Godou roamed the streets of Ueno while deeply in thought. Recently there was no way to comprehend much about the situation. He was unable to remember his plans around Christmas and why that Liliana person, who he supposedly knows, is spying on him. Furthermore there was the emergence of the grey Santa Claus drama. Granted if someone were to sit back and watch without any regards towards these matters, it would looks as if none of these issues were consequential.
His chest was burdened with a troubling premonition.
Using a game of baseball as an analogy, perhaps the scenario’s development would be as follows.
In the first inning you score seven points thus leading by a huge margin. However, the opponent nevertheless makes a comeback one point at a time. On the other hand, your own side was unable to score any more points. Without realizing it, the score had already caught up to a mere one point differential — — just like that.
“No matter how I go about it, I still can’t seem to understand.”
Being a healthy male, Kusanagi Godou's physical endurance and his leg strength in particular, was far greater than his intelligence. With that being the case, visiting the crime scene 100 times, like in those cop flicks, to continuously search that one location until finding the needed clues is not necessarily a bad thing. In completing this simple task, he would put in his utmost efforts.
Yesterday, Santa Clauses were being greyified on the street in front of the station.
However, the Santa Claus figures, pictures, drawings, and outfits that were all contaminated with the color grey have been disposed of a long time ago. The streets were once again covered with the reds and greens of Christmas.
Everything was returned to its original condition due to the laborious work from these justifiably proud Japanese people.
However, right now Godou felt really infuriated towards this. He was unable to find other clues — — just when he started pondering over the current situation, his cellphone’s ringtone sounded.
After retrieving his cellphone, he looked at the bright display screen and saw it was Liliana calling him.
“Speaking of which, why do I have their phone numbers registered?”
Godou was baffled. It wasn’t just the phone numbers of Liliana, Erica, and Yuri, their emails and addresses were already registered as well. He believes his relationship with them would be incapable of having this kind of exchange of personal information.
In short, he decided to first put aside his suspicions and answer the phone.
‘Seeing you come over here too is quite unexpected.’
Liliana suddenly stated this. 'Too'?
‘Please do the same thing you did yesterday, turn your head around and look behind you.’
Surely she must be kidding. Godou turned his head around and saw the female knight, who was wearing personal attire for today, standing behind him talking on the phone.
Part 2
The magic association Liliana was affiliated with was the 《Bronze Black Cross》.
As its name suggested, the blue and black were the symbolic colors for the organization.
This was perhaps the reason why whenever Liliana wore her personal clothing, the two colors blue and black were bound to be somewhere on there. However, today she was dressed in an outfit that consisted of a rarely worn white mono-colored coat paired with deep gray pants. Nevertheless, Godou noticed where they were.
It was on the scarf wrapped around Liliana’s neck. The scarf's design consisted of blue and black vertical stripes.
This applied to Erica as well. The European knight was surprisingly diligent in this aspect. She would naturally display her own affiliation explicitly——.
Liliana, who was secretly being admired by Godou, stated her reason for coming here.
“Regarding yesterday’s situation where a Santa Claus changed colors, it was assumably a prank devised by a magician somewhere. Disregarding it would most likely be fine——But then something else occurred to me.”
The two of them had kept their distance from the crowd of people meandering about and proceeded to converse after arriving at a guardrail alongside the road.
“In any case I’m also a magician. Even though I’m not on the same level as Mariya Yuri, I’m still sensitive to the presence of magic. However, I wasn’t able to detect the bizarre event that transpired yesterday. Basically there was someone very shrewdly concealing it I presume. Due to the suspiciousness of going to this extent, I’m here to do a quick investigation.”
Using a resolute tone, she spoke of the same uncertainties Amakasu had pointed out.
The diligent Liliana had not neglected this matter so perhaps that was why she wanted to ascertain the answer.
“Well Kusanagi Godou, why did you come back here?”
“For me it is…..although I have many reasons, ultimately it is probably due to this gut feeling that I possess. I always felt very mindful towards this situation and because of that I want to investigate its cause. I guess you can say my intuition dictated so.”
Godou stated his reply. Well, let's assume he did have many reasons. However, regarding that perspective, they were changed to “gut feeling” and “intuition”.
Godou was worried she might be unable to understand this kind of explanation.
“As expected of you, I get a sloppy animal-like reasoning.”
Liliana heavily nodded, indicating an expression of understanding. Was she thoroughly familiar with what kind of person Kusanagi Godou was? Although Godou wanted to press the matter, he felt questioning her would result in an annoyed response.
“Hey, if you don’t mind......would you like to accompany me?”
“Accompany you!?”
Liliana suddenly went into a total state of shock.
“As in like a female escort accompanying a man!? E-Even though these are the words spoken by a supreme Campione, this command is still quite hard for a young girl like me to accept!”
“H-How did you construe it as that? What I meant was to investigate the cause of yesterday’s situation together.”
