"Are you disappointed?" I asked Scáthach as we walked down the street. No real destination in mind, but just idly spending some time together.
"Disappointed?" She repeated. "I do not know what I expected when I heard about him. Perhaps the other 'Campiones' are different, but looking at that boy, he was no warrior. Atleast not yet."
"From what I understand, he already fought another Campione. Not to mention the God he defeated. And you don't think he's a warrior?" I was just curious about her thoughts even if I agreed.
She shook her head. "The ability to throw around Divine Power does not make him a warrior. There were plenty of Gods that wielded such might but were felled by those weaker than them due to martial prowess."
"It was kind of you to help him like you did, master." Raikou spoke up.
I let out a sigh. "I think I was projecting my own circumstances too much on him." Self-reflection is important. "Oh well." I shrugged. "It's not like I handed him anything of extraordinary value. And I got this thing as well." I waived the stone medallion around.
"I would not say they were without value. You handed over several spell books that are the basis for most Magi. It will set a firm foundation if he wishes to pursue that particular path." Scáthach replied. "And what is that object? I can sense the touch of Divinity about it. It feels almost like a seal of some kind as it's preventing the majority of the power contained from leaking out."
"Remember what Athena was talking about, how she wasn't at her best?" I flashed the object again.
"Hmm." Scáthach just hummed, eyeing it for a moment then ceased to care. "How interesting. You truly know how to keep showing me fun and new things. I look forward to this Goddess reappearing and accosting you for that object."
Ominous.
"Hmm, that reminds me. Would you like your spear back?" I didn't know if she preferred the one she wielded in life or not.
"My spear." She said quietly. "Yes, you used it as a catalyst to summon me. I am surprised you kept it around." She eventually shook her head. "The one attached to me as a Servant is required to activate my Noble Phantasm. You may hold onto it…..and I hope that it will serve you well at some point."
"Your spear isn't the only thing I took with me." I admitted.
"Did you raid my panty drawer?"
"How'd you know?" I said almost instantly with a deadpanned look.
"I see where your eyes wander to." She pursed her lips before breaking out into a smile. "You are entitled to anything that you wished to have taken from that place."
"The painting above your mantle."
"The painting?" She paused looking at me.
"I thought it might have been something important to you." I scratched my cheek. "The one of you and your family."
"….you are a kind man." She moved and her arms wrapped around me. "Thank you." She whispered into my ear.
Hugs are nice.
"And I would have liked to truly show my appreciation, but I do not abide voyeurs." She whispered again.
"I was content to let them be since they weren't showing any intent to harm us, but now I'm annoyed."
"Master." Raikou wrapped me up from behind, joining in the little hug. She lacked the toxic possessiveness she had before, but she's still quite clingy. Not that I'm one to talk nor do I dislike it. "Would you like me to take care of the growing group spying on us?"
I yawned a little. "May as well see what they want. It's not like we need to stay here much longer."
"Maybe they'll want to fight?" Scáthach said hopefully.
"My you truly do love fighting." Raikou commented.
"I'm Scottish." Scáthach laughed. "If you weren't fighting, you were either drunk or fucking."
"Sometimes all three at once." I grinned.
"You laugh, however…. I have seen many things."
"How does that even work!?" I was stunned at her words.
"I do not believe it wise to seek answers, Master." Raikou spoke up.
"You're not wrong." She laughed again. "I will not deny that my people are a strange lot."
Our little conversation continued as we made our way to an empty park a few blocks away. It was a curious thought, why I didn't sense anyone spying on me until I left Godou. I highly doubt they didn't have people watching him. They'd have to be pretty incompetent to let a walking weapon of mass destruction go around without some kind of tail.
Extending one's senses was really something I wasn't taught. Most people don't really 'learn' to do it in a traditional sense. There are many methods to do it and people generally just gravitate towards the one that feels the most correct. Detecting bloodlust, fluctuations in the air, Magical Energy being pulled about, or even Space being manipulated. There were a plethora of ways.
