by The Hero
"H, how can I believe such an overbearing reason?!"
"Then, Liliana-sama, earlier on, why were you sneaking glances at Kusanagi-sama with such a fervent look in your eyes? Also, the both of you had spent the whole of last night together. Are you starting to feel that you have no other choice but to get closer to that King? Fufu, it's futile to feign innocence. Because, I have already seen through everything."
When Karen pointed that out, Liliana gulped.
Come to think of it, since that meal, she might have been feeling that way.
Nothatsnotit[18], it's not fate not anything like that. Just - yes, it was just that when she looked at the face of her [King], her heart would beat furiously in her chest uncontrollably!
"To make it clear, Liliana-sama has fallen in love. Yes, the throbbing in your chest is the feeling of the fact that you can't help noticing him as a man. That, for sure, is love!"
"L, love!?"
Liliana was stunned. That was ridiculous. She did not want to believe it, but what if it were true?
"Ara, is that so? I suppose we've no other choice - the job of kissing Kusanagi-sama, we'll leave it to Lily in that case!"
"Di, Diana, you too!?"
"Furthermore, this fated love will bring along with it luxury and privilege. In order for Liliana-sama to succeed in becoming Kusanagi-sama's lover, the Great Knight of the [Bronze-Black Cross] has to stay by the [King]'s side and wait upon him."
"L, lover...? Karen, what are you saying!?"
"Ah, I see. Fufu, that Karen, thinking of such vicious thoughts, just like always!"
In contrast with the distressed Liliana, Diana seemed oddly happy. To the two who were older, Karen smoothly explained her plan.
"From the results of my analysis of Kusanagi-sama since yesterday night, he is not as used to women as the rumors say. At this point in time, his lovers are easily able to exert their influence over him. Of these, there are two of them at the moment. If one were to enter the field and chase them away, one would need to have power of equal strength!"
"Ch, chase away!?"
"Yes. Fortunately for us, Liliana-sama is a Great Knight and also a witch of the [Bronze-Black Cross], and the next-in-line to be the head of the Kranjcar family, whether it is magical or political power, you would definitely do him proud."
Currently, the organization with the greatest connections and influence over Kusanagi Godou was the [Copper-Black Cross].
Although the organization has not yet fully submitted themselves to him, they had monopolized his influence. As a result, the other mages were unable to get close to him. The situation was both insalubrious and unfair.
To put an end to that collusive relationship, necessary measures must be taken, and after hearing all that, even Liliana had nothing more to say.
She, as Kusanagi Godou's lover. Was such a future possible?
Unintentionally, Liliana fell into deep thought. For some reason, her mind had begun to fill with random stories and scenarios.
- A young girl, unused to the ways of love.
- Before her, a mysterious, unruly and charming boy had appeared. Around the boy and girl was the coiling scent of danger. Through a meeting of coincidence, they had both realized the other's existence.
- I, with such a half-baked person, I can't possibly like or feel anything else towards him.
- Though she had said that, the girl was still entranced by the boy. And the boy, towards the girl who would not be honest with herself, grew an interest, and before he knew it, he had engraved her presence in his memories, locked in his mind and heart for eternity.
Liliana who had been fantasizing the above quickly shook her head. What on earth was I thinking!?
"Karen, don't say such nonsense to anyone else. I, I'll be taking a short rest!"
The sound of someone standing up from a chair was heard, and Liliana walked out of the kitchen.
And after that, the oldest witch and the maid might have continued whispering things like, '... There's hope yet!', or, '.... Yes, that's right, just a little push more, for the sake of shortening the distance between those two, we have to use this trick like this...'.
Part 4
Godou had managed to get in touch with Genaro Gantz through the phone he borrowed.
Neither he nor the others from the [Copper-Black Cross] had the faintest inkling of where Erica might be, which meant that they could not contact them either. Really, what is going on?
Could it be that a [Heretic God] had descended upon Sardinia, causing something strange to happen?
"That is a possibility, seeing as that demoness wouldn't disappear for no good reason.... Leave the matters on that side for us to investigate, and the incident in Naples, we'll leave to you."
"I got it, then I'm counting on you."
After designating their tasks, they said their farewells and hung up the call.
- After hurriedly finishing the call, Godou returned to the closed old bookstore.
This was logical, but he was surrounded by western books. Because of that, the atmosphere here was the same as his house in Japan. Even if the country was different, the smell of the air inside the bookstore was the same.
It was past seven in the evening.
Even so, it was still very bright, usual for a summer day in Europe. If this were Japan, it would already have been dark.
In the interior of the shop, dyed orange by the sun setting in the west, Godou had borrowed a phone, and then contacted all of his Italian acquaintances. Finishing all that, Godou looked out the window.
The outside gave off a feel of an industrial area, due to the rubbish that were littered all over the place.
In the grocery store on the opposite side of the street, there was a frighteningly fat woman in a sleeveless, midriff-baring top and hot pants running the shop. It was a scene that fully displayed the cultural gap between Italy and Japan.
If only he had the time and mood, he would have very much liked to go for a jog.
