Campione! Vol 4 Epilogue

Epilogue The night in Naples had not quite ended yet, and after the [Boar], the one who played the leading role in crus.h.i.+ng Perseus had disappeared, the unconscious Kusanagi G.o.dou had been sent to the hospital. When G.o.dou awoke, he had a great shock finding himself lying in the hospital bed. His bandaged abdomen that had been pierced by the sword, inexplicably did not hurt a single bit, most likely because the wound had already been healed. After asking, he then found out that it was a little present left behind by Athena. Hence, G.o.dou asked Liliana to arrange for his discharge. However - "The stab wound was very deep! Even if Athena had healed you, you should be obediently resting! Please have a good sleep!" Liliana got very angry, and forced G.o.dou to continue lying down. His injuries were minor, but he was trapped in the hospital. G.o.dou who was lying on the bed grew restless, looking around all the corners of the ward. Because it was a single room, he was alone with Liliana. - Come to think of it, what happened with Perseus? G.o.dou suddenly thought of that problem. Since his authorities were not transferred over, then he must have definitely survived the [Boar]'s attack. As expected of a G.o.d, his will to live was tremendous. As he did not appear, this meant that he was probably recuperating somewhere. G.o.dou set aside his care for that matter, and looked at Liliana who was sitting next to him. She was carefully using a small knife to peel a pear, if it were Erica, she would definitely get her maid Arianna to do it. "Could it be that you can even do normal housework?" "That is only natural. Though I know who you're comparing me with, but please don't compare me with that vixen. Putting aside the fact that we're knights, as a woman, knowing iiow to do tliese tilings is normai. I'm aiso ratlier skiiied at cooking, and better than the average person at housework, too." Liiiana replied, to G.o.dou's rude question. With a pained smile, G.o.dou nodded. Because he saw that she had a maid, he had lumped her together with Erica. "I, if it's fine with you, one of these days, I'll personally cook for you, how about it?" "Wow. I'll be looking forward to that. When that time comes, I'll be in your care." "In that case, then allow me to conveniently cl, clean your room, and wash your clothes as well. Since it's just 'conveniently', please leave it all to me." "Eh? No need for that, actually it's fine if you don't go to those lengths..." "No, this is also the duty of a knight! Because you are a [King], you do not need to mind such trivial things!" "I, isn't that wrong!?" Just when their conversation was developing in a strange direction... With a clang, the door opened, and two girls entered the room. Erica Blandelli and Mariya Yuri, his companions that he had parted with for a day and whom he had come from j.a.pan with. "Ah, what's this, you purposely came all the way here for me? It would have been fine even if you had waited for me back on Sardinia." Without thinking, G.o.dou greeted them immediately. Instantly, his insides froze over. First, Yuri's clear and dignified eyes had raised up, and glared straight at him, while Erica had revealed a gentle smile. "G.o.dou-san, you've let others worry for you this much, and yet you don't show any signs of repentance. Not having any news of you, worrying over your safety, do you know how much worry and anxiety you've caused us? - Please do a little soul-searching." Yuri had suddenly started preaching. G.o.dou, being pierced by her eyes of the Yasha, felt a sense of terror. "To make matters worse, it had really turned out like this, exactly as what Erica had foreseen..." "I, I'm really sorry, Mariya. I tried to get in contact, but I couldn't get through. B, by the way, what do you mean by 'like this'?" Apologizing in a panic, G.o.dou tried to change the topic. Yuri's eyes then became like a blizzard in the frozen mountains, looking towards G.o.dou who was lying on the bed and Liliana, what exactly was she worried about? Then, it was Erica, who had been smiling that gentle, beautiful smile ever since she walked in. A graceful, yet terrifying smile, like a devil. - Danger, this was a super huge danger, his instincts as a Campione told him. "Yuri, don't be too hard on him. He is a King after all, you have to forgive his slightly mischievous actions. In the end, he got through healthily, and even defeated the [Heretic G.o.d]." Spoken like an understanding, sensible lady. But he could not let himself be deceived, this was a f.a.gade, made to conceal the true attack. "About G.o.dou's brave, heroic deeds, we've heard everything from that witch named Diana. It's really impressive how you managed to discover the G.o.d's true ident.i.ty without