It was a normal day. I finished smoothing things out in Gekai. The same goes to my new daily life on Earth. Everything was going well just now. There are still two months before everything goes into a hellhole.
The preparations are starting to take place as well. The number of satellites orbiting Earth is enough to change the majority of its landscape. I am even more confident if that time comes, more so when the Curse Side has been settled already. I didn't have to worry about dealing with the Culling Game and the Twilight Syndrome at the same time.
Suddenly, I felt a chill on my spine.
"What did just..?"
I didn't hesitate to attempt finding its root cause. Checking Miku's surveillance, the computation of [Laplace Box], the cases of curses and demons…
In the end, I hadn't found anything concerning.
However, it made it even more concerning. As a Magister, sensations like this often signify something huge.
"Aside from Gekai… and my damned memories of the fifteenth iteration…"
While I thought of the possible causes behind it, someone tugged my sleeve.
"Are you alright?"
My attention was taken by Artemis. She is dressed up in casual attire…. Scratch that.
She is currently wearing the outfit she wore during our first date, though she kept her braid this time. She looks extremely dazzling.
Memories of my fidgety first date emerged from the depths of my mind. That was the time when we didn't know how to handle things yet.
I met her slightly-startled pupils. We are thinking about the same thing…
"Are you nervous?"
"Slightly… We had the chance to talk with Yakagi-san, but your parents…"
"There's no need to worry. As I've said, they're looking forward to meeting you two. I should be the one worrying about what they might do…"
In the end, both of us were quite nervous about this meeting.
This atmosphere was disrupted by Hephaestus' arrival. Her black long sleeves were worn together with a white trench coat.
'It fitted her very well…'
It seems like my plans on having a date with them should be pushed forward. Gekai has a plethora of clothing available, but our stock of two thousand years' worth of cultural heritage shouldn't be underestimated.
"I'm more sure that my parents would question how I was able to have two beautiful girlfriends at once."
"...You learned more tricks in the other world."
The red–haired goddess commented as she crossed her arms.
"Orion being more sleeky…"
The other blue-haired goddess buried her face in my arms as she thought of something.
At this moment, Hephaestus also took my other (free) arm.
"I am not complaining. It's not like it would make any differences." She said. "There are other girls who fell for you even before that."
Hearing her words, I had an urge to tease her.
"Did I hear that right, beautiful miss?"
"..!"
I made two goddesses blush before our return to my world.
*****
Earth and Gekai.
They are two different worlds with different sets of laws. It is proven by the difference between several scientific constants of Earth such as gravity and the speed of light.
However, there is a reason why Nobu accidentally landed in Gekai. Their proximity—albeit extremely far—is one of the closest to Earth considering its distance to other worlds. Thus, the two worlds shared several similarities. Things such as the colors, atmospheric content, and many physical laws such as the three laws of conservation apply to them.
Nevertheless, the two worlds are still different. Meaning to say, the restrictions in Gekai placed upon by the agreement of the gods and the dungeon doesn't apply here. Even the gods of the spiritual realm are only restricted by the means to travel to the physical realm, not the physical realm itself.
From the moment Nobu arrived with Hephaestus and Artemis, he enveloped their radius in his dreamland.
"It's what you've said…"
"I could feel my arcanum back."
Artemis called out her Divine Armament. It is something directly tied to her Arcanum, and as such, it never left her side despite her descent to Gekai.
It was a silver bow with very few adornments. Its bow strings are made out of translucent blue string.
A moment later, she recalled it back. Hephaestus watched this process with interest.
"Our world isn't that strict when it comes to gods. If they could reach the physical realm, it wouldn't restrict their strength."
As Nobu explained, he saw their true form. Gods emit a kind of divine aura even while they are on Gekai. Though, it is only at this moment did he verify that their appearances are made to be perfect.
This explains the reason why his King turned out to be that perfect despite her loss of Excalibur. Her essence as a Divine Spirit placed her on the same level as gods.
In the end, both Artemis and Hephaestus took the initiative to 'restrict' their Arcanum. They have already been doing this back in Gekai for years, thus it didn't take long for them to revert to their prior states.
By the time they returned to reality, only the scene of Nobu having two beautiful women beside him remained.
Many people saw this scene and didn't show any drastic reaction outwardly. However, it remained stuck in their minds for quite some time.
'Two girls… Is it his friends or..?'
'I would've done the same if I was as handsome as him…'
'I wonder how he maintained such flawless looks…'
Half of them are doubting whether he is an idol while the other half is wondering how he achieved such a look. It is not wrong to say that Nobu's looks exist on the highest of the high—the uppermost spectrum.
He was already outstanding enough in his childhood, which led to many broken dreams and delusions back in Elementary School. Only Bocchi was his friend back then.
"Japan could be seen as the equivalent of the Far East."
"The place where Haruhime came from?" Hephaestus asked.
"Yes. It is very similar to ancient Japan. The cultures are the same as well."
Nobu started this idle talk to ease the nerves of the two. It mainly centered around Earth's culture as well as the information age which is vastly different from the one they were used to.
"Was that the thing called smartphone..? Somebody pointed it towards us…"
"Ah…" Understanding what it was, Nobu explained this culture shock. "They took a photo of us. They must've thought that you are beautiful enough."
The more Hephaestus thought about it, the more conscious she became. She instinctively touched the black eyepatch that covered nearly half of her face.
"...Of course, I wouldn't leave it at that."
With a snap of his finger, the photo taken by the high school girl was silently deleted on her phone. The same went for the copy that was automatically stored in the cloud storage.
"There, it's gone now."
