Yesterday, a group of over ten people had gathered at the location Kousuke had indicated on the blueprints.
Kousuke and his party, as well as the Temple Head and other priests, were gathered there.
From their appearance, it was clear these priests were capable of combat, fitting the description of guards for the Temple Head.
Their equipment, such as the swords hanging at their waists, suggested they had no intention of hiding it.
Kousuke, having a feeling about their purpose, didn’t say anything about it.
The Temple Head approached Kousuke and asked.
“Is this the place? It looks like there’s nothing here to me.”
“Yes. However, try to sense the divine power.”
Kousuke said this, knowing that the Temple Head was a person who could properly sense divine power.
After a while, the Temple Head tilted his head.
“Certainly, it seems the divine power has disappeared around here, but it doesn’t feel that unnatural?”
“That’s because you’re not accustomed to this kind of investigation. If you do it more, you’ll be able to distinguish these mechanisms.”
As the two were conversing calmly, one of the priests joined in.
“Hey! Never mind that, hurry up and open the door!”
Given that he was organizing the priests, that man was likely a high-ranking priest.
Kousuke felt a slight sense of discomfort at him speaking out of turn before the Temple Head, but since the Temple Head himself said nothing, Kousuke and the others decided not to mind it.
Without showing any of these thoughts on his face, Kousuke glanced at the Temple Head.
Kousuke had only received permission to open this entrance from the Temple Head, so he decided to listen to the Temple Head’s opinion.
Catching Kousuke’s gaze, the Temple Head nodded.
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The mechanism to open the door had already been found yesterday.
He placed his palm on the “mechanism” and released a small amount of divine power.
He already knew that the mechanism here was designed to be activated only by divine power.
Of course, he was being careful not to be noticed by the Temple Head and the others.
If Kousuke’s divinity were revealed here, everything could become a wasted effort.
Following Kousuke’s manipulation, an entrance barely large enough for a person to pass through opened in what seemed to be a blank space.
Seeing this, the priest who had urged him to open the door earlier grinned.
“Alright. You’ve done enough. We’ll investigate from here on!”
As soon as he said that, the priests entered the opening.
“Haa.”
Kousuke responded with a half-hearted reply to a development that was, in a way, as expected.
Furthermore, Shurein stopped Peach, who was about to say something.
“Let them do as they please. It will be futile even if they go in first.”
Hearing Shurein say that with a composed expression, Peach immediately relented.
Looking at Kousuke, she could tell he was confident about something.
Seeing them, the Temple Head looked at them with a puzzled expression.
“Aren’t you going to stop them? The credit for discovering this door first should be yours, shouldn’t it?”
Judging by his expression, it seemed the Temple Head hadn’t noticed Kousuke using his divine power.
Kousuke shrugged at the Temple Head.
“It will be futile even if they go in first.”
“What do you…?”
Just as the Temple Head was about to ask “What do you mean…?”, the priest who had gone inside earlier returned.
His expression was clearly irritated.
“There’s another door ahead! You go and open it. From there on, we’ll do the investigation this time!”
Kousuke shrugged at the priest who said that.
“I believe it will be futile?”
“What!?”
“I think, likely, the place beyond the next door is designed so that only those with permission can pass.”
“What did you say…!?”
The priest’s expression became one of surprise at Kousuke’s words.
The Temple Head, watching him, interjected.
“Who is the person with permission?”
“In this case, it would be me, who opened the door.”
Kousuke answered immediately, and the Temple Head continued.
“…Looking at your previous actions, it seems you already knew how this mechanism works from the beginning.”
Kousuke nodded without hiding anything at these words, which sounded like a question yet also a statement of fact.
“Yes. I knew to some extent.”
“What did you say…!?”
It was not the Temple Head, but the priest who exclaimed at Kousuke’s answer.
To the priest, Kousuke explained, as if to clear up a misunderstanding.
“Please don’t misunderstand. I don’t know the mechanism of this temple itself? I only know that there is a similar mechanism in another Divine Gift.”
At Kousuke’s words, the Temple Head’s expression became one of interest.
“Oh? Where is that?”
“I can’t possibly say that. You must also commission external parties for the investigation of Divine Gifts and impose confidentiality obligations, right?”
Indeed, it was natural to impose confidentiality obligations, so the Temple Head and the priest fell silent.
If he were someone who blabbed everything, then this matter would also be disclosed.
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“Now, what will you do? The choice is between pretending we didn’t see this and closing the entrance, or letting us enter.”
When Kousuke asked this, the priest’s expression became as if he had bitten into a bitter gourd.
Watching his reaction, the Temple Head sighed.
“It can’t be helped. Can you open the next door?”
“Is just opening it enough?”
“…What do you mean?”
“As I said earlier. Given the mechanism of this temple, only those with permission can pass. In other words, at this stage, only those I permit can pass.”
Kousuke paused before continuing.
“Would it be alright if only we could pass?”
At those words, the priest directed a piercing gaze at him.
If gazes could wound, he would have suffered a fatal blow.
“Naturally, we want everyone here to be able to pass!”
“Who are you to say that? At worst, there’s a possibility of weapons being drawn, do you think anyone would commit suicide like that?”
Kousuke’s expression became one of exasperation at the priest who continued to glare at him.
“…Understood. Then, would it be possible for us to be able to enter, say, five people, similar to your group?”
“Temple Head…!!”
The Temple Head made that proposal.
Beside him, the priest shouted, but Kousuke, whether intentionally or not, ignored him and looked at Kousuke.
He had cheekily counted Nana in the number, but that should be no problem.
Rather, it wouldn’t be a problem even if everyone followed, but he had no intention of explicitly stating that.
“I don’t know until I touch the door ahead, but it will probably be alright.”
“Then, may I ask you to do that? If not, we will give up on further investigation.”
That was probably the Temple Head’s maximum concession.
Kousuke also had no intention of completely shutting out the priests, so he agreed to the Temple Head’s proposal.
After all, if Kousuke and his party intended to go inside alone, they would have sneaked in secretly without opening it in front of them from the start.
Shurein and the others understood this, so they did not interfere with this exchange, and it was decided that they would proceed further with a limited number of people.