us, even using the incarnation of the [Warrior] to that extent." Tense with nervousness, G.o.dou listened to Erica's piercing compliments. When? When did she begin her a.s.sault? This ward should only be on the second level, if necessary, he only simply needed to break the window and jump down, he would not die anyway. "I have to thank Lily too, seems you've taken good care of G.o.dou..." An elegant smile, towards her silver-haired childhood friend. The moment had finally arrived - a flash of steel. A shortsword had appeared in Erica's right hand, and she stabbed towards G.o.dou in an all-too-natural action. "W, whoaaaaaa!" He had already sensed that Erica would do something, but he did not quite expect it to be this serious. G.o.dou shouted, hastily escaping from the bed. The trajectory of the shortsword was evidently straight towards his chest - was his heart the target!? "Have you gone mad. Erica! Isn't that too disrespectful, towards our lord!" Liliana shouted out loud, blocking Erica's shortsword with her small knife. Gakin! Gan, gan, gan, gan,^^^ went the sharp clas.h.i.+ng sound of metal, both sides using ingenious sword techniques, exchanging intense blows with the small knife and shortsword. And then. Erica finally lowered her shortsword. "As I thought, you're sticking up for G.o.dou, Lily. You don't have any intention of hiding anything?" "Erica, I do not have anything to hide. If you understand, then refrain from such violence in the future. No matter how many times you go mad, I will defend him." The two female knights looked at each other with sharp gazes, exchanging words. "E, Erica, your joke's gone a little too far, spare me..." Though he had shrunk back in fear by that piercing gaze, G.o.dou still said it. "If I don't scare you a little, it won't be considered as a punishment, don't you agree? In any case, Lily is covering up for you, something like this will definitely not do." "Pu, punishment!?" Erica looked at the shocked G.o.dou with a pure smile. As cute as a little girl, a smile like the sunflowers blooming during the summer, somehow he had seen it somewhere before. "I've told you this before, I'm very generous, yet I am also a girl who will not control herself. If I have even the slightest bit of loathing for you, I will punish you. There's no problem, even if I had really stabbed you, you won't die anyway, and on the contrary, it'll even be beneficial to you." "Don't be absurd! Why do I have to be treated this way!?" "Ara, if I don't spell it out for you, you won't understand? ... You used the [Sword], right?" - !? The shocked G.o.dou sucked in his breath. He had thought that if he didn't speak the truth, they would not find out. G.o.dou had been counting on that, but it was simply too naive of him, he had underestimated her ability to gather information. (The truth was that, Erica and the others, upon reaching Naples, were told by the witches duo who had welcomed them that: 'Ara Erica-san, I'm sorry to have made you come all the way here on purpose - don't worry, just leave supporting Kusanagi-sama to us, there's no problem!', 'The words of power to sever Perseus will be used to his heart's content. This is proof that, even if Erica-sama is not by his side, Kusanagi-sama will definitely not feel inconvenienced!' becoming their source of information. Of course, there was no way that G.o.dou knew this.) "The one who gave you the knowledge for the words of power was Lily, right?" "That's correct. Because I'm the most suited person for doing that." Erica used a humorless expression to look at the silver-haired Liliana who was very at ease. Meeting with an enemy that had a ma.s.sive growth in strength, which set off the warning bells - that kind of expression. "The me who excels at the sword, who is proficient in magic, and also possessing spirit vision, my meeting with my lord, perhaps it might be destiny. If it's me, I will be able to a.s.sist my lord in any aspect." '"My lord', did you say?" "Yes. With this incident as a catalyst, I've decided to become Kusanagi G.o.dou's personal knight, and I've even sworn an oath. Erica, even though you are my senior, but I do not intend on particularly respecting you for it. Because, if you compare the both of us, I think that in every single way I'm the more capable and talented person." Liliana proclaimed thus, and... Erica started to smile with a 'fufu', and G.o.dou began to break out in cold sweat. Behind that cute smile was hidden a terrifying presence, G.o.dou could feel it, he would have preferred her usual devil-like smile over this one. "Really, such a hopeless person... Didn't I tell you that besides your legal wife, you could only have one lover? Furthermore, you didn't even get my permission before laying your hands on someone else. As I