Chapter Thirteen

Part One

I let out a deep sigh. “Man, I’m beat. I guess it wasn’t as bad as Ceruna’s wedding, though.”

“I think you did great,” Primera said.

Today—well, technically yesterday—Albert and Eliza had officially gotten married. The wedding was supposed to have been centered around Duke Sanga’s family, or at least that’d been the plan. I had only been supposed to give a little advice, but somehow, I’d ended up as one of the people in charge. My main responsibilities had been behind-the-scenes stuff, like coordinating the staging and the food.

“Still, the look on Albert’s face after the outfit change was priceless,” Primera said.

I laughed. “Yeah, your sister-in-law was totally into it, but your brother looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole.”

For Albert’s wedding, we had basically taken Ceruna and Henri’s ceremony and upgraded everything. Eliza came in with her parents and walked halfway down the aisle. Albert joined her there, and they continued down to the altar together. After they exchanged vows and were formally recognized as a married couple, they made their exit together.

Then came the first outfit change. But instead of reentering through the doors like normal people, well... I couldn’t help myself, so I had suggested that they descend from the ceiling on a gondola.

Albert had objected to the idea at first, but Eliza had been crazy about it. She had wanted to be the first bride in the kingdom, or maybe even the world, to make that kind of an entrance, so she’d had the final say. The guests from both the duke’s and count’s families had been huge fans of the idea, and in the end, Albert was the only one who had voted no.

After their flashy entrance, the ceremony moved on to introducing the couple again and then the guests. The food was served, and halfway through the meal, the two of them cut the wedding cake. It was nearly twice the size of the one from Ceruna’s wedding—an apology of sorts.

There was another outfit change after the meal, but this time, they came in through the door like normal people, per Albert’s very insistent request. The rest of the event then went as you’d expect. There were congratulatory speeches from friends and family, formal greetings from nobles, and eventually, Albert and Eliza made their final exit and brought the ceremony to a close.

Well...sort of. There were plans for a second and even a third party after the main event. But way more guests stuck around than expected, so I got pulled into helping behind the scenes right up until the last minute.

The guest list was quite impressive, to say the least. Marquis Sammons and Margrave Haust were there, and even the king, Queen Maria, Prince Caesar, and Princess Isabella attended. Normally, only one royal couple would attend an event like this, but all of them were curious and refused to sit this one out, which led to an unusual situation where everyone showed up. But because of that, Tida had been left out of the festivities. Luna was thrilled to have more company at home, though.

I attended as a family member instead of as a friend, so I went with Primera. Gramps, Jeanne, Aura, and Amur attended as friends, along with Cain, Ciara, and Leon. Amy was there as Eliza’s side of the family.

“Hey Primera... When it’s our turn, let’s skip the gondola.”

“For sure. It was fun to watch, but actually doing it would be mortifying.”

And so it was decided that there would be no gondola entrance when we got married. Albert would probably protest when he heard this, but if we were the ones refusing, it wasn’t like anyone could force us into it.

Anyway, it was a good thing I had prepared the food (and especially the desserts) a month in advance. The guests at Ceruna’s wedding had mostly been adventurers and people from the guild. There were only a few nobles at that wedding, so if we had run short on food, I would’ve been able to tell people to just deal with it. That had worked out just fine.

But at Albert’s wedding, nobles were the majority of the guests, so running out of food would’ve been a disgrace to House Sanga. I had figured that it’d be better to have too much than not enough. Because of that, we had doubled the food and tripled the sweets, but even with that, we had ended up with barely enough to feed everyone.

I’d worked out a deal with Duke Sanga beforehand to save some of the leftover sweets for Luna, Kriss, and Tida. But by the end of the event, I’d had to serve a few kinds that I had initially set aside.

Primera and I were currently in a guest room in one of the outer buildings of the Sanga estate. She was going to head back to the main house to use her own room, though.

The wedding had been held in the capital, so I could’ve just gone home if I wanted, but the party had gone late into the night. Duke Sanga had also asked me to attend a family meeting the next day. So rather than go all the way back home and come back again tomorrow, I decided to just crash here.

“Well, good night.”

“Good night.”

It was already well past midnight, so we figured it was time to get some rest for tomorrow’s meeting. We parted, and Primera headed back to the main house.

“Peeping’s a bad habit, Duke Sanga,” I said.

“Ah ha ha. Well, I was passing by and just happened to hear your voices, Tenma. I couldn’t help myself.”

He couldn’t help himself, huh? Sure. The guest rooms weren’t anywhere near the duke’s personal quarters. There was no way he’d be “just passing by.”

“Maybe I’d believe it if you have a habit of sleepwalking,” I commented.

“I’d rather you accuse me of that than dementia. But I don’t have either. Not yet, anyway.”

This wasn’t the kind of conversation I wanted to have before bed. Things like that always made me think about my future in a bad way.

“Anyway, it’s not a big deal, but I wanted to apologize for dragging you into tomorrow’s meeting,” the duke added.

Tomorrow’s meeting would include Duke Sanga, Albert, and the other members of the ducal household, which also included Eliza. Other people in attendance would be his two sons-in-law, the two counts, along with Primera’s sisters. Even though they had married into different families, they were still considered part of Duke Sanga’s family.

I felt a little out of place since I was just the fiancé of the youngest daughter. I pointed that out.

“Well, honestly, that’s part of it,” Duke Sanga began. “I haven’t told any of my sons-in-law yet, but I plan to step down and hand my title over to Albert within the next couple of years. I’m thinking two, maybe three at the most. I’m going to announce this at the start of tomorrow’s meeting.”

I asked why he was telling me this instead of his actual sons-in-law.

“It’s not that I don’t trust them, but... Well, actually... Maybe it is. I can’t bring myself to trust either of them or their vassals fully.”

It was a bold claim, but it made sense to me.

He continued speaking. “They’re the counts of their own houses. When it comes down to it, they’d put their own houses before the duchy. And that’s not wrong of them—it’s just how the nobility works. My house has done the same in the past. But if the time ever comes when things get dicey, I can’t afford to sit around and do nothing.”

As long as Duke Sanga himself was around, those two would stay cooperative. But who knew what would happen once Albert took over. Someone who was younger than them and beneath them in status would suddenly become their superior overnight. Even if they acted friendly, they could still be plotting something behind the scenes.

“So I’m your backup plan?” I asked.

“I apologize if it sounds like I’m using you,” the duke began, “but you’ve got power far beyond the norm, and you’re Albert’s friend. Not to mention you’re also the fiancé of his sister, who shares the same mother. Just knowing that you’re in the know might be enough to stop those kinds of thoughts from forming, and it might keep their retainers from getting any funny ideas too.”

The quickest way to take over the duchy would be to eliminate Primera, because, like Albert, she was the legitimate child of the duke’s legal wife. But if we sent a message to the others that Primera wouldn’t go down so easily with me by her side, even if Albert fell from power, it might make them think twice about doing something.

Basically, the duke had trusted his sons-in-law enough to marry off his daughters to them, but not enough to gamble the future of the duchy on. He was being cautious.

I told him that if my attendance at the meeting would help keep Primera and Albert safe, then I would be happy to be there. He seemed genuinely relieved to hear that.

“Well, don’t worry about doing anything complicated tomorrow. Just sit beside Primera and listen. Oh, and this goes without saying, but don’t tell the other two I told you about my suspicions or that I’m planning on passing the title to Albert soon. Good night.”

And with that, Duke Sanga walked off. He had a skip in his step.

Now that I thought about it, I’d gotten more or less dragged into being his accomplice. But depending on how things went, I might end up making enemies out of my brothers-in-law. Still, I figured that was a price worth paying if it meant protecting Primera and Albert.

I crawled into bed and pulled the blankets over my head.

“Hendrick, Barchus, thank you both for coming,” Duke Sanga said. “Tenma will be joining us as well, even though he’s not technically part of the family yet. I believe everyone had a chance to introduce themselves at the party yesterday, so we’ll skip the formalities. Now, let’s begin our discussion on the future of House Sanga.”

Hendrick was married to Rachael, the duke’s oldest daughter. He was head of House Salsamo. Barchus, the head of House Cagliostro, was married to the duke’s second daughter, Angela. Both men were big and muscular, more like the military type. Because of that, there had apparently been some concern that they might butt heads with Albert—he tended to lean more toward the bureaucratic side of things.

From the little I’d seen of them at the party the day before, they didn’t come off as the kind of guys who changed their attitudes depending on someone’s background. If anything, they gave me the impression that they respected people more for their achievements rather than their titles. Still, I’d only spoken to each of them once for maybe thirty minutes at most, so it was hard to say for sure. But according to Albert and Primera, that first impression of mine was pretty on the mark.

“First of all, I have some news for all of you. I intend to pass my title on to Albert before too long.”

Everyone except the two counts and me looked surprised at the duke’s words. Apparently, they hadn’t been told the news in advance, but maybe the timing with the wedding and the fact that I was here had tipped them off.

The duke continued. “I realize that this is sudden, but it won’t happen right away. This is a few years down the line. But now that Albert is married, I plan to gradually start handing more responsibilities off to him.”

“I’ll do my best to live up to the name of the next Duke Sanga,” Albert said.

Everyone applauded.

The announcement had gone so smoothly, I was starting to think I might not be needed here after all. But then again, maybe that was the best outcome. I was here as a backup plan, after all.

“Now that’s been announced, let’s move into the actual discussion.”

I’d been under the impression that things were wrapping up, but the duke’s words made me realize I’d misunderstood. I hadn’t known we were going to discuss everything in detail.

Duke Sanga brought up two topics: the military and economic matters. When it came to military affairs, he was careful not to go too far into the specifics, probably because I was still an outsider. Still, I learned a surprising amount of information about the liaison unit. Personnel and routes were confidential, of course, but since Primera was in charge of the unit, I figured they thought it was safe for me to hear anything that wasn’t top secret.

“So basically, you need to watch for four-legged threats out on the plains, and in forests or areas with obstacles, be on guard for bipeds, whether they’re beasts or monsters. We need to make sure the unit can handle both.”

The duke was writing down key points shared by the counts, summarizing the precautions needed for the team.

“Tenma, from an adventurer’s perspective, is there anything else we should be watching out for?” the duke asked. His tone was more formal than usual and threw me off, but I realized he was just adjusting it for the presence of the other nobles.

I began to share my thoughts. “Four-legged threats in the forest are actually the more dangerous ones, in my opinion. Sure, you’ve got biped monsters like goblins and orcs that can use weapons there, and yes, they can be dangerous in terrain with lots of obstacles. But with the level of training the knights from your houses have, I don’t think there’s anything to be overly concerned about. Monsters who resemble animals are the biggest concern—they’re fast and skilled at concealing their presence. If they ambush you, you’re really in trouble. Actually, I think insects and plants pose an even bigger problem,” I explained.

The counts glared at me for a moment—maybe it was because it sounded like I was shooting down their suggestions. But once they heard me out, they seemed to relax.

“Insects and plants? What do you mean?”

“Wolves and goblins are fairly easy to spot if you stay alert, but even a seasoned pro can miss venomous bugs and toxic plants,” I said. “There are some aggressive bugs that’ll lunge at you the second you get close, and they’re hard to shake once they’re on you. Most plants are fine as long as you don’t eat anything suspicious, but some species can cause rashes if they’re touched. Some plants can release toxic spores into the air. The same thing goes for bugs, really. You might not even realize you’ve been poisoned until it’s too late. And even if you do notice, you risk permanent damage if you don’t know how to treat it.”

Snakes were yet another threat. They were even harder to detect than beasts and could sneak right up on you. Honestly, they were worse than monsters in some ways.

“So the unit needs at least a basic knowledge of poisons and first aid, huh? This is going to be tougher than I thought.”

The liaison unit Duke Sanga had in mind was more like an independent strike force because it was small and agile. So naturally, each member would need to know a lot.

“Primera, has anything Tenma mentioned actually happened so far?”

“No, not yet. But that’s probably because we’re still in the testing phase. They’ve only been using well-maintained routes,” she explained.

Apparently, the cleaned-up roads were regularly cleared of dangerous plants and insects. With fewer places for monsters to hide, it was easier to spot threats.

“If we were talking about a large squad, we could assign a few medics or specialists to each team, but it’s a lot harder with small units. Maybe we should reduce the number of teams and increase the number of members in each instead. Anyway, thanks for the insight.”

The duke let out a sigh, lamenting how tough it was to operate small squads. I’d half-expected the counts to push back, but they seemed to be just as concerned. Maybe they didn’t have much experience with anything beyond fighting other people.

And with that, my role in the meeting was over. The discussion moved on to economic topics, and I was way out of my depth there.

However, there was one part that involved me. The counts asked if I could share recipes for the sweets I had created—the ones that were served at the Full Belly Inn in Gunjo City.

But before I even had a chance to say anything, Duke Sanga stepped in and shut that down, saying it was impossible.

And that was that. Well, at least, it should have been.

Rachael and Angela had been quiet up until that point, but they turned to Albert and asked (demanded, really) that he send them sweets on a regular basis. Albert caved almost immediately, and so even though they didn’t get the recipes, they still walked away happy.

“Primera, the whole thing about asking for recipes was all just a plot to get free sweets, huh?” I asked.

“Probably. Ideally, they likely wanted both, but I think they considered the regular delivery a win.”

This was a classic negotiation tactic: ask for something unreasonable first so the real demand looks like a compromise. But honestly, this felt less like a strategic move and more like raw pressure directly targeted at Albert. Still, managing this kind of pushback was part of his new job, so hopefully he’d get used to it.

The meeting wrapped up after that, but the moment it ended, Eliza turned to me.

“Oh, by the way, Tenma. Albert’s been plotting something with you, hasn’t he? Is it something you can share in front of everyone?” she asked.

That definitely wasn’t something I wanted her to bring up in a room full of nobles.

I was exasperated. “Albert, will you stop dragging me into your messes?”

“Hey, hang on! I have no idea what she’s talking about!” He looked just as lost as I felt, so I figured he hadn’t been trying to pull something from behind the scenes after all.

“Could it be some kind of misunderstanding?” Primera asked, trying to intervene.

Eliza wasn’t having it. “Nope. Lately, he’s been whispering secrets with Tenma and acting all smug about it. And just yesterday, I heard him giggling to himself and muttering about Tenma with a huge grin on his face!”

She didn’t leave it there either. Eliza also said that the two of us had been huddled together, saying, “Yeah, that’s the kind I like” and “Maybe rounder would be better,” along with other such suspicious things.

That was when it hit me.

“Albert, do you wanna just give it to her now?” I asked.

“Yeah, it’ll be better than holding off. I was hoping to wait until things calmed down a bit, but it looks like we don’t have a choice.”

From the way everyone was looking at Albert and me, they’d clearly caught on that we were up to something. They also seemed to realize Eliza had misunderstood at the same time.

“Tenma, is this something you’re okay showing here?” Duke Sanga asked. He had slipped back into his usual casual tone now that the official business had wrapped up.

“I think it’s fine, but we should probably take this to the courtyard.”

“Then let’s head out there!” the duke said, sounding thrilled as he walked in that direction.

The two counts followed after him, then Albert and me. The girls brought up the rear. Eliza was still glaring at us suspiciously, clearly convinced that we were up to no good. Primera had figured out what was going on faster than anyone else and was doing her best to calm Eliza down. My future mothers-in-law and the other sisters were watching from the sidelines, laughing like this was the funniest thing in the world.

“I’ll bring it out here.”

With that, I unveiled my gift as everyone watched.

“A carriage?”

Sure enough, I had pulled out the deep blue carriage I’d made as a wedding present for Albert and Eliza. It was around four meters long and two meters wide. The driver’s seat could comfortably fit two people, and the inside was roomy enough to seat four. It was a fairly standard box carriage...on the outside, at least.

“Can I look inside, Tenma?” Albert asked with a grin.

“Sure.” I opened the door for him and Eliza to go inside and then followed behind them.

“Wh-What?!”

“Wow! This is even better than I expected.”

Totally confused, Eliza froze. Meanwhile, Albert happily checked out the bathroom and the changing room.

“Albert, what exactly is all this? And Tenma, I’ve got a small favor to ask...” Duke Sanga poked his face into the carriage, clearly wondering why we hadn’t come out yet. His eyes widened when he saw what was inside.

“Father, this was a wedding gift for Albert and Eliza. You don’t get to have one just because, so drop it,” Primera warned.

His daughter’s words didn’t stop him from giving me puppy-dog eyes, hoping I would cave. I just shook my head. Albert raised a hand to stop him as well, and the duke ultimately gave up with a dramatic sigh.

After seeing the duke let it go, the counts wisely stayed silent about wanting a carriage themselves. Instead, their interests shifted to the technology inside. They tried asking indirect questions about it, clearly fishing for information on how it was made. I gave them what details I could without revealing anything crucial—things like the rubber tires made from giant frog hide or the leaf springs mounted between the wheels and the chassis.

They seemed satisfied with that, but Duke Sanga clearly didn’t think much of what I’d shared. He probably figured he could dig up that info later anyway.

Honestly, the real secret behind the carriage wasn’t anything I mentioned to them. The biggest things were the spiral springs I’d finally managed to develop, which allowed for something like a suspension system. There were six altogether—two in the center of the front axle, and two each on either side of the rear. I’d covered them up from the outside, so unless you took the whole thing apart, you wouldn’t even know they were there.

At the moment, only Albert knew about the springs. I’d asked him to keep quiet about them, but I told him it was okay if that secret ever got out due to some unavoidable situation. Even if someone were to manage to copy their shape, actually creating something functional enough to be installed on a carriage wasn’t going to be easy, so I wasn’t too worried about the technology being misused. For now, there were only two carriages in the world with these kinds of springs: Albert’s and my own.

“Well, Eliza? Still think Tenma and I were up to no good?” Albert asked.

Once Eliza processed what had happened, she jolted back to reality and started inspecting every detail of the carriage. She was already discussing with Albert where she wanted to put her things.

“I’m so sorry,” Eliza said. “Come to think about it, I could believe that Albert was up to something, but not you, Tenma! There’s no way you’d be off flirting with women. Not with that personality or your circumstances.”

Well, she managed to get over her assumptions, but she still insulted me in the process.

I wasn’t bothered, though. I’d heard worse things from her before, and she was always half-joking. But anyone who didn’t know our dynamic might have thought she was trying to start a fight with me.

When she’d said “personality,” she had meant that I was too timid and passive. And my “circumstances” referred to my engagement to Primera. Besides, if I were the type to fool around, Jeanne or Amur would’ve been my targets ages ago. That’d never happened.

Actually, she’d told that exact joke once at a party hosted by Count Sylphid, saying that if I were the womanizing type, Jeanne and Amur would’ve been in trouble. Unfortunately, the count had overheard it and had taken it seriously. Once we had cleared up the confusion, he had dragged Eliza over to me after the party and had made her apologize profusely.

Albert had even needed to step in and explain that it was just a running joke between friends. Cain and Leon had helped smooth things over too, and we all eventually laughed it off. But ever since then, Eliza had toned it down and kept things a bit more subtle when teasing me in public.

Not that I had much room to talk. I’d been calling Albert and the others “the three idiots” for years now, especially Leon. I guess this was her way of getting back at me on Albert’s behalf.

“So Tenma, what’s the situation with that newly discovered dungeon? I’ve read the kingdom’s official statements, of course, but those never have many details,” Duke Sanga asked.

The counts immediately perked up at the new topic, looking very interested.

“We’re about thirty floors deep at the moment, but there’s barely been anything worthwhile. Diving in an unexplored dungeon is fun in its own way, but it’s been really rough,” I said.

“You’re doing it with Master Merlin and the Dawnswords, right? Three months to get to floor thirty feels quite slow with a party like that.”

He wasn’t wrong. The Dawnswords were all veteran adventurers with multiple dungeons under their belts. Gramps and I had cleared plenty of dungeons ourselves too. But we were still hovering around floor thirty in this new one, which was undeniably slow.

It was fun teaming up with the Dawnswords to tackle a new dungeon, but the exhaustion was real, and the dungeon was a challenge. Those were the main reasons we were progressing so slowly.

First of all, the loot inside was just miserable. In the hydra dungeon, there had been something useful on just about every floor. We’d gathered metals, herbs, monster parts, and all kinds of stuff. But the only things we had found in this dungeon that were possibly usable were bones.

The other annoying thing was that each floor was ridiculously big. At one point, I had gotten fed up and used Detection to see how much ground we’d been covering. I had found that some floors were as long as an entire loop around Sagan City. Even worse, most of those massive floors were practically one long hallway, which made things drag even more.

The only good thing about this dungeon was that it had warp points, just like the other one.

But the third thing that sucked about this new dungeon was the stench from the rotting flesh golems inside. They absolutely reeked. And to make things worse, they were everywhere. There was no getting away from them, so the entire dungeon was just filled with that smell.

Everyone thought the stench was the worst part of the dungeon. Poor Galatt suffered the most, considering his sensitive sense of smell as a beastfolk. He would constantly pinch his nose and tear up while grumbling about it.

“It’s terrible,” I said. “You can’t even rest during breaks because the stench just follows you. It makes you want to throw up whatever you eat, and it clings to your skin and clothes so badly that the smell lingers even when you leave.”

Right now, our most effective strategy was to use the warp points and leave the dungeon the moment we found one. Basically, the overarching reason our progress had been so slow, even though the dungeon wasn’t that dangerous, was that it smelled so bad, we couldn’t stay there for very long.

We had ended up changing our initial plans because of it too. Originally, we were supposed to dive in separate parties, meaning the Dawnswords on their own and then me and Gramps together as Oracion, but now we were doing it together.

“I’d probably be able to push through the smell a bit longer if we were actually getting high-quality or rare materials, but it’s hard to stay motivated when it’s just rotten meat and bones all the time,” I explained.

Even Gramps couldn’t remember an experience this awful, which pretty much confirmed that this was one of the worst adventures I’d ever been on. And maybe it was even the worst I’d ever experienced in my life, period. I hoped that it wouldn’t get any worse. Actually, I hoped I’d go the rest of my life without anything this bad happening again.

“Well, even if it’s killing my morale, I still plan on pushing forward,” I added. “But yeah, don’t expect any souvenirs. At this rate, the only things I’ll be bringing back from the dungeon are rocks, dirt, rotting meat, and bones. Well, and maybe some stomach-turning smells and a few complaints.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Well, just forget about the souvenirs and just take care of yourself.”

My little rant earned a few chuckles from the crowd. I could tell that the duke and counts were trying to be sympathetic, but I could’ve sworn they started edging away from me once I started talking about the stench lingering.

“So, uh, Tenma... When are you heading back to Sagan?” Albert apparently couldn’t stand the awkward atmosphere and jumped in with a question. Not that it fixed the distance everyone had instinctively put between us.

“I’m leaving tomorrow. Jin and the others are waiting in Sagan, and I’d feel bad making them wait for too long.”

Knowing Jin, they had probably skipped the smelly dungeon and were doing some mining near the hydra floor for now.

There was a decent chance I’d get an earful when I showed up, and they’d complain that I had come back way too soon. That was because Jin knew that the moment I came back, we’d have to dive back into that stinky dungeon again.

“I see. Well, good luck. And, uh, I don’t need any souvenirs either.” Albert looked traumatized by my earlier description and ended up saying the same thing as his dad.

The awkward silence fell again, so I headed back to the house amid looks of sympathy from the nobles who were still keeping their distance from me. Primera had her duties with the liaison team early in the morning, so she wouldn’t be coming over tonight.

I was going back alone, but honestly, it felt more like I was being sent away than seen off.

“Well, somebody’s fired up. Did something happen back at the capital?” Jin asked.

A few days later, I met up with Jin and the others in Sagan and threw myself into dungeon diving. I was pushing ahead and seeming so enthusiastic that I guess it was starting to worry them. Eventually, Jin said something, and I told him I just wanted to clear the dungeon quickly and be done with it.

Mennas and Leena both grinned at that, and before long, Gramps and the others were giving me meaningful smirks too.

They probably thought that Albert and Eliza’s wedding had something to do with my attitude. I mean, they weren’t totally wrong, but I really just felt like taking out my frustrations on the skeletons, which happened to speed things up quite a bit.

But yeah, I’d be lying if I said Albert’s wedding hadn’t affected me.

Still, there was a good chance this dungeon had been here as long as the one above it, which meant it could end up being just as deep. It could even have a hundred floors or more. I wasn’t under any illusions that rushing would make some big difference in how long it’d take us to clear it. If anything, we might actually finish this one faster than the last if all the monsters were as weak as these skeletons.

That was my mindset as we kept advancing, but at one point, Galatt brought our party to a stop.

“Hang on a sec! I hear wind coming from over there!” he yelled.

In a dungeon, hearing that could only mean one of two things. Either something was causing that airflow, or the terrain was shaped in such a way that there were pressure changes.

I didn’t hear any monsters moving in that direction, and nothing came up on Detection either.

We investigated further, and instead of finding monsters, we found...a hole.

There was a huge vertical shaft that stretched deep below us, and seemingly just as high above. It was weird—I had used Detection several times before in this dungeon and had never noticed it. Maybe the upper part had been sealed off, or maybe the hole had been too small to show up on the radar, who knows.

“There aren’t any signs of movement inside, and I can’t hear any monsters either. Should we check it out?” I suggested.

Everyone nodded in agreement. We could always turn back if it turned out to be nothing too. We figured that we might as well look into it, because there was no guarantee we’d be back on this floor again. Basically, this shaft could be a total waste of time, or it could lead to something amazing.

