It was midnight.
This was usually a time for deep sleep, but unusually, Kousuke was suddenly awakened.
“Mr. Kousuke, Mr. Kousuke, please wake up~”
“Hm? Fua…? Peach?”
Kousuke was completely groggy, and in the still dark room, he managed to make out Peach.
Then, confirming that the surroundings were still completely dark, he immediately sensed that something had happened.
Kousuke shook his head left and right to dispel his grogginess.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“I’m sorry to bother you at this hour~ But, there’s been a sudden change at the fortune teller’s place…”
“Yeah. Understood. What happened?”
“Well, it seems the water mirror has been stolen…”
Upon hearing Peach say that, Kousuke’s mind went blank for a moment.
“…Huh?”
“Stolen. Apparently, there was someone watching who saw a night thief sneak in and take it.”
Since they were under strict orders not to interfere, the people monitoring the fortune teller could only watch.
Of course, they had properly confirmed where the thief took it.
Having understood the situation after hearing Peach’s story, Kousuke asked further questions.
“Is that fortune teller aware of it?”
“No. It doesn’t seem like it~ They said it was the work of a complete professional.”
Although it was kept in a different room, the thief didn’t wait for the owner to leave; they waited until she slept before entering the room next to her to steal it.
There was no doubt that the culprit was highly skilled.
“This is going to be troublesome.”
Realizing that someone quite significant was operating behind the scenes, Kousuke clutched his head in the darkness.
He wanted to say, “Why didn’t you keep it in the same place as your bedroom?” but in fact, it was more likely that the same thing would have happened even if they had.
The words of the observers were that the thief’s skill was that high.
When he heard that the water mirror was stolen, Kousuke’s first concern was about something else.
“So? Did it go berserk or anything?”
“No. Nothing of the sort seems to have happened~”
Peach knew what Kousuke would be concerned about, so she immediately confirmed it with the person who came to report, but received the answer that no significant changes had occurred.
Hearing that reply, Kousuke sighed in relief, but at the same time, he furrowed his brow.
“Hmm. That’s strange? I thought something might happen in such a situation, regardless of whether it went berserk or not?”
Kousuke had thought that the water mirror chose to be used as a tool because it liked the female fortune teller.
However, the fact that it hadn’t taken any action in spite of being stolen meant that Kousuke’s prediction might have been wrong.
What could it mean? Kousuke thought, but shook his head.
For now, he had to think about what to do about the water mirror. But the answer came to him quickly.
“For now, I want you to continue to keep track of where the water mirror is, as before. Given the situation, it has likely gone to a less than reputable place…”
After all, stealing someone’s belongings meant there was no guarantee of them being treated properly.
Before, they only had to keep an eye on one woman, but from now on, they were in a situation where they had no idea how the water mirror would be treated.
It could be said that surveillance had become even more difficult than before.
Seeing Kousuke’s slightly anxious expression, Peach gave a small smile.
“That’s alright~ That’s why we’re here.”
Peach added, “Please don’t worry,” and Kousuke smiled back.
“Right. It’s fine to just observe for now. Just don’t lose track of it.”
“Yes~ Understood. I’ll let them know.”
As Kousuke gave his instructions, Peach nodded in return.
Having received her temporary orders, Peach returned to the village.
While the content of the instructions hadn’t changed from before, it was undeniable that more caution was required.
With that and other factors included, precise instructions were necessary to some extent.
Kousuke watched Peach leave the management layer and returned to his own room to try and get some more sleep.
Since the report from Peach came in late at night, the information was relayed to the other members the next morning.
In place of Peach, who had returned to the village, Kousuke reported to everyone.
Upon hearing the report, the expressions of everyone present became uniformly grim.
“That’s… an unexpected development… or perhaps, an inevitable one?”
“To boldly steal from right next to the owner as they sleep. That’s bold, but aren’t they too defenseless?”
“Normally, someone with such skill wouldn’t steal from their own home. Not if they lived in a mansion, at least.”
Floria, Shurein, and Silvia each voiced their thoughts. By the way, Colette was busy with child-rearing in the village and hadn’t been to the management layer much recently.
After sharing their impressions, Floria turned her gaze to Kousuke.
“So? How do we respond to this?”
“Well, about that. After thinking about it for a bit, I feel like we should continue as before.”
“Oh?”
Most people would think it dangerous to be in the hands of a thief, but Kousuke had reconsidered this thought shortly after receiving Peach’s report.
“Whether it’s with the fortune teller, the thief, or a collector, I don’t think the situation for the water mirror itself changes much.”
At Kousuke’s words, Floria and the others exchanged glances.
Essentially, a divine tool like the water mirror wouldn’t care about the owner’s position.
As long as it wasn’t treated roughly, there was no particular problem.
Even if it fell into the hands of a thief, they hadn’t stolen it to destroy it on the spot; they had stolen it from the fortune teller because they believed they could sell it for a high price.
Naturally, they would treat it with care until it was sold.
In that sense, it didn’t matter whose hands the divine tool ended up in. Whether the fortune teller possessed it or a collector did, these were merely human standards.
“I see. Now that you mention it, that’s true.”
“Hmm. So we shouldn’t consider human morality.”
Schreien and Floria nodded in agreement at Kousuke’s somewhat characteristic (perhaps?) explanation.
“Does that mean we’ll just wait and see?”
“Yes. Well, unless it’s being treated extremely roughly.”
Kousuke nodded in response to Silvia’s question. Floria added to Kousuke’s statement.
“Besides, the fortune teller will surely file a police report. Once that happens, won’t the guards get involved?”
“Probably. We’ll leave that to the proper authorities. It’s not our place to interfere.”
As Kousuke stated decisively, Silvia looked at him with a worried expression.
“That’s fine, but then, what are the conditions for a divine tool to go berserk?”
“Hmm. I wouldn’t say all divine tools are like that, but perhaps when they’re subjected to something completely unrelated to their original purpose?”
What Kousuke meant was situations like using the water mirror as a shield this time, or perhaps being experimented on under the guise of investigation.
“In that sense, it might be more dangerous if it were in the temple.”
“That… I can’t deny that.”
Silvia couldn’t deny it, as the temple had indeed caused such accidents a few times in the past. Moreover, come to think of it, the divine tool rampages that Silvia knew of often occurred when they were subjected to situations similar to what Kousuke had just described. Of course, there were also cases where divine tools like swords went berserk because they couldn’t handle the power during battle.
In any case, no one opposed Kousuke’s conclusion to wait and see.
Ultimately, even if they tried to prevent divine tools from going berserk beforehand, if they didn’t know the circumstances that caused it, there was nothing they could do. Rather, it remained the same that Kousuke, as an avatar of God, getting involved clumsily might make it more prone to rampage.
It was stolen! lol
And again, Kousuke contemplated. Frankly, he felt it wouldn’t make much difference whose hands it was in. He concluded that as long as it wasn’t strangely analyzed, all they needed to do was keep track of its location.
