"I feel like I smell a conspiracy."
Rimuru remained sharp, catching a hint of something off from Rin's few words. "Godou's stele is his grandfather's relic, and his grandfather got this divine artifact from a certain witch."
"If that's a coincidence, then it's way too much of a coincidence."
Lucretia Zola, the witch who appeared in Sardinia in the novel, was considered the top figure among human Sorcerers.
She had known Godou's grandfather, Kusanagi Ichiro, for decades.
And according to Rin's understanding, the two had conspired about something years before the story began.
As for the exact plan, Rin didn't know.
In addition, unless something unexpected happened, the two Heretic Gods on Sardinia were most likely summoned by Lucretia.
"According to your explanation, Lucretia and Kusanagi Ichiro were planning for Godou to complete the God-Slaying feat?"
One side summons a Heretic God, and the other sends the grandson carrying the stele to Sardinia.
As a result, Godou meets Verethragna and establishes contact, fulfilling the conditions to use the Prometheus Compendium.
"No, that doesn't make sense."
Rimuru shook her head. Her elegant brows furrowed as she said, "If the God-Slaying feat could be created artificially, does that still align with the law of usurpation?"
"So, you've noticed it too."
Rin nodded and replied, "Just a witch at the highest mortal level, and a regular human."
"Let's not even talk about why they would suddenly decide to slay a Heretic God and cultivate a Campione."
"The very idea of scheming against a Heretic God and artificially creating a Campione doesn't add up."
If such a thing could be artificially designed, then over the course of thousands of years, there would have already been countless similar Campiones.
Putting aside the author's narrative setup,
From a rational standpoint, Rin believed Kusanagi Ichiro and Lucrezia were just pawns manipulated by a deeper force.
In other words, the players behind such a large scheme were simply too low-level.
"Kusanagi Ichiro, an ordinary human, couldn't possibly harbor such ambition."
"Lucretia nearly lost control of her magic just from using clairvoyance to spy on a Heretic God."
Rather than saying the two plotted everything, it made more sense that a higher-level existence manipulated the flow of events.
"Netherworld..."
At that moment, Rin thought of the Heretic God hidden in Japan's Netherworld, known by the alias Old Lord — Susanoo.
If Godou becoming a Campione was part of a Heretic God's manipulation.
Then none of this would be strange.
After all, in the original work, Susanoo once helped Japan seal the Monkey God Lord — the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong, within the Campione universe.
Not only that, he even turned Sun Wukong into Japan's enforcer, used to handle Heretic Gods and Campiones invading Japan.
A deity who could seal a Heretic God and turn it into a protector.
It's not far-fetched for him to make a move again after planning for a thousand years and cultivating Godou into a Campione through a bold gamble.
"Godou might have been under Susanoo's watch from the very beginning."
His grandfather, Kusanagi Ichiro, was most likely also a pawn of Susanoo.
Even Lucretia, under Susanoo's machinations, contributed to creating the desired situation.
First of all, Japan as a nation had long been under Susanoo's control.
You could say that the entire country served as cover for Susanoo's Heretic God form.
He separated himself from mythology and lived freely among humans.
But as Campiones continued to appear, Susanoo felt pressured and withdrew from the human world, hiding in the Netherworld.
However, Japan didn't have a Campione of its own.
Relying only on the Monkey God Lord, it was hard to defend the country.
"Susanoo needed a Campione to divert attention for him."
"Additionally, this Campione had to meet specific criteria."
"Such as personality, how they'd change after gaining power, and their bloodline."
The key reason Rin believed that Susanoo was behind Godou's ascension as a Campione.
Was because of Kusanagi Godou's cousin — Kouzuki Sakura.
In the story, Sakura is the reincarnation of Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, one of the three noble children of Japan.
Good heavens!
If you say there's nothing shady about that, even ghosts wouldn't believe it!
From that, it was clear that Godou wasn't just some ordinary Japanese high school student.
There was a high probability he shared blood ties with Susanoo, likely being his direct descendant.
Only in that case, would he be qualified to be born alongside the reincarnation of Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto.
"In other words..."
Rimuru's expression darkened further. "Hinata's contact with Godou might have already drawn Susanoo's attention?"
"Then wouldn't she be in serious danger?!"
"Well..."
Rin wasn't as tense as Rimuru. He said, "If this were Susanoo from a thousand years ago, and someone touched his piece, Hinata might really be dead already."
"But now..."
Susanoo had long lost his previous ambition.
He claimed to have 'graduated' from being a Heretic God, but in reality, he was just afraid of fighting strong opponents, worried that losing would send him back into mythology.
"Seeing Hinata, a completely unexpected person, approaching his pawn."
"And even taking away the Prometheus Compendium that he had specially prepared."
Rin said calmly, "Susanoo is probably panicking right now."
Yes, panicking.
Susanoo would definitely start to doubt.
What if Hinata was backed by some powerful force?
What if the goal of destroying his plans was to lure him out of the Netherworld, kill him, and usurp his Authority?
"To be cautious, I think Susanoo will first send Sorcerers from Japan's mysterious side to contact Hinata."
"If that actually happens, it'll confirm that our speculation was right."
Hinata hadn't used any special techniques upon entering the country.
With Japan's current surveillance capabilities within the mysterious side, it should be impossible for them to detect Hinata in such a short time.
If they did become aware of her existence that quickly,
Then the only possible person who could have exposed her was Godou.
However.
An ordinary person, even if hypnotized and controlled by Hinata, how could he attract the attention of Japan's mysterious side?
Unless they had something they were trying to keep hidden all along.
(To be continued.)