Volume 21 Chapter (1-7)

Chapter 1, Kousuke's Blessing

Now that the ruckus with the Column Kingdom had died down, he decided to leave the rest of the work to Alec.

The political developments became too complicated with the revealing of Amamiya Tower's arsenal, and it was obvious that if an amateur were to meddle in the affairs, it would cause problems.

Kousuke understood that he was an amateur at politics, so he left it to Alec, who had been involved in politics since birth.

As for the nations on continents other than the Central Continent, Alec said that they would be fine at this time, as Amamiya Tower's unexpected strength would put them on the defensive for now.

If there was a problem, it would be the movement of individual towns on the Central Continent.

Each town had their own agendas, and if they made a bad move, it could lead to problems.

They were now divided into three major groups.

The first would be towns like Kennelsen that wanted to be under the umbrella of Amamiya Tower.

The next was those towns that were opportunistic.

The third would be similar to Sajival, and would be hostile to the Tower.

However, the third force was said to have stopped their movement because Amamiya Tower's offensive weapons came to be known because of the commotion with Column Kingdom.

The executive branch had been very busy as the first town had started to show its actions in the opposite direction.

The towns in places where it would be difficult to help geographically even if they were allowed to join under their umbrella, for example, were put on hold.

If the four towns with transfer gates and the towns to the east, west, south, and north were all under their umbrella, there would be no need to worry about such things, Alec said with a laugh.

Kousuke saw the look on Alec's face at that moment, and figured that politics couldn't be done without some necessary evils.

However, although they were on hold, they were not left unattended.

Regarding the supplies of the merchant corps, priority was given to the flow of goods following the towns that had joined their umbrella.

Kousuke was impressed by the look on Schmidt's face when he told him that he had made sure to make a profit, and that he was a merchant after all.

He also said that the logistics network of the big merchant corps seemed to be working well, and that the common ways of peddling were changing.

Kousuke, however, had no intention of eliminating the individual peddlers.

In fact, he believed that there was no way it would disappear.

No matter how much they tried, there would always be products that the big merchant corps would not be able to manage.

Such items would be replaced by goods distributed by individual peddlers.

Even if Kousuke had not thought of this, the individual peddlers would have thought about it.

Those peddlers who could not do so would be weeded out or absorbed into guilds or Crown.

Anticipating this, more and more peddlers like Schmidt and Rick joined Crown.

♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦

While listening to the report on the situation, Kousuke was still training hard to suppress his divine authority.

If he was unable to do this, he would not be able to walk around the town on the 5th Floor with peace of mind.

The town of the 5th Floor was already more like a city than a town.

Incidentally, the criterion for being called a town was whether the population exceeded 100,000.

If the population numbers back and forth between 100,000 or more, it would be called a town, but since the number of residents in the 5th Floor was expected to increase even more, it was already called a town even when it's below the number of 100,000.

Although he would like to take a good look at the city that had grown to such a large scale, he couldn't go out with ease in a situation where he didn't know where he might meet a clergyman.

So, Kousuke had been training hard, and it seemed that his training was finally coming to fruition.

Sylvia was watching over Kousuke as a matter of course.

Although to Collete, what they called "training" was just a flirting session, but of course, they were not just flirting.

After getting the hang of it previously, they were achieving good results.

Sylvia was there to check the results.

"…I can't feel any divine authority from Kousuke-san anymore. With this, it should be safe for Kousuke to walk around the city."

Finally, on this day, Sylvia gave him a passing grade.

Now he could walk the streets with a big smile on his face.

He was happy about that, but there was something else on his mind at the moment.

By suppressing his own divine authority, he was able to feel something new.

That was what he could sense from Sylvia now.

"…Hmmm. I wonder what this is?"

"Kousuke-san?"

Sylvia tilted her head at the sight of Kousuke.

Kousuke came up with some ideas, but he wasn't sure if he should try them out right here and now.

Sylvia watched silently while Kousuke was troubled, deciding that it was best not to speak to him.

After a while, Kousuke talked to Sylvia, as if reaching a conclusion.

"I've felt something after I've been able to suppress the divine power…"

"Yes."

"I could detect Divine Authority from Sylvia?"

"Oh, that must be Kousuke-sama's divine power. I am Kousuke-sama's priestess, after all."

Sylvia, when acting as a miko, treated Kousuke as a deity, and so she would address him as sama in this situation.

She seemed to have a clear distinction between the two in her mind, though it was a subtle difference.

Regardless, she changed the way she addressed him currently because they were talking about the divine.

"Well, in Sylvia's case, I have expected it, but there are times when I sense it in the other members as well."

There were times when he would sense it from everyone for a brief moment, but only noticed it clearly now that he was talking about it with Sylvia.

Of course, he felt it most often with Sylvia, but the other members had similar characteristics.

By order, Sylvia was the strongest, followed by Peach, and the rest of the members were either similar or weaker.

"Perhaps it depends on the qualifications they have to be Kousuke-sama's priestesses?"

Sylvia came up with that after hearing Kousuke's story.

"Hmmm. I wonder? That's one thing, but I can think of one other reason, you know?"

"…That is?"

"Whether they are qualified to be given Divine Protection."

Sylvia pondered about Kousuke's guess and, after a moment, shook her head.

"Well, when it comes to DIvine Protection, I don't really know. Why not ask the gods about that?"

"Sure, I'll try that, too. But there is something I would like to try first."

What Kousuke wanted to try was what Jal told him about Divine Protection.

The Goddesses in the other realm had never needed help with how to give Divine Protection.

He thought that if he trusted his instincts now, he might be able to give Divine Protection.

However, there was no doubt that it would be an experiment on the human body in a sense.

When he told Sylvia about this, Sylvia nodded her head in agreement.

"If that's the case, please try it with me first. I am also a priestess for that purpose."

Kousuke agreed, feeling a bit guilty, knowing that Sylvia would respond as he had expected her to.

Sylvia understood Kousuke's feelings.

Kousuke's assumption, which included some hope, was correct.

Of course, Kousuke was attracted to Sylvia partly because of her personality and the way she thought.

