There’s a reason we decided to see the festival in the first place.
We wanted to properly see the town, which had grown to a scale of over a hundred thousand people.
At first, we had planned to just observe it normally, but by chance, the festival was being held for its one-year anniversary, so we decided to come then.
Everyone is participating because there are members who don’t know about festivals, so it was decided that everyone would participate to enjoy the festival as well.
Currently, there are no Golems in the Management Layer besides the two.
The Teleport Gate leading to the Management Layer is currently unusable, so no one can enter or leave the Management Layer.
On the final day of the festival, Silvia and Peach are scheduled to appear in an event as the Tower’s management.
Since they occasionally visited the temple, their faces are already known, so they said it would be no problem to appear in the event.
They actually said it would be better to participate.
Silvia, due to her role as Kousuke’s Shrine Maiden, should appear in public in such cases.
Peach, though she is reserved, is steadily establishing her position as a Shrine Maiden, so she is taking on a supporting role for Silvia.
On the second day of the festival.
Kousuke and the others were split into two groups.
Kousuke’s team consists of Floria and Mitsuki, along with Silvia and Peach, who will not be able to act together the next day.
Nana is on a leash, which Kousuke is holding.
The remaining members are acting separately.
While Mitsuki is understandable, there’s a reason Floria is with them.
That reason was right in front of them.
“It’s only been a few weeks, but why do I feel nostalgic?”
The five of them (plus one pet) were now in front of Alec’s mansion on the fifth floor.
It was considered a good opportunity for Floria, who hadn’t shown her face in a while, to appear.
When the doorbell rang, a maid came out from inside.
By the way, we had not informed them of our visit in advance.
The intention was to surprise them.
The maid who came out happened to be one who had been employed since Floria’s time, and she was surprised to see Floria without her mask.
Flustered, she guided Kousuke and the others inside and immediately went to call Alec.
The Executive Branch is also completely closed for the three days of the festival.
Only the security guards are operational in case of any disturbances, but other departments are on holiday.
Alec was not out attending the festival and appeared to be home.
With hardly any wait, he came to the room where Kousuke and the others were.
Not only Alec but also Sonia, Floria’s mother, was brought along.
Since they were indoors, the masks had already been removed.
As soon as Sonia saw Floria, she embraced her.
Alec watched the scene with a happy expression.
He had completely the look of a doting parent.
“I never thought I’d get to meet Floria again.”
As Sonia and Floria were engrossed in conversation, Alec said that to Kousuke.
“It’s a good opportunity, after all.”
“Is that so? Thank you. And? Have you decided on your future plans?”
“If you say “decided,” we have; if you say “not decided,” we haven’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“It depends on your plans, Alec-san. Would you like to go watch the festival with us from now on?”
Alec showed a surprised expression at Kousuke’s proposal.
“Is that… alright?”
“Of course, both of you will wear masks?”
Kousuke said with a knowing smile and looked at Mitsuki.
Mitsuki then took out two masks from her Item Box.
“You, let’s go!”
Before Alec could say anything, Sonia, who had been talking with Floria, interjected.
“But really…”
Alec’s concern was for Floria.
It had been quite some time since they came to this tower, but the previous concerns had not entirely disappeared.
The moment Alec’s presence in the tower became known, it was assumed that Floria was also somewhere within the tower.
Therefore, there was no telling where eyes might be watching.
“If you don’t come, that’s fine. If you do, that’s fine too, isn’t it?”
Kousuke whispered softly to Alec.
Floria had been hiding for so long, but he wanted to improve her living situation soon.
This was also bait for that purpose.
He was also being optimistic, thinking that if there were any danger, Spica, who had bestowed protection upon Floria before, would likely give them a divine message.
“So that’s how it is… I understand. I’ll get ready right away.”
Alec understood Kousuke’s intention and immediately nodded.
Of course, there was no need to mention that he was counting on Mitsuki as a combatant.
The first place they went to, with the Doria couple, was the temple where Kousuke had previously performed a Divine Power Summon.
The plaza in front of the temple was bustling with stalls, but the inside was eerily quiet.
Sonia was initially surprised to hear that Kousuke was the Main God of this temple.
However, after seeing Floria’s expression when Kousuke introduced him, she seemed to understand with a “Hah!”
Of course, Alec had already heard about what Kousuke had done here.
Despite that, she didn’t change her attitude from the beginning, so she could be considered a woman who could read the room well.
It wasn’t for nothing that she was the wife of the Third Prince.
Moreover, she had the courage to follow Alec, who had abandoned his position.
According to Floria, there’s also a theory that she’s just as much a doting parent as Alec, but…
There wasn’t a particular reason for coming here; since Kousuke hadn’t visited since the Divine Power Summon, he wanted to check the situation.
Upon entering the temple’s prayer room, he was immediately able to sense the presence of the Divine Realm.
It seemed the blessing from the Divine Power Summon remained.
It felt strange that he could sense the presence of the Divine Realm like this, yet he had so much trouble suppressing his own divine power.
As they proceeded, sensing that atmosphere, they found a woman in a hall where they thought no one would be.
Silvia, noticing the person, called out to her.
“Lilica, wasn’t it? You’re very diligent, even on a festival day.”
“Ah! Lady Silvia.”
Having met her face-to-face many times already, Lilica knew Silvia was the Main God’s (Kousuke’s) Shrine Maiden, so she immediately bowed to Silvia.
“It’s because it’s a festival day. It’s all thanks to Kousuke-sama that the festival can be held.”
“Is that so?”
Silvia responded to Lilica’s answer with a smile.
Watching them, Kousuke felt an inexplicable ticklish emotion.
In the past, he would have felt a lot of discomfort, but perhaps because he was beginning to possess the consciousness of an Avatar, those emotions had diminished.
Lilica kept glancing at the people Silvia had brought, curious, but she hesitated to ask directly, thinking it would be rude.
She knew Peach because she saw her coming with Silvia, but she had never seen the others.
Moreover, she didn’t know if she should be wary of people bringing familiars into this temple.
Since Silvia didn’t say anything, Lilica was unsure whether it was better not to mention it.
Soon after, an unforeseen situation would occur, but unaware of this, Lilica was struggling with her own sense of normalcy.
Lilica appears again!
She’s become a supporting regular before I knew it lol
