Book 5: Volume 1 Chapter 13, Thoughts

Translator: Kazumi

Editor: Silavin

 

King Pedro breathed a sigh of relief upon receiving Camilo’s report.

 

The attack on Amamiya Tower was proceeding more smoothly than anticipated. He had never expected four consecutive victories and an entire floor gained.

 

Naturally, Pedro had gathered extensive information before launching his attack on Amamiya Tower.

 

To begin with, King Pedro had never led a campaign against another country’s Tower during his reign. The Santo Emingo Kingdom’s reputation for aggression toward Towers stemmed largely from past actions.

 

Now that the country had grown, trade with other nations proved more profitable than Tower income. Therefore, King Pedro had seen no need for Tower wars, until recently.

 

A major factor was the emergence of the Razequa Amamiya Kingdom.

 

Razequa Amamiya was rapidly gaining power thanks to products from its homeland and materials from Amamiya Tower. As the only nation on the central continent, it faced unlikely military interference from other countries.

 

Initially, given the geographical distance, Pedro thought the Santo Emingo Kingdom would remain largely unaffected.

 

However, by freely placing teleportation gates, one of the Tower’s functions, Razequa Amamiya had begun trading almost freely with countries on other continents. Without the constraint of distance, it created a dream environment for merchants.

 

The Santo Emingo Kingdom also possessed a Tower, but could not place teleportation gates as freely as Amamiya Tower. The reason was simple: the enormous cost.

 

Conversely, Pedro was puzzled how Amamiya Tower had installed so many gates worldwide. While they clearly earned enough Divine Power, the method remained completely unclear.

 

Regardless, having solved the distance problem, Razequa Amamiya freely traded with other continents through an organization called Crown.

 

Crown presented itself as free from any nation’s control, but no leader truly believed that claim.

 

Using materials from Amamiya Tower, Crown and Razequa Amamiya raked in huge profits and gained considerable influence over other countries. The Santo Emingo Kingdom couldn’t escape this influence. Particularly, their Tower-derived profits suffered significant losses.

 

Ultimately, sensing that the very purpose of having a Tower was fading, King Pedro decided to launch a Conquest Battle.

 

In the Santo Emingo Kingdom, Conquest Battles were not simply Tower conflicts. The original purpose was evolving monsters to obtain better materials.

 

Of course, losing the Tower itself would be pointless, so they never launched battles carelessly. But even with continued losses, a ‘settlement’ would end fighting after five battles, and the same Towers could not fight each other for ten years, which was one reason Santo Emingo Kingdom felt confident launching this campaign.

 

When King Pedro initially decided to launch a Conquest Battle, Amamiya Tower was not even a candidate. After careful information gathering, however, it emerged as a possibility.

 

At first, it was not considered because a living god ruled it. But that changed dramatically with the Oracle from Ada. Other gathered information suggested rumors of powerful monsters, but this fell within Santo Emingo Kingdom’s predictions.

 

It was a decision unique to Conquest Battles, even losing meant withdrawal after five battles.

 

The Santo Emingo Kingdom possessed extensive knowledge about Conquest Battles from the past. King Pedro, participating for the first time, had been skeptical initially, but his doubts vanished once he confirmed monster evolution.

 

He then applied past knowledge to manage the monsters effectively.

 

Thanks to this, they achieved four consecutive victories, which was a more than satisfactory result. The final battle had been close enough that neither Pedro nor Camilo believed Amamiya Tower was holding back.

 

Of course, the information they had gathered included rumors circulating among adventurers operating at Amamiya Tower.

 

However, by this point, those rumors had completely slipped their minds. Winning smoothly made them dismiss the rumors as just that, rumors.

 

Unaware that preparations for a counterattack were steadily building up on Amamiya Tower’s side.

 

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Sol, the current chosen representative, stood before Kousuke with visible nervousness.

 

Having been suddenly summoned to the Management Floor, she found not only Kousuke but all the other members present, as well as other familiars that outclassed her current abilities.

 

Nana, who usually accompanied Kousuke, was understandable. But apart from Nana, two foxes were also lined up beside her.

 

Sol quickly realized she was no match for these foxes, especially Nana.

 

After several evolutions and training with allies, Sol had gained some confidence in her fighting abilities. That confidence shattered quickly.

 

As if sensing Sol’s thoughts, Peach smiled. “Sol, there’s no need to be so depressed.”

 

Peach was known for sharp observations. Once again noticing Sol’s wavering confidence, she offered advice. “You were called here because you’re strong, so have confidence in yourself.”

 

Sol looked at Kousuke, embarrassed that he had seen through her, but his expression showed surprise.

 

“You’re losing confidence now? You’ve met Nana many times, haven’t you? And…oh, right. This is the first time meeting the Golden and Silver Foxes?”

 

Kousuke often brought Nana along, but rarely the foxes. The Golden and Silver Foxes, second only to Wanri in combat power, seldom left their pack.

 

This was indeed their first face-to-face meeting.

 

“Y-Yes.”

 

“Is that so? Well, anyway, as Peach said, there’s no need to be depressed. Sol and the others have your own strengths. That’s why I called you all here.”

 

With just those words from Kousuke, all of Sol’s anxiety and impatience disappeared.

 

She waited attentively for what he would say next.

 

Seeing her reaction, Kousuke began explaining why he had gathered them.

 

The reason was, naturally, to launch a counterattack.

 

He had already gathered the necessary information. There was no need to lose intentionally anymore.

 

However, the previous four battles had shown that simply summoning mid level monsters was not enough. The enemy had already proposed ‘settlement’ once. With four more attempts remaining, the Conquest Battle could end at any moment. So, there was no time for half-measures.

 

To ensure victory, deploying his direct subordinates was essential.

 

Of course, other races would support those gathered here, but these three races would play the primary roles.

 

The counterattack from Amamiya Tower had finally begun.