Volume 18 Chapter ( 1-5)

Chapter 1, Hexagonal Fortress

The Central Continent was shaken by the emergence of the Messenger.

Amamiya Tower, or rather Kousuke, had another problem on his mind.

It was discovered in the morning, two days after Kouhi dramatically made her presence known in Sajival.

As usual, he was checking the Tower at the control panel while fretting over the problems Kouhi had caused.

Then he noticed that the log had been updated, which was unusual these days.

When Kousuke saw the log, he did a double-take.

All Towers on the continent exceeded Level 4.

With Amamiya Tower now controlling all Towers on the continent, the Hexagonal system was now operational.

For more details about each system, a new menu had been added.

When Kousuke saw the message, he froze for a moment and then immediately checked out the new menu.

He looked at it, but immediately decided not to explore the options available.

The Sajival problem would not allow him to calm down and think for a while.

He decided to lock the menu for the time being so that no one could see it.

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Kousuke was relieved that the Sajival problem had been resolved for the time being.

However, Kousuke did not directly interfere in this problem.

As it turned out, things were going in the right direction for the Tower, so he decided to hold back from further interference.

There seemed to be a gathering of people around the temple in Mixen, who wanted Kouhi to appear. However, Kouhi had no intention of responding to their demands.

Likewise, Kouhi did not have enough time to deal with them all.

Kouhi and Mitsuki would go to the site if Kousuke told them to, but they were not the kind of people who would go there on their own initiative.

Kousuke felt that things seemed to go better when he was not directly involved in the project, but he decided that he was just imagining it.

Having finally regained his composure on the Administration Floor, Kousuke finally decided to explore the new menu, which he had been keeping a secret.

Since it would be troublesome if he had to explain it twice, he asked all the members to gather first.

First, Haku had already explained to him that all the Towers in the continent had become Level 4, which was also within the contents of the message.

He had already confirmed that the message had been changed to Tower Level 4 the day before Kousuke confirmed the message.

However, he refrained from saying anything because of the circumstances.

He praised Haku's decision because it was very likely that he would have just ignored the message.

Unfortunately, that decision resulted in nothing the next day when the message came out.

"So? What do you mean by the Hexagonal system? Well, I have a vague idea."

"Well, I think everyone's guess is as good as mine. If you take this Amamiya Tower as the center and connect the six surrounding Towers with a line, it will be just like one of the Magic Circle's hexagonal formations."

"….That's a pretty big Magic Circle, don't you think?"

Kousuke responded to Floria's query with a wry smile.

"Well, yes. I don't know the details of how it's made. I have a vague idea about what it is, though."

He could imagine it, everyone in the room was curious, but no one wanted to question him.

Kousuke had already reached a level where he could be called a leading expert on Magic Circles.

He was able to summon Goddesses and create a return circle to the divine domain, which was an extraordinary feat.

"Well, anyway, it seems that the Hexagonal Circle System allows us to do various things using this Hexagonal Circle."

"Heh~. With a scale this large, it looks like you can do many things!"

Kousuke chuckled at Peach's words.

"However, it doesn't work the same way as a normal Magic Circle. What we can do is limited to a certain extent."

"What? Really?"

"Yeah. Well, I guess there are some things that will be unlocked in the future depending on the Tower Level, but as far as the Magic Circle is concerned, there aren't many functions.

Kousuke's commentary left the group somewhat disappointed.

However, when Kousuke continued his explanation, everyone's facial expression froze.

"However, the effects are all astounding. For example, it can create a barrier that surrounds the whole continent."

Even the usually unfazed Kouhi and Mitsuki were surprised to hear of the effect.

If the barrier was so big that it could enclose an entire continent, the cost of operation would be incredibly expensive.

"But even if we were to do that, it would be like covering it like a curtain at some distance from the continent. If we used the barriers to bar ships from entering, they would be repelled, unless we authorize them."

If a shipping agent had heard these words, he would have turned blue.

"Even so, I'm sure it takes a lot of power."

"Roughly a million points of Divine Power a day."

Everyone groaned when they heard it.

Even with all the Divine Power earned by all the Towers now combined, it was not a cost that could be met.

