Even in the days that seem to pass by peacefully and serenely, there are always troubles, big and small.

　This is one of those things that happened this time.

　I was in the Center Guild now.
　Alone.

　I thought I should bring Marika with me, but I'm a heavy woman, and I have children to take care of, so I decided to visit on my own.

　The reason for the visit was....
　I wanted to visit her.

◆

What happened to the Elieka guy?　You're not coming?
Your mother-in-law told me, 'If you're going to die, go ahead and die in the wild.'
Tough as ever.

　The President of the Center Guild, lying on the bed, seemed to have shrunk a notch in size from when I usually saw him.

　He is my wife Marika's mother and Elika's father.
　Will he be a granddaughter-in-law to me?　It is far away.

　Nevertheless, considering the social position of the two parties, they had no choice but to come and visit each other.

I was surprised to hear that he had collapsed out of nowhere. Your father-in-law was trying to see what happened, but...
No, you're on your own.

　The Chancellor raised his upper body from the bed.
　Even that motion seemed to be a challenge.

I'm tired of coming to visit you because I'm worried about you. I don't want that kind of ritualistic visit anymore. I only want real, meaningful visitors. I don't have much time left. I don't want to be wasted.
''Oh no, not again...?''

　This person has been reigning at the top of the Center Guild for decades now and has been in total command of the entire human race.
　He's a monster, you could say.

　However, so much time has been spent in the power struggle, and his body must be suffering a considerable amount of wear and tear.
　He's old enough to have great grandchildren now.
　He looks like a complete old man, and his hair is completely white.

　It is quite possible that he will fall ill when the seasons change and end up in bed without being able to recover himself.

This is when I realize how old I am," she said. When I was young, I used to attend meetings even if I had a high fever, and spit into the air all day long.
That's a nuisance...?
Now my body is so demoralized that it can't move at all after catching a bit of a cold. The result is this. The other members of the board must be thrilled to see me deteriorate.
It's not...

I was about to say something like, "We're all worried about you," but I stopped myself.

　He knows better than anyone else that in a power struggle, which is in some ways tougher than a real battle, caring doesn't mean anything.

I too have been at the top of the heap for a long time. "I, too, have been at the top of the heap for so long, everyone has grown tired of my reign and is now looking to me to take over. My downfall means that now is the perfect time for you to do the same.
'Don't you care too much about it?　I simply came down with a cold and...?

　You just need to get some rest and get rid of the cold.
　I tried to encourage him to do so.

I'm sorry to say that the term of office of the director of the Center Guild is about to expire. Normally, he would be elected without incident and continue to serve, but this time, he's in this situation. I may not be able to be re-elected due to health reasons.

　But he is still old.

　People have long believed that the hard work of the board members was too much for him to bear, and his illness is likely to reinforce that view.

But his illness is likely to reinforce this view. Who do you think is responsible for the fact that you have been able to do whatever you want?
I don't know what to say to that.

　In fact, I can't say that the reason I've been able to run and develop Lax Village is because of this Chancellor's support.

　After all, he's the highest-ranking chancellor of all the adventurer's guilds in human territory, the center guild that stands at the top of the guild.

With that influence, I've expanded the sales channels for Mithril products with the backing of my wife's grandfather, Chancellor-san, and brought many people to the village.

　

　If that Chancellor leaves the stage of power, me and Lax Village will have no choice but to be affected.

''You mean I should at least return the favor?
I didn't ask for anything so auspicious. Still, I wanted you to see him. With you, I can talk to you about the future, not some distant, toothless platitude like the rest of them.

　As expected of you, Chancellor, do you think carefully about the future even when you are in a sickbed?

　It's true that LUX Village has grown even more over the past five years.
　Should we take steps to ensure that LUX Village will continue to grow even after Chancellor's departure?

''The best thing is for Chancellor-san to get well soon and continue to run the Center Guild, but...''
'It wouldn't be hard if you could do it. I don't need a lot of bullshit. Just give me a realistic idea.

　Send me....
　You look good enough, don't you?
　Keep it up and stay in the pinnacle of power until you die?

Well, I don't want to keep you thinking, so I'll come up with something.
Okay?
The best thing to do is to make a good replacement. My retirement will leave a vacancy on the Center Guild Board of Directors. A new board member will have to step in.

　Well, yes.

"And therein lies my rightful successor. Someone to carry on everything I've built up, my ideas, everything I've learned, so that there will be minimal change. Of course, the person who succeeds me will have to be extremely close to me.
That's the problem, isn't it?

　Mr. Chancellor, who looks like this, is a super-achiever who has served as Chancellor for decades.
　He would not be able to remain at the top of the heap if he didn't have the political skills of a monster.

　And if the same level of competence is required to succeed him, he'll have a very tough choice.

Do you have your sights set on him?
There's one.

　That's tricky.
　Who the hell is that?

You are.
What?
That's why I'm glad you came to see me. You are now a very powerful man with the village of Lax, of which you are the chief. You manufacture and sell mithril products, and the financial power you can earn by doing so is now one of the greatest in the world.

　I don't intend to make that much money.

　Besides, the only reason I am making money from Mithril is for the development of the village, and the profits have been disappearing left and right.

He is the son of Aranzir, the brave man, and yet he is good at what he does. He's also very clever. And he's smart enough to know that if he succeeds to my throne, he'll be a devil to himself.
No, no, no...!

　I hurriedly dammed up the current that was about to carry me away.

'You want me to be the Director of the Center Guild?　You want me to run for office?　No!
You're right.

　You have to make a clear statement to this kind of person.
　If you slur your words in the guilt of refusal, you don't know how your words will be taken out of context and interpreted in a convenient way.

The only thing I want to do is to develop Lax Village. I have no ambitions for the center.

　I want to live a quiet, peaceful life.
　That's all.

I don't want to be distracted from the important task of running Lax Village by worrying about such things, and I am resolutely refusing to do so. Isn't there someone else more suitable to succeed him?

　He is the President of the Center Guild of Heaven, to say the least.

　Many mere mortals should be slipping in to take advantage of his power.
　I can't speak for others either, but....

　There must be one or two guys among them that seem to have potential, right?

I wish it were that convenient.

　The chancellor's tone became sulky all of a sudden.
　What the hell was that?

　That's when it happened.

　It became noisy.

"Please wait!　The Chancellor is currently in a meeting with an important guest and he doesn't want anyone to come in...!

　The voice sounded flustered.

　Chancellor is sleeping in his own room, the place where he usually sleeps and wakes up.
　From the other side of that door, you can feel some kind of struggle.

''That voice........is it the butler who led me here?

"Please wait!　Please wait! That voice saying.

It's not every day that I let him get that upset. Silly boy, he's got a keen sense of humor.

　Soon after, the door opened with a bang and a man with a stern expression entered the room.
　He's probably older than me, maybe in his fifties.

　The appearance of the man gave me a whiff of more trouble.