Lucretia Zola was a magician known as the "Witch of Sardinia," and she had maintained a deep friendship with Godou Kusanagi's grandfather for several decades.
This woman was also one of the key figures responsible for Godou eventually becoming a Campione.
She lived in a rather remote part of the small town of Oliena, in a house built near the forest.
The stone house stood within a small courtyard and gave off an extremely ancient atmosphere. There were no other houses nearby, making the place feel remarkably lonely and isolated.
Rowan glanced into the courtyard.
Weeds were growing wildly everywhere.
Clearly, the owner had no interest whatsoever in gardening.
Of course, it was equally possible that she was simply too lazy to bother tidying it up.
Before Rowan could even knock—
Creeeak.
With a heavy groan, the door opened by itself.
When Rowan and Erica stepped inside, they found a black cat waiting for them at the entrance.
It had a slender, elegant body and smooth, glossy fur.
And yet, somehow—
it did not look cute at all.
The black cat led them into a room resembling a bedroom.
The room was filled with the scent of medicinal herbs and was extremely cluttered.
On the bed inside sat a woman with only her upper body raised.
"Welcome to my humble home, both of you."
"I am Lucretia Zola."
Rowan looked at the woman before him.
She was a beautiful woman wearing only underwear and receiving her guests while lying in bed.
Her languid gaze carried an almost mysterious charm, and her long flaxen hair was equally beautiful.
She appeared to be in her late twenties.
But as a longtime friend of Godou Kusanagi's grandfather, this woman was actually even older than Tsunade.
The reason she still looked so young was because her magical power had reached an extraordinarily refined level, allowing her to maintain her youthful beauty.
That was one of the privileges of being a witch.
Erica possessed a similar ability.
Even after several decades passed, her appearance would not change very much.
Incidentally, the reason Lucretia was currently receiving guests in such a state was not because she was some kind of exhibitionist.
Rather—
she had badly overestimated herself.
Anyone familiar with the story knew that after Verethragna broke free from mythology and descended into the mortal world as a Heretic God, he began searching for defeat.
In other words, he wanted someone to give him a proper beating.
That eventually drew out the god-king Mekal.
The two gods fought on Sardinia and ended up severely injuring one another.
One hid inside a temple to recover from his wounds.
The other lost his memories and even lost control of his incarnations.
During that battle, Lucretia had attempted to intervene and stop the two gods.
The result?
She suffered severe injuries and could do nothing but lie here while slowly recovering.
Still, Rowan actually had a favorable impression of what she had done.
To protect Sardinia, she had charged forward despite knowing full well that she stood no chance, simply because she wanted to do whatever little she could.
In older times—
someone like that would have been called a hero.
So Rowan respected her quite a bit.
He casually cast a Healing Magic spell toward her.
In an instant, Lucretia felt the severe injuries weighing down her body recover at a visibly astonishing speed.
Within only a few seconds—
she was completely healed.
"Incredible."
Lucretia rose from the bed and elegantly bowed toward Rowan.
"Thank you for your assistance, Lord God."
As a witch who had lived for several decades, she understood Rowan's identity far better than Erica had.
Unlike the inexperienced Erica, Lucretia had actually seen gods before.
More than one, in fact.
There was no way Rowan's divine aura could fool her.
"No need to thank me."
Rowan casually pulled over a chair and sat down.
"I healed you because I have a request."
"I want to take a look at your collection of books."
As a witch who had lived for decades, Lucretia's collection of grimoires naturally consisted of far more than one or two volumes.
There were even several unique texts that could no longer be found anywhere else.
For example—
the Prometheus Grimoire.
That artifact was also one of the reasons Godou Kusanagi was able to become a Campione.
It possessed the ability to transfer—
and even steal—
divine power.
Godou had used it to steal Verethragna's Authority before ultimately killing him.
Of course, the Prometheus Grimoire was currently not in Lucretia's possession.
It was with Godou Kusanagi.
But unless something unexpected happened, Godou should already be on his way here.
Aside from the Prometheus Grimoire, Rowan was also curious about what other kinds of magical books Lucretia had collected.
"I see."
"So Lord God has come for my collection?"
Lucretia smiled.
"Of course. I have no objections."
She knew perfectly well that she had no ability to defy the will of a god.
Not to mention—
this particular god had just healed her injuries.
So she agreed immediately.
"Excellent."
Rowan gave her an approving look.
"Of course, I won't make you give me something for nothing."
"In exchange, you may obtain some magical knowledge from other worlds from me."
Lucretia froze.
She had not expected there to be an additional benefit.
This was wonderful.
After getting dressed, she quickly led Rowan to her private library.
Rowan casually picked up one of the grimoires, opened it, and immediately began reading with great interest.