On the contrary, compared to the cost for setting up the Tower, it was an unbelievable operating cost.

"It seems very reasonable compared to floor replacement and the like, but do you have any idea why?"

"As you can see from the location of this Tower and the other six Towers, it seems that the maintenance of the Magic Circle itself uses the power that already resides on this continent."

"Oh, I see, so the cost paid at the Tower is only the cost to activate the Magic Circle?"

Mitsuki interrupted, which was quite rare.

Mitsuki was also interested in the system that maintained such a huge Magic Circle.

As further investigation would reveal, each Tower was built at an important location in the Central Continent.

They stood at the intersection of the earth's veins or at a power spot, so to speak, where various other things were mixed.

The power that gathered there was used to maintain the Magic Circle.

"When you say it like that, I don't think it's correct to use this power."

Collete said.

It was a very normal opinion from a dependent who managed the World Tree that grew by using the power of the earth's veins.

"No, no. It's more like the World Tree in terms of its role, you know?"

"Eh! Really?"

"Yeah. It would be similar to buildings that stand in sacred places around the world. In short, it is a continental version of the Yurino Shrine."

Everyone nodded in agreement with Kousuke's explanation.

"I'm just guessing from here, but it seems that the Tower is also meant to dissipate various things."

"How so?"

An interested Floria asked.

"I could only assume, but, if left as is, it would build up a lot of power, and then there'd be a big outburst at the end."

The members of the group paled when they heard this.

"…A magical outburst."

"Huh? Do you have any idea what that means?"

"There have been several stories of countries being destroyed by it in the past. There's even a story of a civilization that was destroyed by it."

It was already on a scale that would be better described as a disaster than an outburst.

"Oh, I see."

Such an outburst would occur on a scale of a natural disaster. Thus, Kousuke agreed it would likely be possible.

"By the way, how big of an outburst, or rather a disaster, would occur without the Hexagonal system here?"

"Ah~. Let's see. This is just a guess, okay?"

Kousuke confirmed, just to be sure.

Then, after seeing everyone nodding, he further reminded them.

"Well, this is simply an assumption, so I'm not certain, okay?"

Kousuke hesitated, and Shrein tilted her head in response.

"What? Is it that big?"

"Hmmm, well, yes…"

Kousuke was unusually cautious, and everyone was ready for his answer.

"…If my assumption is right, I think it should be strong enough to wipe the whole continent clean, I think?"

Kousuke's answer silenced everyone.

Their resolve to hear this had instantly faded away.

"Well, not really, I guess because it would need all 6 of them to trigger at the same time to end up that way."

He rushed to follow up, but it was already too late.

The members were now determined not to let any of this continental's Towers be destroyed.

They all thought, [[ So that's the reason why the Towers exists in the Central Continent.]]

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Chapter 2, Defense and Offense

The Towers' important role on this continent turned out to be a key one, and of course Kousuke did not intend to mess it up.

He realized that it was possible to remake this Magic Circle by using the Towers' functions, but he wanted to avoid messing with something so serious.

More importantly, the added features in this case were making him hungry.

One of the first was the ability to put up barriers on the continent, which he used as an example to explain to everyone.

This was limited to the area around the Towers, but it could be placed anywhere, at any size, and for any length of time.

The largest of the barriers were those that could encircle the entire continent.

The smallest could be small enough to enclose a single person, but that would be a waste of resources.

Similarly, since Kousuke had already created a sacred object that could do the same, that object would be cheaper to operate.

"One question: how much time can a Barrier that surrounds a continent be sustained for?"

Collete asked Kousuke a simple question.

Kousuke's answer was also simple.

"As long as we have Divine Power."

"Does that mean – as long as the Tower is earning enough Divine Power to maintain the Barrier, it can stay on forever?"

"That's what I'm saying."

Realizing what he said, even Kousuke was taken aback.

"What can I say… If this were known on another continent, people would try to capture the Tower at any cost…"

The former princess, Floria, mumbled her thoughts.

Everyone nodded.

"Maybe they do… We just didn't notice it before because no one had been able to conquer all the Towers on a continent until now."

