After changing into travel gear and slinging a duffel over his back, Damian left the graveyard.
"Shaina, take care. I'm off!"
He called out to the patrolling Shaina, then left under her gaze.
Along the way he also saw Marin seeing Seiya off. She whispered something to Seiya and pointed at him.
It seemed she was telling Seiya: Don't hang out with that problem student.
Then Marin just stared at him, motionless.
"Hey, girl, you're not a faithful wife's stone, so why stare without moving? Am I too handsome to look away from?"
Damian waved at her too.
Marin finally moved—she turned and pointed her butt at him.
Uh…
So cold.
Seiya, in a red tee and carrying the Pegasus Cloth case, happened to be taking the same route as he was.
"Seiya, want to go together?"
Damian asked.
"No."
Seiya shook his head, a bit resistant.
"Aw, we're on the same mission. What's so scary about walking together?"
"You've got that brooding look. Confused by the Pope's orders?"
Damian didn't mind him keeping his distance—he just smiled and asked.
"H-How did you know?"
"His Holiness ordered me to go to Japan to compete for the Gold Cloth and bring it back to the Sanctuary."
"Miss Saori Kido is Mitsumasa Kido's granddaughter, a proper heiress."
"I don't want to see her… I have more important things to do…"
Seiya's mood dipped.
"You want to find your sister Seika first?"
Damian asked.
"How did you know?"
Seiya blurted.
That was his little secret—he'd only told Marin.
This guy Damian was something else—felt like he knew everything.
"Hahaha, I know it all. Think about it—what's my relationship with Marin?"
Damian shot Seiya a look every man understands.
Seiya flushed, imagination running wild.
Right—Seiya was one of the many orphans taken in by the powerful Kido family in Japan, separated from his sister Seika and sent to Athens, Greece, to train as the Pegasus Saint.
His greatest wish was to reunite with his sister. It had always been the motivation for his training in Greece, and later he even asked Saori Kido to search for Seika.
That was the normal main plot.
Who knew if Saga knew Saori Kido's identity.
If he did, then as a mortal Athena would be in grave danger.
Better get Seiya to Saori Kido, fast. Saint Seiya is having an unkillable protagonist as a bodyguard.
They walked on, leaving the Sanctuary's range, and after more than half an hour reached a nearby town.
There was a car in town specifically assigned to pick them up.
This little town on the Sanctuary's outskirts was quaint and old-world, very medieval European, with spired buildings and simple peasants.
If not for the cars on the streets and people in suits, Damian would have thought it was an eighteenth-century European town.
"Hello, are you two from the Sanctuary?"
As they stepped into the town, a policewoman with a pistol on her hip walked up.
She was young, a tall, blonde, blue-eyed cop with a high bridge of the nose and freckles—very well-built, too.
"Yes. You're our ride?"
Damian nodded. After she confirmed, he and Seiya got into a police car.
Woo-woo-woo…
They sat in the back as the engine roared and left town for Athens International Airport.
Along the way—
The policewoman kept sneaking looks at them in the rearview. One looked like a mere boy—short, maybe thirteen or fourteen—hugging a large metal case etched with a Pegasus.
The other was young as well, but carried a mature air, very handsome—the kind that made hearts pound.
He was built—through the T-shirt you could see the bulging muscles, especially the chest, which made one want to touch.
"May I ask your profession? Folks at the station said you're very mysterious—some kind of special warriors."
The usually quiet policewoman couldn't help asking at last.
"We're Saints—warriors who fight for the goddess Athena."
Seiya said warmly.
It wasn't some big secret—no harm in saying so.
"Saints? The goddess Athena?"
She looked dubious—unbelieving.
Ordinary people, of course, didn't understand what a Saint was—or a goddess out of myth.
She was a cheerful, guileless girl and very chatty. Soon she was telling them everything about herself.
Her name was Hannah, a town police officer, twenty-four this year. After graduating the academy, she'd served as a patrol cop in town.
She'd long heard of mysterious folks in the mountains and had glimpsed people in strange armor. She hadn't expected to see such mysterious people up close today.
The officer was enthusiastic and open; Seiya was happy to chat with her.
Damian sat with eyes closed, resting.
He couldn't help muttering that the two were chatterboxes.
Screech…
Suddenly the policewoman braked.
The jolt nearly flung Seiya out the window.
"What on earth is happening up ahead?"
Hannah stared forward in surprise. The sky ahead darkened; a chilly wind rolled; wails seemed to carry on it.
Ghostly dead appeared in front of them—pale faces, gruesome deaths—some missing limbs, some with rotting faces, some gaunt as sticks.
Deathly terror rolled off them as they shambled, blocking the road.
"D-dead… the dead?"
Hannah's face went white, her whole body trembling—she nearly fainted.
"The dead? How is that possible?"
Seiya was stunned too.
The dead couldn't revive. Why were dead people showing up on the road—and rushing the car?
"Keep driving. Don't stop."
Damian spoke. His face was calm; he didn't even open his eyes.
"U-up there—it's so scary…"
The policewoman shook like a leaf. She had no courage to hit the gas.
They were dead people up there—a group of the dead.
Vroom…
The next instant, the gas pedal pressed by itself—and the steering wheel turned too.
"Hey, I'm not driving."
Hannah stared at the scene in disbelief.
Seiya was shocked as well. The officer wasn't touching the wheel and her foot wasn't on the gas—so why was the car moving by itself?
It was as if an invisible person were driving.
Shocked or not, the car passed through the dead and drove straight out of the darkness surrounding them.
The sky ahead brightened.
The scene before them returned to normal.
Hannah let out a breath.
Only then did she notice that the mysterious force steering the car was gone.
"W-what just… happened?"
Seiya was puzzled. "An illusion?"
"Seiya, get out."
Damian spoke then, opening his eyes too. "We've got a little problem."
They got out one after the other, and Seiya felt the danger as well.
Damian looked toward the trees on the far side of the road. "Hey—you hiding in there. Get out here."
A cloaked man stepped from the woods.
"W-what a powerful Cosmo!"
Seiya stared nervously at the man. His hand was on the latch of the Pegasus Cloth case, ready to don it.
The man's Cosmo was full of malice—he was clearly no friend.
Damian just smiled at him. "Deathmask, take off the cloak. I could smell your corpse stench from miles away."
Whoosh!
The cloak was whipped away, revealing the glittering Cancer Gold Cloth—and a flippant face.
Well now, a golden hairy crab, hand-delivering a gift by blocking the road!
(End of Chapter)
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