Akira woke up, groggily rubbing his eyes; he sighed. Lying in bed after everything that happened yesterday, he was thoroughly exhausted and just wanted to take the plane back to Japan.
Thinking back to the conversation he had with Valentina, lots of new information was revealed to him, and he was unsure what to do now.
That woman was the Norse goddess Freya; even though he knew nothing about gods or mythology, he got a headache just hearing that name.
"Let's just hope I can leave peacefully today," he muttered.
After that he quickly got out of bed and dressed himself; he wore a linen white shirt with black chinos.
The clothes he was most comfortable in after everything that had happened, he wore mostly clothes he was comfortable in and took his time to do everything.
Eating an elaborate breakfast in the hotel lobby, he checked out of the hotel and decided to walk toward the airport.
After what happened last time he took a cab, he was not going to take any chances and chose to go on foot; the airport was rather close by anyway.
With his luggage and his grandmother's medicine, he made his way out of the hotel; he inhaled the outside air, letting the wind run through his hair.
But before he could even take a single step, he saw her again.
Valentina Blandelli, the woman who had barged into his room and demanded outrageous things from him, stood there, waiting for a response.
Akira sighed, turned his head, and walked right past her, pretending he hadn't seen her.
I'm so not in the mood for this'. Whatever she wants, it can wait,' he mused internally.
Valentina, on the other hand, looked mortified. Her eyes burned with anger, glaring holes into the back of Akira as he walked away.
"What do you think you're doing, sir?" she said, gnashing her teeth.
When Akira heard that, he knew she was here for him; at first, he hoped she just had some other business for which she coincidentally needed to be here.
Turning toward her slowly with an exaggerated motion. "I'm leaving my hotel, duh," he replied, rolling his eyes.
When she heard his answer, Valentina also rolled her eyes, then a handsome older man with a rather muscular build and wearing a suit stepped in front of Valentina.
Giving her a glare, he turned toward Akira and bowed. "I apologize for my sister's rudeness. Sir Takahashi, would you like to join us for a while? We have something important to discuss."
When Akira heard him, he looked stunned; this polite man was that girl's brother? It seems not everyone in that family wasn't raised properly.
"No thanks, I need to catch my flight." He said, looking at the time on his phone; realizing he still had more than enough time, he decided to entertain the duo and try to get some information out of them at the same time.
When Paolo heard his reply, cold sweat started dripping from his forehead, which Valentina also saw.
Glaring at Akira, she was about to chew him out, but Paolo stopped her, extending his arm in front of her.
"Sir, I'm afraid that's not possible at the moment." He said, wiping his sweat with a handkerchief.
Now it was Akira's turn to be surprised; he couldn't leave? Why not?
Slightly narrowing his eyes, he looked Paolo straight in the eyes.
"Why not?"
Feeling the intense gaze on him, Paolo started sweating even more, but he kept his composure.
"Most heretic gods are very vengeful, especially ones related to war, like Freya. If you do board that plane, no doubt she will destroy the thing, killing hundreds of innocent people in the process." Paolo started explaining.
Stopping for a short moment to let Akira absorb everything he had just said, he then continued.
"So before you deal with her or she finds someone else to focus on, you can't really leave Italy."
After hearing him out, Akira remembered the devastation he had previously caused with his minor fight with Freya; remembering all the people that were affected, he couldn't bear to board that plane.
Even if what Paolo said was false, he couldn't take the risk, knowing there was a chance of her doing it. He couldn't bring himself to board that plane and risk the lives of hundreds of innocent people.
"So what do you recommend I do?" he asked Paolo.
"There are a couple of options; the first is to hunt Freya down, which is also the most certain. Another is to make contact with other campione and join forces to kill her."
"There are other Campiones in Italy right now?" Akira inquired.
If that were the case, it would make dealing with Freya a whole lot easier.
"Well, yes, there is one currently, but he is very eccentric, and he does what he wants." Paolo said, wiping the sweat from his brow once more.
Valentina rolled her eyes, seeing how weak-willed Akira was; if she were a campione, she would hunt heretic Gods nonstop. To gain strength and rebuild the lost honor of the Copper-Black Cross.
But is this so-called campione afraid of a single heretical god? How did he even become a campione when he is this spineless?
"Just hunt her down on your own; why would you risk losing authorities to another campione?" Valentina blurted out,"
Paolo, hearing that, almost fainted, looking straight at Akira, who looked just as stunned at Valentina's remark.
Paolo didn't hesitate a moment, grabbing Valentina's head and making her bow deeply.
"I am very sorry for my sister's rude behavior. Please let this one time go; I'll make sure to discipline her thoroughly later." He declared, bowing so exaggeratedly that his and Valentina's heads almost touched the ground.
Akira looked around awkwardly and sighed, "Alright, alright, please just get up; people are staring a little too much," he said, pointing at the crowd that was forming around the trio.
"Thank you, sir." Paolo said, heaving a sigh of relief.
Valentina, on the other hand, looked unimpressed, rolling her eyes repeatedly at her brothers over-the-top behavior.
But she knew to at least keep her mouth shut now, or the consequences would be too much for her to handle.