All of this could just be described as a sixth sense.
So to say that I sensed no one spying on me before meant a bit more than what was understood on the surface.
"Hmmhmmhmm." I hummed looking around as both my girls took a position next to me. "This should be good." I said idly before turning back around and staring blankly into the surroundings. "What do you lot think? No mundane people around here, you can come out, right?" I raised my voice so those who decided to follow or spy could listen.
I didn't really want to get involved in the politics here, but I had some time to spare. May as well see what the Magic users here were like before we head back. Some interesting Data to mull over in my free time.
The air visibly shuttered as a man and several women stepped out of a fold in space.
Not a traditional method of teleportation, but I would give credit where credit is due.
The man leading the front looked rather…..strange. No, the oddity is that he was out of place compared to the women at his side who were dressed as shrine maidens. He was in a business suit and looked like your average office worker. Perhaps he gave off a sort of fatherly vibe about him.
"Greetings." The man smiled in a way that was noticeably practiced. "I am Amakasu Touma. I represent the History Compilation Committee."
"Kay." I said dismissively.
It was amusing to see him get thrown off by my lackluster response. "Yes, well...if you wouldn't mind coming with us? We have a few questions that we'd like to – "
"Pass." I denied right away.
"Ah, I believe you don't quite understand the situation." He cleared his throat. "You see, we have become aware that you acquired an object of....power from his Majesty around an hour ago."
"And how did you become aware of that?" I raised an eyebrow.
He grinned a little bit, pushing his glasses up. "Our Hime-Mikos are second to none." He replied with no small amount of pride in his voice.
"Hoh." I muttered as I eyed the people around him. "I see….you weren't 'tracing' me so to speak, but the 'item' using the Hime-Mikos. Using their 'scrying' ability to keep track of it at all times." I could imagine I turned up as a sort of blind spot for them, but the stone amulet would be a small light they could latch onto to gauge my movements. It's interesting that this thing was so easily traceable to them. I kinda wanted to look more into these Hime-Mikos now. Their method of Scrying might be worth the effort into understanding.
Overall, Impressive.
"Quite." He didn't deny it. "While we could not raise any issue over his Majesty holding onto something so dangerous, we cannot allow others to walk around with the Gorgoneion. We must quickly seal it away before the Heretic God finds it."
I fiddled with the stone amulet the – Gorgoneion, they called it. Rolling it between my fingers I stared at the man in the eyes. "This was traded to me, it's mine now." I said simply.
I didn't like to give up things that were mine.
He frowned. "Do you not understand? A Heretic God isn't something we can prevent. Our only advantage is that we haven't been discovered."
"Are you sure about that?" I raised an eyebrow.
"What do you – "
"Isn't it about time you come out, Athena." She wasn't as stealthy as she thought she was. She left fluctuations in the stability of space when she covered distances with whatever her method was. While I couldn't say for certainty she was the only one who could do this, it was the same as what I felt at the Colosseum.
The shadows in the area moved, conglomerating into the mass of the little girl I recognized from before.
All eyes immediately turned to her and the people from this 'History Compilation Committee' look absolutely horrified to the point where it looked like they stopped breathing.
She glanced at them, and I saw her gaze linger on one of the girls next to the man who was speaking. "Interesting." A single word spoken before she turned back to us. "Thou has acquired mine Gorgoneion. Return it."
It was a fairly easy guess to make that she was lurking around. My bet was on scoping out Godou and making a sort of threat assessment.
"No, it's mine now." Something about her attitude just grated on me.
"…..Cease thy nonsensical ramblings. Return mine property or I shall retrieve it by force. You are a passing interesting, but if thou stands in mine way, I shall remove thee."
I looked at her, then looked down at the Gorgoneion. I slowly brought it up to my face and licked it, not breaking eye contact with her. "You still want it?"
Petty, thy name is Schweinorg.
