(MC POV)
I thanked Archlis for letting us stay in her domain in the morning as we were preparing to set off for the capital once again.
By the way, I did do a quick check and I found her frantically bottling the lake's water into jars last night.
Since she was just planning to keep those for her own private use and not distribute them to the divine community, I decided not to say anything and pretend that it was just a dream.
What kind of confused me was Archlis going on her knees and asking me for validation for her existence before we left. Of course I told her she was needed and she literally broke down into happy tears for that.
Iris... You caused this didn't you?
'Ara, ara? I merely wondered if she was necessary for this World to exist and nothing more, Master~'
Sure... Oh well, at least it doesn't look like too big of a deal anyway so let's just move on.
Though we only spent one night here, so many things happened it felt like a long time had passed. I'm just glad we don't exactly have a schedule to keep so it's fine if we take one or two detours along the way.
Archlis saw us off, forming the portal out of the lake for the carriage and our escorts to return back to the surface.
With Archlis waving at our departing figures, we left the goddess's domain behind and continued on our journey.
Well, things should be back to normal now, except...
"Master~ Let me massage your shoulders for you~" Eris suggested, her hands already kneading away before I could say anything.
"Ara, ara? Then I'll take Master's right foot~" Manami giggled.
My fox youkai disciple slipped down to sit on the ground and gently lifted my foot to rest on her thigh, her slender fingers removing my shoe and sock off deftly.
Just as her hand started to wrap around my foot, Kiyomi wordlessly sat down opposite her sister and started to do the same as well.
While this isn't the first time the girls had offered to give me a massage, usually there's a leadup to it so having them do this out of the blue was a little weird. Did something happen to them, or did they want something from me?
"Ah! Me too Master! I'll take your hand!" Lian Li blurted out, quickly moving beside me on the couch to claim my right hand.
""Ehhh! Then I'll take Onii-sama's/Aniue's other hand!"" My two little sisters called out at the same time.
The two of them glared at each other and lunged for my other hand. I had to make a conscious effort not to recoil back from them as my two little sisters growled at each other while squishing my left arm in between their chests.
Diao Chan's eyes gleamed, "Ohhh! Then I'll massage Master's co--"
"Cai Hong, come sit on Papa's lap."
"Yayyy~ Papa cuddles!" my loli dragon squealed, climbing up onto my lap to sit there with her back leaning against my chest.
My Witch pouted at me but I wasn't budging.
She ended up moving behind me to take over squeezing one of my shoulders from Eris. I'm sure she was pressing her chest against the back of my head on purpose.
Brendan made himself busy by burying his face deeper into the book he was reading. I did catch him peering over the top of the book to peek at me though, like he wanted to be part of this too. I'm not sure where he can join in even if I asked him to though.
While this felt nice and all... I'm still wondering what made them do this.
"Umm... Girls? Did something happen?" I asked.
Manami smiled at me while pressing her bosom against my sole, "Ara, ara? Whatever does Master mean?"
"I mean this... Ummm... You know? Usually you girls don't just start massaging me out of the blue..."
"Fufu~ Is it bad that we desired some skinship with Master?" Kiyomi giggled.
Elaria hugged my arm tightly, "Yeah! It's been awhile since we had some with Onii-sama!"
Tsuki immediately snatched my arm away from Elaria to wrap her own bosoms around my arm, "We miss cuddling with Aniue!"
I made a face at them, "Didn't we literally just had... Umm... A big skinship sharing session in the lake yesterday?"
Cai Hong looked up at me with sparkly eyes, "Papa swim, swim! Play?"
I nuzzled her head with my chin since my hands were occupied, "If we find another lake we'll go swimming again, ok?"
"Okies~"
Diao Chan hugged my head, making Eris cry out in protest since she was blocking my swordswoman from her side of my shoulder.
"Ahnnn~ But we can never have enough of Master~" My Witch moaned seductively.
Lian Li tightened her grip on my hand, "Master... Will you ever get tired of us?"
Everyone froze when they heard her words.
Ah... Was this what it was about?
I guess meeting those goddesses made them realise how far apart a real god was compared to a normal mortal trying to achieve godhood.
They most likely got worried that I may start growing tired of waiting and just leave them to return back to wherever Origin was supposed to be.
I pulled my hand out of Lian Li's grasp and patted her head, "Oh you silly girls... Don't you all remember that it was me who picked you all to be my disciples? If I said I will help you all achieve godhood to stay with me, then I'll do it. There's no way I'll abandon any of you."
Lian Li looked up at me, her eyes starting to water, "Master..."
"Besides," I chuckled. "I did have an ulterior motive when I took you all in."
That got their attention, even Brendan lowered his book to listen to me attentively.
"Of course I'd like to have cute disciples that I can pamper and also pamper me in turn, so there's no way I'm giving any of you up."
Lian Li reached forward and grasped the hem of my shirt, "Master... Master won't stop loving us, right?"
I pulled her in for a hug, "Of course not. I've said this before but all of you are my precious disciples you know? All of you better get used to it because you're all going to be stuck with me for a very long time."
Everyone else reached forward and hugged me, even Brendan also got off his seat to join in the hug.
'How sweet~'
That extends to you too as well, you know?
'Ara, ara? Master is kind as always~'
Now, now, I even saved a spot for you, come join the hug.
'Oh? I don't think I should--'
Just shut up and hug me.
Iris giggled but she came forward and joined the group hug as well.
We stayed like that for a good half an hour, just enjoying the warmth of each other's arms.
Hmm... Maybe I should refrain from meeting any more gods while my disciples are here? Wouldn't want them to get the sense of inferiority after all.
Or would it be better for them to meet more so that they can learn from them?
Wait, why am I even thinking about this, it's not like I'll just meet more gods randomly anyway right?
...
Right?