Since he was a deity, he should be in a position to test without worrying about such things, but Kousuke was attractive to Sylvia as a person who would still worry.

Regardless of Sylvia's thoughts, Kousuke prepared himself to grant Divine Protection.

The preparation did not necessarily require anything special, since he was only going to use his divine power to grant the DIvine Protection.

It was just a matter of preparing his mind for doing the task for the first time.

Using his own divine power that he sensed from Sylvia, he shared a part of his authority.

Sharing did not mean that Kousuke himself would lose that power.

Strictly speaking, it was more like giving others a copy of said power.

"I think that should be good… Did you feel any changes?"

"… I don't really know myself. Uh… No. There's definitely something that changed."

"Looks like it. I looked at your status, and you have a Divine Protection firmly in place."

Looking at Sylvia's status, he could see a title of <Kousuke's Blessing> attached to her.

0

0

0

0

Chapter 2, Racial Characteristics

Kousuke told Sylvia that her title had Divine Protection, and now he checked it with his right eye.

Before the DIvine Protection, Sylvia had an <Evolution Sprout>, but now that she had DIvine Protection, he was expecting to see if anything had changed.

And, as he predicted, <Evolution Sprout> changed and became <Evolution Growth>.

It was hard to understand, but perhaps it meant the evolution had started its growth process.

Still, it was a long way to go, but there was no doubt that progress had been made nonetheless.

"…Kousuke-sama?"

Sylvia called out, a bit shocked.

For a few moments, he was lost in thought right in front of Sylvia.

"Yeah, I also checked with my right eye, and there was a change."

"Really! And in what way did it change?!"

He intended to be casual about it, but Sylvia's reaction was so strong that he was taken aback.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I just got too excited."

"Ah, no, it's fine… So, there was indeed a change, but <Evolution Sprout> only turned into <Evolution Growth>."

"<Evolution Growth>?"

"I guess the implication is that this is where the growth starts? Since the previous one only mentioned what was missing."

Sylvia was puzzled by the ambiguous statement.

Kousuke, who was talking to her, also chuckled a bit.

"Has anything else changed since you obtained the DIvine Protection?"

"Yes, I do feel that something has changed, but… I'm not really sure about it."

Kousuke stared at Sylvia, who tilted her head.

"Hmm. It certainly feels like my power is there, but… I don't know how you could manifest it."

Kousuke was also new to this, so there was no way he could give precise advice.

"But maybe, just possibly, if you can master that Divine Protection, I think something will change in the evolutionary process."

This statement was based entirely on Kousuke's intuition, but somehow did not feel out of place.

"I see. The first thing to do is to learn to master this power."

"It seems strange to me, too, considering I haven't mastered it myself."

Neither his right eye nor his left eye was completely utilized along with his authority.

"I feel like that is all we can understand right now… I wonder what more is there to it?"

"Well, currently, I don't know. Maybe there isn't anything, and perhaps things won't change as they are now. I've tried everything, but I don't see any signs of change other than the evolution process."

As for his left eye, it served no other purpose than to see status.

Thinking back, when he first came to this world and used it for the first time, he felt like he could see many things more than usual.

He couldn't remember what he was seeing at all because he was unable to control it.

It could be possible that subconsciously, he was controlling it so that it would not run out of control, making it possible for his current use.

But he had no idea how to remove that unconscious control.

"I will go tell everyone that I have obtained DIvine Protection from Kousuke-sama."

"Hm?"

Sylvia smiled at Kousuke, who wondered if he needed to bother telling them.

"If they knew I'm the only one with it, they'll all be mad at me."

"Oh, I see. Right."

Even if only by a test that he tried to give DIvine Protection to her, and he was not expecting it to work, it wouldn't be a good idea to keep quiet about it to everyone else, unless it was something dangerous.

"Yes. That being said, Kousuke-sama, please be prepared to give everyone DIvine Protection."

Sylvia said and stood up from her seat.

She was going to tell everyone as soon as possible.

Kousuke would just sit there and wait for everyone to arrive.

♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦

It did not take long for Sylvia to summon everyone there.

After everyone had gathered, Kousuke decided to give everyone DIvine Protection.

They were in the order in which Kousuke thought it was easiest for him to grant it.

More specifically, the order was based on the order in which Kousuke's Divine Power had accumulated.

Of course, the strongest was Sylvia, but she had already been given DIvine Protection, so she was excluded from the list this time.

The next strongest was, unexpectedly or perhaps as expected, Peach.

Sylvia often mentioned that Peach had the potential to become a priestess, and this may be a factor.

Next was Shrein, which was influenced by her consumption of Kousuke's blood.

As for the later two, Collete and Floria, they were about the same.

However, this did not mean that they had limited power, and DIvine Protection itself could be given to them without any problem.

All members were able to get Kousuke's Blessing.

At the same time as gaining DIvine Protection, <Evolution Sprout> was changed to <Evolution Growth> in all members.

This proved the point that getting DIvine Protection was one requirement for Evolution.

In a sense, this was a reasonable result, since it was true that the summoned beasts, until now, did require it for their evolution.

"Ah!?"

Peach suddenly shouted as Kousuke was checking everyone's status.

"What happened?"

"I was just surprised."

"What's wrong?"

"Did something happen?"

Everyone nearby was also surprised by Peach's condition.

"Well…. I'm starting to see something that looks like status too…"

""What?!""

The members, except for Kousuke and Peach herself, shouted in surprise.

"Whose, what kind of things are you seeing?"

"Is this… I'm uncertain if what I see is a name or species-? It's kind of vague, so I'm not confident about it."

"…Vague?"

Kousuke, who had only ever seen things clearly, tilted his head.

"It's like, when I'm doing fortune-telling, I can't see the future clearly, and I can only understand vague information~."

"That's… I wonder what it is?"

Kousuke had never been in such a state.

"Maybe it takes some training to be able to see properly?"

"Possibly so."

"Wait a minute."

Sylvia interrupted their conversation.

"Sylvia?"

"Peach-san, are you sure what you are seeing is status?"

"Eh~? Well, all I can see clearly is the name and the race…? Eh, eh~?"

Peach tilted her head as she talked.

