Chapter 23 Its a Floating Garden (1/2)

[What do you think the temple would be like?]

[Hmmm. If I were to imagine what it would be like, as expected, it would be like those Greek temples?]

[That’s a very rough image you have there…… Not that I don’t understand why you imagined it like that though…..]

Looking out the window of the carriage, Yuzuki-san talked with me with slightly higher intensity, while the calm and composed Kusunoki-san joins the conversation.

Hmmm. I guess the power of white rice is that great. I feel like the awkwardness from our previous conversations is now a lie. Could this be that? Does it feel like my communipower has leveled up and I’ve become a little more sociable?

We’re currently having a short break after eating our breakfast, as we’re heading to the temple where God lives to receive his blessing.

[Speaking of which, Lilia-san. I forgot to ask before, but what exactly does a blessing do?]

[Ah, that was on my mind too!]

[Let’s see… To put it simply, you will get God’s Divine Protection…… Would it be easier to think of it as a kind of defense-oriented magic that they cast upon you? Since we’re heading to the temple of health this time, I guess you could think of it as a magic that prevents illnesses.]

I see, it might certainly be easier to imagine it like that.

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And while the blessings received from priests, in other words, an ordinary human, are basically just spells, it is said that the blessings cast directly by God have a definite effect.

However, there’s a fee—- I’ll say this again. There apparently is a fee for a blessing. That’s quite materialistic of you, oh Gods……

[ [ [ ……………. ] ] ]

[……Errr, I think I know what you’re thinking…… but since that’s the main source of income for the temple……]

[Incidentally, the blessing of a priest was set at the cost of an iron coin. As for the blessing of a God, they mostly depend on the rank of the God performing it, but the average cost would be a gold coin.]

Let me think, since the iron coins are 10R if I remember correctly…… The blessing of a priest is about 1000 Yen. As for the blessing of a God, they were at the staggering cost of 10,000 R—– That’s about a million yen. That’s so expensive that you have to be a noble to receive to afford their blessing.

[Just adding a bit more information, we’re going to the God of Health, so it’s one gold coin, but the blessing from the God of Love that My Lady received before was paid with five gold coins.]

[ [ [ That expensive!? ] ] ]

[Lu- Luna!?]

[……I’m afraid it didn’t work though.]

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[Gunununu…….]

Due to Lunamaria-san’s unnecessarily adding more information, which can be said to be normally happening every now and then, Lilia-san’s face turns red in a flash.

She certainly looks cute, but the atmosphere inside the carriage turned kind of—– Ah, speaking of which, there was something that bothered me earlier, and since I can use that to get out of our current topic……

[B- By the way! You mentioned earlier that the cost is based on the God’s rank, but do Gods also have ranks of their own?]

[Lu—- Eh? Well…… There are three ranks, the lower, the higher, and the supreme Gods. Then, there’s also the one who stands above all them, the Creation God. Basically, the people who have temples in the Human Realm are the lower-rank Gods, but when it comes to the blessings of the higher-rank Gods, the reputation of the Gods is more important for them than money, so the only person who can receive it is the king.]

It appears that I’ve successfully deviated the conversation, Lilia-san stops complaining about Lunamaria-san and turned her attention to responding to my question. No, I wasn’t trying to help Lunamaria-san, I was trying to change the subject so that the atmosphere in the carriage wouldn’t get worse…… so put that thumbs up away, you useless maid!

[As for the Supreme Gods—- The Three Great Gods of Time, Fate, and Life, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll ever get to see their faces, much less receive their blessings, except at the Festival of Heroes. It seems that they rarely go out to the Human Realm, so unless you’re extremely lucky……]

Indeed, just their titles “God of Time” and “God of Fate” alone convey the fact that they’re extraordinary beings.

But now that I think about it again, the Six Kings, the Three Great Gods, the Creation God, and all the other personnel gathering for the Festival of Heroes, how big of a festival is it really going to be? As exciting as it may sound, it also sounds a bit terrifying……

Soon after, the carriage arrived in front of a huge and majestic temple but……

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[……The one living here must be one heck of a person.]

Hearing Kusunoki-san’s mumble, I nodded silently as I looked at the scene in front of me.

If you certainly think about it, this blessing stuff we’re doing right now is just like the Hatsumode in Japan, so if you can clearly imagine that, you should be able to imagine the scene we’re facing now.

When I was almost convinced that this is just something unique for the other world, Lilia-san and the others surprisingly also had a very surprised look on their faces.

(T/N: Hatsumode is the first shrine visit of the new year. You can see them in anime, and you’ll see how there are lots of people in there.)

[This is…… What does this mean?]

[It certainly is odd. I’ll go check it out.]

Leaving those words, Lunamaria-san started to move towards a person dressed like a nun a little further in the distance…… Perhaps, is she a priest? I also head there to see what’s going on.

[Umm, Lilia-san. Is this huge crowd of people anything out of the ordinary?]

[Yes, putting aside if this was the church near the town, but this is the main shrine. Most of the people who come here this time of the year are usually just nobles who come to be blessed by the Gods…… And since the 4th day of the New Year is usually the busiest day, we purposely put off going on that day and just went on the 5th day of the New Year but……]

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[Are you saying that everyone also thought to avoid the crowded day?]

[……If that’s the case, the 5th day should have been a lot quieter than usual. On the 5th day every year, the higher-rank Gods are invited to the royal palace for the king to receive their blessings…… Many nobles and priests are supposed to gather at the royal palace for the rare opportunity to see a high-rank God……]