Campione! Vol 13 Epilogue
Epilogue
The new year had just begun not too long ago.
Alexandre Gascoigne was currently located in Portugals ancient capital of
Coimbra.
His latest efforts were directed towards obtaining "a missionarys journal
dating back to the Age of Exploration when a certain heretical monk had
recorded his activities in various parts of Madagascar, engaged in heinous
acts defiling G.o.d."
Going through several plans in his head, he strolled along a quiet street in
the ancient capital at night.
A phone call suddenly arrived. Checking the LCD screen, he discovered it
was an old acquaintance — the witch he had run into roughly one month
ago.
"How nice of you to call expressly this time, Lucretia. But surely you do not
intend to engage in idle chitchat. State your matter concisely."
Hohoho. I offer you my greetings, Your Highness the Prince.
Lucretias answer could be heard from the phone.
However, since you put it that way, I shall dispense with the chitchat. Let
me cut straight to the matter. I am actually concerned about the latest
news the Princess brought back from the Far East.
The matter. She likely meant the "King of the End." Alec nodded.
The G.o.ddess Circe, who once shared an intimate relation with Your
Highness several years ago, has died by Kusanagi G.o.dous hand.
Reportedly, the G.o.ddess used her last strength to summon the hero
Odysseus in an attempt to corner the young man... But she failed so close
to her goal and finally pa.s.sed away.
"...Oh."
Through this battle, it is readily apparent that Odysseus is not the King of
the End."
Alec reawakened vivid memories dating to several years past.
Odysseus. The heroic G.o.d he recently mentioned as having a "35%
chance."
Alec was intending to investigate him thoroughly when he discovered the
sleeping G.o.ddess. The witch G.o.ddess Circe who had trapped the
wandering hero for a year. A [Heretic G.o.d] who had apparently remained
in slumber for centuries.
By my speculation, Your Highness the Black Prince awakened the
G.o.ddess Circe for the purpose of discerning the truth about the hero
Odysseus, am I correct? Your goal was to obtain information about him.
Hoho, even if Your Highness went as far as to make a highly unusual
proposal of "Would you like to search for Odysseus together with me?" to
her, I would not be surprised.
Alec frowned. It felt like Lucretia had seen through the truth.
His bringing Circe to the South Seas to revive her was, of course, a part of
his explorations.
He had awakened the G.o.ddess, who possessed a deep connection to
Odysseus, on a land where traces of the "King of the End" had been
discovered. This would surely bring his journey of demystifying the Devil
King-exterminating heros ident.i.ty to an entirely new playing field —
However, the "experiment" concluded with unexpected results.
The awakened G.o.ddess quickly discovered Alec despite his efforts to
conceal himself. Furthermore, she began to cling to him annoyingly for
some unfathomable reason, always speaking like some kind of delusional
girl, even going as far as to attempt imprisoning Alec using magic.
In the beginning, Alec accommodated her as appropriate but quickly grew
tired of it. After maybe the fourth day of saying "I love you," he immediately
fled from the G.o.ddess. Soon after he ran, it developed into an altercation.
Finally, Alec used his labyrinth authority on the island he had created
together with Circe and succeeded in imprisoning her.
Recalling these unhappy memories, Alec naturally put on a bitter face.
I never expected such a colorful and heroic saga from Your Highness the
Prince, who has never been the subject of salacious rumors.
"Really? I, on the other hand, find nothing colorful about it."
As expected of Your Highness the Prince. Still the same old in this regard,
even Italian boys in elementary school are better than you.
The witchs last comment was a sincere exclamation, carrying no sarcasm
at all.
Alec clicked his tongue disapprovingly and changed the unpleasant topic.
"By the way, since Odysseus is not the King of the End, then in that
case..."
Oh? Did you think of something? I would be most grateful if you would
enlighten me free of charge. Just as you already know, I too, once took
part in the search for that king. Hence I would be rather interested.
"Nothing much, its just a spontaneous idea."
Alec shrugged in response to Lucretias request.
"The image of the wandering Pan-Eurasian hero who often displays his
valor through the bow and arrows... Yet the hero who fits this description
best, Odysseus, is definitely not a G.o.d with [Steel] characteristics.