He gave up on that thought quickly, and went to look for the witches... on the way, he found a notebook with a black leather cover.
Whose belonging is that? Without thinking, Godou picked it up, and opened it.
[Stop, let go of me! I, I really hate you!]
[Fuu. Then, why did you come here? I know the reason. You are - ]
[Ah, no - ngh!?]
[I won't let go of you. Be my woman.]
Is this a shoujo novel? No, a harlequin romance?
This was a romance novel depicting the love of two, but written by hand. The protagonist had, as though no one else was around, aggressively made advances on the heroine, kissing her against her will, and things like that.
"I have lost - I'd never have thought that such a thing could be written...."
Godou deeply regretted looking at the contents.
He felt somewhat guilty about sneaking a look. To whom does this belong to? The person who seemed like she would write this way, was it Diana?
Just as he thought of sneakily returning it at a later time and as he closed the notebook.
He felt a chilling sensation on his back, chilling, and sharp. This feeling, should be a blade.
"Do not move. Just like this, let's go outside... Do not make a sound, and act more natural. Understood?"
A soft warning - no, a threat.
Who is that? It couldn't be the showy, grandiose Perseus. Then, was this perhaps an assassin from some secret organization? While worrying over this, Godou followed the instructions, and left the store.
Together with the person holding the blade to his back, they walked along the street that was bathed in the sunlight of the setting sun.
Godou resisted the temptation to look back. If he were to do so, he would definitely get stabbed, it was too risky.
.... Before long, they turned into a dirty, dark alleyway.
"It's fine now. Slowly, turn around."
Doing as told, Godou had a shock when he turned around.
&nbs
p; An unexpected face.
"What!? Liliana-san, why did you do that!? Could it be that you have been after my life all this time...?"
"Y, you found out about my secret! After I kill you, I'll die too!"
"...... Eh?"
Holding a shortsword and with a brooding expression, the words of Liliana Kranjcar had left Godou stunned.
"This notebook, could it possibly be yours!?"
That notebook, whether it was a romance novel, or a collection of poems, he was unsure of.
"Even though I had only just took it out from my bag to write on earlier, I'm not sure when I had lost it.... Could it be, that you have searched through my belongings!?"
"I, there's no way I would do that sort of thing! You have to believe me!"
(By the way, this was the work of the scheming Karen, who took it out of her bag, and then before Godou passed through the corridor, purposely left it in his path. The above was the truth behind this incident, but the two of them would never find out about the cause and effect of it.)
"At any rate, since you found out about my secret hobby, I have to silence you!"
"Eh, hold on a second! Killing someone over something of this degree, isn't that too ridiculous!"
"It's not ridiculous at all! I won't allow the amount of people who can blackmail me with this to increase any further!"
Speaking of blackmail, Godou immediately thought of someone's face
That [Diavolo Rosso] - she and her fellow cronies, would in an elegant manner, make request after request, that face.
Although it was an unfounded guess with no evidence behind it, but to think this way was not strange at all.
"Anyway, calm down first. I'm different from Erica, it'll be fine."
"Kuh.... To mention that name, as I thought, you must have heard something from that vixen, my secret, for example! Then, after I kill you, I'll make sure I finish that demoness off properly!"
"Di, did I step on a landmine!?"
After spending a few minutes, he had finally managed to convince a distressed Liliana.
Although he had, through much difficulty, conveyed his thoughts and feeling to her, she still seemed to be in a great panic.
"In, in this time of crisis, I was, unintentionally overcome by a surge of idle thoughts, resulting in me writing those things. Please pretend you never saw it. I'm begging you, please forget it somehow!"
She cried out, teary-eyed.
Though he felt that it was not some kind of secret that could never be divulged, Godou nodded his head.
"Ah... Well, I feel that everyone has their own interests, it's no big deal, really."
Godou irresponsibly threw out those words.
He actually meant that it was not worth worrying over such trivial things.
During the Meiji Era, when a head of the Kusanagi household had passed away, his descendants had discovered a collection of roughly three thousand novels about his private life, and in them were written.... that when he was on the receiving end of a scolding, or physical abuse from an excessively young girl[19], he would derive masochistic pleasure during the experience. During the family council, the decision that 'This shall be classified as an erotic novel henceforth' was made, becoming a controversial work. Comparing Liliana's work to that....
No matter what, Godou patted her on the shoulder, as though he were trying to console a child, and thus, Godou and Liliana, her eyes moist with tears, the distance between them had shortened.
For some reason, the beautiful fairy-like girl, with tears in her eyes, seemed so much more fragile than her usual self, yet at the same time, she seemed so alluring.
He could no longer see the girl who was stronger than him, more courageous than him in front of him. Godou's protective instincts were triggered, and he hastily turned away in embarrassment.
Liliana too, seemed a little embarrassed herself, her cheeks a deep shade of red.
The atmosphere becoming more and more awkward by the second, the duo fell into silence. This isn't good, what should I - as he was thinking of what to do, a voice suddenly called out towards them.
