Chapter 33: The Last Kin
Soon, Hikigaya understood why Doni had invited him for a "hunt" yet called him to eat, and why, if it was just a meal, a crowd of Great Knights was standing around.
A party in this buffet format was the hunting party.
This caused Hikigaya to completely abandon his previous expectations—if it were truly a character worth a Campione's effort, how could so many people be invited? A God-slayer doesn't need a group of people cheering in the background while fighting a god.
Because his anticipation had vanished, Hikigaya's mind turned to the food. However, before he could take more than a few bites, the "pitfall" known as Doni—the organizer of this hunt—casually stepped onto the podium.
"Everyone, thank you very much for answering my call. I, Salvatore Doni, offer my highest respect to your courage and dedication..."
The "pitfall" unabashedly pulled out a manuscript on stage, reading while flipping the pages with a loud rustle.
"There are a lot of thank-you notes on here... but saying this much should be enough, right?" He suddenly said this, tossed the speech aside—likely bored of reading—and went straight to the point. "Anyway, skipping the rest of the content. Everyone, please enjoy yourselves for the time being."
After finishing, he quickly hopped off the podium and vanished behind the curtains.
"The people here are quite used to Sir Salvatore's behavior," Erica, standing nearby, added as she saw Hikigaya's face full of disdain. From this sentence, it was clear she wasn't particularly close to either Doni or Hikigaya.
As for the "people here" Erica mentioned, they began to gather toward Hikigaya after Doni ran off. Naturally, it wasn't to look for trouble; most of them were in good health and had no plans to visit the Pure Land so early. They just wanted to chat.
Among them, Hikigaya saw people he had met during his previous trip to Italy, but most were strangers. In this setting, he didn't act aloof; after greeting everyone properly, Erica stepped in.
"Lord Hikigaya." In front of the crowd, she first addressed him formally, then said, "Would you deign to step aside? My uncle wishes to speak with you in private."
Hikigaya noticed that the others moved away upon hearing this. It was clear Erica's uncle had a lot of prestige. Hikigaya enjoyed speaking with prestigious people, because if they happened to be brain-dead, punching them felt particularly satisfying.
He followed Erica out of the lobby and into a room upstairs.
"King Hikigaya, it is a great pleasure to meet you."
Upon entering, Hikigaya first saw a handsome middle-aged man with a super-friendly expression, wearing a crisp suit. Additionally, there was a woman of Latin appearance with tanned skin. She wore her black hair in a ponytail, looking quite capable.
Hikigaya had seen photos of this face before.
"A pleasure to meet you, Seventh Campione," the Latin beauty's voice was somewhat raspy. "I am Saint Raffaelo. I look forward to your guidance in the future."
"This is Lady Saint Raffaelo, a Templar Knight holding the rank of Paladin," Erica added as Hikigaya remained silent. "In the past, she instructed Sir Salvatore in sword techniques; she is that gentleman's master."
"Calling me a master... I only taught him for a month before that guy vanished. I thought he was dim-witted then, but I didn't expect him to be completely brainless now," Raffaelo spoke without reservation.
From her tone, she wasn't the least bit proud of having taught Doni.
Hikigaya also felt there was nothing to be proud of. Being known as Doni's master wasn't a good thing—to produce such a bizarre disciple, what kind of person must the master be? However, Hikigaya was willing to testify for Raffaelo; she likely only taught him swordsmanship and definitely never touched Doni's brain.
This woman was a swordmaster who was highly monitored by "Yomi."
"I know of you, Lady Raffaelo. I am also pleased to meet you," Hikigaya said.
The handsome middle-aged man clearly breathed a sigh of relief. The four sat around the table and began the meeting.
"I specifically invited Saint Raffaelo," the uncle began. "She is the strongest knight outside of Sir Salvatore, and one of the few who recognizes Madame Aisha."
Hikigaya gave an "Oh," and then had no further reaction.
"She is your kin. The 'Queen of the Enchanting Cave' and the 'Eternal Beautiful Girl'—those titles refer to that lady," Erica interjected timely with her "people-reading" skills.
Hikigaya gave another "Oh," but this time the meaning was different. He truly hadn't realized it just now. Speaking of which, she was the last of his kin he hadn't met, but her presence was so low that he had unconsciously forgotten about her.
"Regarding this incident, we have conducted many investigations. As a result, we discovered that last spring, someone saw a woman resembling Madame Aisha in this area," the uncle said seriously.
"You mean Doni is planning to hunt her?" Hikigaya became interested.
Was this fellow Doni finally going to stop stroking his sword and go after a girl? A miracle!
"Correct, it should be Madame Aisha." The uncle seemed to be a pure-minded person, completely missing Hikigaya's subtext.
Hikigaya imagined the scene for a moment. It was a bit "lewd."
Then he heard Raffaelo suddenly blurt out: "Hunting Big Sister Aisha is impossible. That idiot is definitely hoping that a land where a Divine Beast or a Campione appears will ignite some new war. Perhaps he already holds some key clues."
Speaking resentfully, she then asked Erica: "Do you know what kind of Authority Big Sister Aisha possesses?"
"No. Madame and Luo Hao are both very mysterious Campiones. I am not clear on her appearance or Authorities. I only know her Authority seems to preserve her youth and beauty forever..."
"That wasn't originally an Authority for eternal youth," Raffaelo sighed. "That is the Authority to Create Caves. It creates caves in the world that 'lead to other worlds.' Until she returns, the cave remains in its original location."
"..." Hikigaya thought for a moment. He felt that what Raffaelo said had little to do with what Erica called "preserving youth and beauty." Does traveling make you younger? Who says?
However, he was more interested in something else.
"What kind of worlds are these 'other worlds'?"
"Any kind of world is possible," Raffaelo looked at Hikigaya, who looked very intrigued, with a wary expression. "And that is the primary factor that makes her more troublesome than the rest of your kin."
"Troublesome?" Hikigaya stroked his chin. At this moment, he only found it very interesting.
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