Nevertheless, given the case, I think the following possibility can be
established."
Without any pretense, Alec simply explained the possibility he had once
suspected in the past.
"Simultaneously possessing [Steel] traits and the characteristics of the
wandering Pan-Eurasian hero... The King of the End must be a hybrid like
that."
I see, so that runs completely contrary to the notion of purebloodedness. If
that really is the case...
"Yeah. If one were to carefully trace forwards and backwards from the
pedigree of the hero Odysseus, the chance of finding the King of the End
should be substantial. Thats what I believe."
Naturally, this was nothing more than speculation.
But after saying it out loud, Alec somehow found his argument more
compelling than first imagined.
Afterword
h.e.l.lo everyone, its been a while.
This series finally reaches its thirteenth volume, and even rarer still, an
anime adaptation...
I originally thought it would happen much later.
This is all thanks to every readers loving support. Let me express my
outmost thanks to everyone here.
Well then, this time we have a volume advertising a vacation story.
Even the heroine who is always training in the mountains gets to enter the
stage from the very beginning.
The content is fully packed with hot springs, the beach, camping and other
leisure activities. Oh well, whether the characters themselves were able to
relax, who knows? (wry smile)
Then there is this series oft-mentioned great hero whose true name is
unknown.
New keywords have been disclosed to allow everyone to seek his true
visage. These keywords can be used to further narrow down the search
range.
Perhaps those of you who enjoy myths and other stories might be able to
use these clues to confirm a probable target.
Its not like this is a series based on solving mysteries, isnt it about time to
say the answer?
Because thats what I think, I have decided to reveal the solution to the
riddle in the near future. Everyone, if a character appearing in the future
really does match the name you predicted, it would be wonderful if you
make an •MR-style exaggerated pretense of surprise while going "N-No, it
cant be-!?"
Furthermore, this time is another round for a certain heroine.
It goes without saying for Erica and Ena, but even Liliana happens to be a
"carnivorous" heroine in actual fact. As the only "herbivore" in the group,
this girl usually hides behind other peoples backs.
Nevertheless, that sort of position can easily turn around into an advantage
as the "only one."
Anyway, when this volume goes on sale in August 2012, it happens to be
during the animes broadcast. Furthermore, it is also published after the
anime plot focuses on her — Mariya-san.
It sort of feels like favorable tailwind (laugh).
As a side note, I definitely did not plan this ahead of time, it was simply
coincidence (wry laugh).
I started writing this volume when the release date was still not set... Then
by the time I noticed, I realized to my great surprise that the release date
miraculously coordinated with the anime broadcast schedule.
Could this be considered a coincidence of fate?
However, the one who will really receive favorable tailwind might very well
be Liliana instead.
With regards to the Liliana story in the latter half of the anime, I am always
surprised by the potential drawn out, going "this is too amazing" every
time, even as the original author.
As Liliana fans, readers, please check out her anime version. Promise me.
Well then.
Of course, as the one responsible for the central role, Ericas all-important
sense of presence, necessary for supporting the plots development, has
been portrayed thanks to the anime.
In actual fact, during Volume 1, rather than being the heroine, Erica would
be more aptly described as the "hero" I recognized... This time, with
images and audio added, I am once again confronted with the fact that she
really is a heroine with her own strong and distinctive style.
Oh dear, despite the lack of Enas appearances, she turned out to be quite
a memorable character. So I guess all the heroines were successful in
receiving favorable tailwind.
By the way, I also secretly a.s.sisted the anime as the original author.
Regarding all the various mythological knowledge mentioned throughout
the story, I wrote up a new doc.u.ment suited to the animes requirements.
Without paying attention to things like word counts, I once again cooked up
new scenarios to add only to discover "what kind of puzzle is this..." What
a brain-racking challenge (wry smile.)
Okay okay.
Lets talk a bit about the next volume. After such a long time, I intend to let
another Devil King apart from our protagonist enter the stage.
Who will make an appearance, in what kind of manner, to cause what kind
of commotion?
If possible, readers, please confirm for yourselves in Volume 14.
Actually, wait, I have already decided who is coming out to make a
commotion.