The barrage of questions directed at Kousuke wasn’t meant as an accusation, but rather as a way to gather information he wanted to know.
The “barrage of questions” was simply Kousuke’s own interpretation, as he was bombarded with questions from everyone one after another.
While Kousuke took a breather, the women were having a discussion a short distance away.
As Kousuke, finally having settled down, wondered what they were talking about, they finished their discussion and approached him in a group.
Then, as if they had decided who would speak, Shurein stepped forward to ask.
“Kousuke, I’ll ask again: the magic circle here can’t be seen once the house is built, can it?”
“Huh? Yeah. You can’t. Actually, you can’t see the magic circle even if the house isn’t built. It’s the same as with normal magic tools. We’re just making them visible to everyone right now.”
Some commercially available magic tools intentionally display their magic circles to prove they are not fakes.
However, the more advanced the magic tool, the more common it is to conceal the magic circle being used.
This is partly to prevent replication, but also to prevent accidental detonation by carelessly touching the magic circle.
Naturally, this rule also applied to the magic tools Kousuke was making, and the same applied to the house this time.
Kousuke’s reply brought expressions of relief to everyone.
“I see. That’s good.”
“Yes. But is there a specific reason why you asked so formally?”
Kousuke tilted his head, not understanding why everyone was reacting this way. Floria sighed and answered.
“To get straight to the point, our discussion concluded that it’s impossible for us to replicate the magic circle we see now.”
“Huh? Uh, yeah.”
Kousuke was puzzled to be told that creation was impossible, but since there seemed to be more to the story, he honestly nodded along.
“That in itself is fine, but the problem is trying to force creating these magic circles and causing them to go wild.”
“Go wild?!”
“So you really didn’t notice?”
As Kousuke’s eyes widened in surprise, Floria sighed heavily again.
As if to pick up where Floria left off, Isunani, who had been listening from a step back, joined the conversation.
“Hearing Kousuke’s explanation, and seeing the magic circle before us now, we can understand what those involved in magic tools would think. They would undoubtedly strive to analyze this magic circle.”
“Well, I suppose that’s true.”
Kousuke agreed with Isunani’s explanation without any particular objection.
If Kousuke himself saw an unknown magic tool, he would try to analyze what magic circle was being used.
Kousuke had no intention of denying the inquiring minds of magic tool creators.
To Kousuke, who seemed to ask “So what?”, Isunani shook his head.
“Kousuke may not have realized it, but the technology used in the magic circle here is extremely advanced. Even for me, it would take a considerable amount of time to analyze it independently.”
“Is that so, maybe?”
“This isn’t a boast, but even I would have trouble. If others were to try, who knows what dangerous things they might do.”
Seeing Kousuke about to object to Isunani’s confident assertion, he saw everyone else nodding fervently and gave up on objecting.
He had thought there was little material he could use to resist, so he swallowed it as a futile resistance.
“Perhaps you’re right.”
“It’s not ‘perhaps’, you know.”
Floria replied with a bitter smile to Kousuke’s slight resistance.
“Now, now. Isn’t hiding this magic circle more important than that?”
Shurein intervened to stop Floria, who seemed about to continue her reprimand.
He had been bothered by having spoken too harshly yesterday, so he mediated early this time.
Fortunately, Kousuke didn’t notice Floria’s intent and went along with Shurein’s change of subject.
“When you say ‘hiding,’ I don’t plan to do anything special in that regard.”
“…Are you telling the truth?”
Even though he tried not to be too aggressive, their slight suspicion stemmed from Kousuke’s usual behavior.
In fact, the other members were directing similar gazes towards Kousuke.
Faced with the women’s gazes, Kousuke realized he couldn’t give a half-hearted answer. After a few seconds of thought, he replied.
“Because if I do anything extra, it would defeat the purpose of hiding it. The foundation is done, and the only remaining task is to hide the magic circle.”
Kousuke’s assertion that he wouldn’t do anything else earned him suspicious glances from several people.
Sensing this, Peach intervened faster than Shurein.
“Now, now. There’s no point doubting it here, so shouldn’t we just have it done for now~? And then it’s just a matter of hiding it, right?”
“Yeah. That’s right. If you want me to hide it now, I will, but?”
Actually, he had been told not to hide it until the other members had confirmed it, so he had left it as it was.
If the other members no longer needed to see it, there was no problem with erasing it immediately.
After confirming that everyone had nodded, Kousuke began working on the house’s foundation.
This time, since he was only hiding the magic circle, he wouldn’t be borrowing the power of the spirits.
Kousuke would be doing the work himself to make it disappear, but it was quite a large area, so it took a surprisingly long time.
However, since it was a repetitive task, he was able to complete it without any particular failures.
But it seemed Kousuke was the only one who thought so.
“Un. All done. I don’t think there are any more problems? …Oh? What’s wrong?”
Kousuke tilted his head, noticing the women’s gazes directed at him were filled with exasperation.
Silvia then spoke to Kousuke with a serious expression.
“Kousuke. Your current lack of self-awareness is a bit dangerous. If you go out in public like this, it could lead to truly serious trouble.”
“Eh?!”
Kousuke was genuinely surprised by Silvia’s serious warning.
He had performed the task with the mindset of simply continuing what he had been doing.
He hadn’t expected it to be something Silvia, in her position as a shrine maiden, would feel compelled to warn him about.
Perhaps sensing Kousuke’s feelings, Silvia continued, shaking her head.
“I suspect that as your divine status has increased, so has your power. This should lead to significant growth in what you can create. Your slight lack of awareness is likely a side effect of your rapid growth.”
“I-is that so?”
At Silvia’s warning, Kousuke instinctively stared at his right hand.
However, he couldn’t see the power he possessed with the vision from his left eye.
Shifting his gaze from his right hand to the faces of the others, he saw various reactions like nodding or staring intently, but he could tell they were all worried about him in the same way.
Of course, there was no hint of amusement in their expressions.
Looking at their faces, Kousuke put a hand to his forehead and sighed deeply.
“I see. Indeed, I seem to lack self-awareness. …Though that’s a problem. With me in this state, it seems difficult to become self-aware?”
From Kousuke’s perspective, he hadn’t felt like he had used that much power.
If he tried to become self-aware, he would likely repeat the same mistake.
To prompt Kousuke to become self-aware, someone else needed to be by his side to point it out.
As if understanding what Kousuke meant, the women exchanged glances, and Shurein and Silvia stepped forward.
“If I have time, I will be with you.”
“I will too.”
The conclusion was that since they had sufficient time and some knowledge of magic circles, these two would be the best to supervise.
By the way, Isunani couldn’t dedicate as much time as Shurein and Silvia due to his duties with the Crown.
And so, Kousuke’s house-building project would proceed under supervision.
Kousuke’s lack of self-awareness this time was due to his mind not keeping up with his physical growth (?).
Kousuke finally realized this.
Having extensively detailed Kousuke’s shortcomings (?) so far, I intend to finish building the house swiftly.
…Probably.