Seeing that, Lucretia quietly withdrew from the room.
Erica followed her out.
"Oh my."
Once outside, Lucretia curiously glanced at Erica.
"And how should I address this young lady?"
"What relationship do you have with Lord God?"
"Erica Blandelli, Great Knight of the Copper Black Cross."
"Due to various circumstances, I am currently accompanying Lord Rowan."
Hearing the name, realization dawned on Lucretia.
"So you're Sir Paolo's niece."
"I've heard several rumors about you."
"In that case, the reason you came all the way out to this countryside must be because of that Heretic God."
"You certainly act quickly."
"You flatter me."
"How did you meet Lord God?"
Lucretia asked curiously.
Erica proceeded to explain how she had encountered Rowan.
As they talked, the two returned to the living room.
Lucretia silently listened to the entire story, then poured Erica a cup of coffee.
"From what you've told me, this Lord God of Death seems to be a rather pleasant deity."
"At least so far, Lord Rowan does not appear to be a cruel or violent god."
Lucretia sighed in relief.
"That truly is fortunate."
"Sardinia already has two Heretic Gods running around."
"If this one were violent as well, Sardinia might genuinely become a thing of history."
Erica nodded in agreement and took a sip of coffee.
"I think so too."
"Still…"
Lucretia gently rubbed the side of her coffee cup.
"I never expected this Lord God to actually come from another world."
"That is extraordinarily rare."
"Tell me about it."
Erica smiled bitterly.
A god from another world?
She had never even heard of such a thing before.
Yet now one had openly appeared right in front of her.
It had taken her quite a while just to accept the concept.
"Um… excuse me. Is anyone inside?"
At that moment, a voice came from outside the house.
Erica's eyes flickered, and a smile appeared on her face.
"Looks like your old friend's grandson has arrived."
"You mean Godou Kusanagi?"
Lucretia immediately understood.
Not long ago, she had received an email from Godou's grandfather informing her that his grandson would be coming.
"So you already met him on the way here?"
Erica nodded.
"We crossed paths once."
At the same time, she silently complained in her heart.
If I hadn't met Rowan, I'd probably be traveling together with Godou right now and visiting you alongside him.
Lucretia had the black cat bring Godou inside.
She greeted him with a cheerful smile.
"You must be Godou Kusanagi, right?"
"Ichiro already explained everything in his email, including the fact that he was sending his grandson here."
"So I've been waiting for you."
"Huh?"
Because Godou had never met Erica, he knew absolutely nothing about Heretic Gods, magecraft, or anything of the sort.
Instead, he simply stared blankly at Lucretia.
In his mind, someone who had been friends with his grandfather for several decades should have been an old woman.
So why did she look like an incredibly beautiful woman in her twenties?
"Are you really Grandma Lucretia?"
"Grandma?"
Lucretia immediately glared at Godou.
"How rude."
"Do I look like an old woman to you?"
Godou shook his head.
Lucretia smiled.
"Maintaining a youthful body is a privilege reserved for witches whose magical power has reached the highest levels of mastery."
"Huh?"
Godou was stunned again.
A witch?
What the hell was this woman talking about?
Lucretia sighed.
"Looks like Ichiro didn't tell you anything."
Godou remained completely confused.
However, after confirming that she really was Lucretia, he took the Prometheus Grimoire out of his backpack and handed it over.
"Anyway, I should give you this first."
"My grandfather originally planned to deliver it himself."
"It's something you left behind in Japan, Miss Lucretia."
"Please take it."
Although it was called the Prometheus Grimoire, it was not actually a book.
It was a stone tablet.
Carved into its surface was the image of a man bound in chains.
The reason it was not a conventional book was simple.
This artifact originated from the Age of Mythology.
Paper did not even exist back then.
When gods wanted to leave behind their wisdom and divine power in the form of grimoires, they naturally used stone tablets.
After all, stone survived much longer than parchment.
Stone was also resistant to wind and rain.
Combined with divine protection, such an artifact could endure for an extraordinarily long time.
Lucretia reached out and accepted the Prometheus Grimoire.
"You've been a tremendous help, Godou."
"Thank you."
If this had happened before, she probably would not have cared much about the grimoire.
She might even have handed it directly back to Godou.
But things were different now.
A god was currently browsing through her collection.
Perhaps this Prometheus Grimoire could be exchanged for even greater benefits.
Meanwhile, after finally delivering the stone tablet, Godou let out a long sigh of relief.
With his mission complete and the burden lifted from his shoulders, he immediately prepared to say goodbye to Lucretia.
Lucretia did not try to stop him.
Instead—
she took the stone tablet and walked straight into her private library.
~~~
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