Chapter 2 - Pursuing the Gray MysteryPart 1"Well, because the harmful effect turned all the Santa Clauses in the areagrey, many people are still suffering from these disturbances."The explanation was carried out in a composed manner from an oldacquaintance.It was Amakasu Touma from the History Compilation Committee. He was ayoung gentleman wearing a suit full of creases.Their destination was located at the Nanao Shrine within the high groundsof Toranomon, just within the borders of the shrine to be exact. This wasthe shrine where Mariya Yuri was devoted to performing her duties as ahime-miko. She was accompanying Amakasu at his side."Those who bought a Santa Claus mini-skirt costume for this specialoccasion have no choice but to buy another one. The promotional itemsspecially printed with Santa Claus art must now be reprinted. The SantaClaus ill.u.s.trations that the children personally drew from the bottom of theirhearts and were looking forward to gift have now been ruined by a bad mixof colors. Things like these were numerous. However,"Even if the situation was the same as before, at a glance, Amakasu wasclearly giving them a type of dejected appearance.But this time, G.o.dou was naturally able to understand why.He really believes the situation is harmless.Yesterday, G.o.dou witnessed the strange phenomenon where a SantaClaus costume turned into a grey color. After school was over, G.o.dou paida visit to the Nanao Shrine. Just when he was about to inquire with Yuriabout this matter, Amakasu showed up to explain the circ.u.mstances. Butwhile Amakasu was talking about the strange situation, his mood was morerelaxed than usual."Although it is a strange event, it is only so in this manner. It shouldn"t be aG.o.d stirring up trouble. Therefore, this inconvenience doesn"t have nearlyenough significance for the necessity of a dignified Campione-sama right?""Since it would be Kusanagi-san"s actions, it might instead cause thestrange phenomenon to go a step further and expand."The person who cautiously stated this was Yuri. This was the HistoryCompilation Committee"s suggestion no, this was exactly what theyhoped for presumably. They are requesting him to not get involved,obediently staying put.A devil king Campione is a prestigious being who would cause the breakout of a fire setting everything in flames.Who was the person that said this phrase before? G.o.dou pondered on thisindistinct memory while feeling this sort of prejudice against him wasunfair. I"m obviously different compared to those other guys ."However, isn"t it actually the breakout of an event?"Putting those troubles aside for now, G.o.dou complained in the followingmanner."Yeah. It wasn"t just the lone occurrence witnessed by Kusanagi-san inUeno. Within these past four - five days, this incident has alreadyhappened more than ten times. The locations of these incidents includeShinjuku, Roppongi, Ikebukuro, Ueno, Otemachi, Ginza, Shin-Okubo,Ebisu, Sangenjaya well, there are other various spots too.""They are all places where there is a large flow of people ""Indeed. Some speculations can be established for this incident. But thefacts are basically what I have stated. I feel they are about right.""Hey, that"s pretty impressive. Why is this happening though?"G.o.dou felt admiration towards the capable Amakasu"s special agent-likerhetoric.However, he instantly let out a "hmm?" feeling puzzled."I"m afraid this is some sort of retaliation. This hatred towards Santa Clausevolved from an unwelcomed cla.s.s of people who are administeringrevenge against those who have attained happiness and fulfillment! HatingChristmas as a result, they attempt to destroy the symbolic Santa Clausfigure where everyone can see! Something along those lines.""Sorry, but the explanation you just gave contain some ambiguous terms.""I agree. Whom does the so-called "unwelcomed cla.s.s of people" refer to?"After G.o.dou finished speaking, even Yuri, who spoke and conductedeverything with caution, raised a question.Amakasu had this bad habit of unscrupulously using insider terminology."No, just hear me out. During Christmas there are numerous lovers whoappear to be br.i.m.m.i.n.g with happiness right? Among the people who seethis sight, those unwelcomed wizard related b.a.s.t.a.r.ds will be enraged andbe unable to resist what an unimaginable reality that would be."G.o.dou conjured a wry smile and once again inquired from Amakasu afterhis explanation."Can you really solely change the color of Santa Claus using magic andsuch?""This foolish matter of people delving into those kinds of dreary magictypes, forgive me I have never heard of such a thing. In contrary to whatone might expect, this is a high possibility. However, well "Amakasu momentarily paused at this point during his explanation."Even the witch Liliana-san even with her keen senses she couldn"tdetect the aura of the type of magic that was used. She was only able toattain bits and pieces."Amakasu elaborated when facing techniques with large scale effects it iscomparatively easier to detect."There probably exists a user conducting some very clever concealmenttactics. Although, I can"t figure out why someone would pull this kind ofidiotic prank and carry it out to this extent.""A prank ?""I can"t say for sure but the criminal might also be taking this very seriously.However if we simply look at this strange phenomenon, it"s really quiteinsignificant. This is something that can be cleared up as soon as we sendout Committee members to investigate. Since this case must be handledbefore Christmas, my side will do everything it can to figure out a solution."Amakasu ensured G.o.dou would stay out of the way by using a nonchalantway of speaking to decline him.After leaving the Nanao Shrine, the color of the sky had already turned intocomplete darkness. G.o.dou got on a tram at the Toranomon station, but notfor the sake of going home. He got off the bus at Ginza route"s Uenostation to return to the street he went to yesterday.It was December, the end of the year. The streets were filled with a busyatmosphere.However, during this time period the one big event the high schoolstudents were worried about, the final exams, had already finished. Everyyear there would be final exams held during late December.As a result, G.o.dou was able to stroll the streets worry-free every night."Why would they care so much "G.o.dou muttered while walking in front of Ueno station.These streets were bustling with activity. There were the office workersreturning from work, students, young people dressed in casual etc., inshort the amount people outside were numerous. The night had justbegun. This time of the day served as the dividing line for thecommencement of formal nighttime activities.Although it was already evening, the surrounding area was exceptionallybright.There were street lights, store lighting, bright billboards, the headlightsfrom the cars traveling