Jin peered into the hole. “Damn, this thing’s bigger than I thought. Looks like it’s ten meters across, easy. Can’t tell how deep it goes, though, because it’s pitch-black in there. But yeah, you’d definitely be a goner if you took a tumble down it,” he muttered.

But while he was distracted, Galatt and I silently crept up behind him.

“Tenma, Galatt, I really don’t think that’s a good idea,” Gramps warned right as we both moved right behind him.

Jin flinched at the sudden sound of Gramps’s voice and whirled around. When he saw how close we were, he stumbled backward and almost fell into the hole himself.

“Are you outta your damn minds?! Seriously!” he yelled.

“Oh, c’mon. We were just trying to grab your shirt so you wouldn’t fall,” Galatt said, smoothly playing it off. “Isn’t that right, Tenma?”

“Yep. Nothing but good intentions over here,” I replied.

Putting that aside, we decided to take a break next to the hole so we could figure out our next moves.

Luckily for us, this part of the dungeon didn’t seem to have any of those rotting flesh golems. The air blowing up at us from below actually smelled clean—well, at least by this dungeon’s standards. This would be our first decent break since we started this dive.

“Man, I don’t think we’ve had a meal that’s actually tasted good in here before,” Jin said with a deep sigh as he chewed.

The rest of us nodded in agreement. The air wasn’t entirely odorless here, but it might as well have been compared to the usual stench. It didn’t ruin the food, at least, and that was good enough for us.

“So, what’s the plan?” Jin asked. “The way I see it, we’ve got three options. One, we can ignore the hole and keep going. Two, we can go down it. Or three, we can just make camp here and call it a day for now.”

We all knew option three was off the table—it was still too early to hit the hay.

I wanted to go down there first, and if it was a dead end, we could just climb back up and then make camp. I suggested that to the party.

Both Gramps and Galatt agreed with me. Jin took a moment to think about it and said, “Yeah, that makes more sense.”

On the other hand, Mennas wanted to ignore the hole and keep going. Leena argued we had no idea when we’d get another chance to rest in a good spot like this, so we should call it a day here.

“All right,” Jin said. “Majority rules. We go down the hole, and if it’s a dead end, we come back up and camp. Tenma, Master Merlin, we’ll need your help getting down there.”

Normally, going down a shaft like this would require special gear and training. But because Gramps and I were magic users, we wouldn’t need either, since we could use floating and flying magic. Overall, using magic was safer, faster, and less hassle.

“That’s fine, but carrying everyone down one by one will be a pain. I think you guys better go into the dimension bag,” I said.

“Fine by me. Honestly, that sounds easier anyway.”

I hadn’t brought the dimension bag that usually held my followers with me because Shiromaru and Solomon had refused to come into the dungeon due to the smell. Those two were back at the estate. Rocket could’ve handled it, but since I hadn’t wanted to leave the others unsupervised, he’d stayed back too.

Still, I had a couple of spare bags. One was for Thunderbolt, and I had another I used for temporary storage and dismantled materials. I figured I’d let them pick which one to use.

“Just so you know, Thunderbolt’s bag is roomy enough to lie down in, but if you tick him off, he could attack. The material bag will be a tighter fit because there’s all kinds of stuff inside it. You’ll be able to sit in there, but not lie down. It might also be a little cold and smell kinda fishy.”

All four of them chose the material bag without hesitation. I kept that bag clean and aired it out regularly, but the scent seemed to linger in there. Still, it probably smelled like roses compared to this dungeon.

“I’ll go down first.”

The hole was wide enough for one person, but not big enough for two to descend side by side safely. And who knew if it stayed that wide all the way down? Either way, I would go first, and then I’d signal to Gramps to follow me.

I suggested he just wait in the bag with the others, but he refused. There was a chance monsters could descend upon us from above, but more importantly, if something were to happen to me while I carried the bag, there’d be no one left to help, and we’d all get wiped out at once. It was better to have one of us trailing behind as backup.

It was pitch-black inside the shaft. You couldn’t even see ten meters down. But I had a Light magic spell, which was the same one I used at Ceruna’s wedding. That worked just fine.

“This thing’s over a hundred meters deep!” I said.

“That sounds like a pain.”

This hole ran way deeper than I thought. Detection told me it was even longer—maybe two hundred meters deep. It ran straight down for the first hundred meters, and then it curved and became a tunnel.

Maybe it’s about time I told Gramps about Detection and Identify. It’s getting kind of tiring dancing around it...

I was sure that both spells could be used for some shady stuff, so some people might not react well to me having them. But I felt like I should probably tell Gramps. He might’ve even had an inkling already.

“There are a few ledges along the way where we can rest. I’ll mark them with candles as I go.”

Even a short candle could burn for a good ten minutes as long as there wasn’t much wind.

“Be careful,” Gramps said.

I descended to the first ledge, keeping an eye out around me. There was barely enough room for one person to stand here, but in a shaft like this, any foothold was precious.

After that, I just had to repeat the process. I’d find a ledge, drop a candle, and Gramps would go there once I left. I used Light to spot the next ledge, and the spell would light up everything like a light bulb. If I used it normally, it would blind me, so I made a small adjustment to the spell and shaped the light so it was more like a flashlight beam. That way, I could see what I wanted without taking my eyes out.

“Maybe I should just make a metal tube that works like a flashlight next time. I bet it’d come in handy for all kinds of things,” I muttered to myself.

I considered it more as I placed candles on additional ledges. If I were to focus light hard enough through the tube, maybe it’d even work like a laser pointer. Doing that might make it usable as a nonlethal weapon too.

“The next foothold is near the start of that angled section. It might be a good spot for me to regroup with Gramps,” I thought out loud.

The slope of the tunnel wasn’t smooth like a slide or anything. It was rocky all the way, and it was uneven and worn down. Still, at least there were more footholds than there had been earlier. It still wasn’t roomy enough for two people to stand in one spot, but most of the ledges were clustered close together, which helped. The only problem was that rocks that had fallen from above had smashed here and were scattered across the area. Jagged points and sharp stones like arrowheads stuck out everywhere. You could end up with a hole punched right through your foot if you took one wrong step.

Once I secured the next foothold, I called out to Gramps. He climbed down carefully, being cautious of our surroundings.

“What is it, Tenma?”

“It slopes from here, so I thought we should pause and regroup.” I pointed ahead so he could see the sharp rocks.

“Looks like things are about to get even more annoying,” he grumbled.

We could’ve just kept dropping down if the tunnel stayed vertical, but now it was slanted, which meant we’d have to watch our footing and the ceiling. That alone made everything feel ten times harder.

“Well, I’m sure we can manage it. Can you lead the way from here?” Gramps asked.

“Sure, that’s no problem.”

“Make sure you watch the ceiling more than your feet. It’s better to take a gash on your leg than get your skull cracked open,” he warned.

We could heal a busted foot with a spell or a potion, but a busted head? That could kill you instantly. I kept his warning in mind as I continued down the angled shaft.

“Whew, it took us more than twice as long compared to the vertical part...”

It had only taken about half an hour to reach the sloped area of the hole, but we had been in the slanted tunnel for over an hour. And it wasn’t just because we had to watch both the ceiling and the floor. The real problem was bugs.

“Tenma! A bug got in my shirt! Get it out!” Gramps yelled.

Most of the bugs here were tiny. I didn’t see anything that looked venomous, but there were roaches, centipedes, silverfish, and even hairy caterpillars. And they had a very nasty habit of dropping onto us from above.

The first time a roach had fallen from the ceiling, I had totally flipped out. Gramps had rushed over, thinking something serious had happened. But then, a second one had landed right in front of him, and he’d freaked out and dodged just like I had.

That experience made me hesitate a bit when he shouted about a bug getting into his shirt this time. But I figured if we just took his shirt off, we’d take care of the bug out with no problem. I grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it up.

“A millipede, huh?”

Some people considered millipedes to be just as bad as roaches or centipedes, but not me. They were way easier to deal with, and Gramps seemed to agree. He began to visibly relax.

“Phew! I was praying it was at least a centipede with how much it was wiggling. But I got lucky that it was only a millipede,” he said.

I wasn’t sure if luck was the right word, but millipedes were definitely the lesser evil down here. Actually, they were kind of...weirdly cute if you looked at them long enough. Maybe.

“Anyway, Gramps. There are bugs down here, but it doesn’t smell,” I said.

“That’s true. We might’ve entered another dungeon entirely! Well, let’s let Jin and the Dawnswords out now.”

The air was clean enough here, and it felt like we’d reached a good stopping point, so we pulled everyone out of the dimension bag.

The second Jin took a look around, the first thing he said was, “Why are you half-naked, Master Merlin?”

Oh, right. We’d both completely forgotten about that. Between all the bugs and the relief that it’d only been a millipede, we hadn’t even noticed he hadn’t put his shirt back on.

“Okay, let’s get moving. This place is too dangerous,” I suggested.

“Yep, no argument there!”

The reason everyone was so eager to get a move on was that the moment Jin had commented on Gramps’s lack of a shirt, a bug had dropped right on his head. But this one hadn’t fallen down his shirt. It had landed on his head first, then crawled its way into his shirt like it’d had its destination in mind. The extra time it had taken meant that we had all gotten to watch what was going on and realize what kind of bug it’d been. We had seen Jin flinch, and then we’d witnessed the bug vanish inside his shirt.

And that bug...had been a cockroach. A nasty devil that plunged countless humans’ lives into chaos and fear.

The instant we had figured that out, everybody, including me, had backed the hell up. We’d drawn our weapons, ready to throw down if there were any sudden moves.

Jin must’ve figured out what it was by our reactions, because the next thing I knew, he had also become a member of the Shirtless Club.

The roach that had snuck down his back had been yeeted straight to the floor and smashed without even being given a chance to fight back.

So yeah. Part of the reason we were picking up the pace was because of the bugs, but more than that, the atmosphere of this section of the dungeon was different. We were clearly in a new zone, which meant there was a potential for new materials we hadn’t been able to get before.

That put a skip in everyone’s step.

At first, we all just walked a bit quicker, but then, we were practically power walking. Our group began to jog, and eventually, everyone was in a full-on sprint.

“Ack!”

“Hey, watch out!”

About a hundred meters into our sprint, Leena tripped and nearly faceplanted. Mennas stopped to help her, which meant Gramps and I had to come to an abrupt halt. Jin and Galatt were oblivious as usual and just kept on running.

“Maybe we got a little carried away...” Gramps muttered.

“Yeah... Looks like there aren’t any bugs around here anyway, so why don’t we take a break?” I suggested.

“That’s probably a good idea,” Mennas agreed. “Even if the ground’s more suitable for running, sprinting through unfamiliar terrain is dangerous.”

“Exactly. I don’t have the kind of stamina you all do, so maybe try thinking about that for a change! Just kidding...” Leena said, trying to blame her fall on the rest of us. She quickly covered it up after we all turned to stare at her.

Once we all caught our breath, I suggested we take a breather, and everyone agreed. Jin and Galatt were already off to who knows where, but we figured they’d be fine. We started prepping for a break right then and there.

There were no monsters nearby and not a single bug in sight, so I pulled out a table and chairs and started setting up some tea.

“What the hell? Why didn’t you follow us?!”

“We thought something happened! We came back ’cuz we were worried!”

Jin and Galatt had returned and started to complain.

“Well, you two were the ones who completely ignored us and ran off on your own!” Leena said.

“Yeah, and if anything, you’d be the ones in trouble. We have Tenma and Master Merlin with us, which basically means we were with a boosted version of the Dawnswords!”

“It doesn’t sound too great that a party’s leader and scout left the rest of the group behind,” I said.

“Honestly, in a normal party, you’d be in trouble for that kind of stunt,” Gramps said. “I’ve seen more than a few good teams part ways for less!”

We didn’t yell or scold them. We just tag-teamed them with good ol’ passive aggression.

“We’re sorry! Seriously! Just let us have some too!” they both begged. They seemed genuinely apologetic about their actions.

For the record, all we’d done while they’d been gone was sit down and have some tea and snacks. We completely ignored them, besides those little comments.

“So? What’s up ahead?” I asked once things had settled down.

“There’s a fork in the path a couple of hundred meters ahead,” Jin said.

“We got there, realized nobody else was with us, then came back to ask which way we should go. We don’t actually know what’s beyond that.”

So they would’ve kept going if there was no fork... I thought, but I didn’t say that out loud, not wanting to derail the conversation. But by everyone else’s expressions, I could tell they were all thinking it too.

It seemed like we weren’t as subtle as we thought.

“Stop making those faces! We get it already!” Jin whined.

“Yeah, we know we screwed up. We’re sorry!” Galatt said, apologizing again.

“Anyway, once we’ve rested up, let’s head for that fork and check it out,” I said.

That settled things for the moment, and the conversation drifted to less important topics.

At one point, Leena piped up like she had just remembered something. “Oh, right. You gave Primera those knight golems, right? Did she say anything?”

“She was pretty surprised,” I replied. “I thought she figured out I was making her one, but she definitely wasn’t expecting to get three.”

Primera had named the three knight golems Percival, Galahad, and Bors. She told me she’d heard tales about knights with those names when she’d been a little girl.

The three golems didn’t differ much in terms of performance, but they wielded different weapons: a greatsword, dual swords, and a spear, respectively.

“I also heard that you made some kind of monster golem on the side?” Leena asked.

She was talking about the one I had built using minotaur bones. It’d started off pretty typically with one minotaur’s worth of materials reinforced with hydra tendons, but it hadn’t been stable enough to be autonomous, so I’d ended up using another full minotaur’s parts. That’d made it much bigger than the knight golems, which meant it was slower and more difficult to maneuver. Its raw power made up for it, though. I had given it a huge war hammer to match.

“It could actually crush an earth dragon’s skull if it hit it clean,” I said.

The golem was too slow to land hits on its own because any decent enemy would dodge or counter before it could finish the swing. But the knight types could probably keep a target locked down long enough to make it count.

Honestly, this had been a passion project. I’d wanted to make a giant, overpowered combat machine. Still, the sheer size made it useful on its own, and I had a few strategies that could offset its downsides. Depending on how I were to use it, that golem might end up outperforming the knights.

I recalled a conversation I’d had about them.

“Tenma, just to be clear... You’re not trying to build an army and found your own country, are you?”

“I’d consider helping if you are. If you gave me a nice title, I mean.”

“Nah, that sounds like too much of a hassle. The king’s already asked me the same thing, but I told him no.”

Prince Lyle and the other royals had shown up at my house after they’d caught wind that I’d made something “interesting.” The second they had seen the minotaur golem, they had asked me if I had been trying to start my own kingdom.

I had told them it was too much work, so that wouldn’t be happening. Sure, I did have enough firepower to create and sustain a small kingdom—at least that was what Prince Caesar, Prince Zane, and Duke Sanga had all said—but that was why I’d been trying extra hard not to send that sort of message.

Well, trying was the operative word. I usually forgot.

“Speaking of golems, I heard from the Wildcat Princesses that you once made three, um...nude golems?” Mennas asked, steering the topic away.

It took me a while to figure out what the heck she was talking about, but then I remembered she was referring to my first real battle as an adventurer.

Jin looked surprised. “I didn’t know you were into that, Tenma...” he said.

“Yeah, I’m just gonna come right out and say it. That’s messed up,” Galatt teased, clearly enjoying himself at my expense.

Meanwhile, Gramps, Leena, and Mennas—the one who brought it up in the first place—were all grinning like they already knew the whole story.

“It was a stupid mistake, okay? I was messing around with the technique for fun, and the models I used were either myself or Shiromaru, so I didn’t think it through enough.”

I’d only been testing things in private, so I had never really thought about the models being naked. Shiromaru didn’t wear clothes anyway, so I had never thought about how it would look on a human figure.

“Oh, sure. Like you ‘accidentally’ made them naked,” Jin said, milking every moment of this. “You’re a closet perv!”

He just kept going, clearly thrilled to have something to get on my case about. But while he was running his mouth, Galatt had slipped away to stand behind Mennas, shooting wary glances in my direction. Gramps silently sipped his tea. Mennas pretended not to notice anything, and Leena was suddenly very preoccupied with serving Gramps some more tea.

“Galatt,” I said. “Mennas.”

“Um, yeah?”

“What’s up?”

The moment I called their names, the two of them moved in on Jin from both sides and pushed him down on the ground to his knees.

“Wh-What’s going on? What are you doing?!” he cried.

“Leena.”

“Y-Yes... Um, eek!”

“Ow! What the hell?!”

Leena hesitated for a moment but quickly followed through and yanked a hair out of Jin’s head. She must’ve remembered what Lily and the others had told her about the original naked golems.

“Galatt, Mennas, hold him there a bit longer. I’m gonna need a moment,” I said. “There we go.”

I took the hair Leena handed me and got to work. Since Galatt and Mennas were keeping Jin pinned down, I decided to try crafting a golem with a human hair again. I hadn’t done this in ages.

And a short while later...

“Yeah, that definitely counts as harassment, Jin.”

“It’s totally inappropriate. There’s no doubt about it.”

“This is sooo messed up on sooo many levels. Ah ha ha! It’s seriously so messed up!”

“Stop! Please! I get it! I was wrong, okay?! Just destroy it already!”

The result was the Jin Golem, Totally Nude version. Absolutely hated by the girls and wildly amusing to Galatt. And I hadn’t just made one—I’d made three. Each one was deliberately posed in a way that didn’t hide a thing.

“Oof, what an unpleasant sight,” Gramps muttered, pulling his hood over his head.

“Please, make it stop... I’m begging you!”

Jin looked like he was going to cry, so I ordered the nude golems to sit in the corner, hugging their knees and covering themselves up. For now.

“Anyway, Jin. See this?” I said, holding up the leftover strands of hair. “You know what that means, don’t you?”

“Wh-What are you gonna do with that?!”

“Make another one. And I’ll make it run through the streets of Sagan. Then I’ll follow it and yell, ‘Jin! Put some clothes on already!’”

Even if people got close enough to realize it wasn’t really him, anyone who was watching from a distance would think that Jin had gone nuts and was streaking through the town.

“Your reputation will take a hit too if you do that, Tenma!” Jin insisted, trying to turn it around on me rather than just give up.

“Oh? But whose reputation do you think’s gonna tank faster, mine or yours?” I asked. “I can just deny everything and play dumb, but you’ll have actual eyewitnesses who saw the naked golem. And, well, even if they’re fake, you know one thing they’re gonna remember.”

After I said that, I ordered the golems to start running.

“All right already! I was wrong! Please forgive me...” Jin said, fully surrendering now.

“I win. It’s a hollow victory, though,” I said with a sigh. Then, I stopped the golems and turned them back into chunks of stone.

“You could’ve stopped much sooner, you know,” Gramps said dryly.

“You never learn, Jin. You bring this stuff on yourself,” Mennas said.

“Yeah, you were the one who started it, Jin. It’s hard to feel bad for you, even though Tenma did go a little overboard,” Leena said.

“It was amusing to watch, but I wouldn’t want to be in Jin’s place,” Galatt mused.

I didn’t get glowing reviews for that prank, but that was fair. Even I had to admit I might’ve taken things a bit too far. After that, the four of them got me to promise I wouldn’t misuse that particular technique again, with Gramps leading the charge.

“Still, jokes aside, those golems were crazy detailed. Why don’t you use that technique more often?” Leena asked.

“Yeah, they seem like they’d be useful for more than just pranks,” Mennas nodded.

The answer was simple, really.

“Well, they’re just not practical,” I began. “They’ve got a lot of drawbacks compared to the golems I normally use. They’re really only good if I don’t have any golem cores on hand or if I wanna mess with someone later.”

The downsides were pretty clear.

First, they took too long to make. Sure, they were technically faster compared to starting one from scratch, like if I had to build the core from raw materials, but I couldn’t prep them in advance. Because of that, they were way slower to deploy than my regular golems—I could just infuse those with mana and toss ’em out on the spot.

Also, I could summon my regular golems in bulk. I could easily make anywhere from ten to a thousand of them as long as I had the materials and mana. But I had to build hair-based ones manually right then and there.

Second, their performance just didn’t measure up. Sure, they were made of earth and stone, so they could easily handle normal humans, and in the right hands, they could even be an asset. But since their bodies were only as big as the person they were modeled after, they were way flimsier than golems with properly engineered cores.

Honestly, if Leena were to go all out with her magic, she could probably take out a group of them by herself easily. And that was assuming they were fighting back.

The only reason I had used them in my first big adventure had been to confuse enemies from a distance and make them think they had been seeing me or Lily and the others. I had never intended to rely on them in actual combat. I wouldn’t have bothered at all if not for that specific reason.

“The third reason is that making clothes for them is a pain. I mean, I can’t just send them into battle totally naked. I might as well just fight myself rather than spending that much time on something cosmetic. But I could probably use the technique for harassment if I got a hold of the enemy’s hair...” I said.

So yeah—hair-based golems were just one of those forgotten techniques I’d never had a reason to go back to.

“They could probably pull their weight if you gave them armor and weapons, but if it’s that much trouble, then yeah, your normal golems are probably better,” Galatt said. “Or you could just make another one like the one you gave Primera. I get it now. It’s high-level stuff, but there’s no real niche for it. A technique created solely for mischief, huh? Just don’t use it for evil instead.”

He’d said that jokingly, but I could tell that he’d meant it.

Part Two

“So that’s the fork in the path, huh? C’mon, Jin, pull yourself together. We finally found something!”

Just as we reached the fork Jin and Galatt had discovered earlier, a new monster appeared at long last. It was about a meter long and looked like a Komodo dragon. Judging by the way the creature flicked its tongue at us, it was clearly aware of our presence and was sizing us up.

“Go get it, Jin! Get the first hit in and blow off some steam!” I said.

Jin still had that dark cloud around him from earlier, and honestly, I was starting to worry he might stab me in the back sooner or later. I decided to offer up the lizard as a sacrifice to help him vent, all in the name of team harmony.

“Arrghhh!”

Jin charged at the monster like he was turning all that pent-up stress into raw power.

“Gramps, this one doesn’t drop anything good, right?” I asked.

“The hide should fetch a decent price, but the meat’s tough and smells terrible. It’s not worth much.”

“Well, if the hide’s valuable, that’s enough for me.”

“Tasty meat is more important than some cheap, mediocre hides for Tenma and Master Merlin,” one of the Dawnswords said.

“That’s true. And as someone who’s benefited from that more than once, I should probably be more grateful for their mindset.”

We watched Jin go on a rampage as we chatted, and more lizards started crawling out from the same path the first one came from—probably its buddies. Incidentally, since Jin had moved first, that initial monster was already headless.

“Three, four, five...”

“They just keep pouring out, though they’re all going straight for Jin,” Gramps said.

“He’ll be fine.”

“Even if he’s not thinking about it, he’s going straight for their heads. Clean hits every time.”

“Wait, was all that pouting earlier just an act?”

“Well, if it was, he’s one needy little drama queen. And it’s not cute either.”

Even though Jin absolutely wiped the floor with the monsters, his reputation was still taking a nosedive.

“Raaaargh!” Jin let out a victorious roar after he took down the last of the dozen or so lizards.

Galatt and the others just stared at him with deadpan expressions.

“What?” Jin said.

“Oh, nothing. But you might want to start bagging up those lizards before the scent of their blood attracts something else,” Galatt said.

Jin looked confused by their cold stares, but I didn’t want him getting cranky again. It was too much of a pain when he got into that kind of state, so I nudged his focus back to the loot.

“Anyway, I’ll stash them in my magic bag for now, but they’re yours, all right? Make sure you remember how many you took down,” I said.

Jin said that we should probably split the haul, but since I was the one who had pawned off the job and he had done all the work, Gramps and I bowed out of taking a cut. Galatt and the others also gave up their share as members of the Dawnswords. Jin would sell them all under his own name once we got back to the surface.

“That ambush was kinda surprising.”

“Yep. That vertical shaft from earlier might’ve been their feeding ground.”

Apparently, the lizards Jin had taken down were the type that didn’t need much food to stay active for long stretches. Insects grew fast, bred easily, and were packed with nutrients, so those bugs must’ve been a real treat to those lizards.

“Guess those roaches were good for something after all. Not that I wanna picture anything eating them,” I said. “Anyway, we can’t assume it’ll just be lizards from here on out. These things are clearly stronger than the skeletons and rotting flesh golems we ran into upstairs, so we’d better stay sharp.”

We pulled ourselves together and tried to move forward in the direction the lizards had come from. That was when we found out...

“Looks like that shaft was the first one of many.”

We discovered multiple shafts up ahead, all similar to the one we’d descended earlier. In several of them, we ran into packs of reptile-type monsters that clearly used the bugs as food.

Most of them were the same species as the lizards Jin had wiped out, but we also ran into other creatures that looked like geckos, frogs, and snakes. All of them were under a meter long. As for how tough they were, I’d rank them by putting the lizards at the top, then snakes, geckos, and frogs.

The snakes looked kind of like small anacondas. The biggest one I had encountered had been around a meter long, but overall, they didn’t seem to be venomous. The geckos were a bit smaller, averaging about eighty centimeters long, and they would just hide and try to ride it out unless we startled or attacked them. They were sneaky, though. You’d end up stepping on one or brushing against it without realizing it, so we had to be careful not to get caught off guard. As for the frogs...

“This one has kind of a charming face, huh?”

“They’re almost cute from this angle.”

“I bet they’d make popular pets.”

