Chapter 30: Outside the Battlefield
Voban wasn't just threatening—when he spoke, his wolves all turned their gaze toward the Sword King.
Dozens of pairs of eyes instantly focused on him.
In fact, even Hikigaya was prepared—if Doni showed even a hint of hesitation, they'd immediately start fighting. But Doni just smiled confidently.
"No, at least from what I know, one god has already taken position, and it's right here in this country—a god that looks like a knight." "A knight?" Hikigaya imagined for a moment—his mind conjured up those movies from recent years that love to show scruffy creatures who love to forcefully take enemy girls and hack people up. "A knight?" Voban licked his lips, revealing a smile that scared little kids the most. "Good, I like knights."
With the division of spoils settled, the three god slayers discussed among themselves for a while longer, then all laughed heartily. The tense atmosphere from just moments ago seemed never to have existed.
"So then, our only problem is what to do about the Martial Arts King?" Hikigaya asked. They had already talked about this when they first gathered. "That woman…" Voban thought carefully and said seriously, "she's very strong. I don't feel comfortable if we don't handle her. Let's drive her away." "Oh, I remember her. I challenged her before," Doni said, eyes shining, "but this time, my sword is sharper than ever—I'm sure we'll have an intense, thrilling fight."
Hikigaya immediately judged that Doni must have been thoroughly beaten by that Rising Dragon Dominance lady last time. "No rush. Actually, there's still another possibility," Hikigaya waved his hand, feeling that things didn't necessarily have to go that way.
The Martial Arts King, as the god slayer second only to Voban in seniority, was incredibly strong—a fact Hikigaya knew firsthand. It's best not to make enemies of such opponents if you can avoid it.
"Then if there really is a fourth god, we can use that person to lure the Martial Arts King away. We can first defeat our respective opponents, then deal with her." "Alright, if that's the case, I have no objection," Voban readily agreed. Doni looked a bit reluctant.
"Aren't you going to make a move on her?" Hikigaya immediately warned, "Unless she's trying to steal the god, we won't start a fight. You don't want to lose energy dealing with your old
acquaintances, do you?" "Fine, I agree too." This time the Sword King didn't object.
Seeing this, Hikigaya finally let go of his last worry, happily clapping his hands. "Then let's head to the Kinugawa Onsen." "What's that place?" "A place to rest, close to Tokyo. We'll stop there to take a break and observe the situation."
The three then relaxed—some walked their dogs, others polished their swords—as they made their way to Kinugawa.
Kinugawa lies north of Nikko and is a famous hot spring resort in Japan, known since ancient times as the "Village of Hidden Springs." It belongs to Nikko National Park, located in the upper reaches of the Kinugawa River in central Tochigi Prefecture, nestled between Mount Ohnita and Mount Shaka. The scenery is excellent.
Though god slayers are not exactly creatures of refined tastes, they wouldn't deliberately reject something that makes them comfortable.
The gods were still there and wouldn't run away, but the existence of Martial Arts King Luo Hao was like a ticking time bomb. Until that problem was solved, the three preferred to continue building strength and keep themselves in the best shape rather than acting rashly.
As for allying with Luo Hao, none of them even considered it—not because they hadn't thought about it, but because they were certain there were only three gods.
What if there was no fourth? None of Voban, Hikigaya, or Doni planned to break their pact.
Though others might see them as unreasonable, they all had their bottom lines. Keeping promises with peers was one of them.
That said, it did leave them feeling a bit bored.
Upon arriving at Kinugawa, Hikigaya first took the two others to the hotel, booked rooms, then they had lunch at the hotel's buffet restaurant.
After eating and drinking their fill, the three grown men exchanged looks, and with nothing better to do, decided to soak in the hot springs and chat about their upcoming opponents.
Good communication brings people closer, and for god slayers, there's no better topic than talking about gods.
Kinugawa Onsen has been in use since the fourth year of Genroku, over 300 years ago. Initially, it was reserved for daimyo and monks traveling to Nikko for worship and was called "Taki-no-yu" or "Shimotaki Onsen." It was renamed Kinugawa Onsen in modern times.
You can soak outdoors or indoors; Hikigaya and the others were too lazy to go outside and chose the indoor baths.
Though indoor, the pool was quite large, like a small swimming pool, with resting areas along the edges. To avoid being disturbed, Hikigaya used Set's power, so anyone approaching would go around.
The three god slayers first all stretched out comfortably in the hot spring, then exhaled in unison. Floating on the surface were trays for food and drinks, but they weren't interested in eating. Hikigaya ordered some drinks instead.
"Feels pretty good," Voban said first, then reached out his furry hand, grabbed a bottle, and started drinking. Hikigaya and Doni quietly pulled back their half-extended hands.
"Phew…" After finishing the drink, Voban casually turned the bottle to powder and blew it aside. "So, the monkey, do you have any answers? Why go through all this trouble to learn about this?" "Old man, when you slayed gods before, didn't you learn about your opponents?" Hikigaya said, half-submerged in the water blowing bubbles.
Doni found it interesting and copied him. ("Go study your sword!" Hikigaya thought.)
"No, back then people only talked about how great the gods were all day long," Voban pouted, whether savoring the drink's taste or the memory of challenging the church alone, Hikigaya thought it was the latter.
Sure enough, Voban then said, "They were all useless…"
The old man looked disappointed—no need to guess who the target of that disappointment was. But Hikigaya didn't think so; European magicians hadn't gone extinct back then, which was already impressive.
"And you? How's your method of learning about your opponents working out?" "Pretty good, I got some of the ones I like from what I learned." Hikigaya also went into reminiscence mode.
"I also got some good stuff," Doni surfaced, "Very useful."
"Is that so? But I'm not interested in your experiences at all," Voban bluntly rejected Doni's attempt to spoil the story, then turned back to Hikigaya, "Now tell me about your monkey. I know another woman, very annoying, who told me a similar story. Your monkey seems related to her hometown." "Is she Indian?"
"Oh, then I don't know. You all look pretty much the same around here." "…"
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