Chapter 20: Where have I seen it before?
"Is this the place?" Hikigaya looked at the courtyard in front of him. "Looks expensive."
"Yes, this is the place. My senses won't be wrong," Tamamo-no-Mae, lying on Hikigaya's shoulder, sniffed around first, then nodded firmly.
As if to reinforce her affirmation, she extended her chubby little paw and shook it vigorously several times.
As expected of a world-class great youkai—she could actually smell other god slayers. But still…
Are you a fox or a dog? It's getting hard to tell.
"Let's hope there's no mistake."
Hikigaya shook his head helplessly, then continued walking inside.
Along the way, no one tried to stop him—just like when he had entered the hotel earlier, no one came up to greet him.
Tamamo-no-Mae, after all, was a fox demon who specialized in illusions. Though most of her power was gone, small illusions like making herself unnoticed by ordinary people were still a piece of cake.
The hotel was built around a large Japanese-style garden and came equipped with various supporting facilities. Combining lodging and leisure, it was clearly a high-end establishment—more like a clubhouse than a regular hotel.
All the buildings followed traditional Japanese architecture, none of them tall—the highest was only five or six stories.
The small building Hikigaya now stood before was the same. The first floor was clearly a public reception area, while the upper floors seemed to be used for accommodation and relaxation.
Before entering, Hikigaya had Tamamo-no-Mae cancel the illusion.
This kind of place was usually only visited by the rich. There were few unrelated people around, so maintaining the illusion was unnecessary—hardly anyone was around to begin with.
Just as Hikigaya was wondering whether to head straight upstairs, a girl descended from the staircase.
Seeing foreigners in Chiba wasn't unusual, but this girl stood out.
She was beautiful like a fairy—anyone with eyes would naturally feel a sense of admiration.
However, more attention-grabbing than her looks was her slender waist.
A long sword hung there.
Even though it was sheathed, Hikigaya could tell—it was real, definitely not a toy.
The girl had silver hair tied into a ponytail. Her attire strongly triggered a "where have I seen this before?" reaction in Hikigaya.
The girl noticed Hikigaya staring and stopped to look at him.
When her gaze swept over Tamamo-no-Mae on his shoulder, she paused slightly and showed a hint of affection.
Tamamo-no-Mae's fox form was indeed charming to girls.
But it was just for a moment—soon, the girl's gaze turned back to Hikigaya.
After observing him for a while, she asked, "Do you need something?"
Her voice was lovely.
"Ah, sorry," Hikigaya blinked and casually lied, "You're just so beautiful, I couldn't help staring. My apologies."
Though, to be honest, it wasn't entirely a lie.
"Oh, I see…" The girl looked momentarily surprised, but her guarded expression faded. "Thank you for the compliment."
She then gave Hikigaya a polite nod with a smile and walked past him.
That reaction… looked like she heard that a lot.
They say Westerners are direct—if they find someone beautiful, they say it. Maybe it's true.
Still, I swear I've seen that outfit somewhere.
Blue-and-white striped shawl… Wait a sec, isn't that what the silver-haired hamster girl from that anime wore?
What was her name again… Liliana?
The more Hikigaya thought about it, the more certain he became. Liliana from the anime also carried a sword.
So the other god slayer Tamamo-no-Mae sensed… could it be freaking Voban?
Wait, no, that doesn't make sense. In the anime, it was mentioned Liliana went to Voban's side and teamed up with that schemer Erica because of something involving Kusanagi Godou.
Whatever. In any case, looks like the fox's nose wasn't wrong.
With that thought, Hikigaya decisively went upstairs.
He really wanted to meet this marquis who came off as a total goofball in the anime.
As for Kusanagi Godou—Hikigaya had never liked him, even back when watching the anime. A big reason was that Godou always felt like the kind of guy who forces his will on others.
This was especially obvious during his meeting with Voban in the anime.
Although Godou appeared to be on the "just" side in that matter, his attitude was even more overbearing than Voban's—like, "How dare you not follow my beliefs? That's a sin, you know?" Gross.
Ironically, the so-called villain, Voban, came across as more gracious. He even explained his intentions—man, that was unexpectedly thoughtful.
Come to think of it, the guy is from ancient times, born and raised in the bloody Middle Ages, where killing was as normal as eating or drinking. You can't expect someone like that to understand modern human rights. It's like asking a city slicker to understand a tribal cannibal who says "I love you" and then eats you—what even is that?
From that perspective, Grandpa Voban isn't that bad. He's actually pretty cultured.
Soon, Hikigaya had reached the fourth floor. The staff on the previous two floors had all been regular people—Voban probably wasn't there. A marquis like him would definitely have other members of the magical society serving him.
If the top floor didn't have him either, then maybe Hikigaya had been overthinking things—and Tamamo-no-Mae might want to check if she had a cold, because her nose might be stuffed.
With that in mind, Hikigaya arrived on the fifth floor.
"Sir, may I help you with something?"
Hikigaya stared speechlessly at the person in front of him. Though dressed like a hotel attendant, this guy was clearly emanating magical energy.
Wow, what a terrible disguise. What kind of hotel has such a thuggish-looking waiter? Did the manager get dropped on his head?
Of course, this didn't prove that the guy was the marquis, but given who was staying here, Hikigaya could be sure—he wasn't a regular person.
"Sir?"
The attendant still maintained a smile—even though it didn't look pleasant at all.
Unlike gods, who shine the moment they appear, god slayers don't stand out unless they're in battle mode. Even among fellow god slayers, if you haven't met before, you might not recognize each other at a glance.
As for Hikigaya, honestly speaking, his face wasn't exactly so striking that people would know him on sight.
So the sorcerer disguised as an attendant didn't recognize Hikigaya as a god slayer—but he could tell that Hikigaya was a martial artist.
Martial artists are easy to spot. Their training shows physically, and even without that, they carry a distinct aura that's hard to miss.
Most practitioners of magic across various countries are also skilled in martial arts.
So despite the variety of titles—magician, necromancer, sorcerer, Taoist, etc.—they generally have at least some familiarity with martial arts. Pure spellcasters with zero martial training are extremely rare.
And this attendant wasn't one of them.
Moreover, he judged that Hikigaya wasn't just a disciple-level martial artist—and he sensed the "aura of darkness" clinging to Hikigaya.
So while pretending to be a regular hotel staffer, he also sent out a magical communication: "Intruder alert."
Not because he feared Hikigaya could harm Marquis Voban—but because he feared that Voban might lash out at them if anything went wrong.
Once someone's reputation is infamous enough, people stop caring whether it's true or not.