The night dawned.

　The dazzling morning sun shone through the windows of the chapel.

　Its glow illuminated the statue of the goddess, making the water spilling from her hands glisten more brightly.

(Another beautiful day.)

　In that light, I woke up and stretched wide.

　Illtimina-san and Kilt-san were already awake.

　Solstice had just been woken up by her sister just a few moments ago, and she was stretching greatly with tears in the corners of her eyes.

''Ugh, my body hurts!''

　With that said, I stand up.

(?)

　What's going on?

The floor is so hard in here. I should have brought more blankets.

　The girl stares resentfully at the floor.

　Yeah?

　I said.

'It's a lot easier than sleeping on a leaf comforter, isn't it...?'
..........
..........
..........

　The three of them got an indescribable look on their faces.


?

　Solstice let out a sigh and didn't complain any more.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇


　Today, we're going to explore the forest.

(But where do I head?)

　I don't understand that.

　In the first place, you don't know what the blessing of Lord Yacowle is, you don't know that.

　So.

Let's start at the lookout point and see if we can get a better view of the area.

　This was to be the case.

　We all walked up the stairs to the watchtower.

　Huoao.....

　The wind that came across the sky and the forest ruffled our hair.

'Shucks, it's big.'

　Solstice muttered in dismay.　

　''Yeah.

　360 degrees, as far as the eye can see, it's a large forest that extends to the horizon.

　Mr. Kilt looks at me.

"Merle. Can you think of anything else?

　That being said....

(Hmmm.)

Whatever. Tell me what's in these woods.

　Mr. Kilt says in layers.

(Then....)

　I pointed with my little finger towards the toggle cliffs.

'If you walk further to the right from that collapsed area, you'll see a mural.
A mural?
Yes.

　I nodded.

'A picture of a man fighting a demon.'

　I look up at Illtimina, who had explained that to me before.

'There was indeed.

　Illtimina nodded as she remembered.

''It was very old. Probably it was about the Divine Demon War.''
Hmm, a mural.

　Mr. Kilt puts a finger to his chin and thinks about it.

　Schubach.

I think I'd like to see it!

　The bespectacled girl cheerfully raised her hand.

(I knew you were curious.)

　I'm impressed.

'But there's nothing but pictures, you know?　And the mural itself was just that one painting.

　I told him.

　Solstice put her hands on her slender hips.

'That's Merle's opinion. Maybe if we saw it, we'd see something different.

　And his lips twitched.

　'No, I think you might be right,'

　Mr. Kilt looks up and asks again.

'Other than the mural, is there anything else you'd like to share with me?
Oh.

　That's right.

"There's that 'stone pedestal' I woke up on.
Pedestal?
Yeah. Was it "Gates of the Divine Realm"?　It.
"Law.

　Mr. Kilt's eyes lit up a bit.

'Also, there were six pedestals for the other six 'Yacour's Divine Dogs', too, six of them. Only, that one is broken, though.
Okay.
And....

　Think about it for a while.

I don't know if I can think of anything else.

　I say.

'I could only move during the day, and I myself couldn't get very far from this tower.
I see.

　Mr. Kilt nodded.

　Then he thought about it for ten seconds.

'All right. Let's take a look at that 'stone pedestal' first.

　I decided that I was going to be the first to do so.

'That's the one that has more to do with the goddess Yacour. Let's check that one out first.
Yes.
Yes, sir.
It'll be fun. Yeah, I get it.

　The three of us nod at the leader's decision.

　Then I stretch my little fingers out to the forest again and tell them where it is, "It's around there.

　It's about an hour's walk away.

　The three of us make sure we know where we are, too.

Speaking of which.

　Suddenly, Illtimina-san muttered as she remembered.

''I wonder where the 'shooting star' that the owner of the Adventurer's Inn said fell to?

(Uh.....)

　Come to think of it, I don't remember that story.

　Mr. Quilt.

Hmm. I don't see any obvious signs of it from here, though.

　I nodded my head.

　I certainly couldn't find a crater in the ground or any other place where the trees in the forest had been torn down.

　Solstice cowered her small shoulders.

'Is the story true in the first place?'

　Huh?

Could it be that the hunter who witnessed it was mistaken or mistaken?
Hmm?

　I see, that's a possibility.

　The girl's sister nodded and said.

I also wondered if it had something to do with the oracle of the goddess Yacour.

　I exhaled.

　Mr. Kilt ran a hand through his rich silver hair.

Let's start by going through them one by one.

　I said.

'We have plenty of time. We're not in a hurry yet.
Yes.

　I smiled at Kilt, and I laughed too.

　The sisters also nodded.

　So, we began our search, aiming first at the 'stone pedestal' that I had awakened on.


　◇ ◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇


　We walked for an hour or so through the forest.

　Eventually, we arrived at a grassy plaza with a break in the trees.

''..........''

　There is only one 'stone pedestal' there.

　On the surface of the pedestal, there is an elaborate magic circle carved into the base, and the base itself has weathered over the years, with rounded corners and moss spreading near the ground.

　That 'stone pedestal' is the place where the reincarnated 'I' existence began.

　...........

　Everyone stopped and stared at it.

''This is it?''
Yes.

　I nodded at Kilt's confirmation.

　Soltis said, "Heh! And with a twinkle in his eye, he tried to advance through the meadow towards the 'stone pedestal'.

　Gasp.

What?

　The girl caught on to something and almost fell down.

　She stepped on the tatara and held on.

What the hell is going on?

　He looked at his feet as if angry.

　There was a large chunk of stone lying there, hidden in the long grass.

　It wasn't just one.

　If you looked closely, there were several large chunks of stone all over this grassy plaza.

