Volume 22 Chapter 8, Reappearance

After giving Lirica the blessing, they continued their tour of the festival as planned.

Many of the stalls were located on the main street in the center of town, and of course, there was much competition.

There were many stalls lined up, and many people were calling out to visitors in a festive manner.

The Doria family was walking side by side in the middle of the street.

A little ahead of them was Kousuke, walking with Sylvia and Peach on both arms.

Mitsuki was behind him, still in the position of escort.

Sonia asked her daughter as she watched.

“Do you think you don’t need to be in the mix?”

“That would be out of character for me. Besides, those two will be at the event tomorrow, so I want them to have fun today.”

“Oh, my. You’re not being honest, are you?”

Sonia’s teasing voice caused her daughter, Floria, to look slightly flustered.

Unfortunately, both of them were wearing masks, so one couldn’t see their expressions, but one could easily imagine them.

“No, I’m not, okay? I’m just an administrative floo… Ah.”

By the time she thought she had misspoken, it was too late.

A giggle came from next to her.

“That’s good to hear. I was afraid you’d be too honest and frustrated with yourself.”

“Well, um. Well, you know. Sometimes, I mean, occasionally.”

“Yes, yes. I’m glad you’re happy.”

“…Muu.”

Floria muttered in frustration, but Sonia was having none of it.

“I thought you, who are so shy, would only be frustrated because she’s surrounded by so many beautiful women.”

“We, well, that’s not true, okay?”

Floria added a silent “maybe”.

She was a little unsure.

“Oh, my? You’re not so bad yourself, you just have to be more aggressive, you know?”

Not only was she not a bad-looking girl, she had looks that would turn most men to her.

It was just that most of them were too bad for her.

“Well, I mean, you have to be more aggressive… Like me?”

Floria tried to imagine herself being aggressive, but the image faded away halfway through, and she just couldn’t imagine it.

“Well, aside from me, you two are still the same, aren’t you?”

“Of course.”

Sonia answered immediately, and Floria smiled inside her mask.

The two of them are always on good terms.

Of course, there were times when they had fights, but that was about it.

It would be rather strange if they didn’t, Floria thought.

“But your father says he’s been busy with work since we came here, and he doesn’t give me as much attention as he used to, you know?”

“Hmm…? Is that so?”

Floria, who never heard of that before, looked at Alec.

“No, no, it’s true that I’m busy. We’re a fast-growing organization, after all, and we’re short-staffed, and there’s a lot going on.”

Indeed, it was true, and whenever there was something going on, Alec was the one being asked about it.

As things settled down, Alec would have less and less to deal with.

But, since the population was still growing at a fairly rapid rate, it would be a while before that would be the case.

“Well, I’m relieved that your mother seems to be doing well.”

Although Alec and Floria occasionally met in the conference room of the Administrative Floor, it had been a long time since she and Sonia had properly met face to face.

Of course, Alec told her what’s been going on, so she knew that she was doing well.

“Yeah, well. It’s good to see you doing well, too.”

“My, I guess you can’t come over here that often as long as that thing is still here.”

She didn’t have to mention that.

“It’s probably just a matter of time. They won’t be able to stay here forever, you know. That doesn’t mean we can let our guard down, though.”

It had not yet been a year since Floria had moved herself into the administrative Floors.

There was still not enough time, period-wise, for the previous problems to fully subside.

In some cases, it would take several years.

“I’m relieved, too, since you don’t seem to be spending much time alone… Oops? I guess that’s a good thing, in the end.”

“Haah, Mother!”

At the sound of Floria’s panicked voice, Sonia was laughing happily.

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“Sylvia, how long are you going to keep wearing that outfit?”

Kousuke, who had his arms around Sylvia and Peach, asked, looking behind him.

“Oh, you don’t like it?”

“Hmm? Maybe we should be a little more intimate?”

“Seriously, please don’t go any further.”

Something soft had been hitting his arm for a while, and he couldn’t help but be conscious of it.