They were under fifty centimeters big, and unlike the mad poisonous frogs we had fought before, their tongues didn’t pack much force. Even a direct hit only stung a little, and that was it. Basically, they were just giant tree frogs.

“Keeping them as pets might be a stretch, but compared to the other monsters, they’re definitely on the cute side. I bet they eat bugs, but at the same time, the lizards and snakes probably eat them too,” Gramps said.

The smaller ones probably even got hunted by the bigger geckos. The frogs were surprisingly quick, though, which might be why they hadn’t gone extinct. Or maybe they escaped by sticking to walls and ceilings like newts, as the lizards and snakes couldn’t actually reach them there. It was also possible we’d just seen fewer of them—who knows, there could’ve actually been the most of them here.

“It’s probably best to ignore the geckos and frogs whenever we can. Luckily, if we leave them alone, they’ll just hide.”

We’d risk disrupting the ecosystem if we were to kill every monster we came across. And if that happened, the bugs might end up swarming the upper dungeon levels. We couldn’t help fighting off the lizards and snakes that came at us, but the geckos and frogs were basically janitors here who kept the bug population in check. There wasn’t much value in their materials either, so it was best to let them be.

That was how our exploration efforts went at first—smooth and steady. But gradually, exhaustion started creeping in. The monsters weren’t showing themselves as much as well. It was hard to find frogs and geckos without using Detection, and the lizards and snakes crept up without a sound, giving us a few close calls.

But the worst part, hands down, was the bugs.

They weren’t just nesting in those shafts. Sometimes they’d drop straight from the ceiling and land on us when we let our guard down. That wasn’t too fun.

Still, there was no stench here like the upper floors, probably because the rotting flesh golems weren’t in this area. That meant we could finally take a real break in here without gagging. So, we decided it was time for our first proper camp-out.

Up until now, we hadn’t been able to really relax because of the smell, but this time, as long as we watched out for the hidden frogs, geckos, and bugs, we could seal off a spot like we had in the hydra dungeon and get some solid sleep.

“All right, here’s my plan,” I began. “First, we’ll use magic to create a sealed space. Then, we’ll fill it with smoke to kill the bugs, and after that, we’ll cool it down with magic. Once that’s done, we can rest inside. Simple, right?”

Gramps agreed. “Sounds good to me. It’s best to make air holes at the top and bottom of the wall when we light the fire, though. We can blow some air in from below with magic, and the smoke might drive off the bugs. Hopefully that’ll clear the area out a bit too,” he suggested.

If we lit the fire while the space was completely sealed, the smoke might not circulate properly. Even worse, it could fizzle out partway. Plus, we’d be stuck having to deal with the bugs that couldn’t escape. That’s why Gramps had suggested we give them just a little bit of a way to get out on their own. Actually, the moment he’d mentioned the part about dealing with the bugs, Mennas and Leena had been all in favor of it. So we built the walls first, then added vents afterward.

“All right, here comes the fire.”

“Go all in, Galatt! If anything goes wrong, Tenma will clean up the mess!”

Since Gramps and I still had to handle the airflow and temperature adjustments, the job of getting the fire going fell to Jin and Galatt. That said, Galatt was the one with the actual skills, so Jin mostly just stood behind him, shouting and giving him moral support.

Meanwhile, Mennas and Leena decided the guys didn’t need any help with the fire and ended up standing next to us. They watched the two of them like it was some kind of spectacle and got way too into it.

Just as I expected, it turned out that a whole mess of bugs had been hiding out of sight—way more than we’d guessed. The moment the smoke started flowing through the vent holes, they all came swarming out at once, making us panic a bit. Galatt was right up front getting the fire started, but since he didn’t have time to dodge, he got pelted by a literal downpour of bugs.

“We aired it out, but that smoke smell is still lingering...”

“Better than the stench of rotting flesh, don’t you think?” Gramps asked.

Since we had run into some unexpected trouble, the smoke bomb didn’t exactly go to plan, but we had managed to finish everything else and had sealed the holes in the wall. After that, we pulled out the carriage and started setting up camp using Oracion’s usual methods. If we had been outside, the guys and girls would’ve slept in separate areas, but since we were in a dungeon, we decided to divide the inside of the carriage with partitions instead.

Naturally, Jin had to be difficult. “So you just got engaged, but you’re sharing a sleeping space with other women, Tenma?”

That little comment led to a majority vote granting him a sleeping spot outside the carriage.

Galatt was the first one to vote him out, which was probably payback for being abandoned and left to take the full force of the bug shower while Jin ran off earlier.

And so we had our first campout since entering this new dungeon. I’d been worried about how this would go, but it turned out that nothing around here was strong enough to break through the walls. This was practically a vacation compared to the lowest levels of the upper dungeon. The air still had a bit of a smell, but other than that, we had no real complaints.

Incidentally, we camped a few more times in the dungeon before finally returning to the surface. When we were back in town, we found that rumors that we were all dead were making the rounds.

Before, we had never stayed overnight in the dungeon because of the terrible stench. But since the new part of the dungeon didn’t have that problem, that meant we had suddenly stopped coming back every day, and since we had disappeared for a few days without a word, people had assumed the worst-case scenario.

“Seriously? People jump to conclusions way too fast. I mean, it’s not like anything actually happened.”

“Yeah, but in my case, things could get complicated. Especially with the royals,” I replied.

“I do feel a little bad about it,” Agris said. “But just for the record, we weren’t the ones who started those rumors. We never said you guys were dead. But...I might have made a joke or two about how late you were coming back...and that might’ve been at a tavern.”

I’d tracked him and some others down since they might’ve known what was really going on. Instead of getting answers, I found out that they were basically the ones behind the whole mess.

Well, kind of.

Here’s what had really happened, though. We hadn’t shown up for a few days, and someone had overheard our buddies from the Tamers’ Guild joking about us being dead. Whether they had meant it or not, someone had taken that and run with it, and that was what had kicked off the death rumors.

Seeing us alive would’ve cleared things up pretty quickly, had that been the end of it. But no, we’d had the bad luck of returning just as merchants and adventurers were starting to travel again. That meant the rumors were probably already heading to the capital, and fast.

Basically, this wasn’t just a problem in Sagan City anymore.

“Should we just head back to the capital? Just show up and clear things up ourselves?” Jin asked.

Gramps disagreed with Jin. “Nah, that’d just mean we miss them on the way. Best to keep doing what we’re doing. We haven’t done anything wrong, and the ones who started the rumors probably have already left Sagan by now anyway. We’ll just keep doing day trips in and out of the dungeon until someone shows up to check on us,” he said.

I agreed with Gramps. Someone was definitely gonna come rushing here to find us, so it was better to stay put than risk missing them.

“How about this? We take today and tomorrow off and make it obvious we’re alive and well. Then, the day after tomorrow, we’ll go back to day trips. I’ll send letters to our place in the capital and to a few people we know, but honestly, odds are they would miss us on the way if we left,” I suggested.

“That works for me. Honestly, I’m itching to dive back in, but if someone holds a funeral for me while I’m gone? That’ll be a hard thing to live down,” Jin said.

The Dawnswords started making jokes.

“Yeah, we don’t want any ghost rumors popping up either. People will say they saw you haunting the place.”

“A ghost Jin, huh? Can’t say that sounds like a good time.”

“He’d probably appear in women’s changing rooms or baths. Cleansing him with holy water’s gonna be expensive!”

“Why am I the only one dying and coming back as a ghost?!”

Thanks to the noise we had made back at the guild, most of the other adventurers were stunned to see us. But at the very least, the rumors of our demise cleared up fast across Sagan.

But that was just inside Sagan.

Fast-forwarding a bit to now...

“I couldn’t believe it,” Queen Maria said. “I didn’t actually think an entire party that included Tenma and Master Merlin could be wiped out. But when multiple spies reported the same thing...”

Naturally, it took time for word to reach the capital that the rumors were false. So people who heard the original whispers and left immediately only discovered the truth after they reached Sagan.

Right now, I was stuck at the royal estate in Sagan City, listening to a lecture from Queen Maria.

About ten days had passed since we’d returned to the surface. Primera was the first one to show up here, followed by Jeanne, Amur, Aura, and the three idiots. Then Queen Maria, Kriss, and Aina had shown up almost immediately afterward.

Primera had been on assignment near Sagan, so she had pulled some strings to confirm the truth and get here first. Once she had seen that I was fine, she had turned right back around and headed for the capital. It seemed like she hadn’t bumped into Jeanne or the others on the way.

Jeanne and Albert’s group, on the other hand, had both left the capital the same day they heard the news, just separately.

Albert’s group had stopped by my place first. When they had seen that Jeanne wasn’t there, they had immediately set off after her. They’d caught up somewhere closer to Sagan and traveled together from there.

As for the queen, after she had heard the rumors, she’d sent Kriss to talk to Jeanne at our house in the capital right away. But Jeanne had moved faster than expected, so they had missed each other. Then, because of some last-minute prep, Maria’s group had left a day late, which had made it impossible to catch up to the others.

They should’ve been able to overtake them on the way to Sagan, but a few unexpected things had thrown that off.

First, Jeanne’s group had linked up with Albert’s, giving them extra people to rotate in. Second, Shiro and the others had taken over night watch duties, meaning everyone else had gotten some real sleep. That had boosted their travel speed during the day. Thirdly, and maybe most importantly, the wagon Jeanne had used was top-tier.

The queen had figured they’d only have a regular wagon since Thunderbolt wasn’t with them, so she had assumed her royal carriage and horses would overtake them easily. Technically, Jeanne had used a regular wagon, but it was an old backup model we’d had lying around. The kicker was that they’d hitched it to Jubei, so it hadn’t been just a wagon trip—it’d been a buffalo-drawn wagon trip. And while Jubei couldn’t match royal horses for speed, he had way more stamina, way more power, and could plow through rough roads like nothing. So even though Maria’s team was more experienced, they hadn’t been able to catch up.

Now, Jubei was probably chilling in the royal stables, getting pampered by Amur while enjoying a meal. The others had brought Rocket and the others too, but since they were my followers, they seemed to know I was alive already. Aside from Rocket, who greeted me properly, the rest of them just waved and dove right into their snacks.

As for Jeanne and Aura, they were currently getting lectured by Aina and Kriss about not waiting for Queen Maria’s message, even though they must’ve known it was coming. Though honestly, in Kriss’s case, it was probably mostly her taking out her exhaustion on them. She looked dead on her feet after the forced march from the capital.

“I mean, we had no idea there were death rumors about us. And once we heard about them, there wasn’t much we could do,” I said.

“Oh, I know that,” Queen Maria said with a sigh. “And all we really could do was shut down the gossip in Sagan. But still...”

Even if they knew the rumors were false, that didn’t take back the fact that they’d been worried.

“Well, there’s no point dragging out what’s already over. Since we’re here, why don’t you give us a little dungeon report? I heard you managed to get some decent materials from the new one?” she asked.

“I’ve got a summary prepared, but it’s just the basics like what monsters showed up, the materials we found, and the general feel of the place.”

Queen Maria brought up the dungeon to lighten the mood, and I handed her a set of notes I’d jotted down in advance. It wasn’t polished, but it got the job done.

“So there are mostly reptiles, amphibian-type monsters, and a few insects too. The minerals seem like the usual things you’d find in the upper dungeon. The real question, though, is about the quantities. With numbers like these, I can’t tell if it was just untouched until now or if the place is naturally rich. How many dig sites were there, do you think?” the queen asked.

“We dug in five spots, each for thirty minutes to an hour. The haul didn’t seem to vary much from one site to the next.” As I answered her, I found myself wishing I’d taken more detailed notes by location.

Queen Maria nodded thoughtfully. “It could be both,” she said.

We had extracted around two hundred kilograms of ore in all. About three-fourths of that was iron. The rest of it amounted to forty kilograms of copper, five of silver, and just over two of gold and mythril combined.

“I don’t know how fast you were digging,” Queen Maria said, “but if you could get that much in maybe five hours, tops, it won’t be long before some greedy noble idiot starts barking about mining rights. Tenma, let’s just say you didn’t do any mining this time, all right? If anyone asks, tell them the royal family ordered you to prioritize monster investigation.”

The official reason was now that the hydra was gone, there was a chance that monsters from deeper levels could start creeping up into the upper dungeon. Since that could throw the whole dungeon ecosystem out of balance, it was best to keep an eye on things. That had been our excuse.

Luckily, we hadn’t shown the report to anyone but Queen Maria, and we hadn’t talked about it either, so she told me to just stick to that version of events.

“I’ll allow a little mining as hush money as long as you don’t draw too much attention. There’s no need to report anything to the crown. Just don’t let it interfere with your progression in the dungeon.”

So even though she gave us a pointed warning, she was still technically giving us permission. I figured I’d squeeze in some mining whenever I could. Gramps probably had the same thing on his mind. On the other hand, Jin and the others looked unsure whether it was actually okay.

“Anyway, now that we know you’re alive, we’ll have to head back to the capital tomorrow. But how about you tell us all about the dungeon and anything else worth mentioning over dinner tonight?” Queen Maria had phrased that like a question, but she’d clearly decided I would be there regardless.

I agreed without hesitation. Jin and the Dawnswords practically bowed out on the spot, saying it would be too overwhelming for them. Albert and the others had been so quiet they might as well have been furniture, but now, they suddenly declared they couldn’t possibly hear a dungeon report before the king did and bolted.

Honestly, I wanted the dungeon crew there, but I couldn’t blame them. The queen could be intense. The same went for Albert and the others. Knowing the king, he probably would get jealous if they were to hear about the dungeon first.

Still, the whole thing left me feeling a little abandoned. I decided they would owe me dinner sometime soon as penance.

“Oh, and by the way, didn’t you tell the king or Prince Lyle that Luna was coming with you?” I asked.

“They’re not exactly in the position to come running, even if it looks like they don’t have anything better to do. They’re high-ranking officials, you know. And as for Luna, she’s still at the academy. No long breaks at school means no trips to Sagan. That said, she did try sneaking into the carriage by curling up in the storage space under the seats, but Aina caught her right away and handed her over to Isabella. Honestly, who else would do something like that? There’s only one person who’d try to pull off that stunt.”

She laughed, joking, but the only other ones chuckling were Gramps and me.

That evening, dinner had Queen Maria, Kriss, Gramps, Amur, and me at the table. Aina, Jeanne, and Aura handled serving the food. Jeanne sat down and joined us after she finished helping, per the queen’s instructions. Aura was stuck standing until the end, though, thanks to Aina, who kept glaring daggers at her.

“Well then, I’ll be heading out first,” the queen said. “Tenma, don’t forget that you’re not just living for yourself anymore. Don’t push too hard, okay? Aina, open the door. Kriss, Albert, Cain, Leon, you’re on escort duty.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

After dinner the night before, the queen had asked me about the dungeon and everything else that had happened. She had mostly focused on when Primera had shown up. Naturally, it’d turned into a lot of teasing. Kriss had started to get a bit irritated, but she’d held it in since Queen Maria had been there. Then, Amur had started teasing her too, and Kriss had chased her outside. Queen Maria and Aina had scolded her when she’d returned.

To get here, Kriss had traveled alone. She’d picked up three temporary subordinates on the way back, meaning Albert, Cain, and Leon. Since none of them had gotten permission from their families before leaving the capital, they were probably in for some serious punishment. As Leon’s father didn’t live in the capital, his lecture would be delayed for a few days. However, in an attempt to gain leniency for the boys, Queen Maria decided to tell everyone that she’d asked them to escort her as bodyguards.

So yeah. Thanks to Queen Maria’s generosity, those three were now likely to owe her more than they owed the king. That meant they might end up becoming my allies in the long run.

Well, at least they cared enough to have come check on me. I figured I’d write to Duke Sanga, Marquis Sammons, and Margrave Haust to help smooth things over.

“So now that Queen Maria’s gone, what about you guys?” I asked Jeanne and the others.

“We wanted to head back with her,” Jeanne began, “but then Amur said...”

“I’ve been slacking lately, so I need to start training again in the dungeon! Otherwise, Aura’s stomach might be in serious trouble!”

“It is...not... I think?” Aura started to protest, but her voice faltered halfway through. She ended up going quiet with one hand resting nervously on her belly.

“Hmph. Maybe I should go with you, just in case,” Gramps offered.

Even with Amur around, this was Jeanne and Aura we were talking about, so I understood the concern. But Amur declined his offer and said she’d take Rocket and the others instead. The group wasn’t planning to dive deep anyway—they were just going to review the basics near the surface, so she figured it’d be enough to bring the followers along.

“Well then, I guess it’s time for us to head back into the dungeon,” I said.

Since the queen had left at dawn, we figured we still had plenty of time after breakfast to dive in. We swung by the adventurers’ guild and made a quick round through the food stalls to get something to eat along the way.

But then...

“Ugh, today’s no good. I drank way too much.”

“I figured Tenma would take today off...”

“Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you guys?”

Apparently, Jin and the others hadn’t realized Queen Maria would be leaving today and had partied too hard. Now, they were all out of commission with brutal hangovers.

Well, not all of them. Mennas and Leena were clearly still tipsy, but they could at least move around. Their expressions made it clear that they didn’t want to be lumped in with the others.

“Yeah, this isn’t happening. No way we’re dungeon diving like this. Progress will slow down a bit, but let’s just take the day off,” I said.

Gramps sighed. “I agree. Thanks to Jin and Galatt, it’s a rest day. Even though I was totally ready... But now we have to take the day off. Ugh, there goes the schedule.”

“Jin and Galatt deeply regret their actions.”

“Tonight’s dinner is on them. So let’s just call it even, all right?”

And just like that, they were sentenced without even being in the room. Jin and Galatt would foot tonight’s bill.

I almost thought I could check off another goal from yesterday, but on second thought, today’s “reason” was totally different, so it didn’t count.

“Tenma! We’ve decided not to go into the dungeon today either!”

“We don’t want to be late for dinner!”

“So anyway, I’m heading out for a bit of shopping.”

With that, Amur and some of the girls changed their plans. Apparently, they wanted everything to be perfect for dinner tonight.

“Would you mind if I came with you?”

“I don’t really have anything to do either. Maybe I’ll tag along.”

“I think I’ll take advantage of our free time and go catch some shrimp,” I said.

“Hmm, I’ll come too. I’m not exactly busy.”

And just like that, our plans for the day were set. The girls went off shopping, Gramps and I went shrimping at the lake inside the dungeon, and Jin and Galatt had strict orders to get their bodies back in working order by dinnertime.

The next day, we ended up with two distinct groups.

Jin and Galatt, who were mourning their empty wallets...

“My wallet, it’s so thin... So light... And so empty...”

“Damn it, those ravenous monsters don’t know what it means to hold back.”

And the girls, who were poking at their stomachs and regretting the previous night’s indulgences.

“My belly has gotten so squishy...”

“Yeah, I think I overdid it.”

“You just gotta move to burn it off! All right, let’s go!”

“I’m jealous of people who don’t gain weight...”

“I don’t gain weight easily either, but definitely not like Amur. If I don’t move today, I might not fit in my clothes anymore.”

Meanwhile, Gramps, Amur, Rocket, and I were the very picture of satisfaction—completely full without a care in the world.

“As long as the dungeon team pushes through today and Jeanne and Aura keep up their training, we’re golden,” I suggested. “All right, let’s go!”

The vibe had gotten a little gloomy, so I forced things along and got us moving in the dungeon.

Once inside, everyone was focused on different things.

“Take this!”

“Score! That’s 1,000G!”

“Leena, don’t run off so far!”

“I can’t lose this belly if I don’t move!”

“Look at this moss. If you dry it and steep it, doesn’t it make a tea that helps fight fatigue?”

“Oh ho ho! Let’s bring some back.”

Thanks to Jin and the others handling most of the fighting, Gramps and I could focus more on gathering. We ended up using the moss we collected that day by brewing some tea, which we served later to an overenthusiastic, completely wiped-out Jin, along with Jeanne and the others.

For the record, the tea was very bitter.

“Is it just me, or is the air getting cleaner the deeper we go?” I asked.

Ten days had passed since Queen Maria had returned to the capital. I wasn’t sure if it was because of that tea we had brewed halfway through here or what, but so far, our dungeon dive had been going surprisingly well. We’d already managed to make it another five floors deep.

Jeanne and Aura had made it back to the capital in about a week. They (as well as Mennas and Leena) had seen some results from their dungeon diet—er, training. And thanks to them dumping most of the monsters off on Jin and Galatt, those two had actually ended up with heavier wallets than they started with, despite all the rounds of drinks they’d had to pay for.

“Hmm, now that you mention it, this air almost seems fresher than the air in Sagan!” Gramps said.

“I haven’t seen any monsters yet either. Man, I kinda wish I could build a house down here instead of in the city,” Jin said.

“I’d like to see you try,” I said with a laugh.

Galatt shrugged. “There’s no way I’d live down here. I don’t care how fresh the air is! But maybe if I ever get bored and somehow remember this place, I’ll come by and check on you,” he said.

“Guess that’s the end of the Dawnswords, huh? Maybe I’ll see if Primera’s hiring any knights for her crew,” Leena said.

“Aw, knock it off. I was only joking about the air!” Jin protested.

His casual comment had almost started a conversation about the Dawnswords disbanding.

“Putting aside Jin’s possible retirement down here, it is kinda creepy how clean it is down here,” I said.

Jin said something to counter me, but everyone else seemed to be on my side.

“I know it’s unsettling, but we’d better keep moving. It’s better for it to be a bit creepy than for there to be a stench so bad it makes our eyes water. And hey, if it just feels unsettling, that’s still better than us letting our guard down,” Gramps said, putting an end to the conversation.

Everyone nodded in agreement and got ready to move on, but...

Grooooowl!

Someone’s stomach growled loudly.

Jin reacted to the noise first, glancing around with a smirk as he eyed Galatt and Mennas. “All right, who was it? We just made up our minds to keep going, but now someone’s stomach can’t read the room?!”

“Sorry. That was me,” Gramps admitted.

“My bad! I just assumed the comic relief would’ve come from Galatt or Mennas at a time like this!” Jin blurted out. Panicked, he bowed his head toward Gramps.

“So you’re trying to say Master Merlin’s our comic relief?” Leena chimed in. The sarcastic smile on her lips didn’t reach her eyes.

“Maybe I’m just getting old. I’ll keep asking Tenma, ‘Is dinner ready yet?’” Gramps said with a chuckle.

“And I’ll say, ‘We just ate, remember?’” I replied.

Gramps shot a teasing look at Jin—the man was bowing so low in apology, his head was nearly touching the floor. I knew Gramps was just messing with him, but Jin was taking it dead seriously. It took him a minute to realize Gramps was joking.

Meanwhile, I used Detection to scan the area while Gramps was having his fun with Jin. Thanks to it, I found a staircase leading down.

“All right, Gramps, that’s enough teasing Jin for now. How about we take a break here? Who knows if the air might get bad again or if things might get weirder. This spot seems like a good place to eat and get some rest,” I said.

Gramps immediately agreed, and Jin straightened up and started helping set up camp.

“Seriously, though, the vibe is so different down here,” Galatt said.

“Yeah. Maybe that means we’re getting close to the bottom floor?” Mennas mused.

She might’ve been onto something. It was totally different here than when we started. If she was right, then the boss might be close too.

“So what kind of boss do you think is down here?” Leena asked. “We’re deeper than where we found the hydra. Do you think it’ll be stronger than that?”

“I’m not sure,” Gramps replied. “We haven’t run into anything tough lately. Maybe it’s really weak? Either way, it’s best if we rest up so we can face any bosses at full strength.”

We sat down to enjoy some tea and food, but for some reason, Jin was unusually quiet.

“You know, we’re standing on top of this massive, super deep, incredibly complex hole beneath Sagan, but I’ve never heard any settling from above. Isn’t that weird?” Leena said suddenly.

“Can you not just say scary stuff like that out of nowhere?” Mennas snapped.

“It is creepy, but now I’m curious about that,” Galatt said. He sounded more interested than scared.

Jin just sat there, staring at us. I had no idea whether he agreed with Mennas or Galatt on this one.

“Well, the two main theories about dungeons have always been that either the dungeon somehow reinforces the land above it, or that they’re basically like living creatures, so any damaged or fragile spots heal naturally over time,” Gramps explained.

That made sense. I’d heard those theories about dungeons before.

“Yeah, but neither of those explains the warp points,” I said.

“Oh? Then what’s your theory, Tenma?” Gramps asked.

“I don’t have proof or anything, but I’ve been thinking... Maybe this dungeon—not all dungeons, but just the one in Sagan... Well, what if this whole place is a dungeon inside a dimension bag?” I said.

Everyone stared at me like I’d grown as many heads as a hydra.

I continued. “What I mean is, maybe this dungeon isn’t something that formed naturally, but is something that exists inside a Time-Space spell? Like it’s just some huge spatial magic construct.”

“But what does that have to do with warp points?” Gramps asked.

“That I’m not sure, but dimension bags and warp points kind of feel similar, right? So let’s say this dungeon was one big dimension bag. It wouldn’t be that strange for other similar kinds of magic to be inside of it, like warp points.”

It was just a gut feeling I’d had, and I didn’t have any facts to back it up. But I figured it was worth putting that idea out there.

“Hmm... They’re basically opposite spells, so saying they’re similar isn’t... No, wait. I guess they could be, if you looked at it from that perspective... They might even be two sides of the same coin,” Gramps muttered.

The others weren’t following his train of thought, but I had a feeling Gramps knew what I was trying to say.