　Even those stones were carved with magic circles.

''........This is.......''

　Solstice muttered as she lifted one of them with both hands, realizing what it was.

　I nodded, "Yeah,

'It's a pedestal for the other six 'God Dogs of Yacour' besides me. .... though it's already broken.

　I continued.

'...........
..........
..........

　All three of us fell silent.

　I was the only survivor of the seven who could come to this earth, the only survivor of the seven.

　The pedestal of the six of us was crushed.

　The large blocks of stone mixed in the grass looked like tombstones for the six of us.

''Yes........''

　Solstice muttered in a strange, divine voice.

　As it was, he quietly put the stone he was holding back on the ground.

''..........''

　Miss Illtimina came to me.

　squeak

　As if to warm something in me that had gone cold, she took my hand in hers.

　Yeah.....

　I put a little more strength into the fingers that squeezed back.

　Kirt-san exhales and

'There may be something here that will help us to understand the meaning of the words of the goddess Yacour. Let's do a little research.

　I told him.

　We nodded and walked to the one remaining 'stone pedestal'.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇


　The bespectacled girl moves her face closer.

　Huh.

　When I blew on it, the dust that had been deposited rose up.

(Whoa?)　　

　crying

　Eventually, when it subsided, the girl's little fingers traced the engraved magic circle.

''Hmph.''

　I muttered.

'Do you know what it is?'

　I asked.

　Solstice cowered her shoulders.

I don't know if the inscribed Thanatos magic letters are weathered or man-made, but you can tell they're distorted.
....twisted?
Yeah. I don't think it's gonna work properly, do you?

　I said.

　I don't function normally........

(That's why I, an impurity, (...) got mixed up with Arkyn's soul.

　And the result is the current "Mael".

I get it.

　I nodded.

　Solstice pushes the large staff she was holding onto the 'stone pedestal'.

''Yo!''

　Such a call.

　The magic stone of the great wand emitted a light.......but other than that, nothing else happened.

(?)

I don't think so.

　Eventually, Solstice exhaled so.

　The light from the magic stone also disappeared.

　She looked back at us.

I channeled the magic and tried to activate it, but it didn't work. Apparently, the activation requirements are different.

　He told me.

　But, activation.........

''This is a magic circle for summoning the 'Godgu', right?
Yes.
What's the point of activating it when I'm here?
You should try it.

　The curious girl says matter-of-factly.

　Then.

Maybe there's a better 'God's Dependents' than Marl?

　I laughed.

(...Jeez, you're kidding, right?)

　It was a little hard for me to laugh, as I am not very confident in myself.

　Mr. Illtimina.

There's no one better than Merle.

　I said once and for all.

　Solstice gave a small shrug at her sister for being overprotective of me.

　Then, as if with a sudden realization.

'Yeah. Now that you're here, Marle, try letting your 'divine energy' flow.
What?
Maybe that will activate it, or maybe they'll summon something called 'Blessings of Lord Yacowle'?
Uh-huh.

　I'm not sure, but I think I'll give it a try.

　I nod and touch the 'stone base'.

(Hmm.........!

　Open the faucet of power inside your body and send in the "divine Qi" from the palm of your hand.

It's the same way as giving 'divine Qi' to a 'divine Armor'.

　Snap! Snap!

　The dissipated divine energy sparks white sparks around the pedestal.

　But.

Nothing is going to happen.
Yes.

　I don't feel the response either.

(It's like filling a bowl of water with a hole in it.)

　Mr. Quilt.

.... hmm. It's been a total waste of time.

　I muttered as I looked around.

　Crunch, crunch, crunch.

　I walked through the grass and picked up a piece of the broken 'stone pedestal' that was lying around.

　Holding it up to the sunlight.

The Godgu of Yakoal.

　As I say this, I look at it from various directions.

''Hmm?''

　And then Mr. Kilt's movements stopped, as if he had noticed something.

(?)

What's going on?

　I call out to her.

　I couldn't help but gaze at the shards in Kilt-san's hand, but her golden eyes were turned to the back of it.

　Back....?

　Following his gaze, of course, were the trees of the forest.

　Placing the debris on the ground, Mr. Quilt started walking towards it.

'Quilt?'
Hey, what are you doing here?

　The sisters look dubious, too.

　But Ms. Kilt doesn't answer.

　The three of us looked at each other and we followed her.

　Then we noticed.

''Oh....''

　Walking changed the angle at which I could see the forest.

　And through the gaps in those trees, I could see where the ground had been gouged wide open.

　There was a large hole in the trunk of a tree growing nearby.

(............)

　It was as if something had fallen from the sky, penetrated the tree and hit the ground.

　Mr. Kilt reached a hole in the ground.

　A hole about three meds in diameter.

　It was a small crater, so small that it could not be seen from the tower's watchtower.

　Mr. Kilt moved closer to the center of it.

..........

　I put my hand in the hole in the ground.

　We watch with bated breath.

"Huh?

　Mr. Kilt muttered.

　Then he pulled his hand up.

　A lot of dirt spilled out, and out of it, a triangular-shaped metal plate appeared.

(Hey, what's that?)

　It's a metal plate, about ten inches on each side.

　Quilt's hands brush away the remaining soil.

　We look at the plate.　

　Miss Illtimina notices.

It's a 'divine script.'
Yeah, I'm sure.

　Solstice nodded.

　The surface of the metal plate had 'divine letters' engraved on it, which I'd seen several times before.

(This fell from the sky?)

　I can't help but look up at the blue sky.

　The three of us look at the sky, too.

　And.

So this is what a shooting star looks like, huh?

　Mr. Kilt laughed.