EpilogueAlexandre Gascoigne was a very busy man.To this description, the woman who was his enemy, once added mostredundantly, "To be precise, his desire for work creates never-ending tasksfor himself." In any case, he was very busy.After all, he had a very ostentatious t.i.tle.The G.o.d-slaying Devil King Campione, commander-in-chief of the secreta.s.sociation, [Royal a.r.s.enal]!Even though it was not a position he wished for, somehow it naturallydeveloped to this state.A man above all peoples was obliged to display work ethic and behavior inaccordance to his stature. Such was his aesthetic ideal.Almost twelve years had pa.s.sed since Alec had become a Campione.During this time, he vigorously conducted his activities with such an intent.Thanks to that, the name of Black Prince Alec was widely known as a DevilKing of the new age.As a side note, he was nicknamed "Prince" because of his obvious youth incomparison to Devil Kings of olden days like Marquis Voban.Nevertheless, even Alec would take roughly one vacation a year.Wherever his destination, somehow he was always met with troublesomeconflicts.Embroiled into the Divine Ancestor"s conspiracies. Encountering [HereticG.o.ds]. Saving ordinary citizens who were about to be wiped out byprofound and magical secret arts. Stealing ancient treasures whoseexistences he learned of by chance. Ha.s.sled by headache-inducing femaleacquaintances.Thinking back again, he had never had a peaceful relaxing vacation..."Hence, I will change my way of thinking instead."During mid autumn, that was what Alec said to his trusted subordinate.As a side note, European vacations were usually taken during the summer.But due to all sorts of busy work and matters, his vacation had beenpushed back to November."Since troublesome things will happen anyway, I might as well go directlyto where trouble is brewing. I will make a brief visit to j.a.pan.""Oh. If I remember correctly, that is the place in the far east where youwent about a month ago."The other partic.i.p.ant of the conversation was Alec"s bodyguard, SirIceman.A legendary knight without any flaws (aerophobia aside), having pa.s.sedthe age of thirty, his solemn face felt increasingly seasoned as time wentby."Yeah. There has been reports of Guinevere"s secret activities. I think thisis a good chance to investigate that woman"s plans. I"ll rely on you to keepwatch here.""...Alec. I"ve held this idea from a very long time ago."This was the scene when Alec entrusted remaining matters to his reliablesubordinate and close friend.However, Sir Iceman shook his head as if troubled by a dilemma, and said:"The reason why you keep running into trouble lies here. Smothering theembers of disaster with great effort each time, only to quickly encounteranother one, and even deliberately starting fires of your own, grumbling toyourself as you try to put them out... That personality of yours is preciselythe number one culprit.""Wait a minute. Putting that aside, hasn"t a certain person been causingmany troublesome incidents?!""In that case, you really should reflect on your choice of friends. I can seeno reason in maintaining ties of friendship all this time with people whokeep running into trouble."Sir Iceman objected with a disappointed face as he shrugged sardonically.That Princess and Divine Ancestor, as well as that other group of shadycharacters were not his friends. Alec wanted to shout that out, but for thesake of his authority and dignity, he refrained.Anyway, he was currently on vacation.In order to avoid alerting those involved in the j.a.panese world of magic, heneeded to take precautions during entry. Using a pa.s.sport with a fakename, he traveled like "a king in disguise."...With regards to the outcome, this vacation turned out to be ratherpeaceful.Divine Ancestor Guinevere, Lancelot who had become a [Heretic G.o.d], aswell as the commotion caused by G.o.ddess Athena, none of them requiredAlec to take action.j.a.pan"s Campione, Kusanagi G.o.dou, had undertaken everything uponhimself.During this time, Alec was essentially observing as a bystander."Looks like Guinevere still hasn"t given up on "Arthur.""Having discovered the Witch Queen"s plot, he quietly muttered to himself.The king who manifests at the end of eras. The war G.o.d whose origins layin fantastic heroic legends. Due to his research and adventures for thepast few years, Alec"s investigation about him had reached new depths."Were you hindered just as you were about to revive him successfully?"The opinionated Guinevere"s vision was actually quite narrow. Eventhough Alec did not think she was able to solve the mystery easily, he stillhad to take precautions...At the same time, he did not forget his personal interests.While hanging around Tokyo, he investigated the inner workings of theHistory Compilation Committee.Even though he had said he wanted a relaxing sightseeing tour of j.a.pan...And tentatively still considering a tour like that, in the end, he prioritizedintelligence gathering. This was his workaholism at work — he would feelanxious whenever there was no work or research to be done."As always, you"re still leading a private life fatally lacking in delight,glamor, or healing presences. Your future worries me so. Without anyfamily or lover to accompany your days, wouldn"t your life end in lonesomesolitude?"He was reminded of the pitying words offered