along the road, etc. Thanks to all the illumination, aperson could easily survey this street. Well, Campiones have remarkablenight vision capabilities so regardless of whether or not it was completelydark around him, there would be no inconveniences, even if the onlyillumination source was from the evening starlight.G.o.dou roamed the streets of Ueno while deeply in thought. Recently therewas no way to comprehend much about the situation. He was unable toremember his plans around Christmas and why that Liliana person, who hesupposedly knows, is spying on him. Furthermore there was theemergence of the grey Santa Claus drama. Granted if someone were to sitback and watch without any regards towards these matters, it would looksas if none of these issues were consequential.His chest was burdened with a troubling premonition.Using a game of baseball as an a.n.a.logy, perhaps the scenario"sdevelopment would be as follows.In the first inning you score seven points thus leading by a huge margin.However, the opponent nevertheless makes a comeback one point at atime. On the other hand, your own side was unable to score any morepoints. Without realizing it, the score had already caught up to a mere onepoint differential just like that."No matter how I go about it, I still can"t seem to understand."Being a healthy male, Kusanagi G.o.dou"s physical endurance and his legstrength in particular, was far greater than his intelligence. With that beingthe case, visiting the crime scene 100 times, like in those cop flicks, tocontinuously search that one location until finding the needed clues is notnecessarily a bad thing. In completing this simple task, he would put in hisutmost efforts.Yesterday, Santa Clauses were being greyified on the street in front of thestation.However, the Santa Claus figures, pictures, drawings, and outfits that wereall contaminated with the color grey have been disposed of a long timeago. The streets were once again covered with the reds and greens ofChristmas.Everything was returned to its original condition due to the laborious workfrom these justifiably proud j.a.panese people.However, right now G.o.dou felt really infuriated towards this. He wasunable to find other clues just when he started pondering over thecurrent situation, his cellphone"s ringtone sounded.After retrieving his cellphone, he looked at the bright display screen andsaw it was Liliana calling him."Speaking of which, why do I have their phone numbers registered?"G.o.dou was baffled. It wasn"t just the phone numbers of Liliana, Erica, andYuri, their emails and addresses were already registered as well. Hebelieves his relationship with them would be incapable of having this kindof exchange of personal information.In short, he decided to first put aside his suspicions and answer the phone."Seeing you come over here too is quite unexpected."Liliana suddenly stated this. "Too"?"Please do the same thing you did yesterday, turn your head around andlook behind you."Surely she must be kidding. G.o.dou turned his head around and saw thefemale knight, who was wearing personal attire for today, standing behindhim talking on the phone.Part 2The magic a.s.sociation Liliana was affiliated with was the {Bronze BlackCross) .As its name suggested, the blue and black were the symbolic colors for theorganization.This was perhaps the reason why whenever Liliana wore her personalclothing, the two colors blue and black were bound to be somewhere onthere. However, today she was dressed in an outfit that consisted of ararely worn white mono-colored coat paired with deep gray pants.Nevertheless, G.o.dou noticed where they were.It was on the scarf wrapped around Liliana"s neck. The scarf"s designconsisted of blue and black vertical stripes.This applied to Erica as well. The European knight was surprisingly diligentin this aspect. She would naturally display her own affiliation explicitly .Liliana, who was secretly being admired by G.o.dou, stated her reason forcoming here."Regarding yesterday"s situation where a Santa Claus changed colors, itwas a.s.sumably a prank devised by a magician somewhere. Disregarding itwould most likely be fine But then something else occurred to me."The two of them had kept their distance from the crowd of peoplemeandering about and proceeded to converse after arriving at a guardrailalongside the road."In any case I"m also a magician. Even though I"m not on the same level asMariya Yuri, I"m still sensitive to the presence of magic. However, I wasn"table to detect the bizarre event that transpired yesterday. Basically therewas someone very shrewdly concealing it I presume. Due to thesuspiciousness of going to this extent, I"m here to do a quick investigation."Using a resolute tone, she spoke of the same uncertainties Amakasu hadpointed out.The diligent Liliana had not neglected this matter so perhaps that was whyshe wanted to ascertain the answer."Well Kusanagi G.o.dou, why did you come back here?""For me it is although I have many reasons, ultimately it is probably dueto this gut feeling that I possess. I always felt very mindful towards thissituation and because of that I want to investigate its cause. I guess youcan say my intuition dictated so."G.o.dou stated his reply. Well, let"s a.s.sume he did have many reasons.However, regarding that perspective, they were changed to "gut feeling"and "intuition".G.o.dou was worried she might be unable to understand this kind ofexplanation."As expected of you, I get a sloppy animal-like reasoning."Liliana heavily nodded, indicating an expression of understanding. Wasshe thoroughly familiar with what kind of person Kusanagi G.o.dou was?Although G.o.dou wanted to press the matter, he felt questioning her wouldresult in an annoyed response."Hey, if you don"t mind would you like to accompany me?""Accompany you!?"Liliana suddenly went into a total state of shock."As in like a female escort accompanying a man!? E-Even though theseare the words spoken by a supreme Campione, this command is still quitehard for a young girl like me to accept!""H-How did you construe it as that? What I meant was to investigate thecause of yesterday"s situation together."G.o.dou supplemented his explanation towards the fl.u.s.tered Liliana.She was a strict and diligent knight. However, she seemed to be hiding avery ordinary girl-like side of her. No matter what she encountered, shewould easily be side-tracked by romance.G.o.dou felt slightly distressed as he wryly smiled. This aspect was perhapsto Liliana"s advantage."P-Pardon my loss of composure....command as king?"Liliana spoke after slightly blushing.Going back to what I said, is this your"The investigation this time would be akin to individual research. If it is arequest proposed by a Campione, the king of us magicians, to jointly tracethis mystery no, even being the devil king"s servant in investigating thismystery is something I won"t shy away from."Her serious