The convoy advanced steadily and swiftly. About an hour later, the Bronze Black Cross personnel delivered Ares to a classically decorated hotel in Oristano.
After he got out of the car, a green-haired maid, who introduced herself as "serving Miss Liliyana," quickly arrived from the hotel and led Ares to a large room on an upper floor.
"Miss Liliyana, the King has arrived."
Perhaps a little reserved at first meeting, the green-haired maid named "Karen Yankolovsky" first gently knocked on the room door, then opened it, respectfully inviting Ares to enter.
Ares walked into the room, which also maintained the hotel's classical ambiance. Underfoot was a soft wool carpet, and the furniture was in the style of medieval Italian nobility. There was also a fireplace on one side of the room, but since it was summer, no fire was lit in it.
In the center of the room was a long table. Liliyana sat on one side of this long table, and opposite her sat a beautiful, graceful blonde girl in a long red dress, and a somewhat bewildered-looking handsome boy in a short-sleeved shirt.
These two should be Erica Brantelli of the Red Copper Black Cross, and the legendary most embarrassing God Slayer, Kusanagi Godou.
Of course, the current Kusanagi Godou was not yet a God Slayer, just an ordinary Japanese high school student, and Erica Brantelli had not yet shamelessly followed Kusanagi Godou to Japan to attend high school.
To be honest, compared to the serious and sometimes shy Liliyana, Ares was not particularly fond of strong-willed women like Erica. Rather, he disliked interacting with such women, as the main Gods on Olympus, including his teacher Hecate, were quite independent and strong-willed. However, Erica, in addition to being strong-willed, also lacked self-awareness and always liked to engage in provocative behavior, which was very uncomfortable.
Erica Brantelli's personality was shaped by her privileged upbringing in a wealthy family. After all, in Italy, her status indeed placed her in the ruling class, and others would not find it problematic even if she acted imperiously. However, Ares did not believe he was inferior to Erica, this so-called rich young lady. Having always stood with the disadvantaged in Greece, he, as a guardian deity, also disapproved of Erica's domineering attitude towards the vulnerable.
Liliyana, upon seeing a homeless person unfamiliar with the area on the street, would treat them with courtesy and communicate well, adhering to the spirit of chivalry. If it were Erica, she would probably look down on them, not even speaking proper human words.
But to be fair, these were just impressions Ares had from reading novels in his previous life. He couldn't judge the real Erica based on his own conjectures, so Ares decided to simply interact with her properly.
"King."
Upon seeing Ares enter the room, Liliyana and Erica immediately stood up and bowed to Ares, while Kusanagi Godou stared blankly at Ares. Born in modern society with no knowledge of the magical world, he probably had no real feeling for such things.
Ares came to the table, waved his hand at Erica and Liliyana, and then said:
"What King? I have a name. Call me Ares, or Mr. Ares. Sit down, sit down. Don't stand and talk; it makes me nervous."
As he spoke, he pulled out an empty chair on Liliyana's side and sat down. At his urging, Erica and Liliyana exchanged glances, then also sat down.
Once seated, Ares naturally took control of the conversation. He looked at Erica and Kusanagi Godou in front of him and asked:
"You are Miss Erica and… Kusanagi Godou, right?"
He spoke in Greek, so upon hearing him, Kusanagi Godou only showed an awkward yet polite smile. He didn't understand what Ares was saying. Only Erica, after listening, smiled back at Ares and then politely replied in Greek:
"Precisely."
"Then my purpose, I presume Miss Liliyana has already told you, so I won't waste any more words."
Ares extended his hand and said:
"Are you giving it to me or not?"
"Of course, we wouldn't hide something that could please the King."
Erica glanced at Kusanagi Godou beside her, exchanged a few words with him in Japanese, and then continued speaking to Ares:
"But before that, Mr. Ares, could you satisfy our curiosity?"
"What are you curious about?" Ares asked.
"When I was chatting with Lily earlier, she mentioned something about you." Erica carefully chose her words, saying cautiously, "I heard that you actively seek out Gods of Disobedience, treating these Gods as your prey. Of course, I'm not criticizing you; making Gods your prey is a praiseworthy and heroic act anywhere, and only a King would have such courage and ambition. But… I heard from Lily that you had already targeted Melqart before becoming a Demon King, which means… you already knew there was a God of Disobedience on Sardinia before this?"
Ares glanced at Liliyana sitting next to him, who gave him an apologetic look, appearing somewhat fearful.
"Yes." He didn't make things difficult for Liliyana, but instead withdrew his gaze and nodded frankly: "As for the other fellow, I actually met him once before in Cagliari."
"Why do you slay Gods?" Erica asked curiously.
"Is that your second curiosity?" Ares asked with a half-smile.
"Uh, I was just curious." Seeing Ares's expression change, Erica immediately backed down, "If you don't want to answer, you don't have to."
"It's fine to tell you." Ares thought for a moment, then sighed deeply, a wistful expression on his face, and said, "Actually, it has to do with my family."
"Family?"
Upon hearing this, Liliyana and Erica immediately exchanged glances, a strange look flickering in their eyes. They thought of the legendary evil secret societies that cultivated their own brainwashed God Slayers. It was said that when the Black Prince slew the fallen angel Remiel, he was caught in a conspiracy of such an evil secret society.
The two girls' eyes met, and they both showed worried expressions. Only Kusanagi Godou, who didn't understand Greek, was present. He looked at Ares, then at the two beautiful girls, and then blankly uttered "Nani" and "Doshita" and other Japanese words that even Ares could understand.
Then Ares continued with a sorrowful expression, "How should I describe my family… I guess you could say it's quite unfortunate. My father likes to go out and fool around with other women, always making my mother very angry. He's also not good to us siblings or his own two brothers. Family members often argue and fight. I wanted to kill this source of all evil, but one of my sisters wanted to kill me."
"What a complicated family relationship," Liliyana murmured softly.
"Yes, it's quite complicated." Ares nodded with lingering fear and continued, "But I'm a bit timid and don't really dare to lay hands on my father and sister, so before I do, I thought I'd try my hand at killing two Gods of Disobedience first."
"Gods of Disobedience, try your hand?" Erica forcibly suppressed her half-sentence of sarcasm: [That must be a lie.]
However, Liliyana, being an honest child, remained silent for a moment before asking Ares directly, "Mr. Ares, are you making fun of us?"
"How could I? Every word I'm saying is true," Ares said, then added somewhat shyly, "Speaking of which, I've never killed a main God before. Melqart was actually my first experience."