"It's true, although I did mention that it was similar to the feeling I get when I'm doing fortune-telling. It feels more powerful."

Sylvia nodded in agreement to Peach's words.

"What do you mean?"

Kousuke asked Sylvia, who seemed to understand on her own.

"Maybe what the person can see is limited to the field in which they specialize."

"What? Well, she does specialize in fortune-telling, right?"

"That's right. I am not specialized in fortune-telling. So perhaps the strongest of the race's characteristics would be visible."

"I see. As I recall, succubus originally had a keen intuition, didn't they?"

From there, they have historically developed a special skill called divination.

"So, to make it easier to understand what they call intuition, it's made visible in the form of fortune-telling."

Collete nodded in agreement, as if he somehow understood what Sylvia was trying to say.

"I see. A race trait, huh?"

Shrein, a vampire, also had easy-to-understand racial characteristics, so it was somewhat easier to get to understand her.

Collete's race, the elves, also had easy to understand race characteristics in that sense.

The problem is….

"What is the race characteristic of humans?"

Floria questioned Sylvia.

"…I would say that having no race characteristics are a human's race characteristics."

At Sylvia's answer, both of them simultaneously lowered their shoulders in disappointment.

"No, no. If that's the case, then my power would also not have manifested."

Aside from the power in his right eye, the power in his left eye had already manifested way before Kousuke had become a living god in the first place.

"Well, there seems to be a variety of abilities within the same DIvine Protection, so it would be better to check them carefully before using them."

When Kousuke closed with that, everyone nodded in agreement.

Kousuke was tempted to pray that the power provided by Kousuke's Blessing could manifest within humans.

0

0

0

0

Chapter 3, About Divine Protection

As for the power of the Divine Protection for each member, they decided to leave it up to each of them.

When it came to race characteristics, Kousuke judged that it was better to leave the matter to each individual rather than to interfere with it himself.

However, Kousuke himself neither confirmed nor denied the conclusion that what could be seen was different depending on the characteristics of the race.

He did not think it was wrong, but he did not believe that was all there was to it.

"What do you mean?"

"Ah, well, I think it's true that the power is manifested according to the characteristics of the race, but I think that's just because that's how everyone is accustomed to using it."

Because they already possessed specific abilities, the Divine Protection manifested as a power they were familiar with.

If anything, he believed that the familiar ability was mixed with the power of Divine Protection, rather than manifesting the power of their tribal characteristic.

"You mean that the familiar power is expressed specifically in the form of a <Vision>?"

"Yes, yes, something like that. But ultimately, I guess it's mostly true that the race characteristic is also a power that one is familiar with."

It would not be surprising if some of them possessed specialized abilities that were outside their race traits.

He could not verify this, though, since none of the members, except for the Humans, had abilities outside their racial traits.

"So that means that if we are also good at something, there is a possibility that it could manifest as well."

"I see."

Sylvia and Floria also nodded, slightly relieved.

"So the point is that we can find out by trying it out with a power or ability that we are familiar with using. Then… Mm? What would apply to me?"

Kousuke chuckled as Floria thought about it.

"Well, what I just said is just a guess, so I don't know whether it's correct or not, you know?"

It was a pitiful thing indeed to say about a God's power, even though it was said by the God himself, but Kousuke decided to do so.

After all, this was the first time Kousuke was using it, so even he did not know what the exact answer would be.

Perhaps he would have to wait for a long time to find out.

"The only thing I do know is that when using the Divine Protection, you have to be aware of it."

The reason Peach was able to manifest the power of the Divine Protection a while back was obviously because she was aware of the Divine Protection.

Somehow, it made sense to Kousuke as well…

He didn't say he understood, but rather that he could feel it.

It was a new and indescribable feeling, but it was not unpleasant.

Whether this was felt precisely only by Peach, or by everyone who had Divine Protection, he was not sure.

Of course, that feeling did not stop Kousuke from doing what he wanted to do.

If those with Divine Protection were confused every time they used their power, then what could be going on with the goddesses who were giving Divine Protection much more than Kousuke?

"…Come to think of it, how many other goddesses have provided Divine Protection?"

It was Sylvia who answered Kousuke's question.

"The church is aware of only about four or five for each of the three major deities, right? Of course, there are probably some that the church is not aware of."

"In the first place, doesn't the church only know about the humanoid species? I'm sure they don't know that they are also bestowed to summoned beasts, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

Although Sylvia did not claim that the Divine Protection given by God was only for humans, it was beyond her imagination that it was given to monsters as well.

Sylvia, too, only learned about Divine Protection when she found out that Kousuke's summoned beasts were granted Divine Protection.

However, everyone here also learned for the first time about the Divine Protection of summoned beasts.

"Given that, does that mean that we won't know the exact number until we ask the Main Goddesses themselves?"

"I wonder if it's also possible that the Goddesses themselves don't have a grasp of it in the first place?"

Kousuke, who knew the actual situation with the Goddesses, wondered if it was possible, but he refrained from saying anything, considering the atmosphere.

"Well, I'll try asking them about it."

"That would be great."

Sylvia, who was unable to confirm or deny Shrein's opinion as a priestess, followed Kousuke's lead.

Kousuke wondered if Sylvia's opinion of the goddesses was okay, although it was clear that her opinion of the goddesses had declined compared to her initial response.

♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦

[It's not a problem, you know?]

He asked Eris about Sylvia's case, and she simply replied with that line.

[Really?]

[Yes. In the first place, faith is not just bowing your head and doing what you are told. Although it may be necessary to do so because it is a form of religion.]

[Oh, I see.]

[That said, I'm not inclined to give shelter to the rude people, but Sylvia was not someone like that, right?]

Sylvia herself, in fact, was a sincere believer of the existence of the Goddesses.

It was just that the form of that belief has changed from before.

[The form of faith is different for each person. Of course, faith that is equally formal is also a form of faith in itself.]

That was why the Goddesses never denied the existence of the church.

[For example, it may be true that we don't like formalities, but it would be a kind of coercion if we ordered them to follow it. For some people, it's nicer to follow the rules of etiquette, right? ]

If they unified everyone in one mold, that would be equivalent to coercion, after all.

