Chapter 30 The Chase Comes to an End
Many who know Erica Blandelli believe that this girl, born in Milan, is as dazzling as the northern metropolis itself. Her upbringing, charm, and vitality make her seem like a girl embodying the very essence of Milan.
As the young lady of the prestigious Blandelli family in Milan, Erica possesses impeccable looks and noble lineage. She was steeped in deep education from a young age, making her both witty and talented.
However, her unruly nature is a headache for many. No matter how courteous she appears, her sharp, aggressive style always gives the impression that she can be overly forceful at times.
But until now, she was always the one who made others feel uncomfortable first — never the other way around. Now, the roles had completely reversed.
Just like Hikigaya Hachiman, Erica Blandelli is also someone who never allows herself to be wronged...
And so, for the first time in her life, she began tracking a boy her own age.
Now, she's confirmed that this boy is a martial arts expert who's reached the realm of a master but knows absolutely nothing about magic.
Such a person is just like Salvatore Doni — the leader of all magical societies in Italy, one of the seven current God Slayers.
That man possesses astounding talent in swordsmanship, yet his body cannot store magical power. Not only can he not use magic, he also cannot utilize "ki" like a complete martial artist. So, he turned himself into the sharpest sword in the world — and one day, defeated a god, becoming one of the greatest men in the world.
Years ago, Erica and her childhood friend — also her biggest rival — Liliana Kranjcar of the Bronze Black Cross, once saw that man. Before he used his Authority, they had no idea who he was. No wonder he's called the greatest fool in the world — that level of stupidity was truly extraordinary...
Now, she feels that the boy she's tracking has a similar aura to Lord Doni. His thoughts and actions are utterly unpredictable. Though clearly a martial arts master, he wanders around like a mere tourist, seemingly unconcerned about her tailing him. And every time she gets close, he shakes her off again.
Erica's instincts tell her that this person definitely holds information she wants.
There's a high probability that a Heretic God may descend on this island. Although the "King's Butler" has stated that Lord Salvatore is on his way back from South America, Erica does not think entrusting a god to a God Slayer is appropriate.
Lord Salvatore's talent for causing trouble far exceeds his talent for solving incidents.
The strongest knight in Italy is the King of Swords — Salvatore Doni, but the highest-ranking knight is Paolo Blandelli, Erica's uncle.
Although her uncle humbly denies it, the other party happily confirms it.
As a member of the Blandelli family and a knight of the Copper Black Cross, Erica applied to her uncle for the position of scout in charge of handling this incident — though whether she truly intended to only be a scout, she herself knew best.
The Copper Black Cross, headquartered in Milan, is one of the strongest magical societies — its predecessor was once the infamous Knights Templar that rampaged through Europe. Although many magical societies inherited Templar rituals, the Milan-based Copper Black Cross is among the most powerful.
The Blandelli family's true nature is both knightly and magical — descendants of both the children of gods and of magicians serving the demon god Baphomet. This family has also produced God Slayers before, and Erica herself is a genius girl with God Slayer blood.
Once arrogantly thinking that God Slayers were nothing special, Erica has come to deeply understand after witnessing the power of the King of Swords that what her ancestors once achieved has little to do with someone like her who simply inherited the bloodline. For a long time after that, she kept a much lower profile.
Until not long ago, when she finally mastered the spirit words and summoning rituals of her long-time studies.
"I'm not that conceited. Of course, if there were an opportunity, I wouldn't mind becoming someone like Lord Salvatore... but that's just a pipe dream. Still, I do have thoughts of sealing or suppressing gods."
This was something she once said in front of her uncle.
So how could she allow herself to be suppressed by a boy of the same age?
If martial arts aren't enough, she'll use magic. She must win!
With that belief, Erica Blandelli, completely unaware, launched a relentless pursuit of the world's seventh God Slayer — although "pursuit" might not be the best word. It was more of a vicious cycle of getting shaken off countless times and chasing again...
Until even the one who kept shaking her off couldn't bear it any longer.
"Hey, you," said Hikigaya Hachiman, who had stopped and stood among a pile of stones, looking at the panting Erica Blandelli not far from him. He gave her a big thumbs up. "You win. What do you want?"
"Ge..."
"Huh?"
"Ge... get down…"
Seeing the gasping girl, Hachiman lowered his head and looked at his feet — weird, he wasn't stepping on anyone, was he?
That confused expression of his, however, irritated someone else.
"Sir! Could you please get down from there?"
A local had walked over angrily.
Having wandered Sardinia for a while, Hachiman had started to notice certain traits of the locals.
They're friendly toward foreign tourists — but only under one condition:
That you respect local culture and travel with civility. Hachiman had no objections to that.
So he immediately realized that whatever he was stepping on must be something important in the local's eyes.
So he promptly jumped down and apologized in Italian.
Sure enough, the Italian man's expression changed from cloudy to sunny in an instant. He even gave Hachiman a detailed explanation — that this was a military ruin known as a "Nuraghe" — and then left. Before going, he even wished Hachiman a pleasant journey…
All Hachiman could do was awkwardly thank the local's enthusiasm and watch as the man left, satisfied.
"You really don't understand this country or this island at all," said Erica, now recovered, walking up behind Hachiman and mocking him unceremoniously. "But I can't blame you — without understanding the backstory of this ruin, the unparalleled Nuraghe would just seem like a pile of rocks today."
She had endured enough frustration along the way — practically being toyed with — so seeing Hachiman embarrassed in front of a civilian gave her great satisfaction.
"You're really annoying. Before I change my mind, just get to the point — what do you want?" Hachiman shot her a glance, annoyed. His judgment was right: she was a pain.
"Well, since you're putting it like that, clearly you're already planning to brush me off. But as a lady, I'll explain anyway," Erica said, running her fingers through her soft, shiny blonde hair and letting it flutter in the breeze before she continued, "Can you tell me about the god on this island? Especially the one that suddenly appeared and disappeared outside the city of Olbia — aside from you, no one else witnessed it. I believe you must have a lot to say."