<<Previous Chapter | Let's Manage the Tower | Next Chapter>>
Translator: Kazumi
Editor: Silavin
The temple on the 5th Floor, which enshrines Kousuke as the main deity, was basically off-limits to the public at night.
There were no particular restrictions on entry, but there were no priests around to greet visitors, as there were in other temples, so there was no point in coming at night.
The normal pattern was to pray during the daytime.
Lirica visited the temple at a time when there were few people around.
Not to perform her duties as a shrine maiden, but to advance her own personal training.
Although she did receive various pieces of advice from Sylvia, she basically came here to train on her own.
Incidentally, although Lirica was wandering around the temple alone at night, no idiot would try to attack her.
Even if she was walking around outside, if she was attacked by someone inside the temple, especially because she was a priestess, the attacker would receive some kind of divine punishment.
Naturally, the temple, which was empty, was enveloped in complete darkness.
In this situation, Lirica was walking around with a magical lamp in one hand. This magic tool was sold by Crown, but Lirica had heard from Sylvia that it was created by Kousuke.
The new magic tool that have been released alongside the Crown’s growth have become an integral part of the people’s everyday lives.
It was surprising to learn that more than half of these were created by Kousuke.
Of course, most of them were improvements on existing items, but they were priced so that even ordinary people could afford them. As a result, they were becoming popular among families with a certain amount of spare funds.
Some of them were still unreachable for low-income earners, but most of them were basically things that are sold to the public at an affordable price.
Lirica placed the lamp she was holding on the floor and assumed the posture of prayer.
After slowly sitting in a meditating pose and closing her eyes, she started her practice of sensing the divine presence of Kousuke.
Lirica could already sense the divine presence that was floating around her. However, she was unable to sense who the divine presence belonged to.
What Lirica did not know was that the reason Kokoro was able to clearly sense the divine presence of Kousuke and Kurara the other day was because she was using Worship Ritual Tools and was in close contact with Kousuke regularly.
In the first place, there were very few people who could distinguish and sense a particular divine presence. Those who could do this were high-ranking priests and priestesses who received Divine Oracles, or those who had received divine blessings.
For Lirica herself, more than ten years have passed since she received Kousuke’s Divine Blessing. It was safe to say that she had reached the level of a veteran in sensing divine presences.
It was Sylvia’s casual words that prompted Lirica to start training to be able to sense individual divine presences.
In the course of the conversation, she was told that, just like Magical Power and Holy Power, the Divine Power of each God also differed.
If one was a priestess or priest who had trained properly in the temple, they would have heard about this at some point, but Lirica had become an adventurer before hearing about it.
If she had not heard that story from Sylvia, she would have continued to think of divine blessings as a single, undifferentiated concept.
For that reason, she had been training whenever she could to try to sense the Divine Power of Kousuke, who had given her a Divine Blessing.
♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦
Lirica felt the divine presence that pervades the area while sitting in a meditating pose.
Her goal was to take that one step further, and sense only Kousuke’s divine presence.
Sylvia had given her some advice, saying that Lirica had already met Kousuke when she received the Divine Blessing, so she just needed to find the signs from that time.
Lirica did not see Kousuke as often as Sylvia did though.
However, she also said that since she had never met or connected any other God, it might be relatively easy for her to tell them apart.
Following this advice, she tried to somehow find Kousuke’s divine presence, but it did not go very well.
To Lirica, divine aura was a universal thing, so it was difficult to distinguish between them.
Nevertheless, she came to think that she could distinguish the divine aura, just as she could distinguish one smell from a mixture of many different smells.
It was only recently that she came to think this way.
She relaxed and surrendered herself to the divine presence, remembering the first time she met Kousuke.
Amidst all this, Lirica felt a presence that was somehow nostalgic, yet also felt very close to her.
Not believing it, she tried to feel that presence more strongly.
It was a movement that was difficult to put into words, as if she was approaching a place where she could more strongly sense the presence, even though she was not physically moving.
Nevertheless, through more than a decade of training, I have honed such senses.
She approached the presence slowly and without panic.
Just as Lirica felt that she was about to touch the presence, suddenly she heard in her head a word that could not be spoken.
“Congratulations. If you finally manage to… then Sylvia will…”
The words that came to her were fragmented, but they were definitely Kousuke’s voice, which she had heard several times before.
At the same time, Lirica understood that this was an oracle.
She tried to concentrate even more to hear it more clearly, but unfortunately, she did not hear Kousuke’s voice again.
While feeling disappointed about this, she was still filled with a sense of accomplishment for finally achieving her goal.
She was thinking that her training would be meaningless if she continued like this, so she decided to call it a day.
It was earlier than usual, but there was a possibility that things would go wrong if she continued in her current state.
Anyway, Lirica returned to the room set up in the temple and went to bed, with the oracle of Kousuke that she had heard for the first time in her heart.
♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦
The next day, when Lirica went to the castle’s office to work, Sylvia had already arrived.
It was still too early to start work, so they decided to talk about the results of yesterday’s work straight away.
“Sylvia-san, I was finally able to hear his voice yesterday.” It went without saying whose voice it was.
The only Deity from whom Lirica received a Divine Blessing from was Kousuke.
When she heard this, Sylvia’s face lit up. “Oh my, is that really true!?”
“Yes. Unfortunately, I could only hear fragmented words of congratulations and you being mentioned.”
“That’s enough for a first Divine Oracle. …Wait a minute.”
Sylvia suddenly looked up at the sky and started an oracle.
Lirica also knew that Sylvia sometimes received Divine Oracles like this, so she did not interrupt her.
After receiving the Divine Oracle, Sylvia suddenly turned to Lirica and said this.
“Lirica, there’s no major business today, so let’s go somewhere.”
“Eh? Well, where are we going?”
“Of course, to the Administration Floor.”
Sylvia smiled at her, but Lirica was confused by the sudden turn of events. She did not understand what was going on or why it was a given.
The fact that the destination was the Administration Floor meant that, of course, Kousuke-sama would be there.
Lirica had never been to the Administration Floor before. She knew that it existed, but to Lirica it was almost like a sanctuary.
Even if she was told to suddenly go there, she could not help but be surprised.
“The, the Administration Floor!? Why, all of a sudden!?”
Sylvia smiled at the panicked Lirica and gave her an answer that was even more shocking for Lirica.
“Kousuke-sama is calling for you. Or would you rather refuse?”
Sylvia said this, and then smiled slightly connivingly.
“There’s no way I can refuse! Oh, but…?” It was a direct invitation from the living god. There was no way she could refuse.
However, that would mean that Lirica would have to visit their Sanctuary.
That in itself was a very humbling experience.
In the end, Sylvia skillfully guided the confused Lirica, and they stepped into the Administration Floor for the first time.
As expected, Kousuke was waiting there with a smile, and the even more confused Lirica panicked greatly, and would be teased by Sylvia for a long time afterward, but that’s another story.
<<Previous Chapter | Let's Manage the Tower | Next Chapter>>