To begin with, Kousuke was the first person to conquer all the Towers on a continent.

"What do you think? The Tower on this continent stands in such a good position in terms of location, but what about the Towers on the other continents?"

No one could answer Kousuke's question.

At best, Floria knew that the Towers on her continent were different.

"But I didn't have a complete picture of all the Towers, either. I guess if someone researched it properly, there might be some Towers located in areas like ours, too."

"I see."

The Towers at the Central Continent stood in easy to recognize locations, both in number and position, so they could have estimated how to conquer it if they wanted to.

However, because no one had reached the Towers on foot on the ground and accurately measured their locations, they had remained a mystery.

It also required a very high-ranking party to reach the base of a Tower, so no one went out of their way to investigate all the Towers.

"So? What's the other feature?"

Shrein asked Kousuke, after adding that she could sort of guess.

"Well, as you can probably guess, it's the ability to attack."

Hearing this, everyone's face turned into an expression of 'I knew it'.

"Let me ask you something, is that possible anytime, anywhere?"

"That's exactly as I understand it."

It was a feature that those who belonged to other continents would drool over if they heard about it.

In the Central Continent, where there were currently no established nations, it was a feature that would have little use.

Like the Barrier, this function could only be used within the continent.

"I want to avoid asking too much because I'm scared, but how effective is it~?"

"Ah. Mm. Enough to sink this continent? But I based that guess on what I know about this continent."

To Kousuke, this standard allowed him to estimate the damage that could be done if there was a magical outburst.

There was no way that the Magic Circle, which could suppress a magical outburst, could not cause damage on the same scale.

The second time it was mentioned, they were not as surprised as before, but they were still stunned.

"This is a simple question, but what would happen to the Towers if you blow up the continent with that kind of power?"

"Oh, yes, the Towers won't be destroyed by that much. Each Tower would be like an island, with the surrounding land left behind."

The reason Kousuke could tell this was because the newly added Tower menu clearly stated this.

Kousuke felt that the menu was somehow describing it intentionally, but he did not intend to take advantage of such knowledge.

He was not the kind of person who would love to destroy a continent.

In the current situation, the offensive functions were going to be a treasure trove of information.

However, using them would be almost impossible since there was no reason to.

To put it another way, Kouhi and Mitsuki would take care of the surrounding environment to a certain extent first, before this function could play an active role.

"Considering that, in the first place, I feel that there is not much point in having this function if one is capable of conquering all the Towers."

Floria disagreed with Kousuke's impression.

"No, not really. Considering that rulers are replaced, it's not necessarily because the Tower rulers are always strong themselves, or even because there are always strong people around them like Kousuke."

"Is that how it goes?"

"Yes, that's how it works. Most of the Towers that have been conquered are ones that have been passed down from generation to generation, you know?

At Floria's words, Collete and Sylvia nodded their heads.

"I see. Considering that, I'm sure they'd love to have this offensive functionality. Especially the state."

"Yes, that's right~"

"Well, we don't have to think about that on this continent, and as for the other continents… I don't have to think about them."

Floria tilted her head at Kousuke, who answered casually.

"Is that okay? If their power spreads even further than it is now, I have a feeling that nations from other continents will start to appear soon?"

They had already set up branches of Lila Amamiya in cities in the east, west, south, and north, where the influence of other continents was stronger than the others.

It would not be surprising if some kind of reaction would emerge through that.

"I don't mind. If force is to be used, we can use the Barrier. But other than that, I'm not going to meddle."

When it came to economic activities like trade, Kousuke didn't think it was necessary to bother to meddle.

Of course, Kousuke was aware that even without the use of actual force, what he considered to be 'economic activity' could already be considered an attack.

However, Kousuke also believed that Crown or the executive branch of government could handle such activities.

On the contrary, he even considered it necessary for the future to have them dealt with at least that much.

Since no country existed on the Central Continent, there was no formal military force.

Therefore, if a nation from another continent were to invade with a clear intention, there would be no way to stop them.

In such a case, the Barrier would be very useful.

After all, to cross the sea, one must absolutely use ships.

Kousuke believed that it would be a good idea to let Alec know that the Barrier existed in case of an emergency.

