<<Previous Chapter | Let's Manage the Tower | Next Chapter>>
Translator: Kazumi
Editor: Silavin
It all started with a single word from Riku.
“I want to become an adventurer.”
Riku, who had suddenly been taken to the Administration Floor by Kouhi, said this.
When he saw Riku’s expression at the time, Kousuke looked at his Son’s face with a serious expression, not thinking it was just childish nonsense.
Riku was already nine years old, and he was due to enter school this spring.
Riku should know this.
He thought that there must be a reason for Riku to say he wanted to become an adventurer despite this, and wondered what it could be.
“An adventurer. Why?”
For Kousuke, he couldn’t understand why his Son would want to become an adventurer in a world where there were battles with monsters and danger was always around the corner.
The reason Kousuke chose to become an adventurer when he came to this world was because he had two friends who were like cheats: Kouhi and Mitsuki.
If they were not there, there was a possibility that he would not have chosen to become an adventurer.
Riku was surprised that Kousuke had asked him with such a serious expression, and for a moment, he was at a loss for words, but then he looked up determinedly and said:
“Father…”
“Huh? Me?”
“I want to become an adventurer like you, Father!”
Kousuke was taken aback by the unexpected reply.
When he looked over, he saw Kouhi stifling a laugh.
Kouhi knew what Riku was thinking and brought him along to this place. She also expected Kousuke to be confused.
When Riku told Kousuke the story in detail, it appeared that it all started with the maidservants talking about how they admired Kousuke’s adventurer-like figure.
That was fine so far.
For a Father to have his child admire him was something that could make him feel proud in a way.
When Kousuke told Riku about his adventures as an adventurer, it was told in such a cool adventure story that the others would probably want to comment, “When did all that happen?”
Most of Kousuke’s adventures as an adventurer involved conquering the Tower, but all Kousuke could remember was running around, hiding behind Kouhi and Mitsuki.
However, there was also an embellished story that depicted him cutting down the high-ranking monsters that appear in the upper Floors of the Tower one after another.
Kousuke, who had just finished talking to Riku, looked at him with a satisfied expression, and for a while, he wondered whether he should correct the story or leave his admiration as it was.
Kousuke then remembered that when he was a kid, he used to admire certain superheros.
However, in Riku’s case, there were circumstances that made it impossible to say that time would eventually solve the problem. After all, monsters were real, and it was also true that one could never conquer the Tower unless they defeated those monsters.
The problem was that it was not Kousuke who was defeating those monsters, but Kouhi and Mitsuki.
He tried to correct that point so that when Riku finds out the truth in the future, his admiration would not completely disappear.
However, Riku, who was already under the influence of the infatuation filter, beamed and said, “So Father was in command, then!”
Even though Kousuke tried to correct it by shaking off those delusions, it seemed to have made Riku’s admiration of him even stronger. Eventually, Kousuke gave up on correcting it.
Kousuke realized that children’s assumptions could sometimes shatter their parents’ common sense.
Kousuke thought he had failed to subtly remove the infatuation filter, but he decided to carry on with the conversation anyway.
The problem now was that Riku wanted to become an adventurer.
“Assuming you know why, have you told your Mother that you wish to become an adventurer?”
He decided to ask the most important question first.
To begin with, Riku was currently in third place in the line of succession to the throne. He was not in a position to be able to easily follow the path he would like to take.
Riku puffed out his cheeks in response to Kousuke’s question.
“Mother is so stubborn, saying it is a bad idea…”
As he looked at Riku, who said this with a look of dissatisfaction, Kousuke was convinced that this would be the case from Floria’s point of view.
Incidentally, Floria had seen the reality of conquering the Tower with Kousuke and the others in the past. It would be natural for Floria, who was raised as a princess, to not want her child to even attempt this route.
Meanwhile, Kousuke wanted his own child to follow the path of their dreams.
“First, I guess you will have to persuade your Mother… Oh, come on, don’t look at me like that. You can’t become a good adventurer if you can’t persuade your Mother, can you?”
Whether persuading one’s Mother had anything to do with being an adventurer was a another question, but Kousuke suggested it anyway to shift the focus of the conversation.
If things continue as they were, Riku might even run away from home.
“Will you help me persuade her, Father?”
“Hmm… I don’t know… First, you need to think carefully about how to persuade her yourself. Then I’ll make sure you get a chance to persuade her properly.”
“…Okay.”
Riku reluctantly nodded his head, although he looked dissatisfied with Kousuke’s words.
However, his eyes still did not seem to show any sign of giving up.
And the extent of his determination would become clear two weeks later.
♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦
Two weeks later.
In front of Kousuke was the sight of a completely defeated Floria.
Seeing her like that, Kousuke could do nothing but smile wryly.
Even though he was only nine years old, Kousuke thought that when a child who had received solid education as a member of the royal family gets serious, he would not expect him to be so well-armed with arguments.
Of course, there were many childish flaws in those arguments. However, he filled in the gaps and proved that he could respond flexibly.
Floria looked slightly resentful as she saw Kousuke smiling wryly.
“…Did you teach him to do this?”
“No way. I’m sure Riku came up with that all by himself, right?”
“That’s right! I’ve heard things from the adventurers who come and go from the castle, and from Gazeran-san.”
“Oh, I see. I might have to question him later, huh?”
Floria’s eyes narrowed slightly as she listened to Riku’s words.
Seeing this, Riku hastily added.
“Gazeran-san didn’t do anything wrong! I just asked him how Crown was doing right now!”
Later, when Kousuke and Floria checked, it turned out that Riku had simply asked about the details of Crown’s activities, as he had said.
He did not receive any advice on how he could become an adventurer.
In the end, Riku gathered the material he needed to persuade his parents after hearing about it.
In other words, he did his best to gather information he needed to become an adventurer all by himself.
If the persuasion only involved Riku wanting to become an adventurer on his own without much thought, both Floria and Kousuke would have naturally opposed his decision.
However, Riku showed that he managed to follow the activities of the adventurers and even help out if there was anything he could do.
Even Floria, who was usually level-headed, seemed caught off guard by this down-to-earth approach.
Even so, they could not allow Riku, who had the right to inherit the throne, to go and act as an adventurer with little supervision. Floria had used this as the ultimate reason to oppose Riku’s decision.
However, Riku’s went above and beyond in rebutting her. He was requesting to have Kouhi as his bodyguard. Furthermore, he even said that Kouhi had already been persuaded.
At that moment, Kousuke also checked Kouhi’s expression. The person in question nodded with a wry smile.
It was unclear how he persuaded Kouhi, but he must have won her over with his passion.
As things had been arranged to this extent, Floria could not forcefully oppose him.
Even if she were to oppose it, what was he to do in the future? There was little possibility of him inheriting the throne. It would be better if he could grow in a different field.
In the end, Floria and Kousuke agreed to allow Riku to act as an assistant to the adventurers, with a few additional conditions.
<<Previous Chapter | Let's Manage the Tower | Next Chapter>>
