Volume 22 Chapter 4, Atmosphere of the Temple

Sylvia was able to keep Dion and Alec’s little ruckus in check.

Lirica was on edge as she watched, but eventually, she came to respect Sylvia.

Lirica did not want any trouble to occur at the temple.

Lirica’s reason for coming to clean the temple each time was, at first, to atone for her sins.

Until Kousuke, the ruler of the Tower, was announced to be a living god, she had been making a scene in the administrative office.

Looking back on it now, it would be a shameful thing to say, but at the time she thought it was only natural that a temple should have a clergy.

She also felt that it was only natural that those who were part of the clergy should be responsible for cleaning and maintaining the temples.

As she continued to do this, she gradually came to like the atmosphere of the temple.

In a normal temple, even if there were no visitors, it was natural for one or two priests to be present.

Of course, a temple in the countryside would be a different story, but for a temple of this size in this city, it was truly the exception to the exception.

The switch from the hustle and bustle of the city to the tranquility when entering the temple, and the unique atmosphere when inside, was a real experience.

She continued to go to the temple even though her friends half-teased her for trying so hard because she became aware that she could experience that atmosphere.

After she became aware of this, she told her friends about it, but they just nodded their heads and wondered if it was really like that.

Lirica did not think they would understand her either.

After all, even the people she often worked with on cleaning projects had the same reaction.

She was not sure if this sensation was because she was a member of the clergy, or if she was the only one who could feel this sensation.

Some of the adventurers were also part of the clergy, and, like Lirica, were there to clean up the temple.

If one had been going there for a long time, one would naturally get to know the people.

Some of the clergy who attended also mentioned similar things, so perhaps it was the atmosphere that gave them a sense of what they had been trained to do.

Anyway, with all that said, she was doing the cleaning work because she likes this temple.

That was why she came to the temple in the middle of the festival and did the cleaning work as she always did.

Lirica felt admiration for Sylvia, who was able to restrain Dion only by the power of her words.

She appeared to be the same age or a little older than herself.

Such a young woman made a man back down without using force.

Even if it was not Lirica, there would be many who would feel the same way.

Sylvia, in particular, is a priestess of the main deity of this temple.

She was already treated like the head of the temple by the clergy who attended to the cleaning of the temple.

It was only natural for her to be treated as a priestess of the main deity.

In this temple, which was different from the ordinary in many ways, the priestess was also treated differently.

To begin with, it was impossible for the priestess herself to be stationed in this temple.

Moreover, the priestess was said to be directly taking care of the actual deity in this Tower, which made the situation all the more unthinkable.

It was only natural for a priestess to be by his side, since despite being a deity, he was also present (manifested) in this world, not in the divine realm.

Therefore, the clergy who attended this temple understood Sylvia’s position and gave her special treatment, even though she only showed her face every once in a while.

Of course, Lirica had been a member of this group until now, but this incident reinforced that feeling even more.

♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦

Lirica once again checked the members of the group with Sylvia.

From what was said earlier, the man who was dealing with the man named Dion was probably Alec, the representative of this city.

It was not surprising that Sylvia, who was with Kousuke, the ruler of the Tower, was with the representative of this city.

From what they mentioned, they were enjoying the festival, perhaps a connection to the daughter who was mentioned in the conversation.

After all, he did not show his face until the end when Dion was there, but after Dion left, he took off his mask.

There were four other people wearing masks.

The members who had already shown their faces were members of the group, so they must be in good standing.

She then noticed that one of them was staring at her.

She didn’t notice it at first because he was wearing a mask, but now she could clearly feel his gaze.

“? Yes, what is it?”

Lirica felt that the person seemed young by his mood, but she tried to be polite, just in case.

Somehow, he got the same vibe as Sylvia.

“Oh, sorry. That was rude of me. Let me introduce myself.”

With that, Kousuke finally took off his mask.

Sylvia, who was standing next to him, was flustered by this.

“Ko… Wouldn’t it be better not to take it off here?”

Sylvia almost gave his name, but managed to restrain herself.

Even though he only showed his face at the inauguration ceremony, it was this temple that held the inauguration ceremony.

There might have been people who attended the inauguration ceremony somewhere.

It could also be that they were invited guests, but there were quite a few adventurers who were sent to that event.

“No, it should be fine… For now.”

Kousuke was able to guarantee that for a reason, of course.

Just around the time Dion left, he noticed the presence of the Gods.

That presence was, of course, the three great deities who give blessings to this temple.

And he knew the reason why.

This situation was undoubtedly due to the consideration of the three great deities.

They must have noticed Kousuke’s situation.

The members of Tower were silently watching what Kousuke was going to do without saying a word.

Sensing this mood, Alec and his wife also remained silent.

“Sylvia, can you please introduce me to her?”

Kousuke said, remembering that he had not heard her name.

“Ah, yes. This is Lirica.”

“Oh, Lirica-san, you can sense the atmosphere of this temple, can’t you?”

Lirica was puzzled by Kousuke’s unexpected remark.

“The air, you mean?”

“Yes. The air. Or atmosphere. Or silence, or something like that… It’s hard to put it into words.”

Kousuke said with a wry smile.

“That’s something called ‘Divine Power’, perhaps, in this world’s language.”

Sylvia followed up with Kousuke.

And that was precisely what Lirica usually sensed.

“I see. So, this…is what you call Divine Power.”

Lirica understood for the first time when Sylvia told her.

She realized that even though she knew it in words, she did not understand it until she actually experienced it.

Seeing Lirica like that, Sylvia nodded.

“I see, so you can sense it too, Lirica. That’s wonderful.”

“Yes, but I’m not the only one who can sense this, right?”

There were other clergy who sensed this atmosphere as well.

“If you have more than a certain amount of training, you will be able to sense it. I can say that they, too, have a certain amount of power as clergy.”

“Is, is that so?”

Lirica tilted her head at Sylvia’s words.

In fact, if one was able to sense this divine power, they would have risen to the next level as a clergy.

Essentially, it would inform them that they were associated with a superior of a certain power with a certain level of power.

Unfortunately, however, Lirica, who was an adventurer, had no such superiors, so she did not know that this was a divine power.

The clergy who normally interact with Lirica naturally assumed that she knew about the divine power and responded accordingly.

In other words, Lirica arrived here without any instruction from anyone.