[Indeed, that's true.]

[Once you get an organization as big as a church, you need things like etiquette no matter what. Otherwise, there will be strife.]

[…]

Eris's words of assurance made Kousuke understand that he already implemented this practice.

Currently, Kousuke disliked the attitude of being served to the extreme.

That was the reason why he did not keep priests in his church.

But there may come a time when this would no longer be the case.

The reason nothing happened now may be because the faith towards him was mostly limited to the area around Amamiya Tower, which was a local community.

[I don't mean to be misunderstood, but I don't deny your way of doing things, you know?]

Eris followed up with that comment after pointing out the things he was thinking about.

[…Really?]

[We have our own way of doing things, so should find one that works for you. Since your way of existence is different, why not do things differently as well?]

The God who existed in the real world and the Goddesses who were mostly present in the divine realm and only got involved in the form of oracles and Divine Protection.

Eris was trying to say that it would be only natural that the way of faith for the two would be different as well.

[Now, I know I sound preachy, but the original purpose of oracles was different, you know?]

[Oh, right, do you and the others remember who they have given Divine Protection to? ]

This was what he wanted to ask Eris in the first place, which just crossed his mind.

[I'd like to say of course, but unfortunately I don't.]

[Really?]

[Yes. For us, Divine Protection and similar things become our connection to the world…. If the connection is broken, of course, we forget about it. In the first place, our main job is the protection of the world.]

He now understood that the connection that Eris was referring to was that feeling that he felt from Peach.

At the same time, he realized that a broken connection meant that the other person lost faith in him.

[It's not so common for beings like us to be in a slippery situation, but… Still, that doesn't mean that we don't care at all…]

Kousuke also let out a sigh at the lonely tone in Eris's voice.

Someday, he would surely experience something like that himself.

[I see.]

[That's just how it is. Is this the end of what you want to ask me? ]

[Yeah, thank you.]

[You're welcome. But try to come here as often as you can, even if it's not a regular visit.]

[Hmm? ]

[Maybe it's because you've started coming here more regularly, but that fellow started complaining about how you should visit more often.]

[ahahahaha. I'll think about it]

[Please do so. Well then.]

[Ah. See you later.]

After Kousuke responded, the communication was cut off.

As Kousuke was able to hear about the situation on God's side, which was different from his original purpose, he thought it was a very informative talk for him as a new God who was starting to become aware of his own situation.

0

0

0

0

Chapter 4, Divine Protection for the Summons

Kousuke was currently on the 81st Floor.

The purpose was to grant Divine Protection to the black wolves.

While he was at it, he also wanted to grant Divine Protection to the white wolves to see what their evolution would be like. He wanted to see if there was any difference between the black and white wolves when there was and wasn't <Evolution Sprout> present. Naturally, he would compare it with the power of his right eye.

Since there was already some difference between the black wolves and the white wolves, it may not be a strict comparison, but that could not be helped.

It was not confirmed that individuals who were not marked with <Evolution Sprout> did not evolve.

It was known that some individuals evolve without <Evolution Sprout>, so there was no way to know for sure unless it was tested.

That was the reason why he was accompanied by Kouhi.

Though, they did not bring along the interpreter, Collete, with them.

It was partly because Collete was not available, and they considered calling the fairies to help them out in case of an emergency.

Naturally, they knew they might face some difficulties if they relied on fairies, because of how the fairies typically interpret things.

Nonetheless, the granting of Divine Protection to the wolves was completed without any particular problems.

Although Kousuke was expecting some differences from how he granted Divine Protection to Sylvia and the others, not major happened.

He started with the black wolves, those which already had <Evolution Sprout>, and granted it to them one by one.

There were ten of them in total, and it was difficult for him to remember all their names.

At first, he tried to remember them, but he suddenly thought of something else and decided not to do so.

He wanted to see if he could distinguish between individuals when he used the Divine Protection power, as he had done with Peach.

If Kousuke's prediction was right, there should be some variations in the way each individual used the Divine Protection, which he could use to distinguish them from each other.

He was thinking that it would be easier to remember them by these differences than by their individual names.

What surprised him after he granted them Divine Protection, was that some of the black wolves could already use it.

It was an interesting find, since they were not the first the Divine Protection was granted to. Kousuke did not even know what form of power that individual was using.

Eris had mentioned during their last chat that this was due to his status as a living god.

She said that if his status improves, he would be able to communicate with non-humanoid creatures to some extent.

She also mentioned that even if they could not directly communicate with him, he should be able to understand some things through the power of the Divine Protection.

"I wonder what you are seeing?"

"Kuun?"

He asked while stroking the neck of the wolf who had used the Divine Protection, but of course, the black wolf just tilted its head and did not respond back in words.

It was possible that something other than the sensation of 'vision' was being manifested, but as long Kousuke could not hold a conversation with it, he could not verify it.

He had Language Comprehension, but he did not have fairy language. Thus, he was unable to fully interpret what fairies say.

There was an option to have the interpreter interpret through Nana, but he decided not to do so since with two interpreters, it would most likely lead to incorrect interpretation.

After he finished with the black wolves, he granted Divine Protection to the white wolves.

He was only going to grant it to those that had already evolved a second or third time. He wanted to try on more, but he didn't know the limit of how many he could gramt, so he limited it for now.

After granting Divine Protection to another species, he would grant it to others if he could still do so.

He granted it to 10 white wolves as well, the same as the black wolves.

All the black wolves had <Evolution Sprout>. Except for that, there were no other discrepancies between the two groups of wolves chosen.

Incidentally, there were no criteria for the selection of the individuals. It was a completely random decision.

At first, Kousuke thought that he would select the ones that approached him first. However, when he thought of how some might have hesitated because of their personalities, he decided not to do so. Instead, he walked around and selected them at random.

He did not even ask Nana for her opinion. Typically, she was the one to choose, but Kousuke chose not to follow along this time. Though, by doing so, she made Nana look somewhat sad…

Nonetheless, he pretended not to notice.

It was not that he was being mean to her. He just wanted to trust his intuition.

After he became more aware of his status as a living god, he decided that he should trust his intuition when it came to Divine Protection.

