kscans

Chapter 505 - Interlude: The Demon Country's Event

As usual, the AFO executives gathered on the top floor of the high-class hotel "Camelot" in the Royal Capital Anhemudal. The "Spirit Festival" event was over, and they were here to report on the results.

However, things were a little different this time. Many of the members were exhausted. The only ones who seemed energetic were Lunaria, the Foundation Coordinator, and Ronios of the Gemini Foundation.

Amidst this atmosphere, the reports were finished, and they moved on to the next topic. The other members shot resentful glances at Ronios. The person in question, however, acted as if she didn't have a care in the world.

"My, my, I seem to be quite popular today. It's making me blush."

To the unrepentant Ronios, Ney of the Libra Foundation let out a sigh.

"I won't say it's entirely your fault, Ronios, but we had to make significant adjustments just for you to go to Hayato's cafe. If that were all, it would be one thing, but to invite Virgo to the cafe as well. I think it turned out well in the end, but what were you thinking, telling us to do it and then leaving all the arrangements to us?"

For Ronios to go to Colony Frontier, a lot of groundwork was necessary. In terms of foundations, only Libra and Pisces would have been needed, but involving Virgo, with whom they weren't on particularly good terms, took a considerable amount of time and effort.

To begin with, Virgo and Pisces were rivals, so they had a bad relationship. For this Spirit Festival event, they had been considerate, even holding a fashion-related event in cooperation with Rosalie's "Black Rose." They had also cooperated with Alvie, the leader of the Virgo-affiliated clan "Kiss of Death," who acted as a bridge, and their relationship had improved from "bad" to "neutral."

That was fine, but then Parfait and her friends got involved with the clan "Fight☆Club" and even participated in an event hosted by them. That's when Ronios had said, "If we're all going to the cafe, why not invite someone from Virgo too?"

That remark sent ripples through the various foundations, and it was Ney and the others who were left to deal with the aftermath.

"You ask what I was thinking, but I never intended for it to become such a big deal. However, it's not my fault that the event hosted by Virgo's Blake-kun became so prominent. If that hadn't happened, I wouldn't have thought to invite him. Shouldn't we hear Parsha's explanation on that matter?"

At Ronios's words, Parsha averted her gaze.

Parsha, Noat, and her attendants Shiro and Kuro had jumped into the event as a group of four. Originally, it was a measure to keep Parfait from standing out, but the event itself had attracted attention.

If that were all, it would have been fine, but then Cecil had barged in and fought with Xenobia. A world announcement occurred, as if it were a new event from AFO's management, drawing even more attention.

When people gather and attention is focused, certain things become clear. At that event, Lunaria, the Foundation Coordinator, her attendants Rosalie and Xenobia, Parsha, Shiro, and Kuro from Pisces, and Cecil from the Virgo-affiliated Dragon Soul had all gathered. This led to a flood of inquiries from other foundations, wondering what was going on. In particular, Virgo's own head had inquired, "What is the meaning of this?"

"I can only say that I am sorry. I never expected Cecil-san to come, and as a result, it ended up being more exciting than the event hosted by Alvie-san at the World Tree..."

For once, Parsha was apologizing normally.

This Spirit Festival was supposed to hype up Alvie of Kiss of Death's event, and they had coordinated with Virgo to that end, but in the end, the event that stood out the most was the one hosted by Fight☆Club. Fortunately, the host was Blake, who held a low-ranking but valid succession right in Virgo, so they managed to avoid disaster.

Still, it was different from their initial promise. Of course, Alvie's event was also a success, but even after the Spirit Festival ended, the talk of the town was Blake's event. This discrepancy necessitated an apology to Virgo. And so, coordination with Virgo's head became necessary.

After that, Ronios had washed her hands of it, saying, "If I get involved any further, it'll just be a hassle, so I'll leave the rest to you." She wouldn't participate in the coordination with Virgo, but she wouldn't complain either.

"It's not my place to say, but come on, let's just move on. Everyone agreed to let Virgo have a piece of the Colony we're building next. I'm sorry for the trouble, but all's well that ends well. Now we're good friends with Virgo!"

Ronios said this, either to dispel the gloomy atmosphere or simply because she was carefree. But Ney's eyes were sharp.

"Don't tell me, Ronios, are you planning to involve all the foundations in AFO?"

At Ney's out-of-the-blue remark, everyone's attention was focused. But only Ronios, the one who was asked, was grinning.

"Of course not. I don't have such a grand plan. But you know, the foundations have lost their power balance right now. I don't think it's good to bicker over trivial things. Is it fun to attend a council where everyone is just checking each other?"

"You think the foundations can become friendly through AFO?"

"It depends on their thinking, so I can't say for sure. But it's true that some foundations are paranoid that they might be crushed or eliminated. If Lunaria, who holds all the technology as the Foundation Coordinator, is on good terms with specific foundations, it's natural they would think that way, wouldn't you agree?"