“Dimension bags expand internal space, right? But warp points compress it,” I said.

“Oooh, I’ve never thought about it like that! You might be onto something, Tenma!” he said, nodding thoughtfully before I could finish my explanation.

“I have no idea what any of that means,” Leena said with a shrug, even though she had the best understanding of anyone from the Dawnswords.

Jin and the others just looked totally clueless.

“Okay, so imagine this,” I began. “Think about a dimension bag. We’ll call the outer surface ‘A’ and the inside of the bag ‘B.’ And the internal expanded space is ‘C.’ The spell between A and B stretches C out. Are you following me so far?”

“I think so...?” Leena said uncertainly.

I thought I’d broken it down pretty simply, but even then, only Leena seemed to get it. Jin and the others were still totally in the dark.

“Now, with warp points, think of the entrance as ‘A’ and the exit, which is your destination, as ‘B.’ The distance between them is ‘C.’ A warp point is a spell that compresses C to make the trip between A and B shorter.”

Leena’s eyes lit up. “Oh, I get it now. That does make sense!”

But...

“Sorry, Tenma, but I’m lost,” Mennas said.

“Same here,” Galatt added.

“Ditto,” Jin said.

Oh, well. Jin had finally said something again, but we’d only gotten two syllables out of him before he had gone quiet again. Honestly, his silence was starting to throw me off.

I pushed that out of my mind for now and started thinking about how else I could explain this more clearly. However...

“Let me take a stab at it,” Leena offered. “Think about Tenma’s carriage. You go through the door and walk all the way to the farthest window and exit through that. Doing that would take way more steps than you’d expect looking at the carriage from the outside, right? That’s called spatial expansion, which is the same thing as a dimension bag. Now, if a carriage were using compression magic, then going from the same entrance to that same window would take fewer steps than you’d expect. That’s how a warp point works.”

“Ooh, so it’s just a matter of expanding or shrinking the same space.” It seemed like Mennas understood.

“You can’t tell if it’s big or small just by looking at the outside!”

“Now that you mention it, yeah, they really are kinda similar.”

Galatt and Jin didn’t seem to have as deep an understanding as Mennas, but at least most of the party seemed to more or less get what I was trying to say. That also kinda proved I wasn’t all that great at explaining things.

“Man, how did Amy ever learn anything from me?” I muttered.

“Don’t worry, Tenma. I understood what you were saying just fine,” Gramps said. He was trying to comfort me, but I couldn’t shake the feeling he was thinking, I understood it just fine despite your terrible explanation...

Gramps, Leena, and I launched into a deep discussion of this.

“Whether or not Tenma’s bad at teaching isn’t the issue here. What he’s getting at is that the dungeon under Sagan is like a dimension bag. It’s way bigger than it looks on the inside, and it doesn’t physically take up that much space. That’s why the city’s not sinking. Is that about right?” Leena asked.

“Yeah, that’s basically it. And it isn’t at odds with any of the other theories either, like how the ground might be getting reinforced or repairing itself.”

“But if what Tenma says is true, then that does explain why Sagan hasn’t collapsed in on itself,” Gramps said.

Galatt suddenly spoke up. “Hey, Leena and Tenma. Sorry to interrupt, but when can we get moving again?” he asked.

I noticed he hadn’t included Gramps in that request. He was probably still too intimidated to speak that way to a Sage.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t realize that we’d gone way past our break time.” Gramps apologized, but the Dawnswords hastily reassured him. Still, we had been the inconsiderate ones here, so we told them not to worry about it and started packing everything up.

We’d only just started moving again and caught sight of the stairs when Galatt suddenly asked, “Huh? Do you guys smell something sweet?”

“I don’t smell anything.”

“Me either.”

“Are you sure it’s not just your imagination, Galatt?”

“Do you smell anything, Tenma?”

“Hang on, let me see...” I thought about it for a moment. “It’s faint, but Galatt’s right. There is a sweet smell.”

“Galatt must’ve noticed it first because he’s a beastfolk, but if Tenma agrees, that means it must be true.”

The scent was coming from up ahead, near the staircase. The closer we got, the stronger the scent became. Still, Gramps and the others kept saying they could barely smell it.

“Yeah, it’s definitely coming from this direction.”

“And there are still no monsters in sight,” Jin said with a frown.

We headed down the stairs to the next floor, deciding to track the scent to its source. Galatt took the lead since his sense of smell was the strongest, but just like Jin had pointed out, there was no sign of any monsters anywhere. I used both Detection and Identify on our surroundings, but I couldn’t pick up anything. It really did feel like this floor was almost empty.

The fact that the scent is wafting up from below gives me a bad feeling...

Galatt was heading straight for another staircase that led farther down, and he was taking the shortest possible route to get there. By the time we were close to it, even Gramps and the others could smell it clearly. For Galatt and me, though, it was almost overwhelmingly strong. It was even starting to make us kind of nauseous. But even so, we kept moving forward toward where the scent was coming from.

And the sweet scent only got stronger once we had descended to the next level. Now, everyone could detect it strongly, and what was really weird was that the stronger the smell got, the fewer monsters we ran into. It was almost like the aroma was warding them off.

Galatt had been leading us, but it seemed like he had reached his limit. He asked us to stop. “Ugh, sorry. I need a break.”

“Hey! Over here!” I said. “There’s a dead end that looks like a good spot for a break!”

As soon as everyone agreed to take a breather, I used Detection to find a good place nearby. I led everyone over to it.

“I was struggling with that smell too,” I admitted.

“Right? Jin looked so confused, but for us guys with sharp noses, it’s practically torture!” Galatt groaned.

After we cleared out the bugs as usual and used Wind magic to force out the scent lingering in the air, we managed to get our rest area almost odor-free.

“And it’s not just that it smells sweet,” I began. “Sure, sweetness lingers in the air while I’m making desserts, but this kind of smell is different. We gotta do something about it if we’re gonna keep going, but we don’t even know what’s causing it.”

I pulled out a few small strips of cloth and some larger cloths.

“These won’t be perfect, but stuff these smaller ones in your nose, and layer the bigger ones over your face like a mask,” I instructed. “And from here on, Gramps or I will lead up front and use Wind magic to help disperse the scent. Jin, you guys follow behind. If anyone starts feeling sick, let me know immediately. We can consider retreat a real option going forward.”

“Got it!”

“You bet!”

“Okay.”

Galatt, Gramps, and Jin—who had finally perked up—took the cloth strips from me and shoved them up their noses.

“Man, this makes it way easier to breathe,” one of them said.

“It’s hard to breathe now, but I’ll get used to it,” said another.

“We did the same thing when we cleared out that goblin nest, remember?” Gramps asked.

“Hey, Tenma. We don’t have to start doing this right now, do we?”

“If we don’t have to... I’d rather not during break time.”

“You don’t have to now. I already sealed off this whole area with magic and swapped the air out, so there’s basically no odor left in here,” I said.

“Phew!”

“Ahh...”

“Oh.”

Thanks to Mennas and Leena’s extremely valid points, the three of them realized they’d jumped the gun a little.

Part Three

“All right, let’s get going.”

We rested for about an hour. When we were ready to go, we equipped our nose plugs and masks and stepped back into the sickeningly sweet fog. The smell was manageable thanks to the equipment and Wind magic, but we could breathe it in through our mouths too, so we had to stay on high alert and keep our formation tight. By the way, the guys had to wash their nose plugs so they could reuse them after their premature enthusiasm earlier.

We made it to the next floor even faster now, and it took about an hour, but...

“There’s no sign of a warp point nearby.”

“I’ve been looking too. Haven’t spotted anything yet.”

Warp points were our lifelines in the dungeon, but there weren’t any to be found here. I wondered if I had just missed one, but Galatt had been looking too. If neither of us had spotted one, then there probably weren’t any.

“Should we just turn back? We’d have to go pretty far, though,” Jin said.

“But we’ve only been back at it for like, an hour. I say we push ahead a bit more, and if we don’t find another spot that we can seal off like earlier, then we start doubling back.”

Jin and I had different opinions, so we decided to put it to a vote. In the end, it was a tie, so we had to flip a coin. The coin toss decided we’d keep moving forward.

An hour later, we reached the next floor. There were still no warp points.

“We’re moving pretty fast now. Maybe the lowest floor really is nearby,” Gramps said.

I thought he might be right. Things had picked up pace like this when we had gotten close to the hydra’s lair too. So if that was anything to go off of, the boss really could be coming up soon.

“Tenma, be careful. This feels just like it did with the hydra.”

I couldn’t put my finger on anything specific, but the air had distinctly shifted. There was now a creeping sense of unease. Jin and the others, having cleared Sagan’s dungeon before, were picking up on it too. It was the same feeling.

It was then that we started noticing patches of haze floating in the air.

It might’ve just been due to atmospheric changes, but somehow, the sweet scent felt thicker in those spots. Denser, maybe? More cloying. And definitely more unsettling.

Just as I was about to suggest we head back, Galatt called out.

“Hey, look! There’s a slope over there!” he said. He had spotted a path leading down.

We all agreed to follow it, hoping we’d reach the endpoint.

“No dice.”

“Guess this isn’t where the dungeon ends after all. Looks like we just took a wrong turn.”

Unfortunately, it was a dead end.

“Yeah, but it feels like the air is kinda stale in here. We should head back up.”

“Come to think of it, my eyes are starting to itch. My throat feels scratchy too...”

While Jin and the others were chatting and starting to climb back up, I noticed something.

“Hang on, guys,” I said. “Look at this wall. It looks like it collapsed or something.”

“Oh, you’re right. There’s air leaking out through these cracks!”

And if air was leaking out here, that meant there was open space on the other side.

“All right, let’s check it out,” Jin said.

He started lightly tapping on the wall. Galatt and Mennas did the same, trying to find any weak spots. Gramps and Leena used Wind magic to keep that sweet smell at bay and kept watch while I kept my eye on the ceiling. I had to make sure that nothing crumbled on top of us.

After a while, Jin found a section that was brittle. “Looks like this part is weaker than the rest,” he said.

“Okay. Let’s start digging out a path from here, then.”

I stepped forward to expand the hole using Earth magic. But the moment I broke through the wall, something happened that none of us expected. Looking back on it now, I realize that it should’ve been obvious. But we had been so focused on what might’ve been on the other side of the wall that we had overlooked the most obvious possibility.

“All right, let’s... Ah, crap! Everybody move!” I yelled.

The moment I punched through the wall, a dense cloud of mist exploded around us.

“Get back!”

Everyone reacted to my warning and tried to run, but the cloud of mist was faster. It surged forward and swallowed the others up before they could get away. Everyone but me collapsed.

“Damn it!”

I wasn’t entirely sure what this mist was, but it didn’t seem lethal. At least, not instantly. Everyone was down for the count, but they were still semiconscious.

I was relieved that no one had died, but I knew that staying here was a bad idea. I quickly put everyone into my dimension bag and decided to get us out of there.

I backtracked far enough to a place where the mist had started to thin out. Then, I went to a side passage, blocked it off with magic, replaced the air inside, and sealed it off completely to make sure nothing else leaked into the space. Then I took out every bed I had in my magic bag, pulled everyone out of the dimension bag, and placed them on the beds.

One by one, I checked everyone’s condition. Gramps and Leena seemed to have been affected relatively mildly. They couldn’t move yet, and their eyes looked glassy, but they were at least semi-lucid. Jin, Galatt, and Mennas were in worse shape. The three of them were totally unconscious and pale. Their breathing was labored too.

I immediately cast Antidote on them, and it helped a little. Their color improved, but it didn’t do much for their breathing, nor did it bring them back to consciousness. Still, it seemed to be doing something, so I then cast it on myself, Gramps, and Leena. After that, I kept monitoring them to see what would happen.

“Seems like my symptoms are pretty mild. Headache, dizziness, nausea... But I can’t get rid of the damn sweet smell,” I said.

When that burst of mist had exploded, the Wind magic had cut out for a split second, and I’d taken the blast full-on. Not only that, but I’d had to run through the mist without any Wind magic protection at all to get everybody to safety. The odor had seeped deep into my clothes at that point. The others had been hit too, but since I had stashed them in the dimension bag quickly, they hadn’t gotten hit nearly as badly.

After I washed my face, arms, and changed clothes, I checked on the others. Jin and the others still hadn’t woken up, but their breathing had settled. It looked like they were doing better. As I was going over their symptoms in my head, Gramps and Leena finally fully came to.

“Ugh... Tenma... Water... Please...”

“Me too... Please...”

Both asked for something to drink and were able to sit up on their own. That was a relief.

“Here you go. How are you guys feeling?” I asked.

“Like hell. It’s like I was on a ship during a storm!” Gramps said.

“I feel hungover...” Leena groaned.

They both drank some water, clutching their heads. They were acting just like people who’d had way too much to drink.

“Hang on... What if you are drunk?” I said. Their symptoms were so similar to a hangover that it came out of my mouth without thinking. “Not from alcohol, obviously. But like you were drugged or something. I don’t know what was in that mist, but something is messing with our bodies. Jin, Galatt, and Mennas got hit the hardest, while you two and I weren’t affected as badly. We’re the magic users in this party. I’m thinking maybe the mist causes some kind of magic-related intoxication.”

“You mean like mana poisoning?” Leena asked. “I’ve heard of that happening if you overdose on mana recovery potions, but I didn’t know it could happen naturally.”

“It shouldn’t under normal circumstances because it would disperse before it could build up, even in areas with a high concentration of mana. But if that mist was a concentrated mass of mana, and if the space behind that wall was sealed up tight, then it could have pooled in there,” Gramps explained. “Plus, some of it was leaking outside as well, remember? Which means whatever caused it must be actively radiating mana.”

Gramps’s explanation was pretty much exactly what I’d been thinking.

“Well, as long as they get some rest, Jin and the others should recover. But I wanna go check out that place again first,” I said.

I didn’t know what was causing the mist, but if it kept leaking and spreading through the rest of the dungeon, then all that progress we had made would end up being for nothing. Gramps and Leena clearly wanted to retreat while we could, but if the mist was the problem, then I already had a plan to handle it.

“I’ll deal with it the same way as I did with that octopus. I’ll wrap myself in a Wind barrier, pump in magically purified air, and make sure that it surrounds me the whole time. That should keep the mist off me. I seem to have some natural resistance to it to boot. But if we don’t get that hole sealed up, the whole dungeon—and maybe even the upper layers—could be in danger,” I explained.

Gramps finally agreed to my plan. I left him and Leena to watch over Jin and the others, and I stepped out of the safe room alone.

“The mist made the visibility worse...”

It was just a bit hazy here, but the fact that it was like this despite us being so far away from the blast point wasn’t good. The mist must’ve been incredibly thick over there.

And I was right.

By the time I reached the slope again, I could barely see more than a few meters ahead of me because the mist was so thick.

“Should I push through with Wind magic, or blow it away first? Either way, it’s gonna spread if I don’t do something...”

The mist had pooled around the slope, so stirring it up with Wind magic would just scatter it everywhere. Even just entering that area could release more of it. But if I did nothing, I wouldn’t be able to figure out what was causing it in the first place.

“Maybe I could go in and seal the path behind me with a wall? Nah, then I’d be stuck if something goes wrong...” I muttered to myself.

I crept to the edge, just close enough to avoid stirring up the mist. It was then that I saw it.

“Huh? The ground’s white. Is that the source?”

The floor had a light coating of some sort of white powder. I touched it with my finger—it looked like chalk dust.

“It’s not lime, but if this is what’s causing the mist, then maybe I can do something about it.”

If the substance was something like powdered lime, maybe I could wash it away. I sealed the entrance to the slope with my wind barrier and reached my arm inside. I cast a light water mist spell, which acted kind of like a spray.

The water droplets fell to the ground, and when they hit the powder, they turned white. It seemed like it was working.

Encouraged, I increased the spray pressure to reach deeper into the slope. As the water hit the powder, it started flowing downhill, creating a current and gradually clearing the mist.

“All right, this should work.”

I kept spraying, and the mist thinned out fast. Soon, the air was almost clear, and there were puddles of cloudy white water all over the floor. I probably didn’t need to keep using Water magic at this point. I kept my Wind barrier up as I headed toward the wall.

“There’s still some left near the wall. I could hit it again, but maybe I should check what’s behind it first.”

There could have been something inside that didn’t react well to water, so I decided to check it out before blasting it again.

“All right, Detection didn’t find any monsters, so it’s not a boss room,” I said. “The space itself is huge, though...”

I did a quick scan before going in. The room wasn’t as big as the hydra’s lair, but it was easily the biggest one we’d found in the new dungeon. It was probably one of the biggest, even if I considered the upper dungeon’s floors.

“Guess I’ll take a look inside... Whoa!”

The moment I stepped through the hole I’d opened, I flinched. A monster’s face was staring at me from right beside the entrance.

“Jeez, I nearly had a heart attack...”

I realized pretty quickly it was dead, but if it’d taken me even a second longer to notice that, I probably would’ve blasted it on instinct.

“Still, that’s one hell of a snake! And there are two of them.”

The snakes were half-mummified, and chunks of their bodies had been crushed under the rock, so I couldn’t be sure of how big they were, exactly. But if I had to guess, I’d say they were each at least thirty meters long.

“Doesn’t look like I’ll be salvaging any materials from those guys anytime soon.”

Judging by the gashes on their throats, it seemed like they’d been fighting with each other, so they hadn’t been a mated pair. Moss and mold were growing on their corpses—they were gross enough that I had no desire to touch them.

“Maybe those rocks at the entrance were from when those two fought?”

My best guess was that the two giant snakes had fought each other in this room. They had wrecked the place to the point where the entrance collapsed and had ended up killing each other.

“That still doesn’t explain the mist.”

The farther I went into the room, the more of that sweet-smelling haze lingered. I decided it wasn’t worth chasing after the monster materials and started spraying mist magic again to clear it out. I was working right in the middle of the buildup this time, compared to when I’d been clearing out the slope earlier. Honestly, it was kind of satisfying to watch the fog thin out in real time.

“I guess I’ll start working my way around and... Hey, what’s that?”

As I kept clearing the mist, the edge of the room came into view. I saw something that looked like a pedestal on the far wall that stood opposite the entrance. Curious, I made my way over.

“No way... Is that a dungeon core?”

A massive dungeon core sat on top of the pedestal.

The one Jin and the Dawnswords had found before was just over a meter in diameter, and that was considered the largest one ever discovered. This one, however, was way bigger. It was easily over a meter and a half.

“This is nuts... I can’t believe it...”

I was so shocked by the size of it that I let my gaze wander upward. There, I locked eyes with something massive.

“A dragon?”

Sure enough, a dragon was looming overhead, staring right at me. It was easily as big as the dragon zombie I had taken down a long time ago. Maybe it was even bigger.

It was also long dead.

“Even just its bones are scary,” I said. “I bet it was as powerful as the dragon zombie when it was alive too. Or even stronger.”

The dragon radiated power, even in death. Honestly, it wouldn’t have surprised me if it had been stronger than an ancient dragon.

Just then, I noticed the haze around me growing even more dense.

“The mist is thickening again. Where’s it coming from?”

I looked around, trying to locate the source, but I didn’t spot anything suspicious.

“Maybe I should head back and tell the others about the core,” I said to myself. I turned toward the entrance, but then I stopped in my tracks. “Wait, did something just spew out mist?”

It looked like some more haze had puffed out from a rock near the entrance. I rushed over to check it out, only to realize what I’d thought was a rock was actually one of the snake corpses. And moss was growing near the spot where I’d seen more mist appear.

“Wait, is it because of this moss? It doesn’t look like anything special, though.”

I’d never seen this variety of moss before, but it just looked a little unusual. It didn’t seem like something that’d release things into the air like this.

“Identify doesn’t give me its name. In that case, I guess it is a new species?”

As I stared at the moss, I could’ve sworn I saw it twitch. I closely watched the same spot, and it slowly began to swell, almost like something was trying to push its way out from the inside.

“This is the source!”

The raised bit then bulged into a round lump before releasing another puff of mist. It thinned out as it dispersed into the air, but when I dropped my barrier and inhaled, it was still that same cloying, sweet scent from before.

There was no doubt about it—this was where it was coming from.

“So it’s just pollen? Like moss pollen?” I pinched a swollen patch of moss and found a tiny pouch just beneath the surface. It looked like some kind of bud with a thin stalk connecting it. It was probably drawing in air through that tube and using that to shoot the pollen out, which in turn created the mist.

“I guess it evolved this way since there aren’t any bugs to carry its pollen.”

Still, it was weird that I hadn’t found moss like this anywhere else in this dungeon.

“Well, at least I figured out the source. That’s good. I should probably head back, though.”

I’d been out for an hour already. Gramps and the others would start to worry if I didn’t hurry back.

I rushed back to the safe room, only to be greeted by...

“Tenma! You’re late!”

I thought I had only been gone for an hour, but apparently, it’d been over two. Gramps started giving me an earful the second I got back.

I’d lost track of time—there had been dragon bones, the dungeon core, and the mystery of the mist, after all!

“Hmm, so if we take that dungeon core, it basically counts as clearing the dungeon, right?” Gramps asked.

“How come Tenma got to waltz right in and steal all the glory for himself?” Leena whined.

“Hey, it’s not like I expected there to be no final boss at the bottom!” I protested. “Anyway, how are Jin and the others doing?”

They looked a lot better now than when we had left. I asked Gramps if anything else had happened while I was gone, and he and Leena said no. Apparently, the three of them had even regained consciousness at one point, so they had figured they’d be fine. They were probably just sleeping off the fatigue right now.

“Once Jin and the others are up, we can all go back to that room and grab the dungeon core and the dragon bones. Then, we can go back up to the surface and party!” Leena said excitedly. Knocking out another dungeon so soon after clearing the one above us had really fired her up.

“Tenma, you don’t really seem all that eager to get the core,” Gramps said, noticing my mood.

There was something nagging at me. “Well, honestly, I’m kind of worried about it,” I admitted. “Remember that theory I had about this dungeon being like a dimension bag? Well, if that turns out to be true, then what’ll happen after we take the core?”

“Huh?” they both said in unison.

“You know how dimension bags work. You store stuff inside their expanded space, right? But if that space collapses... Gramps, you know what happens to everything inside, don’t you?”

“Well, sure. It all gets dumped out at once,” he said.

“Hang on, you mean the contents of the entire dungeon would get dumped out beneath Sagan City?” Leena said.

If that were to actually happen, the whole city would get blasted sky-high.

“And even if I’m wrong about the whole dimension bag thing, once the core’s removed, the dungeon stops functioning. If that’s the case, that would just leave behind a massive empty shell of a dungeon with weakened walls. Don’t you think that’s just as bad?”

Even if my bag theory was off, Sagan could still end up sinking a hundred-plus stories into the earth.

“That’s a nightmare scenario either way,” Gramps said.

Leena frowned. “While they’re both just theories for now, they’re not out of the realm of possibility either. And if the worst came to pass and either one did happen, the damage would be catastrophic. And we’d be right in the middle of it,” she said.

If this really were a dimension bag situation, we’d go flying along with the city. And if the dungeon just collapsed, we’d be buried down here. Either way, it would be a nightmare for us, just like Gramps had said.

“Maybe I’m just overthinking it, though, since there haven’t been any reports like this from other dungeons,” I began, “but no one’s ever cleared a dungeon this huge before either. I think we should pull back for now and report it to the king first. Let’s just see how he and the others decide to handle it. Oh, and if he tells us to take the core...I intend to refuse.”

“Same here,” Gramps said.

“I’d like to say the same, but I’ll just let Jin speak for us if it does come to that. And if things go south, I can just leave the Dawnswords,” Leena said.

She wasn’t in a position to openly defy the king like Gramps and I could. If Jin had to take the heat for her, then so be it. And if Jin couldn’t refuse either, walking away might be the only choice left.

It seemed like we were all on the same page, so now it was up to Jin and the others.

“Still, I can’t believe that some moss was producing that harmful mist...” Gramps said. “Tenma, you said you blew it away with wind, but what if there was more to it? It had a sedative effect like a kind of sleep gas. And maybe it wasn’t pollen and was carrying moss spores instead,” Gramps said. “The gas could disable their victim, and the spores could stick to them too. The victim inhales it, slowly becomes poisoned, falls asleep, and never wakes up. And then their corpses become fertile ground for the moss to grow. Doesn’t that make sense? And since gas is lighter than air, that’d explain why it floated up to the higher levels too. I’ve heard that some gases actually do smell sweet.”

Everything that Gramps said just now did make a whole lot of sense. I’d literally seen moss growing out of the snake’s corpse.

“Maybe the reason the moss is only in that room is that it needs special conditions to grow, or maybe the spores can’t make it past that steep slope. Or maybe the germination rate is just really low.”

“If it needs special conditions, maybe the moss is the dungeon core itself? Who knows, maybe the moss was the boss all along!” Leena was half-joking, but honestly, she might’ve been onto something. If I hadn’t been there, Gramps and the others probably wouldn’t have made it.

“Even if we find a way to enter that room safely, taking the core could still break the dungeon. Then it’d be practically impossible to clear it.”

We didn’t know for sure that taking the core would destroy this entire area, but if it did, then this dungeon would just be unclearable.

“I think that’s how we frame it to the king, then. He’d probably prefer to have a steady supply of resources from the dungeon above this one over potentially blowing the whole thing up. It’s not like we can risk the entire city of Sagan on a gamble either, no matter how unlikely it might be,” I said.

