Kousuke, whose divine power had become stable recently and could now be completely concealed on some days, decided to go outside for the first time in a while and headed to the Teleportation Room.
To his surprise, Haku was there.
“Huh? Haku? What’s up?”
When Kousuke asked, Haku, for some reason, looked away with an awkward expression.
Kousuke didn’t ask why he looked like that.
It was because when Haku made that kind of expression, there was usually a reason behind it.
“Hmph, Haa. By the way, when will they be coming?”
“…Soon.”
Realizing that deception was futile, Haku hesitantly replied while turning his face away from Kousuke’s question.
“Hmm. I see. Well, that’s fine, but don’t drag me around to any unreasonable places, okay?”
“That’s not it.”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
Kousuke tilted his head, realizing that the reply to his question was strange.
“They’re not coming to see me, they’re coming to see Father.”
“Oh. Is that so?”
Kousuke, who had assumed Haku was coming to hang out with him, showed a surprised expression at the unexpected answer.
Kousuke and Haku both knew who was coming to visit without needing to be explicitly told.
After all, Kousuke only knew one person Haku would go out of his way to visit in person.
Kousuke understood that Haku and Luca’s relationship(?) was progressing smoothly, and looked at Haku with a fond expression as if watching something heartwarming.
However, pushing the matter further might cause Haku to sulk, so he decided not to press the issue any longer.
“Did you ask what they’re coming for?”
In response to Kousuke’s question, Haku shook his head from side to side.
This was to indicate that he hadn’t heard that far.
“I see. In that case, it’s probably best if I wait here instead of going out.”
If Luca was coming to see Kousuke, it naturally meant she had a reason.
If he were to go out carelessly, there was a possibility of them missing each other.
Leaving Haku waiting in the Teleportation Room, Kousuke returned to the Lounge Space.
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When Kousuke returned to the Lounge Space, Shurein looked at him with a puzzled expression.
“What is it? Did you forget something?”
It was natural for her to look that way, as he had left saying he was going to check on the floor, but had returned so quickly.
“No. I went to the Teleportation Room and Haku was there. He said Luca was coming, so I came back.”
“Ah. I see. …Hmm? Aren’t they coming to see Haku?”
Upon hearing Shurein’s words, Kousuke smiled slightly, thinking that she was also thinking the same thing.
“No, it doesn’t seem like it this time? …He looked a little sad.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Shurein grinned at Kousuke’s explanation.
If anyone else had seen her expression, they might have thought of her as a doting parent happy about their child’s growth, but unfortunately, there was no one else present.
Besides, even if someone else were there, they probably would have had a similar reaction.
There was no one in the Management Layer who didn’t know about Haku and Luca’s relationship.
As Kousuke and Shurein were having a trivial conversation, Haku came to the Lounge Space.
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
It was unusual for Haku to come to this room, so Kousuke asked, tilting his head. Haku, however, didn’t come inside and called out to Kousuke.
“Luca has arrived. They’re calling for Father.”
“…Hm? What do you mean?”
Kousuke tilted his head again, thinking Luca should come to the Lounge Space as well, but Haku didn’t provide an answer.
Based on his past experiences and Haku’s expression, Kousuke knew that Haku didn’t have the answer.
“Anyway, I understand. Where do I need to go?”
“The Meeting Room.”
At Haku’s concise reply, Kousuke exchanged a glance with Shurein, showing his confusion, but she just shrugged and they headed to the room he had been directed to.
Upon entering the Meeting Room, Kousuke immediately understood why he had been summoned.
Besides Luca, Schmidt was also present.
“Huh? What’s up?”
Thinking that he was repeating the same line over and over, Kousuke turned his face to Schmidt and asked.
“There’s something I wanted to ask, or rather, confirm.”
“Is it about the Magic Circle again?”
With Luca present, Kousuke assumed it was something related to magic circles and shifted his gaze between Luca and Schmidt.
Both of them nodded in response to his gaze.
Before delving into the details, Kousuke and the others first settled into their seats.
“So? What’s the matter with both of you? And why Schmidt, not Dales?”
If it were Luca and Dales, it would be conceivable that they had a technical inquiry.
However, Kousuke couldn’t think of any reason for Luca and Schmidt to be together at the moment.
“Well, actually…”
Schmidt began with a preamble, then started talking about a problem that had recently arisen within the Crown.
The issue that had recently surfaced among the Crowns was concerning the Self-propelled wagon that Kousuke had created when he was building the Divine Realm.
It was already known by various parties that the Self-propelled wagon belonged to an Adventurer named Kou.
Kou’s home was on the Fifth Floor, and it was also the base for the now-famous Food Stall.
While that itself wasn’t particularly problematic, the next point of speculation was the acquisition route of the Adventurer’s Self-propelled wagon.
Even with the considerable amount of funds invested, it was hard to believe that a single Adventurer could independently create something with such advanced functionality.
Therefore, it was naturally assumed that he had asked the Crown he belonged to to build it.
Based on this assumption, requests (and pressure) to build a Self-propelled wagon were pouring into the Crown.
Kousuke tilted his head after hearing Schmidt’s explanation.
“Huh? Didn’t we spread a rumor that talking to the Crown wouldn’t work?”
“We might have spread it, but they seem to ignore things that are inconvenient for them. Besides, they probably thought it would be easier to deal with an organization than an individual who could easily escape.”
While it was true that opposing an organization as an individual was difficult, one could easily escape.
In fact, the Adventurer Kou was famous for not staying in one place and rarely showing himself.
In reality, he was merely confined to the Management Layer, but people tend to make assumptions based on the situation and spread various rumors.
As a result, the attention of the connoisseurs turned not to the Adventurer Kou, but to the Crown that was believed to have commissioned the Self-propelled wagon.
Kousuke sighed with an expression that was half exasperated, half bewildered.
“They come up with all sorts of schemes, don’t they? It’s practically a hobby.”
“No, it’s not quite like that. If they can obtain it from the Crown, they can sell it off endlessly. There are eccentrics everywhere.”
“Even so, to want something that costs such an outrageous price…”
As Kousuke said this, Schmidt shook his head from side to side.
“However, you see, the other party seems to have thought quite a bit about it… they’re not asking for the actual item itself this time.”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
Kousuke, who had assumed they wanted the Self-propelled wagon itself, tilted his head, unable to understand.
The story has been left incomplete.
To be continued in the next chapter.
