Book 5: Volume 1 Chapter 20, Final Results

Translator: Kazumi

Editor: Silavin

 

To the average observer, the Conquest Battle between Amamiya Tower and Sarita Tower seemed to begin abruptly and conclude before most fully comprehended what had occurred.

 

After all, just when Flores Kingdom suddenly issued stern remarks to the Santo Emingo Kingdom, news emerged that a Crown branch would be established in the Santo Emingo Kingdom’s capital.

 

The unexpected announcement of this branch establishment naturally led the upper echelons of various nations to speculate about the battle’s outcome.

 

A Crown branch, something that had never been established before, would now exist in the Santo Emingo Kingdom.

 

The outcome was readily apparent.

 

Simultaneously, among other Towers observing these developments, a realization began spreading: even Santo Emingo Kingdom had failed to prevail.

 

Santo Emingo Kingdom had boasted some of the world’s most formidable Conquest Battle capabilities.

 

With this result, Administrators of other Towers came to recognize Amamiya Tower as an even more formidable presence.

 

What remained unknown was that Santo Emingo Kingdom had launched this Conquest Battle after receiving a Divine Oracle, and that even a Tower ruled by a living god possessed exploitable loopholes allowing them to circumvent divine punishment.

 

What impact this would ultimately have remained unclear, but it seemed possible that other Towers might discover various loopholes and challenge the ‘Gods’ to battle.

 

However, it appeared that Amamiya Tower had anticipated this possibility and used this incident to implement countermeasures.

 

The establishment of a Crown branch in the Santo Emingo Kingdom’s capital was initially announced only by the kingdom itself, and Crown activities didn’t commence openly immediately afterward.

 

This was because Crown had been caught unprepared by the sudden development and lacked the necessary arrangements.

 

Preparations proceeded at a rapid pace after compensation terms were finalized, and it took a full month before the branch was properly established in the Santo Emingo Kingdom’s capital and began functioning normally.

 

The Santo Emingo Kingdom wasn’t the only entity struggling to accommodate a Crown branch.

 

There was considerable internal turmoil within the kingdom as well.

 

The reason no Crown branches had been established previously was obvious: opposition from those fearing threats to their vested interests.

 

They naturally insisted they couldn’t suddenly accept one, even after losing the Tower Battle.

 

However, there had always been factions within the Santo Emingo Kingdom supporting Crown branch acceptance.

 

King Pedro, having secured these forces’ support, suppressed the opposing voices.

 

Ultimately, both those refusing Crown branch acceptance and those insisting upon it were simply protecting existing interests.

 

From King Pedro’s perspective, as long as the country itself prospered, neither side would suffer major damage.

 

Certainly, Crown’s strong ties with Razequa Amamiya, backed by Amamiya Tower, would significantly impact the country, but the two nations were geographically distant enough that immediate consequences seemed unlikely.

 

If the branch acceptance proceeded smoothly and the country’s power grew steadily as a result, King Pedro’s decision would be vindicated as wise.

 

Even if branch acceptance ended in failure, King Pedro could claim it was forced upon him after a failed conquest, so either way, it would not deal him a severe blow.

 

While preparations for branch acceptance progressed, direct diplomacy with Razequa Amamiya concluded remarkably quickly.

 

Once the government approved lifting embargoes on restricted goods, merchants could proceed with negotiations independently.

 

Discussions remained regarding specific details like tariffs and import volumes, but these were resolved expeditiously.

 

Since this matter had already been discussed in both countries, once both sides reached compromise, further debate became unnecessary.

 

Consequently, discussions between both sides concluded so smoothly that Razequa Amamiya found themselves somewhat surprised.

 

Ultimately, the Tower Kousuke’s team had captured was not made public knowledge.

 

Other Towers were notified of the Conquest Battle, but they did not know the capture was executed by individuals connected to Amamiya Tower.

 

This remained true even though the Tower was named ‘Little Amamiya’.

 

Given the timing, however, most Administrators began suspecting Amamiya Tower’s involvement.

 

Simultaneously, it was becoming common knowledge that challenging Amamiya Tower risked losing one’s entire Tower.

 

After all, this marked the second instance where challenging Amamiya Tower resulted in a complete Tower loss.

 

The knowledge that careless aggression could result in Tower forfeiture served as a powerful deterrent against those contemplating attacks on Amamiya Tower.

 

When the newly captured Tower immediately began a Conquest Battle with Amamiya Tower, preventing other Towers from attacking either one, confirming the connection between them didn’t take long.

 

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Capturing the new Tower took Kousuke’s group approximately twenty days.

 

This was slightly longer than conquering a similarly-sized Tower, like any of the Tower of Four Elements, but that was due to Mia’s accompaniment.

 

Mia presented some hindrance, certainly, but she also wished to examine Towers on other continents more thoroughly.

 

Naturally, she was also considering that she would manage this Tower going forward. She likely wanted to survey the floors carefully while Kouhi and Mitsuki were available for her protection.

 

Incidentally, Kousuke was also enjoying conquering the Tower alongside his Daughter, which contributed to the extended timeframe.

 

After conquering Little Amamiya, Kousuke and the others could not simply entrust everything to Mia and return to Amamiya Tower. After all, if Kouhi and Mitsuki left now, Mia would be left alone in Little Amamiya Tower.

 

Ideally, they would enable free movement between Amamiya Tower and Little Amamiya Tower.

 

Unfortunately, however, connecting the two Towers with a teleportation gate was impossible.

 

This was expected, since unlike the Tower of the Four Elements and the Tower of Sacred Magic, Little Amamiya Tower was unrelated to them, on the system level.

 

There was no way teleportation gates could be established in such Towers.

 

Consequently, they were forced to find alternative methods for easy travel between them.

 

Mia, who had been examining various aspects in Little Amamiya Tower’s Control Room, arrived at the room that had been added shortly after conquest.

 

There, Kousuke was concentrating on something.

 

Mia spoke to Mitsuki, who was observing, taking care not to disturb Kousuke’s focus.

 

“Do you think it’s progressing well?”

 

“From what I can see, it doesn’t appear to be proceeding as anticipated.”

 

“I see.”

 

Mitsuki’s assessment was unfortunate, yet Mia’s expression showed no anxiety.

 

Knowing Kousuke, she felt confident he would devise some solution.

 

Noticing their conversation, Kousuke paused his work, looked toward them, and shook his head “Seems like this won’t work. We can’t create a magic circle connecting directly to Amamiya Tower.”

 

It was easy to forget, but one of Kousuke’s abilities as a living god was creating magic circles. If Kousuke deemed it impossible, it genuinely was impossible.

 

“So let’s revise our approach. Let’s route you to Amamiya Tower via an intermediate location then.”

 

“Is that actually doable?” Mia tilted her head questioningly, and Kousuke nodded emphatically.

 

“Of course. In fact, we’ve already tested it from Amamiya Tower. There’s no issue connecting there from here.”

 

“I see.” Kousuke spoke matter-of-factly, and Mia smiled in response.

 

What sort of place Kousuke meant by ‘intermediate location’ would only become clear to Mia and the others later, but the headache that revelation caused is a story for another occasion.