demeanor made it feel like she was challenging a barbaroustyrant, or perhaps testing a person"s moral character. Within the wordsLiliana had said, it felt like there was this subtle meaning."I feel that if it is some outsider who doesn"t know anything about magicraising this request, I"ll have to give it some thought. Being on the moveindividually is comparatively more convenient since having to explain thisspecialized knowledge would become very troublesome.""1-1 guess you"re right."In short, the meaning behind her words pointed to a "hindering outsider",causing G.o.dou to cower.Indeed this was the case. The specialist Amakasu should have alreadystarted his inspection. The talented witch Liliana was also on the move inorder to investigate.There were no particular justifications for admitting a clueless outsider.If a battle against a G.o.d did not occur for Kusanagi G.o.dou, there were noother uses for him. Compared to a normal person, he only had theadvantage in terms of physical strength. Well, if the opportunity arises inwhich a heretic G.o.d does appear from this strange phenomenon, then itwould be a completely different matter. However, nowadays even thatsituation would hold little significance.Even so, he felt that he had to unravel this mystery of the grey SantaClaus.So wasn"t it already mentioned before? There was the option of stating "thisis an order from a Campione".After G.o.dou deliberated over this enticing offer for about ten seconds, heinstantly gave up on the thought.For the men who would say these words, as a devil king this would be adifferent issue, but as a human being they would already be hopeless."I understand, I will find a way to do this myself then. I"m sorry for bringingup a strange request."After G.o.dou made a candid apology, Liliana let out a sigh."Kusanagi G.o.dou, during times like these you should proclaim "this is anorder from a Campione". By the way, you should"ve also punished thedisobedient Great Knight who didn"t show respect towards the king Nomatter what the situation is you never resemble a devil king!"In the end, she actually spoke in a startled tone to scold him. Furthermore,she was resolute in her a.s.sertion towards the matter."However, fortunately I"m also an Italian knight. Despite the numerousproblems the devil king I pledged my loyalty to has, I have already adaptedto being an a.s.sistant. From now on when I am giving instructions no,when I am talking, please listen carefully.""Eh?"Her nationality was Italian but she actually has Croatian blood since sheemigrated from Eastern Europe. The fairy-like maiden with a complicatedethnic background had a mischievous expression while making acomparison between two Campiones.G.o.dou was astonished at Liliana"s slight act of mischief and replied:"Are you saying you will work together with me?""Yup. From the moment we convened I already had this intention."" Then, why did you say all those things!?""About that why did I do it? It appeared as long as I pressed on in thismanner, you wouldn"t be able to give out commands as a king that"show I felt."Liliana suddenly revealed a gentle smile.That was not her usual sternness, but rather an occasionally seen naturalside of her. Her innocent smile suited that of the girls around her age. Forsome reason, this sort of smile made G.o.dou feel very nostalgic. Br.i.m.m.i.n.gwith loveliness, his heart could not help but skip a beat."As a result, I wanted to give it a shot. I"m very sorry."This type of apology presented no sense of regret. However, G.o.dou wasactually incapable of saying anything in response."Didn"t you discuss this with the History Compilation Committee justrecently? Ultimately it was impossible for you to adopt that hardline att.i.tudeAmakasu has, thus you came here by yourself right?""Uhh "G.o.dou was at a loss for words after she saw right through him. How did itturn out like this?The relationship between Liliana and him was not even that close.However, it was quite unimaginable as to how she understood what type ofperson Kusanagi G.o.dou was. G.o.dou also had a very clear grasp on thetemperament of Liliana Kranjcar.This was all really hard to comprehend, but this realization would actuallymake anyone happy.All in all, G.o.dou did get himself a capable helper."The part that I am concerned about is the phenomenon of Santa Clauseschanging color."Liliana spoke while setting a teacup for black tea in front of G.o.dou.After they met up in Ueno, the two of them went to a single-family house inDangozaka. This house, which was Liliana"s temporary dwelling while shewas in j.a.pan, was fairly close to the Kusanagi household inNezu-Sanchome.The two of them were residing in the living room which had windows alongthe southern side. The sunshine seemed quite breathtaking."Are you referring to the color change from red to gray?""Yes Well, perhaps it might not be as simple as just changing theeye-catching primary color into a dull color. There was also the scene fromthe spirit vision bestowed upon me during yesterday"s quick inspection.""Now that you mention it, there were quite a few things you referred to.""I envisioned for a brief moment that the scenery of the streets changed toa scene similar to that after the harvest. In addition, there was some sort ofdivine presence that pa.s.sed through and gathered what appeared to begrain heads scattered along farmland after the harvest ""It seems to resemble farm work."G.o.dou spoke with very straightforward thinking."Yes indeed. If it is farm work, it would mean that the scene pertains to thegrace of earth. Perhaps the Santa Clauses losing their red color carriesprofound significance."Liliana began to thoroughly articulate her explanation."The Santa Claus referred to in j.a.pan was originally Christianity"s guardiansaint, St. Nicholas.""St. Nicholas and Santa Claus no matter how you sound it out they arecompletely different.""The reason is simple. j.a.panese people must have learned about theculture of Santa Claus through America. However this social custom wasactually brought to America by an immigrant from Holland."Liliana retrieved a notebook and began writing Latin characters on it."St. Nicholas is read as St. Nicholas when using a Dutch p.r.o.nunciation.The American p.r.o.nunciation "Santa Claus" resulted from what wassupposed to be p.r.o.nounced as "Sinterklaas" through an incorrect accent."Saint NICOLAS Sint Nikolaas Sinterkla.s.sAfter that, Liliana lastly added Santa Claus in conjunction."The image of Santa Claus spreading gifts to the children while riding asled driven by reindeers comes to mind when mentioning St. Nicholas.This stereotype was established in America roughly around the 19thcentury. The red outfit that became his raiment was inst.i.tuted during a timeperiod much closer to the present.""Ah In that case, the juncture was triggered by the Cola company"spublicity activities."After hearing Liliana say that, G.o.dou