Kousuke and Mitsuki returned to the guild. After leaving the town for a moment, they teleported to Amamiya Tower.
In the management layer, Peach was already waiting with five succubi.
“Huh? I thought it was two or three, but now there are five?” Kousuke said, and Peach nodded in response.
“That’s right~. It seems they were eager because it’s a direct request from Kousuke-sama after a long time.”
“No, you don’t have to push yourselves so hard…” Kousuke gave a bitter smile, but Peach shook her head.
“It’s not that they pushed themselves, but rather that there were too many who wanted to come, so it was difficult to select them~. It seems like the capable ones all submitted requests.”
“But, is everything else alright then?”
“It’s not alright, which is why they seem to have narrowed it down to five~.” Hearing Peach’s explanation, Kousuke could only offer a bitter smile. While he was happy that such capable individuals responded, he also worried about their other tasks. According to Peach, they had made arrangements so that other jobs would not be affected, so he supposed he could rest easy.
After that exchange, they used the transfer formation Kousuke had created to teleport near Seichun. As before, instead of teleporting directly into the town, they entered from the outside to register their arrival. This time, as an added precaution, everyone was to enter the town separately. This was to make information gathering easier by not showing their connection to the guild. However, Peach mentioned that if there were fellow adventurers, they might see through it immediately, but it would still help to deceive various eyes. Whether such measures were necessary was unknown, but they were being extremely cautious. For these reasons, Kousuke entered Seichun’s town along with Mitsuki and Peach. It was probably not Kousuke’s imagination that he was being openly sneered at by men who looked like adventurers while in the queue for the town’s checkpoint. Sadly, Kousuke was already completely used to such reactions.
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When Kousuke and the others entered the guild building, Ex, who was left in charge, greeted them. “Welcome back.” “Ah, we’re back.” “We had a visitor until just now,” Ex said to Kousuke, who nodded in reply, with a knowing smile.
“A visitor?” Kousuke tilted his head, trying to think who it could be, but he couldn’t recall anyone. After all, since coming to Seichun, he hadn’t made any acquaintances. He couldn’t imagine anyone would go out of their way to visit the guild.
To Kousuke, Ex replied, “It was someone from the Tower Conquest Guild. They said they had something to discuss and to come immediately.” Kousuke tilted his head even more at Ex’s unusually rough way of speaking. He couldn’t imagine Ex would remain silent after being told something like that. Furthermore, the fact that the words were in the past tense was also something that bothered him.
“So? What did you tell them?” “Since the person wasn’t here, I told them I didn’t know if he could come immediately.” Ex said with a smile, and it was likely that he showed that same smile to the visitor. Depending on how you looked at it, it could also be interpreted as saying, “If you want an answer, come back with proper manners.” “Fortunately, they were perceptive and said they would come back another time,” Ex added. Kousuke responded with a bitter smile. “I see. Well, if they come back, that’s fine. Call me when that time comes.” “Understood.” As Kousuke said this and headed to his room, Ex bowed deeply.
While Kousuke was relaxing in his room with Mitsuki, Peach, and Nana for a while, the downstairs suddenly became noisy. It wasn’t that he could hear shouting, though. It seemed a customer had arrived. “Oh. It looks like our awaited guest has arrived,” Mitsuki, who had good hearing, said, nodding in agreement with Peach. Kousuke also knew who had arrived just from that. He immediately left his room and headed to the main hall with the counter.
As if noticing Kousuke’s arrival, Ex quickly bowed. The visitor also seemed to notice that Kousuke had come downstairs. The people Ex was attending to numbered about six in total. Some of them were familiar to Kousuke. “What the heck. You’re here, aren’t you? That’s him, right?” A particularly imposing, muscular man pointed at Kousuke and said. Ex scowled at this. “I never said you weren’t here? I believe I first asked for your business.”
“Don’t be so stiff. We went to the trouble of coming all the way here. We should be able to be attended to immediately, right?” “I’ve told you repeatedly that I cannot do that. This is our guild, and we have rules accordingly.” “That’s why…” Just as the two were about to get into another argument, Alta, who was standing behind the man, placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Representative. Isn’t it more important to hear what Lord Kou has to say right now?” “Oh? Ah, that’s right. You, I’d like to have a word with you, is that alright?” The man, referred to as the Representative by Alta, said in a loud voice that could be heard by Kousuke, who was standing a short distance away. Kousuke suppressed Ex, who was about to say something, with just a look, and said to the man, “I’ll be down shortly, so could you please not make such a fuss? There are people here resting after completing their requests.” “Ah, my apologies,” Kousuke said, but the man, without showing any particular concern, replied.
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Kousuke and the others decided to hold their discussion in a meeting room within the guild. There was no point in causing a disturbance in the entrance hall indefinitely. Once everyone was seated, the man responsible for the commotion spoke first. “Your strict older sister, can’t something be done about her?” The man likely intended it as a joke, but Kousuke couldn’t let it slide. “First of all, Vibro.” “Oh, oh?” Vibro looked surprised at being called out by name. However, Kousuke hadn’t done anything particularly special. Given that Alta, the vice-representative of the Tower Conquest Guild, had called him “Representative,” there was no one else he could be other than Vibro, the representative. Kousuke had merely stated a name he knew from prior knowledge.
“This building is our guild’s property. Naturally, there are rules in place. Please do not try to bend them for your own convenience or impose upon us.” “No, just a little…” “Even a little can cause an organization to become distorted, you know? As the Representative, you must understand that, mustn’t you? Or perhaps you intend to bend it with your authority?” Kousuke, who was somewhat angered by Vibro’s attitude, did not try to hide it. Mitsuki and Peach, who were watching, were surprised by Kousuke’s rare demeanor.
At Kousuke’s attitude, Vibro stared intently at him. “…I see. If that’s what needs to be done, should we proceed that way?” “If you can, please do. However, the conveniences you’ve been allowed up until now might not apply anymore.” “Hoh…” Vibro narrowed his eyes at Kousuke, who was determined to stick to their own methods. What had started as a trivial matter had escalated into a tense situation, but Kousuke had no intention of backing down. To concede here would undoubtedly have repercussions later. No matter how strong the demand, ＜Fang of the Divine Wolf＞ would stand its ground until the end. Kousuke believed it was important to show this from the outset. As the story is likely to continue, I’ll pause here. The initial relaxed atmosphere has shifted to one of slight tension. If presented only with this, Vibro might seem like a mere fool… but I’ll plant a small flag here lol.
