I updated the chapter title yesterday, but I’m not satisfied with it.
I might change it eventually.
Or I might stick with it.
Kousuke’s bad feeling came true.
If you ask what the preparations Eris mentioned were, it was simply a banquet.
The gods, unsatisfied with only the brief interactions during the last transfer, had pleaded for a proper session where they could talk.
When Kousuke heard about it from Eris, he looked towards Asura as if asking for help, but was only met with a gesture of clasped hands and an apology.
It seemed even Asura couldn’t suppress the goddesses’ momentum.
She could have used her authority to stop them, but she couldn’t possibly resort to such measures for something like this.
She then added, turning to Kousuke:
“Besides… Kousuke, you won’t mind being surrounded by beautiful women, will you?” she said with a smile.
He had experienced it during his last visit; at least the goddesses who caught Kousuke’s eye were all beautiful.
Thinking back on it later, he was impressed, thinking, “Indeed, they are goddesses,” but when he was actually surrounded, he didn’t have the presence of mind for such thoughts.
He was barely able to cope with the barrage of questions coming at him.
Of course, Kousuke was a man too.
It was impossible not to be pleased to be surrounded by beautiful women.
However, he couldn’t help but feel that being treated like a rare beast was a bit much. … He knew it was a luxury problem.
“…That’s a luxurious concern, isn’t it?”
Eris called him out, even though he hadn’t spoken the words aloud.
Kousuke let out a sigh, as if resigned.
It seemed there was no escaping it.
Rather, if he tried to escape clumsily, there was a possibility they would come to his tower, so escaping wasn’t an option.
Kousuke’s expression became one of resigned acceptance, and he was led to the venue by Asura and Eris.
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“…And so, this man is an Avatar, and the only male god in this world, Kousuke!”
At Jal’s words, applause erupted from across the venue.
The venue was larger than Kousuke had expected.
Hundreds of women were gathered in it.
Naturally, they were all goddesses.
Kousuke was seated in a place resembling a royal box in the venue.
And, for some reason, Jal was acting as the MC.
“Why is Jal the MC?”
He hadn’t said it to anyone in particular, but Asura, sitting beside him, picked up on it.
“Well, if Eris were in charge, the atmosphere would get stiff and it wouldn’t be fun, and Spica wouldn’t be suited for it, right?”
It seemed Asura was the one who came up with the idea.
“Well, it’s fine by me,” Kousuke said.
While their quiet conversation continued, Jal was steadily carrying out his MC duties.
“Alright, skipping the tedious representative’s greeting…”
“Ehhhhhhhhh!?”
A protest voice rose from beside Kousuke at the MC’s performance, but Jal ignored it.
“Now then, let’s begin today’s main event, the handshake session!!!!”
*Wow. Clap clap clap.*
While the venue was getting excited, Kousuke’s eyes widened in surprise.
“…Huh? A handshake session? With whom?”
“You say the funniest things. Who else would it be with, if not you?”
Eris stated it unequivocally.
“…What kind of idol am I?”
He nearly slumped down, but managed to pull himself together with sheer force of will.
“Oh? It’s probably quite similar, you know? You’re the only man who can be approached without worrying about your status as a god.”
“…Sigh. Well, it can’t be helped now, can it?”
While this conversation was going on, the handshake session venue was being prepared.
It seemed it would be held in a different location from where Kousuke was currently.
Once the preparations were complete, Kousuke was led by Spica, who had come to fetch him, to begin the handshake session.
By hook or by crook, he ended up shaking hands with nearly 300 goddesses.
By the way, there were also goddesses in the venue who couldn’t obtain the right to shake hands.
And, it seemed there were still many goddesses who couldn’t come because they couldn’t fit in this venue.
“Just how many gods are there?”
“Who knows?”
That was Asura’s answer, the great progenitor.
“You haven’t kept track…”
“I can’t. They are born and disappear every moment as we speak.”
“Eh? Is that so?”
“That’s how it is.”
Kousuke found it strange that gods could be born and disappear so easily, but if he was told that was how things were in this world, he had no choice but to accept it.
“By the way, how was it shaking hands?”
“Huh? What do you mean? I’m tired, of course?”
After all, doing nearly three hundred repetitions, even of a simple handshake, was quite tiring.
“That’s not what I mean… Did you really think we did all this just to have you shake hands?”
“Eh…!? It wasn’t?”
Seeing Kousuke’s surprised expression, Asura sighed.
“Perhaps I’ll have to press you about how you truly feel about us, just once?”
Kousuke broke out in a cold sweat upon seeing Asura’s muttering expression.
“…Well, let’s put that aside for now… Did you really feel nothing?”
Asura asked with a serious expression, and Kousuke nodded with an equally serious face.
“Yeah. It was just a normal handshake, though?”
“…I must say, that was unexpected.”
Asura’s expression became one of slight exasperation.
“Eh? What? Did something happen?”
“Ah, well, yes. It’s not a bad thing, so it’s alright. …Probably.”
Kousuke’s attention was caught by the final hushed remark, but unfortunately, he couldn’t hear it.
Once the event organization was apparently completed, Jal approached.
“Good work. You must have worked hard, right?”
“Yeah. Thanks to you. It’s tiring even though it’s just a handshake.”
Jal chuckled and brushed off Kousuke’s glare.
“Hahaha. Well, it’s not a bad thing for you either, so it’s fine, isn’t it?”
“? What are you talking about?”
“Huh? …Did I say something I shouldn’t have again?”
“Jal——”
“Wha—!? Sis, w-what is it?”
Jal began to lose his composure as Eris’s eyes narrowed sharply.
“Fufu. That’s fine, Eris. I was planning to explain soon anyway.”
Sensing the situation from the three’s exchange, Kousuke cut in.
“…So? What did you guys plan this time?”
“You make it sound so sinister… I was just trying to help because Kousuke was looking for good talent.”
“…Huh?”
Kousuke tilted his head, unable to connect shaking hands with goddesses to finding talent.
“See. Those girls are technically gods, aren’t they?”
He felt all eyes on him at the word “technically,” but Kousuke decided to dismiss it as his imagination.
“If there were any girls they didn’t get along with, I thought I could give them some advice, but it seems they got along with everyone perfectly, so I can’t give any advice.”
Kousuke had never imagined that the handshake session had such a meaning.
“Uhh… The question earlier, about not feeling anything…?”
“Right. If there was a bad compatibility, you’d feel things, but it seems they didn’t feel anything, nor did those girls.”
Asura looked towards the goddesses as if to confirm, and the goddesses who had shaken hands nodded in agreement.
“…What shall we do?”
Eris asked for confirmation. Asura thought for a moment, then broke into a smile.
“Yes. I’ve thought of something good, but it’ll be a secret until the preparations are ready.”
“Understood.”
Eris immediately backed down at Asura’s words.
Kousuke wished she had pressed a bit more, but Eris’s eyes seemed to say, “Then ask yourself.”
Kousuke truly understood the saying, “Eyes speak louder than words.”
Now, what was Asura plotting?
…The truth will be revealed next time. …Probably.