Although he did not know whether his intuition was right or not, the individuals he had granted it to could start to use it soon after he granted it, even with the white wolves.

It was interesting that those that received Divine Protection later, were the ones who started using it first.

Though, there was probably also some unknown reason yet uncovered as to why more white wolves started using it than black wolves.

Nonetheless, these two groups did show that <Evolution Sprout> was not proof in itself that they would be able to use the Divine Protection.

If he had a good understanding of his own power like Eris and the others, even if they were of a different race, he would have given them sound advice, but as a new God, he was limited to what he understood at the moment.

Kousuke watched the wolves for a while, but when there were no notable changes happening, he decided to return to the Administration Floor…. But when he was about to do so, someone tugged at his clothes.

"Kuh~n!"

It was Nana, who was standing right beside him, watching the situation with him.

"… Hmm? What's wrong?"

At first, Kousuke didn't understand what Nana was trying to say, but then he noticed that she seemed to be somewhat sad and wanting something.

"…Could it be? Do you also want Divine Protection?"

"Au!"

Kousuke asked, and received a firm reply.

She seemed to understand exactly why Kousuke was giving them Divine Protection.

Otherwise, it might also be that she simply sensed that Kousuke was giving them some kind of power.

[There should be no problem in granting Nana Divine Protection, except for one thing…]

"Hmm. Hold on a minute, I'll ask Jal first."

Nana already had Jal's Divine Protection.

He wasn't sure if she could receive his Blessing or if it would overwrite it.

Nana waited quietly while Kousuke was communicating with Jal, and as if understanding Kousuke's situation, she responded immediately.

After the communication with Jal, the answer came back immediately.

It turns out, there would be no issues.

He also wanted to check the difference between Divine Protection and Blessing, but Jal was too busy(?) and immediately cut off the communication.

Kousuke did not find this to be an issue since she had already told him what he initially wanted to inquire about. And, she also made a promise that she would find time in her schedule to have a good chat with him later.

Thus, although their conversation ended pretty quickly, it was still very informative.

However, he had a bad feeling about the situation. Nonetheless, he decided to focus on granting Nana Divine Protection for now.

"I'll grant it since I've received permission."

"Auu!"

Nana came closer to him, wagging her tail happily.

He tried to grant her the Divine Protection the same way as before, but he felt a power that he did not feel from the others.

"What is this? …Oh, is this Jal's Divine Protection?"

At first, he wondered what it was, but soon he understood.

It was strange to say the least, but it was like understanding by feeling rather than by logic.

Unlike before, he knew that Jal's Divine Protection was there, so he gently placed his own Divine Protection on Nana, so as not to interfere with Jal's Divine Protection.

He didn't know how or why he could do such a thing when he first tried, but since he could do it, he just thought that it should be fine.

After granting Nana Divine Protection, he checked her status and confirmed that she had been given <Kousuke's Blessing>.

"This should be fine, right?"

"Au!"

She started licking his cheeks while wagging her tail. It was her way of saying thank you.

"As for how to use it… Just try it in your own way, just like everyone else."

"Au!"

Nana's cheerful reply made Kousuke glad he bestowed it onto her.

0

0

0

0

Chapter 5, Changes in Peach

After giving Divine Protection to the wolves, he went around to the other members of the household and gave them Divine Protection.

The foxes included ten each of the celestial and land foxes.

For the other summoned beasts, 10 of each species were selected.

He also selected those that did not have <Evolution Sprout>.

That should help confirm the extent to which Divine Protection affected evolution.

He also wanted to check how many Divine Protections could be given, but there seemed to be no upper limit, so he decided to hold back from going any further.

There was no particular reason, but he felt that it would be meaningless to overdo it with Divine Protection.

Incidentally, Kou and the other flying dragons were not given Divine Protection.

The reason was that he did not know whether the flying dragons were capable of evolving or not.

Of course, there was no problem in giving Divine Protection to them even if they did not evolve, but this time it was only for investigating how it would work with evolution, so it was decided that he would give it to them another time.

When he returned to the Administration Floor, Peach was sitting there with a puzzled look on her face.

"Nn? What's wrong?"

Peach looked up, as if noticing Kousuke's presence only after being called out.

"Yes~? Ah, Kousuke-san?"

Kousuke called out to her, but she seemed somewhat disoriented.

"Hey, hey, are you okay?"

Kousuke rushed over to Peach in a bit of a panic and began waving his hands from side to side in front of her.

"No~. I am feeling a little unwell, but it's not that bad… I was just a little confused by all the information I am receiving all at once."

With that line, he understood what kind of state Peach was in.

It was good that the power of Divine Protection had been manifested, but there was too much information obtained from that power, and there was a possibility that it was not being processed in time.

If it goes too far, it would be similar to when Kousuke first released the power of his left eye.

Of course, Divine Protection would not manifest that much power.

However, it would still be too powerful for Peach to handle.

It was not an Out of Control state, but it was close to it.

"If you release it in one go, the information may rush in all at once, and the result would be the state you are in now."

"That seems to be the case~"

"Uh, yeah. For now, you should meditate so that you can organize the information in your head."

He had heard that the information obtained from the eyes used most of the brain's power.

By forcing her to block it out, he believed that it would be better for her and to let her brain organize it as much as possible.

"I'll do that~."

Kousuke sat down next to Peach, who meditated after saying that.

Then he gently held Peach's head, which seemed to be unsteady, and laid her down on his lap.

"Fuwawa~ Kousuke-san~?"

Peach opened her eyes and looked surprised.

It was unusual for Kousuke to act like this in the daytime, so she was surprised.

"Well, this should be good for you once in a while, right? Take a good rest."

It was also unusual to see Peach with a slight blush.

Since it was a good opportunity, he decided to take the time to appreciate her elegant face.

"….I'll do that."

Although she showed some hesitation, Peach meditated as it was.

"Right, right. I think you'll feel better if you just go straight to sleep for a bit, you know?"

"Yes~"

Peach replied, already feeling comfortable.

Of course, it was not because Peach was sleepy, but because Kouhi was playing a prank on her.

