The youth before him currently gave off a very admirable and blindingly brilliant feeling, and it was impossible to think he was an ordinary human. He must be a very special existence.
"Thou mayst leave now, boy. The direction thou followest hath no vortex of flame, only stable mortal life. Righteous character will not lose the light's blessing, thou shouldst go straight ahead. "
And then he walked towards the debris where the people crying for help were.
His finger pointed in the opposite direction, and then Godou felt his body turn and walk there by itself, and then began to run! What was going on!?
Shocked, Godou desperately tried to stop his own footsteps.
I can't leave just like that, Godou strove to resist.
"What a stubborn brat, thou resistest my spell words."
"W-Wait a minute, give me a second. How can I run away alone? If I'm escaping you must come along, as well as the people on the other side. So—"
"Thy thoughts are sufficient. I do not need thy assistance, because thou wilt only get in my way. Makest haste, escapest."
The youth pleaded in gentle tones.
"Such a shame to have lost my name. If my name was called during times of crisis, my blessing will be obtained. If I were my past self, I would never leave this holy phrase as parting words! So friend, I shall gift these words to thee—farewell! Makest haste and run!"
The result was, this was the end.
As the youth finished bidding farewell, Godou's legs ran automatically.
Impossible to stop, impossible to resist.
Fleeing from the threat of the fire and the [Boar], running at full speed in a direction where there was no road.
Unable to save the youth, or those people trapped at the fire—these thoughts made Godou very depressed, but he could not stop his footsteps.
Soon after, not knowing how he ran, Godou escaped from the fire. For a moment he forgot his guilt for escaping by himself, and deeply exhaled in relief.
—What followed immediately was despair.
At some point in time, Godou had arrived at the Duomo cathedral he passed by in the afternoon.
The great cathedral standing there.
The place of worship to pay respects to the divine, and offer one's prayers.
Beside the quiet and pious structure, a massive beast stood there, several dozens of meters tall, just as big as the Duomo cathedral—the giant black [Boar].
So well-built that it looked slightly fat, with a strong and vigorous body.
The unexpectedly slim limbs, and a mouth containing frighteningly large tusks.
A creature completely unlike the related animals that Godou knew about.
No matter how lively a boar, none were as ferocious or grotesque as this one. Its brutality made one think of a god, Godou had never met anything so frightful in his life!
Compared to this stone built church, this [Boar] was the true divine existence.
God of fury, god of destruction, god of jet black darkness.
Shock and awe and fear, this time Godou's body was entirely frozen.
ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!
ROAAAAAAR!
After several roars which made the earth shake and the air tremble, the [Boar] pulverized the Duomo cathedral like an art piece made of paper. Godou stared at the scene stupefied.
Pieces of stone debris fell from the sky like hail.
This was far too dangerous! Just as Godou thought that, a gust of wind blew.
At first it was a light refreshing breeze, but then it immediately strengthened into a gale, soon turning into a tornado.
"...Wind? —Now wasn't the time to be so casual!"
Yelling, Godou immediately left the scene from the [Boar] and the church.
The strange thing that happened afterwards, probably won't be forgotten for a lifetime.
It was a duel between the tornado and the black [Boar].
In the area around the plaza of the Duomo cathedral, there were many of Cagliari's historic buildings.
Like the Torre dell'Elefante[14], Torre di San Pancrazio[15] and others... There were also many Gothic and Baroque churches from the Middle Ages.
At the location of these historical buildings, the tornado formed just now had swept the giant [Boar] into the air. How strong were the winds in this tornado?
Devoured by the spiraling storm, the [Boar] was suspended in midair.
Surrounding it, Godou witnessed the sudden arrival of golden flashes of light. Swiftly and sharply, golden arcs sliced the [Boar]'s body into pieces.
Gaaaaaaaah!
The [Boar]'s roars filled the air, sounding like final death cries.
Losing support, the massive black body fell onto the ground, resulting in an extremely terrifying crash, collapsing a tower in the process, scattering stone pieces everywhere, and demolishing many houses.
And then the [Boar]'s body slowly turned into grains of sand and collapsed.
The one that swept these grains of sand was the murderer—the tornado. It gradually subsided, turning into a strong gust of wind, taking away with it the sand which the [Boar] had turned into.
What remained were the streets which had turned into hell.
Seriously damaged streets, the fire still raging at the pier, as well as people in chaos.
People who only cared to escape. People who stood frozen. People praying to God. Crying, angry, terrified, hurt, sighing people.
Amongst these crowds, Godou walked by himself shakily.
At some point in time, the sky had turned black. In the broken streets at night, Godou wandered aimlessly alone.
What happened to that youth and the young men at the pier? He really wanted to know they were safe. He wanted to know their current condition. Propelled by these thoughts, Godou searched and wandered everywhere.
In the end, he failed to meet any of them.
Part 5
The next morning, the newspapers at the inn gave Godou a complete shock.