"But… Is it a coincidence that this kind of functionality comes up when the outside world is about to mess with us?"

At Shrein's words, Kousuke tilted his head slightly as well.

"Well, it's just like the chicken or the egg fallacy. Does the egg come first, or the chicken?"

It was only because of the development of the Towers that these features were added, and their influence on the outside world was increased.

It would be a waste of time to think about which came first.

Unless there was an ulterior motive for someone, but it would be impossible to find a person like that

The only people who would do so would be the Goddesses, but Kousuke was sure that they would never do such a thing.

If they could do such a thing easily in the first place, they would not have thought of establishing such a connection with Kousuke, who had gone to the divine realm.

Shrein tilted her head at Kousuke, who was puzzled.

Kousuke did not think that someone's motives were at work at all.

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Chapter 3, Initial Objective

Although this new feature had been added, it was difficult to experiment with.

If it worked only inside the Towers, as was the case in the past, there would be no problem.

However, this time, the effects were completely outside the Towers.

Therefore, they decided to refrain from conducting the experiment because it might lead to problems if done carelessly.

It might be possible to at least see how strong the Barrier would be after being stretched around the Towers, but there was currently no need to do that.

It would only be usable in preventing ships from entering. Which would only be helpful if another continent declared war on them or something similar.

Or, if a Tower on another continent could do the same thing, there may be situations where it would be useful. Though, that would be unlikely as Floria had stress.

If such a function were available, it would have been used in the wars that took place in the past. But no one had heard of such a thing.

Of course, Floria did not know the history of every continent, but she had never heard anything similar, at least not on the continent where she lived as a princess.

She added that if such a thing did happen on another continent, it would definitely have been passed on as a folktale.

After all, this was something that could change the balance of power and alter the nature of a country.

For this reason, it was decided that the cheat function added this time would not be used except in case of an emergency.

"Speaking of which, Haku."

"Yes?"

"I was wondering if anything has changed since the Towers got upgraded Level 4."

Kousuke decided to check with Haku.

There had been many things that had happened until now, and he had been putting off the confirmation.

"Nah. Nothing has changed. Oh, there are a few individuals that have evolved a little?"

Haku was responsible for administration in the Northwest Tower. Because she just started recently, her Tower was the last to level up.

Kousuke was not particularly concerned about this, but there was an atmosphere of competition among the members.

However, since it was just at the stage where it became a topic of conversation, Kousuke left it alone.

If the atmosphere deteriorated because of that, he would stop it before anything else happened.

Regardless of the results, Kousueke wouldn't interfere with the members unless something really strange happened and would let them compete on their own, which was either part of his personality or just him being considerate.

The Tower of Four Attributes and the Tower of the Holy Beasts and Magic Beasts developed in different ways because they had different circumstances in the first place.

There also existed an atmosphere in which it was useless to compare them with each other because of their differences.

"I see. What else has changed?"

"Hmmm. Nothing in particular?

"Okay. I understand. Thanks."

All Towers had exceeded Level 4, allowing them to summon intermediate monsters.

Thanks to this, the way Divine Power entered the system had evolved.

Except for the Northwest Tower, which had recently reached Level 4, the Summoning Circles already in place were replaced with intermediate ones.

The Divine Power of the Holy Magic Tower, where the World Tree and Vermilion Castle were located, as well as the other three Towers were already in the black, supply wise, albeit only slightly.

The Northwest tower could also set up an intermediate Magic Circle, so it would only be a matter of time before all the Towers became profitable.

However, if there was a problem, it would be that there was currently no way to use the Divine Power.

This may sound like a luxurious problem since they started managing the Towers, however, there was nothing that could be done about it.

Kousuke considered that until now, he had devoted himself to encouraging the growth of the summoned beasts, and unless other goals were pursued, new developments would not take place.

That being said, there was no way he would be able to find a new goal so easily, and it was one of his worries.

Of course, it was not only Kousuke who was thinking about it. The other members pondered over it as well, but what are the chances they could come up with something good while Kousuke hadn't?.

As a result, he was still focusing his research on summoned beasts while trying to find new goals.

