A corner of the Management Layer’s lounge space was lively with the voices of children.
Taking advantage of a day off, Silvia had brought her two children to the Management Layer.
What Kokoro and Luca were doing was playing with a puzzle that Kousuke had made in between crafting magic tools.
“Ah! It came off again! How do you know so quickly, Luca?!”
“Hmm, I wonder why?”
The puzzle they were playing with was a so-called inlay puzzle.
In Kousuke’s original world, it was a type of puzzle for children where objects of the same shape fit together perfectly.
However, Kousuke hadn’t just made a diagrammatic puzzle.
The background was a magic circle, and a part of its pattern was cut out, requiring the insertion of the correct pattern.
When you insert patterns into several empty spaces and press the determine button, it lights up blue if correct and red if incorrect.
The reason for creating such a thing was initially to broaden Kousuke’s own thinking.
Therefore, the more difficult it was, the more than one answer there would be.
He initially made it for himself to avoid being stuck in one direction, but he tried making a simple one, thinking it could be used as a child’s toy.
By the way, it uses an advanced technology that uses the thought circuits for golems developed by Kouhi and Mitsuki to provide correct and incorrect answers, so it’s surprisingly advanced.
In the initial simple version, the patterns to be inserted were lines or circles.
The puzzle pieces, when fitted, complete the basic figures used in magic circles.
Kousuke, feeling somewhat amused by observing the puzzles he made for beginners, went on to create more puzzles for learning magic circles one after another.
However, even though he made them, he created them based on his interests and never showed them to Shurein.
As a result, Kousuke’s laboratory was piled high with unused puzzles.
Silvia, who knew about this, brought them out as toys for the two who were at the Management Layer with too much free time.
Of course, with Kousuke’s permission.
Kousuke had completely forgotten about making such things, but when Silvia asked, he finally remembered and brought them out from his laboratory.
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Initially, the two were playing with the beginner-level puzzles, but they quickly outgrew them.
Perhaps it was Silvia’s educational policy, but the two were diligently learning magic and divine arts.
Among them was the study of the basics of magic circles.
The beginner-level puzzles were very simple, so the two cleared them quickly.
However, Kokoro’s rapid progress stopped there.
When it came to the early intermediate-level puzzles, she seemed to deviate from what she had learned and began making mistakes.
Conversely, Luca, who was younger and should have been learning at a slower pace, was providing correct answers one after another.
While the two were playing enjoyably, Kousuke subtly directed his gaze toward Silvia without them noticing.
Upon receiving his gaze, Silvia gently shook her head left and right.
Surprise was evident on her face.
“You two, your fathers will be away for a while, so play with that.”
“Okay!”
“Yep!”
engrossed in the puzzle, the two replied without looking at Kousuke.
Kousuke came to a room separated by a door from the lounge space and immediately confirmed with Silvia.
“You didn’t teach them, did you?”
“No. Frankly, it’s strange that Luca can solve problems that Kokoro can’t.”
Luca, who was solving the intermediate puzzles one after another, was also a surprise to both of them.
The puzzle they were currently working on was akin to a child who had just learned addition solving a two-digit by one-digit multiplication problem.
“Certainly, it’s not impossible if you have the basics down, but…”
Normally, Kokoro’s correct answer rate would be quite high, but Luca’s was astonishing.
“Could it be guesswork?”
“If so, that’s amazing in itself.”
Compared to the beginner puzzles, the intermediate puzzles involve a considerable number of combinations.
Finding the correct answer among them with certainty is a matter of considerable probability.
Indeed, Kokoro’s correct answer rate is decreasing.
Being able to get the answer for that puzzle means they either know the answer or are figuring it out and guessing correctly.
“I don’t mind being called a doting parent, but… Luca might have a talent.”
“It doesn’t seem like a sudden talent…”
As Kousuke said with slight bewilderment, Silvia nodded and stared intently at Kousuke.
“No, no. Surely that’s not inherited? It has nothing to do with me!”
Kousuke waved his hand as if flustered, adding “Probably” in his mind.
“Is that so? I don’t think so?”
“Ugh…”
Faced with Silvia’s serious questioning, Kousuke was at a loss for words.
Given that he himself was an Avatar, such a possibility could not be ruled out.
“…I’ll check with the Goddess.”
As Kousuke said that, Silvia’s expression became slightly flustered.
“Ah, no. It’s not something we need to go that far for…”
To Silvia, this was just a normal conversation between a husband and wife, thinking, “This child’s trait really runs in the family of XXX, doesn’t it?”
She didn’t think it was something that warranted checking with a god, but more importantly, Luca inherited the blood of the Avatar, Kousuke.
Because of that, she thought it might be better to know in advance if it would cause unnecessary worry.
Silvia, reconsidering, stopped speaking for a moment and rephrased.
“That’s right. If you can, would you mind doing that?”
“Yeah. Well, it’s probably overthinking.”
If it’s overthinking, it’s not necessarily a bad thing.
When it comes to his children, he feels he relies too much on the gods, led by Asura, but Asura is paying attention to Kousuke’s children anyway.
Kousuke immediately decided to contact her.
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“You’re overthinking it.”
That was the first thing Asura said when he inquired.
“Ah, so that’s how it is?”
“Don’t misunderstand. Luca has undoubtedly inherited your talent. But the way she inherited it is within the normal range, not something special.”
“Huh? Normal? With that?”
“It’s not that rare, is it? Children with genius-like talent during childhood.”
From a god’s perspective, children with genius-like talent would fall within the normal range.
Thinking about it that way, Kousuke couldn’t help but wonder what kind of beings were outside that range.
“I’m talking about beings who become Avatars in this world.”
Asura’s reply came back precisely to the thought he hadn’t voiced.
“Ugh. That’s kind of harsh.”
“It can’t be helped, can it? You created things like
“Is that so? Well, setting me aside, Luca is not an exceptional being, is she?”
“That’s right. However, how Luca, raised by you, will grow is something no one can predict.”
“That, well, I can’t say either.”
To Kousuke’s defiant reply, Asura responded with laughter.
This time, the focus was on Luca.
It’s not just following Haku around, you know? With this, all the children currently present have had their focus.
As for whether they will just be ordinary people when they grow up… only the gods know.
(No complaints about some children already having their futures spoken of!)