"Seems you've recovered from your wounds already, and returned to the same old self, tenacious boy."
Proud, dignified, and child-like, but still possessing the majesty of a Queen.
Godou and Liliana raised their heads upwards.
- Descending upon the dirty, little alley, was none other than [Heretic God Athena].
Chapter 5 - The Missing Kings
Part 1
Spaccanapoli - In a small alleyway in the old street of Naples.
Kusanagi Godou and Liliana Kranjcar had met with the goddess Athena.
"What's with describing me as 'tenacious', stop that. Because of you, I almost died."
"You too, stop saying those deplorable things. To be injured in a battle, it was due to your own inexperience. Firstly, you should be lamenting over your own weakness."
A calm reply to Godou, and the mood became heavier.
Unreasonably dragging in innocent bystanders who had no intention of fighting, this goddess-sama was the root of it all. Her self-centeredness evidently surpassed even Erica's. What a selfish fellow.
".... Kusanagi Godou."
Liliana who had been standing at the side, said in a very soft voice.
As though she were looking to him as for what to do next, and awaiting his order.
Godou shook his head.
He did not intend on fighting the goddess, only temporarily gauging the situation. Although unsure if she had understood from that, Liliana lightly nodded her head.
Counting on this powerful supporter in his heart, Godou turned towards Athena.
"Hey, tell me one thing. This time round, you were the one who dragged me into the battle, so would you mind explaining something to me?"
"What is it? Speak your mind."
"Why was Perseus able to - seal the powers of Verethragna? He, being a bane of serpents, therefore countering Athena's power, that I can understand, due to the story of Medusa, right? But, Perseus and Verethragna have no direct connection, so isn't it strange?"
"About that - "
Her response to Godou's question was a simple faint smile.
As though she were assessing them, she stared at them intently. Her eyes were like that of a predator eyeing its prey.
She was a predator, after all. The aspect of a goddess of battle and hunting.
"No matter how I answer it, there will be things that you cannot comprehend. Indeed, I was the one who dragged you into this, but if I reveal the answer here, this game would not be able to amuse me as much."
"Isn't that fine? I got involved only because of your willful personality."
Godou snapped back in retort.
"Yesterday... you said that you had wanted to train me. The truth probably isn't that you had wanted to avoid conflict with that serpent-slayer, thus dragging me in, correct?"
"Do not sully the name of a goddess of war, Kusanagi Godou."
Athena glared at him, her eyes heavy with threat. "It's true, that I am not in a hurry to battle with that person. The serpent-slaying words of power are an extremely troublesome existence to myself. However, the countermeasures I have against that unfavorable element are far and many, do not treat so lightly the Queen of the land and darkness."
"I'd never would have thought... that you'd have a countermeasure?"
Hiding the joy in his heart, Godou asked.
If it were true, then he might be able to use his trump card against Perseus.
"That's right. If he would use his serpent-slaying words of power, then I would use the scorching flames to melt his steel... Fufu, while you were in a deep sleep, I had already awakened the dormant volcano that lies yonder. If he were to be enveloped by molten lava, even the hero of 《Steel》 will fall!"
"It's fine even if you don't fell him! I will go and fight him, so you can just sit back and watch!"
This guy wants to blow up the volcano! Godou resi
sted the urge to exclaim out loud.
Athena was referring to Mount Vesuvius, east of Naples.
During the time of the Roman Empire, Pompeii had been partially destroyed, and buried under ash and pumice from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The last time that this volcano had been active was back in 1949, and its distance from Naples was nine kilometers.
Godou finally understood.
Why Athena had accepted the truce after her attack on Perseus.
He was not sure how she had done it, but in order to triumph over Perseus, she had prepared to make use of the volcano, to overcome the unfavorable condition of fighting against a serpent-slayer.
"But, about using the volcano, are you implying that Perseus is weak against heat?"
"It must be an exceedingly intense heat, to the extent that even a dragon would be incinerated. This isn't the only weakness of that guy, either. 《Steel》, after all, is that kind of thing, isn't it?"
Steel.
Hearing that word, his emotions were unable to stabilize, and Godou returned to that topic.
"Then let me ask again, why was Verethragna's power sealed?"
"I don't mind telling you, but will you pay the price, Kusanagi Godou?"
.... How unreasonable.
"Since you do not want me to personally step in, then wouldn't this request be natural? Though I have dragged you into this, is it not evened out when I listened to your request to back out of the battlefield? Now, if you would like for me to grant you the key to victory, then you will be indebted to me."
In other words, Godou just had to promise her something. Athena smiled wryly.
Godou knew for sure that this goddess would think of something strange and illogical, poking fun at him, for all he knew she might have been overjoyed inside watching his troubled expression.
"You're really an absurd goddess-sama, you know. Fine, what's the price?"
"Hm. I haven't thought that far yet."
Godou had asked, testing the waters, but this was the answer. Please stop tormenting me already.
"Fufu, I haven't given it much thought yet - then, in return for my telling of that secret, you would have to grant a request, a desire of mine some day in the future. Do you accept?"