Chapter 48 We're Not That Sloppy
Hikigaya stood on the rooftop of Kyoto Station, overlooking the entire city.
Modern buildings and medieval-style temples and shrines intertwined, yet there was no sense of conflict.
This ancient city, with a history spanning a thousand years, was still full of vitality even in the rapidly changing modern era.
And the most charming aspect of this city was precisely its essence.
The imprint of a thousand-year royal city had not been destroyed by the impetuous winds of modernity, but had instead been preserved unshakably. It was precisely because of this that the city was so deeply loved by the Japanese people.
It was evident: no matter how twisted things became, the essence could not be changed. Just as the Japanese could not twist the essence of Kyoto, Horus could not twist the essence of Set. It might sound unrelated, but the principle is the same—if the essence changed, Kyoto would no longer be Kyoto, and Set would no longer be Set.
Just like authorities (divine powers): no matter how many seemingly different things they evolve into, the essence always remains unchanged.
Set represents destruction. Typhoons are destruction, deserts are destruction, droughts and fire are destruction. Because it's destruction, he is the god of strength. Because of strength, he could gain victory in war. That's why, even under the distortion by Horus—who also holds the war god authority—such power appeared.
But conversely, maybe someday, Hikigaya could, through his own effort, reproduce that kind of power. That power which originated from Set's essence. If even Horus, as an external force, could achieve it, then surely he could too.
As expected, for a godslayer, time equals power.
"Hah…"
Looking at this city, Hikigaya couldn't help but laugh.
To think that just by looking at the scenery he ended up pondering authorities—he was becoming more and more a chuunibyou.
He didn't even have the right to mock the hardcore fujoshi anymore.
Today was the last day of the school trip—the day to return home.
But Hikigaya didn't plan to go back.
He had already had Tamamo-no-Mae transform into his appearance.
Kyoto—this city—he still wanted to explore it thoroughly.
The inspiration he had earlier also lingered in his mind. Since that's the case, he might as well stop for now and see what might happen.
Speaking of inspiration, maybe he could start from the power of Osiris.
It felt like that extremely sensitive intuitive ability couldn't be just because of a god slayer's physique. Otherwise, why would the original protagonist, Kusunagi Godou, rely so heavily on Mariya Yuri?
Perhaps it was related to Osiris' essence. After all, he was the ruler of all things within light. That Egyptian Seth once said: Amon hid his power within the hidden, bringing it to light, while he himself was concealed and absorbed by Osiris.
In other words, Osiris could surely perceive all hidden things through light. Thinking carefully, that was an extremely powerful intuitive ability.
In fact, by now, Hikigaya had more or less figured it out.
Osiris' power, like Kuafu's, probably wasn't truly valuable for direct combat.
Set was different—his essence was destruction, so everything derived from that was manifested in battle.
Sometimes Hikigaya really wondered—was he the protagonist of this world? The thought was undeniably chuunibyou and shameless, but sometimes he just couldn't help but think so.
Kusunagi Godou's luck and authorities were OP? That's not even a question. But Hikigaya felt like he might be even more OP.
Godou had encountered the Persian pretty-boy general and the Phoenician crusty-bearded god. Both were powerful, yes, but he only gained a versatile authority from one of them, with a long cooldown and restrictions.
But himself? He had encountered three at once. Though he took them down in stages, two of them had powers rooted in essence. There were some usage conditions, sure, but they complemented each other like yin and yang. Absolutely broken. Even if the ancient Egyptians had a weird way of defining everything, they still had a complete setting. The growth potential was terrifying.
Hikigaya looked up at the sky again.
Two more months, and this year would be over.
Time really flew.
It had been almost two years since he'd transmigrated here.
He had a new family, new friends—well, probably counted as friends.
Habit was a scary thing. By now, he rarely thought about whether he could return home. That possibility was just too slim.
After all, he didn't transmigrate from a world where everyone could casually slice through dimensions, or hop between universes like a game.
He had become a completely different Hikigaya Hachiman.
The real Hikigaya Hachiman should've been a twisted, awkward high schooler with a chuunibyou complex and broken emotional intelligence.
But because of him, this world's Hikigaya Hachiman got snatched away by a wandering Yomi martial artist, became a godslayer and didn't get close with Yukinoshita Yukino or Yuigahama Yui.
But it was only natural.
No way he was going to do something like confess to the hardcore fujoshi girl last night like before.
Just thinking about that made Hikigaya shiver.
Too terrifying, seriously.
That little shiver also shifted Hikigaya's gaze. Then—
"Huh?"
He let out a surprised sound.
Amidst the crowd, a familiar figure appeared.
Wasn't that the silver-haired hamster girl?
He rubbed his eyes and looked again.
No way—it really was her.