It was the sad nature of a man.

“Then it’s fine just the way it is, right?”

“…Yes.”

Kousuke replied with resignation to Sylvia, who was obviously smiling, although he could not see her face through the mask.

He understood that she was being luxurious in many ways.

“It looks like you’re having a good time back there!”

“Well, it’s been a while.”

“Oh~? Not only that, but I think the festival is fun too, right?”

“I agree with that too.”

Kousuke was actually enjoying the festival as well.

Come to think of it, this was his first festival since arriving in this world.

“What are you thinking about?”

Sylvia asked, perhaps sensing the mood.

“Well, now that I think about it, this is the first festival since I came to this world.”

“My~? Was that so?”

“This is the first time I’ve heard of it.”

“Oh? I didn’t tell you?”

He thought he had mentioned it when they decided to go to the festival.

“Well, then, you must enjoy today and tomorrow to the fullest.”

“Of course.”

Kousuke nodded as best he could.

“Then, we’ll start with today~.”

“That’s right.”

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After that, they enjoyed the festival for a while.

There were a variety of stalls, from the standard ones that Kousuke was familiar with and ones that he had never seen before coming to this world.

All of them were well-thought-out and creative.

Incidentally, both arms were not released until the end.

Because of this, there were times when he felt the murderous stares of men, but he decided not to care.

He wondered what would have happened if this had been an unmasked situation, but no matter how he thought about it, it would not have turned out well for Kousuke.

It happened when they turned from the central path to enjoy the quiet hustle and bustle for a while.

They knew that there were those who had been following them for a little while, so they invited them to join them.

Of course, it was Dion and his group.

Kousuke and his group were now flanked by men behind and in front of them.

In front of them stood Dion with a smirk on his face.

“Dion, you!”

“Oh, yes? What is it?”

Alec’s scowl did not change even as he yelled.

He did not doubt his superiority.

Kousuke sighed under his mask as he looked at Dion.

“I wonder if he’s still somewhat out of it, if he doesn’t even know he was invited?”

“Maybe he didn’t even imagine it~.”

Peach chimed in on Kousuke’s response.

“What? You, this situation…”

“Ah, fine, I get it. Mitsuki, leave him alone and get this over with.”

“Okay.”

Kousuke gave instructions to Mitsuki without letting Dion finish.

Mitsuki replied with a single word and immediately disappeared.

The next moment, the men surrounding Kousuke and the others collapsed.

“Hey, wha!”

Dion, who was the only one left behind, screamed in surprise at the sight of them falling one by one.

By then, Mitsuki had already returned to Kousuke’s side.

“So, why don’t you get the heck out of here?”

“Ki, you!”

Kousuke took off his mask and continued, as Dion still tried to say something.

“Yes, yes. I’ll tell you what, if you mess with the Doria family any more than this, I’ll file a formal protest against you and your family as representatives of the Amamiya Tower.”

“You think you can do that?”

“Of course, we can do that. I’m a member of the Tower Management.”

Taking advantage of his lack of popularity, Kousuke simply revealed himself.

“…”

“If this were your home country, there would be other ways to do things. Unfortunately, this is inside the Tower. I won’t let you do what you want.”

Dion’s face was already turning blue.

“If you understand that, then get the heck out of here.”

Kousuke said and pointed toward the transition gate.

No matter how much it was in the middle of a festival, the transition gate to the outside was still in proper working condition.

“Damn…!”

Dion swore and left.

The remaining members of the group, including Kousuke, just tilted their heads to his reaction.

“Me, a Tower Manager… it could be a bluff, you know…”

“After all, he can’t do anything without the power of his house.”

“Well, Alec, if you ever ask to see him again, you can kick him out without question.”

“Okay, I understand. Thank you.”

Alec said and bowed to Kousuke.

As long as he had Kousuke’s word, Alec could do whatever he wanted.

“Oh, it’s okay, it’s okay. I was getting fed up, too.”

Kousuke waved his hands in the air as he delivered his true and earnest words.