82. Temple 2

The next morning, Shiro and the others went to the temple for worship. Miria accompanied them as a miko princess.

"Good morning, Miradia-sama. Early visit today? Is there something you need?"

Erick, the temple head, greeted them.

"Good morning, Erick. Today, the Master is with us," Miria said.

"⁉ That Shiro-sama?" Erick exclaimed, looking at Shiro. Then he bowed deeply.

"Welcome to the capital's temple. I am Erick, the temple head."

"Nice to meet you. Shiro Kamikawa. This is…."

"Mitoka."

The two introduced themselves.

"We'd like to use the inner prayer room today," Shiro asked.

"Understood. Please follow me," Erick said.

All of them entered the prayer room. As they prepared to pray, the altar once again glowed brightly, and a translucent female figure appeared, speaking to them.

Erick and Miradia gasped and dropped to their knees.

"Shiro, long time no see," Firumia said.

"Firumia-sama, it's been a while. I made it safely to the capital," Shiro replied.

"Erick, thank you for maintaining the temple," Firumia said, addressing the temple head.

"Such kind words are too much!" Erick bowed low.

Then she turned to Miradia.

"Miradia, this is our first meeting. Thank you for delivering the divine messages," she said.

"Yes, of course. No, I mean—honor to me," Miradia replied, kneeling in prayer, eyes fixed on the goddess.

And the moment Firumia smiled at Shiro, Mitoka, and Shestia, time in the world stopped again.

"Shiro, thank you for unsealing Shirena and Altia," Firumia said.

"No, I'm just glad it worked out," Shiro said, then asked, "But I have a question..."

"First, the virus that infected Shirena— it's been entity-ized. That means it's not natural, not a system artifact, right? Some kind of artificial construct?"

"Right. Actually, there's been strange activity in the Divine Realm too. We don't fully understand how the virus affects magic and life, so we're investigating it now."

Firumia spoke. Then,

"By the way, at the virus level, entity-ization happens at the level of aggregated clusters—not individual viruses. Correction, or rather, an addition to what I said before. But even so, regular initial spirit familiars can't use divine magic, so it's unlikely to be linked to any high-level mental corruption spells."

"I see. So mental attacks at the magic level could be possible?"

"Maybe. But there's no precedent. Still, I'll look into it," Firumia said.

"Understood. Next question: what's the interface between DNA-based lifeforms and the soul?"

"Aha, that's simple. Each sensory organ in a biological body connects to a corresponding channel with the soul. The soul's reception channels are far more numerous, so in that sense, ordinary creatures don't fully utilize their soul and mind. But if you, or Shestia, use multiple senses and multitasking, you can make much better use of it," Firumia replied.

"I see. I hadn't thought of that. Training in that direction might be necessary..." Shiro smirked, already imagining new possibilities.

"Um, next— about magic beasts and their magic..."

"Magic beasts can only use the magic unique to their species. The spirit of magic used by beasts is a Miasma Spirit—prototype-style, just as you suspected. Each individual inherits the prototype of their species. And the Miasma Spirit is installed at birth, built into every beast," Firumia said.

"So, in theory, could we overwrite the prototype of an individual beast's magic spirit? Or override its methods or properties?" Shiro asked.

"Theoretically, yes. But there’s no API for that. Too dangerous," Firumia replied.

"...So it’s not feasible from a system standpoint? Hmm, then… well—"

Shiro paused, lost in thought, but decided to prioritize his question.

"Regarding the generation process of Miasma—could it possibly arise within a living organism?"

"Inside a body? Well, I can’t say it’s impossible… if they eat Miasma Stones, maybe? But otherwise… does a spell for Miasma generation even exist? For DNA-based lifeforms…?" Firumia trailed off, deep in thought, then snapped back.

"I’ll look into that and get back to you," she said.

Shiro paused, then suddenly remembered something.

"Wait—do magic circles have a minimum size?" he asked.

"No. You already know this—size doesn’t matter. Once an entity is instantiated, anything’s possible," Firumia said.

"Yeah… I guess I just got stuck in Earth-like assumptions," Shiro replied, shaking his head slightly.

Size—spatial constraints—aren’t a limitation in the Filidia world. There are limitations based on the user’s magical level, but none inherent to the mechanics of magic itself. Because space is nothing more than a visual channel’s surface-level representation, a mere data structure in the scene graph, not a physical reality.

“Time to go. Today, I’ll give you one item.”

Firumia spoke, and light flared in Shiro’s hand—his wristband appeared.

“The Signet of the Apostle. In this world, it corresponds to the Miko’s bracelet, held and passed down by temples, the Saintess, or the royal family of the Hainzworth Kingdom. The Miko’s bracelet glows red when near you, the Apostle’s white—perfect for demonstrating your status.”

She smiled, explaining. “Our legends mention this, too,” she added with a quiet chuckle.

“Understood. I’ll accept this with gratitude,” Shiro replied.

“Then, see you later. Mitoka, Tiara, look after Shiro for me,” Firumia said.

“Yes.”

“Got it.”

The world’s time snapped back.

“I’ll be going now. I’ve spoken with Shiro. Edward, the High Priest, Miradia, your support for Shiro is appreciated,” she said with a smile, then faded away.

From that day forward, Miradia and High Priest Eric began to revere Shiro as the Apostle of Filumia-sama.