Book 5: Volume 3 Chapter 2, Working After a Long Time

Translator: Kazumi

Editor: Silavin

 

Gazing at the expansive blue sky filling his field of vision, Kousuke let out a troubled sound.

 

“Hmm…”

 

Nana’s head twitched, as if responding to his voice.

 

“Oh, sorry, sorry. Did I wake you?”

 

“Wuuu,” Nana replied, meaning ‘It’s nothing.’

 

Kousuke apologized while stroking Nana’s back with his right hand. He was currently lying on the ground, using Nana as his pillow.

 

Despite Kousuke resting his head on her, Nana seemed happy rather than annoyed. As Kousuke continued stroking her back, she appeared relieved and placed her head back on the ground, entering nap mode once more.

 

Kousuke was currently near the center of the base on the 81st floor. Other wolves roamed the area, but none bothered Nana and Kousuke.

 

The wolves on the 81st floor were a species more evolved than white or black wolves, making them highly intelligent. They understood when Kousuke and Nana were relaxing and never came to disturb them.

 

Mitsuki asked a question to the seemingly troubled Kousuke.

 

“You seem worried about something. What’s wrong?”

 

“Hmm? No, I’m not really worried.”

 

Kousuke answered, but then Kouhi took over and peered down at him as he lay there.

 

“What are you thinking about?”

 

Whether it was Mitsuki or Kouhi, they spoke to him like this because they knew Kousuke needed to talk. Conversely, when Kousuke was truly troubled, these two never initiated conversation.

 

This had always been the case since Kousuke first met them.

 

Prompted by the two, Kousuke began sharing something he had been considering.

 

“Hmm. It’s been a while since we moved the wolves to this floor. I thought it might be time to move them to another floor.”

 

As Kousuke spoke, Nana’s ears twitched, as if understanding she was involved. Kousuke, using Nana as a pillow, didn’t notice her gesture.

 

“When you say moving, do you mean relocating the base to another floor?” Mitsuki asked.

 

“Yes. The 83rd floor this time.”

 

Apart from when they had moved to the 81st floor, they had not used summoning circles to increase the clan recently. This was because the creatures were multiplying naturally on every floor through birth and egg-laying. There was no need to summon them to rapidly expand their numbers.

 

Incidentally, while most children born to clan members were the same species as their Parents, there were also cases where they were born as different species. While he hadn’t confirmed it properly, Kousuke suspected this probably depended on the pairing.

 

For example, if two white wolves paired, a white wolf would be born. But if a white wolf and a gray wolf paired, the outcome seemed random. This might also relate to bloodline.

 

It could be interesting to investigate such bloodlines like a breeder would, but for now he had not done it. In a world where evolution was possible depending on growth, Kousuke believed there was no point in adjusting solely based on bloodline.

 

Mitsuki tilted his head slightly at Kousuke’s words.

 

“I don’t think it’s a bad idea. Actually, I wonder why you haven’t done it before.”

 

“That’s true,” Kouhi agreed.

 

The two looked at each other and nodded, and Kousuke gave a wry smile.

 

“No, there’s nothing particularly deep about it.”

 

“Really?” Mitsuki’s pointed remark came swiftly.

 

Kousuke answered leisurely, without reservation.

 

“I left Nana and Wanri alone because they seemed fully grown, and that’s what happened.”

 

“Leaving them alone is one thing, but not doing anything about them for over ten years is quite impressive.”

 

The old Kousuke would have tried anything he thought of immediately.

 

“Hmm. No, it’s not solely because I became a Living God. Well, maybe that’s part of it. Anyway, I suppose it’s because I enjoyed watching the children grow up.”

 

Kousuke answered while tilting his head inwardly. He had not noticed any significant changes in his perception since becoming a Living God, but perhaps it had affected him somehow.

 

That said, he did not feel any aversion or concern about it. As he had said at the end, though they could not see each other often, the years had probably passed while he watched Sylvia and Floria’s children grow.

 

Right now there was Collette’s child too, though it was still a while until the baby would actually be born. Incidentally, having another child on the way had also made him want to undertake something new.

 

“So that’s what led you to think of moving the wolves?” Kouhi’s words were delivered in her typical emotionless tone, yet for some reason, Kousuke broke into a cold sweat.

 

“N-no, it really isn’t connected to Collette’s new child…”

 

“Kousuke-sama, if you say any further, you’ll be digging your own grave, so you’d better stop.”

 

“Ugh…!”

 

Kousuke, somewhat aware of his own guilt, was at a loss for words when Mitsuki pointed this out.

 

He stood up, trying to escape the lukewarm gazes they were giving him.

 

“Well, anyway, let’s go separate the wolves on this floor!”

 

“You’re changing the topic.”

 

“Well, that’s because he’s our Master.”

 

Kousuke received these ambiguous evaluations from Kouhi, but he pretended not to hear and turned his attention to Nana.

 

“Okay, Nana. Let’s head to the 83rd floor for now.”

 

“Won!” Nana responded energetically.

 

When Kousuke called out, Nana stood up and ran eagerly toward the portal.

 

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The environment on the 83rd floor was nearly identical to the 81st floor where Kousuke and his companions had just been.

 

If there was one difference, it would be the types of monsters that appeared. Though their strength was largely the same, they were different monsters. He had expected the transition to be straightforward, but Kousuke now watched the phenomenon unfolding before his eyes in awe.

 

“I suppose that’s impressive, isn’t it?”

 

“That’s Nana for you.”

 

“I’m sure she can handle this much in her current state.”

 

Right before Kousuke’s and the others’ eyes, Nana was decimating monsters left and right.

 

She was surrounded by three large creatures, but Nana, who had returned to her original form, was not intimidated in the slightest. Instead, she fought them with obvious glee and enthusiasm.

 

Scaled everything down, it would look a bit like a pet dog helping its Master hunt. But the scale of what was happening was simply too different. At the very least, there should not be magic flying around during a simple hunt.

 

“Well, yeah. It doesn’t seem like there’s any problem for now,” Kousuke muttered to himself as he watched Nana’s battle.

 

After witnessing Nana’s performance on the 83rd floor, Kousuke immediately returned to the Management Floor and prepared to relocate the wolves there.

 

These preparations, however, were nothing elaborate. As usual, they created a base and installed amenities like a holy water spring. After that, they returned to the 81st floor and selected which wolves to move to the 83rd floor.

 

Naturally, they followed Nana’s guidance in making these decisions.

 

As expected, Nana seemed to understand what Kousuke was doing and left the White Wolf King and White Wolf Queen, the second strongest forces after herself, on the 81st floor.

 

Kousuke had no particular reason to object, so he moved the wolves Nana had chosen to the 83rd floor.

 

There was no specific purpose to this separation. It was simply on Kousuke’s whim. Therefore, after telling Nana not to do anything reckless that would reduce their numbers, Kousuke and the others returned to the Management Floor.