The young man wore glasses, and his appearance gave off the impression of soone honest—or perhaps a bit of a pushover.
"Na," said Hikigaya.
"Nice to et you, seventh Campione, my na is Amakasu Touma," the young man introduced himself quickly and without wasting words, seemingly quite perceptive. "I'm affiliated with the History Compilation Committee. I'm not sure if you've heard of it."
"Go on," Hikigaya responded ambiguously.
"Well, actually, we've had so professional contact with Miss Seishuin. During the recent Chiba Village incident, we covertly provided a great deal of assistance and cooperation."
Hearing this, Hikigaya showed a mocking smile.
Amakasu Touma was clearly taken aback—this wasn't the reaction he'd expected.
But he gritted his teeth and continued speaking.
"The thing is, Miss Seishuin may have already ntioned this to you, but due to the urgency of the situation, we can't afford to waste a single mont. We want to request your help—a young girl has been kidnapped. The culprit is Sasha Dejanstahl Voban. You probably know about this already. In short, ti is of the essence. Can we set aside our questions for now and go together?"
At this point, he could no longer continue speaking.
The air was thick with the boy's malice—so cold and chilling that Amakasu Touma felt as if his neck was being strangled by invisible chains, preventing him from continuing.
What Amakasu Touma didn't understand was why the boy would react like this.
From what he had indirectly gathered from Seishuin Ena, and according to intel collected by the organization, Hikigaya Hachiman wasn't supposed to be like this.
Although he'd been kidnapped by Yomi and gone missing for half a year, a boy his age should be filled with passion and a sense of justice.
"Are you done?" ca the boy's calm voice in his ear.
That suffocating, nearly lethal feeling vanished.
Amakasu Touma felt relieved and was about to speak again—only to realize that would be a mistake.
Because he saw the boy's eyes, which clearly said: If you speak again, I'll beat you to death…
He gulped loudly and wisely swallowed his words back down.
"Seems like you've misunderstood sothing. Do you really think I couldn't defeat Osiris without the data you provided?"
"N-no, you've misunderstood!" Amakasu Touma was startled and hurriedly explained.
Even though… that was exactly what he'd thought.
Which only made Hikigaya even more contemptuous.
Hikigaya felt it necessary to make sure so people understood their place.
It's like in the workplace: the most important thing isn't what you can do, but what your position entails. If you can't even understand that, your capabilities an squat.
The committee people might've thought they had done Hikigaya a huge favor—that they had co to his rescue in his ti of need—but in reality, they were just icing on the cake.
Though, admittedly, at first Hikigaya had thought the committee had helped him significantly—until he began researching Verethragna more deeply.
The na is of Greek origin, representing victory and "being beloved by the elders as a herald of victory." In Persian, the na is Bahram, which also ans victory, but also carries the implication of punishing the rebellious.
In the Sassanid calendar, he represented Mars, overlapping him with the war gods of Babylon and Greece. In Zoroastrianism, his na was used for the holiest fire—symbolizing "the fla of victory." He was portrayed as the archangel who defeated Angra Mainyu, one of the prototypes for the figure of Michael.
It's said his origin was in India, though no original records have been found.
But what is certain is that Verethragna fused elents from many gods: Arnia's war god Vram, Buddhism's guardian deity Wshn, Kushan's Orlagno, and Parthia's Wryhrm. Also integrated were the attributes of heroes or gods like Vishnu (Hindu), Adamas (Manichaean), Nergal (Babylonian), Horus (Egyptian), and Heracles (Greek).
Unlike the other gods Hikigaya had encountered, Verethragna's essence wasn't based on a natural elent—it was the concept of victory. In Avesta Book 3, Chapter 14 (Bahram Yasht), he was depicted as a well-ard, overwhelmingly powerful warrior who fought humans and demons, conquered them with great superiority, and earned imnse honor.
However, Verethragna wasn't limited to military power and victory. He was also considered a god of masculinity, healing, attraction, and fertility.
The Yashts recorded ten of his avatars—mirrored in the ani by the ten avatars possessed by Kusanagi Godou.
But most of these avatars were fusions with other gods. For instance, the cal, phoenix, and wind represent Vayu-Vata, another Zoroastrian victory deity. The boy, bull, and horse are aspects of Tishtrya, the Persian god of rain and fertility. Even the wild boar is a representative avatar of Mithra. In the ani, Kusanagi Godou's authorities closely reflect the abilities of these gods.
What surprised Hikigaya the most was how similar Verethragna was to Set.
Both embodied destructive power and military victory, but also served as guardian gods.
After 300 BC, as Persian cultural influence spread to Greece, Verethragna gained a new Greek na—Artagnes—and was considered the protector of travelers and roads.
His depiction—a club and lion's skin—directly influenced the later image of Heracles.
In short, both were gods of strength, war, and protection, with traces of Horus's influence. This led Hikigaya to believe that his own "Verbal Beast" authority and Godou's "Verbal Sword" had a high degree of similarity.
The most notable point was that both required correct knowledge, though that term seed deliberately vague.
For example, in the ani, Kusanagi Godou treated Osiris—a river god—as an earth god. Even though Hikigaya's understanding was completely different, the authority still worked and tore apart the marquis's death servant powers. This proved that "correct knowledge" was flexible and allowed for multiple interpretations.
In other words, the "Verbal Beast" likely operated the sa way—as long as the knowledge was sound, the exact acquisition thod didn't matter. Hikigaya's encounter with Osiris's Eye already proved this—his interpretation still worked wonders.
With that in mind, the committee's contribution to Hikigaya was clearly just embellishnt at best. It might qualify as a minor favor, but nowhere near the level Amakasu Touma believed it to be.
So now, seeing Amakasu Touma act like Hikigaya owed him and needed to pay it back filled him with intense disgust.
Trying to claim favors? You need to have actually done a favor first.
Moreover, if we're talking about owing soone a favor—Hikigaya truly owed Voban one.
Hikigaya raised his hand to stop Amakasu Touma from speaking again.
"I won't waste words with you," he said. "Here's the deal—since you all think you're so amazing, I'll stay out of this. Handle it yourselves. But from now on, if I see another of your sorcerers around , don't bla for what happens."
With that, he turned to leave.
Honestly, he'd originally wanted to beat the guy up—but now, he couldn't even be bothered. Not worth dirtying his hands.
He found the committee people repulsive. Yomi may not have been good, but at least it was straightforward—far better than the committee. Hikigaya decided that if they ever ca to pester him again, he'd just kill them outright.
Trying to pull that guilt-tripping act on him—what a joke. He wasn't so guy like Kusanagi Godou. There's no way he'd fall for that kind of boring moral blackmail.
"Oh, right," he suddenly stopped and looked back at Amakasu Touma, who was hurriedly forcing another fake smile. "With your abilities, I'm sure you'll be able to provoke that so-called criminal into coming after . If that happens—I'll be sure to return the favor."
He ignored the way Amakasu Touma's face went pale and walked away.
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