by that long-time femaleacquaintance who was definitely not his friend. In any case, Alec was stillenjoying his stay in j.a.pan.Furthermore, he even became a villain along the way.The Heavenly Reverse Halberd that Guinevere had wanted to obtain, wasa rather interesting divine artifact."Maybe call it... Earning some tips, not bad at all."Quietly muttering to himself, he tried out a little trick.His first authority of divine speed. It not only allowed him to run as fast asthe wind, but even gave him the ability to turn into lightning and take flight.In actual fact, there were all sorts of variations in application.Such as leaving virtual afterimages like ninjas of legend, giving otherpeople divine speed apart from himself, or turning himself into lightning foran instant to unleash electrical attacks.Amongst these various abilities, he could also virtually erase his completepresence, allowing him to undertake secret activities with divine speed.As long as he unleashed divine speed fully, he became as fast aslightning.However, objects moving at super high speed will cause others to noticesomething was amiss. It was a power not particularly suited to stayinghidden.Using divine speed to move undetected —If that could be done, then he could achieve the feat of being active aroundwild beasts without their noticing.Alec was able to control divine speed as easily as his own arms and legs...Well, to do so he needed to remove all hindering burdens. Even a coatcould not be worn because any extra force exerted would cause detectablemovements. So physical tasks also had to be avoided. But what aboutsomething on the level of delivering a piece of paper?Alec took off his winter coat and began using divine speed in light clothing.He then approached Kusanagi G.o.dou while he was eating and left thenote there.Eavesdropping on their subsequent reactions and conversations about theentire matter, Alec successfully confirmed the ident.i.ty of the man carryingthe Heavenly Reverse Halberd.A wizard and special agent who seemed kind of unmotivated. But quitecompetent indeed. On that night, Guinevere had been pursuing this man,trying to s.n.a.t.c.h away the Heavenly Reverse Halberd.The man had skillfully employed concealment spells, successfully shakingthe witch off his trail.Even Alec had lost him at one point. It seemed like he was some kind ofninja authority.However, after Lancelot"s battle with Athena and Kusanagi G.o.dou hadbegan, Alec found the man near the battlefield.Faced with such a tense situation, even that man showed an opening. Thatmade everything that followed rather simple.Turning into lightning, Alec silently stole his way to the man"s back andmade light contact. As the man collapsed, convulsing from the electricalshock, Alec casually retrieved the Heavenly Reverse Halberd from his suit.At the time, the ninja showed a surprised expression as he remainedconscious.Killing him to silence a witness... Was the type of unwise decision that Alecdid not intend to take. He simply shrugged and left.England"s black gentleman and j.a.pan"s Kusanagi G.o.dou.With that, an intriguing connection of destiny had been establishedbetween the two.Afterword"Stop talking nonsense."This line of dialogue has occurred many times in the main story.While writing this series, I also felt compelled to say the exact line out loudmany times. Naturally, they were all aimed at our protagonist. By the way."As soon as that line was said..."Regardless, I still want to announce, despite having a guy like that as theprotagonist, this series is finally approaching double digits in the number ofvolumes.This is all thanks to everyone"s support, so let me express my deepestgrat.i.tude.So, this time the long absent G.o.ddess-sama makes another appearance.Written as mortal enemy but read as "friend."This youth"s revolutionary proposition will always be a proposition met byall protagonists. This idea was thought up a long time ago. Then in thatcase, the one proposed to most likely had to be her.No matter what, if he and she could act out this kind of "romantic comedy"at "some school or living under the same roof," the characters and plot willneed to be designed to be more distinctive. If their paths were to crossonce again, I think that would be the feeling given off.To this date, the story has mixed into it events such as G.o.ddessesreincarnating into witches, or dormant deities. Oh my, how will thingsprogress from here?Also, there is Tokunaga Asuka-san who first appeared in the previousvolume. But actually, a little story about her part-time work was alreadypublished on the Super Dash Bunko official website"s Campione! specials.Next volume will have our protagonist matching up against thatEnglishman.Amongst the various personalities of sporty, emotional right braindominant, barbaric, carnivorous, casual carelessness of the great DevilKings, only that one guy is so-called cultured, rational, sensitive andcivilized, herbivore.These kinds of exotic character traits.How will this incomprehensible combination develop? By the way, it needsno mentioning, but of course our protagonist belongs in the first group.His self declarations are wrong. When the time comes, let us meet againwith the next volume.Oh by the way, my long time acquaintance, Itou Hiro, author of thewell-received "TV^-Tv^JiE - K/£4>:&:^-Lh}£ ~ ", has his new work"Barax Yuri ifc£i<><><>