recalled something.The color red had become a recognized color for the well-known NorthAmerican beverage manufacturing company since the 1930s when theywanted to raise winter sales figures by publicly advertising through the useof Santa Claus. His image would always appear on posters and asexpected the color of his outfit was in red.The red outfit of Santa Claus coming from the red color of a cola can, thisreality sounded like a joke."Before the red outfit wearing Santa Claus became a prominent publicfigure throughout the world, there wasn"t this kind of modern saying thatSanta Claus was the same existence as St. Nicholas, rather his characterwas more a.n.a.logous to some sort of fairy. During that period, the gifts hedispersed were fruits.""So to sum it all up, it wasn"t gifts of hope.""The fruits were ripened grains that were reaped from earth"s bountifulharvest symbolizing the grace of earth. Dating back its origin, thisso-called Christmas was known as the religious ceremony for the Saintwho descends upon the winter festivities to bestow bountiful harvests forthe earth. This could be traced back to rituals held during ancient times.""Religious ceremony "Even those refusing to accept the truth would be compelled to rememberthe words "heretic G.o.d".Overall, G.o.dou felt he was able to understand the issue Liliana wasworrying about."Is it that one? For the time being, regardless of the ident.i.ty of the currentSanta Claus, we should probably refer to him as St. Nicholas rather thansaying he is the Santa Claus from the time when red wasn"t a.s.sociatedwith him. Maybe that guy will become a heretic G.o.d after arriving here.""Not "maybe", he will turn into a heretic G.o.d I presume."Liliana simply agreed."I"m afraid that St. Nicholas, who has arrived at these grounds, possessesthe earth attribute of the G.o.d of bountiful harvests and divinity deriving fromthe Catholic Saints.""Is that really the case!?""Yesterday you couldn"t feel the presence of a G.o.d. For that reason, I feellike I might be overthinking this. But on the other hand, there is no way toa.s.sert complete safety.""I agree. In the end, we should perform a quick investigation for the sake ofcaution."G.o.dou and Liliana both nodded. During times like these, their equallyserious personalities allow them to communicate more efficiently."The person in yesterday"s spirit vision wasn"t St. Nicholas, maybe therevelation is connected to the origins of earth"s essence. Let"s just first tryto investigate with these clues ok?"While the two of them were talking to each other, the door to the livingroom was opened.It was Karen Jankulovski, Liliana"s exclusive maid.This rarely seen outfit was not her maid uniform but rather it seemed to beher personal attire which consisted of a blue coat and a black fur hat. Herhand was dragging a suitcase with wheels attached, giving the impressionthat she was about to go on vacation."Welcome Kusanagi-sama and welcome back Liliana-sama. I am verysorry for being late in my greetings."Karen spoke while having her head deeply lowered."You still haven"t left yet Karen?""Mhmm. On the account of some urgent matters arising right before Iintended to leave, I had stayed here up till now However, thanks to this Iwas able to see some good drama, fufufu."Karen was snickering while chatting with her master."I never would have thought Liliana-sama would bring a male Campioneinto her house while I was away. Even though it"s hard to keep a person"slips sealed, please don"t worry, maids are very adept at maintaining theirmaster"s secrets.""D-Don"t get any strange ideas!""May the two of you slowly enjoy this evening. Well then, goodnight."After Karen snickered and bestowed a bit of courtesy, she left."Where is that girl heading?""Eh, yeah, Natale is fast approaching. In order to let her celebrate theholidays together with her family, I granted her a vacation for this specialoccasion. After finishing her preparations she will head back to her homecountry."This so-called Natale was actually Christmas in Italian. In contrast toj.a.pan, most people in Europe would spend the holidays with their family.This was probably the reason why she showed such consideration towardsher.Going back to what was said, the sound of the Christmas"s footsteps weregradually drawing closer. Were they capable of finding the solution to thisproblem before the arrival of Christmas ?Part 3It was currently December 1 8, the time of year was fast approachingChristmas.The graduation ceremony will commence in three days from now, thereforethe Jounan Academy seniors only had morning cla.s.ses. However, todayLiliana was absent in cla.s.s.This was why after G.o.dou finished his cla.s.ses, he went straight to herhome without even eating lunch.After pressing down on the gate"s doorbell, the sound of Liliana"s voicecame across the intercom.The door isn"t locked, please come in."Since G.o.dou was paying a visit to a girl"s house, he felt very embarra.s.sedas he pushed open the door.Moreover, the exclusive maid of the house had already returned to herhometown in Italy. The owner of the house resided here by herself for thetime being.G.o.dou concealed his slightly wavering feelings as he entered the livingroom.Liliana was currently here engaged in work. The reason why she wasabsent from school was for her to finish the magic preparations."Please be careful to avoid entering the center area of the map. Sorry forthe inconvenience."Every place in the living room, including the tables and couches, was tidiedup. The object expanded across this s.p.a.cious room was a huge aerialphotograph taken from the skies overlooking Tokyo. Its dimensions wereprobably around three meters in length and four meters in width. Lilianawas crouching down on one knee over the map.G.o.dou noticed the location on the map where Liliana was situated was theBunkyo region.It was Bunkyo Dangozaka on the map Liliana was crouching over thecoordinates to this house.Furthermore, it felt like there were quite a few incantations instilled withinthis Tokyo district on the aerial photograph."You used some kind of magic on this right?""Yes, searching magic I guess you could say that I carried out thesepreparations in order to utilize this magic."Liliana maintained her crouching position as spoke.She extended her right hand and moved the fingertips of her index fingerand middle finger towards the map. Liliana, who was a Templar Knight andwitch, released an incantation from those fingertips."If it is precisely as we said yesterday in which the red lacking Santa Clausis an existence related to earth"s bountiful harvests, this existence mightdischarge a slight upsurge in spiritual energy at the location where thephenomenon happens. I plan on releasing a hunting dog to confirm this.""Liliana, you raise that sort of thing?""Of course this is accomplished by employing a familiar called forththrough summoning magic. We witches are the