Volume 15 Chapter 9, Dinner Party

Kousuke joined the dinner party and was surrounded by goddesses.

Spica, who was standing beside him, told him, to his horror, that different members were there. The goddesses here were not the same ones as those at the handshake event.

Incidentally, Jal was in charge of the handshake event, and Spica was in charge of the dinner party.

Eris was in charge of organizing the whole event.

When Kousuke heard this, he wondered if she was actually working in her spare time, but he didn’t speak his thoughts.

Kousuke didn’t want to go out of his way to step on a tiger’s tail.

Unlike the handshake event, the number of people at the dinner party seemed to be limited. There were about fifty goddesses here.

The goddesses came to Kousuke incessantly, so Kousuke could not find an opportunity to eat properly.

It was only once Spica was next to him that he got the opportunity to have a meal.

Incidentally, the dinner party seemed to be more popular among the goddesses.

Those who didn’t make the cut for the dinner party seemed to have drifted to the handshake party, and there were still some who were unable to attend the handshake party.

“… Why do they want to meet me so badly?”

Kousuke wondered, and suddenly voiced his question.

The goddesses he happened to be dealing with at the time had troubled expressions on their faces.

Spica was the one who properly answered him.

“I think we talked about this before. It’s to retain their connection to Earthgard. Else, it would break”

“Retain their connection? I mean, we’re only seeing each other for a few minutes, right?”

“Still, it’s better than doing nothing. It’s fine for a known deity, but for a goddess who is worshiped in the dark or by only a few people, her relationship with the world can be severed instantly.”

This was the downside of a polytheistic world.

A God with many followers doesn’t need to worry, but a God who has been forgotten can be separated from the world itself.

“If that happens, they’ll just exist here, you know?”

A god who has been cut off from Earthgard would be out of a job.

Unfortunately, they could not turn into NEETs.

Gods were only allowed to exist because of the work they do.

“Well, that doesn’t happen that frequently. We’re only born because we’re needed in the first place.”

“Hmm… I see… It’s tough even for Gods, isn’t it?”

The surrounding goddesses laughed at Kousuke’s impression.

Even Kousuke, who said such a thing, was also a God as well.

“…What are you talking about? You’re a similar existence yourself, aren’t you?”

“What? No, I guess so. Huh? Is that the case?”

As for Kousuke, he didn’t feel that way at all.

“Maybe it’s hard for you to feel it because you still have a strong connection to the other world. Once you live for a long period of time, you may come to understand.”

“… A long period of time… Huh? Speaking of which, what’s my lifespan?”

“Well? You’ve never been a God before, so, you don’t know, do you? Well, I’m sure you’ll outlive the High Elves at least.”

High Elves were known to have a preeminent longevity among sub-humans.

“Hmm… I see…”

“Hm? Is something wrong?”

“No, I was thinking for a moment that an existence with such longevity, or rather, an existence called God, should be involved in such a direct manner.”

Kousuke’s current involvement in the world was in the form of managing the Towers.

Recently, his influence outside the Towers has increased, and it would only become even stronger in the future.

“Isn’t that good? In the first place, you have been told by Asura-sama to live as you please in that world, haven’t you?”

“Yeah, well, I guess so.”

“Then you don’t need to worry about it. You can do whatever you want.”

Kousuke thought that his worries had been brushed off, but he quickly reconsidered.

He understood that it was Spica’s personality that made her say such a thing.

If she could do as she pleased, it meant that he could also do the same as well.

“… I kind of feel like that’s a scary thing to do.”

“If you feel that way, it means that you are able to control yourself. You will be able to stop when you need to. So, there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Is that so? Well, okay… Oh, I’m sorry. I was talking too much.”

He couldn’t help but talk to Spica and he recalled that it was time to speak to the Goddesses in front of him.

Now that he understood the purpose of these event, he wanted to do everything he could to help them.

“Um… Don’t worry about it too much.. We don’t need to be able to talk to you directly, we just need to be near you.”

One of the goddesses by his side said to him.

They all nodded their heads, though just hearing those words made them sound like wholesome maidens.

Kousuke looked at Spica and she explained.

“Yeah, she’s right. In fact, even at the last handshake event, you could only touch their hand and say a few words to them, right? That’s meaningful enough for them, you know?”

Kousuke was usually in the world of Earthgard, but just being right beside him had an effect on the girls there.

“Hmm. So, that’s how it is.”

Kousuke accepted it however, that didn’t mean he was going to be a quiet spectator and just allow the Goddesses to simply stand close to him.

He decided to enjoy having conversations with the Goddesses as much as he could.

Having managed to finish the dinner party without incident, Kousuke was enjoying his break.

The reason why he was taking it easy was because he would not be returning to the Tower today.

Kousuke, who knew about the circumstances of the Goddesses, offered to set up a similar meeting again early tomorrow, just for the occasion.

When Kousuke found out that there were still goddesses who had missed out on the handshake event and dinner, he spoke to Eris after dinner was over.

Kousuke wanted to help as much as he could, as long as there was something he could do.

He still couldn’t get used to the girls’ high school atmosphere. When he first met them, he was extremely hesitant to converse with them but with time, it got better.

At Kousuke’s sudden offer, Eris smiled and agreed.

“Just so you know, not everyone there was in that desperate of a situation, okay?”

“They aren’t?”

“Yes. Some of them simply wanted to take a look.”

“Hmm. Well, some people are just curious. It’s fine.”

After all, the other party were Goddesses. Even just looking at them made him feel like he was getting something out of it.

Now that he could afford to do so.

“I see. Then I’ll make the arrangements.”

This was a boon for Eris.

Those who were not selected this time were already asking when the next event would take place.

“Oh, yes. Tell Sylvia that I won’t be able to return today.”

Eris could communicate with Sylvia.

He thought about using that method to inform her.

“That’s fine, of course, but… Why don’t you do it yourself?”

Kousuke was surprised at Eris’s curious question.

“What…? I can do that?

“I think you can, since she’s already your shrine maiden, right?”

Kousuke had thought it was just a formality, so he didn’t expect to be able to do something so practical.

“Well… How can I do it?”

“When I do it, I just look for their presence and talk to them…”

It seemed that each of them had their own way of doing things, and Eris couldn’t exactly explain it to him.

Since there was no choice, he decided to try his hand at it.

What he was trying to do was to reverse the connection from the Temple of Mixen to this Garden of Everlasting Spring.

Thinking back to Sylvia, he tried to trace her presence.

Thanks to the fact that she was a priestess, her presence was easy to find.

It was so quick and easy to do that, that it felt a bit anticlimactic.

[Sylvia, can you hear me?]

[Huh, whaaaat? Ko, Kousuke-sama!?]

She seemed to be flustered by the suddenness of the situation.

[Oh, I’m sorry for startling you. I can’t come home today. So, I called you to inform you of that.]

[I see, I got your message. I understand.]

That was all they said, and then, the connection was cut off.

Kousuke did not know why the connection was suddenly cut. It could be because he was not familiar with doing this or it might be something like.

Either way, it was something that needed to be verified.

In addition, he didn’t know if such a connection could be established in a place other than the Garden of Everlasting Spring.

Kousuke felt that he needed to do more research.