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"Oh? What's bothering you again?"

It was Collete who approached the distressed Kousuke.

"Oh, Collete. It seems that Nana and Wanri have finished evolving, so I haven't found anything that I can do at Amamiya Tower."

"What about the other dependents?"

"Of course, it would be better if they evolve, but I don't think there is any need to rush them to evolve."

Collete nodded in agreement with Kousuke's statement.

"That's true. It seems we don't have to rush to earn Divine Power anymore."

"I guess that's true~."

After saying this, Kousuke flopped down and lay down on the sofa.

Kousuke was now in a state where he had lost sight of his purpose and goal.

Kouhi, who couldn't help but notice this, unusually interrupted him.

"Kousuke-sama. Have you lost sight of the purpose of capturing this Tower in the first place?"

Kousuke's reason for capturing Amamiya Tower in the first place was to obtain a safe base.

In that sense, it could be said that the base had already been secured.

When he thought about it, Collete, Sylvia, and Floria also came to the Administration Floor under similar circumstances.

"I see. It's true that we've done many things in the past, but we don't have to try to force ourselves to do something."

For Kousuke, the operation of the Towers was going too well because he had tried many things, and they had worked well.

He thought he had to continue in the same vein, but that was not the case.

"We have a goal to make the Tower Level 10, but what more is there?"

Collete's words made Kousuke tilt his head.

The condition for Tower Level 10 was to become a God. How could anything more than that be possible?

"I suppose you're right. Then why don't we just take it easy and not think about anything else?"

Amamiya Tower became Level 10 because Kousuke was able to unintentionally become a living god.

He did not know if there was a higher Level, but he did not think he could meet the conditions for that.

"…at least not in the way that I would expect. That too, I guess. I'll just take it easy from now on."

"Well, I think Kousuke is the one who does many things when he says that."

Collete teased Kousuke by saying such things.

"Wow, how awful of you to say that. But it's hard to deny it."

"Oh. You're taking a step forward from what you've been doing, just by being more self-aware."

Collete pushed Kousuke, who was depressed, even harder.

Of course, Kousuke wasn't seriously depressed and he knew she was just having fun with the teasing.

"Ah. Yes, yes. It was my fault, sorry."

While speaking with Collete, Kousuke started to feel somewhat sleepy, so he laid down on the sofa and closed his eyes.

Collete saw this and came up to Kousuke, looking a little flustered.

"Oh, sorry. Did I say too much?"

"Nuh-uh? No, nothing like that. I'm sorry, I really just feel a little sleepy."

Collete let out a sigh of relief when Kousuke said this with his eyes closed.

"I see. Why don't you go ahead and get some sleep? There's still time before dinner."

"Yeah… I guess I'll do that."

Kousuke said and went quiet.

When Collete saw this, she quietly sat down beside where Kousuke was sleeping.

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Chapter 4, Evolution of the Black Wolf

Nana, who came to the Administration Floor, urged Kousuke to go to the 81st Floor.

According to Collete, the interpreter, the number of titleholders had increased.

To check the increased number of titles and to see if there were any new species, Kousuke followed after Nana. Though, those objectives seemed to be a mere guise after he started to play with wolves for the first time in a while….

He often got stuck in the Administration Floor, so he also needed a change of pace.

When he mentioned this to Collete, she asked, "Even though you keep changing what you do each day?" but Kousuke pretended not to hear her.

Collete accompanied Kousuke.

This also doubled as flirting with him under the guise of being his interpreter.

Kouhi was also with them, but Kouhi was not concerned about it.

One of them, be it Kouhi or Mitsuki, was always by Kousuke's side, but they never seemed to mind if he was with other members of the group.

This was a very convenient arrangement for Kousuke. Though, he never asked about it because he was afraid that he might get a frightening response if he tried to pursue the matter further.

So, with those three plus Nana, they headed for the 81st Floor.

"…This feels really nostalgic"

A familiar scene was unfolding before them."

What happened next was the usual sight of Kousuke being surrounded and attacked by the wolves of the 81st Floor.

The name of the attack was the tongue licking attack.

Kousuke's whole body was being licked by the wolves.