Wasn't she supposed to be with that old man Voban?
His eyes gleamed, and with a push off the railing, Hikigaya jumped down.
No need to doubt—it was really high. But no godslayer had ever died from jumping off a building.
Soon, Hikigaya's figure was moving through the crowd, tailing the girl with the blue-and-white checkered shawl.
.
.
.
Walking the streets of Kyoto, Liliana Kranjcar was in a very foul mood.
Marquis Voban's methods greatly clashed with her knightly beliefs.
Don't bully the weak? That old man became famous precisely for doing that.
She glanced at the brown-haired girl beside her who kept her head down and sighed inwardly.
"Miss Liliana, is something wrong?"
The brown-haired girl looked up with a worried face, as if she'd heard the sigh.
"No, nothing at all."
Liliana avoided her gaze.
Though acting under orders, Liliana still felt guilty toward Mariya Yuri.
"Um… you don't look very well."
The brown-haired girl was Mariya Yuri—also known as a friend of Seishuin Ena.
"Not really. By the way, shall we grab something to eat? Skipping meals is bad for your health."
"Sorry, it's not that I don't want to… I just don't have any appetite. Huh?"
Suddenly, Mariya turned to look into the crowd behind them.
"What's wrong?"
Liliana's gaze sharpened.
The descendants of divine ancestors weren't all equally gifted—not only because they inherited different lineages, but even among the same god's descendants, abilities varied.
Mariya Yuri's power—her intuition—was incredibly strong. Though she couldn't control it well and mostly triggered it passively, it never failed once it did trigger.
So Liliana didn't doubt her. Though she saw nothing, she concentrated her own intuitive power to scan the surroundings.
Unfortunately, she sensed nothing.
If Mariya was never wrong, then the target was incredibly powerful—too powerful for her to detect.
Then she was stunned to see a man appear in the crowd and wave at her in a friendly way.
"Hikigaya Hachiman…"
She murmured.
Though there had been intel about the Japanese god slayer coming to Kyoto recently, she hadn't expected to meet like this.
Especially with him approaching them on his own.
"Miss Liliana, what did you say?"
Mariya looked at Liliana in surprise.
She'd heard of Hikigaya Hachiman—he was the Campione in Japan.
Could this be the boy Ena spoke of?
"Liliana, right?"
Before either girl realized what happened, Hikigaya was already standing in front of them, greeting Liliana.
Mariya quickly stepped back—she had a natural fear of god slayers.
In the original story, it was Kusunagi Godou who cured her of this fear.
"Yes. I didn't expect to see you here," Liliana greeted with a solemn bow, ignoring the surprised looks from nearby people.
"No need to be so formal. Is the old man here too?"
Honestly, Hikigaya wasn't used to people bowing to him.
If it were someone he disliked, fine—but someone he didn't dislike, giving him that kind of dramatic ceremonial bow with honorifics—it was just embarrassing.
"The Marquis has indeed arrived in this city," Liliana nodded. "Do you have a message for him?"
So excessively polite.
"Nah…" Hikigaya scratched his nose to cover his awkwardness, and then noticed the brown-haired girl looking down and avoiding eye contact.
Who the heck is this? She's unusually submissive…
But she had a great figure. Even in casual clothes, it was obvious. She was quite outstanding.
As expected, birds of a feather flock together.
"Is she your friend? Out shopping?"
There were plenty of local specialty shops near Kyoto Station, and Hikigaya's classmates were all off doing a last-minute shopping spree.
Liliana was a foreigner, so buying some local souvenirs made sense.
But Hikigaya didn't realize his casual question made Liliana overthink.
"I see… You came to negotiate with the Marquis on behalf of Mariya Yuri?" she said, eyes wide. "Forgive me for being rude. I know you and the Marquis are both kings who pursue and enjoy battle. But the people of this city are fragile. Could you restrain your battle spirit and negotiate in a more peaceful manner?"
What the heck?
Wait… that submissive girl is Mariya Yuri?
Hikigaya looked more closely… Well, she was looking down, so he couldn't see her face well, but anime Mariya did have brown hair.
But why was she trembling? He hadn't done anything!
Whatever—he didn't get her anyway. In the anime, he never liked this girl much either.
She seemed overly proper—just a hassle.
But first, he had to clear up Liliana's misunderstanding.
"You're overthinking it," he said. "The old man helped me out a lot last time. I just missed him since we haven't met in a while."
"I understand. Then may I go inform—"
"Inform what? Don't be so serious," Hikigaya sighed. Though they'd only met twice, Liliana struck him as someone overly by-the-book. "Just tell me where he is, and I'll go myself."
Still, from earlier, he'd noticed she was looking at him with a very odd expression.
Yeah… kind of like someone with OCD watching a guy pick his toes…