It was a newspaper based in southern Sardinia with Cagliari as its central focus, but yesterday's incident was not reported.
There was a report and picture about a fire at the harbor, but after asking the innkeeper who knew English, all Godou got was an answer like 'Yesterday there seemed to be a fire at the harbor area. You got caught up in it, right? How unfortunate!" And then a pat on Godou's shoulder.
Asking the others, no one in the inn knew about the [Boar] or the tornado.
Godou wanted to ask them in detail, but his verbal expression skills were not enough. Filled with doubt, Godou settled his bill at the inn and left. Everything that happened yesterday should have been real.
Anyway, let's go to the site of the incident, so Godou left for the Duomo cathedral plaza.
The demolished church, the destroyed streets.
Construction workers were silently hard at work performing repairs. Who knows how long it would take to restore everything to their former appearance.
"It really wasn't a dream..."
Godou muttered as he looked at the disastrous scene.
Next it was time to check out the pier, but just as he made that decision a voice called him.
"How casual of you to continue staying in this city. Where's the person who was with you back then? I am looking for his whereabouts, can you assist me?"
Cagliari, damaged and destroyed everywhere last night.
The one who appeared here was the blonde girl dressed in red—the owner of that unforgettably beautiful face.
"...What, it's you."
Her name was something like Erica Blandelli.
Having a poor impression of her, Godou responded very coldly.
"Ah, where's the greeting? I've heard that the Japanese are very big on manners, could I be wrong? Or perhaps, it's you who is ignorant?"
Erica spoke scathing words in an elegant tone.
Even for someone like Godou who was unaccustomed to handling girls, he could not stop himself from retorting. Frowning, and using as malicious a to
ne as possible, he counterattacked:
"I've also heard that Italians were very amiable, but you don't seem to have that kind of gentleness."
Silently they stared at each other for a moment.
Very obviously, Erica's mood turned for the worse, but it was the same with Godou.
"If you were a gentleman, then I can lavish as much gentleness as you want. However, for you to act with such an attitude towards a lady, unacceptable, completely unacceptable, you fail."
"At least in the place I was born, girls who threaten others with swords are not considered ladies. This is due to your own brutality, do not blame others."
And so, this was Kusanagi Godou and Erica Blandelli's first conversation, which took place in the worst of conditions. Though neither of them were actually the type to say such offensive words on a first meeting, but the current situation was the worst.
"Just an underling of a mage who summoned a [Heretic God], how dare you speak to me in such a manner?"
"Mentioning that again? You've been going on and on about gods since yesterday, what are those? Could you please communicate with words that normal people like me can understand? You've been saying incomprehensible things all this time, and it's making my mind very confused!"
Godou furiously said those words.
Hearing those complaints, Erica simply smiled, and then held out her hand.
Clutched in her hand, was the travel bag on Godou's shoulder.
Directly pulling it over to her, Godou completely could not resist her monstrous strength. Godou was very surprised that he would lose to such a slender girl in strength.
"Look, what is this? A holy relic giving off divine power—even for us magi of the Copper Black Cross, rarely will we possess specimens of this high caliber."
What Erica took out from the back pack, was the stone tablet.
B5 in size, wrapped in purple cloth, on it was carved a rather childish drawing that left one with deep impression. The object that some female friend of grandfather had brought to Japan—
"Ah, hey! Give it back! That's not mine. I came specifically from Japan to return it to the original owner."
"The original owner? This person is on the island of Sardinia?"
"Yes. Speaking with such arrogance starting yesterday, you don't seem normal no matter how I look at it!"
"...Such harsh criticism aimed towards me, I shall punish you in a little while. But first, I have a question for you, please tell me the name of the original owner."
Like an owl having sighted its prey in the middle of the night, Erica's eyes were flashing with light.
"A divine artifact belonging to a group who summons [Heretic Gods], I am very interested in this owner... Quickly, or would you like to be threatened by a sword again? While I'm still feeling generous, it would be wise for you to confess everything, yes?"
Erica's eyes were as sharp as swords, though her tone was full of false gentleness.
Godou was about to act in defiance when he suddenly realized.
Gods, magic, the mysterious youth, Erica Blandelli.
There were so many inexplicable things happening to him yesterday and he needed to obtain more information in this area.
In the absence of that youth, the only source of information was this girl.
"...She seems to be called Lucretia Zola, and is currently living at a place inland called Oliena. I was preparing to head there myself."
Making his decision, Godou explained directly.
Hearing that, Erica frowned and stared at Godou.
'Lucretia Zola? The Witch of Sardinia? An evil mage underling like you, going to meet her? ...How suspicious."
Kusanagi Godou and the mysterious youth.
And now it was Kusanagi Godou and Erica Blandelli.
These two encounters, who could have expected them to develop into an event that would rock the world and the gods—but at this moment it was only the southern Italian countryside—just a scene on the island of Sardinia.
Chapter 3 – Witch of Sardinia
Part 1
"So you only met that boy by chance, and have no relation to him. That stone tablet also came into your possession by chance, and you specifically came here to return it to its original owner..."
