Chapter 36 Days of Peace
"Phew..."
Lazily lying on the only table in the Service Club, Hikigaya let out a comfortable sound.
Peaceful days really are nice.
The idiot sword king from Italy seemed to have been obediently taken back—what a joyous occasion.
The old man Voban apparently found something fun again and went off to Tokyo.
With that, Chiba had once again returned to being the peaceful Chiba. How great.
That's how it should be. Why should Campione make things difficult for other Campione? The world is so big—they should go out and explore more.
Just don't come to Chiba…
"Chirp…"
The boiling kettle let out a sharp whistle.
Yukinoshita Yukino, sitting on the other side of the table, put down her magazine and stood up to walk toward the kettle.
Yuigahama, the cheerful girl who had been fiddling with her phone absentmindedly with one hand, said excitedly, "Finally! We can have snacks now!"
She rummaged through her bag and took out the snacks to go with the tea.
On the table, elegant teacups and saucers, along with a mug printed with a puppy, had long been prepared.
It seems she joined while he was away.
Well it was probably the fault of the Yomi disciples, after all a normal girl like her couldn't stand the atmosphere of the club with them in it.
After Hikigaya met with Kushinada and the rest of the Nine Fists, they all returned to the world of Yomi.
There was probably no need anymore for the disciples to act as intermediaries to express goodwill to Hikigaya—both sides had established direct communication.
After all, for these disciples, staying by their master's side was best, and that was exactly what Hikigaya had wanted. Being treated like some kind of "boss" was not pleasant at all.
However, since he got to meet all of the Nine Fists at once, Hikigaya also took the opportunity to collect a lot of martial arts materials from them.
With the foundation and learning capability of a Campione, there was no need to learn hand-in-hand like ordinary people. As long as detailed materials were available, it was enough.
Kushinada Mikumo stayed behind in Chiba, claiming to be a communication channel between both sides.
But Hikigaya was far more interested in her body than what was in her head—too much chuunibyou, not worth mentioning.
After pouring black tea into the cups and mug, Yukinoshita Yukino paused, holding the teapot with one hand. She supported her chin with the other, and as if something occurred to her, she took out a paper cup she always had on hand and poured tea into it as well.
Then she refilled the ceramic pot with more black tea and placed the lid on to keep it warm.
Having done all that, she picked up her own cup and saucer and returned to her seat, while Yuigahama, fiddling with her phone, also took the puppy mug.
Only the steaming paper cup was left at the original spot on the table.
That might… probably… be for him?
"Black tea… will get cold," Yukinoshita Yukino murmured after a while, seemingly unable to stand Hikigaya's curious gaze.
"Oh, thanks,"
Hikigaya took it.
Nice, nice. Little sister Yukino does have a gentle side after all.
Then he heard Yuigahama, holding the mug with both hands and blowing to cool it, speak up.
"Speaking of which, the school trip is coming up soon!"
Yukino's eyebrows seemed to twitch just a little…
Lately, that had been the hot topic in class too.
"Have they already decided where we're going?"
"They're about to decide."
"It depends on where our group wants to go."
Speaking of groups, Hikigaya suddenly realized that he didn't even know which group he was in…
After all, compared to the school trip, he was more concerned about what was coming in February and March—spring break.
If there were no surprises, during this spring break, two gods would descend upon Sardinia, Italy. If everything went according to plan without interference, then the world would likely see the emergence of a new Campione named Kusanagi Godou.
Hikigaya had already investigated: there really was someone named Kusanagi Godou in Tokyo. The details were quite consistent with the anime—he had a strict little sister, a grandfather skilled in dealing with women, and most importantly, there was indeed a very unusual stone slab at his home.
It was pretty much certain—that was the Kusanagi Godou.
He hadn't taken that slab yet, simply because he didn't want to affect the timeline with premature actions.
After all, the anime didn't mention a precise time—only that it was during spring break, without saying which spring break, or what part of spring break. Also, Sardinia is a big place, and he didn't know exactly where, so tracking Kusanagi Godou's movements was the clearest lead.
As for stealing Kusanagi Godou's "opportunity," Hikigaya didn't feel bad about it. The guy didn't want to be a Campione anyway—he was doing him a favor.
While thinking this, Yuigahama's voice reached his ears.
"Hey, Hikki… is there somewhere you want to go?"
Snapping out of it, he saw Yuigahama looking at him full of expectation.
On the other side, Yukinoshita Yukino, though expressionless, also looked at him with curiosity.
"Probably Kyoto,"
He answered after thinking about it.
"Isn't that place full of youkai legends? You could even call it the city of Japanese monsters, haha."
"Eh? Hikki's interests are kinda weird,"
Yuigahama muttered.
"I agree. As high school students, we should abandon such unrealistic fantasies. This is the age of science."
Yukinoshita Yukino nodded in agreement.
Hikigaya chuckled awkwardly a few times, not bothering to argue.
If it were in his original world, saying that would be fine. But in this world, it was a big problem.
Because in this world, the very things thought to be fantasy in novels were what saved science.
That thing—was the Campione.
More specifically—old man Voban.
Back then, this old guy was full of chuunibyou vibes, looked down on everyone, picked fights all over the world, and single-handedly wrecked all the magicians in Europe.
That included the fan-favorite organization from countless novels—the Church. Back then, those bald zealots waving crosses were as overwhelmingly flashy and powerful as in any story—unquestionably the strongest magic organization in Europe, and the actual rulers of Western Europe. Science, back then, was like a secret mistress—completely unpresentable under the monks' suppression.
You couldn't show it in public. Science would "die when exposed to light." Punishments were often brutal—no one could stand it.
Then Voban beat those monks' prized forces into total annihilation. After that, the Church's power crumbled, Europe became a land of various magical societies, and Science no longer had a heavy mountain on its back.
So if Science today is like a pampered noblewoman, Voban deserves the most credit.
Maybe there were some discrepancies, but that was the general idea.
Yuigahama and Yukinoshita were once again chirping away about girly topics on the side—topics Hikigaya couldn't and didn't want to join in on.
He slowly sipped his now-lukewarm tea, and felt a little curious about the upcoming school trip.
Where would they go, he wondered?