He was wondering if it would be safe to use more magic on her when she was half out of sync because of the Divine Protection, but it appeared to be no problem, so he left it as it was.

Normally, the Collete and the others would come in and say, "No lovey-dovey," but they didn't bother them, and continued to keep the situation as it was until Peach woke up.

Peach woke up about two hours later.

The relaxation area on the Administration Floor was usually frequented by many people, but not a single person had passed through until now.

Kousuke thought that perhaps they had noticed Peach's unusual condition and had been reluctant to come in.

The reason being that Floria came in at about the same time Peach woke up.

"Oh? No one else is here? That's unusual."

"I was asleep earlier, so I didn't notice~?"

Peach said and looked at Kousuke.

"Yeah, no one has come in since Peach went to sleep."

"Hmm? You were sleeping? That's unusual. Is something wrong?"

Peach was usually laid-back, but rarely took a nap in front of anyone.

Other members of the group could often be found napping on the couch in the relaxation area where they were currently located.

"Ah, apparently she was overwhelmed by the power of Divine Protection."

"I was a little overzealous~."

Her tone was laid back, but she was slightly depressed.

"No, no. It's your first time using it, so there's no need to be depressed. I'm rather sorry I couldn't give you proper advice."

As a new God, he had no idea what would happen if he gave Divine Protection.

If this were Eris or someone like her, they would be able to give proper advice.

Floria, who saw that the two of them were both feeling depressed, became a bit flustered.

"Wait, wait. What's wrong with both of you being depressed together? It's the first time for both of you. It couldn't be helped, could it?"

Floria, who rarely consoles others, thought that the situation between the two of them was not good, so she tried to contain the situation.

Then came Floria's helping hand.

"Oh, my~! What is this atmosphere?"

"Father, what's wrong?"

Collete came in with Haku.

They had probably been on an inspection tour of the Tower together.

"No, I don't know what's going on. This is how it was when I arrived."

Since there was no choice, Kousuke explained how Peach had been groggy before falling asleep.

Hearing this, Floria and Collete looked at each other.

"Could it possibly be a form of magic sickness?"

"Or, as Kousuke said, it could be an outburst… I think it's magic sickness, too."

"Am I under the effects of magic intoxication? Am I?"

Magic intoxication was a kind of growing pains that occurred when a person who handled magic power rapidly increased the amount of magic power in their body.

Of course, in the case of divine power, the term "Divine Power Intoxication" would be used, although both meant the same thing in this case.

"What's Magic Intoxication?"

"Well, I don't know much about it, you know?"

Kousuke, asked by Haku, looked at Collete with an honest look on his face.

"No, I don't know much about it as well… Oh, Sylvia, please explain!"

Collete, who was in a tight spot when asked to explain, saw her savior Sylvia enter the room and turned to her.

"….Yes?"

Sylvia, suddenly asked to speak, naturally tilted her head, confused.

"I think I'm also magic intoxicated, though."

Shrein, who came in after Sylvia, said this after hearing the explanation.

Sylvia thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

"Well, that's right. I guess you could call it magical power sickness, or in this case, Divine Power Sickness."

""Divine Power Sickness?""

Sylvia continued to explain to everyone who tilted their heads.

"It was the same as before we got Divine Protection, and Peach-san is the best at handling Divine Power among us. Except for Kousuke-san, of course."

Everyone nodded at this explanation.

"I found out when I was training to use Kousuke-sama's Divine Protection that perhaps when you use Kousuke-sama's Divine Protection power, you are using Divine Power."

"I see. So, Peach, who is the best at handling Divine Power, was the first to manifest it?"

"Well, no. If anything, as I considered before, it was the race characteristics that manifested it first, and then followed by the handling of Divine Power."

Besides Peach, both Shrein and Collete had distinct racial characteristics.

But still, the fact that Peach was the first one to manifest the power of Divine Protection before anyone else included the fact that she was already adept at handling Divine Power.

"I think she became a little intoxicated with Divine Power because the Divine Power she has been dealing with for a long time was suddenly strengthened by the Divine Protection. But, of course, there seems to be a mixture of what I refer to as Kousuke-san's information overload."

Sylvia's accurate opinion made everyone look convinced.

"Oh, um… What I just said is not absolute either, so please take it just as a reference."

At one end, Sylvia reminded them so, but unfortunately, no one listened.

0

0

0

0

Chapter 6, Jewel

One day, a few days after Peach's Divine Power Intoxication.

Haku reported to Kousuke.

"Father, the Tower Level has reached LV5!"

"Oh? Does that mean that a new item has been unlocked?"

"Yes"

All the 4 attribute Towers had reached level 5 a few days before, except for the Northwest Tower.

He had confirmed that in the Northeast Tower, which was the first to reach level 5, unique items were unlocked at the same time it reached Tower Level 5.

The other two towers, the Southeast and Southwest, also had unique items unlocked at the same time they reached Tower Level 5.

The only tower left was the Northwest Tower, where Haku was responsible for administration, and it was finally unlocked.

The unique items unlocked at the Northwest Tower were as follows.

Name: Wind Jewel

Installation Cost: 300,000 pts (Divine Power)

Description: A unique item from the Northwest Tower. It can create a wind attribute barrier.

Since the Northeast Tower was <Earth Jewel>, the Southeast Tower was <Water Jewel>, and the Southwest Tower was <Fire Jewel>, the 4th Tower's item was as expected.

It was not known at this point what role these four jewels would serve.

In the first Tower managed by Peach, its effect was only that the surrounding dependents appeared to be able to learn earth-based magic more easily.

It was not yet confirmed whether the same thing would happen in the other Towers, and it was still not certain whether this was the jewel's actual effect.

It could have been because each Tower specialized in one of the four attributes in the first place, so it would be possible to create a dependent that originally corresponded to each of the four attributes.

"Have you installed it yet?"

"Yes. It's placed where everyone else is. They were kind of happy about it, you know?"

"I see."

When Haku says "everyone," she was, of course, referring to the floor where the mini-dragons were.

Mini-dragons were classified as dragons, so in a sense, they were the same species as Haku.