thought, I should give you a good stabbing, it's better if I teach you a lesson." "Don't use such a cute expression while telling such jokes, it's seriously scary!" "Seriously, when I tell a joke, I'll at least be cla.s.sier about it. Right now, I'm simply stating the things that are floating through my mind." "Calm down and listen to me! Liliana doesn't want to become my lover, she wants to become my knight!" "G.o.dou, those two phrases have the same meaning, you ought to learn some rhetoric and debating skills. These shallow excuses of yours for your infidelity, aren't interesting at all." "What infidelity are you talking about! Mariya, don't just keep quiet, say something!" It was impossible to win an argument with Erica. It was a little late when he noticed, but G.o.dou had turned his words to another girl. No matter how angry she was, the righteous and composed Yuri would help him...! "That's true. Just as Erica-san has said, maybe if we let you get stabbed once, G.o.dou-san might regret and repent for the sins he has committed. For the sake of doing battle with the [Heretic G.o.d], that kind of reason, stealing a maiden's lips is simply too vicious, that kind of action is just like that of a s.e.xual offender, a path of evil." No help was granted. Like a princess that sentenced a criminal to death, Yuri's tone was icy-cold. He never expected the miko-san to use Buddhist-like speech to reprimand him, but even so G.o.dou decided to resist to the bitter end. "B, but just think about it... Mariya and I... the time when we did that, isn't it the same as the situation that happened this time? Isn't it fine if you didn't describe it like that?" "No. That time was a completely different situation." "Eh? That's not it?" "Definitely different. Anyway, your actions this time and our actions then are as different as the sky and the earth. The raving lies you are giving as excuses, are only to downplay the severity of your crimes." Even Yuri had said that, G.o.dou's mind became a mess. He had escaped from the jaws of death during his battle with Perseus, why did he have to fall into a crisis even worse than that now? Why!? "Seriously you all... really, such a severe lack of respect for our lord and King, but don't worry, Kusanagi G.o.dou, I'm the only knight that will be eternally loyal to you, becoming your blade and s.h.i.+eld, to stand by you no matter in life or death." Only Liliana had made that kind of oath for him. However, the more the extent to which she became his supporter, the greater and stronger the feeling oppression and pressure he sensed from Erica and Yuri. - G.o.dou had recognized the level of danger of the status quo, and realized the fact that he had become a player in this terribly delicate power game, and that he was lacking both time and experience. Right now, he could only sit in front of the three girls, nervous and helpless. The hot night in Naples would not be ending anytime soon. References 1. t Weapons clas.h.i.+ng sfx. Afterword [After I finish writing this afterword, I'll go back to my hometown to get married.] If I put up such a flag, maybe I'll be forgiven even if I don't write the afterword. There are times when I think that. It's been a while, if you're a first-time reader, then this would be our first meeting. I'm Takedzuki Jou. The main point I'm trying to make is, 'writing an afterword, it's slightly troublesome-, teehee', just that, but it had no effect on the Super Dash Editorial Department, so I have to obediently write this. Well then, I've succeeded in completing four volumes of this work. In this volume, a famous figure on the level of Athena from the first volume had arrived. To the ladies that were mesmerized by the handsome hunks Sikorsky-san had drawn, please spread this message, 'draw even more beautiful characters' to him. No, actually I'm very ignorant, I've never heard of any of the readers being female, but this is just in case, I'll pretend that there are. That being said, if this turns out to be more popular than I thought, maybe I'll release a [Campione! Sengoku Basara Version] or something like that, I await the fiery letters that I will receive. By the way, I'm still considering [Campione! Tonegawa Origins Version] and also [The Hakone Hotsprings filled with Bishoujos, porori also included Version], I hope to see the reader's responses for that! Also, Volumes three and four have their stages set overseas, it's about time to return to j.a.pan. The prologue is almost done, and the next volume will get right into the thick of action. Though the plan is for it to be a [School Version], but plans are not set in stone, it'll be fine as long as I inform everyone before autumn. If it's fine witli you, please continue to look forward to the next volume. We shall meet again.