Volume 15 Chapter 6, Handshake Event

Kousuke’s bad premonition came true.

The preparations that Eris had mentioned were, in a nutshell, a banquet.

The Gods, dissatisfied with the previous interaction during the return trip, pleaded with her to set up a place where they could talk properly this time.

When Kousuke heard about this from Eris, he looked at Asura as if to ask for help, but she just clasped her hands together and apologized.

It seems that even Asura could not control the Goddesses.

It wasn’t impossible to control them by invoking force, but there was no way she could go through the trouble of using force over something like this.

She added, turning to Kousuke.

“And…. Kousuke wouldn’t feel bad since he’s surrounded by beautiful girls, right?”

She said to him with a smile.

At least the Goddesses Kousuke saw were all beautiful, as he experienced during his last visit.

Thinking about it, he was impressed with the beauty of the Goddesses, but he didn’t have time to think about it when he was actually surrounded by them.

[But when I was actually surrounded, I didn’t have the time to think about it because I was too busy dealing with the questions that kept coming at me.]

Of course, Kousuke was a man.

There was no way he wouldn’t be happy to be surrounded by beautiful women.

But he preferred not to be treated like a rare animal. [… I know it’s a luxury, but…]

“…This is a matter of luxury.”

He didn’t speak up, but Eris retorted him.

Kousuke let out a resigned sigh, as if he had given up.

He couldn’t escape in any way.

However, there was a possibility that the Tower would be raided if he tried to escape, so he did not have the option of running away.

Kousuke, who had a somewhat enlightened expression on his face, was taken by Asura and Eris and headed for the venue.

♢ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

“…And so, this man is Kousuke, the present living god and the only male God in this world~”

At Jal’s words, applause erupted from the entire hall.

The venue was much larger than what he had expected.

More than a few hundred women had gathered in the hall.

All of them were Goddesses, of course.

Kousuke was seated in the so-called “King’s seat” of the venue.

And for some reason, Jal was hosting the event.

“Why is Jal hosting?”

He didn’t mention it to anyone, but Asura, who was next to him, picked up on it.

“Because if we let Eris handle it, the atmosphere would be stiff and uninteresting, and Spica doesn’t really fit the bill, does she?”

It was Asura who came up with the idea, apparently.

“Well, it’s okay.”

The whispered conversation was overshadowed by Jal’s efforts to host the event.

“So, let’s skip the annoying representative’s greeting…”

“Eh?”

A voice of protest arose from next to Kousuke, but it was ignored by Jal.

“Then let’s start the main event of the day, the handshake session!!!”

Uwah. *Crackle *crackle.

Kousuke watched as the crowd went wild, and he couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

“…Huh? A handshake session? Whose?”

“That’s funny. Who else would it be?”

Eris assured me categorically.

“…Which Idol?”

He felt like he was about to sink, but he fought it off.

“Oh my. It’s actually kind of similar, don’t you think? You’re the only man they can associate with without having to worry about their status as Gods.”

“…Haaaaah… Well, fine, I’ll do it.”

While they were having this conversation, the venue was steadily being prepared for the handshake session.

The event was going to be held at a different place from where Kousuke was now.

When the preparations were ready, Kousuke started the handshake session accompanied by Spica who came to call him.

He shook hands with nearly three hundred Goddesses.

Incidentally, some of the Goddesses who didn’t get the right to shake hands were also there.

In addition, there were still many Goddesses who were unable to come because they could not enter the venue.

“How many Goddesses are there?”

“Dunno?”

This was the answer from Asura, the master.

“I don’t know…”

“You really can’t tell. They’re being born and disappearing even at this very moment.”

“What? Is that so?”

“That’s right.”

It felt strange that Gods could be born and disappear so easily, but he had to accept it when he was told that was the way it was in this world.

“By the way, how did the handshake session feel?”

“What? Nothing much, but exhausting?”

With nearly three hundred handshakes, even a handshake which consisted of only a few movements could be exhausting.

“No, I mean… Did you really think that they did all this just to make you shake their hands?”

“Eh…? No?”

Asura let out a sigh at Kousuke’s surprised expression.

“Shouldn’t they ask him what he thinks of them?”

Kousuke broke into a cold sweat when he saw Asura’s expression as she muttered that.

“…Well, let’s leave it at that for now… Did you really feel nothing?”

Asura asked with a serious expression, and Kousuke nodded with a serious face.

“Yeah. We just shook hands like normal, though?”

“…As expected, I didn’t predict this.”

Asura looked slightly taken aback.

“Eh, what, did something happen?”

“Oh, no, yeah. It’s nothing bad, it’s fine… maybe.”

Kousuke was curious about the last word in the whisper, but unfortunately, he couldn’t catch it.

Jal approached him, as if the event had been sorted out once and for all.

“Good work. You worked hard, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. Thanks to you. It’s just a handshake, but it’s so tiring.”

Jal laughed at Kousuke’s gaze and covered it up.

“Hahaha. Well, it’s not a bad deal for Kousuke either, so why not?”

“…? What are you talking about?”

“Huh? Did I say something I shouldn’t have?”

“Jaーーlーー”

“Wha…? Hey, sister, what?”

Jal started to get restless as Eris suddenly started to raise her eyebrows.

“Huh, Eris, okay. Okay. I intended to explain it to him soon.”

Kousuke, who had somehow figured out what was going on by watching the three of them interact, cut in.

“…So? What did you plan to do this time?”

“I’m sorry for asking this… but, Kousuke said he was searching for people, right? So, I cooperated with Eris.”

“…Ha?”

Kousuke tilted his head, unable to connect shaking hands with the Goddesses to the search for talent.

“You see. They’re all Gods, you know?”

Kousuke felt like he was getting many stares from the people around him at the ‘just in case’ part, but he decided to chalk it up to his imagination.

“I thought if there was a girl who wasn’t a good match, I could give you some advice, but you seem to be a good match for everyone. So, I can’t give you any advice.”

Kousuke had never thought that the handshake session had such a meaning.

“Well… That thing you asked me earlier about not feeling anything…?”

“Yeah. When things aren’t going well, you can feel various things, but it seems you didn’t feel anything. Neither did the girls.”

Asura looked at the Goddesses to confirm, and they nodded yes as they shook hands.

“…What do we do now?”

Eris confirmed, and Asura thought for a moment, then smiled.

“Yeah. I’ve got an idea, but it’s a secret until we’re ready.”

“Okay.”

At Asura’s words, Eris easily flinched.

Kousuke wanted her to stick around and listen to them a little longer, but Eris’ eyes told him that she wanted to run away.

Kousuke realized that eyes do say more than words.