Book 5: Volume 3 Chapter 3, Distinguishing Families

Translator: Kazumi

Editor: Silavin

 

Kousuke had purposely chosen a shrine for the base he added to the 83rd floor, building it on the intersection of earth veins. He hoped it would function similarly to Yurino Shrine, but more importantly, he wanted to see if the level of the surrounding monsters would affect its development.

 

To ensure the conditions were as similar as possible to the 8th floor, he also placed three types of fragments within the same base. He placed them on the floors with foxes, but not on the floors with wolves. This way, he’d be able to see if the three types of fragments affected the wolves differently.

 

With so much packed in, it was hard to tell which fragments would have an effect, but for now, he just needed to confirm that they influenced evolution at all. If evolution was confirmed, he could isolate and test them individually later to get a better detailed idea of the effects.

 

Since he had set up the shrine, Kousuke asked Wanri to bring several Humanoid Foxes and several dozen normal ones.

 

The Humanoid Foxes would be necessary to maintain the shrine, while the others had expressed concern about being surrounded only by wolves.

 

This would be the first time that multiple types of foxes had lived on the same floor at Amamiya Tower. With Nana and the Humanoid Foxes present, Kousuke thought it would not be a big deal, but he decided to stop by regularly to keep an eye on them.

 

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A few days after placing the foxes on the 83rd floor, Kousuke found himself sitting on the veranda of the shrine, scratching his head in bewilderment.

 

“Hmm…”

 

“Is something wrong?” Wanri had also stopped by to check on the foxes today.

 

“Well, they’ve gotten used to it quicker than I expected.”

 

Kousuke’s gaze was fixed on a fox and a wolf playing together. It was not just one pair. Similar scenes were unfolding all over. The wolves had stopped hunting in the surrounding area, so almost all of them had returned. Meanwhile, Nana lay in the shrine garden, basking in the sunlight.

 

Wanri tilted his head at Kousuke’s words. “Is that a problem?”

 

“No, it’s not a problem exactly. I was just wondering if it was normal for different species to become friends so easily.”

 

“What!?”

 

“What?”

 

Wanri suddenly let out a small cry of surprise, and Kousuke blinked in confusion. He did not understand why Wanri was so startled.

 

“Um… It’s clear right away that we’re part of your Family, so I don’t think there’d be any animosity between us…”

 

Of course, individual incompatibility would naturally occur, but that happened even among fellow Humans. What Kousuke was concerned about was the possibility of conflict arising due to racial barriers.

 

But Wanri’s response surprised him again.

 

“What!? Can you both tell you’re under my Family?”

 

Wanri’s eyes widened at Kousuke’s belated response.

 

Mitsuki, who had been listening to their conversation, chimed in. “What are you talking about? Setting aside Amamiya Tower, the other Towers all summon different species on the same floor. Yet, it is not like they always fight.”

 

“Yes, that’s true, but I thought they were just defending or living within their respective territories.”

 

Mitsuki paused, sensing a discrepancy in Kousuke’s understanding. “…Lord Kousuke, are you thinking that because we were members of the same Family, we wouldn’t fight?”

 

“No. You’re right about us being Family, but… what should I say?” Kousuke struggled for a while, trying to articulate the confusion he was feeling. After scratching his head for about a minute, he made a fist with his right hand and placed it on top of his left palm. “Oh, I see. Family is Family, but I simply assumed no one would fight. I never really thought of them as comrades in arms, something in that sense…”

 

Wanri and Mitsuki tilted their heads at this explanation. After a moment, Mitsuki responded carefully.

 

“So you didn’t think they would acknowledge their Family, and are simply companions living together?”

 

“I guess so?”

 

Kousuke’s answer was vague, but there was nothing he could do since he couldn’t properly articulate what he was thinking. Abandoning further explanation, he quickly shifted his focus and turned his gaze to Wanri.

 

“So, does that mean you can clearly distinguish other dependents… like Kou, for example?”

 

“Of course.”

 

Wanri had interacted with Kou and his companions before, and he had clearly recognized them as other ‘Family members’. They, too, had recognized him the same way.

 

“What about the dependents from other Towers?”

 

“Of course I can distinguish them as well.”

 

“I see…” Kousuke nodded, absorbing this new information with genuine interest.

 

“So? If they recognize each other as dependents, does that mean something?”

 

“No, nothing in particular. I was just wondering… Hmm? Wait. Could it be that you can distinguish dependents from wild monsters? Like Mia’s, for example?”

 

At Little Amamiya, where Mia was in charge, they naturally summoned and raised dependents. Kousuke was suddenly very curious whether his dependents could distinguish between those and ordinary wild monsters.

 

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Nana and Wanri had only visited Little Amamiya during the initial clearing and had not been back since. Naturally, they had never encountered any of Mia’s summoned monsters. It made sense that they would not know for certain whether they could identify Mia’s monsters until they actually met them, so Kousuke and the others decided to head to Little Amamiya immediately.

 

Mia, who still found time to work in Little Amamiya whenever she could, was naturally on the Management Floor. Her eyes widened when Kousuke suddenly appeared through the portal.

 

“Father! Oh, what’s up?”

 

“Oh, nothing urgent. I came because I wanted to confirm something.”

 

“What did you want to confirm?”

 

“Yeah. Well…”

 

Kousuke began telling Mia about the conversation they’d just had. After hearing the story, Mia looked a little surprised.

 

“Can they tell the difference between my dependents and other monsters?”

 

Mia had thought that only dependents of the same Master could be distinguished and that dependents of other Masters would be treated the same as ordinary monsters. For that reason, she had limited the number of Kousuke’s dependents she brought to each floor to the bare minimum.

 

“Well, I didn’t know that either, so I came to confirm it.”

 

“I see. In that case… Let’s go!”

 

“Whoa. Hey, Mia. I’m coming, so don’t pull on my clothes!”

 

Ignoring Kousuke, who panicked as his clothes were yanked, Mia headed toward the portal with determination.

 

“…Am I the only one who thinks they look so much alike?” Mitsuki muttered this observation, but fortunately, neither Kouhi nor Wanri commented on it.

 

After asking Nana and Wanri to investigate, they discovered that Mia’s dependents could indeed be distinguished. However, they might not immediately know who they belonged to.

 

Nana and Wanri both knew Mia personally, so they immediately recognized them as Mia’s dependents. But with other dependents, it seemed they couldn’t tell whose they were until they met the dependents’ Master in question.

 

This was just Kousuke’s speculation, but he thought that perhaps the dependents could sense information about each other, just as Kousuke saw status with his left eye. When he asked Nana and Wanri in detail how they distinguished dependents, they only gave vague answers, saying that they did not distinguish by appearance or smell, but rather that it somehow felt that way instinctively.

 

Kousuke transcribed the information he saw into words, and he theorized that dependents might perceive each other through a similar process. He could not know for certain, so this remained only speculation.

 

In any case, just learning that the dependents could recognize each other as dependents was a significant discovery.