Kousuke was thinking about what Asura had told him earlier, lying in bed in a room at Asura’s Mansion.
From Kousuke’s perspective, he wanted to somehow help Shurein and Silvia.
However, if he were to lend a hand, it would mean changing the fate of others with divine power.
That was the very thing Kousuke least wanted to do after becoming a god himself.
In his previous world, there were countless stories of people whose lives were ruined by divine hands forcefully altering their destinies.
In a sense, that was considered a divine trait, but Kousuke didn’t want to be that arrogant.
This applied even if both parties’ desires aligned.
In this case, it would be Kousuke’s feelings and their desire to have children.
Asura had probably anticipated Kousuke’s hesitation.
Asura had warned him that once he took that action, no matter the circumstances, there would be no turning back.
It was undoubtedly a warning from a god.
If he had acted without listening, he would have undoubtedly regretted it.
Asura had offered the warning beforehand so that he wouldn’t regret it later.
“Ah, it’s no use. I can’t sleep.”
He tossed and turned in bed for a long time but couldn’t fall asleep.
He thought a good idea might come to him after sleeping on it, but it didn’t seem to work that way.
He sat up and decided to go for a walk outside, as he had before.
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This time, instead of wandering aimlessly like before, he set out with a specific destination in mind.
While it was partly to distract himself, he had another purpose as well.
“Ah, found it, found it.”
It was the rock he had touched when he encountered the World Record before.
This time, he had come without getting lost or being misled.
He had a certain expectation for coming here.
It was to meet the World Record once more.
If he could meet the World Record, perhaps it could show him a solution.
It was with that thought that he came here.
He leaned against the rock, just as he had before.
The last time, he had lost consciousness and met the World Record right after leaning back, but that didn’t happen this time.
He couldn’t tell if he had truly lost consciousness or if he had simply fallen asleep from exhaustion after wandering around.
Regardless, he thought he needed to be in a hypnotic state to meet it, and tried to fall asleep, but it didn’t work out.
“…As expected, it doesn’t work if you have distractions, does it?”
He muttered, feeling a little dejected.
Though he had a glimmer of hope upon arriving here, it seemed such an existence wasn’t easily met.
“Well, it can’t be helped…”
He gave up on meeting the World Record but decided to stay in this spot for a while.
As he lay there leaning against the rock, the wind blowing was pleasant.
It didn’t completely erase the thoughts he had moments before, but it did seem to alleviate the sense of urgency he had felt.
He wasn’t sure how long he had been there, but when he came to, he had fallen asleep.
He hadn’t met the World Record; he had simply fallen asleep.
However, upon waking, the feeling he had before sleeping was completely gone.
“I’m quite simple-minded.”
He gave a bitter smile, but his expression was now refreshed.
He didn’t know if sleeping had been good, or if coming to this place had been good.
The indecision he felt before sleeping was gone.
You could say he had made up his mind.
Unlike when he arrived, Kousuke returned to Asura’s Mansion with a very clear expression.
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“Oh my. You have such a refreshed look. Did you make up your mind?”
As soon as he met Asura, she said that to him.
Kousuke unconsciously touched his cheek.
“…Was I that different?”
“Extremely. I thought you were possessed by something?”
Asura laughed and covered her mouth with her hand.
“That’s harsh.”
Kousuke himself felt no different than usual, but to those around him, he seemed completely changed.
The current Kousuke looked no different from how Asura had seen him before.
“So? You’ve been able to make your decision, haven’t you?”
Kousuke’s appearance made it obvious whether he had made such a decision, but Asura deliberately asked.
“Yes. In the end, I realized that no matter how far I go, I can only be myself.”
Asura seemed satisfied with Kousuke’s reply.
She smiled and nodded broadly.
“That’s excellent if you understand that.”
“…Am I mistaken, perhaps?”
“Who knows? But I think it’s debatable whether those girls would have wanted a different path?”
“Do you think so?”
“Of course, as I said yesterday, if it was your chosen path, they would have followed you.”
“Do you think so?”
“Yes.”
Asura smiled at Kousuke, who still had a slightly anxious expression.
“You should have a little more confidence in yourself. So you don’t end up going on a rampage like this time.”
Kousuke frowned at Asura’s warning.
“That’s harsh… rampage.”
“But you’re not wrong, are you?”
“…Indeed.”
Kousuke had some self-awareness.
“In that case, hurry back and reassure them.”
“Ah, I will… Asura.”
“Yes?”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Though I’d like you to come and be more clingy next time?”
Asura replied playfully to Kousuke, who bowed his head.
“I’ll refrain from that.”
“Is that so. A pity.”
Knowing it was a joke, they looked at each other and both laughed when the exchange was over.
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“I’m sorry for worrying you.”
When Kousuke returned to the management layer, he bowed to everyone as soon as he met them.
He didn’t consider himself so brazen as to act as if nothing had happened and interact as usual.
Seeing Kousuke, the members looked relieved.
They noticed he had a completely different expression than yesterday.
At least they knew he hadn’t gone down the bad path they had all feared.
Of course, Silvia had explained most of what happened after receiving divine union, so they were already somewhat relieved.
However, hearing it from another person (or god?) was entirely different from facing him directly.
The women hadn’t heard what decision Kousuke had made.
But even after Silvia had received divine union with Eris, and now seeing Kousuke in person, they could tell he wasn’t thinking worse than yesterday.
“No. It’s alright. We’re just glad you’re back properly.”
That’s why everyone nodded honestly when Silvia said those words.
“I see. Thank you.”
Kousuke looked relieved and bowed again.
“Really, you don’t have to bow so much.”
“Indeed. If you keep bowing, it’ll become bothersome.”
Shurein jokingly replied to Silvia’s words.
“Ugh, that’s mean.”
With their usual banter, everyone finally broke into smiles.
