirely up to Kouhi.
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The next day.
As soon as Kouhi returned from Seichun, Kousuke brought up the topic.
“—And so, while it’s up to you if you want to stop, Kouhi, what do you think?”
“About that, Master. Actually, I was thinking of discussing it with you, but I received this during my visit.”
As Kouhi said this, she took out a piece of paper from her Item Box and handed it to Kousuke.
“Let’s see…? ‘This time, Combatant Corry is hereby granted permanent rank one’—What is this?”
“It seems they also thought that if I remained number one for too long, it would affect operations, so they came up with various ideas.”
Kouhi then began explaining the proposal from the Arena Guild officials to Kousuke.
It appeared that the officials had some inkling of Kouhi (Corry)’s true identity.
Of course, they hadn’t identified Corry as a spokesperson.
However, they seemed to believe she was not a normal Human, but rather a superior species close to that.
They had also considered that Kouhi was hiding her identity for such reasons and were concerned she might eventually leave the Arena Guild.
Therefore, the proposal from the Arena Guild was to make Kouhi permanently rank one, allowing her to fight in the arena as the highest-ranked holder at any time.
Considering Kouhi’s lifespan (as they speculated), it was also conveyed that this information would be passed down to successive Arena Guild Masters.
After finishing her explanation, Kouhi added,
“I considered checking with you, Master, but I accepted on the spot based on my own judgment. It’s possible to relinquish it if there’s a problem, but what do you think?”
“Ah, I see. They were one step ahead of us. Well, if you think it’s for the best, Kouhi, then I think that’s fine.”
“Is that so? Thank you.”
Kouhi’s face showed relief at Kousuke’s answer, and she bowed her head in gratitude.
Thus concluded the topic concerning Kouhi’s Arena Guild rank, which even the author had completely forgotten about (tsk). It was a topic that could have been brought up at any time, but got pushed back so far. (-_-;)
