Prologue
It was during early December.
An unexpected visitor had come knocking on Alexandre Gascoigne's door.
He was currently located in one of Spain's leading metropolises, the Catalan capital city of Barcelona. This was a harbor city famous both in the West and East for the arts, tourism and soccer, among other things.
Alec was sitting in the deeper interior of a bar located not far from the harbor, having his dinner alone.
Baaar. To Japanese ears, that was what the Italian pronunciation of the word "bar" sounded like.
At any rate, it was a restaurant that combined the elements of a cafe, bar and an eatery.
Alec leisurely enjoyed his meal comprising of small fish and prawn fritters, along with a tomato and olive salad, while sipping his white wine.
Seeing the two females both of whom he had known for a long time approach him, he raised his eyebrows.
"This is quite the rare combination... I should say. Not counting that princess over there, even you have gone out of your way to come here and meet me."
"Fufu, there are times when even I leave my island."
The one who was smiling and answering was Lucretia Zola.
The witch who lived on the island of Sardinia, in Italy. Although she should be an elderly woman, her appearance had strangely maintained its youthful look. To Alec, she was an 'advisory partner that he would find difficult to meet even once in two or three years'.
And there was one more person who was yet to be mentioned.
"I'm not that discourteous a person to do something like chasing after you all over the place, you know? You're the same as always, judging people with only biased prejudice."
The person who had calmly said that was Princess Alice.
She was a beautiful lady from England, with whom he had an inseparable relationship as bitter enemies for the past decade. With the pure beauty of her wavy platinum hair, she gave off the atmosphere of a holy woman disconnected from this world, which made her stand out even more than Lucretia.
However, her nature was not quite as pure as her appearance.
Laughing scornfully, Alec disregarded her words. This princess was a Duke's daughter who often paid extra notice in investigating Alec's movements. Her aim was to be earlier than anyone else in knowing what disturbances the Campione of England would be bringing to the world.
"You're not doing so because of goodwill to the public, but rather to satisfy your own officious nature. Which is rather deplorable, to be honest...."
"Alexandre, that's not something you should say to a lady."
"If you call yourself a lady, then you ought to act like one. Didn't you send your subordinates to investigate my location this time?"
Alexandre Gascoigne was an elusive Campione.
However, he had no intention of erasing all traces and news of his movements, and was never particularly wary of the subordinates he had around him. After all, he could throw them off anytime he wanted.
"So, what do you want? Seeing that you ladies have expressly grouped up and come together, it's obviously going to be nothing good."
Looking intently at Alice's and Lucretia's faces, Alec brought the glass of white wine to his lips, taking a sip.
"What are you talking about? I heard that our Prince had a conflict with that Japanese that we're all acquainted with and thought I'd come and have a talk about that. Since we haven't had one in a while."
Without asking for his consent, Lucretia took a seat directly opposite him, while Alice sat down right beside him.
"But first, let us give a toast; a moment of silence for Princess Guinevere, she who was tied to all three of us by a fateful bond."
The waiter then brought them glasses of Sangria.
Lucretia lightly raised her glass, and took a sip. Alice's glass did not have anything in it. The princess' body was materialized by 'spirit body separation', a spirit power. Hence, she could not consume any food or drink.
"What we want to discuss is the [King of the End], whom that princess had gambled her eternal life seeking. My Prince, what is the actual truth behind that?"
"Behind what?"
"I've been concerned about it ever since Kusanagi-sama and Sir Lancelot had their deathmatch... Alexandre, do you have any clue of what the [King of the End]'s true name is?"
"And before anyone else finds it ―― we want to obtain the remains of the Divine Blade of Salvation."
The old witch was looking as though she was enjoying herself with the solutions to a riddle while the princess had a rare serious look on her face.
Fixated under both their gazes, Alec shrugged his shoulders.
"If only it were that simple. This is a mystery even the Divine Ancestors could not figure out after a thousand years. Could we even discover anything with just a few years of investigation?"
"And that, is what our Prince says. What do you think, Princess?"
"Those are merely the laudable words of a sourpuss who hates losing. Surely, there are a few hypotheses inside his head, but due to lack of evidence, he did not mention them. Anyway, once he has enough confidence, he would then explain with an arrogant look on his face, Obaa-sama."
".............."
The pair of witches of differing ages before him entered into a discussion with each other, in hushed voices.
Alec decided to maintain his silence. Alice was the same as before, loving to speak as though she could see through a person completely ―― while raising her eyebrows and expressing her regret.
No, it was the truth that this problematic hero had already thought of several hypotheses, however...
It happened when Alec was drinking white wine from his glass, keeping his silence.
Lucretia had suddenly whispered that name. Alec was stunned in an instant.
"Fufu. Pretty close to the mark, was I? My Prince, how much do you think the probability of that hero being the [King of the End] is?"
"... Thirty-five percent would be my estimate."
