Book 5: Volume 4 Chapter 13, Regular Meeting

Translator: Kazumi

Editor: Silavin

 

The regular meeting at Crown headquarters had already concluded its scheduled activities, the atmosphere settling into something warmer and less formal. Voices overlapped across the hall as branch managers clustered in loose groups, exchanging words with the unhurried ease of people who rarely got the chance to simply talk.

 

It was called a meeting, and proper discussion did take place but the gathering’s true purpose was something quieter than that.

 

With over twenty branches now established across continents beyond the Central Continent, the connections forged in rooms like this had grown increasingly important. Different lands carried different customs, different unspoken rules. Crown maintained a shared set of principles, but how those principles were lived day to day, that was left to the discretion of each branch head.

 

To some, granting that much authority to regional managers might seem excessive. But Crown was no longer the contained organization it had once been, operating within the familiar bounds of the Central Continent.

 

The world had grown larger around it, and the organization had grown to match. And so the branch managers talked, trading difficulties and solutions, offering each other the kind of insight that no directive from above could provide.

 

Gazeran stood near the door, watching the room without particular aim, when he became aware of a commotion outside. It was subtle. It was easily missed. However, his attention shifted there before he had made a conscious decision to move.

 

No one else seemed to have noticed.

 

He opened the door.

 

“What’s going on? What happened…” He paused. “Oh. Kou. I didn’t expect to see you here.”

 

Kousuke stood in the corridor, in the middle of some exchange with the adventurer posted at the entrance. Kouhi and Nana were with him. Gazeran glanced briefly at the guard, then stepped aside to let them in.

 

“Ah, Gazeran. Sorry for the intrusion.”

 

Kousuke’s manner was measured. He was more formal than usual. He was aware of the eyes in the room.

 

Most of the people gathered were branch managers or above, but very few of them knew who Kousuke actually was. Thus, the formal tone in his voice was deliberate.

 

“That’s fine,” Gazeran said, keeping his own tone even. “But what’s happened?”

 

He could already feel the attention of the room beginning to drift toward them. He just did not let it bother him.

 

“There’s been a disturbance at my current location.”

 

“You’re in Smith Kingdom, yes? What sort of disturbance?”

 

“A group of non-Crown members has gathered in front of the branch and is causing trouble.”

 

Gazeran’s expression shifted. Not dramatically, but enough.

 

Disturbances among adventurers were not unheard of, but something in Kousuke’s manner suggested this was not simply that. He had come a considerable distance to say this in person. That alone said something.

 

“Haino,” Gazeran called across the room. His voice carried the same sharpness it always had. “Come here for a moment.”

 

Haino looked up from his conversation, recognized the tone, and crossed the room with quiet urgency.

 

“What is it, Department Head?”

 

He glanced at Kousuke then turned his attention back to Gazeran.

 

Haino had no particular combat ability. The Smith Kingdom branch had been established with trade in mind, and the man chosen to lead it had come from a merchant’s background. That said, managing adventurers was part of what a branch head did, and Haino was capable of it. He simply was not the kind of man one sent into a fight.

 

“I wanted you to hear what Kou has to say.” Gazeran paused, something occurring to him. “Should I call Schmidt as well?”

 

Kousuke shook his head. “That won’t be necessary.”

 

He explained the situation to Haino quietly. As he spoke, the color drained slightly from Haino’s face.

 

“I’ll return to the branch immediately—”

 

“Wait.” Gazeran’s voice stopped him. He looked at Kousuke more carefully. “His expression tells me there’s more.”

 

Kousuke met his gaze. “You’re both aware of what’s been happening with the dark guild in Smith, yes?”

 

The question settled into the air between them. Gazeran frowned.

 

“You’re not seriously suggesting this might be a diversion.”

 

“I don’t know,” Kousuke said. “But I don’t think it’s impossible.”

 

Gazeran was quiet for a moment. Then he turned to Haino. “What do you think?”

 

Haino had composed himself again. The initial alarm was still visible around his eyes, but his voice was steady.

 

“I think it’s more than possible. In fact, I’d say it’s likely.” He paused, as though weighing whether to continue. “There have always been complaints about the teleportation gate: the handling of it, the fees. But it was the dark guild members who complained most consistently and most pointedly.”

 

“I see.”

 

“Whether this is being orchestrated by those hostile to the kingdom’s shadows, or by some other faction… the idea of a diversion fits.”

 

He looked to Gazeran.

 

“I should return to the branch at once. I’m sorry to leave.”

 

“Yes, go.” Then, as Haino turned: “One more thing.”

 

Haino stilled.

 

“If the situation calls for it, use that.”

 

A beat of silence. Haino’s expression shifted, something passing through it that was not quite surprise, but close.

 

“…Understood.”

 

He left without another word.

 

Gazeran watched him go, then turned back to Kousuke.

 

“And you? What will you do?”

 

Kousuke tilted his head slightly, his manner just a touch too casual. “Well… as a registered adventurer, I’m not sure I should involve myself further without a formal request. It wouldn’t really be within—”

 

Gazeran looked at him.

 

The look said everything it needed to.

 

“All right, all right.” Gazeran exhaled. “I’ll submit a request. At minimum, make sure the kingdom’s shadows are informed.”

 

“Understood.”

 

There was a glint in Kousuke’s expression. It was brief, but obvious to anyone. Gazeran simply chose to ignore it and simply sighed.

 

The pretense was necessary, and they both knew it. Without a formal request, Kousuke had no legitimate grounds to act. By submitting one himself, Gazeran gave him that ground.

 

This was the kind of quiet maneuvering that had nothing to do with paperwork and everything to do with trust.

 

Neither of them paused to consider that a department head issuing a direct personal request was something that almost never happened anymore. Well, not in an organization the size Crown had become.