Collete, who was watching this, was looking at the scenery with a slightly distant look.

Although she was already used to seeing this scene, it was definitely something out of the ordinary.

Incidentally, Nana did not join them, but watched from a distance.

Since she had already been pampered when they met at the Administration Floor, she seemed satisfied at the moment.

The other wolves, perhaps knowing this, were less reserved than usual.

As for Kousuke, he was not just being licked, but was also doing a Status check in the process.

It seemed that the greetings were over, and by the time he recovered from the attacks, all the individuals had been checked.

As Nana had informed them, the number of titleholders had increased.

The titles were all <~God's~>, so it seemed that the Goddesses didn't really hold back anymore.

As Kousuke did not seem to have any problem with receiving them, he decided to accept them gratefully.

He did not know what conditions had to be met for the title, but it would be very useful when hunting on the Floor, since a title with the name of a Goddess would obviously improve the Skills they used.

Unfortunately, none had evolved into a new species even with the addition of their titles.

However, there were two individuals who evolved into White Wolf Gods, as Kousuke had previously expected.

The only difference from Nana in terms of Skill composition was that instead of having <Blessing of the Moon Goddess>, it had the blessing of another Goddess.

The only other difference was the lack of the <Moonlight> Skill, but as for everything else, it was the same.

What was interesting to him was that there was no change at all to the black wolf that accompanied them.

There were a few that had the title with a Goddess's name attached to them, but showed no evolution at all.

This confirmed that the prediction that a title with a Goddess's name on it would allow them to evolve was incorrect.

"Hmmm… What do you think this means?"

Kousuke tilted his head in front of the black wolves, thinking about the situation.

"Aren't they a species that doesn't usually evolve?"

"Hmmm… No, maybe they are, but somehow I doubt that's the case…?"

The feeling was too strong to be just his imagination, so he figured he couldn't ignore it.

"Is that a feeling you have as a living god?"

"Is it? I don't really know. Well, I certainly didn't feel this way before."

Staring at the black wolf with the title, he felt uncomfortable with the idea of it not evolving.

Kousuke tilted his head, unsure of this feeling for the first time.

Incidentally, the black wolf in front of him was also tilting its head, but it was simply imitating Kousuke.

The gesture was so cute that he couldn't help but stroke its head.

The black wolf rubbed up against him happily.

Unfortunately, the fact that Kousuke stroked him on the head did not cause it to evolve.

Incidentally, just as with the Fairy Stone, he tried to channel some Divine Power into it, but no particular change occurred.

"As expected, it's not that easy, is it?"

Kousuke tried everything and laughed bitterly because there was no change.

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The fact that the black wolf did not evolve was a concern, but there was nothing Kousuke could do about it as long as he was unsure how to go about it.

In front of the control panel of Amamiya Tower, he searched for anything that might help him evolve, but nothing seemed to ring a bell.

He was getting a fuzzy feeling, like he couldn't recall something, and he was hoping he could do something about it, but there was nothing he could do about it at present.

"Black wolf… Black wolf… Black Wolf…. Wolf…. What was I thinking?"

Kousuke stopped thinking when he got to a point where he couldn't quite understand his own thoughts.

While he was doing this, Sylvia approached him with a curious look on her face.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, no. I'm just…"

After he mentioned this matter, he told Sylvia about what he had just experienced.

Incidentally, Collete was not around at the moment.

She was working as the administrator of a Tower in the south.

Sylvia was listening to Kousuke's story surprisingly seriously.

She doubted that Collete's joking remark about his 'sense of being a living god' was really false.

It was not just a guess, but her sense as a Miko of Kousuke.

The moment she heard the story, she somehow felt it was part of Kousuke's power as a living god, too.

"I see…"

Sylvia fell silent after she said that, and Kousuke conversely became flustered.

"No, I don't think it's something to dwell on that much, right?"

Kousuke tilted his head, and Sylvia told him about the sensation she was feeling.

"A Miko can feel such things…?"

"Of course she can. It's more like it is part of a Miko's role."

To begin with, one of Kousuke's powers as a living god was to confirm statuses, but he had no idea about anything else.