miko descendants whoserve the G.o.ddess of the sky and earth. The attribute to summon a beastand commanding it to pursue the spiritual energy of earth isn"t really anarduous task."Princess Alice, Lucretia Zola, and Liliana Kranjcar.These were the three witches G.o.dou knew. It is said that they benefitedfrom being naturally gifted with manipulation magic unaccessible to normalfemale magicians (for example those like Erica).The scope of this type of magic was precisely witchcraft. Erica had raisedthis subject at some point in the past.She said "even though I really don"t want to admit it but for the sky andearth, in other words, magic involving the elements of nature, Liliana farsurpa.s.ses me".Except why was he unable to recall when it happened and where it tookplace?"However, if we choose to execute in this manner we must send thehunting dog sprite toward Tokyo. Doing this will require time and effort Iguess you can say that like anything it will have its dangers.""Well, we can"t just release those monster-like beings and not look afterthem."G.o.dou had previously battled a magical beast familiar summoned throughthe use of magic. Even a small causal disturbance could result in fatalinjuries towards humans."Hence I added voodoo magic to this map of Tokyo. When the hunting dogis released on this map to conduct its probing, it enables a much quickerresult that is equivalent to actually being within the capital Tokyo."As she finished speaking, Liliana moved her fingertips away from thephotographic map. It seemed like she finished casting her magic.This so-called voodoo magic was a term from folklore. Say for example, aperson who was detested had their hair buried inside a doll that was to beburned. In that case, the detested person himself would be burned todeath. Of course the result from this kind of incantation when one wishesto exert supernatural properties on an object is akin to the object becominga replacement for the target itself."Are the preparations ready? Where is the hunting dog?""The preparations are already finished. This is it."The object Liliana took out was a pig which she set down by her foot.It was a doll in the shape of a pig. Two days ago, Liliana won this toy at avideo game center. It was designed to be palm sized, a style that allowed itto be rocked about, but it had quite a sinister expression." But upon inspection, it"s just a pig doll.""This pig doll is infused with spirit from the essence of earth. The reasonwhy I previously stated it was going to be a hunting dog was merely so youcould easily comprehend. I thought since we must pursue spiritual energy,a spirit pig, an animal which avidly uses its sensitive snout, would be thebest choice. I"m about to start.""Nah, it wouldn"t have mattered whether it was a dog or pig."G.o.dou went on to state. Verethragna"s authority, the [Boar], is alsocategorized as a type of pig."For objects that are specially applied with some sort of wizardry magic, Iactually feel like compared to a doll, using something similar to a smallprop would have been better ""T-This happened to be the only thing I had on hand resembling a pig!"Liliana seemed slightly embarra.s.sed as she retorted."If we are able to confirm an upsurge in spiritual energy, then let"s first tryheading towards the actual location ok? If there happens to be SantaClauses being grayified or if it already happened, there is a high possibilityit could be much more frustrating than a prank carried out by a magiciansomewhere."Regardless of which, the searching magic had already been appliedwithout a hitch.On the large photographic map that Liliana had prepared, the pig doll wasslowly moving at a speed of around one or two centimeters per threeminutes.As expected, no one was shifting the pig around, it was independentlycrawling."However, waiting around is quite monotonous, how about we go eatlunch?"G.o.dou brought up this suggestion. It had already pa.s.sed noon a long timeago and his stomach was still empty."Ah, no thanks. If possible, please help yourself since my undertakingrequires me to maintain the voodoo magic on the map."Liliana replied in this manner towards G.o.dou"s lunch invitation."Then I"ll probably just go buy something. Liliana, is there anything youwant to eat?"Since his partner was preoccupied, he wanted to go run an errand for her.From G.o.dou"s perspective this was a rightful concern that was to beexpected in this situation.Liliana revealed an unhappy expression on her face. She frowned in a wayas if she was preaching something."Didn"t I say this yesterday? The fulfillment of your role as a devil kingCampione remains significantly inadequate. This is the first time I"ve heardof a devil king going out to buy lunch.""That has nothing to do with it. I am different compared to guys like that oldtimer Voban. I"m going shopping at a supermarket anyways, so I can pickup some bread while I"m at it."G.o.dou shrugged his shoulders after he finished speaking. Liliana"sexpression changed to that of complete astoundment."You should also find a butler or maid in order to distance yourself fromthese miscellaneous tasks since you are one of the seven Campiones inthis world.""A high school student having either a butler or maid following them, Ihaven"t heard of such a thing before either.""Well then, Kusanagi G.o.dou is certainly a G.o.dslayer. That being the case,this moment makes for a great opportunity. Please begin slowly adaptingto the pleasures of being attended to by other people ok?"Because of the perplexing words Liliana stated, G.o.dou questioned her withan "eh?".To maintain the voodoo magic, the only necessity was to supply theincantation while being within close proximity.As a result, during that period of time a person is free to do other activitieswithout a problem . Liliana put on her commonly used ap.r.o.n andentered the battlefield that is a kitchen. Prompted by the replacement ofher sword with a kitchen knife, chopping board, flat frying pan, ladle, andthings of that nature, she was struggling."l-ls there anything I can help with?""No need to worry. As the king you should just relax and wait over there."The well-intentioned proposal was outright rejected.G.o.dou could only watch from the kitchen entrance as the proficient cookLiliana prepared the dishes. Having a girl cook for me personally isreally 0What seemed to be a vertigo of mixed emotions and confusion had hitG.o.dou.Liliana wore a black sweater along with blue jeans. After adding the ap.r.o.n,a sense of determination could be perceived from this appearance. Thissort of adjustment gave him a very distinct feeling of having entered a girl"spersonal domain.The G.o.dou as of now was neither a G.o.dslayer nor a Campione.Continuously standing there in fear, he was simply a man who was stillunaccustomed to girls due to having no girlfriend experience at his age.After waiting approximately thirty minutes, Liliana was finally done