Chapter 7, Wolf Fang

Translator: Kazumi

Editor: Silavin

 

Kouhi spoke to Wahid, who had suddenly appeared, leaving Kousuke momentarily stunned.

 

“Is the HQ okay?” Kouhi asked.

 

Wahid nodded. “It’s fine if I leave for a while. The department heads are there, and I’ll be back in a few days.”

 

Kousuke finally found his voice. “A few days?”

 

“Yes. I need to select a location for a guild that will eventually become a branch. I’ll leave the minor procedures to Eku.”

 

When Kousuke glanced at Eku, she gave a slight nod of confirmation.

 

“Is that so?” Kousuke asked.

 

“Yes,” Wahid replied. “You and your team should continue conquering Towers and fulfilling the requests as you’ve been doing. Once everything is in order, I’ll consult with you again.”

 

Kousuke observed Eku, his expression unchanged as he reflected how truly competent she was—though he seemed to be the only one impressed. Kouhi and Mitsuki simply nodded in agreement.

 

“Once the guild base is established, we would like to send some personnel from Crown to make it fully operational,” Wahid added, supplementing Eku’s explanation.

 

Kousuke understood her intention. Looking toward the future, it would be better for the guild to have other active members besides just Kousuke’s group. After all, they would not be operating in Seichun forever.

 

If they could establish a teleportation gate, many issues would be alleviated, but first they needed to build their strength and influence within this city. For that, they absolutely needed more people. Fortunately, they had personnel in mind.

 

“I understand. I was thinking along the same lines,” Kousuke said. “I’ll leave the selection of personnel to you.” He didn’t bother adding unnecessary comments about whom to trust—that was self-evident, and Wahid would have been thinking the same.

 

“Yes. Leave it to me,” Wahid replied with a vigorous nod.

 

After making brief arrangements, Wahid and Eku departed for another inn, as no rooms were available at their current lodging. Wahid would return to Amamiya Tower in a few days, while Eku would stay with Kousuke’s group.

 

Kousuke and his team planned to rest for a couple of days before resuming their Tower conquest. Although they had progressed to the 21st Floor, it was merely the first step. To increase their influence in Seichun, they needed to conquer at least the 40th Floor—ideally the 60th, but they wanted to establish the guild’s foundation before attempting that.

 

They decided that Kousuke’s group would first clear the 40th Floor, then the 41st, but at a slower pace than before. Proceeding at their previous speed might arouse suspicion, as had happened when they cleared the 20th Floor. Better not to repeat that mistake.

 

After enjoying various local meals and taking a two-day break, Kousuke’s group headed back to Gazenran Tower with several requests from the official guild. This time, they planned to clear five Floors in about a week, while also gathering detailed map information for future members.

 

However, they could only examine one Floor per day, and not in great detail. By the time they reached the 41st Floor, the building that would become their guild’s base was finally completed.

 

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“Looking at the finished product, it really does seem enormous…” Kousuke remarked, gazing at the building before him.

 

The guild’s base had been constructed directly beneath Gazenran Tower. While there was plenty of usable land, the building’s size was substantial—probably the largest of any guild in Seichun. Naturally, such sudden construction had drawn considerable attention from the locals here.

 

Eku stood calmly beside him. “It may appear that way because it’s empty now, but I believe it will eventually feel cramped.”

 

She had not intended it to be excessive. After all, they planned to build a portal connecting this base to Amamiya Tower. Considering the flow of people from both Towers, a certain size was necessary.

 

Kousuke understood this and nodded, despite his lingering surprise. “Well, that’s true. Still, it’s impressive they built it so quickly.”

 

“Apparently, it’s the first large-scale order in some time, so all the architects in the city were mobilized,” Eku explained.

 

“Eh? Is that okay?” Kousuke asked, concerned. There should be occupied buildings in the city that would require maintenance.

 

“Of course. Those involved in maintenance remained at their post.” Eku assured him.

 

“That’s good.”

 

Still, Kousuke wondered whether any other new construction had been happening. The sum Eku must have paid for this building was intimidating, though since it was not coming from his personal funds, he was not too concerned.

 

The buzz about their new guild was not just about the large building. It had started when they met the requirements to establish a guild in merely two weeks, and continued as they completed requests and consistently conquered five Floors at a time.

 

Having reached this point, they were attracting attention from other guilds, most of which were waiting to see how far the newly formed guild would go. This was not surprising, as Kousuke’s group were currently the only active members.

 

The rest was merely jealousy from struggling guilds. Those guilds lacked the strength to challenge Kousuke’s group, who had easily cleared the 41st Floor, so they posed no real threat.

 

Eku had gathered this intelligence while Kousuke’s team conquered the Tower. Even without her efforts, their guild had become the talk of the city among Adventurers, showing just how newsworthy their achievements were in Seichun.

 

To gain future influence, they would need to attract those waiting guilds. They were not aiming for mergers, but shared opinions when necessary would suffice. If existing powers tried to prevent this, they would address it when the time came.

 

There were other ways to strengthen their influence in Seichun besides Tower conquests, methods Kousuke intended to pursue soon.

 

For now, with the guild base nearing completion, they had an announcement to make. The guild name, decided during registration but not yet widely known, was officially ‘Wolf Fang’—a name inspired by Nana. Soon it would spread throughout Seichun like wildfire, though at present, almost no one knew it yet.