Summoning Goddesses and sending them back to the divine realm was one of the conditions for being a living god, but when it came to the authority of a God, it was more subtle.

It was not unusual for a deity to have only one power, but Sylvia had long felt that Kousuke did not fit that description.

Sensing Divine Power like that had become part of her role as a Miko.

"Hmmm. I see."

"I also sense a power other than Statuses, but unfortunately, I don't know what that is."

"I see. I guess I don't have a choice then, do I?"

"No. I have one thing that might give you a clue."

Kousuke opened his eyes at Sylvia's unexpected words.

"What? Really?"

"Yes, really."

"What's that?"

"It's Peach's fortune-telling."

At Sylvia's answer, Kousuke widened his eyes again.

–

"Impossible. Impossible, impossible~. If you want fortune-telling, you should ask someone else, not me…"

Sylvia's request for a fortune-telling session resulted in Peach's evasive response.

It was understandable that she would say that.

Fortune-telling on a deity was not usually possible.

"No, that's not true. Rather, Peach is the right person for the job."

"What do you mean?"

Kousuke, who had been watching them, questioned.

"Peach is qualified to be Kousuke-sama's Miko. That is why she is qualified to tell Kousuke-sama's fortune."

Under normal circumstances, there was no way that one could perform divination on a deity.

But if it was a Miko, then it was a different story.

"Miko? Can I really?"

Kousuke looked at Peach as he was hearing this for the first time.

"It seems so~… Haah. At any rate, I understand what Sylvia is trying to say. I'll try to tell your fortune. But I can't guarantee that it will be correct, alright?"

He thought that this was not something a person who was about to predict someone's fortune would say, but Kousuke wisely kept quiet.

Kousuke felt that Peach would refuse if he said anything unnecessary at this point.

Reluctantly, Peach went back to her room to get her fortune-telling tools.

Then Peach's fortune-telling began, and the result was, in a sense, a fortune-telling result.

In other words, the result was that they would soon know the answer to their question.

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Chapter 5, Peach Fortune Telling

In front of Kousuke, Peach was looking at the table with a serious expression on her face.

On that table were several cards.

Even Kousuke, who was not familiar with fortune-telling, knew this method of card fortune-telling.

The expression on Peach's face was serious because she was the one doing the fortune-telling.

Even Kousuke could sense that she was nervous, as if she knew that things would not go well.

He couldn't resist and called out to her.

"Um, Peach, if you're that nervous, I don't think you're going to get anything, right?"

"Mu, I can't~"

At Peach's reply, which sounded like she was bloated with food, Kousuke looked at Sylvia, who was watching from the side.

Sylvia, too, had a puzzled look on her face.

Every once in a while, the other members of the group, except Kousuke, had Peach read their fortunes.

She was from a family of succubus and was known to be very accurate.

The Peach of then and the Peach of now were entirely different.

"Peach, you don't have to be so nervous, you know?"

"I can't, I'm too intimidated by Kousuke-san."

"In, intimidated…!"

Kousuke, who was completely unaware, tilted his head.

In addition, Sylvia had the same strange expression on her face.

Sylvia, who was standing right next to him, did not feel anything akin to intimidation.

"When I tried to read the fortune, I felt a kind of pressure from Kousuke-san…"

Peach, who was explaining this, seemed to be unable to express what she was feeling.

Hearing this, Sylvia remembered that she had felt something similar before.

It was the first time she had received an oracle from Kousuke.

"Peach, that is Kousuke-sama's Divine Power as a living god. Don't try to resist it, just accept it. If you have been trained as a Miko, you should be able to do it."

To be precise, it was also necessary to be recognized by Kousuke, but she left that out because she felt no particular explanation was necessary.

"Accept it, huh~…. Ah."

After Peach listened to Sylvia's words, her eyes were still and closed. Soon, a sigh escaped her mouth.

The next time Peach opened her eyes, the tension she had felt earlier was gone.

Then she stared at the card on the table.

What Peach was able to read from the card was not specifics, but something that pointed ahead.

"Instead of gaining new power, it looks like the original power will grow or develop -"

"You mean the Status indicator?"

