EpilogueThe night in Naples had not quite ended yet, and after the [Boar], the onewho played the leading role in crushing Perseus had disappeared, theunconscious Kusanagi G.o.dou had been sent to the hospital.When G.o.dou awoke, he had a great shock finding himself lying in thehospital bed.His bandaged abdomen that had been pierced by the sword, inexplicablydid not hurt a single bit, most likely because the wound had already beenhealed. After asking, he then found out that it was a little present leftbehind 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, youshould 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 whowas lying on the bed grew restless, looking around all the corners of theward. 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 havedefinitely survived the [Boar]"s attack. As expected of a G.o.d, his will to livewas tremendous.As he did not appear, this meant that he was probably recuperatingsomewhere.G.o.dou set aside his care for that matter, and looked at Liliana who wassitting next to him.She was carefully using a small knife to peel a pear, if it were Erica, shewould 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, butplease don"t compare me with that vixen. Putting aside the fact that we"reknights, as a woman, knowing iiow to do tliese tilings is normai. I"m aisoratlier 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, howabout it?""Wow. I"ll be looking forward to that. When that time comes, I"ll be in yourcare.""In that case, then allow me to conveniently cl, clean your room, and washyour 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 notneed 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 fora 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 wouldhave 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 hadraised up, and glared straight at him, while Erica had revealed a gentlesmile."G.o.dou-san, you"ve let others worry for you this much, and yet you don"tshow any signs of repentance. Not having any news of you, worrying overyour 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 whatErica had foreseen...""I, I"m really sorry, Mariya. I tried to get in contact, but I couldn"t getthrough. 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, lookingtowards G.o.dou who was lying on the bed and Liliana, what exactly wasshe worried about?Then, it was Erica, who had been smiling that gentle, beautiful smile eversince she walked in.A graceful, yet terrifying smile, like a devil.- Danger, this was a super huge danger, his instincts as a Campione toldhim."Yuri, don"t be too hard on him. He is a King after all, you have to forgivehis slightly mischievous actions. In the end, he got through healthily, andeven 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 toconceal the true attack."About G.o.dou"s brave, heroic deeds, we"ve heard everything from thatwitch named Diana. It"s really impressive how you managed to discoverthe 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 thesecond level, if necessary, he only simply needed to break the window andjump 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 hadappeared in Erica"s right hand, and she stabbed towards G.o.dou in anall-too-natural action."W, whoaaaaaa!"He had already sensed that Erica would do something, but he did not quiteexpect 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 clashing sound of metal, both sidesusing ingenious sword techniques, exchanging intense blows with thesmall 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 anyintention of hiding anything?""Erica, I do not have anything to hide. If you understand, then refrain fromsuch violence in the future. No matter how many times you go mad, I willdefend him."The two female knights looked at each other with sharp gazes, exchangingwords."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 saidit."If I don"t scare you a little, it won"t be considered as a punishment, don"tyou agree? In any case, Lily is covering up for you, something like this willdefinitely 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 thesummer, 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 notcontrol herself. If I have even the slightest bit of loathing for you, I willpunish you. There"s no problem, even if I had really stabbed you, you won"tdie 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, hehad underestimated her ability to gather information.(The truth was that, Erica and the others, upon reaching Naples, were toldby the witches duo who had welcomed them that: "Ara Erica-san, I"m sorryto have made you come all the way here on purpose - don"t worry, justleave supporting Kusanagi-sama to us, there"s no problem!", "The words ofpower to sever Perseus will be used to his heart"s content. This is proofthat, even if Erica-sama is not by his side, Kusanagi-sama will definitely notfeel 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 whowas very at ease.Meeting with an enemy that had a ma.s.sive growth in strength, which setoff the warning bells - that kind of expression."The me who excels at the sword, who is proficient in magic, and alsopossessing spirit vision, my meeting with my lord, perhaps it might bedestiny. 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 KusanagiG.o.dou"s personal knight, and I"ve even sworn an oath. Erica, even thoughyou 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"mthe 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 coldsweat.Behind that cute smile was hidden a terrifying presence, G.o.dou could feelit, 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 legalwife, you could only have one lover? Furthermore, you didn"t even get mypermission before laying your hands on someone else. As I thought, Ishould 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 seriouslyscary!""Seriously, when I tell a joke, I"ll at least be cla.s.sier about it. Right now, I"msimply stating the things that are floating through my mind.""Calm down and listen to me! Liliana doesn"t want to become my lover, shewants to become my knight!""G.o.dou, those two phrases have the same meaning, you ought to learnsome rhetoric and debating skills. These shallow excuses of yours for yourinfidelity, aren"t interesting at all.""What infidelity are you talking about! Mariya, don"t just keep quiet, saysomething!"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 toanother girl. No matter how angry she was, the righteous and composedYuri would help him...!"That"s true. Just as Erica-san has said, maybe if we let you get stabbedonce, 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 likethat 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 reprimandhim, 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 itthe same as the situation that happened this time? Isn"t it fine if you didn"tdescribe 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 thenare as different as the sky and the earth. The raving lies you are giving asexcuses, 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, whydid 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 andKing, but don"t worry, Kusanagi G.o.dou, I"m the only knight that will beeternally loyal to you, becoming your blade and shield, to stand by you nomatter 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, thegreater and stronger the feeling oppression and pressure he sensed fromErica and Yuri.- G.o.dou had recognized the level of danger of the status quo, and realizedthe 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.References1. t Weapons clashing sfx.Afterword[After I finish writing this afterword, I"ll go back to my hometown to getmarried.]If I put up such a flag, maybe I"ll be forgiven even if I don"t write theafterword.There are times when I think that.It"s been a while, if you"re a first-time reader, then this would be our firstmeeting. I"m Takedzuki Jou. The main point I"m trying to make is, "writingan afterword, it"s slightly troublesome-, teehee", just that, but it had noeffect on the Super Dash Editorial Department, so I have to obedientlywrite 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 volumehad arrived.To the ladies that were mesmerized by the handsome hunks Sikorsky-sanhad drawn, please spread this message, "draw even more beautifulcharacters" to him.No, actually I"m very ignorant, I"ve never heard of any of the readers beingfemale, 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, maybeI"ll release a [Campione! Sengoku Basara Version] or something like that, Iawait 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 includedVersion], I hope to see the reader"s responses for that!Also, Volumes three and four have their stages set overseas, it"s abouttime to return to j.a.pan.The prologue is almost done, and the next volume will get right into thethick of action. Though the plan is for it to be a [School Version], but plansare not set in stone, it"ll be fine as long as I inform everyone beforeautumn.If it"s fine witli you, please continue to look forward to the next volume. Weshall meet again.