Since free movement between Amamiya Tower and the Northeast Tower was now possible, Kouhi and Floria, who remained in the Northeast Tower, were called back.
The Northeast Tower had also been conquered, so for a while, I intended to investigate what could be done with the “Dominion Release.”
However, Kousuke couldn’t perform the crucial action he had been considering.
The exchange of magic, holy, and divine power could be done normally.
It was also discovered that it was possible to collect or transfer a set amount of power that occurred each day. By the way, the settable value is arbitrary.
As expected, changes to installations and the management layer had to be made within the management layer of each respective tower, but this was within expectations.
So, what couldn’t be done was the exchange of floors.
When I tried to swap a floor in Amamiya Tower with a floor in the Northeast Tower, I couldn’t.
The menu itself existed, so I assumed it could be done normally, but my plans were thwarted.
The reason became clear immediately.
Or rather, when I tried to implement the swap, a message appeared at the point where I was trying to select the Northeast Tower.
“This tower cannot be selected as the destination.”
Upon seeing this, Kousuke slumped in disappointment.
Despite conquering the tower, more than half of his objective had become meaningless.
“…Hmm…”
Floria, who had come to the management room perhaps for something, heard Kousuke mutter to himself.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ah, Floria. No, I managed to conquer it, but I can’t do the most important thing. More importantly, what’s up?”
Actually, it was rare for Floria to come to the management room.
She considered herself a temporary resident and not a management member.
In fact, Kousuke had not registered Floria as a member.
“Ah… yes. …I have something I wanted to ask.”
“Something you want to ask?”
“Ah. Yes. …No, it’s a bit difficult to ask, or rather… I hesitate whether or not I should ask…”
For someone with her straightforward personality, it was unusual. She paused slightly before her expression became determined.
“Kousuke, who are you?”
“… … … Huh?”
Floria’s sudden question caught Kousuke completely off guard.
“Ah, no. I felt a sense of dissonance when we conquered the Northeast Tower… Never mind being an Avatar, it’s more like our fundamental ways of thinking are different…”
“… … ?”
“I asked Silvia and the others, but they said no one knew your past, so I thought I’d just ask you directly…”
Floria felt Kouhi’s gaze sharpen as she stood nearby and her voice gradually grew softer.
However, Kousuke didn’t notice. In fact, he was preoccupied with something else.
“Eh…? …Huh? Ahhhh!!!!”
Yes. It dawned on him only now.
He hadn’t told them that he had a personality that was raised in a world different from this one.
It wasn’t that he had been intentionally hiding it.
Well, of course, at first, he had kept it secret because he didn’t know what might happen.
However, he hadn’t intended to keep it hidden forever.
That said, it was debatable whether it was solely Kousuke’s responsibility.
Except for Floria, the other members had also felt dissonance at the beginning.
However, as they had spent a long time together, they had become accustomed to Kousuke’s oddities, coming to consider them normal for him.
On the other hand, Floria had only recently joined the management layer and had spent less time acting with Kousuke.
She had spent a long time together during the tower conquest and felt a sense of dissonance while talking with Kousuke.
This led to Floria’s question just now.
From the perspective of this world, aside from the body created by Asura, Kousuke’s fundamental being was from another world, so it was natural for his way of thinking to be different.
Floria had felt that dissonance and decided to ask Kousuke directly.
Furthermore, she had another objective besides simply wanting to know about Kousuke’s past.
“I see. No, I’m sorry. I’ll tell you all later when everyone is gathered. I can tell you now, but I imagine the others would want to hear it directly too.”
“Understood. That’s fine too.”
The moment Kousuke said that, Kouhi’s gaze softened, but Kousuke didn’t notice.
♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦
“…And so, I’m sorry!!”
At the gathered table, Kousuke suddenly bowed his head.
“No, wait a moment. Apologizing out of the blue doesn’t make any sense.”
Shurein said this on behalf of everyone, and the other members wore similar expressions.
Seeing this, Kousuke began to explain what had happened.
He explained that when he died in his previous world, his soul had been flung away and had arrived in the divine realm.
He had been given a body by the entity overseeing that divine realm and came to this world.
He registered as an adventurer, and after hearing about the towers, he decided to make them his base.
He briefly explained everything so far.
“…And so, while my body is from this world, my soul, or rather my way of thinking, is not. I apologize for staying silent until now!”
After bowing his head once more, Kousuke looked up.
However, the members who heard his story showed no particular surprise. Instead, they looked understanding.
“…Huh?”
“Well, Kousuke, for us, it’s rather a ‘now, finally?’ kind of story.”
“That’s right~. I was surprised about it being another world, but it actually makes more sense that way.”
Incidentally, in this world, the concept of other worlds is commonplace.
Needless to say, this is information from the gods.
However, it is only known that they exist; of course, travel between them is not possible.
“…Eh? Wait…? Is that so?”
“Given your way of thinking towards gods, Kousuke, it’s a perspective far removed from this world’s. Hearing you’re from another world actually makes me understand.”
Since their fundamental ways of thinking were different, it was natural for their views on gods to differ.
Sylvia felt the difference in their views towards gods the most keenly.
“That’s what it is. …More importantly, why did you bring this up now all of a sudden?”
“It’s because I asked Kousuke earlier.”
“Yes. And then I realized I hadn’t told everyone, so I decided to talk about it like this…”
Upon hearing this, the gazes of the members, excluding Kousuke and Floria, turned towards her.
“…What was your intention?”
Collet asked Floria with a slightly stern face.
Of course, Floria had anticipated this kind of reaction.
“No, I’m sorry. Of course, I wanted to know about Kousuke’s past, but there was a proper reason for wanting to know that.”
“…Tell us.”
“Yes. While we were conquering the tower, I realized while talking with Kousuke that your way of thinking about gods is too different. I thought that if it continued like this, it could lead to unnecessary trouble.”
At Floria’s words, everyone exchanged glances.
This included Kouhi and Mitsuki.
Sylvia was the first to react.
“Indeed, as you said. Thank you for noticing.”
“We were in danger~.”
Leaving Kousuke behind, everyone nodded.
In this world, gods are real, and life is sustained by experiencing their blessings.
On the other hand, Kousuke’s way of thinking about gods was completely different.
That difference could lead to pointless trouble.
“…Perhaps we should seriously consider spreading the word that you have become an Avatar.”
“I agree.”
Kousuke panicked at the unexpected suggestion.
“No, wait, won’t that just make me more conspicuous and cause more trouble?”
At his words, everyone gave a bitter smile.
The concern that had just arisen seemed to be coming true.
“It’s quite the opposite. The moment people realize you are a god, Kousuke, fewer individuals will try to deal with you directly.”
This is the difference between a world where gods exist and one where they don’t.
In a world where gods are real, there are actual accounts of what happens when one directly harms a god.
Therefore, people generally avoid doing anything that might incur a god’s wrath.
Of course, it’s not that there are no fools who would do such things.
“…Haa… I see. Hmm… But let’s put that on hold for now. Making a decision impulsively isn’t good, so we should discuss it properly.”
“That’s of course. We need to consider things like the Crown and these towers, and make a decision.”
Everyone nodded.
In the end, the dissonance Floria felt led to a discussion about how to frame the position of Avatar in the future.
For Kousuke, leaving things as they were was ideal, but due to his own actions, it seemed that wouldn’t be possible, thus it could be said to be his own doing.
It was a late confession.
Even if he kept his Avatar status secret, Kousuke himself might reveal his true nature. He might not say it directly, but his attitude and actions could expose the truth.
2014/6/22 Typo correction