Just as one would expect of Lucretia Zola. Perhaps that might have been the results of her fieldwork in Asia and the news of the [King of the End] that had surfaced in recent years. Alec had also heard of something that fit one of his hypotheses.
Alec answered, feeling impressed, as the Princess looked on intently and seemingly suspicious.
"That doesn't sound plausible, does it....... if he had even found out that that could be possible, regardless of whether the figure is beneath fifteen percent or above eighty-five percent, he would continue investigating and think it through thoroughly. That would be Alexandre's way of doing things, would it not?"
Once again, she was talking about Alexander Gascoigne's temperament as though it was her's.
Suppressing the urge to click his tongue, Alec said quietly.
"I'm a very busy person. I do not have the time to waste on researching hobbies."
Placing a few Euro notes on the table, he got up from his seat.
"It is futile to waste any more time discussing this problem. After you uncover new truths on this matter, we will continue this conversation."
Leaving those words behind, Alec immediately departed the bar.
The witches who remained in the bar, left behind by Alec, nodded their heads at each other.
"A woman, hm?"
"Undoubtedly, it must have been due to relationships with women or something like that, that he had run into a wall in his research."
"His relationship with women is simply ill-fated... he's really got no luck with them."
There was no doubt about it, seeing his curt manner of speaking and attitude earlier.
However, the ostentatious person in question would strongly deny it, if asked.
Alexandre Gascoigne was in fact the opposite of that prince-like image that he gave off, and was bad at dealing with women.
"In any case, the [King of the End]'s true identity still remains a mystery....."
Princess Alice sighed.
The mysterious war god that seemed to be slumbering in the Bay of Tokyo, in Japan. The exterminator of devil kings, a bringer of danger upon the world. In the near future, perhaps even sooner than they expect, the calamity which would reduce the world to ashes might occur.
They needed to gather as much information as possible, in preparation for the chance of that happening ――
"However, if that's the case..... perhaps the gentleman living in Japan who's good at dealing with women might be able to explain something."
"No, he's way more than just being good at dealing with women....."
Lucretia knew who Alice was referring to very well and answered without pause.
"To be precise, he is someone who seems like he's ill-fated with women, yet his luck with them is extraordinary. Well, that youth and those girls have been growing even stronger, we should probably place more of our hopes on them...."
This was a scene of the witches, talking about the many problems occurring in the distant East.
Chapter 1 - Rite of the Hime-Miko
Part 1
A simple party had been held on Christmas Eve.
The next day, in other words, on Christmas Day, Kusanagi Godou's companions gathered once again in the Kusanagi residence. Their mission was to clean up the complete mess left behind by the party last night. Due to the party persisting until late into the night, they had decided to leave the cleaning up for the next day—now.
While the clean up was in progress, Mariya Yuri could not help but murmur.
"By the way, Shizuka-san looked quite troubled yesterday."
The Yamato Nadeshiko quietly tilted her head as she brought up what puzzled her.
As the elder brother of the person in question, Godou shrugged and went "I guess so" in response.
"That Yinghua... Always so intimidating but that's his personality, and even though Hikari was cheerfully smiling as always, Shizuka was probably worried because of that."
"By the way, even Your Majesty's childhood friend was frequently making strange faces."
Godou's childhood friend—probably meant Tokunaga Asuka who had joined in the party midway.
"Strange faces?"
"Yeah, looking like she was wondering 'What should I do from now on?' to herself."
"She probably had something on her mind. Maybe I should go ask her tactfully?"
"Kusanagi Godou. I have no wish to speak evil of you, but I would advise you not to pursue that course of action."
Sternly entering the conversation was Liliana Kranjcar.
"You should leave her alone is what I should say. At the very least, if you try to get involved, you will only be pouring fuel onto the fire."
"I-I see."
Godou nodded with uncertainty.
As a side note, the one who took charge of clean up efforts and assigned roles flexibly to everyone was the silver-haired knight who had just offered her counsel.
Yuri also displayed domestic competency rivaling Liliana's.
Although she was not directing others as conspicuously as Liliana, she displayed tenacious effort true to her personality, making the Kusanagi residence even cleaner and more organized than it was originally.
Even Ena was clearing things up with surprising familiarity and skill.
Perhaps this expressed part of the Yamato Nadeshiko's "thorough education since birth."
Unwilling to let the girls shoulder all the work, Godou also put his serious personality to work, immersing himself in the clean up efforts. Thanks to that, the entire operation was finished in short time.
On the other hand, a certain person's behavior exemplified the life of a princess used to being waited on.
"Well, Asuka-san's matter will eventually resolve itself on its own, through her making a choice—to distance herself from Godou or the opposite. In any case, this isn't something Godou could help her with even if he wanted to."
Erica Blandelli spoke as she wiped the table with a damp cloth.
Though her movements were richly rhythmic, they were far from diligent. Rather, she gave off a sense of elegant leisure.
Lacking efficiency in domestic chores, Erica was clearly unsuited to the task of cleaning.
