Vol 13 Epilogue (1/2)
Epilogue
The new year had just begun not too long ago.
Alexandre Gascoigne was currently located in Portugal's ancient capital of
Coimbra.
His latest efforts were directed towards obtaining ”a missionary's 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.'
Lucretia's 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.dou's 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 hero's 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 witch's 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, it's just a spontaneous idea.”
Alec shrugged in response to Lucretia's 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