"Where did you get that information from, Ronios... no, never mind. But I can understand that feeling. To be honest, I don't want to bring that kind of talk into AFO."

"Ney-kun, wait. To tell you the truth, I was the one who asked Ronios-kun to gather various information."

Diite, who had been present from the beginning, spoke for the first time today, and everyone except Ronios looked surprised.

"Ronios-kun is disliked in many places, but he is also the person with the most connections."

"I can't tell if that's a compliment or an insult."

"Of course it's a compliment. You're the one with the most mobility in the real world. Thanks to that, no matter which Colony you go to, the other foundations aren't that wary of you. Well, 'Frontier' is an exception, though."

At Diite's words, Ronios looked uncharacteristically embarrassed. Ney seemed to find this assessment convincing, as he nodded without refuting it.

"I understand what you're trying to say, Diite. But why gather information?"

"As Ronios-kun said, some foundations have become paranoid. Even if they don't think they'll be crushed, they probably think that the ranking of the foundations' value has changed. That's why they're after Lunaria-kun's technology and AFO's technology. The idea is to raise their own foundation's value by obtaining it."

"But that's impossible, isn't it?"

"Exactly. It's impossible to outdo me with the current technology. It would also be impossible to take Lunaria-kun hostage. They won't be able to steal the technology."

At those words, Lunaria and her bodyguard, Xenobia, nodded. Lunaria herself possessed incredible physical abilities as a genetically enhanced human, and she was also protected by an army of bodyguards led by Xenobia and Chris's father, Gil. A private army owned by a foundation would be no match for them.

"However, as we've discussed before, it's a different story if Hayato-kun and the others are taken hostage. My security would become useless. To prevent that, I want the other foundations to cast aside their unnecessary worries."

"So you mean to actively involve them in AFO and adjust the power balance?"

At Ney's words, Diite smiled and nodded.

"That will lead to the safety of Hayato-kun and, by extension, Parfait-kun and the others. That was one of the reasons for involving Virgo in this event. Besides, I've realized once again that trying to keep Parfait-kun from standing out is a very high-difficulty task..."

At Diite's tragic-looking face, everyone nodded in understanding. They had tried various countermeasures, but Parfait still stood out. Even though the attention was somewhat dispersed in her fight with Kazatoki this time, the number of views was still as high as the others.

To be honest, it was nearly impossible to keep Parfait and Hayato's cafe a secret. So, they had come to the conclusion that it was better to think of ways to prevent Parfait from being taken hostage even if she stood out. They had been thinking this for a while, but this event had made it clear.

"I understand the situation. But honestly, I'm not happy that you asked Ronios to do it."

"You're always so mean to me, Ney."

Even so, Ronios was still smiling. Ney looked at Ronios with an exasperated expression, then turned to Diite with a serious face.

"So you plan to involve another foundation in the next event?"

"That's right. The foundations that are currently paranoid are Aries, Taurus, Cancer, and Capricorn. I plan to involve Capricorn in the next event."

"Capricorn. The foundation Hayato used to belong to. The one that's strong in precision machinery and manages Colony Factory. How do you plan to involve them?"

"I've already consulted with Ronios-kun about this, but I plan to have Hyper Toy Maker, which belongs to Gemini, cooperate. Or rather, they already are."

"Mikan's company? Weren't Gemini and Capricorn on bad terms because of that company?"

"Mikan-kun's toy company was something we kind of snatched before Capricorn found out. To begin with, considering Mikan-kun's origins, we couldn't just hand it over to Capricorn."

It had been revealed that Capricorn was a foundation that grew by stealing the technology and money of Mikan's company when it was a large corporation. Considering that situation, they couldn't just hand it over to Capricorn, so Gemini acted as a shield and protected Mikan.

"Still, we can't be at odds forever. Mikan-kun also says it's in the past and the current people have nothing to do with it. So we were making arrangements for an event that would be mutually beneficial."

"I see. Specifically?"

"The next event is related to the Demon Country, to Pandemonium Castle. Currently, it's controlled by Mikan-kun and the Demon Summoning Research Association clan, but we're going to announce a new system there at the same time as the event. I plan to involve Capricorn in that."

At those words, everyone tilted their heads. They hadn't heard anything about a new system being built.

Seemingly satisfied with everyone's reaction, Diite smiled.

"The thing I made for Surya-kun before was quite well-received, you see. And we've been getting requests from many players for something similar. So I had Hyper Toy Maker make a sample. This time it will be a present for the top performers, but after the event, we plan to commission Capricorn to manufacture it. I'm thinking of having Ronios-kun, Ney-kun, and Lunaria-kun handle the negotiations."

There was no problem with the negotiations, but there were still questions. Everyone thought of Surya, who wasn't here today, and tilted their heads again, wondering if something had happened.

"Commissioning Capricorn means it will affect the real world, not just the virtual one?"

"You're sharp, Ney-kun. That's exactly right. I had them make a device that allows people to interact with AFO through other means besides the headgear."

With that, Diite smiled and, as always, slowly sipped her coffee.