Kousuke had not yet overcome the changes brought about by the ritual, but one day he was summoned by Seiya and Shia, or rather, by Colette, and went to the Elf Village.
Feeling acutely the focused gaze of the elves, Kousuke walked towards the mansion where Colette and the others were.
The reason the elves were focused on Kousuke, in addition to the usual, was that his uncontrollable divine power was still leaking.
He understood this from the elves’ conversation, so Kousuke hurried along with a somewhat faster pace.
When he arrived at the mansion and met the children,
“Daddy, amazing!”
“So many spirits!”
Both of them, at the same time, dove towards Kousuke.
“Whoa!? Oof”
He hurriedly caught them, but it was difficult to receive the impact of two children charging at him simultaneously with full force, and he stepped back a couple of times.
Even so, as he petted Seiya and Shia, who were pressing their faces against him and rubbing happily, Kousuke looked at Colette with a bewildered expression.
Colette, sensing Kousuke’s gaze, shrugged and replied.
“Kousuke might not notice, but quite a few spirits have gathered around you right now?”
“Huh?”
The answer was completely unexpected, and Kousuke’s eyes widened in surprise.
“It’s true that your divine power is considerable. But for elves, especially these children, spirits are more noticeable than that.”
Not all elves can see spirits, but they can sense them. It is in this context that elves express it as “seeing spirits.”
“Um… what does that mean?”
Kousuke was so preoccupied with his divine power that he was completely indifferent to spirits. Kouhi and Mitsuki had noticed, but they had deliberately not told Kousuke directly.
As Kousuke tilted his head, the two children looked at him with the same puzzled expressions. They didn’t understand what he didn’t understand.
Seeing the three of them, Colette chuckled.
“I’ll explain it properly, but why don’t we go inside first?”
Since the conversation had begun at the entrance with Seiya and Shia running up to him, everyone had been standing. Kousuke honestly nodded at Colette’s proposal and moved to the other room.
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Moving to the mansion’s living room, Kousuke immediately asked Colette,
“So, what do you mean?”
“It’s nothing complicated. After the ritual finished, spirits have been gathering around you. The management layer might not be able to see it easily because there are few natural objects there.”
As Colette said, apart from the divine realm Kousuke had created, there were few natural objects in the management layer. Of course, Kouhi and Silvia might have placed some houseplants, but not enough to attract many spirits. However, it was probably fitting for the management layer, a unique space, to have an unusually large number of spirits for what was essentially an indoor space.
Despite this being their usual situation, when Colette had visited the management layer before, she had already been able to confirm many spirits gathered around Kousuke. At that time, Colette had not spoken about the spirits either, as it was a promise between the women not to mention Kousuke’s changes due to the ritual. Now that it had recently been “unlocked” (?), she decided to talk about it along with Seiya and Shia’s reactions.
“So, just like they’re saying, there are spirits everywhere now?”
Unable to see spirits, Kousuke intently scanned his surroundings, but unfortunately, he saw nothing with his eyes. It was strange, considering he could see the spirits around the World Tree.
It was not Colette, but the twins who answered Kousuke’s doubt.
“Lots of spirits around Daddy!”
“They look so happy!”
Since the ritual journey, Seiya and Shia had learned much about spirits from Colette and already understood that the ability to see spirits varied from person to person. That’s why they had properly answered Kousuke’s puzzled question.
Colette added to their answers, perhaps as a supplement.
“It’s probably thanks to your increased divine power. It wasn’t this much before, so perhaps they gather around you when you’re in a place with nature?”
“Gathering… it’s like a moth-attracting lamp.”
Seeing Kousuke, who had drooped his shoulders and said that, Colette chuckled.
Perhaps amused by Kousuke’s expression, Colette laughed for a while with her hand covering her mouth, but then shook her head from side to side while wiping tears from the corners of her eyes.
“I think calling it a moth-attracting lamp is a bit of an exaggeration. Rather, it’s more like bees gathering to nectar from flowers, wouldn’t you say?”
“…Either way, I’m not very happy about it.”
Colette’s subtle expression made Kousuke grimace. Colette laughed again at seeing this, but quickly stopped.
“What are you talking about? For spirits to gather around you without you doing anything is a coveted power for any spirit user!”
“I suppose that’s true, but what’s the point of them being around me when I can’t even use spirit arts?”
To be precise, the four types of fairies who responded immediately to Kousuke’s calls were affected, but it was essentially meaningless for Kousuke, who was confined to the management layer.
“Well, I suppose so.”
Colette answered with a shrug, fully understanding that point.
Perhaps waiting for Kousuke and Colette’s conversation to end, Shia tilted her head slightly and asked during a brief lull.
“Daddy, do you not like having spirits around you?”
Seeing Shia’s slightly sad expression, Kousuke, thinking he might have caused a misunderstanding, smiled and stroked her head.
“Of course not. How could I? It’s just that Daddy can’t see spirits. It makes me a little sad that I can’t see how happy they are.”
“I see.”
Shia nodded with a sad expression at Kousuke’s answer. This time, her expression was about Kousuke’s inability to see spirits.
“You don’t need to worry about it. Daddy hasn’t been able to see spirits since he was born. I’ve never felt sad about it.”
He would have taught them more if the twins were a little older, as they might even start looking down on him, but this was enough for now. He discreetly glanced at Colette, who nodded that it was indeed sufficient.
Seeing that his conversation with Shia was over, Seiya then spoke up.
“Will Daddy not be able to see spirits anymore?”
At this question, Shia immediately looked at Kousuke. Sensing what she was expecting, Kousuke shook his head with a bitter smile.
“I don’t know. At least, when I tried before, it didn’t work?”
With his divine power increasing, his abilities might be expanding, but he wasn’t motivated to try at the moment. This was because he didn’t know what would happen. Once this unstable state settled down, he might consider trying.
“…I see.”
“So, don’t worry about it. Even if Daddy can’t see spirits, there are many other things he can do.”
Kousuke said, stroking Seiya’s head, as if teaching him.
Setting aside the parenting of Seiya and Shia, it became clear that Kousuke was currently accompanied by a large number of spirits. By the way, the reason Kousuke was called by Seiya and Shia was simply because the two of them wanted to see him.
Work: “Rather than a moth-attracting lamp, it’s more like… G-bait…”
Kousuke: “Wait a minute! You don’t have to say anymore than that!”
