Volume 14 Chapter 2, Toward the establishment of a Crown Branch

The unveiling of the new divine engraving machine went off without a hitch.

But that wasn’t the only thing Kousuke & Isnani wanted to show off this time.

That was why they had Alec come all the way there.

Alec expressed his doubts.

“So, why did you call for me?”

Alec didn’t think he was invited just for the unveiling of the divine engraving machine.

When asked, Kousuke looked at Kouhi, who came along with him.

Kouhi took out a few peculiar items from her Item box.

There were four of the same object, all one size smaller than the divine engraving machine.

In terms of shape, they were not much different from the divine engraving machine.

“…This is?”

Alec was not the only one who expressed his doubts, the other members of the group had the same expression on their faces.

“ It’s a simplified version of the divine engraving machine. To be precise, it is a device that can temporarily issue guild cards without the status engraving and communication functions. Something like that.”

Kousuke’s statement drew everyone’s attention.

The number of divine engraving machines had been in short supply, and now, there were four more.

However, from Kousuke’s words, they ascertain that it was not equipped with most of its important functions.

“What, exactly can it do?”

“Everything but the status and communication functions?”

Kousuke looked at Isnani, and she nodded.

“Cards can be issued with most functions, from registering magic crests to registering information.”

“…I see. So it’s for a provisional issue.”

One of the reasons why there were so many adventurers in Crown was because of the Crown Card’s status display.

Without the status display and the communication function, the Crown Card would be no different from a guild card. With the only additional feature being a pass to go through the transfer gates.

Of course, it can also be used as an ID card in any Crown branch, since it was registered with the magic crest.

In addition to that, the data at the time it was issued would also be recorded, so it would be possible to register a new provisional card with the status display function that was similar in the official version.

By simply registering a new card in the provisional version, it would be possible to transfer the records in the official version of Crown Card issued at the main headquarters.

This meant that the most time-consuming paperwork can be handled while processing the provisional version.

“…I made it with that in mind, but I wonder if it will work?”

“It’s certainly possible to separate the workload, but… but is it really necessary to do so at this point?”

Currently, only two divine engraving machines can be used to make official Crown Cards.

When they pondered on it further, they both had the opinion that even if they bothered to create a provisional Crown Card, it wouldn’t be worthwhile since the users would probably just register for the official version.

“Yeah. Well, it doesn’t make much sense to keep it here and use it as before.”

Kousuke’s meaningful words made everyone in the room understand what Kousuke was trying to say.

“…I see. No wonder I was called here”

It was Alec who responded.

“Are you planning on setting up branches outside the Towers?”

It was Schmidt who spoke up clearly with his conclusions.

“Yeah. I think it’s mainly for adventurers, though… What do you think, Gazeran?”

Kousuke decided to set up branches this time because of the reports from the Defrayer clan about the increase of monsters on the outside roads.

He thought that establishing a branch would prevent the concentration of adventurers in the Towers.

It would also attract adventurers who have been hesitant to come all the way to the Towers to register.

“Hmm… Honestly, I don’t know how well it’s going to work on our end. Besides, what’s the point of having it in a city with a transfer gate?”

Even if they set up a branch in a city with a transfer gate, there was no point in putting it there in the first place because there was no distance restriction.

Naturally, Kousuke thought about that too.

“Yeah. That’s why I called for Alec. We can ask Alec for a location that will give us a political advantage.. We can also ask Schmidt, who comes from a peddling background, for a more commercial oriented location as well, right?”

Alec and Schmidt looked at each other for a moment.

They seemed to have come to a conclusion in that instant, though.

“If we’re serious about setting up branches, then it has to be in the four major cities.”

“Yeah, that’s the only choice.”

The four major cities were located in the east, west, south, and north of the Central Continent.

The names of each city was also based on the direction of the city.

The four cities were the first cities to be established after people settled in the Central Continent.

The reason for this was simple, the location of each city was close to the other four continents.

The towns and cities of the Central Continent were established around these four cities, which were also the largest of the Central Continent.

The major population of these cities that would be affected were not only the adventurers, but also the normal inhabitants.

Nevertheless, the four major cities would be greatly affected by Crown, especially the commercial sector.

That was why the materials produced by the Towers have had such a great impact on the Central Continent.

In addition, the adventurers stationed in the four major cities came all the way to the Towers just to register, in order to see their own statuses.

With that in mind, there were plenty of reasons to have branches in the four major cities.

Rather, they were considering whether it would be possible to set up some kind of branch in each of the four major cities.

One of the major problems was the production of Crown Cards. However, now, with the ability to create a simple, albeit temporary Crown Card with the four new simplified divine engraving machines, they could establish a branch with an advantageous purpose.

“I get it for Crown’s own goals, but what about the politics side of things? “

Alec chuckled at Kousuke’s question.

“If I’m being honest, most of them want me to just get on with it and make a branch or something. Of course, I’ve been responding to them in a roundabout way.”

Kousuke rounded his eyes at this.

“…is that so?”

Kousuke had thought that the existing organizations would not like a large organization like Crown coming in.

“That’s how much influence the materials and resources flowing from the Towers have on the cities. I guess they are hoping that if a branch is created nearby, there will be more distribution. And that is certainly bound to happen once the branches are set up near them.”

Alec glanced at Schmidt, and Schmidt nodded in agreement.

“If a branch is established, goods will naturally be distributed from the Tower to the branches. Following that, a large merchant force would be created.”

The creation of a trading company naturally means that adventurers would be hired to escort it.

Some would travel back and forth, but there would also be a good number of adventurers who would stay at the branches where they can turn in their missions.

The cities would be depending on these adventurers for maintaining stability in the region.

They also expected that adventurers who stayed only in the Towers would return to the cities.

“Haah. I see. You’ve also thought a lot about it’s expected advantages….”

Kousuke and Gazeran nodded their heads in agreement.

They seemed to agree with what Schmidt had said.

As for Kousuke, when he made these simplified divine engraving machines, he hadn’t thought that far ahead.

Well, he did think that it would be useless to keep recruiting only within the Tower, so he made the simplified divine engraving machine.

“More importantly, if we were to start a branch, are we going to be able to get funding and personnel?”

The question was asked in anticipation of the fact that they had been considering this for some time, so naturally they would have considered it.

“From a political point of view, it would be better to have four branches built at the same time, wouldn’t it?”

This was what Alec suggested. The four major cities were influenced by the respective east, west, south, and north continents.

Each one of them was competing with the other, so favoring any one of them could end up being troublesome.

“…As for the funds, there will be no problem. If there are problems, it will most likely be due to human resources. But fortunately, we have a reasonable group of people here, and I’m sure there are people who can take charge of their own branches.”

“Yeah, that’s right. There’s no problem over on the management side, either.”

Gazeran nodded at Schmidt’s words.

Incidentally, Dalles had not joined the conversation at this point.

In four major cities, there was hardly enough room for a new craft guild to enter.

“So there are no problems, then?”

Everyone present nodded in agreement to Kousuke’s final confirmation.

At that moment, it was decided that Crown would finally start its activities outside the Tower.