Volume 24 Chapter 3, Challenges for Each

At the very same time that Floria was doing the Divine Oracle with Spica, Sylvia was also doing a Divine Oracle with Elisa Meir.

However, Sylvia did not perform the Divine Oracle, but received an oracle from Eris.

Sylvia was becoming more powerful as a priestess, so she was able to do this kind of thing.

[What happened?!]

Sylvia was a little flustered, wondering if something had happened, for her to receive a Divine Oracle.

[Nothing really, sorry. It’s not something to worry about.]

[I see. Then why?]

She doubted that Eris contact her with an oracle just to have some chit-chat.

If that was really the case, Divine Oracle would have not been that rare… and if they really wanted to discuss such things, they could have done so at the regular Divine Oracle meetings they always performed.

[Well, I was just worried about you. I thought it would be better if I told you about this instead of Kousuke-sama.]

[Worried…?]

The unexpected words of the Goddess, Elisa Meir, caused Sylvia to involuntarily roll her eyes.

[I knew it. You have been in training since you were a child, so I didn’t think you would have noticed.]

Recently, Sylvia had resumed her studies as a priestess.

It was more like a training, or rather, rough training.

Since she was on the Administration Floor, there were limits to what she could do, but even so, there were things done that would make an unaccustomed person scream.

For Sylvia, it was just a part of her training, but for Elisa Meir, it was an awful practice.

Of course, the reason Sylvia was pushing herself so hard had a lot to do with the Blessing incident.

[I don’t mean to tell you to stop doing what you’ve been doing ever since you were a child. But don’t misunderstand the purpose of what this is for, okay?]

Sylvia immediately understood what Goddess Elisa Meir was trying to say.

In the first place, the practices and hardships performed by the clergy were to get in touch with the Goddess or receive their will.

To put it more concretely, it could be said that they seek to contact those who reside in the Sanctuary.

But recently, Sylvia indicated that she may have been practicing for a different purpose.

[I don’t think it’s wrong that you are trying to achieve what you want. But if you go about it in the wrong way, you will lose everything.]

Sylvia lowered her head deeply to Goddess Elisa Meir, who gently admonished her.

She realized that she had indeed made a mistake, just as she had been told.

[Thank you very much. But then…]

[Take another look at where you stand. If you do that, I think you will naturally see what you should do.]

Goddess Elisa Meir said to Sylvia, who looked lost.

She would not give her a concrete answer here.

If she did, it might all be for naught.

Sylvia had no intention of asking for the answer directly from the beginning.

She knew that even if she received teachings directly from a Goddess, that was not everything.

Now that she started doing Divine Oracle directly in this way, she understood it with a real sense of reality.

[Yes, I understand. Thank you.]

Hearing Sylvia’s response, Goddess Elisa Meir also looked relieved.

[I understand how you feel, but you need to calm down and think about it.]

With these words, Goddess Elisa Meir finished the Divine Oracle.

Sylvia was deeply grateful for the oracle, and once more, she decided to look inwardly at herself.

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

Shrein was visiting the library in Vermilion Castle.

The library was not originally there, but was built by reassembling the books that had been evacuated when the castle was lost.

This is not the first time that Vermilion Castle has been lost, but it has happened several times, so such measures have been taken to cope with the loss.

Shrein visited the library to look at old documents.

Some of these documents contained the stories of the first or true ancestors of vampires, which were considered to be the higher species of vampires.

She looked at them and wondered if there was anything she could use as a reference for herself now.

In conclusion, the literature in the library was very helpful.

Needless to say, blood was very important for vampires.

Nowadays, blood sucking has become a luxury, but in the olden days, the demand for blood was based on a contract.

The contract made in exchange for blood was, and of course still remained, a very sacred thing in the past.

It was not limited to the vampire clan.

Those who could make a higher level blood contract were called ancestral vampires or true ancestral vampires.

In the past, the act of making such a contract was considered to be similar to a divine ritual, and it was said that the temple noticed this and became hostile to it.

Of course, this was history from the vampire’s point of view, so there may be a certain amount of exaggeration.

Shrein did not intend to say anything about the history itself.

The question was what kind of power she could manifest now that she received a Blessing.

Thanks to the literature, she knew what her goal should be.

All that remains was to find the ways and means to achieve it.

To find out, Shrein continues to search the books for more information.

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

While the others were struggling with the power of the Blessing, Collete was naturally trying to find out what it was.

However, unlike the others, she was not in a state of searching.

After all, there were living examples of the higher species on the floor where the elves of the Tower were located.

Naturally, Collete had come to talk to the three High Elves, Liston, Sera and Zephyr.

“I’ve never heard of an elf evolving into a high elf in one generation to begin with, have you?”

“That’s right. We High Elves existed as High Elves from the beginning, you know?”

This was Liston and Serra’s answer after hearing Collete’s story.

With some expectations, Collete had come to hear the story, but her expectations were betrayed from the start.

That said, she was not depressed.

She had expected this answer to some extent.

If it was so easy to evolve from an elf to a high elf in the first place, everyone would seek to become a high elf that way.

“So, what about the story about the Elves getting the Blessing of God?”

At this, the three Elves looked at each other but shook their heads.

“If you’re talking about elves, that’s what you should talk to the elders about, but I have not heard of any, at least not from our own elders.”

“I see… I understand. Thank you.”

“Now, now, don’t be shy and ask us for anything. We’ll help you in any way we can.”

At Zephyr’s words, Collete bowed her head and went to the village elders.

***

“Elves with the Blessing of God…”

Gaine was currently in charge of organizing the elves living in the Tower floor, but Dorje, an elder, had also arrived in the village.

Even though he was an elder, his current designated role was that of a counselor.

When Collete asked him a question, Dorje made a thoughtful gesture for a while, but eventually shook his head.

“I’m sorry, but I’ve never heard of this before. As you know, we elves value spirits more than gods in the first place.”

“Then what about the Goddess Spica?”

Spica was also said to be the Goddess of Spirits.

“If it was Spica, maybe they have existed, but I have never heard of them.”

“I see. I understand. Thank you.”

“Okay, I’m sorry. I was unable to help you.”

“No, it’s okay. I was originally just hoping to use it as a reference.”

Just as he said, Kousuke was a new god, so he doubted that his Blessing would be the same as any other gods.

Then it was just a matter of thinking about the Elf-like abilities.

With that thought in mind, Collete went to the World Tree at the end of the day.