Dungeon cores were rare, but they didn’t have any real use. In the eyes of the kingdom, the profits gained from Sagan City were far more valuable. Some nobles might complain, but Sagan City was royal territory, so no one would dare speak against the king’s decision. Or at least, that was what I figured.

“So I guess we wait for Jin and the others to recover, grab the dragon bones, and just be done with it?” Leena asked. She was really excited about the dragon bones.

“I honestly don’t think we’ll get many bones. Most of them had fused with the rock, and the exposed parts were in pretty bad shape. Besides, there’s a chance those bones are part of the dungeon core too. We’re better off just not touching them at all.”

I figured the core was probably just a mutated version of the dragon’s own magic core. But honestly, I didn’t actually believe the bones were part of it. That theory had even less weight than my dimension bag idea.

“Fewer idiots will try to grab the bones if we frame it that way,” I said.

The reason I had said that was as a precaution. If someone were to bring back even just a piece of the skeleton, nobles would start pushing for the rest to be looted “for the good of the kingdom.” And if there were enough people asking for that, the king wouldn’t be able to ignore it.

“I’ll explain all of that to the king, and I’ll jack up the request for extra compensation. I hope you can be satisfied with that,” I said.

If it still wasn’t enough, I was ready to throw in my share of the reward. I could even pay out of pocket in the worst-case scenario, not that I thought it would come to that. The king would probably cover it without any fuss. But I made the offer to Leena anyway to show her I was serious.

If she were on board, we could drag it to a tied vote, even if Jin and the others pushed back. And with a draw like that, we’d be secure enough to suggest that we “check with the client first.”

“Hmm... I mean, if I can get more money without taking any extra risks, I’m all for it. But if this ends with a fight between us and Jin and the others, you’d better take responsibility!” Leena said.

She probably didn’t think it would actually come to that. But she wanted a little insurance just in case, and that was her way of asking for it. I accepted her terms, and with that, I had an ally if things were to go sideways.

As for Gramps, I didn’t bother asking—I already knew he’d take my side. But he did give me a different kind of condition.

“Tenma,” he said, “tell me why you’re so hung up on those dragon bones.”

It wasn’t anything dramatic. It wasn’t like I was planning on sneaking back later and secretly looting them or anything.

“I had a thought... Maybe that dragon was Solomon’s mom or dad. And I don’t wanna go disturbing what might be its grave.”

I’d originally found Solomon’s egg way up on one of the upper floors, but it was hard for me to think that a high-tier dragon like that and a mid-tier one like Solomon were completely unrelated. If anything, the fact that they were both from the same dungeon made the connection more likely.

“If I could bring even part of it back for Solomon, I’d love to. But if that ended up causing the destruction of Sagan, that’s not really worth it, is it?”

So, honestly, I just wanted to leave well enough alone.

“Why not just tell Leena that if that’s how you feel?” he suggested.

“Since I’m not sure about it, it’s kind of embarrassing to say it out loud. And besides, what I told her was still true.”

That’s where the conversation ended.

A few hours later, things got noisy again after Jin and Galatt finally woke up and were well enough to argue. Mennas, like Leena, was fine with the plan as it stood—more reward for less risk sounded good to him.

Jin and Galatt weren’t so easy to convince. A shot at getting high-tier dragon bones was the kind of once-in-a-lifetime chance they didn’t want to pass up.

They seemed to realize they’d lose in a vote. They didn’t push too hard, but they really weren’t thrilled about it. Well...not until Gramps blabbed about what I’d told him earlier.

“Aww... So Tenma’s got a soft side after all?”

“Guess we’ll let it go, then. I gotta respect Tenma’s kindness this time.”

Their sour moods immediately vanished and were replaced by weird, warm smiles. I got whiplash from how fast their attitudes had flipped.

They had probably just wanted to get all the grumbles out of their system, and once they had, they needed an excuse to change the mood. Making a big show of letting me “win” gave them that.

Honestly, if the king ended up being stingy with our bonuses, I was willing to give my share to Leena and Mennas. But to those other two? No way.

“And that concludes our report on the newly discovered dungeon beneath Sagan.”

“Nice work,” the king said to me. “This report is technically incomplete, but you’ve brought back valuable information. Minister of Finance, make sure they receive full payment.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

We headed straight to the capital after returning from the dungeon and submitted our report on the same day. We’d framed it around the theory that the dungeon might function like a dimension bag, and because of that, we couldn’t risk doing anything reckless until we knew more.

Unsurprisingly, many of the nobles didn’t like that. Some started wondering if we were lying about finding the dungeon core, while others accused us of trying to keep something valuable for ourselves. The very next day, we were summoned back to the castle because one of the nobles had said that they should’ve just told us to bring the core back.

In the end, I flat-out told the king we wouldn’t be retrieving the dungeon core in front of everyone. I didn’t care, not even if that meant we’d technically failed to complete the official request.

The nobles said it didn’t matter if we didn’t go—they would just send the Dawnswords instead. But Jin and the others also refused, saying they couldn’t do it without me and Gramps.

Their response pissed off the nobles who had made the suggestion in the first place, and they started shouting insults at us. I ignored them and once again made it clear to the king just how dangerous it would be to mess with that dungeon.

The shouting only got louder.

“This is all just fantasy!”

“You’re only afraid your lies will be exposed!”

I asked them one simple question. “Does that mean you’re willing to take full responsibility if the worst happens?”

I got total silence in response.

If nothing went wrong, they’d look like geniuses and rake in the profits. But if things did go wrong, they’d be forever known as the people who gambled with the lives of the people in Sagan City and used them as nothing more than an experiment. They all shut their mouths as reality sank in.

I think that was when most of them realized that sending someone to clear the dungeon wouldn’t be a victory for them—it’d be more like poison. To be fair, a lot of the smarter nobles had figured that out a while back and were either staying neutral now or quietly opposing. The loud ones were only making themselves look bad.

They weren’t all acting out of stupidity, though, and I wouldn’t say that every noble who was speaking up was a total fool. Some probably had their own agendas, and this was a reminder that we would need to tread carefully from here on out. While I wouldn’t be able to remember all their names and faces, I had a hunch the king and his aides were keeping track.

“Very well. That concludes the matter concerning the new dungeon beneath Sagan City. Oracion, Dawnswords. We may call on you to investigate if anything changes concerning the dungeon, so please be ready for that.”

And just like that, our report was over.

The king told Gramps and me to stick around afterward because he wanted to discuss the reward, as we were the leads on the dungeon team. Honestly, I just wanted to go home and relax, but I knew he’d just show up at the house anyway if we left now. We stayed put and played along.

“So they won’t even be able to get near the room with the dungeon core unless someone is strong in magic, right? And you went out of your way to hide it, making it nearly impossible to find?” Queen Maria asked.

I’d told her, the king, and Prince Caesar everything that I hadn’t shared in my official report. Publicly, we had claimed that the mist had made it impossible to get to the place, but the truth was that Galatt had made a rough but usable map at one point. We’d discussed things and had ultimately decided it was best not to leave that kind of information behind, so we had destroyed it.

We hadn’t completely blocked off the slope leading to the dragon’s chamber, but we’d stacked enough rocks along the path to make it a nightmare to try. On top of that, we had sealed off the shortest route with Earth magic. Anyone who wanted to go there would have to take a long, winding detour.

“There might be another path to that room from a different floor, but the one we used is pretty much a dead end now,” I said.

“And hm, bones that might’ve belonged to a parent of Solomon’s... Cruyff, are there any such records?”

“Not that I am aware of. I don’t recall there being documentation on a dragon like that,” he replied.

“Then it might’ve died before this kingdom was even founded. That would mean Solomon had been in an egg for centuries...”

If what the queen said was true, and that dragon really had been Solomon’s mom or dad, then Solomon had been waiting to hatch for hundreds of years. It sounded impossible, but...

“They say ancient dragons can live for thousands of years, so maybe the babies stay in eggs for a long time too.”

That was the only way it could make sense. Still, we were talking about this like it was a given, but it could’ve been some other dragon unrelated to Solomon entirely. I thought I probably shouldn’t get too hung up on it.

“You might be a little embarrassed if those bones don’t belong to one of Solomon’s parents, Tenma,” Gramps said.

Since that had been one of the reasons why we hadn’t taken the dungeon core, I knew Jin and the others would roast me if I ended up being wrong.

“Well, putting that aside for now, we ended up retrieving a number of things. There were various ores like mythril and gold, some reptilian and amphibian-type monsters, including lizards, frogs, and the like. There were also insect-type monsters, bones from undead skeleton monsters, and a few kinds of plants, including moss.”

Just the ores alone were reason enough to go back, but there was something else I needed to focus on now that we’d wrapped up the dungeon dive for the time being.

“Now Tenma can finally start getting ready for the wedding!” Gramps exclaimed. “I’m glad it all wrapped up faster than expected!”

Yeah. That.

It wasn’t like I had as much to do as Primera did, but this was my first time getting married in either of my lives. I wanted to make sure I went about it the right way.

Primera was stepping down from her post with the knights after the wedding, so she was swamped handling the transition now. But on the bright side, Duke Sanga and my soon-to-be mothers-in-law were so excited about the whole thing that the preparations were going smoothly.

“I can’t wait for the ceremony. So what’s going on with your wedding outfits?” Queen Maria asked.

“I’m having a friend make mine. Primera’s is being handled by one of the Sanga family’s personal tailors.”

My “friend” was Felt. I’d already seen his skills firsthand during Ceruna’s wedding prep, so I knew I could trust him. We didn’t want anyone’s outfits to clash, so we had gotten everyone together for a planning session before their actual work began.

Unfortunately, that had turned into a bit of a mess.

At first, Felt and the Duke’s tailor just hadn’t been able to see eye to eye. Thankfully, in the end, they had managed to find some middle ground, and now things were moving along without issue. Honestly, I had a strong suspicion that the only reason they had stopped fighting was that they had realized there was enough of Goldie and Silvie’s thread to go around. That meant no competition over who was getting the thread.

“I really wanted to join the meeting, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen. I’ll just let the outfits be one of the surprises to look forward to. By the way, are you two going on a honeymoon after your wedding?” the queen asked.

“We haven’t decided on anything official, but we were planning on visiting the duke’s estate in the Sanga duchy,” I said. “But...”

“Yes?”

“For some reason, it’s turned into an entire Otori family trip.”

It wasn’t exactly a real honeymoon, but Primera and I had discussed it and decided that it would be a good idea to visit the duchy as a married couple.

And for some reason, Gramps, Jeanne, and the others had said they were going to tag along too. Not only that, but Primera had been the one to give them the go-ahead. I had only found out about that after the fact. By the time I’d found out, there really hadn’t been any space to object.

“Well, I guess it’s nice that she gets along with the other ladies...?”

“Yeah, that’s how I’m choosing to look at it.”

Even Queen Maria didn’t quite know how to respond to the idea of a “honeymoon” with other women coming along. If I’d suggested it, she probably would’ve launched into a lecture. But since it had been Primera’s idea, that awkward observation was all she could manage.

Maybe Primera had just felt bad asking Jeanne and the others to stay behind. She had invited Gramps along because he was family, Jeanne and Aura were the maids, and Amur was...just tagging along or something like that.

“Sorry to change the subject, but what exactly did you mean by using the skeleton monster bones as material?” Price Caesar asked me.

“I figure that if we crush them down into a powder, mix it with oil cake and wood or grass and ash, it’ll make a decent fertilizer. It doesn’t have to be monster bones, though. There’s nothing special about them,” I said.

That was the only use I could really come up with. Since we had a ton of them now, big farms might find them useful.

Prince Caesar thought about it for a moment. “We might ask you for it eventually, but it’s not necessary right now,” he said. He seemed to decide the bones weren’t worth much.

That was fair. Buying leftover bones from the adventurers’ guild would probably be cheaper than sending the Dawnswords or me out to collect more.

He asked about the moss too, but I told him that it might only grow in that room. We’d actually brought some back together with some soil to see if it could grow somewhere else, but it had already started wilting after a day. It was basically dead now.

None of the other plants were worth the hassle of going back and getting more. So overall, they weren’t especially valuable.

“I do want to go back for the mythril at some point, but only when I have enough free time,” I said.

For now, our only real competition was Jin and his crew. And since they were still dealing with the aftereffects of the moss, they couldn’t go too deep into the dungeon. I didn’t have to stress about it.

As we were talking about all that, I heard someone sprinting down the hallway. The door burst open to reveal Luna.

She immediately started yelling. “Tenmaaaa! Did you bring me a souven— Waaah!”

Luna shrieked. That was because Princess Isabella had heard her coming, waited by the door, and then struck Luna right on the head with a fan as she had charged in. It’d been the perfect counterattack.

Luna rubbed her head and pouted at her mother.

“A souvenir, huh? Well, I only brought back one thing, so don’t complain.” I had Cruyff serve her a cup of tea I’d brought back from the dungeon.

“Princess Luna, this is the tea Master Tenma brought back as a souvenir. It’s got a bit of a strong flavor, so I’ll bring you some sweets to go with it,” Cruyff said as he placed the tea in front of her. He then left.

“Bring the sweets quick, okay? Blecch!” Luna downed the entire cup in one go, completely ignoring his warning, and was so surprised by the bitterness that she instantly spat it out.

Unfortunately, the tea shot right out at two unfortunate targets—the king and Prince Lyle, who had been watching with amused grins.

“M-My eyes! My eyeessss!”

Right as she had spat out the tea, she had angled her head just enough so that only those two got hit. I wasn’t sure if it had been pure instinct or some kind of royal reflexes that had kept us safe, but whatever.

An argument then began about whose fault it was, all while people ignored the king and Prince Lyle as they writhed in pain. The top suspects were me, Cruyff, and Luna.

I was blamed for having encouraged her to drink it under the guise of it being a souvenir. Cruyff was blamed for not having explained the tea enough beforehand and for failing to bring the sweets in time. And Luna was blamed for having chugged it like water because it hadn’t been piping hot.

“Well, I guess all three of you are at fault,” Queen Maria declared after a short round of discussion.

Honesty, only Luna had been serious. The rest of us were just messing around, so we took the queen’s ruling without protesting. Or at least, we would have, except Luna kept insisting she wasn’t to blame. That led to the queen giving her a proper scolding, and she really let her have it.

According to the queen, I was in the wrong for not warning Luna about the bitterness, and Cruyff was wrong for not giving her a proper heads-up, though that wasn’t that big of a deal. However, Luna was deemed guilty of having drunk it in a manner unbecoming of a princess, and then she had spat it out and caused some collateral damage. The net result was still negative, even if she was technically a victim.

“Anyway, everyone’s probably waiting back at the house, so I’ll head home,” I said, and promptly left the castle. I could see Luna getting chewed out my whole way to the door.

A few days later, I got the full story of what had happened.

Luna had been upset about being blamed, so she’d decided to give Tida the same tea experience. He hadn’t reacted the way Luna had hoped. Instead of freaking out like she had, he’d scolded her and had then reported it to the queen, which just won Luna another lecture.

That hadn’t been enough to stop her, of course. She had bottled up her frustration and targeted Kriss next. That one had worked. Luna had gotten the exact over-the-top reaction she’d wanted, as well as some uproarious laughter from Dean and Jean. And naturally, the queen had heard about it again...and Luna had gotten punished again.

Part Four

“I’m home!”

“Welcome back.”

Primera was the first one to greet me after I returned to the house. Jeanne and Amur did as well, along with my followers.

But when I walked into the dining room...

“You’re late.”

Albert was there waiting for me. Normally, Cain and Leon would be with him, but he was actually alone for once.

“What’s up? Did something happen?” I asked.

“Not really. Am I not allowed to come by unless there’s a reason?”

Albert was definitely acting off, but it wasn’t like I was going to kick him out just for showing up uninvited. Still...

“You seem like one of those guys who pisses off his wife and runs off to hide at his sister’s place,” I said bluntly. Albert went quiet and froze. That just told me everything I needed to know.

“Uh-oh. Too close for comfort?” I added.

“Why are you and Primera the ones blushing, then?” he finally shot back after he collected himself.

We weren’t married yet, but since Albert and Eliza had gotten married, it felt kind of awkward staying over at their place. Because of that, Primera and I had been bouncing between my house and the duke’s instead.

“Well, whatever happened, just make sure you apologize properly later.”

I cleared my throat to brush off the awkwardness and made sure to give Albert a light warning. Let’s be real—whatever had happened was almost definitely his fault. And if I had to pick sides, I’d rather stay on Eliza’s good side and throw Albert under the bus.

“So what happened? Don’t tell me...it’s a woman?” I asked.

I could believe it if it were Leon, but Albert flinched before I could even finish my sentence.

“You cheated?! That’s disgusting!” Primera yelled. I could hear the malice in her voice.

“N-No! Absolutely not! I swear I didn’t cheat!” Albert had actually stammered for a moment before firmly denying it.

Incidentally, the moment Primera’s mood had shifted, Amur had bolted from the dining room. Gramps, Shiromaru, Solomon, Jeanne, and Aura had been close behind her. I had wanted to run too, but as I had been stuck standing next to her, I hadn’t been able to move.

“H-Hey, Primera, maybe hear Albert out before jumping to conclusions, yeah?” I suggested. “How about we sit down with some tea? Oh, hey! Rocket just brought some over. Perfect timing...”

Rocket was the only one trying to de-escalate the situation. Primera accepted the tea and calmed down a bit. She sat down like she was ready to listen.

Albert finally confessed to what had happened. Honestly, the whole thing was pretty stupid.

“So basically...both of you were being idiots, but you didn’t cheat, I guess?”

It turned out that Albert and Leon had gone out drinking and ended up at a place with an all-female staff. He had gotten carried away and had stayed out too late. Eliza had asked where he’d been once he’d gotten home, and instead of just telling the truth, he had tried to dodge the question. That’d only made her upset, and by the time the next day had rolled around, he still hadn’t made up with her. And to make matters worse, he had come here to avoid dealing with it.

Normally, I’d expect the wife to storm off to her parents’, but what’d happened here was a clear indicator of their power dynamic. Or maybe Eliza had just grown so comfortable at the duke’s house that she didn’t feel the need to leave. Probably both.

“You should’ve just told her where you went. It’s not like you were actually cheating.”

“Yeah, I think Eliza’s pretty tolerant about that kind of thing. I don’t think she’s mad about where you went. She’s just mad you tried to lie about it,” Primera said.

If he’d just been upfront, she probably would’ve just said, “Ugh, Leon’s still dragging you to those places?” and that would’ve been the end of it. But when somebody tries to hide things, it just makes it look like they’ve got something worse to cover up. That’d make anybody suspicious.

“All right, let’s march Albert back to Eliza.”

Primera agreed with me. “Got it. This kind of thing’s better handled sooner rather than later. And if people think we’re hiding him here, that’ll just make things worse,” she said.

We all headed off to bring Albert back to the duke’s place. He seemed to realize that running away wasn’t solving anything, so he quietly followed us.

When we neared the estate, one of the servants there noticed our carriage and ran ahead to open the gate. Even though we hadn’t said anything, he clearly knew why we were here.

As we approached the front door, it opened. Eliza was there, with Duke Sanga behind her. He looked like he was having a rough go of it.

“Thanks for bringing him, Tenma and Primera,” Eliza said, thanking us with a smile. “And come on in, dear.” She then took Albert by the arm and led him into the house.

“Well, it looks like they made up,” I said.

“Okay, let’s head back.”

Duke Sanga suddenly popped out from behind the door, where he’d been hiding to avoid his daughter-in-law’s wrath, and cut in with an exasperated sigh. “Um, Tenma? They did not make up. Actually, I think it’s going to get way worse. And Primera, you know your home’s still here, right?”

“Long time no see, Duke Sanga,” I said. “Sorry that we didn’t say hello properly.”

“It’s going to be pretty noisy here tonight, Father, so I’ll be staying at the Otori estate. Let’s go, Tenma,” Primera stressed.

I bowed while Primera started to rush back to the carriage. It seemed like she was just totally done with the situation.

“I’ve been wanting to talk to you anyway, Tenma. Mind if I tag along?” the duke asked. “Actually... Please let me come with you.”

He grabbed Primera’s arm with a smile. I was pretty sure he already knew exactly how things with Eliza and Albert were going to play out tonight.

As the duchess and the other mothers had gone back to the duchy, being around these newlyweds wasn’t exactly relaxing for Duke Sanga.

“I’ll just give everyone here a few instructions first. Wait for me, okay?” he asked.

I agreed to let him come along, and he happily ran off to talk to his staff. If this had been Albert, I’d have left him behind without hesitation. I couldn’t just ditch the duke, though Primera looked like she wanted to. But when she saw how patiently I was waiting, she gave up and stayed put.

“Hmm, so next year, I might be holding my first grandchild in my arms...”

“I hope so. I don’t care if it’s a boy or a girl. I just want to meet them as soon as possible!”

Once the drinks started flowing, Duke Sanga and Gramps got themselves stuck in an endless loop, talking about their future grandkids. I got the feeling that Duke Sanga had some pent-up stress over the whole Albert thing—now that he’d gotten some space from it all, he was finally letting loose.

Primera looked more and more apologetic as her father relaxed, and Jeanne and the others did their best to comfort her. I’d never seen Amur look so sympathetic—she was commiserating with her, saying that her own dad was always like that.

Eventually, we ditched the two older men and went to bed early. And just as I had predicted, both of them were completely hungover the next morning. Primera gave the duke a harsh scolding.

“Amur, don’t rush ahead. Draw your enemies in before you strike! Jeanne, Aura, keep the sides covered with slingshots and stay alert! If anything gets past Amur, switch to your spears and intercept immediately!”

Today, for the first time in a while, I was helping out with Jeanne and the others’ training. We were in a forest a bit outside the capital. Goblin sightings had been on the rise lately, so we figured it was a good chance for Jeanne and Aura to gain some real experience. It was also an opportunity to test how things would work once Primera joined the team. Still, by the end of the battle, Amur had steamrolled over every last goblin, so Jeanne and Aura never even got the chance to use their spears.

“Ha! I’m not afraid of some pesky little goblins, Primera!” Amur said triumphantly.

“This is training for emergencies,” Primera replied. “I didn’t think for a second you’d ever fall behind against goblins, but there’s always a chance another group could attack from a different direction. You need to get used to reacting instantly.”

Primera was the one calling the shots right now, and the others were moving in line with her commands. Amur probably didn’t think she was being underestimated or anything. It was more like she had cracked a joke like she always did, and Primera had hit her with a serious answer in return.

After this, they rotated through leadership roles. First, Amur was in charge, then Jeanne, then Aura. The results of this exercise were that Jeanne and Aura definitely weren’t ready yet.

Amur could issue commands just fine, but she relied way too much on brute force. She might’ve been even faster than Primera against weaker enemies like goblins, but if that momentum ever got stopped, she’d leave herself wide open for a nasty counterattack. Primera, on the other hand, had led actual squads before—her commands were confident and measured. She might’ve been a bit too cautious at times, but she was solid and consistent. And honestly, just watching her work was reassuring. I thought that she might even be better at commanding others than I was. Maybe even better than Gramps.

“The difference in experience and personality really shows. Amur’s not bad, but you can tell that she’s green. It’s not like it’s a problem unique to her, though. Most adventurers are like that,” Gramps commented.

Gramps and I used to be mostly solo operators. A lot of adventurers who worked by themselves weren’t used to giving orders or following them. The Dawnswords were a different story since they’d worked together for so many years. But having a leader of a party not really knowing how to command, like in Oracion, naturally led to more brute-force tactics.

“With Oracion, you’ve got three people who can completely dominate the battlefield. Because of that, brute force is probably the most effective approach. But if they rely on that too much, Jeanne and Aura are the ones who’ll end up paying the price when something goes wrong,” Primera explained.

She wanted to break that habit of ours before it got someone hurt. And as one of the three brute forcers... Well, that one stung a little.

“Looks like we’ve cleared out the goblins. Why don’t we take a break and eat something?”

We’d been running command drills in rotation for a while, and by now, the goblin population had dropped off. The plan for today was to knock out some of them while training, and then we’d gather some materials in the forest. This was the perfect time to pause and have a late lunch.

“What about after we eat? Should we split up and forage on our own, or team up and try to take down something bigger?” I asked.

Amur and Aura said they wanted to go after something big, while Jeanne said she wanted to hunt something we could eat for dinner. Gramps and Primera didn’t care either way. They said they’d just go with whatever I chose.

I had a reason for wanting to go solo. “Actually, I’ve got a personal request I gotta go take care of, so I’m gonna head off on my own,” I said.

“Who’s the personal request from?” Gramps asked.

“Duke Sanga. He asked me to find some truffles. He’s planning to have them with my mothers-in-law,” I explained. “He said they don’t have to be big, but he wants enough to go around.”

Most of the people who could submit personal requests to me were friends of Gramps, so it wasn’t like I needed to keep them secret or anything.

Primera and the others nodded, thinking it was a sweet gesture of the duke’s. However, Gramps had a different opinion on the matter.

“Oh, truffles... They say they have aphrodisiac effects. They boost your stamina in the bedroom,” he said bluntly.

Primera was the first to react. “Father...” She pressed her hands to her face, looking mortified.

“Wow, even Primera’s ears turned red!” Amur teased. She was promptly smacked upside the head by Jeanne.

“Primera, Gramps is just saying that people claim that. Not that that’s definitely why he wants them.”

There was this whole thing about how female pigs find truffles because truffles supposedly smell similar to the pheromones from male pigs. But no one in this world knew the science behind that—they just knew that female pigs got excited when they sniffed truffles. That was why they thought they must be some kind of aphrodisiac.

