It was the day for the regular visit to the divine realm.
Kousuke saw a strange sight and asked Jar, who happened to be beside him.
“Hey. What are they doing?”
“Which? Ah, that. Is this the first time you’re seeing it?”
“Yeah. I’ve never seen it before.”
In front of them, goddesses were touching a crystal-like sphere in a small hall.
Furthermore, they weren’t touching it continuously; goddesses were coming and going, touching it for a short while before leaving the room.
From the outside, it looked like worshippers touching a stone that grants blessings.
Hearing Kousuke’s impression, Jar nodded in understanding, muttering “Hmm, hmm.”
“I see. But, close but not quite, perhaps?”
“Oh, really?”
“Actually, it’s just a task of touching the orb in the center of the room.”
“You mean?”
“Umm, well… Ah, Sister Eris! I’ll leave the explanation to you!”
Jar, who had been tilting his head trying to figure out how to explain, suddenly said that upon seeing Eris appear before him.
Eris, who hadn’t heard their conversation, tilted her head.
“…What are you talking about?”
Having no choice, Kousuke found himself asking Eris the same question again.
After hearing Kousuke’s explanation, Eris nodded in understanding.
“I see. Simply put, it’s to gather divine power to maintain this divine realm.”
“Divine power?”
“Yes. To maintain such a vast land as one world requires immense power.”
“Oh, I see.”
Kousuke nodded in agreement with Eris’s explanation, but then a doubt struck him.
“Huh? The space I’m creating doesn’t feel like it uses that much divine power?”
Currently, Kousuke had created two divine realms.
One was a transitional space to get to Little Amamiya, managed by Mia. The other was a space accessible only to Kousuke, Kouhi, Mitsuki, and the other women—five people in total.
He understood that it couldn’t compare to the divine realm where the goddesses lived, but he had almost no self-awareness of using his own divine power to maintain these two divine realms.
“That’s because only a mere space you created and a vast space where so many natural objects are arranged require completely different amounts of divine power.”
“Ah~. That’s right.”
Kousuke nodded in understanding at the reason which, in hindsight, was obvious.
He wondered why he hadn’t thought of that in the first place.
“So that’s why they’re gathering divine power like that.”
As Kousuke watched the goddesses continue to touch the orb, Eris nodded.
“Yes. There are other reasons as well.”
“You mean?”
“When goddesses offer their divine power like that, they can maintain their connection with this world.”
Seeing Eris’s slightly lonely expression, Kousuke also put on a solemn face.
“I see.”
The reason Kousuke started coming to the divine realm regularly was also a result of the goddesses’ wish to leave behind their own existence.
For the goddesses, the act of touching this orb and offering their divine power held a similar meaning.
“It also serves to maintain the divinity (divine nature) that goddesses possess.”
By touching the orb like this, the goddesses could have their divinity remembered.
The divinities remembered in this way weren’t particularly useful for anything, but they served as a record of their past existence.
Rather than disappearing without leaving any proof of their existence as goddesses, it was better to leave something in some form.
In fact, the divinities of goddesses who had ceased to exist were also securely recorded in this orb.
However, only Asura, the master of the divine realm, could access these records.
Even Eris could not see those records.
“Hmm.”
“Perhaps, Kousuke-sama might be able to see them.”
“Eh!? Really?”
Kousuke wondered why he, unlike Eris and the others, could see things they couldn’t.
But Eris looked at Kousuke’s eyes and said,
“It’s those eyes.”
“My eyes?”
“Yes. If the abilities of your eyes, which are your divine authority, grow, you might be able to see such things.”
“Oh, I see.”
“It might also be my hope that’s involved.”
Kousuke tilted his head at Eris’s mischievous smile.
“You mean?”
“Well. If my existence were to disappear, I thought you might remember me if you saw it.”
Kousuke blinked at her sudden words.
“No. If Eris’s existence disappears, I think I’d be in danger myself.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“Then, let’s leave it at that.”
Eris spoke profoundly, but Kousuke didn’t press the matter further.
Kousuke believed that Eris disappearing would mean a change as significant as the world of Asgard ceasing to exist.
He didn’t know how long his life as an avatar would last, but he couldn’t imagine himself surviving such a state.
However, judging by Eris’s expression, that wasn’t necessarily the case, and Kousuke decided not to dwell on it.
“By the way…”
Eris, judging that Kousuke’s questions were finished, looked at Jar, who had been nodding beside them.
“Why did you leave it to me?”
“Whoa!?”
Jar looked startled, wiggling the index finger of his right hand left and right.
“Uh, well, you see. Since it’s an opportunity, I thought it would be better for Sister Eris to explain…”
“I don’t know what ‘opportunity’ you’re referring to, but is that so? I thought you’d forgotten the role of the orb.”
“Th-that’s not it at all!?”
Eris stared intently at Jar, who was shifting his gaze left and right.
“That’s right. No matter how much of a you are, you wouldn’t do that, would you?”
“Ugh!”
Unable to withstand Eris’s unwavering gaze, Jar finally looked up towards the sky.
“…See. I only had a vague recollection, so I thought it would be more reliable to leave it to Sister Eris…”
“Hmph. Honestly…”
Eris let out a sigh of exasperation at the confessed Jar.
Perhaps hearing their exchange, a muffled laugh came from a little distance away.
“Well, Eris, that’s enough. Most goddesses have probably forgotten its original meaning too, haven’t they?”
Asura approached, saying this.
“Really?”
Kousuke tilted his head, wondering how such important content could be forgotten so easily.
“Yes. It started with the idea of creating a place for goddesses, who originally had few opportunities to meet, to gather.”
Initially, it was just a place for a few goddesses to gather and talk, and they’d ask a few of them to replenish their divine power. But eventually, it became a ritual that most participated in.
“Huh? I don’t need to replenish?”
“No. Or rather, it’s better if you don’t.”
According to Asura’s explanation, replenishing the orb with divine power was for the goddesses living in the divine realm. If Kousuke, as an avatar, were to do it, there was a risk of him being bound to this side.
Asura didn’t know if such a thing would actually happen, but she said that since there was a possibility, it was better not to touch it unnecessarily.
Hearing this, Kousuke decided to refrain from touching the orb.
If Kousuke were to touch the orb, his divine power would be bound to the divine realm, weakening the power (contract?) that allows him to exist in the world of Asgard as an avatar.
Consequently, he would gradually stop being an avatar and eventually become a normal god, with no other option but to ascend to the divine realm.