Incidentally, both the mini-dragons in Northwest Tower and those in Amamiya Tower had already evolved.

Since there were multiple evolutionary paths, it was difficult to specify the conditions of evolution, but it was certain that they had become as strong as the other species.

"Evolution… Oh, come to think of it, wasn't the Treasure Jewel series also qualified as a target for the right eye at one point?"

He confirmed this with Earth Jewel, but then he remembered that he had never checked the other jewels.

Since Haku was right in front of him, he decided to check what was going on with the <Wind Jewel>.

It was just installed, so there might be nothing there, but just in case.

♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦

Accompanied by Haku and Mitsuki, they headed for the floor where the <Wind Jewel> was located in the Northwest Tower.

Mini-dragons were gathered around the jewel.

Evolved individuals such as rock dragons and hell dragons were also in the same state.

Normally, mini-dragons would be feared by anyone other than the best adventurers, but the way they crowded around the treasure ball and pecked at it with their noses, they didn't look threatening at all.

However, even though they were pushing each other away, it may have been more of a playful gesture.

Anyway, it seems that <Wind Jewel> was an interesting presence for the dragons.

He checked with his right eye and found <Evolution Sprout> in the same way as the <Earth Jewel>.

He tried to see if he could give it DIvine Protection like he did with his dependents and members, but unfortunately, it didn't work.

"I guess it doesn't work out that conveniently, does it?"

He muttered with a wry smile, but then a thought occurred to him.

He wondered why he hadn't noticed it before, but he would reflect on it later.

For now, he wanted to try to do what came to his mind.

The first thing he did was to ask if he could do something, so he called Sylph over.

"Sylph, are you there?"

"Yes, yes. Did you call for me?"

"Yes, I did. Can you give this jewel Sylph's power?"

Kousuke pointed to the jewel, and Sylph began to wander around and touch it.

"… Hmmm… is it currently difficult?"

It was as he had expected to some extent, so he wasn't too depressed, but for a moment almost missed the important part.

"Well… Hmm? Currently?"

Kousuke, noticing Sylph's subtle phrasing, tilted his head.

"That's right. If I continue to put my strength into it, it might break."

"Oh. Like exceeding the allowable amount or something?"

"Yes, yes. Something like that."

As far as Sylph was concerned, it seemed that he was not wrong in his prediction that it would be a vessel to accept a fairy's power.

However, to accept that power, the jewel itself was still too fragile to accept power.

So, if the vessel could be made strong enough to accept the power…. Then, after thinking this far, he suddenly thought of something.

"… After all, it's the same as what I see with my right eye…"

Sylph and Haku looked at Kousuke, who fell to his knees in shock, in wonder.

♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦

"Well, now I'm stuck. I guess I'm back to square one."

What had worked with Sylvia and the others and their dependents turned out not to work with the jewel?

It was too naive to think that Divine Protection could be given to an object in the first place.

"The point is how to strengthen the jewel so that it can withstand the power of the fairies, right?"

Kousuke was troubled, and Mitsuki, who was standing beside him, asked him this.

"That's what I'm thinking."

"Can't you strengthen it with Divine Power, like when you create a sacred object?"

"….What? Ah!"

He realized that he had been thinking too hard after hearing Mitsuki's advice.

He had been thinking of it as strengthening the vessel of the soul, and it had never occurred to him that simply strengthening it with Divine Power might be sufficient to make it more durable in accepting the power of the fairies.

If that was the case, that would be within Kousuke's area of expertise.

He decided to ignore his own criticism that he had not thought of this.

With Peach's permission, he went to the floor of the Northeast Tower where the <Earth Jewel> was located.

While Peach, who had recovered completely from the Divine Power Intoxication, looked over, Kousuke checked the state of the Divine Power in the <Earth Jewel>.

If it had originally been enhanced with Divine Power, Mitsuki's idea would not have worked in the first place.

Fortunately, it was not enhanced with Divine Power, so it turned out that there was room for Kousuke's modification.

The problem, however, was how to strengthen it.

There were two ways to strengthen the item: to embed the jewel into an item and strengthen it as a whole, or to give Divine Power to the jewel itself and strengthen it.

Depending on which method was used, it would depend on whether the goal of the project could be achieved in the first place.

Normally, it would be better to strengthen the jewel itself, but it was not clear whether that strengthening would allow the fairy's power to be accepted.

"Oh, I see. So, that's the reason why that was done in the Vermilion Castle?"

Vermilinia Jewel and Vermilion Castle always existed as a set.

The jewel itself was too small to be used as a vessel for growth.

Of course, it would be possible to do so by packing them in, but it would be more stable to strengthen them as a set with an exterior.

Vermilion Castle itself was also a powerful castle, so he thought it had something to do with it, but if it was used for this purpose, it would make sense.

"Hmm. This doesn't seem to be working."

"There's still some other way~, I'm certain."

Peach, seeing Kousuke resigned, mistakenly consoled him.

"Oh, sorry. It's not that."

After apologizing for a moment, he discussed the thoughts he just had.

"…So, if you look into Vermilinia Jewel in detail, will you find anything~?"

"I mean, I can find out, or rather, I can use it as a reference, I should say?"

He wondered why he hadn't looked into it before, but he never thought about that in the first place.

However, there was hope that now he might have some understanding of how Vermilinia Jewel worked.

He didn't realize it yet, but Kousuke was going steadily on a path as one of the tool-making Gods.

0

0

0

0

Chapter 7, About Vermilinia Jewel

The Vermilinia Jewel was never a stand alone piece.

It always existed as a set with the Vermilion Castle and the head of the Vermilinia clan.

The three were in a relationship of mutual protection and guardianship.

For example, if the Vermilinia Jewel were to be lost, the castle could not exist, and if the head of the Vermilinia clan were to disappear, the jewel would also cease to exist.

It would not be difficult to lose a castle, but rather, whenever a situation arose in which a castle would be lost, one of the other two would always be lost.

Such interrelationships naturally influenced the creation of the Vermilinia Jewel.

Shrein once told him that the growth of the castle was related to the "quality" of the jewel, and the opposite was also true.

Of course, if the "quality" of the jewel did not grow, the castle would not grow on its own.