“As for the stamina-boosting claims, that probably just comes from the idea that truffles help strengthen the body in general,” I said.

Gramps wasn’t technically wrong, but it wasn’t like the duke had some kind of ulterior motive, or so I explained to Primera. And even if he did, it was all just speculation. It wasn’t like I’d grill him about it or anything.

“Come to think of it, I’ve never actually eaten truffles before,” Amur said.

Aura nodded. “Same. Even though Master Tenma’s brought them back a few times, we’ve never eaten them,” she said.

“No, you two have had them before,” I said.

“Wait, what?” Even Jeanne looked shocked.

“Well, not whole truffles, but I mixed them into some butter I’ve used,” I explained. I was talking about how I’d made truffle butter and used it on toast or in pasta.

“Oh, wait! I think there was that pasta you made that tasted really good!”

“I can’t remember a thing.”

“Same here. Why didn’t you just put it on something more obvious?!”

Jeanne seemed to vaguely remember the dish, but Amur and Aura didn’t have a clue.

“Honestly, it’s just because I don’t know any fancy recipes. Truffle butter’s easy and convenient. Plus, I figured it was smarter to sell the rest and buy food that was guaranteed to taste good instead of experimenting with weird new dishes,” I explained.

They accepted that answer. The truth, though, was that I had tried to cook with truffles a few times and had completely failed. The results had been so underwhelming that I had ended up giving up and selling the rest. I probably should’ve asked Albert or Cain or maybe even Aina for advice, but I had let my pride as a self-taught cook get the better of me. It just wasn’t food for commoners’ tastes...or at least, that was what I told myself.

“If I find more than what I need to give the duke, maybe I’ll ask someone for a recipe and give it another go.”

That little comment got everyone’s hopes up as we split off to search for truffles.

“Didn’t find much.”

Maybe it was because the goblins had already wrecked the place, but I barely managed to scrape together enough to fulfill the duke’s request. There wasn’t much left for us.

“They’re all so little. Guess I’ll have to go with truffle butter again.”

I thought I had just enough to make some pasta for the group, so I asked if they wanted any.

“Tenma, I think it’d be smarter to serve it before you deliver the truffles to my dad. Otherwise, Albert and the others might just ‘happen’ to drop by.”

Because of Primera’s warning, I decided to prep the butter that evening and make the pasta for lunch the next day. The duke’s truffles would be delivered after lunch. That was the plan, at least, but the moment I got back and started getting things ready...

“Tenmaaa, you’re not hiding anything yummy from me, are you?”

Kriss showed up uninvited. I quickly stashed the truffles away and threw something else together to distract her. I figured I’d just cook the truffle butter pasta after she left, but Amur and Aura were acting so suspiciously that she sniffed out the secret right away.

And so the next day at lunch, Amur and Aura couldn’t stop gushing about the long-awaited truffle butter pasta.

“Mm, this is amazing!”

“It smells sooo good.”

“The aroma’s kind of weak,” Kriss commented.

“Well, we did mix in bacon and other kinds of mushrooms, so the truffle taste is bound to be a little diluted,” Primera said.

“Yeah, it’s definitely not as strong as the one we had before,” Jeanne said with a nod.

“Maybe I didn’t use enough truffle in the butter. They were all tiny ones this time, so maybe they weren’t large enough to be very aromatic,” I said.

“Whatever. As long as it tastes good, who cares?”

Amur and Aura looked like they were starting to feel awkward because of the lukewarm reviews, but Gramps bailed them out. And just like that, everyone was asking for seconds.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough truffle butter to make another batch, so I served up the same pasta using plain butter instead. I got the exact same enthusiastic reactions.

“Whoa, you brought back more than I expected! Thanks!”

That afternoon, Primera and I went to deliver the truffles I’d gathered to Duke Sanga. None of them were even close to fifty grams apiece, but altogether, they did add up to about two hundred grams. That was more than enough for him, his wife, and the rest of the household to enjoy. I didn’t know how much you were supposed to use in one meal, but I knew that at least he wouldn’t be running short.

“Tenma, do you mind if I have a word about your reward?”

Duke Sanga gave Primera a quick glance, then waved me over and pulled me a few steps away from her.

“I get the feeling she’s been looking at me a little coldly today. You wouldn’t happen to know why, would you?” he asked. His tone of voice implied that I definitely knew what was going on.

“Well, when we were out in the forest gathering truffles...”

I explained what had happened out there, and the more I spoke, the redder the duke’s face got.

“Wait, so that was why you wanted the truffles?” I said in disbelief.

His reaction made it hard to believe otherwise.

“N-No,” he stammered. “I mean, well... Maybe I hoped a little. That’s not a crime, right? Still, I do genuinely like truffles, you know.”

“Got it. I’ll come up with something to smooth things over with Primera.”

I could live with that. They had a good relationship, and if that was all, there was no harm done. I just didn’t want to say anything that’d make things weird between the two of them, or me and either of them.

“Anyway, here’s your payment. I hope you’ll help us out again sometime,” he said.

Duke Sanga said goodbye, and Primera and I left the estate. Unfortunately, her mood hadn’t exactly improved on the way out.

“Hey, since it’s just the two of us, why don’t we stop somewhere for tea?” I suggested.

I figured I would try to patch things up a bit and distract her, like I had promised her father. And a stop at a quiet café seemed like a good way to do that.

“So anyway, it seems like Duke Sanga didn’t want the truffles for that reason after all,” I said. “I mean, if they really had that effect, children wouldn’t be allowed to eat them, right? And it’d be a terrible idea to serve them at restaurants where all sorts of people eat together, or parties with unmarried nobles mingling.”

The government would’ve regulated truffles ages ago if they really functioned as an aphrodisiac. There was no way something like that would be sold out in the open to regular people.

“Also, truffles are said to help strengthen the body since they boost your vitality. They’re good for your health,” I added.

That was just a secondary benefit, though, not a direct effect of eating truffles. I didn’t bother to explain that part to Primera since I didn’t want to complicate things.

“I guess I was just jumping to conclusions, then. Now I’m really embarrassed,” she said.

While she hadn’t been totally wrong, it was easier for everybody if she thought she was, so I didn’t correct her.

“Well, Gramps was the one who said something misleading in the first place. And honestly, I can’t blame you for getting the wrong idea, considering the timing. Anyway, you’re heading back to Gunjo City the day after tomorrow, right?” I asked her.

Primera lifted her head and answered me without hesitation. “Yes, I’m going to stay there for around ten days or so to help hand things over to the new liaison team and share some information with them. If things get dragged out, I might be there for as long as three weeks.”

Phew, my attempt to change the topic worked.

“In that case, how about we stop by Kelly’s place after this and have her take a look at the knight golems’ armor? It’s a bit of a walk, but we’ve been using them more in the forest and in the meadow lately. I don’t want anything to go wrong if you use them in actual combat, so we should have an expert check them for any issues before you head out to Gunjo City,” I said.

It was probably close to an hour’s walk from where we were, but that was nothing compared to what we usually did for quests or work. Honestly, doing this felt more like a casual date, which made me feel kind of self-conscious. But hey, we were getting married in a few months. I couldn’t be getting flustered over a little stroll when such a big deal was coming up.

Primera might have been thinking the same thing—I noticed her cheeks were flushed. I was blushing too.

“Hmm? Huh, so you came all the way out here for a date when there’s such a man shortage around here? You’re really rubbing it in, aren’t ya? Don’t come crying to me if one of them stabs you in the back later.”

Kelly had said that in a breezy tone of voice as if to suggest that she never had trouble finding a man, but all the dwarf women in the shop behind her silently giggled while pointing straight at her.

“Guess I’ll have to watch my back, then. By the way, can you take a look at the knight golems’ armor for me?” I steered the conversation in another direction since it seemed to be getting dangerous.

Primera must’ve had the same idea because she quickly pulled the three knight golems from her dimension bag.

“Hm. These are surface-level scratches, so they’re nothing major. No need to worry. I won’t know about the inside until we take the armor off, though.”

We went ahead and started removing the armor so she could inspect each one. It was quicker and safer to have the other two knight golems assist as the other was being examined rather than having the strong dwarves help.

“Yep, none of the three have any serious damage. Your usual maintenance routine should be enough for this. Still, they’re getting better at those precise movements, huh? Wish I had one myself to use as an assistant...”

Kelly always said things like that, so I just ignored her. We’d had this conversation several times.

On one occasion, Aura had muttered, “If you want an assistant that badly, maybe you should get a boyfriend.”

Kelly had been so angry that she had dragged Aura to the back of her workshop with a demonic expression on her face. Aura hadn’t come home until the next morning.

Anyway, after we checked over Primera’s armor and weapons, we decided to take our time walking back home. We could’ve hired a carriage or called for Thunderbolt, but it was still early for dinner, so Primera suggested we go on foot instead.

“It’s been a while since I just walked around the capital,” I said.

“I’ve actually been doing it more often since I’ve been going shopping with Jeanne and Amur lately,” Primera said.

She told me she’d been window-shopping with Jeanne and the others a lot more these days. I’d been busy with dungeon dives and the like until just the other day, so even when I had gone shopping, I had usually just headed straight to the store I’d needed. And when I would go to the castle or Duke Sanga’s estate, I usually took Thunderbolt or a carriage. So this was the longest I’d walked through town in months.

Because of that, and since it did kind of feel like a date, we ended up getting distracted and making a bunch of little stops along the way.

“Tenma! Primera! You’re late!”

And that meant we got home well past dinnertime. We ended up getting scolded by Amur, who was waiting for us.

Primera and I decided to spend the next day walking around the capital tomorrow since she’d be leaving for Gunjo City the following morning. But just as we were getting ready to leave, Primera suddenly remembered something she’d forgotten to pick up from the duke’s estate, and Jeanne and Aura claimed they forgot to hang up the laundry. That meant that Amur and I got sent off to the guild alone, where we ran into Jean.

“Oh, so you’re on a date with Amur to make up for getting home late last night?” he asked with a grin.

“No! I’m gonna go register for the martial arts tournament at the guild. Primera had some business at the duke’s place and told me to go on ahead with Amur. We’re meeting up with her later!”

“That’s right! It’s not a date! It’s not. But it... It is really close to a date! And just so you know, I got Primera’s approval!” Amur said.

I had a feeling the others had cooked this situation up beforehand, because Jean knew enough about what was going on to tease me about it. But if someone else who didn’t know the full story but knew I was engaged to Primera saw me walking around with another girl, they’d probably think I was cheating before our wedding even happened. I really wished they had thought that part through.

“Are you out shopping with your wife and kids today?” I asked, noticing he was wearing casual clothes.

“Nah. I just got sent out to do some shopping, that’s all.”

That answer was extremely suspicious.

“Tenma, I think Jean got kicked out by his wife for cheating, and now he’s wandering around the streets with nowhere to go. We should give him a spot in Jubei’s shed,” Amur suggested.

“The least you could do was offer me a room inside the house! And I didn’t cheat, I—”

“So you did get kicked out.”

“All right, it’s settled. He gets the shed,” I said.

“C’mon, don’t do this to me!”

I dragged the exhausted-looking Jean to a nearby café to get the full story.

“I’m Jean Jack Bauer of the king’s guard, and I’d like to register for the individual competition in the tournament.”

And that was how Jean ended up entering the martial arts tournament too.

The reason he had been kicked out was that he had missed his daughter’s school event the day before due to a last-minute work assignment. His wife had tried to smooth things over, but their daughter had been so upset that his wife threw him out before their daughter could start crying. And that had been when Amur and I had bumped into him.

“I’m gonna beat the crap outta Tenma and make my daughter say, ‘Wow, Dad’s so cool!’”

That had apparently been his reasoning for entering the tournament.

Amur had talked him into it. If he were to show off how cool he was, his daughter might forgive him.

However...

“Jean, the tournament’s still two months away. What are you going to do until then?” I asked.

Putting on a good performance at the tournament was one way to turn things around, but he really needed to make things right with his daughter and make it back home way sooner.

“Tenma, what do you think I should do?” he asked.

“Um, don’t ask me...”

“Surely you’ve dealt with Princess Luna or Kriss when they’re moody, right?” he asked.

I wasn’t thrilled about him comparing his daughter to those two, but I gave him some advice based on how I usually handled them.

“Well, most of the time, I just give them something good to eat, and that helps. If not, Queen Maria or Aina will step in.”

“That’s not super helpful.”

That was fair. I could always ignore those two or kick them out if they got too annoying. In Luna’s case, she usually behaved if she thought there was a chance she might get sent home. So yeah, this wasn’t much help to Jean.

“It should still be worthwhile to show up with something yummy, though.”

If he brought over something his daughter liked and gave her a sincere apology, there was a decent chance she’d soften up. Of course, I couldn’t say for sure that it’d do the trick. But staying away from his family for two whole months while waiting on the tournament would only make things worse, even if he won.

Once I explained that, Jean swore he’d head home with some treats and make things right.

Not much later, Primera and the others showed up, and we brainstormed some more.

“All right, Tenma! I’m counting on you!”

In the end, Jean would make the sweets himself while I acted as his instructor.

“Jean in an apron is not a good look! This is the most hilarious thing I’ve seen in weeks!”

The taste-testers included Primera and the others who’d already been here. Kriss apparently caught wind of something interesting and came sniffing around, so she helped taste things too.

Jean was so focused on the baking that he completely ignored Kriss as he followed Jeanne’s lead. But judging how sharp his glare was getting, he was just bottling all his anger up to let out after the cookies were done.

“They’re pretty average,” Jean said with a frown.

“I think they’re pretty good for your first time!”

The cookies Jean made had turned out okay. They weren’t great, but they weren’t bad either. He didn’t look thrilled, and Jeanne tried to cheer him up.

“Try these. They’ll make a big difference,” I offered.

There wasn’t enough time to make a new batch, so I figured the best way to improve these cookies was to eat them with jam.

“This one’s strawberry, this one’s apple, and this one is yuzu. Take ’em with you,” I said.

“Thanks, Tenma. I appreciate it.”

I handed over the three jars to Jean. He took them with both hands and bowed deeply.

And that was when Kriss swooped in.

“Hey! No fair! Why does only Jean get some?! Tenma, give me some too!” She ran over to us, but... “Wait! Jean, that’s kind of painful!”

Jean had ditched his apron and was now holding Kriss up by the scruff of her neck. He had lifted her slightly off the ground.

“Kriss, since you’re here, that must mean you’ve finished sorting all those documents, right? You’re not seriously telling me you ditched halfway to come screw around, are you?” he asked.

Jean had missed his daughter’s parent observation day at school because of Kriss. Apparently, she’d completely forgotten about the paperwork for the ministry of finance she’d needed to submit by yesterday afternoon, and Jean had been called in to fix it at the last minute. Not only that, but there were a few other reports due soon, and since she had screwed those up too, he had ended up covering for her again. Thanks to her, his whole day off had been shot.

To make matters worse, the documents hadn’t been submitted by the afternoon deadline. Since Jean was Kriss’s superior, he had been lectured by Prince Zane.

“I told you to bring the remaining reports to me for review. So where are they?”

“Um, I actually went by your house before coming here. I gave them to your wife since you weren’t home.”

Kriss was still dangling by her collar with a look on her face that said she wished she had just forgotten them for real.

Meanwhile, Jean was livid.

“I know she’s my wife, but you gave classified documents to someone outside of the king’s guard?! What the hell were you thinking?!” he yelled.

He had completely snapped. And I couldn’t blame him.

Amur said a quiet little prayer. “Kriss is sooo fired,” she said, looking straight at Kriss. And since Kriss had messed up with sensitive information, she just might’ve been right.

“She’s got a point! All right, you idiot, we’re heading back now!”

Jean stormed out of the dining room, dragging Kriss behind him. Since our carriage would get them there faster, I ended up having to drive them back to Jean’s house.

Kriss looked like she was on the verge of tears as Jean continued tearing into her. Thankfully, Jean’s wife had realized the documents were official from the king’s guard the moment she had seen them and had immediately locked them up in a secure cabinet. That had probably saved them from the worst possible outcome.

Once Jean picked up the documents, Jean took Kriss straight to the castle and reported everything to Dean. Later on, I heard that she had gotten chewed out for hours by both Dean and the queen, and Queen Maria had been so sleep-deprived and cranky the next day that the king, Prince Lyle, and Luna had all spent the day walking on eggshells.

Kriss was sentenced to one month of straight work shifts with no days off. She also had her pay cut for three months.

Jean’s day off had been totally wrecked thanks to her, but since his daughter had seen how hard he worked, she calmed down. The cookies and jam helped cheer her up too.

But Jean did report that his daughter had said the jam tasted better than the cookies, and that offhanded comment had crushed him.

After that incident, people started spotting Jean baking cookies in the king’s guard’s kitchen from time to time for extra practice.

Part Five

“I heard that there are more people entered in the solo brackets this year than ever before,” Gramps said.

I nodded. “It’s not just the solo brackets. The pair and team competitor pools saw a bump as well,” I replied.

Since word had gotten out that I was only entering the solo bracket, entries in the other brackets went up by about twenty percent compared to last year. Everyone had expected the solo bracket to either go down or stay the same as a result, but it saw a similar increase instead. Everyone in the ministry of finance was thrilled—and especially Prince Zane.

“That makes things rough on Amur because she has to start from the prelims,” Gramps said.

Last year, Amur had barely missed the cut for a seeded spot, so she was stuck starting from the prelims again this year. The only other person I knew who had a seeded position this year was Blanca. Jin hadn’t entered last year because he had been too focused on the dungeon, and Dean had passed on the tournament for his official duties, so that removed two major threats from the mix.

“Amur was complaining about how many more people signed up this year.”

Actually, I had been the one who’d knocked Amur out of last year’s tournament. She had been put into my bracket and had ended up facing me in the third round. She had been expected to win against all opponents besides Blanca and me, so when she had seen her draw, she’d groaned, “I had a fifty-fifty chance at winning, and I lost it!”

So now she was training extra hard. Jeanne and Aura had gotten roped into training with her too. The three of them were sweating and crying their way through grueling training sessions under Aina’s guidance.

“If Dean had joined the tournament, the whole thing would’ve been even more exciting,” Gramps commented.

“Apparently, he was going to, but he backed out once Jean signed up.”

I’d heard that Dean had originally planned to enter the solo tournament, but Jean had registered before he could say anything, so Dean had no choice but to withdraw. The king had even told him that he could hand his bodyguard duties over to the other members of the king’s guard, like when he had joined the team bracket before. But since this year’s turnout was expected to be huge, they decided to play it safe and keep Dean as a bodyguard.

“It sounds like even the prelims are gonna be wild this year,” Gramps said. “There’s Amur, who’s made quite the name for herself over the past few years, then Jin, Galatt, and now the vice-captain of the king’s guard himself, Jean. Anyone who ends up in their group is seriously out of luck.”

Amur had made it to the finals when she had been the Bandit King and had consistently reached the main bracket ever since then. Jin and Galatt also made it every year they’d participated, and Jin had even placed several times.

As for Jean, he was second-in-command of the elite king’s guard, which was a handpicked group of the kingdom’s best knights. He’d already placed second in the team bracket before, so he was well-known. No one in their right mind would expect someone like that to get knocked out in prelims.

Gramps wasn’t wrong—just landing in the same bracket as any one of those four would be bad luck. As the saying goes, the tallest nail gets hammered down. Someone wouldn’t just breeze through just because they were strong.

While Gramps and I were having that conversation, a number of people were yelling at each other during combat drills.

“Die, Kriss!”

“Amur, this is training! Not an assassination!”

“She’s right! Even if Kriss is as strong as a gorilla, she still can’t beat a beastfolk like Amur! Keep your swings tight and finish her up clean! And Aura, just because I looked away a little bit doesn’t mean you get to slack off!”

“Aina’s got the same upper body strength I do!”

“She’s got eyes in the back of her head, Aina!” Aura cried.

Amur was going at it with Kriss in full combat drills, testing out different approaches while getting advice from Aina. Jeanne and Aura were doing more basic training and mock battles under Aina’s watch. Right now, they were practicing swings.

While Aina was distracted, giving feedback to Amur, Aura paused and started stretching her shoulders. I figured it wasn’t a big deal, but I wasn’t about to step in and say so. Getting involved would only end in pain, so Gramps and I just pretended not to see anything.

“Tenma, switch with me and take on Amur! C’mon, I’m begging you!”

I kept my eyes away from the training group to avoid getting roped in by Aura, but Kriss called out to me for help instead.

Amur wasn’t having it. “No way! If Tenma’s gonna be in the tournament too, I can’t let him see how I fight!”

“You’re sparring right in front of him! That ship has long since sailed! Whoa!”

“Smaller swings! Sharper!”

“Aina! Knock it off already!”

“She let her guard down. That’s on her.”

It looked a lot like bullying, but this kind of scene wasn’t all that rare as of late, so I let it go. Amur or Aina would step in if things really got dangerous.

As I was thinking that, one of the golems we had stationed around reacted to something.

I figured we should take a look. “Jeanne, it looks like someone’s at the gate. Go check it out.”

She returned a few minutes later. “It’s a letter from Lady Hana, Tenma.”

“For me? Not for Amur?”

I took the envelope from Jeanne and checked the sender and recipient. Sure enough, it was definitely addressed to me. I read it.

“Well, this is gonna be a mess,” I said afterward.

Hana reported that a whole bunch of top-tier fighters from the SAR, including some particularly high-ranking ones, had decided to join the martial arts tournament. And the reason Hana had sent this to me instead of Amur...

“She said it sounded fun to not tell Amur until the very last second,” I said.

“That sounds like Amur’s mother, all right.”

That summed it up. Oh, and Hana had said she wouldn’t be coming—she was sending Lord Lobo instead. Wonderful.

“Blanca’s gonna bring Sana and Yoshitsune again, right? Should I prep a few extra rooms?”

I doubted we’d need space for every single participant from the SAR, but Blanca’s family and Lord Lobo would definitely be staying with us. It was normal for Blanca to stay, so that wasn’t a problem, but honestly, I really didn’t want Lord Lobo bunking here.

But with Amur around, I couldn’t exactly say no. I’d have to extend an invitation to him at the very least. I figured that Hana had known I’d react like that and had kept it from Amur on purpose. Worst case, we could stick him in the spare guards’ barracks. They were outside, but it was still summertime. He was from the SAR, so he could handle it.

“Jeanne, time to get back to training.”

I guess our conversation had dragged on too long because Aina called Jeanne back. While Jeanne had stepped away, Aina had apparently focused all of her attention on Aura. By the time Jeanne returned to the group, Aura was drenched with sweat and barely holding it together.

“Tenma! Please, switch with me for real this time! I’m dying out here!”

Kriss called to me as she continued being pummeled by Amur.

She’d been struck doing more desk work lately, so her stamina had taken a nosedive. On top of that, she’d had her days off slashed, so she was constantly running on fumes.

“Whew, that was a great workout! I had a good punching bag,” Amur said with a grin.

She wrapped up her training and headed for the bath after giving Kriss a thorough beating. Amur dragged Kriss along with her. I guessed that the fact she bothered to bring her to the bath with her was a sign of kindness, but still. Couldn’t she at least carry her?

“That’s enough for today,” Aina said. “You two go wash off and cool down. We’ll get back to work after a short break.”

According to Aina, combat training was part of a maid’s duties, so just because the girls were exhausted didn’t mean the rest of their job was going to be any easier. She claimed to go easy on them, but it was such a slight adjustment that most people couldn’t tell the difference.

“By the way, Gramps. Are you gonna enter the tournament this year?” I asked.

“I plan to, but it’s still up in the air. I won’t enter the solo bracket, though. I gotta give you a chance to shine, after all,” he said with a grin.

That was probably half-true as far as the solo bracket went. He had a few ideas for the pair and team brackets, but nothing concrete yet.

“Well, that’s me. What about you, Tenma? How’s the wedding prep going?” he asked.

I’d been expecting more talk about the tournament, so I took a second to answer.

“Don’t tell me you’re getting cold feet about it. You should talk to Alex or Mark. They’ll tell you all their secrets for a happy marriage,” Gramps added.

“You mean the way they’re both afraid of their wi—er, whipp—uh, how they respect their wives’ opinions?”

“Exactly. They’re both totally whipped and afraid of their wives. If you talk to them, you’ll get a very different take on marriage, though I can’t promise it’ll be useful.”

I’d tried to be tactful to avoid insulting Queen Maria or Aunt Martha, but Gramps just said it flat out. Honestly, it felt more like he was poking fun at the king and Uncle Mark than insulting their wives themselves. But if anyone else overheard him, I’d probably be considered guilty by association, which was a little scary.

“Anyway, let’s put those two aside,” I said. “The wedding prep is going fine, but you should know that already. Every time we bring it up, you somehow just happen to be there.”

Whenever Primera and I started talking about the wedding, meaning things like the date, location, ceremony schedule, or the guest list, and so on, Gramps would always show up out of nowhere to chime in. Jeanne and Amur would also occasionally join in, but Gramps was more heavily involved than they were. He probably knew more than anyone about how things were progressing.

“So far, we’ve decided that Duke Sanga will officially host the ceremony, and the Otori family will run the after-party. Other than that, we’ve only got a rough idea of the guest list and a few ideas for the food, right?”

We were looking at a crazy number of guests between my side and Primera’s. The Otori estate just wasn’t big enough to host a full, formal ceremony, so we’d left that to Duke Sanga. But since the reception would be more casual and just for close friends and family, we were going to hold that at our house.