cookingand had swiftly cleaned the cooking utensils. Lunch appeared to be ready.However, right now the pig was still in the living room traversing around onthe map."Want to go outside and enjoy today"s beautiful weather? Despite it being atad cold, at least there is no breeze."Liliana had suggested this and proceeded towards the courtyard with theplates containing the food she cooked.In that direction was a circular wooden table with two wooden chairs.Originally this set was most likely used frequently during the warmerseasons. However, today was precisely as Liliana had said, thetemperature could be considered quite warm for the month of December. Itseemed like there would be no issues eating here in the courtyard.Afterwards, the dishes were set on the table.There was bologna pasta, warm vegetable salad, a piping hot bean soup,as well as black tea stowed inside a thermos."Since I didn"t head out to buy anything, I felt quite unprepared. There is apossibility that it won"t be compatible with your tastes ""I completely don"t get which of these dishes were unprepared for.Especially the pasta, it is very delicious."G.o.dou felt that the notification Liliana gave in advance was unfathomable.The noodles and pate were considerably rich in taste.He actually thought they were those instantly made food products sinceLiliana rapidly made these dishes within ten minutes.But the gratifying taste was actually created through diligent cooking andstewing for long periods of time."Actually, those noodles were prepared using the utmost simplicity since Ionly recooked yesterday"s leftover beef stew with a few added seasonings.After that I just re-added some more minced meat "On the contrary, G.o.dou felt admiration towards Liliana after being informedthat the cooking was simple.This was the flavor of the dish wasn"t it? By modifying the leftover food, anew delectable flavor was created. The amount of time and effort spentwere both reduced. It indeed seemed quite reasonable.G.o.dou, who was a male in his teens, stuffed the food in his mouth as hewolfed down the cuisine personally prepared by Liliana.Such actions were solely due to the delicious taste. Furthermore, he waseating face to face with Liliana, trying to find every possible way to hide hisown embarra.s.sment.After he had his fill, he proposed to clean the dishes himself. However, hewas actually denied from doing so.G.o.dou was unable to feel at ease when walking together with Liliana, whocleaned all the dishes herself, back to the living room. The pig on the top ofthe map had at one point stopped and laid there overturned.Its abdomen was facing upward and it was trembling uncontrollably."It seems to have detected an upsurge in spiritual energy."Liliana spoke in a grave tone after looking at the hexagram imagesdisplayed from the magic she applied.At that place was perhaps the next location where Santa Clauses devoid ofred might appear.The location was Odaiba Today was nearing Christmas, that scenicgathering spot would without a doubt be filled with sweethearts."Well then, we should probably hurry over there and check it out."G.o.dou lowered his head in response to Liliana. This was probablyexpected from him.In order to pursue the mystery of the gray Santa Claus, he had to journeyto this scenic gathering spot together with an exceptionally attractive girl.Also it was still just the two of them. G.o.dou felt inexplicably embarra.s.sedtoward this situation.Part 4They rode the JR tram to get to Odaiba.After arriving at the location they would release the pig familiar allowing itto try to pursue the aura from the strange phenomenon.This was the type of plan G.o.dou and Liliana agreed on from inside themoving tram.However, the situation surpa.s.sed their expectations; it transpired a longtime ago and by then it had already concluded.Facing the devil king and female knight who entered Odaiba, the culpritwho initiated this disturbance had already called it quits.The seaside that everyone was accustomed to had been created by usingland reclamation. This area was now a very popular entertainment venuefor gatherings and leisure.Once they disembarked from the tram at Odaiba Marine Park station,G.o.dou and Liliana trekked towards a nearby area that was br.i.m.m.i.n.g withliveliness. As expected, the number of large shopping centers designatedfor the young male and female visitors stretched as far as the eyes couldsee.The strange phenomenon of Santa Clauses being greyified alreadymanifested here. All the Santa Clauses located here were infected with thecolor grey. Their magnificent red color subsequently vanished.Right now they had already lost the mood to confirm one by one whetheror not all the Santa Clauses were greyified.After G.o.dou sent an eye signal towards her, Liliana retrieved the pig dollfrom her pocket. That familiar was the so-called pig beast spirit of theearth.Once the owner placed the doll on the ground, she began to recite spellwords in a whisper."By the greed caused by the wild beast, go forth and pursue thissuspicious aura!"The pig seemed as if it was gliding along the surface as it moved.In contrast to the time it was moving along the surface of the map, themovement speed at present was comparable to a nimble mouse. At thesame time, Liliana closed her eyes and used the Witch"s Eye to enable avision transfer. The purpose behind doing this was to allow the Eye tofollow behind the pig.However, G.o.dou believed this sort of method would not result in anyimportant information. This incident will probably take some time to figureout. However"Kusanagi G.o.dou I discovered something strange."Liliana reported what she saw. Ten minutes had gone by after that.G.o.dou squeezed himself into a large crowd of people and noticed it aswell. Using the pig that was pursuing the strange phenomenon as well asâ–ˇliana"s Eyes, he was led to this location.Within the meandering crowd of people all of the normal humans wereoblivious to that thing.Even those who were directly facing this outlandishness were incapable ofrationalizing the situation. This was because to ordinary people the bestcourse of action would be to ignore it, hence the situation not beingsurprise worthy. However, G.o.dou was perplexed.That thing was walking amongst the crowd of people like an ordinaryperson.The people within its vicinity were completely unaware of that thing"sexistence.It resembled some aspects of a human figure. It was using two feet towalk, had two arms along with a head and torso.In spite of that, the body was completely covered with what seemed to be agrey sailcloth. The underlying skin and face could not be seen at all."What is that? It doesn"t look like a G.o.d or divine beast.""Nor is it a magician. No matter how you a.s.sociate it, it"s impossible tocla.s.sify it under the category of a human being. Perhaps it is a fairy or aspirit of some sort."G.o.dou was flabbergasted as a result of Liliana"s