Sitting on the same bench was Erica, listing these facts out with a melodic voice.
By the way, Godou was sitting on the left side while Erica sat on the right, separated by a fairly large distance.
"You really think I will believe such lies? Be a little more realistic if you're going to lie."
"I am not lying and everything is the truth. Everything happened by chance. I don't care if you believe it or not!"
Faced with this girl who has been mocking him all this time, Godou responded with a very annoyed expression.
Travelling with a woman like this, you've got to be kidding! No matter what, he must find a way to get rid of her.
"By the way, what are you, both a mage and a knight? Either one of these alone is already very unusual. For you to have both titles at the same time, it's idiotic! Even online games don't offer such ridiculous settings like yours."
Occasionally dabbling in chess and go, Godou did not actually play online games. Even so, he knew a little about the content of online role-playing games.
Which is why he naturally recalled strange terms like mage, knight, god, etc...
"To compare me, a descendant of the Templar Knights, with those fabricated games? I can see that you not only fail as a gentleman, you don't even have basic manners. How pitiful!"
"I don't even want those kinds of manners!"
As he talked shop with Erica, Godou unhappily looked upwards at the timetable written in Italian.
—The two of them were in the waiting room of the Cagliari train station.
Godou's destination Oliena was located in the province of Nuoro on the eastern part of the island, and was about two or three hours away by rail or by car, so Godou picked the train.
But they have been waiting for close to an hour in that waiting room with no signs of the train.
Italian trains will definitely be late, it was exactly as rumored.
"Look! Did I not warn you, trains do not operate according to schedule? Do as I say, going there by car will be a lot easier."
"You're so annoying! If you don't like being with me, then hurry up and go home!"
Since Godou and Erica were the only two people in the waiting room, they could argue and make a scene as much as they wanted.
As a side note, the Cagliari train station was small yet well-equipped, and was very similar to Japanese stations. This made Godou naturally feel a sense of déjà vu.
"Actually... As you suggested, we could take a long distance bus."
Even though they weren't getting along, but if the other person was being logical, Godou didn't mind going along with her suggestion.
Perhaps because Godou was too honest and straightforward, Erica easily declined his act of concession.
"What are you talking about?! How can I possibly take public buses or trains?"
"What do you mean?"
Erica proudly puffed her chest at Godou and said:
"Listen well! I, Erica Blandelli, have never taken a train or a bus since the day I was born. Isn't that excessively troublesome? And you need to wait here specifically."
"Uh..."
"I have my own car and driver. Ignoring planes for now, as far as land travel goes, there is completely no reason to do something as troublesome as what we are doing now."
"Uh..."
"Ah... However I do enjoy horse riding a lot, especially that feeling of the breeze, you can't experience that from other places. If only you were as cute as a horse."
"Shut up. Anyway, I understand now."
Godou looked as if he had been enlightened by some truth.
"My greatness? If that's the case, you are too slow, your observation skills need work."
"You're very annoying, that's not what I
meant! You are truly a sheltered little high class lady through and through, completely beyond my imagination. And it looks like we have an unbridgeable gap between us!"
This woman existed in a completely different culture. Calling herself a mage, a high class lady who was impossible to placate.
Even without a language barrier, it was likely impossible to understand each other.
"Ah, I didn't grow up that sheltered, though I did receive a noblewoman's education, but the results were less than satisfactory, at most average."
"An ordinary commoner would have nothing to do with the word 'noblewoman'!"
Godou remarked without consideration.
"Then you understand now? There is a serious cultural divide between you and me, and we cannot travel together. Realizing that before we get on the train is really too fortunate—then goodbye to you, though we didn't spend much time together."
"You lack comprehension skills. Traveling with you is completely my decision. No matter what you say, I will not give up."
Erica declared in a very straightforward manner.
"Besides, as a knight, one must endure all odds to complete the mission, overcoming trials and tribulations. This has been the way since ancient times. You don't have to worry about this principle."
"I care about myself, your hardship has nothing to do with me..."
Godou resisted Erica's company from the bottom of his heart.
It was this morning when they met again.
After Godou explained his destination, Erica had made a declaration.
"Then I shall accompany you to Lucretia Zola. I am interested to know what you intend to do after meeting the famed Witch of Sardinia, as well as the power dormant in this stone tablet. Furthermore, that boy could very well contact you, so this is the best course of action."
A very clear expression on her face.
Though Godou vehemently refused, she immediately responded:
"Ah, but if I used my sword, I could instantly rob you of this stone tablet, eh? I didn't do that because I am very gentle and chivalrous. You do understand that, no?"
Thinly veiled threats. Godou couldn't help but acquiesce to Erica tagging along.
And so the two continued to argue as they reached the Cagliari train station.
"You, why do you have to chase that guy? Yes he was quite strange, but not a bad person. Didn't he rescue the people at the harbor yesterday?"
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