The guest list, however, was a total headache. That was because of nobles and the fact that every member of the royal family would be attending. There was the king, Queen Maria, Tida, Luna, and Lord Ernest on my side, and Prince Caesar, Princess Isabella, Prince Zane, Princess Mizaria, and Prince Lyle on Primera’s side. Security alone would be a nightmare.

During the more painful talks, the subject of food would come up as a breather. Ironically, it was what everyone got the most excited about.

“Hmm. White buffalo, wyvern, and bicorn meat all being served at a commoner’s wedding? That has got to be a first in the history of the kingdom.”

A noble might be able to gather that kind of high-end meat, but not a commoner. And to be fair, the supply of white buffalo and bicorn meat was pretty limited—we were talking maybe one or two slices per person, if that. And depending on how many guests we had, we might even need to reserve those for the highest-ranking nobles, like the royals.

When I had brought that up, Duke Sanga had said that when it came to premium ingredients, doing that was perfectly normal. He’d made it sound like he expected to be served those dishes without question, and he probably assumed that he’d be guaranteed a full portion since he was a duke. If anything, he was hoping we’d only serve the good stuff to top-tier nobles so he’d get even more.

When I told Primera what he’d said, she had just laughed. “Maybe we should just treat Father as family and serve him last,” she’d suggested.

We hadn’t told the duke about that idea. Not yet. Maybe it’d be a surprise on the big day.

“There’s still a bunch of other ingredients I’d like to burn through,” I said.

Wyvern meat was at the top of that list. I figured this was the perfect chance to go all out.

“I feel like your reasoning is a little questionable, but if it’s what you and Primera want, I suppose it’s right by default. Just make sure you don’t forget the roasted wyvern!” Gramps said.

“That one’s a crowd favorite, so we’ll have plenty. It’ll be one of the main dishes.”

I could mass-produce meals for the wedding whenever I had time since I had a magic bag. I’d already started cooking ahead for anything I knew we’d be doing second helpings for. There had been a moment when I had asked myself why I was the one making food for my own wedding...but realistically, I was the one with the most free time, so I figured I might as well lean into it. It’d make for a fun story later.

“There’s just one problem. Some of the food I prepped and stored in the magic bag has been going missing. Isn’t that weird, Gramps?” I asked.

“Hrm, how mysterious! But oh, will you look at the time! I just remembered I have something to do!”

Uh-huh. Thought so.

I watched Gramps as he made a quick escape—I was already fairly sure he was the culprit.

“Master Tenma, could I have a moment?”

I’d been thinking about how to go about interrogating everyone else, because Gramps had definitely not acted alone, when Aina called out to me. I was surprised as I had thought she had gone to take a bath.

“It’s about the wedding,” she said. “Queen Maria asked me to confirm with you who you were choosing as your witness.”

“Oh, we’ve asked the Count and Countess Sylphid since they’ve got ties to both Primera and me. Their family status is a good fit too.”

I was connected to them through Amy, and Primera knew them through the countess’s younger sister, as she had married into her extended family. They were completely neutral—not too close nor too distant. And since Primera was from a ducal house, our witnesses still needed to have proper standing on paper, even though she was going to give up her title. We had reached out to Count and Countess Sylphid through Eliza, and they had graciously accepted.

“I see. Well, in that case, I’ll tell Queen Maria as much. I think she’ll find that suitable.”

If I hadn’t settled on someone yet, the queen probably would’ve chosen someone herself. She might’ve even wanted to do it herself alongside the king. That situation would’ve caused all kinds of issues, though, so I was really glad we’d locked it down ahead of time.

“I’ll go take my bath now,” Aina said and left.

And if she was satisfied, the queen would be too.

I then headed to the dining room to prep something light for after everyone finished bathing. While I was making some snacks, I casually mentioned the missing food to Aura as bait—she happened to be eating one of those very snacks. My one comment unraveled the whole thing. It turned out that Amur, Kriss, and even Luna had all been sneaking bites.

“I’ll handle Aura and Amur,” I said. “And Kriss goes to Dean. We’ll let the queen take care of Luna.”

We decided who would take care of whom. Aura and Amur clearly decided it wasn’t worth fighting back, especially if it meant harsher penalties, so they just grimaced and kept their mouths shut. Kriss probably decided Dean was a better option to punish her than Queen Maria, but since Aina would report it to Dean in his capacity as her superior, there was a good chance she’d still get dragged before the queen afterward.

As for Luna, she was definitely going to get it from both Queen Maria and Princess Isabella.

Aina decided on their punishments. “They’ll clean the entire mansion, just the two of them, this whole week. And Amur will work as a maid while they do it.”

Since that would make Amur’s load heavier than Aura’s, Aura was given an extra duty in the form of being in charge of training Amur. And since neither of them had been in these positions before, the idea was that they’d both be equally miserable. It was a kind of balanced suffering, basically.

Then Jeanne poked her head into the room. “Hey, Tenma? I don’t have anything to do now...”

Since she’d be tempted to help the other two if she stayed around, Jeanne was being given a full break from maid duties while their punishments were in place. I had technically signed off on it, but Aina had clearly made that decision beforehand. My “permission” was just for show.

“Well, I mean... Well, you can do what you want. But it’s kind of awkward to have a sudden day off out of nowhere, right?”

Aina stepped in. “About that,” she began. “While Jeanne’s here at the estate, Aura and Amur are to treat her with the same respect they give you. In other words, they’ll serve her as they serve you. That will be Jeanne’s replacement duty.”

That statement stunned everyone, but especially Aura and Amur.

I asked Aina why.

“Because once Primera marries you, they’ll have to treat her as the lady of the household,” she replied. “Consider this a rehearsal.”

Aura immediately objected, saying that Jeanne wasn’t part of the marriage. And Amur claimed that since she was the daughter of a viscount and Primera would become a commoner after marrying me, she shouldn’t have to worry about it. But...

Aina shot them down. “I think Jeanne already understands how to act toward someone of a higher rank. Aura, on the other hand, is... Well, let’s say I’m concerned. And Amur, yes, Primera’s status will change, but she’ll still be the lady of this household. In the future, there will be moments when her background as a former daughter of a duke will become relevant. It’s better to prepare yourself for that now with someone safe to practice on.”

Aina said that this was also a part of their punishment, which removed any other room for them to argue further.

Honestly, it wasn’t that they hated the idea of serving Jeanne; it was more that they didn’t want any more work. Their complaints had basically been knee-jerk reactions. Aina probably understood that completely, which made me worry a little that their pushing back would just earn them more punishment.

“Well then, your punishments start tomorrow. Get today’s work finished,” Aina said. “Kriss, you’re with me. Excuse us.”

“Wait, can’t I start tomorrow too? Just gimme tonight to relax. Please? Please?”

Kriss was such a sore loser. She made one last pathetic attempt to weasel out of it, but Aina just tied her up and dragged her out of the house. And since Kriss was so exhausted from sparring with Amur, she probably didn’t even need to be tied up.

The next day, Aina came by to give more instructions to Amur and Aura. I also found out what had happened to Kriss. She’d gotten lectures from Dean and Jean, and Luna had been scolded by Princess Isabella. After that, both of them had been brought right over to Queen Maria for a double dose of lecturing.

“The winner is Tenma Otori!”

I ended up defeating Blanca in the semifinals of the martial arts tournament. He was already run ragged from his earlier bouts, so honestly, this was the most decisive victory I’d ever had.

“The folks from the SAR sure are close, aren’t they? And aside from Amur, all five of ’em ended up in the same tournament bracket!” Gramps said.

The top fighters from the SAR, all of whom had teamed up with Blanca before, were competing in the tournament, just like Hana had written in her letter. Not only that, but they had all made it into the main event—including Blanca, who was a seeded entry. Somehow, their names had all made it right next to each other on the bracket. Blanca was the top seed, followed by the other four right under him.

Naturally, most of the spectators thought the matchups had been arranged in advance and that the bracket was rigged from the start. They thought the SAR fighters had decided who would win and who would throw the fights. But in reality, the fighters had gone all out, starting with round one. It had practically looked like they were fighting to the death. If you asked me, that was how a tournament should be.

Those wild brawls had set the tone for the rest of the matches. So even though Blanca had probably planned to take a more strategic approach, the crowd had started expecting the same kind of slugfest from him too. He’d gotten dragged into the fight before he had even been able to put a strategy into motion. The guy who had fought him even stuck it out till he had gotten knocked out. By the time Blanca had reached the semifinals, he’d barely been able to stay upright.

“It didn’t really feel great finishing him off like that,” I said.

“Yet you still went for two full sets of triple body blows without hesitation...” Gramps muttered.

“Sure, but Blanca can pull off a surprise attack even when he’s run-down. I would’ve been in real trouble if I didn’t wear him out first,” I replied.

I had opened with a triple combo, gauged his reaction, and then landed another one just to be safe. Then, I’d nailed him in the jaw to knock him out. Maybe that’d been a little ruthless, but it had been a serious match. I had shown him respect by not holding back. It’d been better to do that than to beat him to a bloody pulp, after all.

“Well, it’s a shame about Blanca, but at least Amur made it to the finals,” Gramps said. “That should save face for the SAR, don’t you think?”

Amur had won the other bracket after she had beaten Jin in her semifinal match. And I had bested Jean in the quarterfinals. He had been a huge pain to deal with, though, since he’d already known all my moves and had the skills to back it up.

“It’s your turn tomorrow, Gramps.”

“I know. I am worried about my partner’s condition, but I should be fine on my own.”

Gramps was only competing in the pairs competition this time, and everyone expected him to make it to the finals without too much trouble. His partner was Amur, and he was concerned because she seemed pretty worn out after fighting Jin. But honestly, Gramps was strong enough to carry the match even without her. Making sure she rested up was probably the smarter move.

The thing we really needed to worry about was whether or not they’d end up facing the other favorite pair before finals—Blanca’s team. And more importantly, the person Blanca had picked as his partner...

“I still can’t believe Blanca teamed up with Viscount Lobo...”

“I hear he’s the second- or third-strongest warrior from the SAR, and judging by how he fought in the qualifiers, he’s probably about as strong as Blanca himself. If it turns into a fistfight, Amur and I will be in trouble.”

Even though Gramps’s specialty was magic, it seemed like he was actually gunning to duke it out in melee.

“So the key to the fight tomorrow will be Blanca’s condition and how hard Amur can push herself.”

The other guys from the SAR and I had really pummeled Blanca, though. There was no way he’d be back to a hundred percent by the finals, and the same went for Amur. Depending on how the individual matches went, this could seriously affect their chances in the pair competition.

“Who knows who’s gonna win this time? But if things keep going like this, we’re looking at a finals lineup full of friends and family,” I commented.

It was down to Amur and me for the individual tournament. And for pairs, Gramps and Amur were strong contenders to win, along with Blanca and Lobo.

“As for the team competition, I’d say either the SAR team, led by Blanca, or the Dawnswords, with Amur on their roster, could come out on top. It’s a pretty tough call.”

Those two groups were the clear favorites for the team competition that would happen two days from now. If they ended up on opposite sides of the bracket, it was almost guaranteed that they’d face off in the finals.

“Blanca and Amur might not be in top form, but Lord Lobo and Jin are still around. There’s no telling how it’ll play out, but the SAR fighters definitely have everyone buzzing,” Gramps said.

I was only competing in the individual tournament this year, but Blanca and Amur were in the individual, pair, and team events. With the other SAR elites and Lord Lobo in the mix, this year’s tournament was more hyped up than ever. It was shaping up to be a showcase of just how stacked the SAR really was.

“All the more reason I need to beat Amur and keep them from sweeping the entire tournament,” I said half-jokingly, but honestly, I was confident. I’d widened the gap between us over the past few years. Unlike Amur, I could focus entirely on the individual match. She still had to think about the pair and team events.

“She was all fired up about destroying Viscount Lobo. I bet she’s even more invested in the team battle than the individual one.”

Amur would definitely come at me with the intent to win, but she’d be holding back just a little to save something for later. I didn’t have that problem. I couldn’t afford to lose—not when a win would make for the perfect icing on the cake to my wedding plans.

“The match’s deciding factor might be how much it means to each one of you. You’re strong in every category, so when you’ve really got your mind to it, well... I feel sorry for your opponent,” Gramps said. It seemed like this had been pretty much everyone’s opinion too, even before the finals had started.

“Well, I’m not gonna let my guard down no matter what. Let’s give it everything we’ve got... Right, Amur?” I said, calling out our eavesdropper, who’d been lurking nearby and spying on us.

“Hmph! Tenma, what’ll it take for you to fight blindfolded with your hands and feet tied?” she snapped back.

“You do know I can still cast Tempest like that, right?”

“What I meant to say was, a fair and square fight is the best!” she replied hastily.

This was just our usual banter. I wasn’t gonna give her any advantages, and I wouldn’t use Tempest either. Even though it wasn’t against the rules, casting something like that in the arena probably wouldn’t be the greatest idea.

“That’s enough nonsense,” Gramps chided. “Let’s get going. Tenma’s got wedding prep to do, and Amur’s got matches tomorrow and the day after.”

I only had one more match left, and I’d been telling myself that meant I had time to spare, but that wasn’t true. I’d only entered the individual tournament so I could focus the rest of my time prepping for the wedding. Most of my free hours had already been spoken for.

“So what’s left? Venue prep and final fittings, right? Anything else?” Gramps asked.

“We’ve still got to confirm the guest list, determine the seating arrangements, and make sure we’ve got extra food, just in case.”

The wedding was still over a month away, so we couldn’t even prep the venue yet. And thanks to all the weird materials being used, our outfits were running behind schedule too. I’d need help from Duke Sanga on the guest list and finish the seating chart, which meant the only thing I could realistically handle by myself was the food.

“We should probably stop by the Gunjo City knight headquarters after the tournament to say hello,” I suggested.

Primera was leaving the knights after we got married. Since I had dealt with them several times before, we’d agreed to pay them a visit together. We also needed to personally hand out invitations to people like Knight Commander Alan, Flute, and the guildmaster. On top of that, we’d have to report our wedding to people who wouldn’t be able to come for one reason or another, like Dozle and Kanna.

“Sounds like a plan to me. Well, should we head home now?” Gramps asked.

“We’d better hurry, or Tenma will get mobbed by fans again,” Amur said.

The arena had a staff exit that competitors could use to stay away from the crowds, but fans knew about it already. Lots of them waited along the route, hoping to catch a glimpse of the fighters. It wasn’t technically against the rules for them to do that, but some came pretty damn close. The guards could only warn the eager people—they couldn’t actually kick them out.

At this point, Jeanne and the others had already gone on ahead.

“Guess we’d better run once we’re outside,” I suggested.

Gramps waved me off with a chuckle. “There’s no need for that. I already told Jeanne and Aura to get the carriage ready for us. Hurry up, let’s not keep them waiting too long.” He then turned and started walking toward the carriage lot.

There were still a lot of carriages around, but there were only three near the Otori family’s, so we’d probably be able to leave without a ton of hassle.

“I didn’t think you’d actually be able to reserve this much space. Oh, hey, Primera. Sorry to keep you waiting,” I said when I spotted her.

“It’s fine. I only just got here, but, um...” She trailed off there and glanced over at Jeanne and Aura.

I asked what was going on.

“Some nobles recognized our carriage and started surrounding it,” Jeanne said.

“If Albert and Cain hadn’t shown up when they did, Thunderbolt would’ve gone on a rampage,” Aura said with a sigh.

Apparently, some nobles and their hired craftsmen got a little too close, clearly trying to sneak a peek at our carriage’s tech. That had nearly set off Thunderbolt. Thankfully, Albert and Cain had arrived just in time to chew out the rubberneckers, explaining in gory detail just how terrifying Thunderbolt could be. After that, they had guided the girls and the carriage to where their own carriage had been parked.

Theirs were in a section reserved for upper nobility, like Duke Sanga or the royal family. Albert had them park our carriage in that area to prevent further chaos. He said that he and Cain had shown up because the duke and Marquis Sammons had predicted this would happen and had told them to be ready.

At that point, Leon ran over to us. “Oh, there you are! You were taking forever, so I thought something bad happened,” he said.

Albert and Cain had been watching the matches with Leon until Duke Sanga and Marquis Sammons had summoned them. They’d told a staff member to pass along a message to Leon, telling him that they’d just gone to the bathroom.

I asked why they’d lied about it. They both shrugged and said they’d just felt like it.

Not that I expected anything different from them, of course, but I had a hunch the real reason was that the orders from their fathers had meant they couldn’t tell Leon even if they had wanted to.

“So what are you three doing now? Albert and Cain at least have their own family carriages here, right?”

“Well, it’d be kind of disruptive to show up when the tournament was still going, so we figured we’d wait until it’s over,” Cain explained.

“Exactly. If we drop by now, people will say we’re interfering or trying to distract you before the finals. And since I’m practically your brother-in-law, they’d accuse me of using that as an excuse to barge in at a critical moment,” Albert said. “There are already enough people jealous of how close we are, so there’s no shortage of rumors flying around.”

“Guess that means the next time we stop by, you’ll have to treat us since it’ll be the day you win the whole thing!” Leon said with a grin.

“Aren’t you forgetting that Amur and I are going to win the pairs division?” Gramps said with a cold stare.

Amur narrowed her eyes at them. “Yeah. It’s almost like you totally forgot about the team battle,” she added.

Whoops.

Leon immediately realized he’d stepped in it and started bowing like crazy and apologizing.

A few days later...

“Huff... Ngah!”

Amur’s bardiche sliced through the air as she swung it at me again and again. However...

“Take that!”

“Hmph! You sli— Oof!”

I narrowly dodged her diagonal slash, stomped down on the shaft of her bardiche, and pinned it into the dirt. Then I aimed straight for her with my kogarasumaru.

“I give up. I surrender.”

“Tenma Otori wins!”

And just like that, I won the individual tournament.

I know it probably sounded like it ended quickly, but actually, the fight had dragged on for a really long time. I’d spent most of it dodging Amur’s relentless attacks.

She had begun with a surprise assault and had kept pressure on me nonstop for over ten minutes. Her bardiche was big, so compared to my lighter sword, I had been at a bit of a disadvantage. If I were to block poorly, she would just overpower me, so I had done my best to avoid direct clashes. I’d waited for her to slip up instead.

The problem had been that she’d had way more stamina than I’d expected. The sheer force behind each of her swings had made it hard for me to find an opening. That was why I had ended up on the defensive for so long.

“I thought I had it after I landed the first hit,” she said.

“Yeah, but countering you was tricky,” I admitted. “But I knew that as long as I kept dodging, an opening was bound to come eventually.”

“I’m taking this frustration out on my dad next! Well, time for a nap.”

Amur was drained, but she hadn’t taken any real damage. Knowing her, she’d be back at full strength in under an hour.

“I think I need a quick bite. Tenma, bring me something to eat, would you?” Gramps asked, clearly in the mood for food.

“You’ll have to wait. I don’t have my magic bag back yet,” I told him.

Jeanne was still holding on to it. I only had my weapons and that one secret item from the gods on me at the moment.

I headed over to the VIP room that Albert had snagged for us, as Jeanne and the others were hanging out there. Primera and the others congratulated me as soon as I stepped in, but I didn’t stick around for very long, because Gramps was still waiting for me.

“Sheesh, that took you long enough, Tenma!” Amur complained.

“There’s less than thirty minutes until the next match starts,” Gramps said.

“Yeah, yeah, sorry. You can’t have anything heavy, okay? I brought rice balls, miso soup, and some pickles.”

I had picked out a few light things from my usual emergency stash that would go down easily and not mess with their digestion. They polished off the food in no time.

“More, please!”

“Go beat up Blanca and Viscount Lobo first,” I ordered.

Stuffing yourself before a fight was a bad idea, no matter how light the food was. One rice ball and one bowl of miso soup were all they’d get.

Amur wasn’t happy about that. “Hmph, you’re always in my way. Just wait. I’ll show you!”

“Yeah! We’ll flatten those two and earn a second helping!” Gramps said.

“That’s right!”

Gramps and Amur were fired up for their own selfish reasons. Maybe it was spite or vengeance, who knew? Well, Gramps could do whatever he wanted, but Amur still had the team battle coming up after this. I wasn’t sure she’d even be in one piece after this next fight, forget if she’d feel like eating.

“Master Merlin Otori? Lady Amur? It’s time. Please follow me,” a staff member announced after entering the room.

“All right.”

“Tenma, I’m absolutely gonna crush them!” Amur said.

And with that, the two of them headed for the arena.

“Hm? What are you still doing here, Tenma? Shouldn’t you be waiting in the prep room?”

I headed toward the VIP suite where Primera and the others were waiting and ran into Cain outside.

“My match is already over,” I told him. “I was hanging out in the waiting room since I’m technically still a participant, but I figured it’d be weird to linger too long.”

“Hmm... Are you feeling lonely?”

“Not lonely, exactly. It’s just... This is the first time I’ve watched the tournament from the audience, so I figured, why not enjoy the view from here? I probably would’ve just ended up tagging along all the way through the team battle if I stayed in the waiting room.”

That would’ve meant dealing with Jin and the others too, and that wasn’t something I felt like doing right now. I was hungry, just like Gramps and Amur had been after their match.

“Since I’ve got the time, I thought I’d just have something to eat while I watched the match,” I said.

“Oh, so you’re taking in the view from the top, huh? Looking to blow through all the other champions next year?”

“Who knows who I’ll pair up or team up with next year. But yeah, that’s the idea.”

Cain and I chatted as we stepped into the private room. I said hi to everyone and got the food ready.

Merlin’s POV

“All right, Amur. Just stick to the plan,” I said.

“Got it.”

We gave each other a quick nod to confirm our strategy, and then the match was called to start.

“The pair finals will now...begin!”

Both of us immediately dashed to the left, heading straight for Viscount Lobo.

“Hmm? Not so fast!”

Blanca was closer to Amur and had been aiming for her, but he stopped short and took a quick read of the situation. He shifted to back Viscount Lobo up, but...

“Come on, bring it!” Viscount Lobo yelled. He had already taken the bait and was charging right at us.

“Amur! I’ll handle Blanca as we planned, so watch your back!”

“I will! You too, Gramps!”

I dove between the two of them and cut our opponents off, forcing a split. It would be me versus Blanca and Amur versus Viscount Lobo.

“Damn it! My idiot brother messed up our whole strategy!” Blanca complained.

“I’m kind of surprised, to be honest. I figured Viscount Lobo would fall for it if Amur charged in, but I didn’t think he’d take the bait that perfectly... Oop, that was a close one!”

I deflected a sudden thrust from Blanca’s spear with my staff, and then we engaged in a straight-up contest of strength. There was a risk that Viscount Lobo would sneak up behind me while Blanca had me pinned, but if I tried to disengage now, he’d just make a run for Amur. I couldn’t let that happen either.

“How about we rest for a moment and take some distance, Blanca?” I said.

“Fine with me. So on the count of three, we both jump back? One, two...”

“Three!”

Or at least, that was the idea. But when I tried to step forward instead of back...

“Blanca, why do you feel stronger all of a sudden?”

“I was just about to ask you the same thing.”

We’d both clearly had the same idea—we’d pretend to jump back and push forward instead to try to seize control. That put us in a complete deadlock, which actually worked out great for Blanca. He was hoping to pin me like this long enough to give Lobo an opportunity to come in from behind.

But unfortunately for him, Lobo was way too busy fending off Amur. He hadn’t even noticed what was going on with us.

“What the hell is he doing?!” Blanca groaned.

“You’ve got to give Amur some credit. She’s handling herself pretty well,” I said. “Hah!”

The moment Blanca glanced over at them, I yanked my arms back just enough to throw him off-balance. Then, I slammed myself forward to force more distance between us and the other fight.

“There. Now you’re not getting back to Lobo anytime soon!”

If Blanca tried to ignore me and rush over to Amur, I had a barrage of spells ready to hit him from behind. Sure, that risked Amur getting caught in the cross fire, but back when we were planning this, she’d said, “I won’t last more than a few minutes if both of them gang up on me. So if it comes to that, just blast us both!”

I could manage to control it somewhat, so hopefully she’d come out of it unscathed if it came to that.

“See, this is why I didn’t wanna split up, but whatever,” Blanca said. “Either I hold out until my brother beats Amur, or I take Merlin down myself. Worst case, a double KO would still count as our win.”

Blanca seemed awfully sure that Amur would lose, but it wasn’t that simple. Sure, she was at a disadvantage when it came to pure strength and experience, but she and I had trained specifically for this scenario starting from the moment we’d decided to pair up for the competition. She might not’ve been as strong as her dad, but she’d make him pay if he let his guard down.

“I think Amur’s got a good chance at winning. And if not, I’ll just beat you and head over there myself. So how about we just get this over with?” I said.

Whichever team lost a member first was at a huge disadvantage in a battle like this.

If Amur lost, I could go all out with my magic, but I preferred to end it the old-fashioned way. It wouldn’t be very much fun to challenge someone to a clean brawl but panic and start flinging spells the second it looked bad.

With all that in mind, we continued our clash, but it remained a stalemate. Eventually, we dropped our weapons and just went at it bare-handed.

“How about...a little respect...for your elders?!” I huffed.

“I think every old person...everywhere...deserves an apology...for that line!”

We traded punches at close range until, suddenly, I heard a low growl emanating from where Amur and Lobo were fighting. Blanca and I instinctively turned our heads toward the noise, our hands still locked in a test of strength.

