Today, the bookmark registrations exceeded 9,000.
The cumulative PV has also surpassed 25 million.
Woohoo!!!!
We were able to reach this point thanks to all of you who are always watching.
Thank you.
In a room on the management layer, Kokoro was practicing Zazen.
She was practicing to be able to sense the gods’ presence without relying on divine tools.
Kokoro could already perform Divine Union with Clara using the divine tool made by Kousuke without any problems.
However, that was only with the assistance of the divine tool.
While there’s nothing wrong with relying on tools, the essence of being a Shrine Maiden or Priest is to be able to sense the will of the gods through one’s own power.
Of course, Silvia is still undergoing similar training.
She is currently watching over her daughter’s training.
The room where Kokoro is currently training was originally built by Silvia for her own training.
This room, like the temples of Mikusen and the ones on the fifth floor, has a path leading to the Divine Realm, which is why the gods’ presence lingers there.
It can be said to be the best environment for a Shrine Maiden’s training.
However, the room itself is not particularly large.
It was just a vast space of about five meters square.
Still, it is probably a sufficient space for one person to train.
Originally, it could have been a little smaller, but that much space was necessary to connect to the path to the Divine Realm.
There was nothing even Kousuke could do about this.
Observing Kokoro, Silvia’s eyes widened when she noticed Kousuke entering the room.
It was rare for Kousuke to enter this room while she was training.
This was because it was unpredictable how Kousuke, as an avatar of God, would affect her training if he entered.
“Is… something the matter?”
Silvia spoke in a low voice, being considerate of Kokoro, who was concentrating.
Kousuke brought the index finger of his right hand to his mouth and gestured for her to be quiet.
Silvia, understanding his meaning, silently turned her gaze back to Kokoro.
Meanwhile, Kokoro, who was concentrating, had not noticed Kousuke entering the room.
She was completely overwhelmed trying to sense the divine energy permeating the room.
She had never succeeded in sensing divine energy.
With the help of divine tools or Silvia, she could sense it, but when she was alone, she suddenly couldn’t find it.
Silvia told her that she basically needed to do the same thing as when using divine tools, but she just couldn’t manage it.
Kokoro herself felt like she was doing the same thing, but it never worked, no matter how many times she tried.
Just as Kokoro was about to give up, thinking today would be another failure, she felt “something” different.
It felt similar to the presence she felt during Divine Union with Clara, yet completely different, a strange sensation.
However, the presence felt somehow familiar, like a presence she felt regularly, a very close one.
She wondered what kind of presence it was for a moment, but she was able to immediately sense whose presence it was.
To Kokoro, it was the closest divine presence.
It was unmistakably the presence of her father.
Kousuke normally lived his life suppressing his divine energy.
Therefore, this was the first time Kokoro had sensed Kousuke’s divine energy.
Even so, she was able to immediately sense whose divine energy it was.
Although she was sensing it for the first time, a feeling of fulfillment spread within her from the familiar presence.
It was immediately after that.
She realized there was another divine presence right beside Kousuke’s divine presence.
There wasn’t just one, but several presences.
She could feel them clearly as if it were strange that she hadn’t been able to feel them until now.
As she sensed these divine presences, she realized they were the divine presences of other gods.
There was even the presence of Clara, who was the second closest god to Kokoro after Kousuke.
The moment she shouted “I did it, I succeeded” in her mind, there was the sound of hands clapping.
When Kokoro suddenly opened her eyes, Silvia and Kousuke were in front of her, with their hands clasped and smiling.
“Well done.”
Kousuke stroked Kokoro’s head with his right palm, as she still hadn’t fully come out of her meditative state.
“Kokoro, can you stand?”
“Huh?… Ah?!”
“Oops…”
When Silvia told her to stand, Kokoro’s knees buckled before she could fully stand up.
Kousuke, who had anticipated this, supported her with his left hand before she could fall.
“It’s better not to push yourself. You should rest as you are today.”
“That’s right.”
Silvia nodded in agreement with Kousuke’s words.
“Ah, Father, wait a moment.”
As Kokoro was about to close her eyes again, Kousuke tapped her head.
“Hey. Listen to what people tell you. You can’t do any more today.”
“But…”
Kokoro felt a sense of wastefulness about the presence she had finally managed to sense, feeling a reluctance to let go.
“It’s alright. You were able to sense divine energy once, so you’ll be able to sense it next time too.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Silvia also nodded with certainty to Kokoro, who tilted her head.
“Then, I’ll rest for today.”
As soon as Kokoro said that, Kousuke lifted her body with a hoist.
“Eh?!”
Surprised by the suddenness, Kokoro looked at Kousuke’s face.
“In your current state, you can barely walk, can you? I’ll carry you like this.”
“Okay!”
Kokoro nodded happily, as it had been a while.
Kousuke ordered Kokoro to stay quietly in bed until dinner, then he immediately returned to the training room.
Silvia was right beside him.
As soon as they entered the training room and closed the door, Kousuke let out a sigh and said,
“Haa~. Isn’t this a bit too generous?”
Silvia blinked at Kousuke’s words.
Silvia herself had not been trying to sense divine energy so as not to interfere with Kokoro.
Therefore, she had no idea what was happening in the room right now.
At the same time Silvia was wondering about it, she heard giggling sounds from the surrounding area.
And it wasn’t just one or two laughs, but multiple ones.
If it were any other place, it would be downright horrifying, but since they knew who it was, neither Kousuke nor Silvia felt creeped out.
Moreover, Silvia was more concerned about the sheer number of voices, her face turning pale.
“It’s fine. Your child was able to connect for the first time. Everyone is curious.”
Jal answered on behalf of the many voices.
“Haa. Honestly… If that’s the case, you could have just said so from the beginning.”
“But that wouldn’t be interesting, would it?”
“You could have stopped me too, couldn’t you, Eris?”
“I can’t.”
Eris immediately replied to Kousuke’s grumbling.
“Uhm… Who exactly has come… no, how many of you are here?”
In the current training room, the number of divine presences was so overwhelming that even Silvia couldn’t count them accurately.
There was Clara, whom Kokoro was the first to sense, and starting from the Three Great Gods, there were even divine presences that Silvia was sensing for the first time.
In response to Silvia’s question, Kousuke shrugged his shoulders.
“Who knows? I don’t think a hundred have connected, but I haven’t counted precisely. Shall I ask?”
If Kousuke asked, the gods would probably answer properly.
However, Silvia shook her head from side to side, refusing.
It was understandable that Silvia was acting this way.
Being able to sense the gods’ presence without the aid of divine tools is equivalent to having the possibility of receiving their blessings.
Conversely, it could be said that the number of gods present right now all want to bestow their blessings upon Kokoro.
It was understandable that Silvia turned pale, thinking about Kokoro’s future in light of this unexpected situation.
In reality, Kokoro was like an animal in a zoo enclosure.
