Ren watched as Nagi vented her frustration on his leg. He only smiled quietly, restraining himself.
If he laughed out loud right now, he was sure Nagi would explode.
Adjusting himself, Ren slipped his hands under Nagi's arms, pulling her into an embrace as he gently coaxed,
"I was wrong, it's my fault."
"Next time something like this happens, I'll definitely remind you."
"Hmph."
Nagi snorted, but the stiffness in her body eased.
She knew part of the blame was hers too, since she failed to notice it herself. Still, Ren's attitude of simply watching had been too much. She decided to ignore him for half an hour… thirty whole minutes.
Her mouth was stubborn, but her body was soft.
In that regard, she was quite similar to Hinagiku. Ren smiled as he gently stroked Nagi's hair, then turned his gaze toward the Miyano sisters, especially Akemi, the elder sister.
"How do you feel?"
Feeling the god's gaze, Akemi came out of her daze. After a moment of hesitation, she said,
"It seems my potion has also been digested."
She wasn't sure why, but just now she had been able to hear Ren's voice much more clearly. At the same time, she felt the Secrets Suppliant potion begin to digest rapidly.
"A Secrets Suppliant can perceive higher existences more clearly. Because of grace, your connection with me is too close. Combined with the potion pathway, the more contact you have with me, the easier it becomes to digest your potion."
It went without saying that a believer beside a god only needed to listen to easily digest the potion. At this point, the Secrets Suppliant was the easiest path to advance.
Ren explained the reason clearly.
Then, his gaze shifted to Shiho.
"Unlike the Secrets Suppliant, the Planter's acting is a little more complicated."
"Of course, the reason your sister's potion digested so quickly is because she is my believer, and there are no other high-level existences in this world. Otherwise, the Secrets Suppliant would be the path most likely to drive people insane."
"To be precise, the Secrets Suppliant path produces the most madmen, because they often hear whispers from higher Sequence gods, who are already insane themselves."
Shiho let out a quiet breath of relief. Thankfully, she and her sister did not live in such a dangerous world.
Thankfully, no higher Sequence gods had appeared in this world yet.
"I've already prepared a lot of seeds. Once the villa I was looking at before is secured, I can start cultivating and experimenting there."
Shiho already had a clear plan for her acting.
She had been reminded beforehand and had begun preparing before the weekend.
"My next stage is Doctor. Once that villa is secured, I can also build a small clinic inside."
First, she would cultivate the medicinal herbs herself. After advancing to the next stage, she would consider building a small clinic in the villa as part of her acting.
As an Extraordinary, she naturally needed to show her worth.
After gaining such qualifications, Shiho became even more concerned about this.
On one hand, it was to repay the protection and grace of the god. On the other, it was for herself and her sister.
"That would be great."
"Having your own residence, a channel to pursue power, and breaking free from your past fate, that's quite good."
Ren truly felt that Shiho in this state was admirable.
She was no longer the bitter and resentful woman from the original story, nor was she just a forensic tool for others. Instead, she was pursuing what she could truly do.
"God, may my sister and I continue to live at your residence?"
"Haven't you already prepared to buy a villa?"
"God, the villa is where I'll carry out cultivation and build my future studio. Such a place isn't suitable for living."
Work was work, research was research, and life was life. They needed to remain separate, not completely mixed together.
"Treating it entirely as a laboratory?"
Ren hadn't expected Shiho to define the villa she wanted purely as a laboratory and studio.
But thinking about it again, it was normal. In the future, Shiho would conduct many experiments there, and most of her research on the Brood Hive would involve peculiar materials. It made sense for the villa to be a work-only place.
"That's fine too."
"Separating life and work is acceptable. I also live alone here, so there's no inconvenience."
Ren glanced at Akemi. In truth, she was safer staying by his side.
The Secrets Suppliant pathway was very special, and he did not want Akemi to risk turning into a mad beauty.
"The Sleepless path chosen by Sakuya is relatively ordinary."
"Most of her abilities come from night and darkness, and during the day her power is weaker."
The Sleepless at Sequence 9 only had the ability of a night owl, and this was much weaker during the day.
"Mm, it's still too early."
Sakuya agreed with that.
Most of the Sleepless's Extraordinary abilities were active after nightfall.
She barely needed sleep at night, and the darker it became, the more energetic she felt. Even during the day, she only needed three or four hours of rest, which could be considered extraordinary in its own right.
"It just means I'll have to be a night owl from now on. Not having to sleep at night is actually troublesome."
Her natural rhythm was to sleep at night, but her Extraordinary ability told her she didn't need to anymore.
"Not sleeping at night is also a form of acting in some sense. But without anything to do, it's just too boring."
Sakuya feared boredom most of all.
Her nighttime schedule was out of sync with most people, and without someone to keep her company, it quickly became tedious.
"About that, I think you could pull Isumi along to handle some supernatural incidents at night."
"On one hand, Isumi can adapt to Kikyo's spellcasting. On the other, Sakuya can test her abilities more."
This suggestion made Isumi and Sakuya exchange a glance.
From the perspective of compatibility, this was indeed a good idea.
(To be continued.)