statement."In addition to G.o.ds, there are actually those kinds of guys roaming thesegrounds!?""It wouldn"t be on these grounds. They basically all reside within theNetherworld. Only in extremely rare circ.u.mstances would they go to theextent of coming to this side."Liliana fixed her eyes on the Grey One and paced around him while shespoke."It appears only Los Angeles"s John Pluto Smith-sama has the capability totransfer to the Netherworld and summon the residents from there for ashort period of time due to the authority he usurped from Oberon the fairyking.""Speaking of which, that guy seemed to have done something like that inthe past somewhere "G.o.dou frowned after hearing the name of the North American Campione.When did I encounter this guy before and what kind of things did we do?"No matter what, let"s first try to make contact with this grey colored guy.Conversing with it accomplishing this would be great."If the other member was a G.o.d, no matter what kind of appearance it had itwould probably still be able to engage in conversation.Well, there were certain times when traces of communication would feelvery enigmatic However, no matter how you look at it, you would beskeptical whether it is even possible for the Grey One to engage inconversation.Soon after, the Grey One left the crowd of people.It was heading towards a lesser used coastal route. Was it planning tocontinue roaming at a different location? Up until that point, G.o.dou andLiliana continued to close in on the Grey One.After that, the target stopped in its tracks. It looked as if it was waiting forthe two of them to come over.Could they actually peacefully make contact with it? Just as G.o.douwas looking forward to that possibilityThe pursued target conducted a series of movements that was beyond allexpectations. Slowly raising its right hand and spreading open its palm, aknife-hand gesture was prepared.Then in one swift motion, the Grey One placed the knife-hand gesture nextits neck and proceeded to chop its own neck off . What appeared to be thehead portion of the sailcloth swirled into the air."Huh, did it actually commit suicide!?"The two of them quickly accelerated their pace. The sailcloth covered bodyof the Grey One toppled forward.Once they approached the corpse, G.o.dou immediately peeled off thesailcloth. The insides were shaped to look exactly like a human body.The physical body seemed to resemble a muscular and youthful person.However, it had a very black coloring.Its pitch-black color gave the impression it was made of carbon while thetexture of it resembled that of charcoal. Also, once it came in contact withthe air, the charcoal-like body made a slight rustling noise as it crumbledlike a collapsing sandcastle."The head portion over here also collapsed "On the other side, Liliana spoke while inspecting the neck of the Grey Onewho committed suicide by cutting its own throat.She also ripped apart the sailcloth and looked inside this should be thearea where the head and face were."What the heck is this guy "The mysterious person who committed suicide was apparently a spirit ofearth.Facing this state of death, G.o.dou was unable to comprehend the situationand was left feeling stumped."Neither a human nor a G.o.d, this existence, who was responsible for theannoying Santa Claus mystery, has now committed suicide 0 It isreally hard to understand this incident."Amakasu muttered through the cellphone as he sighed in sorrow.The grey sailcloth and bits of black ash plummeted down at the locationwhere the suicide just took place."Upon normal inspection, the incident of Santa Clauses being greyifiedshould consequently have ended I think this is the case. Well, I"ll do aquick inspection of the situation. All in all I"m very thankful that the two ofyou were capable of supporting each other."" It seems like your inexplicably happy, am I right Amakasu Touma?""Of course I would be happy. It cannot get any better than having myworkload lessened."Amakasu replied to Liliana"s slightly derisive question.In short, the History Compilation Committee would take care of the job thatdealt with the aftermath of an incident. G.o.dou and Liliana originally held noresponsibilities in regards to this aspect. They now have nothing left to do.The two of them headed back in the direction of the large shopping centersfor the time being."First hold on a sec."After he first spoke to Liliana, G.o.dou walked towards a crepe stand.The food he bought used cooked apples mixed with cream, and then thatwas mixed with caramel and orange sauce.Even though it was a pretty warm for a day in the middle of winter,however, this place was an area along the seaside.It was quite chilly due to the winds blowing over from the sea. In that caseit would be best to not order anything such as ice cream."Which kind do you want Liliana? Pick your favorite.""What are you really up to? Today"s cooperation toward this common goalwas solely because it was the request of a Campione. I, Liliana Kranjcar,never planned on accepting a salary from you."The female knight spoke with a look of appraisal. However, G.o.dou calmlyretorted."What are you going on about? Wasn"t it Liliana herself that said I wassomeone who wasn"t aware of my role as a king? As a result of that, mymindset had slightly changed.""W-Why do you say that?""It is the duty of a king to give rewards to knights for their achievements.No need to thank me, just accept this ok?"G.o.dou declared this and handed two crepes in her direction.This was really for accompanying him in exploration, and there was thatlunch she made not too long ago etc. All the various things she did wereincluded in this act of appreciation. However he should probably avoidsaying it that sentimentally.After being urged on in a slightly facetious manner, Liliana showed a bit ofcourtesy towards this which felt somewhat forced."If it"s like this, then as a knight I"ll just have to accept this."When she finished speaking, Liliana acquired one of the crepes.Just like that, the two of them began eating their crepes, making acrunching sound while they were doing so. G.o.dou certainly did not have asweet tooth, although he did not particularly detest desserts either.However, the unforeseen location they were in at the moment made itimpossible to calmly savor this kind of sweetness.The reason was because his partner beside him was a silver-hairedEuropean girl. Furthermore she had a fairy-like ambience and wasabsolutely stunning, making her a particularly eye-catching girl.She appeared to stand out even in Odaiba where there were a myriad ofyoung girls.He had already noticed it while eating along the way. Even though theywere acting naturally, people from the crowd that circulated through heregathered an interest in them.Having said that, Liliana on the other hand looked like she was oblivious tothe attention they were receiving. She was completely composed like therewas