Kousuke considered the growth of this "quality" to be the "Jewel of Evolution".

Shrein now also believed this to be the case, but it was difficult for the members of the clan to accept the idea of a jewel evolving from a mere object when it came down to it.

That in itself was not particularly problematic, since it was not part of the purpose of this project.

"So? What did you find out?"

Kousuke shook his head when Shrein asked.

"It's not that I didn't find anything but more like it's difficult to tell."

Kousuke was now at the Vermilion Castle, where the jewel was enshrined.

It had already been several days since he was in this place.

Even though Kousuke was treated like the savior of the family, the place where he was now was the most important place for the Vermilinia clan.

There was no way that Kousuke, Kouhi or Mitsuki could be left alone here. They were usually accompanied by Shrein.

When Shrein was not available in the Tower Administration in the North, another person would accompany him.

However, even the Vermilinia family, except for Shrein, were forbidden to enter this place alone, so Kousuke's treatment was no less than exceptional.

Kousuke spent the past few days investigating the Vermilinia Jewel, but he had yet to unravel the full extent of how it worked.

Rather, he expected that what he found out was only about 30% of the whole picture.

"I see. So, does that mean it's still difficult to grow the jewels of the Four Attributes Towers as well?"

"Oh, no. I already have a rough idea about that one, you know?"

"….Huh?"

Shrein's eyes widened at the simple answer.

"What? Isn't that why you've been holed up in here?"

Finally, Kousuke realized that Shrein was mistaken.

No, in this case, it was Kousuke who was mistaken.

He would never have thought that in such a short time, he could decipher the mechanism of the Vermilinia Jewel, the most precious treasure of the Vermilinia Clan.

"No, what I was looking into was the Vermilinia Jewel itself?"

Kousuke's simple answer made Shrein felt dizzy.

"What do you mean? So, you've been holed up for the past few days, not investigating the Four Attribute Jewel, but the Vermilinia Jewel?"

"Yes. Well, at first, I was, but the more I looked into it, the more I got excited."

He was curious about the fact that a jewel of this size could contain a Vermilion Castle, and about the "Quality" linked to the head of a family, etc.

The more he investigated, the more interesting things came to light, and he became absorbed in the ongoing research.

"What do you mean? Are you saying that Kousuke knows how the Jewel was made?"

"No, that's a little too easy. All I know right now is the first clue, at best, you know?"

Shrein's head was spinning at the unbelievable information.

Vermilinia Clan and the Jade had existed together for a long time.

It was only natural that they had long been studying the mechanism of the jewel.

However, as if to mock the efforts of the researchers, not having the slightest idea of how it works, even after all the long years they spent and not even finding a clue, Kousuke overturned the Clan's research over the years in just a few days.

Shrein told Kousuke, who tilted his head at the sight of her, passionately talking about what he did.

"Oh… In other words, you don't want someone like me, who is just an outsider, to figure it out?"

"No! There is no one in the clan who would dare to say anything about Kousuke now. Rather, the problem is that Kousuke has uncovered a mystery that has not been uncovered until now."

"Umm, what do you mean?"

"Kousuke will be respected by the clan even more than before."

"Oh, I see… But it was really troublesome, you know?"

"…Why?"

"Because if one can't master Divine Power, one can't even look into it."

The point was that there was no one other than Kousuke who could handle the situation.

Of course, it would be a different story if they could summon even one of the Goddesses from the divine realm.

"Ah, so that's what you meant."

Shrein nodded in agreement, then slumped.

Using Divine Power means, of course, that it would be a divine tool.

That means that even if research progressed and the mechanism was understood, it would be impossible to recreate it.

The reason the family members were studying the jewel in the first place was to replicate it, and now it was discovered that it was impossible to do so.

"…I guess it's a good thing it was found out, it's hard to duplicate."

"It's not impossible to do, I think."

"Would that be the case if it was Kousuke who recreated it?"

"Well, that's for the future to decide."

"That doesn't make any sense!"

"Ah, that's just how it is."

This time, Kousuke nodded.

"Well, if there are people in the Clan who can use Divine Power and are good at making magical tools, I wonder if they could manage?"

Vampires had longer lifespans, so it would not be impossible if they were taught patiently.

Incidentally, vampires in this world were long-lived, not undead.

However, their lifespan was so long that it would be difficult for a human being to comprehend it.

"What a depressing prospect!"

Even with that sense of longevity, Kousuke's words were unnerving.

"Well, I wonder if it would be worth it to make two identical ones."

"Hmm? What do you mean by that?"

Shrein asked Kousuke, meaning that it would be important not to make two, but several castles to serve as a base.

"Because each [Clan Leader] is supposed to inherit one of these jewels, right?"

With these words, Shrein understood what Kousuke meant.

The fact that there were two jewels would mean that there would be two Clan Leaders.

Kousuke's words indicated that one Clan Leader could not have more than one jewel.

"If it were possible for a chief to have more than one, there would be a way to utilize them, you know"

"Well, maybe that is possible?"

Kousuke returned a wry smile.

In short, it was not yet confirmed at this point that such a specification was not possible.

"I doubt that is the case, though."

"But, I guess, that's just how it was supposed to work?"

"Yes, I think so."

"By the way, do you still want to continue the investigation?"

If he already had some idea of what he wanted to do, there was no need to continue the investigation.

"Hm? If it's okay to continue the research, I'd like to continue, but if not, I'll stop?"

"You want to duplicate it, don't you?"

"Yes, if I could, that is. The technology used in this is very versatile. I'd still like to take a look at it for future reference, wouldn't you want to?

Since the technique involved using Divine Power, it could only be used by a select few, but there would still be many things that could be used as a reference.

"Then you may investigate until you are satisfied."

"Thanks."

"Don't mind it. After all, it would also benefit our people eventually."

Of course, even when Shrein said so, she wasn't really expecting anything in return.

"Hahaha. I'll keep that in mind."

Kousuke replied with a laugh and went back to investigating the treasure.

Shrein said it as if he were joking, but somehow she knew that the tools Kousuke developed would be useful in various places, so she fully understood that what Kousuke said was less of a joke.