The pilgrimage group, after passing through several towns and villages from the northern town, safely arrived in Ryusen.
While Zento’s pilgrimage group would continue on towards Mikusen, Kousuke and his companions would part ways here.
Not only did their schedules not align, but Kousuke also had something to do here. The ritual, one of the purposes of their journey, was to be performed on the outskirts of Ryusen town, just like in the northern town.
Although Zento was unaware of these circumstances, he still expressed regret at parting with Kousuke.
“It’s a shame, but we part ways here.”
Not only would they no longer have A-rank adventurers as guards, but Kousuke could tell from Zento’s eyes that he genuinely felt this way. That’s precisely why Kousuke honestly nodded in response.
“Yes. Thank you.”
“No, that’s my line. Without a doubt, it’s thanks to all of you that we made it here safely.”
Zento said that with a smile, but Kousuke knew there was a bit of flattery in his words. For Zento, the journey up to this point was no different from his usual routine. Kousuke’s group being A-rank adventurers and arriving without any major incidents was a factor, but it’s not like nothing like that had ever happened before. However, regardless of whether it was flattery or not, Kousuke was genuinely happy to receive his evaluation.
“Knowing you say that makes taking on this request worthwhile.”
To Kousuke, who said that with a smile, Zento briefly replied, “Is that so?”
For Zento, goodbyes were a common occurrence after completing requests. Kousuke finalized his farewell with Zento by exchanging a final handshake.
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After a night’s stay in Ryusen town, Kousuke and his group headed to the outskirts the following day. The objective, of course, was to perform the second ritual. In total, there would be six rituals performed in the Divine Realm, totaling seven occasions. Geographically, these were important in the areas where the Holy Demon Tower and the Four Elements Tower were located, but the specific locations themselves were not crucial. This is because if they were to perform the ritual in a specific location, they would have to perform it over the sea to encompass the entire continent. Therefore, instead of performing the ritual over the sea each time, they would align the directions and automatically adjust the positions.
Just as in the northern town, Kousuke, Kouhi, and Mitsuki were responsible for preparing the ritual, while the other members stood guard around the perimeter. Being their second ritual, Kousuke was able to complete his preparations without taking as much time as the first. After briefly surveying the magic circle, Kousuke nodded with satisfaction and then turned his gaze towards where Shurein and the others were.
“Then, Wanri, please.”
“Ah, yes.”
Wanri, who had been on guard duty alongside Shurein and the others, rushed over at Kousuke’s words. Wanri had not been present on the journey from the northern town to Ryusen, but upon arriving in Ryusen, she had returned to the tower and been summoned. There was, of course, a reason for this.
“Now then, place the magatama on the ornamental stand over there… yes, just like that.”
Following Kousuke’s instructions, Wanri placed the magatama she was wearing onto the ornamental stand, which was designed to hold it. The place where the magatama was placed was exactly the same as where Nana had been in the northern town. Seeing this, it was clear that this time, the magatama would serve a role in Nana’s place.
“What is that… I wonder what purpose it serves?”
“It seems to be a symbolic object placed in the creation of the Divine Realm.”
Floria, who had been observing, voiced her question, and Silvia, having overheard, replied. Silvia had heard Kousuke explain this during their escort duty with the pilgrimage group without Zento or the other pilgrims, who were in the same carriage, knowing.
Upon hearing Silvia’s explanation, Shurein nodded with an understanding expression. “Symbolic… I see. In that case, I can probably guess the purpose of the remaining four.”
“Yes. I suspect it’s not incorrect.” While Shurein was knowledgeable about rituals in general, she was particularly well-versed in these contractual rituals. Naturally, Shurein was unaware of rituals to convert the entire continent into a Divine Realm, but even so, with hints, she could make some predictions.
As Shurein and Silvia nodded in mutual understanding, Floria tilted her head. “Is that so?”
“Mmm. It’s purely a guess, and I have no idea about the order, mind you.”
“That’s true. Besides, wouldn’t it be better for you to look forward to what’s coming, Floria?”
“Come to think of it, you might be right.” Floria’s expression became one of agreement at the suggestion that it would be better to figure it out herself rather than being told from the start. It was going to be a long journey around the continent. They reasoned that having such a pleasure would be appropriate. By the way, Shurein and Silvia also hadn’t fully figured it out yet, so they still had a similar kind of anticipation.
While the onlookers were getting excited, Kousuke instructed Wanri to move outside the array and began the ritual. The only change from the previous time was the item itself, which went from Nana to a magatama. As Kousuke finished reciting the norito, the magic circle similarly ascended into the sky. The magic circle, which rose to an altitude invisible to the eye like last time, was not actually rising straight up but heading towards the sea. This was Kousuke’s adjustment to ensure the magic circle went to the correct location, but not a single person was properly observing it. The person performing the ritual (Kousuke) himself was probably just thinking it would be alright and not actually confirming it with his eyes. Whether it ultimately succeeded or not would, as expected, only become clear during the final ritual. For now, Kousuke confirmed that the current ritual was complete and moved towards Shurein and the others.
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After finishing the ritual, Kousuke and his group didn’t immediately leave the area. Instead, they decided to process the monsters they had accumulated during their escort requests. Although not all the monsters they defeated, a certain number were stored in their Item Box. If they left them to be processed by the management layer after the journey, it would be an overwhelming number, so they decided to deal with them now. The remainder of that day was dedicated to collecting monster materials.
“Hmm. They do pile up when you hoard them.” Shurein said with a sigh as the monster carcasses were brought out one after another from the Item Box.
“That’s right. I tried to be selective with these too.”
“So, would it be better to process them on the spot rather than hoarding them?” Silvia asked, and Kousuke nodded in agreement.
“We were aiming to leave the area quickly because it was an escort request, but maybe that was a mistake?”
“But you don’t need all of them, do you? Regarding the escort request, I think that was the right approach.” Although Kousuke showed a slight sign of reflection, Shurein and Silvia nodded in agreement with Floria’s follow-up. Everyone believed that prioritizing the pilgrimage group’s movement over obtaining monster materials was not a mistake.
Regardless of how the attacking monsters were dealt with, all of them were processed by the end of the day. Normally, collecting such a large quantity of monster materials would have attracted other monsters, but they were able to collect them without being attacked even once. One reason for this was likely Nana’s watchful presence in the surrounding area. In any case, Kousuke and his group, having finished their work without any issues, returned to Ryusen town together. It’s not good to hoard work.