"Thank you."
"About your eyepatch… I will be able to deal with it after this meeting. I wanted to surprise you at first but…"
Her eyes widened due to surprise before turning into affection. She knew that rejecting his efforts would be all for naught, more so when he completed the preparations already.
In the end, the atmosphere turned normal before arriving at the front gate of the Akasaka Family's house.
A single doorbell was all it took to prompt someone inside the house.
"Nobu… Oh..?"
Seiji's casual look turned into an interesting one. Despite not being introduced yet, he guessed it must be their anticipated guests…
"Tou-san… I came here with Artemis and Hephaestus."
""Greetings… father-in-law.""
Surprisingly, Artemis and Hephaestus' voices synced as they introduced themselves with a slight bow.
"I see. These must be your girlfriends?"
"Yes, yes."
Nobu's reddened ear was hidden behind his hair. He might've expected it, but introducing your girlfriends to your parents was this awkward…
"Come inside."
When the trio came inside the Akasaka Residence, they saw a white-haired woman sitting in a straight posture. She was sipping coffee when her gaze turned to them.
Returning the cup back to the saucer, she motioned for them to sit down.
"Please, have a seat."
For a moment, the two goddesses faintly saw a trace of familiarity on her.
'Orion's mature side first came from his mother…'
When they were sitting face-to-face, they noticed more and more similarities between Nobu and his mother.
It didn't take long for Seiji to return in Eri's side.
"So… You should do the honors, Nobu."
"...Alright."
Nobu took the job of initiator between his parents and his girlfriends.
"She is Artemis, the Goddess of Hunt."
"Good afternoon. I am Orion… Nobu-kun's girlfriend."
Artemis' confident side didn't back down.
"...And this is Hephaestus, the Goddess of Forging."
"Good afternoon… I am Nobu's girlfriend..!"
Seiji immediately sported an interested look on them.
"Good afternoon." He said. "I did expect my son's charisma to be that high, but to see him with two girlfriends… This is quite unexpected, but it's a welcomed one."
"...I could tell both of you were taking care of him. Well, our son must've taken great care of Artemis-san and Hephaestus-san."
Unlike Seiji, Eri had the ability to 'read' a portion of a person's personality during their first meeting. It was a skill she honed as she reached the top of her career. It is even more important for people of her position to distinguish between sincerity and deception.
Add to that her experience, it was the reason why she processed his disappearance well when it was announced three years ago.
Compared to the people who wore masks, Artemis and Hephaestus are as sincere as they could be. The same went for Nobu.
After all, she wouldn't spare him of reprimand if she knew her son was hurting any girls' feelings intentionally.
"Actually, we don't have much to say. I believe in Nobu's decisions, which could only mean that he's keen on having you two on his side."
Eri agreed in Seiji's words.
"This meeting is to simply get to know more about his girlfriends. It is more of a long casual talk than anything else."
Slowly, the tense atmosphere on Nobu's side eased down. His predictions on his parents' reaction turned out to be right.
Without any obstacles, their talks began.
"How did you meet?"
"Both of them were a coincidence… I happened to land nearby Artemis and her familia which prompted me to help them."
Nobu replied to his father's question.
"Yes… He looked dazzling that day. I had a thought that it is absurd for an old being such as gods to fall in love with a mortal but…" Artemis paused as she reminisced their moments together. "It continued until things happened in this way…"
Nobu recalled their fateful encounter that day. He happened to be connected to her in some way, something that caused his appearance to be in their proximity.
Later on, he found out that this connection is a part of him. He is Artemis' Orion due to him repeatedly defying his previous fate—with his most prominent power being the stars.
Even now, it was a god-killing strike that affected even the Lion King.
As long as that power becomes one as he saw in his fifteenth iteration, it would become far stronger than its current form.
"As for Hephaestus… I happened to come inside a high-end store accidentally."
Hephaestus nodded before continuing the story from her perspective.
"I invited him since I saw his passion when it comes to creating those weapons. I didn't think it would turn out to be this way…"
As their story continued, Eri listened to it with great relish. She couldn't fully understand the novelty of the light novels and manga that Seiji buys every now and then. Though, she was able to appreciate it when such fantasy-like things became her son's story.
"Really… You are a born harem protagonist." Seiji commented. "I'm proud of you—"
Suddenly, his words were interrupted by Eri's cold stare.
"So… are you planning to tread on our son's path?"
"No!" Seiji immediately denied. "It's just that… his experiences is a form of "man's dreams" within the manga community. You know, having a slice-of-life story with many girls surrounding the protagonist… and he gets to marry them all. It's merely fiction…"
Much to the surprise of Nobu's side, Seiji began telling a multitude of reasons to appease Eri's cold stare.
"Lastly… I wouldn't find anyone else. You are the only woman I'd love."
"..."
In the end, it turned into a declaration of love, making Artemis and Hephaestus feel like watching a TV Drama…no, rather, a mirror of the three of them.
'Ah… I see.'
Nobu had a realization amidst all of this.
'Tou-san would only love kaa-san, but my heart…'
He was the one who knew himself the best. He wished for everyone to have a happy ending—a better life—something that pushed him to reach his current position now.
Due to that, he didn't want to see someone cry because of him.
Moreover, Nobu is a 'simple' person when it comes to this regard. He is not the type to proactively seek for girls left and right, but if there comes a time where he himself feels something extremely special about them, it slowly forms into something he would call love.
'Was this the case for Suimei? If so…'
Just like his time of studying Buddhist Scriptures, he was enlightened once more. This time, it happened to be his path on becoming a true harem protagonist…