Godou supplemented his explanation towards the flustered Liliana.
She was a strict and diligent knight. However, she seemed to be hiding a very ordinary girl-like side of her. No matter what she encountered, she would easily be side-tracked by romance.
Godou felt slightly distressed as he wryly smiled. This aspect was perhaps to Liliana's advantage.
“P-Pardon my loss of composure......Going back to what I said, is this your command as king?”
Liliana spoke after slightly blushing.
“The investigation this time would be akin to individual research. If it is a request proposed by a Campione, the king of us magicians, to jointly trace this mystery——no, even being the devil king's servant in investigating this mystery is something I won't shy away from."
Her serious demeanor made it feel like she was challenging a barbarous tyrant, or perhaps testing a person's moral character. Within the words Liliana had said, it felt like there was this subtle meaning.
"I feel that if it is some outsider who doesn't know anything about magic raising this request, I'll have to give it some thought. Being on the move individually is comparatively more convenient since having to explain this specialized knowledge would become very troublesome."
“I-I guess you're right."
In short, the meaning behind her words pointed to a "hindering outsider", causing Godou to cower.
Indeed this was the case. The specialist Amakasu should have already started his inspection. The talented witch Liliana was also on the move in order to investigate.
There were no particular justifications for admitting a clueless outsider.
If a battle against a god did not occur for Kusanagi Godou, there were no other uses for him. Compared to a normal person, he only had the advantage in terms of physical strength. Well, if the opportunity arises in which a heretic god does appear from this strange phenomenon, then it would be a comple
tely different matter. However, nowadays even that situation would hold little significance.
Even so, he felt that he had to unravel this mystery of the grey Santa Claus.
So wasn't it already mentioned before? There was the option of stating 'this is an order from a Campione'.
After Godou deliberated over this enticing offer for about ten seconds, he instantly gave up on the thought.
For the men who would say these words, as a devil king this would be a different issue, but as a human being they would already be hopeless.
"I understand, I will find a way to do this myself then. I'm sorry for bringing up a strange request."
After Godou made a candid apology, Liliana let out a sigh.
"Kusanagi Godou, during times like these you should proclaim 'this is an order from a Campione'. By the way, you should've also punished the disobedient Great Knight who didn't show respect towards the king......No matter what the situation is you never resemble a devil king!"
In the end, she actually spoke in a startled tone to scold him. Furthermore, she was resolute in her assertion towards the matter.
“However, fortunately I'm also an Italian knight. Despite the numerous problems the devil king I pledged my loyalty to has, I have already adapted to being an assistant. From now on when I am giving instructions——no, when I am talking, please listen carefully.”
“Eh?”
Her nationality was Italian but she actually has Croatian blood since she emigrated from Eastern Europe. The fairy-like maiden with a complicated ethnic background had a mischievous expression while making a comparison between two Campiones.
Godou was astonished at Liliana’s slight act of mischief and replied:
“Are you saying you will work together with me?”
“Yup. From the moment we convened I already had this intention.”
“......Then, why did you say all those things!?”
“About that......why did I do it? It appeared as long as I pressed on in this manner, you wouldn’t be able to give out commands as a king......that's how I felt.”
Liliana suddenly revealed a gentle smile.
That was not her usual sternness, but rather an occasionally seen natural side of her. Her innocent smile suited that of the girls around her age. For some reason, this sort of smile made Godou feel very nostalgic. Brimming with loveliness, his heart could not help but skip a beat.
“As a result, I wanted to give it a shot. I’m very sorry.”
This type of apology presented no sense of regret. However, Godou was actually incapable of saying anything in response.
“Didn’t you discuss this with the History Compilation Committee just recently? Ultimately it was impossible for you to adopt that hardline attitude Amakasu has, thus you came here by yourself right?”
“Uhh......”
Godou was at a loss for words after she saw right through him. How did it turn out like this?
The relationship between Liliana and him was not even that close. However, it was quite unimaginable as to how she understood what type of person Kusanagi Godou was. Godou also had a very clear grasp on the temperament of Liliana Kranjcar.
This was all really hard to comprehend, but this realization would actually make anyone happy.
All in all, Godou did get himself a capable helper.
“The part that I am concerned about is the phenomenon of Santa Clauses changing color.”
Liliana spoke while setting a teacup for black tea in front of Godou.
After they met up in Ueno, the two of them went to a single-family house in Dangozaka. This house, which was Liliana’s temporary dwelling while she was in Japan, was fairly close to the Kusanagi household in Nezu-Sanchome.
The two of them were residing in the living room which had windows along the southern side. The sunshine seemed quite breathtaking.
“Are you referring to the color change from red to gray?”
“Yes......Well, perhaps it might not be as simple as just changing the eye-catching primary color into a dull color. There was also the scene from the spirit vision bestowed upon me during yesterday’s quick inspection.”
“Now that you mention it, there were quite a few things you referred to.”
