Let’s Manage the Tower

Unassigned - Chapter 17, Schedule

Translator: Kazumi

Editor: Silavin

While various discussions were taking place behind the scenes regarding the next match against Kouhi, Kousuke and his group returned from conquering the Tower.

This time, they had conquered from the 41st Floor to the 46th Floor, an expedition that lasted about a week. They had started a little early because they wanted to quickly check what would happen with the cards that Cecil and Arisa possessed.

“Welcome back,” Kouhi greeted, waiting for Kousuke at the entrance of the base.

“Yes. I’m back,” Kousuke replied, not questioning at all why Kouhi was there to welcome him.

If someone had asked her why she was waiting, she would have simply answered, ‘Because I’m Kouhi/Cory.’ That was just how she was. Incidentally, Mitsuki would have done the same.

After this brief exchange, Kousuke checked on the current situation with Kouhi. The three parties, including Roman’s, seemed to be doing well, with none of them having failed so far. Arisa and Cecil were assisting them while also handling their own requests. However, they had not yet reached a point where Arisa and Cecil needed to take things too seriously. Each party was accepting requests after properly assessing their own abilities.

Finally, Kousuke asked about Kouhi’s performance in the arena. Since he had already expected Kouhi to defeat a ranker in no time, he was not surprised by her report. Instead, he decided to ask about her future plans.

“So, have you decided on your future plans?”

“No, well… I’ve set my schedule such that I can accept a challenge anytime, but I haven’t heard of any being processed yet.”

Once someone made it into the top twenty, they would also have battles between rankers. Sometimes the players themselves would set a date to fight, and sometimes the arena guild would arrange one. In Kouhi’s case, she did not know any other rankers, so she was basically just waiting for the guild to set up a match. So far, however, she still had not received any notification from the guild.

“So, what are they doing behind the scenes?” Kousuke guessed that the reason Kouhi’s next match was not being scheduled was because various adjustments were being made. Of course, Kouhi knew this as well, so she did not bother going to the Arena Guild to check.

“I can only guess, but I don’t think it’s because there is no opponent.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Yes. From what I’ve heard from others, there seem to be quite many people who are battle-crazy.”

Kouhi’s source of information was Eku, who collected intelligence from guild members and various other places. Kouhi, who had already become famous, could no longer go in and out of the city freely. Once, she went out to buy clothes for Kousuke, but she was immediately surrounded by people who seemed to be her fans – all women.

Even if Kouhi could walk around the city freely, it would have been difficult for her to gather information properly. Kousuke nodded in agreement with what she shared.

“Well, they are people who want to be the top in the arena after all…”

“Yes. So I think they’re having a hard time choosing who my next opponent will be.”

“That’s right.”

That was only Kouhi’s guess, but it was pretty close to the truth. In fact, the Arena Guild had received more challenges than expected and was having heated discussions about whom to select as Kouhi’s next opponent.

“What about tournaments hosted by the Arena Guild?”

“There won’t be any tournaments for the rankers anytime soon. We’ll have to wait about a month for that to happen.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense.”

While Kousuke and his group had been working on the Tower, Kouhi was at the arena. Despite having matches, they had unfortunately not been able to see her in action.

Kouhi tilted her head, as if reading Kousuke’s thoughts.

“Should I enter the tournament?”

“Eh? No, I’d like to see Kouhi win since I’m here.”

“Really?”

Kouhi said this with a casual nod, so Kousuke did not notice her excitement, but Mitsuki, who was listening to their conversation, could not help but look up at the ceiling. There was no way Kouhi would not get excited if Kousuke said something like that. If she were in the same position, Mitsuki would probably react the same way.

Since Mitsuki could predict what was going to happen, she sympathized with the tournament participants. However, since Kousuke wanted to see Kouhi win, Mitsuki had no intention of stopping Kouhi’s semi-out-of-control behavior.

♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦

While Kousuke was talking to Kouhi, Cecil and Arisa returned after completing their request. Cecil bowed slightly when she saw Kousuke.

“You’re back?” Cecil acknowledged.

“What happened to Lirica-sama?” Arisa asked, noticing that Lirica was no longer nearby.

“She said she was going to rest and went back to her room,” Kousuke explained.

Although there were almost no battles during the mission, it was still tiring to stay still in the carriage. So Lirica, who had never been confined to a carriage before, went back to her room and fell asleep as soon as they returned.

Cecil and Arisa, who had some experience traveling in Kousuke’s carriage, nodded in understanding. They mutually agreed that if they kept going at that pace for a week, it was understandable why one would get tired.

“Is that so?” Kousuke said as Cecil nodded. Then he tilted his head and asked, “Maybe we should slow down a bit?”

Until now, the only people by his side were Kouhi, Mitsuki, and Nana, so he did not know how to pace himself with others. There was no point in pushing someone too hard and having them end up collapsing. That was what he was thinking when he suggested slowing down, but Cecil shook her head in response.

“If it’s impossible, we’ll say it’s impossible. That’s how a party should make a decision.”

“That’s right. Lirica-sama knows that too,” Arisa added to Cecil’s words.

Although Lirica was no longer an active member of the Adventurers, she was once among their ranks. She should be well aware of the unspoken rules. It was one thing to struggle during battle, but collapsing in the middle of an adventure was the worst thing an Adventurer could do. If that was the case, it was good manners to say it was impossible from the start. Even if it was for Kousuke, Lirica should have known that much.

Setting aside Lirica’s condition, Arisa, curious about Kousuke’s future plans, asked him, “Since you’ve returned, that means you’ve reached the 46th Floor, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I guess we’ll be heading out next, but when are we heading out?”

Kousuke tilted his head slightly in response to Arisa’s question. “Hmm. We were originally planning to wait two days before heading out.”

Cecil answered with a smile as Kousuke tilted his head, wondering what to do. “Just ask everyone. We’ll be honest with you.”

“I feel like if I ask, All of you will definitely say you’re fine,” Kousuke said with a wry smile, and Cecil and Arisa replied with wry smiles of their own.

“Well, if you think of how Lirica acts in front of you, you might think so, but as I said before, it’s fine to ask and we’ll be honest.”

“If that’s what you two say, then I’ll take your word for it. I’ll ask you tomorrow. For now, are you two okay?”

When Kousuke asked, Cecil and Arisa nodded at the same time. “We’re fine.”

“Then I’ll check with Lirica and then decide.”

“Yes.”

After seeing them nod again, Kousuke nodded as well.

The next day, when Kousuke checked with Lirica, she confirmed there was no problem. As planned, they decided to wait two days before attempting to conquer the Tower again.