"…die." I felt her gather Divine power but it was briefly halted.
She paused because there was another force contesting her.
Scáthach's aura burst out. Her clothes changed to her Servant armaments. Her deadly spear materialized into her hand. The sheer power she was pushing out, the Magical Energy that she was releasing was enough to make the others have to steady themselves.
"W-who art thou?" Athena's eyes widened. "Thou art no God, thou are no human, nor beast, nor monster. Thy nature eludes mine Wisdom, yet your presence brings this one hesitance."
Scáthach grinned. A bloodthirsty smile spread across her face. "I have slain Men. I have slain Undead. I have slain Monsters. I have killed Fae, Beasts and even Dragons." She slammed her spear into the ground. "But most important. I have slain Gods." A predatory feeling emanated out as she took a few slow steps. "You wish to know my name? I will make you know through my spear. I am Scáthach, Queen of the Land of Shadows."
And I thought I saw the Goddess visibly pale.
***
Omake – Teaching(trolling) Godou on how to talk to women.
"Godou, this is important."
"How!? How is this supposed to be important when I have Gods coming to kill me?"
"Godou." I put a hand on his shoulder. "Trust me. Have I led you astray so far?"
"I've only known you for like….an hour."
"And thus I have a perfect record." I said smugly.
"Just….can't you help me with other stuff? I have Ten Incarnations that I need -- "
"Godou, I don't want to hear about your Ten Incarnations. Sometimes, you need to use your 10 inches."
"W-what!?" He stuttered out with a growing red face. "B-but…."
"What?"
"Where am I supposed to get 8 more inches?"
"…what?"
"I mean..." He looked away. "Nevermind."
"Anyways." I decided not to dwell on it. "Look, I have a fool proof plan. I'm going to teach you how to talk to the ladies."
"This is stupid."
"Now, now. Who has the harem here?"
"….this is still stupid."
"Alrighty." I clapped my hands. "So, I'm going to create an illusion, and we're going to do a little bit of role play."
"Kill me."
"That's a kink we don't touch."
"Haaaaah, I hate my life."
"Lets see….we'll start off with a woman I've met in my life." I of course wouldn't use any of my girls. With a wave of my hand, I focused and created an illusion of a female figure. "Godou, meet Semiramis. Now Godou, she's going to start a conversation."
"Oh…she's pretty."
"That she is, now get ready."
"O-okay." He nodded staring at her cleavage.
I controlled my illusion to speak. "Hey Godou, you got a nice cock."
"Pffft" He almost fell back in his chair, choking on air. "WHY!?"
"Come on, Godou, this is the easy stuff." I sighed.
"WHY DID IT SPEAK WITH YOUR VOICE?"
"It's only an illusion, what else did you expect? Now!" I clapped my hands again. "Answer her, Godou. Don't wimp out, Semiramis is flirting with you!"
"I uh…..You…erm…..too?" He stuttered out.
"….Dammit Godou."
"I'm sorry! I panicked, I'm not very good at this stuff." He whimpered. "And It's kind of weird."
"You need to learn to talk to the ladies and it shows. You need to gain some confidence. Maybe this was too high a place to start." Sighed again, waiving my hand. "Lets bring it down a notch." The illusion changed again to a familiar redhead. "Pyrrha Nikos?"
"Oh." Godou perked up.
"No." I shook my head before snapping my fingers. "Oh, I got it." I started weaving my illusions into the perfect starting point.
The new figure morphed, sporting red hair as well. But this was no Pyrrha Nikos. She wore a very elegant dress shirt, a matching pair of pants and a very tasty hat. "Oh, now that's a hot piece of ass."
"W-what!?" He blurted out.
"Hoho, Your Big Brother – or should I say your Big Sister consents, Godou."
"You got a nice cock." The illusion depicting a female version of me winked at him.
"I hate my life." He whimpered again.
***
Early chapter since I have to wake up super early tomorrow.
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