Kousuke generally does not interfere with the management of Little Amamiya Tower.
“Generally” means that Kousuke himself does not directly intervene, though he naturally assists Mia indirectly.
The biggest form of “assistance” is lending out Kousuke’s familiars.
Managing a tower sometimes requires personnel to go and check floors.
While Mikage can handle things on the lower floors, it near becomes impossible to explore higher floors while protecting Mia.
That is why familiars were lent out.
Kousuke believes this will no longer be necessary if the Little Amamiya Tower itself can be used to grow familiars.
However, considering the state of the other six towers besides Amamiya Tower, it is not easy to create high-level familiars.
In fact, Kousuke, who quickly created the familiars Nana and Wanri, could be considered abnormal.
Normally, one would steadily accumulate divine power, increase the number of familiars, and then evolve monsters from them. However, most people stumble at the very first step of accumulating divine power.
Furthermore, even if one manages to accumulate divine power and summon familiars, there is no guarantee that the subsequent evolution will go smoothly.
Even if the tower is successfully cleared, if it’s a small-scale tower, the accumulated divine power might not be enough to freely install items.
In that sense, Amamiya Tower, where items could be installed with considerable freedom from the start, was indeed a special tower.
Incidentally, the Little Amamiya Tower, which Mia was tasked with managing, had an initial amount of usable divine power barely enough to install one teleport gate to the outside, showing the difference.
It was understandable, in a way, why Mia was holding her head in her hands after looking at the management menu of Little Amamiya Tower.
With Mia looking on, Kousuke succeeded in installing a teleport array connecting Amamiya Tower and Little Amamiya Tower, safely returning to Amamiya Tower.
***
“Oh? So Mia is still working hard over there?”
“Yes. She does come back to eat, though.”
“Ah, I see.”
To conserve divine power, Mia decided not to provide food from the tower and instead uses the installed teleport array to return to Amamiya Tower for meals.
Therefore, there hasn’t been any situation requiring someone to go and check on her out of concern.
“Honestly, forgetting to eat when she gets absorbed in something is definitely Kousuke’s blood.”
Collette, who had discovered she was pregnant, said this while patting her own stomach, adding that she needed to be careful with her upbringing.
Kousuke had come to visit Collette, who was recuperating at the Elf Village.
With the suppression battle settled and Collette’s condition stable, he was there to leisurely explain the sequence of events.
Silvia visited frequently, but perhaps intentionally, she hadn’t spoken much about the suppression battle. This was partly because Collette herself had wanted to hear the details directly from Kousuke.
Kousuke had wanted to visit as soon as the connection with Little Amamiya Tower was completed, but various factors prevented him from doing so.
One of those factors was Silvia’s well-intentioned advice that he shouldn’t visit until Collette was settled.
Silvia herself was currently visiting the midwife in the Elf Village.
Drawing from her own experiences, she was having discussions with the midwife.
The Elf midwife, who had found little active duty until the village moved to the tower, had recently been complaining about being too busy.
As she was the only midwife in the village, she was in a scramble to handle the suddenly increased number of births.
However, she now had an apprentice, and it seemed the knowledge transfer was going well.
Indeed, it could be said that the Elf Village was at its absolute limit regarding pregnancies and childbirths.
It was only natural, in a way, that Kousuke and Collette were hailed as saviors (of sorts) in the village.
However, while Collette was accepted, Kousuke himself insisted he didn’t have that kind of attribute and still refused to be called such.
Nevertheless, both Collette and Silvia anticipated that Kousuke would eventually yield to the pressure.
From Kousuke’s perspective, Collette seemed calm now.
It was likely due to this change that Silvia deemed her stable.
The joy of having a child emanated from her entire being, overshadowing the negative emotions she had previously felt.
Perhaps her emotions had been unstable due to some unknown changes occurring within herself before.
As Kousuke watched Collette with this thought, she chuckled, as if sensing his gaze.
“What? Is something wrong?”
“No. I just didn’t expect you to have a child before me, so I was savoring the moment a bit.”
Upon hearing this, Collette’s expression darkened.
Kousuke tilted his head, wondering if he had said something wrong. Collette sighed.
“You probably shouldn’t say that around the management layer.”
Hearing that, Kousuke immediately understood what Collette was implying.
“Ah. Of course, I won’t. Especially to Peach.”
“It’s good that you understand. Still, I thought I would be the last one, so my plans are a bit off.”
“Well, this is something you receive, so it can’t be helped.”
What Collette was concerned about were Shurein and Peach.
Neither of them had shown any signs of pregnancy yet.
From what the management layer could see, they weren’t anxious or sad about it.
Of course, they had brought up Collette’s pregnancy in normal conversations without any issues.
At least, Kousuke and the other members hadn’t noticed any particular change in their demeanor.
“If you try too hard to be considerate, it might backfire, so it’s tricky.”
“At least Shurein, perhaps due to her race, doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to have children right away.”
“I understand that. Vampires probably have a similar perspective to Elves.”
Collette nodded in agreement with Kousuke’s words.
Perhaps due to their racial traits, Shurein always mentioned that she would have children eventually, and seemed unfazed by not having any yet.
The problem was Peach.
“Peach… I wonder if it’s due to her race, or her training, but she’s good at hiding her true feelings.”
For Kousuke, Peach was actually the most difficult person to read.
Her true feelings were hard to discern, hidden behind a typically gentle smile and demeanor.
Kousuke couldn’t tell if this was a racial trait of succubi or something she had acquired through training for her line of work.
“Yes, I’m similar in that regard.”
“Besides, if we’re overly considerate, Peach is sensitive enough to pick up on it.”
Frankly, aside from Kouhi and Mitsuki, Peach was the most adept at reading Kousuke’s emotions.
If Kousuke acted overly considerate, Peach would notice it immediately.
“So, I’ve decided not to worry about it anymore. Or rather, if I’m concerned, I’ll just ask her directly.”
“Yes, maybe that’s for the best.”
Kousuke had decided that if trying to be considerate and hide things could lead to a worsening situation, it was better to just ask directly.
However, after initially nodding, Collette quickly cautioned him.
“But if possible, try not to proceed with discussions involving just you, Kousuke.”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
“It’s better to talk when someone else is present. Well, since Kouhi and Mitsuki will always be with you, you probably don’t need to worry too much.”
“Ah, I see. Yes, understood.”
Kousuke was aware that he could be strangely sharp or obtuse in certain situations.
He honestly nodded at Collette’s advice that sensitive topics like these should be discussed in front of a third party.
A new chapter begins.
This will mainly be about matters concerning the Elves.
This time, it was a simple conversation with Collette.
