Several days have passed since I obtained the Magatama Divine Tool.
While living a peaceful life, Kousuke was contemplating what to do about the last Divine Tool.
It was while he was half-asleep, lounging on the sofa in the lounge space, that a message reached Kousuke.
“Mr. Kousuke, can I come in now~?”
“Hmm…? Peach? What’s up?”
After Kousuke sat up, Peach began to speak.
“The leader says she has something to discuss. It seems she’s caught a rumor that this might be a Divine Tool~”
Giselle, the leader of the Succubi, had been gathering rumors about Divine Tools for a long time.
Of course, the rumors she gathered were not just about Divine Tools, but varied widely. Giselle’s role was to extract the ones that stood out.
Giselle stumbled upon this particular rumor on the very day Wanri brought the Divine Tool back from Seuri Forest.
After several days of verification, they concluded it was likely true, and the information was then passed on to Peach.
Kousuke wore an indescribable expression after hearing the story from Peach.
“On the same day Wanri brought it back, huh? What a coincidence.”
“It really is~. But I think it’s just a coincidence, don’t you?”
Giselle receives a massive amount of information daily, brought in by the Succubi.
Naturally, this information is prioritized, but the piece Giselle saw was buried among low-priority items.
Considering that, it’s reasonable to assume that its discovery on the same day as Wanri’s was purely a coincidence.
“Yeah. Well, I suppose so.”
With information arriving so conveniently, Kousuke couldn’t help but suspect some external involvement.
However, he also knew that, in this particular case, it was likely just a coincidence.
After all, the search for Divine Tools was a request from the Goddess, so he didn’t expect any other Goddesses to interfere.
Regardless of whether the rumor was true or not, there was no point in doubting that the information had come to light at this exact moment.
Thinking this, Kousuke shook his head and shifted his focus.
“So, when should I go to see her?”
While Kousuke could go anytime, Giselle was also the leader of her clan.
It wasn’t easy to impose on her schedule with her own convenience.
That was his thought when he asked, but Peach smiled at him.
“She said you can come anytime. Please come at your convenience~”
“Huh? Is that alright?”
Peach’s casual reply made Kousuke tilt his head once.
But, when he thought about it, the times Kousuke visited Giselle were usually during emergencies.
He sensed that Giselle, knowing the matter involved a Divine Tool, was being considerate.
“Ah… I goofed. I should have told her not to worry so much.”
To Kousuke’s remark, Peach tilted her head this time.
“Given what happened with the Water Mirror, I don’t think the leader considers it an emergency either~. I just think she doesn’t want you to wait, Mr. Kousuke~”
“That makes me feel a little bad, though?”
Kousuke said apologetically, but Peach, without showing it on her face, gave a wry smile inwardly.
After all, it was unthinkable to keep Kousuke, an Avatar, waiting.
Ideally, Giselle herself would have gone to the management layer, but she knew Kousuke disliked that, so she hadn’t done so.
Without revealing her inner thoughts, Peach shook her head from side to side.
“Not at all~. More importantly, if we were to keep you waiting, Mr. Kousuke, we’d receive criticism from others.”
“I see. That’s true, I suppose.”
Among the Succubi, Kousuke’s existence was treated as that of a “god.”
This wasn’t just a matter of treating him with reverence, but rather as someone who had saved their clan.
If they treated Kousuke disrespectfully, the leader would face pressure for not responding appropriately.
The leader had her own position to uphold.
Understanding this, Kousuke was greatly convinced.
Though it was perhaps a bit late.
After that exchange with Peach, Kousuke headed to the Succubus village.
Since Peach had gone to the trouble of delivering the message, he thought it would be best to go soon.
Giselle greeted him with a smile.
“Thank you for coming all this way. Normally, I should have come to you without sending a messenger.”
“No, it’s fine. More importantly, about the rumor?”
Sensing that Giselle might keep apologizing, Kousuke urged them to get to the main topic.
As if taking his cue, Giselle nodded once and began to speak about the rumor.
“The place where the rumor originates is the town of Seichun. As for the explanation of the town… is it necessary?”
“Yes. It’s not necessary.”
Having visited Seichun many times before, Kousuke didn’t need any further explanation from Giselle.
He was more surprised that it involved Seichun again.
“Still, Seichun, huh? …What kind of Divine Tool is it this time?”
“Apparently, it’s a sword.”
Kousuke looked confused at her ambiguous phrasing.
“Apparently?”
“The person using it boldly claims to have received the approval of a priest, but it seems to be ‘weak’ for a Divine Tool.”
“Ah, I see.”
In short, only the person himself was earnestly promoting it, while those around him believed it to be fake.
If it were just that, it would be a common story. However, there was a reason why Giselle judged it not to be mere nonsense.
“Normally, we would dismiss it as a simple fraud, but given the timing, we investigated to see if there was anything more, and we found rather interesting facts.”
“Oh? What do you mean?”
“It seems the claim that the priest thoroughly examined it is true.”
The slight delay in Giselle notifying Kousuke after discovering the rumor was due to this investigation.
After investigating and confirming the story, she decided to inform Kousuke.
“I see. A weak sword, then.”
“Of course, it’s weak as a Divine Tool, but as an ordinary Magic Tool, it seems to possess considerable power.”
The Divine Tools that are weapons and armor, held as national treasures in temples and various countries, possess power befitting their names.
The rumored Divine Tool, while far weaker than those, is still considerably powerful compared to regular Magic Tools.
Due to its rather mediocre performance as a weapon Divine Tool, it was not confiscated by the temple, and as a result, the man continues to use it.
Incidentally, most people around him believe the man’s claims are just boasting.
Of course, there are those who recognize it as a Divine Tool, but the reality is that they haven’t intervened due to its performance.
To add to that, there’s the embarrassing (or perhaps not?) reality that the man’s dubious nature makes people hesitant to get involved.
“The temple is also observing for now, but they may intervene eventually. Well, if the man using it is as rumored, they’re probably expecting him to part with it for money.”
“I see, so that’s how it is.”
It was rather anticlimactic that there wasn’t a scramble for the Divine Tool simply because its performance as a weapon was subpar.
However, while it would be nice if things remained peaceful indefinitely, Kousuke knew from past experience that this would not be the case.
Kousuke was content as long as the Divine Tool didn’t go berserk. But the reality was that a scramble was inevitable.
As Kousuke listened to Giselle’s story, he pondered what to do.
The final Divine Tool has appeared.
As most of you probably expected?
There’s no point in deviating here lol.
