Campione! Vol 9 Epilogue
Epilogue
Alexandre Gascoigne was a very busy man.
To this description, the woman who was his enemy, once added most
redundantly, "To be precise, his desire for work creates never-ending tasks
for 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 secret
a.s.sociation, [Royal a.r.s.enal]!
Even though it was not a position he wished for, somehow it naturally
developed to this state.
A man above all peoples was obliged to display work ethic and behavior in
accordance 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 Devil
King of the new age.
As a side note, he was nicknamed "Prince" because of his obvious youth in
comparison 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 troublesome
conflicts.
Embroiled into the Divine Ancestors conspiracies. Encountering [Heretic
G.o.ds]. Saving ordinary citizens who were about to be wiped out by
profound and magical secret arts. Stealing ancient treasures whose
existences he learned of by chance. Ha.s.sled by headache-inducing female
acquaintances.
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 been
pushed back to November.
"Since troublesome things will happen anyway, I might as well go directly
to 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 you
went about a month ago."
The other partic.i.p.ant of the conversation was Alecs bodyguard, Sir
Iceman.
A legendary knight without any flaws (aerophobia aside), having pa.s.sed
the age of thirty, his solemn face felt increasingly seasoned as time went
by.
"Yeah. There has been reports of Guineveres secret activities. I think this
is a good chance to investigate that womans plans. Ill rely on you to keep
watch here."
"...Alec. Ive held this idea from a very long time ago."
This was the scene when Alec entrusted remaining matters to his reliable
subordinate 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 the
embers of disaster with great effort each time, only to quickly encounter
another one, and even deliberately starting fires of your own, grumbling to
yourself as you try to put them out... That personality of yours is precisely
the number one culprit."
"Wait a minute. Putting that aside, hasnt a certain person been causing
many troublesome incidents?!"
"In that case, you really should reflect on your choice of friends. I can see
no reason in maintaining ties of friendship all this time with people who
keep 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 shady
characters were not his friends. Alec wanted to shout that out, but for the
sake 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, he
needed to take precautions during entry. Using a pa.s.sport with a fake
name, he traveled like "a king in disguise."
...With regards to the outcome, this vacation turned out to be rather
peaceful.
Divine Ancestor Guinevere, Lancelot who had become a [Heretic G.o.d], as
well as the commotion caused by G.o.ddess Athena, none of them required
Alec to take action.
j.a.pans Campione, Kusanagi G.o.dou, had undertaken everything upon
himself.
During this time, Alec was essentially observing as a bystander.
"Looks like Guinevere still hasnt given up on Arthur."
Having discovered the Witch Queens plot, he quietly muttered to himself.
The king who manifests at the end of eras. The war G.o.d whose origins lay
in fantastic heroic legends. Due to his research and adventures for the
past few years, Alecs investigation about him had reached new depths.
"Were you hindered just as you were about to revive him successfully?"
The opinionated Guineveres vision was actually quite narrow. Even
though Alec did not think she was able to solve the mystery easily, he still
had to take precautions...
At the same time, he did not forget his personal interests.
While hanging around Tokyo, he investigated the inner workings of the
History 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 prioritized
intelligence gathering. This was his workaholism at work — he would feel
anxious whenever there was no work or research to be done.
"As always, youre still leading a private life fatally lacking in delight,
glamor, or healing presences. Your future worries me so. Without any
family or lover to accompany your days, wouldnt your life end in lonesome
solitude?"
He was reminded of the pitying words offered by that long-time female
acquaintance who was definitely not his friend. In any case, Alec was still
enjoying 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, was
a 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 as
the 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 other
people divine speed apart from himself, or turning himself into lightning for
an instant to unleash electrical attacks.
Amongst these various abilities, he could also virtually erase his complete
presence, allowing him to undertake secret activities with divine speed.
As long as he unleashed divine speed fully, he became as fast as
lightning.
However, objects moving at super high speed will cause others to notice
something was amiss. It was a power not particularly suited to staying
hidden.
Using divine speed to move undetected —
If that could be done, then he could achieve the feat of being active around
wild 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 coat
could not be worn because any extra force exerted would cause detectable
movements. So physical tasks also had to be avoided. But what about
something 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 the
note there.
Eavesdropping on their subsequent reactions and conversations about the
entire matter, Alec successfully confirmed the ident.i.ty of the man carrying
the Heavenly Reverse Halberd.
A wizard and special agent who seemed kind of unmotivated. But quite
competent 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 shaking
the witch off his trail.
Even Alec had lost him at one point. It seemed like he was some kind of
ninja authority.
However, after Lancelots battle with Athena and Kusanagi G.o.dou had
began, Alec found the man near the battlefield.
Faced with such a tense situation, even that man showed an opening. That
made everything that followed rather simple.
Turning into lightning, Alec silently stole his way to the mans back and
made light contact. As the man collapsed, convulsing from the electrical
shock, Alec casually retrieved the Heavenly Reverse Halberd from his suit.
At the time, the ninja showed a surprised expression as he remained
conscious.
Killing him to silence a witness... Was the type of unwise decision that Alec
did not intend to take. He simply shrugged and left.
Englands black gentleman and j.a.pans Kusanagi G.o.dou.
With that, an intriguing connection of destiny had been established
between 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 loud
many 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 the
protagonist, this series is finally approaching double digits in the number of
volumes.
This is all thanks to everyones support, so let me express my deepest
grat.i.tude.
So, this time the long absent G.o.ddess-sama makes another appearance.
Written as mortal enemy but read as "friend."
This youths revolutionary proposition will always be a proposition met by
all protagonists. This idea was thought up a long time ago. Then in that
case, 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 will
need to be designed to be more distinctive. If their paths were to cross
once again, I think that would be the feeling given off.
To this date, the story has mixed into it events such as G.o.ddesses
reincarnating into witches, or dormant deities. Oh my, how will things
progress from here?
Also, there is Tokunaga Asuka-san who first appeared in the previous
volume. But actually, a little story about her part-time work was already
published on the Super Dash Bunko official websites Campione! specials.
Next volume will have our protagonist matching up against that
Englishman.
Amongst the various personalities of sporty, emotional right brain
dominant, barbaric, carnivorous, casual carelessness of the great Devil
Kings, only that one guy is so-called cultured, rational, sensitive and
civilized, herbivore.
These kinds of exotic character traits.
How will this incomprehensible combination develop? By the way, it needs
no mentioning, but of course our protagonist belongs in the first group.
His self declarations are wrong. When the time comes, let us meet again
with the next volume.
Oh by the way, my long time acquaintance, Itou Hiro, author of the
well-received "TV^-Tv^JiE - K/£4>:&:^-Lh}£ ~ ", has his new work
"Barax Yuri ifc£i<>