After our encounter with Gaia-san, Sky-san guided us through a few more locations. Keeping an eye on the clock, I eventually split from the group to head off on my own.
My appointment with Shiro-san wasn't until six o’clock, but according to Fate-san, Chronoa-san and the others had some business with me and wanted me to arrive fifteen minutes early.
Because of that, I first moved to the Upper Level using Teleportation Magic. If I had wanted to go straight to the Sanctuary, I could have asked Shiro-san to summon me or returned home to use the Teleportation Gate, but I decided to pass through the Upper Level first this time. My plan was to use the magic circle located in the Temple of the Supreme God to reach the Sanctuary.
Since no specific temple had been designated for my arrival, I headed for Fate-san's temple, as it was the one I was most familiar with. Regarding this White God Festival, Fate-san was primarily acting as a supervisor, while Chronoa-san and Life-san handled the actual execution. This meant she had far more free time than the other two.
I walked through the corridors I knew so well and gave a light knock on the massive door at the very end. It swung open silently. Inside, I found Fate-san exactly where I expected: lounging on a cushion floating in mid-air. She looked over at me and tilted her head in confusion.
"Oh? Kai-chan? You're here already? It’s not even five o'clock yet..."
She was right; there was still over an hour until the time she had specified. In truth, I had intentionally parted with the others early to come here. I had a specific objective in mind—though it wasn't exactly a grand or profound one.
"Well, I heard you were relatively free, Fate-san."
"Eh? Oh, yeah. I'm just supervising, and the current God of Space-Time and God of Life are so efficient that there's hardly anything for me to correct. I've mostly just been idling around."
"Exactly. So I thought if I came early, we could spend some quiet time together. I even bought some light snacks from the stalls on the way."
"Wait, what? Oh... I see..."
My reason was simple: I just wanted to talk with my lover for a bit. We had enjoyed the festival and seen plenty of sights, so I figured a relaxing chat while taking a break sounded perfect. Of course, I had planned to step out and come back later if she was busy, but...
Fate-san stared at me blankly for a moment before a playful smile spread across her face. She beckoned me closer.
"Kai-chan, come here for a second."
"Here? Like, right here?"
"A little more. Maybe two more steps forward."
"Two steps and—" "Gotcha!" "Whoa!?"
As soon as I was in range, Fate-san grabbed my hand and yanked me toward her. A mere human like me stood no chance against the strength of a Supreme God; I tumbled forward, unable to resist.
I landed face-first on the cushion she had been riding on. It was a strange experience, diving onto a piece of furniture hovering in the air, but the sensation was incredibly soft. My mind drifted toward trivial observations, like how the bead filling made it remarkably comfortable.
However, those leisurely thoughts vanished the moment Fate-san wrapped herself around me in a tight embrace.
"F-Fate-san!?"
"Honestly, Kai-chan, you're always doing things like this to make me happy. It’s really not fair, you know?"
"Wait, before that, what’s with this situation?"
"It’s fine, isn't it? Let’s just lie here and be lazy together."
"Oh... is that how it is? You surprised me."
It wasn't just my imagination; the cushion had definitely grown in size. There was more than enough room for the two of us to lounge together. Fate-san clung to my arm with an expression of pure bliss, but I was having a hard time staying calm—with the way she was holding me, my arm was buried deep against her very generous chest.
She didn't have a hint of ulterior motive, though. She seemed genuinely delighted that I had come early just to see her, her face lit with an innocent, carefree smile.
...Well, I suppose relaxing like this isn't so bad. It was my first time lying on a floating cushion, and the experience was surprisingly pleasant. It felt like floating on a cloud. I could finally understand why Fate-san spent so much time being a homebody.
"So, Kai-chan, tell me where you've been today."
"Well, first we went to the Lower Level..."
Struck by how cute she looked when she was this happy, I began to recount the events of the White God Festival to her, starting from the beginning.
Serious-senpai: "...That's right! I am the Two-time Consecutive Absolute Champion!"
???: "I mean, yeah, I guess. In the Afterword Category, you're obviously number one, Senpai... but that's exactly why you can't enter the Main Story Character Popularity Poll."
Serious-senpai: "...It was written so clearly. Even if there's a Third Popularity Poll, I'm not allowed to enter... It hurts."
???: "Still, Isis-san's strength was impressive as expected. It’s a shame Alice-chan lost to Shallow Vernal-sama, but the gap wasn't that big. She can always aim for revenge in the third one."
Serious-senpai: "Though the Main Heroine only managed 5th Place (lol)..."
???: "Ah..."
Me-o: "...Did you just talk about me?"
Serious-senpai: "...I'm sorry! I just got a little carried away... You're terrifying, so please just go home..."
???: "You're dead, Senpai. My condolences."