"Hmmm. I'm not sure about that. It's not exactly different, but it's more like a fundamental power."

Peach also tilted her head as she gave her answer.

"More fundamental power, huh?"

Kousuke, who was told to do so, also tilted his head.

It was Kouhi, who was listening on the side, who offered help.

"Isn't that the <Left Eye of God>?"

"Ah! Oh, I see. That's what it means."

To begin with, the Status display was a power manifested through the power of <Left eye of God>.

However, it does not mean that Status display = <Left eye of God>.

Kousuke thought that the status display was an easy-to-understand display of the information obtained by <Left eye of God>.

It was based on his experience when he first manifested the power of <Left eye of God> in this world.

"So, will we be able to see something else besides the Status display?"

Peach tilted her head at this.

"Hmmm, I don't know~? I'm not sure about that."

"I see. That's such a shame."

Peach's ambiguous answer caused Kousuke to stop going into any particular depth about it.

He thought that it was not good to force information out if it was vague and strange in the first place.

"Did you find out anything else?"

Sylvia urged Peach, who was tilting her head, to go on.

"Yes~. It looks like it will be a little while before we can do that. So it's not right now. There are some conditions that are out there."

"Conditions, huh?"

He did not ask specifically what they were.

Because from Peach's answer, he didn't seem like he would get the answer even if he asked.

As he had thought, Peach responded with uncertainty.

"Sorry~. I don't know what the conditions are. However, it seems that it will not be far off in the future that you will achieve them."

"Hmm. Not too far off."

Kousuke nodded back at her answer, which was very much like fortune-telling.

"Are you planning to do anything unusual in the near future?"

Peach's abrupt question made Kousuke look confused.

"Huh? No, there shouldn't be anything in particular?"

"I see. I'm sure it has to do with that unusual thing you'll be doing."

Both Peach and Kousuke nodded their heads, but had no idea what the unusual thing was.

Kouhi again offered Kousuke help.

"Aren't we supposed to be going to the sanctuary soon?"

He had promised to visit the sanctuary regularly, and the time was coming soon.

For Kousuke, this was already his third visit, so he was not aware of anything unusual.

However, from a general point of view, a visit to the sanctuary could be said to be unusual enough, no matter how he thought about it.

"You are going already~. So, it's about that, then?"

At Kouhi's words, Peach nodded.

Peach knew that Kousuke was supposed to go to the sanctuary regularly, but did not know when he was supposed to go.

From Peach's perspective, it hadn't been very long since his last visit, so she assumed it was still a long way off.

"So, Kousuke-sama, will you gain new powers there?"

At Sylvia's question, Peach shook her head.

"It's not like he gains it all of a sudden, but more like he takes a step forward or gets a hint or something like that~"

"Do you mean like gaining an opportunity?"

"Yes, yes, it's like that~. Until then, there doesn't seem to be any significant progress."

Advancement or not, it was like grabbing a cloud, and since they rely on fortune-telling, there was nothing they could do about it.

Rather, it was a good thing that something concrete like what had just been said came out.

But whether going to the sanctuary was really the way forward, they didn't know.

"Hmmm. Well, I guess I understand, or not. Anyway, does that mean that the next time I go to the sanctuary, there will be something there?"

"I guess so~."

Every time Kousuke goes to the sanctuary, though he had only been there twice in the repatriation, he comes back with something happening, so he was hoping that this time, if possible, nothing would happen, but it seems that is not the case.

Kousuke, thinking that this time he would end up just interacting with the Goddesses, let out an involuntary sigh.

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"How was your reading?"

Sylvia asked Peach after Kousuke left.

"I want to avoid doing it again if possible."

Peach said and looked limp.

"It's okay. You'll get used to it as you do it over and over again. Just being able to do divination in the first place is enough to qualify you."

There was no way that an ordinary fortune-teller could divine Kousuke, who was a living god.

Only another deity would be able to divine Kousuke, who was essentially a deity.

If there was someone who could do it and was not a deity, it would only be someone who was recognized by Kousuke, like Peach this time.

"Will there be another fortune-telling?"

"I don't know. I guess only God knows, don't you think?"

They both laughed at Sylvia's answer.