Just because the Three Divine Beasts for the Avatar had been decided, it didn’t mean Kousuke’s life had undergone any significant changes.
If anything, when he visited the three designated familiars, he found he received an even more enthusiastic welcome than before.
Even this was a very minor change, a change so small that Kousuke himself hadn’t noticed it at all. It wasn’t until Peach, who visited the familiars’ base with him for the first time in a while, pointed it out that he finally realized it.
Kouhi and Mitsuki, who were always with Kousuke, hadn’t noticed, so Peach, who did notice, was actually more sensitive to the change.
Moreover, according to Peach, “I think I only noticed because it’s been a while, you know~”
However, the decision of the Divine Beasts was only that much of a thing for Kousuke, and he had wrongly assumed it would continue to be so.
Kousuke’s naive thinking would be shattered a month later, after talking with Silvia and the others.
The first to notice the change was, perhaps naturally, or perhaps unexpectedly – it was difficult to judge – Peach.
The reason Silvia wasn’t the first was because Peach’s sharp intuition, a trait of her species, came into play.
Peach, who had entrusted her child to a wet nurse and returned to manage her own tower, asked Kousuke with a puzzled look, “…Kousuke-san, did you summon familiars to the Northeast Tower~?”
“No? I haven’t done anything in particular,” Kousuke replied.
Recently, Kousuke hadn’t even set up any summoning circles in Amamiya Tower.
He certainly didn’t have the time to bother with other towers.
Naturally, he hadn’t set up any summoning circles in the Northeast Tower.
“Is that so~?”
Peach tilted her head at Kousuke’s response.
Kousuke wasn’t so dense as to not notice her expression. 「Did something happen?」
“Yes~. …It might just be my imagination, but I feel like the rate of familiars evolving is increasing.”
“Eh?”
At Peach’s statement, Kousuke’s eyes widened in surprise, as if caught off guard.
It had already been over twenty years since Kousuke began managing the towers.
Because of this, he had become able to predict the degree of evolution of the familiars to some extent, depending on their species.
For example, with gray wolves, the experienced numerical value was around thirty to forty percent evolution.
This was a figure that included not only summoned wolves but also those born naturally.
It was possible that increasing certain installations might change that ratio, but unfortunately, nothing that would dramatically increase it had been found so far.
As a result, the members had reached a common consensus that there would probably be no further changes regarding evolution.
Of course, they continued to search for something that would increase the ratio, but the current situation was that nothing had been found.
Peach’s report overturned that status quo.
For a moment, Kousuke couldn’t comprehend what Peach had said, but his expression quickly turned to surprise.
“Really!?”
“Yes~. For the past few years, the ratio of higher species hasn’t changed, but when I checked just now, it seems to be increasing.”
“Where is that! Let’s go immediately! …Ah, you have time, right?”
Kousuke, who was about to head to the Northeast Tower immediately, turned back to Peach to confirm.
Kousuke knew Peach was busy.
“Of course, I have time~.”
Peach nodded with a smile in response to Kousuke.
Peach guided Kousuke to the wolf-inhabited floor of the Northeast Tower.
Kousuke, who had thoroughly checked the wolves scattered throughout the floor, muttered with a growl.
“…It’s true, they’re increasing.”
“So, it is as you suspected~?”
Peach nodded in relief at Kousuke’s conclusion.
While they used tools to properly identify the species, there was still a possibility of oversight or misunderstanding.
“About sixty percent have become higher species, haven’t they?”
“Yes~. That’s how it seemed when I checked.”
They hadn’t counted the exact number.
However, the fact that both Kousuke and Peach felt the same way meant that it was almost certainly true.
If that were the case, several things became a cause for concern.
“…Is it only on this floor?”
“No~. Other floors with wolves were the same. However, the other familiars haven’t changed.”
At Peach’s words, Kousuke tilted his head.
“Only wolves? What could that mean?”
If the ratio was increasing uniformly across other floors, it would be possible to infer that something had happened throughout the tower. But if it were only wolves, other factors might be at play.
However, no special installations had been placed specifically on the wolf floors.
Kousuke thought for a while in that spot but ended up shaking his head from side to side, unable to come up with anything.
“…It’s no use. I have no idea.”
As Kousuke sighed as if giving up, Peach tentatively put forward an idea.
“Um, perhaps…?”
“Huh? What? Do you have any ideas?”
Kousuke’s question was met with a nod from Peach.
“Yes~. Recently, wolves were designated as Kousuke-san’s Divine Beasts, weren’t they?”
At Peach’s words, Kousuke’s face showed a momentary look of surprise.
“…Ah, that happened too. Now that you mention it.”
Although Kousuke said that, he hadn’t forgotten that the Divine Beasts had been decided.
He never once imagined that it would affect the evolution of familiars.
“In that case, should we check overall, not just the Northeast Tower?”
“Yes~.”
If designating wolves as Divine Beasts had influenced their evolution, then similar changes should naturally be seen in other towers.
Kousuke’s thought was met with agreement and a nod from Peach.
