“Teacher’s Authority” post led to many questions about Razek Amamiya’s political system.
I’ve posted an update on Razek Amamiya’s current political system, incorporating answers to those questions, in “Let’s Try Managing the Tower (Perhaps a Collection of Materials?).”
Please take a look.
Ideally, I would explain these things within the story, but I’m currently struggling with how to incorporate them naturally, so I’ll be taking this approach for now.
Now then, it’s been a while, but please enjoy the main story.
It was during a regular visit to the divine realm.
Kousuke had visited the divine realm so many times that he had lost count. After all, he had been coming once a month, and ten years had passed, so it was only natural.
For Kousuke, regular visits to the divine realm had become a part of his life.
The gods who awaited Kousuke’s visits had also lost their initial fervor, and their interactions with Kousuke had simply become a time to connect.
The parties that were held had completely changed in nature from the beginning, becoming not only a place for Kousuke to commune with the gods but also a place for the gods to interact with each other.
Asura was pleased with this unexpected outcome.
Before Kousuke’s arrival, the gods had strong individuality (?) and rarely interacted with anyone outside their immediate acquaintances.
Through Kousuke’s parties, they had gotten to know each other, and new connections that hadn’t existed before had formed.
Kousuke’s presence had become a good lubricant for the interactions between the gods.
While watching the goddesses deepen their connections, Kousuke was enjoying a conversation with Clara, Midir, and the three great goddesses.
However, Kousuke rarely spoke during these conversations.
His actions while at Kousuke’s tower were almost entirely transparent to the gods.
At first, he had been troubled by his life being so exposed, but they were goddesses, after all.
There was no point in trying to hide anything.
Therefore, Kousuke had come to accept it.
For this reason, Kousuke had almost nothing to say.
When Kousuke visited the divine realm for his regular visits, his main activity was to hear about what had happened in the divine realm while he was at his tower, and gossip from the goddesses.
However, since the divine realm was not prone to drastic changes, most of the conversations revolved around the goddesses’ personal lives.
For instance, a trivial topic like Jal being caught and scolded by Eris while playing.
Listening to their stories like this allowed Kousuke to understand the goddesses’ daily lives, which he found very interesting.
Of course, the atmosphere was no different from ordinary women chatting about common gossip.
♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦
Clara, who had been chatting about trivial matters, suddenly remembered something and turned to Kousuke.
“Oh, by the way, Kousuke. There was something I wanted to ask you.”
“What is it?”
Kousuke’s expression shifted from the previous casual topic as Clara’s demeanor turned serious.
Sudden changes from casual conversation to serious topics were common when talking with the goddesses. Kousuke had become quite accustomed to it over the past ten years.
“It’s about your daughter, Kokoro…”
“Huh?!”
Hearing that it was about his daughter, Kousuke became slightly guarded. Kokoro had recently collapsed due to a rampage of divine power. He feared something had happened.
“No, don’t be so tense. I just wanted to ask if it’s okay to bestow a blessing.”
“A blessing?”
“Yes. If we bestow a blessing, she can cope with the growth of her divine power to some extent.”
Hearing this for the first time, Kousuke instinctively glanced at Eris.
Eris, meeting Kousuke’s gaze, nodded as if to confirm.
“That’s right. As Kokoro grows, her divine power seems to be increasing, but the rate of increase isn’t keeping up with the growth of her vessel, which is why she ended up in a similar state recently.”
“So, if we bestow our blessings upon her, she can cope with the growth of her vessel.”
Jal added to Eris’s explanation.
“I see. That’s good… but is it okay?”
“What do you mean by that?”
Jal said somewhat exasperatedly, and Kousuke nodded in understanding.
While it was true that the blessings of the gods, who could be counted among the ten strongest, were no longer being bestowed, the practice of bestowing blessings on Kousuke’s familiars continued. It was nothing new for the gods.
Of course, Kokoro wasn’t strictly Kousuke’s familiar.
♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦
When it came to bestowing a blessing upon Kokoro, the issue was whose blessing to bestow. Kousuke’s blessing was ruled out from the start.
His children already possessed the title of “Kousuke’s Clan,” which was almost like a blessing in itself. In some cases, it could even bestow a stronger effect than a blessing. Even so, Kokoro had ended up collapsing. Therefore, the topic of bestowing a blessing arose.
As soon as the topic of bestowing a blessing upon Kokoro was raised, the surrounding commotion quieted down. It was unclear how they found out, but they had clearly overheard Kousuke’s conversation.
“So? Whose blessing do you want?”
“No, you’re asking me the wrong question, aren’t you? We need to get her consent first.”
Kousuke gave a wry smile in response to Jal’s question. Even as her parent, he had no intention of deciding for her and bypassing her own feelings. Kokoro was an eight-year-old child, but she wasn’t so young that she couldn’t choose her own friends. Whether a god could be called a friend was another matter, but children often had a stronger sense of such things. As a parent, he was sometimes surprised by these feelings. Furthermore, all the children present possessed such a sense, but Kokoro seemed to have a particularly strong one. He had even discussed this with her mother, Silvia.
“So, as long as we get her consent, it’s fine?”
“And I think Silvia’s permission will also be needed. Though I doubt Silvia would refuse. She’s a shrine maiden, so it’s unlikely she’d refuse blessings from the gods. However, that’s for herself; she might think differently for her child.”
“Well, if we tell her it’s to cope with her divine power, I doubt she’ll refuse.”
“Understood. I will speak to her about it.”
“That’s fine, but don’t impose the will of a god, okay?”
“Of course.”
Silvia herself had Eris’s blessing. If Eris pushed her way, it would be difficult for Silvia to refuse. Since Eris was the one bestowing blessings upon Silvia, Kousuke didn’t need to worry about that, but as Kokoro’s father, he felt it necessary to emphasize.
“Now, about which god to bestow the blessing…”
As they finally entered the main topic, the tension in the room rose. Kousuke shrugged slightly as he felt the atmosphere.
“That’s not my place to say. As I mentioned earlier, it’s a matter for her to choose.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Oh, and that doesn’t mean you should all give her an oracle at once, alright?”
Kousuke added a warning to prevent a reality that felt likely to occur.
“We wouldn’t do anything that unreasonable.”
It would be like a large group of adults ganging up on a child. If they did something like that, the person might refuse the blessing altogether. None of the goddesses intended to make such a foolish mistake.
“I think they’ll probably choose about five gods initially, and if she doesn’t choose from them, they’ll pick more.”
“Is that so? That sounds reasonable.”
Kousuke agreed with what seemed to be the most prudent method.
♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦
In the end, with Silvia’s permission, Kokoro would receive a new blessing. As Kousuke had said, when he explained about the divine power increasing with growth, Silvia immediately granted her permission. Clara was the one who bestowed the blessing upon Kokoro. Clara, having gained the right to speak to the gods first, was able to obtain Kokoro’s consent to bestow blessings immediately. Apparently, the three great goddesses had also participated in the lottery to gain the right to speak. When Kousuke heard about this from Asura later, he gave a somewhat exasperated look, wondering what they were doing.
It was the reappearance of the goddesses after a long time.