nothing out of the ordinary. There was the fear she might think thereason for the attention was due to her being an outsider.The difference between her and Erica, who acknowledged her own beauty,was astounding.In any case, he was sure to be seen as her boyfriend by other peoplebecause he was alongside her Kusanagi G.o.dou didn"t believe he hadthe capability to hook up with someone that had the looks and tolerance ofLiliana.G.o.dou contemplated on whether or not to say something after theyfinished eating."Well then, I should probably be going now. Thank you for all that you havedone today 1 these were the kind of words he thought about saying.This was probably the proper and correct way to go about this. Since helived nearby there shouldn"t be any problems riding the same tram backwith her. Although if he wanted to prolong their time together there werenumerous reasons he could come up withAt that moment, a pair of lovers walked by right in front them.The man and woman looked like they were young college students. Thefemale student was carrying a ma.s.sive yet adorable teddy bear in herarms. The dimensions of that teddy bear made it impossible to carry withtwo hands.Was it bought in some kind of doll store?As he pondered on the thought, he unintentionally noticed the store thatthe couple exited from. It was an enormous video game center." It appears to be the same facility we went to before."Liliana suddenly mentioned this as G.o.dou had just finished eating hiscrepe."Well, that is because this is a popular chain of arcades. The place wewent to before is of the same type.""In other words, this place also has the opportunity to go hunting. Inaddition to that, the teddy bear that we just saw was a humongous toy. Idon"t have that category of children inside my bedroom "The way she muttered was as if she thought of some sort of plan. Lilianawas one of those types of girls who would call her doll related objects asher children. G.o.dou nodded his head, and while purposefully using anuninterested tone, he said:"I"m not sure if it is a prize from the video game center. If it is, somethingthat big would probably be set-up to be difficult to obtain."Even though G.o.dou was unfamiliar with what goes on within the industry, itwas very likely that this was the case."Even with the money spent on buying it from the store you might still beunable to obtain it. We might as well just head home directly for today.""No matter what kind of situation it is you must find a method to securevictory. Your suggestion is really quite negative."Liliana spoke in a manner that slightly ridiculed him.She also cleared her throat with a cough and went to say with a hint ofembarra.s.sment:"I regret to say that I, Liliana Kranjcar, am not quite familiar on the sure winmethods and how to conduct myself in a place like this. I wish to have asenior that possesses the corresponding knowledge to guide me for a bit."What an exaggerated way of speaking, it pretty much meant: "would youlike to go to the arcade".This invitation caused G.o.dou to hesitate."Even if I had the knowledge and such as you said, I don"t really go tothese kinds of places. Nanami and Sorimachi from our cla.s.s look like theywould be somewhat familiar in this aspect."There was a difference between large scale games, free games, and PCgames.It could be said that G.o.dou"s knowledge on these topics were quite vague.As a result, this was a perfectly normal way to decline someone. It wasbasically the natural course of action to this situation right?However, Liliana did not back down one bit to this degree of suppression.She chuckled and said:"Then it should just take about ten minutes total. Furthermore, mycompensation isn"t some kind of cheap object that can be paid offcompletely with just one crepe."In the end, the event that was predetermined to be ten minutes prolongedto forty minutes. Plus, speaking of the results ."We still weren"t able to nab that big one."G.o.dou stated this after exiting the arcade.There were four sets of doll grabbing machines that were equipped withthe teddy bear prize within this arcade. Furthermore, there was adifference in their dimensions. There were extremely small ones like thesize of a cellphone strap, small ones that you could fit on your palm,medium sized ones about as big as a football, and lastly there was theexceptionally large kind that the pair of lovers were holding onto just then.The largest item, being the highest benchmark, was of course the oneLiliana set her eyes on as her prey. However, the claw"s strength wasparticularly weak so no matter what you did it was unable to grab the toy.G.o.dou even lent her a hand but it was completely useless.It was quite admirable how those pair of lovers were capable of acquiring itso easily.After expending a large amount pocket change and time, the two of themfinally gave up. Even though they were only pa.s.sing by, if only they wereable to obtain it, then ."Well, the couple who were able to seize it could be considered quitecapable."Although the inside of the store had become quite warm, at that moment,Liliana still spoke with a calm expression.She was holding onto two bear cellphone straps. These bear strapsactually had a male version and a female version that were modeledslightly differently. The female one had a ribbon as well as a very gentleexpression.Incidentally, G.o.dou vulgarly called them "male and female" and was forcedto correct himself by his partner." Oh yeah, you can have the one over here."Liliana suddenly handed him a cellphone strap.It was the male, no, the boy bear one. G.o.dou was confused."Are you sure? You went through a lot of trouble to gather a boy and girlpair.""Yeah. The boy and girl pair is like a pair of lovebirds on the same branch.They probably shouldn"t be separated."Liliana stated her beliefs using a firm choice of words."However, I also want to share these with you. Although I don"t know whyI"m compelled to think this way, in fact it is quite unimaginable Howabout this is just to commemorate today?"The female knight"s face suddenly blossomed with brilliance as a warmsmile surfaced upon her lips.Perhaps because of this, G.o.dou carefully accepted the boy bear. Honestlyspeaking, even he was uncertain what the reason was. He thought it wouldbe fine as long as he treated the situation with caution.However, because it was a small fictional object, it would really makepeople feel a tad embarra.s.sed."If this cellphone strap were to become mine then it would be a bit well,just allow me accept it for now. Perhaps at a later date I"ll just give it to mysister oh, I think that most likely won"t occur.""How you handle the item you received is your liberty. If you really decideto do that, I would have to change my relation to this Kusanagi G.o.douperson."Liliana sighed as they walked side by side towards the station.In the end, they stayed together all the way until they reached Nezu.