“I envisioned for a brief moment that the scenery of the streets changed to a scene similar to that after the harvest. In addition, there was some sort of divine presence that passed through and gathered what appeared to be grain heads scattered along farmland after the harvest......”
“It seems to resemble farm work.”
Godou spoke with very straightforward thinking.
“Yes indeed. If it is farm work, it would mean that the scene pertains to the grace of earth. Perhaps the Santa Clauses losing their red color carries profound significance.”
Liliana began to thoroughly articulate her explanation.
“The Santa Claus referred to in Japan was originally Christianity’s guardian saint, St. Nicholas.”
“St. Nicholas and Santa Claus......no matter how you sound it out they are completely different.”
“The reason is simple. Japanese people must have learned about the culture of Santa Claus through America. However this social custom was actually brought to America by an immigrant from Holland.”
Liliana retrieved a notebook and began writing Latin characters on it.
“St. Nicholas is read as St. Nicholas when using a Dutch pronunciation. The American pronunciation ‘Santa Claus’ resulted from what was supposed to be pronounced as ‘Sinterklaas’ through an incorrect accent.”
Saint NICOLAS Sint Nikolaas Sinterklass
After that, Liliana lastly added Santa Claus in conjunction.
“The image of Santa Claus spreading gifts to the children while riding a sled driven by reindeers comes to mind when mentioning St. Nicholas. This stereotype was established in America roughly around the 19th century. The red outfit that became his raiment was instituted during a time period much closer to the present.”
“Ah......In that case, the juncture was triggered by the Cola company’s publicity activities.”
After hearing Liliana say that, Godou recalled something.
The color red had become a recognized color for the well-known North American beverage manufacturing company since the 1930s when they wanted to raise winter sales figures by publicly advertising through the use of Santa Claus. His image would always appear on posters and as expected the color of his outfit was in red.
The red outfit of Santa Claus coming from the red color of a cola can, this reality sounded like a joke.
“Before the red outfit wearing Santa Claus became a prominent public figure throughout the world, there wasn’t this kind of modern saying that Santa Claus was the same existence as St. Nicholas, rather his character was more analogous to some sort of fairy. During that period, the gifts he dispersed were fruits.”
“So to sum it all up, it wasn't gifts of hope."
“The fruits were ripened grains that were reaped from earth’s bountiful harvest——symbolizing the grace of earth. Dating back its origin, this so-called Christmas was known as the religious ceremony for the Saint who descends upon the winter festivities to bestow bountiful harvests for the earth. This could be traced back to rituals held during ancient times.”
“Religious ceremony......”
Even those refusing to accept the truth would be compelled to remember the words "heretic god".
Overall, Godou felt he was able to understand the issue Liliana was worrying about.
“Is it that one? For the time being, regardless of the identity of the current Santa Claus, we should probably refer to him as St. Nicholas rather than saying he is the Santa Claus from the time when red wasn't associated with him. Maybe that guy will become a heretic god after arriving here.”
“Not ‘maybe’, he will turn into a heretic god I presume.”
Liliana simply agreed.
“I’m afraid that St. Nicholas, who has arrived at these
grounds, possesses the earth attribute of the god of bountiful harvests and divinity deriving from the Catholic Saints.”
“Is that really the case!?”
“Yesterday you couldn’t feel the presence of a god. For that reason, I feel like I might be overthinking this. But on the other hand, there is no way to assert complete safety.”
“I agree. In the end, we should perform a quick investigation for the sake of caution.”
Godou and Liliana both nodded. During times like these, their equally serious personalities allow them to communicate more efficiently.
“The person in yesterday’s spirit vision wasn’t St. Nicholas, maybe the revelation is connected to the origins of earth’s essence. Let’s just first try to investigate with these clues ok?”
While the two of them were talking to each other, the door to the living room was opened.
It was Karen Jankulovski, Liliana’s exclusive maid.
This rarely seen outfit was not her maid uniform but rather it seemed to be her personal attire which consisted of a blue coat and a black fur hat. Her hand was dragging a suitcase with wheels attached, giving the impression that she was about to go on vacation.
“Welcome Kusanagi-sama and welcome back Liliana-sama. I am very sorry for being late in my greetings."
Karen spoke while having her head deeply lowered.
“You still haven’t left yet Karen?”
“Mhmm. On the account of some urgent matters arising right before I intended to leave, I had stayed here up till now......However, thanks to this I was able to see some good drama, fufufu.”
Karen was snickering while chatting with her master.
“I never would have thought Liliana-sama would bring a male Campione into her house while I was away. Even though it’s hard to keep a person’s lips sealed, please don’t worry, maids are very adept at maintaining their master’s secrets.”
“D-Don’t get any strange ideas!”
“May the two of you slowly enjoy this evening. Well then, goodnight.”
After Karen snickered and bestowed a bit of courtesy, she left.
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