Volume 14 Chapter 3, Alec’s Worries

(Alec’s POV)

They made the decision to set up branches in the four major cities of the central continent, but of course there were preparations that needed to be made, so they couldn’t just open up a new branch right away.

Above all, since the organization has become so large in both name and reality, setting up a branch in a new city requires a certain amount of groundwork and coordination.

Since Kosuke had no idea about the subtleties of such matters, it would be completely up to Schmidt and Alec.

However, in this case, the cities that they were planning to set up branches in were more than willing to accept them, so there was not much need for negotiations.

If there was a problem, it would only be the location where each branch would be built. Meanwhile, for the chosen city, a few things needed to be prepared

“…Isn’t it a little suspicious that they’ve prepared so well?

Alec said.

“Yeah, it’s indeed suspicious.”

Kosuke replied and couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

“……is everything going to be alright?”

Kosuke asked, to which Alec answered simply.

“The riskiest thing for us now is hiring staff directly from the cities. However, we are short of hands and can’t really afford to be picky at the moment.”

From what Alec knew about most organizations, no matter what organization was established, it was largely a matter of money or people that made an organization dangerous

If someone knew in advance that a new organization was forming, it would be relatively easy to infiltrate it with their own men.

Moreover, it was extremely difficult for recruiters to uncover these spies.

Of course, they would interview the person and do a background check, but even so, once they were hired, they could do anything they wanted to.

It was also natural for the people who were hired locally to have their own ties to the city.

“…Well, what can I say? This is rather complicated.”

Kosuke’s comment made Alec chuckle.

If they could not accept such risk, it would be impossible for them to set up new branches.

It might be possible to transfer all the original personnel to the new branch, but that would be inefficient, no matter how they looked at it.

In addition, if they did that, headquarters would definitely be short of staff.

“Well, I’m sure Crown will have a good idea of what to do about that. As for me, I’d appreciate it if we could take this opportunity to cross paths with the executive branch of the four major cities.”

Although they have been communicating through intermediaries, having a local branch of Crown was still very significant.

[Well, if there is a need, I could always just rent a room in a building and use it to set up the branch office. Though, it would only be able to hold a couple of people at most.]

“…Instead of doing that, why didn’t you put up a transfer gate?”

Alec couldn’t help but press his forehead at Kosuke’s words that destroyed the premise.

In the first place, the reason why they were establishing branches was that they do not have transfer gates in the four major cities.

Alec also thought that if transfer gates were placed, they wouldn’t even need to think about building branches.

“The plan is to set up branches, because there were no plans to build transfer gates.”

Alec swallowed all the other things he wanted to say and said only that.

However, when Kosuke heard this, he knew that Alec was mistaken.

“Oh, no. It’s because I don’t really want to open it to the public. It’s only for a select few floors, remember? You do know that the only open floor for the transfer gates at the moment is the 5th floor, right?”

Alec also knew that there were transfer gates at Crown Headquarters that were used only by a few people.

He hadn’t used it himself, though.

For a moment, Alec thought about it, but then quickly dismissed it.

“No. We can’t do that. If we give even the slightest hint that we can increase the number of transfer gates, they will definitely demand that we install more transfer gates, which will be annoying. It’s better to let them think that we can only build four.”

There were four transfer gates in operation right now, but those outside didn’t know they could make more.

The reason why they haven’t increased the number of gates installed from four was because they wanted people to believe that they could not increase the number of gates anymore. After all, if they had more gates it would also mean more profits for the Tower.

Even Alec had thought so too, but what Kosuke had just said made him realize that he had been wrong.

Afterall,, from the Tower’s point of view, it would be cheaper to build a transfer gate than to build a branch.

However, Kosuke was not thinking of building more transfer gates leading to the outside world at the moment.

The more transfer gates that access the Towers, the more dangerous it would become.

Afterall, those who wanted to take advantage of the transfer gate could send in a larger number of people the more gates there were.

Of course, Alec knew this, so he said that it would be better to just stick to four.

“Hmm. That’s how it is.”

That was all Kosuke said in response, and he didn’t say anything else.

In the first place, Kosuke didn’t think he could make political decisions properly.

He knew that it would be better to leave such decisions to Alec.

“…How’s she doing, by the way?”

The sudden change of subject caused Kosuke to blink and look at Alec, but he didn’t seem to have any other intentions.

He only thought that Alec was simply worried about Floria.

“She’s doing well. I’m sure she’s taking care of the southwest Tower by now.”

“…What?”

“Eh? Didn’t I tell you? I’ve decided to leave her in charge of the southwest Tower.”

“…I didn’t ask, but… Are you sure about that?”

Alec’s question made Kosuke tilt his head.

“Is there a problem with that?”

“No… But I think it’s a pretty big deal to be left in charge of a Tower…”

In other continents, be it large or small, Towers were managed by the state.

To put it more clearly, most of them were basically owned by the kings.

As far as Alec knew, there were no privately owned Tower other than the Amamiya Tower.

Formally, the Tower itself was owned by the king, though it was managed by someone else.

At the very least, the state was involved in some way.

In addition, it would be the first time in history for an individual to own more than one Tower.

Alec wanted to know if it was really okay to pass the control of the Tower to someone else, even though the ownership of the Tower was in Kosuke’s hands.

“Is that so? I have my reasons. Even I can’t manage all the Towers on my own, you know.”

“Well, I guess you’re right… Anyway, before I knew it, my daughter had gained a lot of trust.”

It’s a huge improvement from the first time they met.

“I think she has changed a lot since that happened. And now she’s accepted by the other members”

“I see. That’s good to know”

Alec didn’t know what kind of place the management floor was like.

For that reason, he cannot escape the feeling that he was confining his daughter to a small area called the management floor.

“Oh, yeah. And while I’m at it, I will also give you a communion tool to talk with the Goddess, Spica.”

“Is, is this really alright?”

“Eh? Is it not good? I made it since Spica requested it and gave one to your daughter, you know?”

Alec wondered if it was safe for him to have such a tool, no matter how many blessings he had received it was still risky to be left in his hands. But apparently it was a request from her, Goddess Spica herself.

In the first place, Alec has never seen or heard of such a tool, but it was made by Kosuke, who has done things like summoning divine power.

He had never seen or heard of such a communication tool before.

In addition, it was normally impossible for a human being to be able to receive a direct request from the Gods, but he decided not to dwell too much on the subject.

“I see. Well, that’s good to hear…I don’t know what to say, but It looks like she’s steadily on the path of becoming a priestess.”

[It seems ironic that she had escaped to this place because she could not join the church, but she ended up growing as a priestess.]

“As long as one is involved with the Gods, becoming a priestess is, in a sense, inevitable, isn’t it?”

“I’m sure you’re right. Well, as long as I know my daughter is doing well, that’s all that matters.”

As for Alec, it was good enough for him to hear information about Floria, whom he could not meet without permission.

After seeing this, Kosuke wondered if it would be possible to have them meet at the management level from time to time.