Kokoro slowly awakened her consciousness.
She had been undergoing training to commune with the gods.
Though initially struggling with communicating with the gods, Kokoro, now blessed by three deities and additionally by Kousuke, found it no longer particularly difficult.
Nowadays, she rarely failed unless something significant happened.
From Silvia’s perspective, who was watching over Kokoro’s training, she possessed talent far exceeding her own.
However, Kokoro, with the blessings of three deities, already possessed an unprecedented level of intellect.
That said, looking far back into the past, there were individuals who had received the blessings of multiple gods.
Kokoro, too, could be said to have reached the same stage as those individuals.
Even after finishing the awakening of her consciousness, opening her eyes immediately would lead to an accident.
However, even such an accident was minor, only causing symptoms like dizziness or anemia in her body.
Normally, she would slowly adjust her physical condition before opening her eyes, but on this day, she inadvertently made a mistake.
“Elder Sister!”
Because of Luca’s voice, she reacted reflexively and immediately opened her eyes.
As expected, she felt dizzy, quickly closed her eyes, and placed a hand on her temple.
Although it had become less frequent recently, it was a mistake she used to make often before, so she was accustomed to dealing with it.
Feeling unwell due to the dizziness was entirely her own fault.
After managing to restore her condition as usual and slowly opening her eyes, she saw Luca looking at her with a worried expression.
“I-I’m sorry. Are you alright?”
Luca had always been told by Silvia not to casually speak to Kokoro while she was training.
Despite that, she had something she wanted to ask her older sister quickly and ended up calling out to her.
If she had been in the midst of communicating with the gods, she would have been focused and likely wouldn’t have responded to Luca’s calls. However, the timing was bad.
To Luca, who was still watching her with concern, Kokoro shook her head, indicating she shouldn’t worry.
“Don’t worry, I’m alright. I should have responded normally even when you called, but I couldn’t. It’s due to my lack of training.”
Having said that, Kokoro took a deep breath and slowly stood up.
She still felt a little unsteady, but it wasn’t as strenuous on her body as she had expected.
Standing up, Kokoro managed a smile to reassure Luca.
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Since Luca had something to tell Kokoro, they moved to another location.
The place they had been moments before was a sacred space for Kokoro.
Furthermore, she felt as if the gods were watching her, making it impossible to have a calm conversation.
Still wearing the shrine maiden outfit she had worn for training, Kokoro turned her gaze to Luca.
“So, what is it?”
“I wanted to ask you something, Elder Sister.”
Kokoro had known from the start that Luca had something she wanted to ask her.
She prompted Luca to continue with her gaze alone.
“How do I use this?”
Saying that, Luca presented something that looked like a bracelet.
The moment she saw it, Kokoro’s eyes widened.
“What are you saying? This is a Divine Tool. There’s no way you can use it.”
What Luca presented was one of the Divine Tools that Silvia normally used.
More precisely, it was something Kousuke had given her in the past and she used to use.
Although she rarely used it now, having received a new Divine Tool from Kousuke, it was undoubtedly one of Kokoro’s precious Divine Tools.
She inwardly marveled at how casually he would give such an important item to his own son.
However, Luca’s impression of the item seemed different from what Kokoro had imagined.
Shaking her head, Luca said to Kokoro, “That’s not true. All the magic circles imbued in this tool have been rewritten so that I can use it… But, I still can’t use it.”
With those words, Kokoro understood what Luca was trying to say and inwardly sighed.
Kokoro understood what Luca meant.
If what Luca possessed was a magic tool, then what she was saying would be entirely correct.
Important magic tools are usually restricted so that only specific individuals can use them.
However, if one were to properly analyze and rewrite the magic circles, it would be possible to bypass such restrictions.
Of course, this was a near-trick, and normally something most people couldn’t do.
It was solely possible due to Luca’s skill and talent.
Unfortunately, the Divine Tool that Luca was holding did not fall into that category.
To Kokoro, this was a matter of course, but it seemed Luca didn’t understand.
“Now, what should I do?” Kokoro pondered inwardly.
Perhaps it had been fine for Luca until now, but maybe from now on, she would need to learn about the essence of Divine Tools as well.
Having thought that far, Kokoro asked Luca a question that suddenly occurred to her.
“Speaking of which, how did you get that Divine Tool?”
“I confirmed with Mother and then Father gave it to me.”
Hearing Luca’s answer, Kokoro was convinced.
Kousuke, their father, was telling Luca to aim even higher than she already was.
Kokoro, after a moment of deliberation, decided to state the facts clearly.
Luca seemed to be a little too proud of herself regarding magic circles at the moment.
Indeed, with such skill, it was impossible for others around her to stop her.
She decided to see this as a hurdle that Kousuke had prepared for her.
“If you change the magic circles to restrict the user to Luca, you can use that magic tool as your own. Is that correct?”
Luca nodded with an expression that said, “Of course,” at Kokoro’s explanation.
However, her expression froze at Kokoro’s next words.
“But with that, you cannot use the Divine Tool.”
“…Wh-why?!”
To Luca, who let out a scream-like voice, Kokoro wore a troubled expression.
It was obvious to Kokoro, but she didn’t know how to explain it to Luca.
Troubled, Kokoro decided to use an analogy.
Those who can create magic tools can sometimes create items that surpass those made by exceptionally skilled wizards.
For instance, like imbuing the magic mastered by a top-tier wizard into a magic circle to be treated as a tool.
The effect would be exactly the same, but here lies a pitfall that magic tool crafters fall into.
They mistakenly believe they have acquired the ability to wield that magic themselves.
While the outcome is indeed the same, there is a significant difference.
Wizards undergo various forms of training to use that magic.
Of course, magic tool crafters also learn the techniques and power required to create tools, but it is completely different from that of a wizard.
Luca wore a subtle expression, as if she understood but didn’t quite grasp the analogy.
It was a common story told to those aspiring to be magic tool crafters, so Luca understood it well.
However, she couldn’t quite connect it to the current situation.
“…Are you saying that magic tools and Divine Tools are completely different things?”
“No, it’s not that… Well, you understand that Divine Tools are a type of magic tool that uses Divine Power, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then, what is Divine Power?”
At Kokoro’s question, Luca’s expression became one of being caught off guard.
From Kokoro’s perspective, she looked as if she had never considered that point before.
Confirming this, Kokoro sighed and said, “You’ll have to start by thinking about that.”
Divine Tools are called so because they utilize Divine Power, yet Luca had not tried to understand that at all.
However, this was also partly because Divine Power is not something generally known to the public.
Nevertheless, if one intends to learn about Divine Tools, it is natural that they must first know about Divine Power.
Kokoro told Luca that they would start from there.
Luca has hit a wall.
While it may seem late to bring this up, her ability to overcome it depends entirely on herself.
If she remains fixated only on the magic circles, it will become an insurmountable wall.