Furthermore, Godou's younger sister Shizuka had gone out at the invitation of friends, having left the house early in the morning. Currently, Godou, Erica, Yuri, Liliana and Ena were the only ones occupying this home. Just Godou's companions.
With the cleaning accomplished, everyone gathered in the living room. As everyone sat around the wooden table, each served with a portion of green tea, Erica slowly began to speak:
"Well then, everyone. It's about time we reach a conclusion for that outstanding issue from a while ago."
"Outstanding issue?"
Godou was bewildered. Was there such a thing?
"Yes, wasn't it mentioned before? I am planning on traveling to Switzerland for the winter break. We can go skiing there, and Uncle Paolo should be coming."
"No no. It has to be Japan. Japanese hot springs are the best choice."
Ena instantly cut in.
"You know, there's an authentic secret hot spring in the mountains owned by my family. We should all go deep into the mountains together and wash out a year's worth of fatigue. It'll be great fun!"
"......"
Faced with Erica and Ena's competing proposals, Godou could not help but close his eyes.
Then he opened them and turned his gaze towards Yuri and Liliana. The prim and proper Hime-Miko smiled helplessly, nodding in acknowledgement. On the other hand, the silver-haired female knight shook her head as if saying "What an inane conversation."
Apart from Erica and Ena, the other two girls apparently agreed with Godou. Hence, they were the majority faction in this 3 vs 1 vs 1 situation.
"About this issue, I think I'd better give my honest opinion while I'm still alive... Well, here's my serious answer, Erica."
"What is it?"
"Ultimately, spending winter break in the European Alps as a high school student... Is way too extravagant. Seriously, there should be limits to doing things beyond a normal student's means."
"What does it matter? You are the god-slaying Devil King, after all."
"Is that even a reason? Fine, supposing I relent, but we were so busy with the Saturnus incident that we haven't even gotten the plane tickets yet. Taking the bullet train isn't going to get us to Europe, right?"
"No problem. Taking advantage of cancellations is 100% possible, all it takes is a bit of work."
"No way, even if it's possible. I'm sure it's 100% illegal!"
Before Erica could lay out concrete plans, Godou preemptively objected.
Next, he turned to Ena.
"Then Seishuuin, that whatever secret hot springs must be located deep in the Chichibu mountains, right? Can you show me a mountain climbing plan prepared for the journey up the mountain?"
"Uh, what?"
As expected, the Hime-Miko of the Sword was instantly at a loss for words.
"You've never heard of it? In case of emergencies, that write up we give to family and the police before we climb a mountain."
It was essentially a voluntary document. Since Ena called the place a secret hot spring, it must definitely be deep in the mountains. If that was the case, preparing for accidents was only a natural consideration. However...
"It's okay. Ena has never written anything like that."
Seeing Ena completely nonchalant, Godou grumbled.
"Compared to Ena who has lived the life of training in the mountains, the rest of us are simply budding saplings nurtured in city life. All other things equal, we can't possibly climb that kind of mountain in winter..."
Excluding Yuri, the other three girls all poss
essed above average physical capabilities. Nevertheless, keeping up with Ena whose legs allowed her to jump around like a wild mountain monkey would be a tall order.
Consequently as the arbitrator, Godou rejected the second proposal with good reason.
"Summing up, the time before and after New Year's will be spent peacefully resting."
Liliana nodded in agreement as she spoke.
"Right... Based on my own family's customs, year end aside, New Year's is quite a busy and lively time."
"You also have a New Year's gathering?"
Hearing Godou's mutterings, Yuri asked.
"Yeah. All my relatives, the whole bunch gathers from all over Japan to hold a New Year's party in Tokyo. Not only do they drink like mad, but there's also that troublesome after party. This year, I'm definitely not participating again!"
"Isn't that a simple matter?"
Erica immediately smiled and spoke up.
"If all you want is to wait for the New Year's to pass, simply come over to my home. Live there for a while and let us leisurely enjoy our privacy, just the two of us, thoroughly affirming our love for each other. Hoho, isn't that the most desirable manner to celebrate the beginning of a new year?"
"D-Don't talk nonsense!"
Godou immediately rejected the devil's proposal.
"If it was a guy's place, then sure, but I can't possibly live in a girl's room. Besides, Anna-san is currently on vacation, which means it really will be just me and Erica alone!?"
"Hence there is no problem. Godou, let us have a sweet and loving vacation together?"
"E-Erica-san!"
"Wait a minute. If that is the case, coming to my house is also an option!"
"Even Liliana-san!?"
"It is a perfectly reasonable development for the king to stay at the residence of the one who shoulders the duties of the premier knight and grand chamberlain."
Yuri's dissatisfaction with the red and blue knights' proposals was plain to see.
However, the other Hime-Miko also brought up nonsense at this time.
"What are you talking about? If that's the case, His Majesty can also come to the Seishuuin ancestral home. My house has plenty of rooms, you are greatly welcome to stay."
"Ena-san. Please refrain from such improper proposals!"
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