“Hey, you actually did it, Amur! But that was a low blow, don’t you think? Kicking someone in the groin is a dirty foul,” Blanca yelled.

Amur stood with her chest puffed out, bardiche in hand. Lobo was hunched over and still at her feet.

“Hang on a second... Take another look. She’s actually got his leg.”

We were too far away to tell exactly what he was holding, but the angle of his arm wasn’t quite right for it to be what we’d assumed. And more importantly, the match hadn’t been stopped. She’d landed a legal hit.

“Ah!”

Blanca and I gasped as Amur raised her bardiche and brought it down hard on her dad’s head.

“Villain vanquished!” she yelled.

Amur twirled her weapon around triumphantly while Lobo was still frozen. I was so surprised that I couldn’t move for a moment either.

I collected myself quickly. “Amur! He’s next!”

This match wasn’t over.

Once Amur heard me shouting, she gripped her bardiche again and dashed toward us. Blanca looked like he was about to yell something like “What was the point of that one-on-one grapple, then?!”

To be honest, I was done. I’d been enjoying my fight with Blanca, but Lobo’s groan totally killed the mood. Now, I just wanted to get this over with already and sit down for a proper meal.

“Hey! Let go of me!”

Blanca tried to get away before Amur could reach him, but I wasn’t about to let that happen. I managed to slip behind him and lock him into a full-body hold.

“Finish him, Amur!”

“Maximum power...and maximum destruction!”

“Stop it! I certainly hope you’re joking!”

I tried to protest, but Amur’s attack came crashing down on top of Blanca’s head. Even though she’d said maximum power, she held back enough so that he was just knocked out cold. If she’d really gone maximum power, his skull would’ve been split in half.

“Master Merlin and Amur win the pair competition!”

And just like that, Amur and I had won. Sure, it’d been a bit predictable there at the end, as once your partner goes down, you’re as good as done; I couldn’t deny that. But between the father-daughter face-off and the fact that three out of four finalists were from the SAR, the crowd had thought it was an exciting match.

“I’m famished. Time to have Tenma fix up something for us,” I muttered to myself as we headed back to the waiting room.

Amur clearly agreed. “I’m starving too!” she yelled.

“Just don’t eat too much,” I warned. “You still have your team battle coming up with the Dawnswords.”

She made a face like I’d just told her no dessert for a year.

Tenma had already left to sit in the audience when we got back, which meant I was the only one who got to enjoy a meal. Amur just sulked and called me a traitor.

Amur’s POV

“Ugh, seriously, what a pain! Outta my way!”

My father was in front of me, swinging around a warhammer, which was basically a halberd with the axe part swapped out for a giant block of blunt-force trauma. It was just as annoying a weapon as it sounds. It could snap my bardiche in half if I blocked a hit too carelessly.

So I kept dodging wide when I could, and I aimed for the weapon’s shaft if I had to block. It was seriously heavy, though. And since the guy was swinging it like a maniac, I nearly lost my grip a few times.

“Such a barbarian. Tenma would never.”

“That little punk’s just as savage as me underneath! All men are!”

My loudmouth opponent had really good hearing and decided to be snarky after hearing my comment, but I didn’t care.

“Underneath, huh? Ew. Also, I wouldn’t be proud to admit I was a savage.”

Tenma wasn’t anything like this crude, nasty guy! But...

“Ya know what? Even if Tenma was a little savage or crude, I’d still love him for it!” I added.

“Shut up, you little brat!”

I had a feeling that mentioning Tenma would push his buttons—it worked every time. But honestly, not everything I said about Tenma was a joke.

I did have to admit my dad was stronger than me, though.

My dad may’ve gotten booted from his position as head of the SAR, and people only used his old title out of pity, but the fact that he was considered to be the third strongest fighter from the SAR wasn’t for nothing. I was having a hard time keeping up.

“Guess it’s time to put Aina’s training to good use...”

The day after I’d found out I’d be teaming up with Gramps, I had gone to Aina and asked her to help me prepare. I had specifically asked her if she could help me figure out how to handle Blanca if we were to end up facing him.

Not how to beat him, mind you, but how to win. There was a big difference.

Both Gramps and I had predicted that if Blanca were to enter the pairs competition, he’d bring along another elite warrior from the SAR. So we had focused on how to stall him and how to hang in there long enough for Gramps to do the heavy lifting.

Gramps had always said that when it came to fighting stronger opponents, Cruyff was the best, followed by Aina. And since Aina was a woman too, her fighting style would work better for me. Her approach was totally different from mine, though, so learning it took a while.

But it was paying off now. I could feel it.

“Damn it! You’re so slippery!”

“Heeey, warhammer guy!” I called. “If you were Tenma, he’d have me pinned down already! He might’ve even held me there a little longer too, just for fun! Ah, that was a close one!”

I played around and taunted him a bit, and it pushed his buttons like always. I enjoyed my dad’s reaction so much I almost let my guard down, but I managed to keep focus.

“I’ve got this.”

I stuck to short, sharp strikes, which were just enough to keep his attention. Going too hard would leave me open for a counterattack, and I wasn’t stupid.

Aina’s basic rule was don’t block; redirect. Or better yet, avoid hits altogether. She also tried to teach me how to use my opponent’s own strength against them, but that part wasn’t as easy.

“Tch! Damn you! Hold still!” Lobo complained.

“Missed me! Wanna try again? And like I’d actually hold still if you told me to!”

I kept my distance, slipping in a few jabs and feints to frustrate him, until...

“This is why I didn’t want that punk training her! She’s turned into the same kind of underhanded rat he is!” my father shouted.

“Wait, what?!”

That hit a nerve. His comment made me freeze for just a second, which was a big mistake.

That one second was all it took for him to launch a horizontal swing right at me. I managed to block it with the blade of my bardiche so the hammer didn’t connect directly, but the force rattled through my arms hard enough to make my hands go numb.

“Heh! Now that’s how you taunt someone! Sorry, but I’ve gotta go help Blanca now. Amur, prepare yourself!”

Getting baited like that really pissed me off, but yeah, I could tell my father was serious. He was coming in for the finisher.

I decided to say it.

“You know why I know Tenma could never be savage like you?” I began. “Because he was so gentle that night...”

“What?!”

Just like that, the idiot froze up.

“He patiently taught me all sorts of things I didn’t understand, like...card game rules, for example...”

I added a bashful little pause and put on a sheepish look for good measure.

“That damn brat!”

At that point, he actually turned and glared off into the distance toward what he assumed was Tenma’s waiting room.

And that was exactly what I wanted.

“Don’t get any weird ideas!”

“Argh!”

I smacked his shin with everything I had. Then, I followed up by hammering the other one just as hard.

“Ugghhh!”

He crumpled and fell forward, both legs folded up under him.

Perfect.

I didn’t hesitate.

“Justice from above!”

“Guhh...”

He then let out a weird groan and went still. He probably wasn’t dead since he was as strong as an ox, but he wasn’t getting back up anytime soon.

“Villain vanquished!” I cheered.

Now, just Blanca was left.

I turned to see Gramps grappling with him.

“Another opening!”

For some reason, the two of them had stopped and were just staring at me. I had no idea why that was, but Gramps suddenly snapped back into action, locking Blanca in a hold and shouting something at the top of his lungs.

Knowing him, it was probably something like “Now go turn this guy into a bloodstain!” or whatever.

So of course, I grabbed my bardiche nice and tight with both hands and sprinted straight toward Blanca. I was ready to give Gramps exactly what he wanted.

Part Six

“Uh-oh, this isn’t good... I’d better go check on them!”

I was happy that Gramps and Amur had won without getting injured, but Blanca and Viscount Lobo were in pretty rough shape. The final hit Blanca had taken could’ve been lethal, no matter how tough he was.

“Blanca’s pretty sturdy, but a hit to the back of the head is serious,” I said.

There were royal physicians on standby in the arena, but that didn’t guarantee they’d know healing magic. It wouldn’t hurt if I went over there—it wasn’t like having an extra healer would be a problem. The viscount might not have been happy about the fuss I’d make by going there, but it wasn’t like we were strangers. I didn’t think he’d kick me out.

Thankfully, my hunch was right. The medics immediately recognized me and let me through.

“He really is tough...” I muttered.

The doctor agreed. “I know. We should keep him under observation just in case, but from what I can tell, his condition doesn’t seem serious.”

Both the doctor and I had reached the same conclusion: Viscount Lobo was fine. But just to be sure, we each ran separate mana scans to check his blood flow and mana circuits. But unless something really unexpected were to happen, his life wasn’t in danger.

“I can’t allow him to participate in the team match after this injury, though,” the doctor added.

There was no arguing with the official doctor’s orders, so Lobo was out of the team finals. He had to rest for the rest of the tournament.

As for Blanca, he had tensed all his muscles right before Amur’s blow had landed. He’d blacked out for a second but had come to quickly. The medics had treated him with a light healing spell, and he was now resting in preparation for the team finals.

Once I made sure they were both okay, I headed back to where everyone was.

“Tenma, where’d you run off to?” Gramps asked. He had returned earlier, and Jeanne and Aura had food set out for him.

I began to explain the deal with Blanca and Lobo. Gramps’s eyes darted away awkwardly as I did.

“I know that Amur might’ve gone too far, but her attack on Lobo was natural, according to the flow of the match. But pinning Blanca up and setting him up for a hit like that from her crossed the line. From an outsider’s perspective, that seemed like something a villain would do,” I said.

Lobo’s injury was understandable, but Blanca had been completely immobilized. There was no need to push it that far. He probably would’ve surrendered if Gramps had asked. Lobo still had the team battle ahead, after all, and there was no way he could’ve made a comeback anyway.

“Honestly, everyone was kind of horrified when you pinned him like that,” I said.

“What?! You’ve got to be kidding me, right? I guess...you’re not...” Gramps quickly looked around at everyone, trying to gauge their reactions, but they all looked away the moment his eyes fell on them. That sealed the deal for him. “I suppose I’ll apologize to him after the tournament...”

“He might not know what to say if you come right out and try to say sorry. Maybe just give him a gift instead, like some kind of little souvenir,” I suggested.

Blanca would probably go shopping with Sana and Yoshitsune later, but a present that came directly from Gramps would mean a lot more.

“Hm... All right, maybe I’ll do that.”

Meanwhile, the team match finals were about to begin. This time, it was a showdown between two well-known teams: Blanca’s SAR elites and the Dawnswords plus Amur. Viscount Lobo was supposed to be competing with the SAR team, but due to the doctor’s orders, he couldn’t now.

“If how they fought in the semifinals is anything to go off of, the SAR group will probably run five up front. The Dawnswords will likely have three in the vanguard, one in the middle, and one in the rear...or possibly four up front and one rear guard. Either way, Leena will always be in the back,” I said.

“Yeah. The SAR’s style is to push all the way forward. That’ll mesh well with the Dawnswords’ front four. But figuring out how to deal with Leena will be the tricky part. She’s gonna have a rough time if it comes to close combat, though,” Gramps noted.

If you were to rank the ten fighters in terms of pure combat ability, Blanca was clearly at the top. Then would come Jin, Amur, and the four others from the SAR. After that were Galatt and Mennas, and Leena would be last. That ranking only considered melee ability, though—Leena’s magic could easily shake things up depending on the situation. But in close combat, that ranking would still hold.

“Then that means the SAR’s got a solid advantage, yeah?” Primera asked.

She was right. If everything proceeded normally, Blanca’s team would win.

“I kind of want Amur’s team to come out on top, though. Maybe I should’ve banged up Blanca a bit more...” Gramps murmured.

“Gramps, if people found out that was why you wanted to rough him up, the complaints would come pouring in,” I said with a sigh.

We’d definitely hear it first from Lord Ernest, and then the king, Queen Maria, and Prince Caesar. The latter complaints might not be as harsh, but Ernest would go all in and make up for it.

“I-I’m only joking,” Gramps stammered. “I just meant if Blanca was hurting, that might shift the match in our favor. That’s all.”

It was a bit of a lame excuse, but he wasn’t wrong. The Dawnswords could have the edge if Blanca weren’t in tip-top shape. Everyone here knew Blanca, of course, but we’d known Amur longer and were closer to her. We naturally agreed that we wanted the Dawnswords to win.

“This isn’t fair at all!” Amur yelled petulantly.

A few days after the tournament, we were all at a party. Amur had been pissy ever since the team match had ended, and honestly, we couldn’t deal with it anymore. The Dawnswords had lost to Blanca’s SAR elites, and Amur just couldn’t let it go. The SAR team’s strategy had been pretty effective, but most people who had seen it thought they may have overdone it.

“You and Gramps started it, Amur,” I reminded her.

“Exactly. All they did was return the favor. It wasn’t against the rules in any way,” Primera agreed.

The two of us had been trying to calm her down since the party began, but we weren’t having any luck.

At the start of the match, Blanca and two of the SAR fighters had rushed Amur. One had blocked her attacks while the other had grabbed her to hold her in place. Then, Blanca had landed a blow at full power on her. The whole thing had taken about a minute. It’d been like watching an ambush from a certain squad with three stars...

Jin and the others had tried to intervene, but the Dawnswords had three in the vanguard, one in the middle, and one in the back. That formation had meant the remaining SAR warriors were able to pin down Jin and Mennas while the one who’d grabbed Amur before had kept Galatt busy. No one had been free to help her.

There had been a difference in strength and an advantage in numbers, so the Dawnswords should’ve been steamrolled. However, they’d held their own better than most expected, honestly. Amur’s early defeat had meant it’d be a one-sided fight, so the crowd’s support had quickly swung their way when Jin and the others rallied.

Leena had been crucial to their comeback, and now, she was surrounded by a group of noblemen who were nervously trying to talk to her.

Jin and the others had done their part, of course, but Leena had fired off nonstop spells to attack and distract their enemies and support her teammates. She had clearly been the MVP of the match. Thanks to her efforts, the Dawnswords had managed to knock out two top-tier opponents and had briefly gained the upper hand. But once she’d run out of mana, Blanca had launched a ferocious counterattack which had turned the tide for good.

“Yeah, maybe she let her guard down, but when three higher-ranked fighters gang up on you, even Amur was gonna lose,” I commented. “I can’t really blame her for that. And sure, Blanca was pretty unsportsmanlike, but...”

I glanced over to where Blanca was, but he didn’t notice my gaze. He was cheerfully having a drink, completely oblivious to our conversation.

One of the other SAR fighters wandered over to us. “We were actually against that ambush at the start, you know,” he said with a sheepish look on his face.

The other top-ranked SAR fighters nearby all nodded in agreement.

“Same here,” another said. “It felt a little mean. I won’t say it was dirty, but it wasn’t what you’d expect in a final match. It was kinda immature, honestly.”

“You sure didn’t seem hesitant when you rushed me,” Amur muttered under her breath, though loud enough for everyone to hear.

The guys who’d just spoken up looked away awkwardly.

Even if they’d been against it, they’d still gone along with the plan, or at least hadn’t stopped it. They were just as guilty as Blanca. It wasn’t like it’d been a crime or anything, but I could understand why Amur was annoyed. Part of the reason the crowd had cheered so hard for Jin and the others was probably that they had sympathized with her.

“Let’s just cut Blanca some slack, okay? It was his first real chance at winning, after all.”

The others made it clear that Blanca had been the ringleader and then scurried away, trying to save their own hides. It was almost like they were afraid of Amur glaring at them.

I changed the subject a bit. “Anyway, I’ve been getting a weird vibe like someone’s staring daggers at me...”

“That’s not funny, Tenma,” Amur retorted.

Primera nodded in agreement.

“I’m serious. Viscount Lobo’s glaring at me from Blanca’s table. If looks could kill, I’d be dead right now.”

“It’s best to ignore it. Pretend he’s not even there. Just walk away.” Amur then grabbed both Primera and me and started to drag us off.

Her dad was already walking over to us, but...

“Mm!”

One sharp glare from Amur froze him in his tracks. And even though Blanca was totally drunk, he latched onto the viscount and effortlessly pinned him down.

Incidentally, Viscount Lobo had entered the individual tournament this year, but he hadn’t made it past the prelims. Not only that, but he had been the first to get knocked out of his bracket—by his very own teammates from the SAR, even. They’d done it because they thought he’d get in their way during the finals. They’d thought he wouldn’t expect his own allies to betray him, so they’d blindsided him.

Everyone in the crowd and the other participants had frozen in shock, but all the people from the SAR in the audience had burst out laughing. The one who’d laughed the loudest had been Amur, of course.

“Fitting that the champ has a girl on each arm!” Leon said, strutting in with his usual energy. He was by himself, as usual, which was probably why he was sulking a bit. As soon as he’d said that, Albert, Cain, and Eliza all smacked him upside the head.

“Anyway, putting this idiot aside... Amur, you’re a bit too close to Tenma. That’s Primera’s spot, so step back,” Eliza said.

“Sorry,” Amur immediately said, nodding politely. Then, she practically shoved Primera toward me and took an obedient step back.

“Good to see everyone knows their place,” Cain said with a smirk. “By the way, have you set a date for your wedding yet? I know you said it’d be after the tournament.”

I told him it would be a month from now. I noticed a few nobles who were clearly eavesdropping quickly slinked away.

Albert chuckled. “They know they’re not invited anyway.” He’d clearly noticed them too.

“Wonder how many will try to crash it with some lame excuse about just wanting to congratulate you?”

The guest list was already finalized, so unless something big were to happen, there were no extra spots available. I wasn’t planning on inviting a bunch of random nobles we didn’t even know.

“Well, I’ll just bring them straight to the king and queen if anybody tries anything,” I said.

Queen Maria had told me I should let the royal family know if anyone was causing trouble. Nobody was getting in without the queen’s approval, and let’s be real—she wouldn’t be giving it either.

“There were a few hiccups with the food, but all the planned dishes are basically done. We just need to do some final adjustments for the outfits,” I added. “We were actually planning on stopping by Gunjo City next week to meet with Primera’s family and do the final fittings.”

“A pre-wedding getaway just for the two of you, huh?” Cain teased.

I nodded. That was part of the plan, after all.

“Oh!”

I heard a vaguely panicked noise of surprise right next to me. It’d come from Primera. Everyone turned to look at her.

“Um, it’s not just the two of us,” she said. “Amur and the others are coming along too.”

Albert, Cain, Eliza, and Ciara looked shocked.

Leon also seemed confused at first, but once he put the pieces together, he tried hard not to laugh. “Why would Primera... No, never mind. It’s because it’s Primera. Sorry, Tenma. That’s Duke Sanga’s house for ya,” he said.

Most people thought of a pre-wedding trip or a honeymoon as something couples did alone. But in a big house like the Sangas, it was normal to bring along guards and attendants. That was especially true with how close that family was. Sometimes, the entire family would just tag along for the ride. So, as a result, Primera had invited Amur and Jeanne as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“Well, I guess there’s no reason for you to be nervous if it’s just a regular family trip,” Cain said.

He was right, and that was the only way to look at it. It wasn’t like there was a rule that said it had to be just the two of us. And honestly, it was partly my fault for not having clarified things earlier. It was a bit of a bummer, but if that was how it was, then fine.

Still... Bringing your family on both a pre-wedding trip and the honeymoon had to be pretty unusual.

“We can always postpone the wedding if it’s going to be an issue. We’ll take full responsibility and see to Primera’s re-education. Just say the word,” Albert said to me.

“Nah, it was surprising, but it’s not a big deal. I should’ve been clearer. And honestly, in the Otori family, we tend to do things as a group too. Primera’s just fitting in, which is probably why she invited them without a second thought,” I replied.

If I were to agree to Albert’s offer, it would just create unnecessary distance between our families. But most of all, it felt like Primera was just trying to adapt to our way of doing things. I couldn’t get mad over that.

Albert had seen that I wasn’t upset, so he turned to gently scold Primera instead. “You’re doing your best, Primera, but...”

“Yes?”

“I don’t want to be harsh, but you do understand that our household is a little...unusual, right? If Amur and the girls are important to you, then please check with Tenma first. That’s all it would’ve taken.”

“I understand,” she said.

Honestly, I didn’t think he needed to go that far. I couldn’t help but wonder how Amur and the others might feel to have heard that.

As I stood there, lost in thought, Cain leaned in close.

“It’s obvious to everybody that your and Primera’s trip looks like a honeymoon, right?” he whispered to me. “So if you bring along unmarried young women, anybody who doesn’t understand the situation might think you’re being sleazy—taking along other girls even though you’re engaged. And they might think Amur and the others are airheads and just tagging along to chase you. What Albert is trying to say is that people will twist stuff like that. You should be careful.”

That was fair. If you didn’t know Primera had invited the girls herself, or how the Sanga family usually did things, or that I’d already agreed to it, then sure—someone might easily get the wrong idea that I was fooling around, or that the girls were following me around without a clue. It was easy to imagine that kind of gossip going around.

“Well, even if someone did make a fuss about it, the royal family and Duke Sanga all know the truth. And those people have the most pull in this kingdom. Anybody who tries to create drama is just going to make a fool out of themselves,” Eliza said. She didn’t seem too worried, and Leon and Ciara both nodded in agreement.

Now, even though this crew would tease me about it, they’d shut things down if they were to hear others doing it. When it counted, they’d have my back.

“When it comes to deflecting nobles, there’s no better shield than the royal family. I’d better not forget their souvenirs.”

“That’s probably getting dangerously close to treason,” Cain said, chuckling at my comment. “Although the fact that you could get away with that kind of joke is what makes you scary, Tenma.”

“It’s true. By the way, I haven’t seen Amur in a while. Where did she go?” Eliza asked.

We all stopped and looked around, only now realizing that Amur was gone.

“Tenma, you’ve got, um...visitors!”

Amur came back just then, carrying a ridiculously full plate stacked with a bunch of different dishes. She was also being flanked by an unusual duo.

She had probably taken off to avoid getting teased or getting caught up in a serious conversation and used it as an excuse to raid the buffet for her favorite food. But the real surprise was who she was bringing with her.

“That’s an odd pair.”

It was Duke Sanga and Leena.

“Sure, I can’t say I’ve seen them together before, but they met through Primera. It’s not that weird.”

“Exactly! But what I want to know is why didn’t you or Primera come rescue me?!” Leena whined.

I was confused for a second until I realized she was talking about how she had been mobbed earlier by that crowd of eager noble guys. We’d all just kind of ignored it.

Apparently, Duke Sanga had noticed. He’d then used that as a pretext to step in and guide her over to us.

“You knew I was struggling and just stood there, didn’t you?” Leena said. She gave us the deadliest glare she could muster.

Primera and I both immediately looked away.

Amur, who was also being called out, pretended not to hear. She focused intently on her plate.

For a while after that, Leena let off some steam by unloading a string of complaints, mostly aimed at Primera and me. Duke Sanga and the others stood by, watching it all unfold with amusement.

“Here, drink this and calm down,” Amur said, trying to do the same thing she’d done once to shut Primera up. She tried to use alcohol as a peace offering to Leena.

“Oh, please! You came over to point and laugh at me! How is that okay?! I saw you! Don’t pretend you didn’t!”

Unfortunately for Amur, Leena wasn’t like Primera. She could handle her alcohol...but a little too well. She was a bit buzzed and was feeling herself, so she just kept going. Leena was getting more energetic, not calming down.

“Speaking of which, Father, I invited Amur and the other girls on our trip without consulting with Tenma first,” Primera said.

Duke Sanga glared sharply toward his daughter for a second, but Albert quickly jumped in to explain that it had already been addressed.

The duke relaxed. “I see. I understand how it happened, but please be more mindful next time, Primera. And I’m sorry about that, Tenma,” he said lightly. I could tell from the slightly awkward tone in his voice that he probably blamed himself a bit for how she had been raised.

Two new voices then joined our conversation.

“I was wondering where you disappeared to,” said one.

“We were starting to get worried,” commented the other.

Marquis Sammons and Gramps had shown up as we were chatting. And since Duke Sanga and Albert were already here, our group was starting to attract attention, even though we were tucked into a corner of the venue.

While we were talking about dance pairings and how everyone’s progress was coming along, Amur showed up again, looking extremely grumpy. She was dragging Leena along behind her—Leena was also gleefully clinging to Amur’s back.

“Tenma, Primera, you owe me for this,” Amur said.

Leena wasn’t totally wasted, but she was definitely tipsy and way too cheerful.

“Come on, Leena. Let go already!”

Obviously, I couldn’t be the one to touch Leena, so Primera stepped in and gently pried her off of Amur and guided her into a chair.

“I really hope Mennas can come take her off our hands... Oh, wait. There he is, doing shots over there.”

Mennas, Jin, and Galatt were currently engaged in a drinking contest with Blanca and the SAR fighters. They were all throwing it down like it was a tournament all on its own.

The dance was starting soon, so I looked around for someone who could keep an eye on Leena. Mennas and the others had clearly forgotten she existed, but I couldn’t leave her with a random noble guy. That felt like a disaster waiting to happen.

Gramps was an option, but technically, he was still a bachelor. If someone saw the two of them alone, some jerk might deliberately twist it into some kind of gross situation. That’d be awkward for everyone, especially if somebody decided to call Leena “Granny” for kicks.

It seemed like Gramps could read my thoughts from my expression. “I get what you’re thinking, and I’d like to say nothing will happen, but there’s always some idiot out there looking to cause trouble,” he said.

He wasn’t wrong, but the problem was that both Duke Sanga and Marquis Sammons had to join the nobles’ dance rotations. We were about to lose all the married adults in the area.

“Amur, sorry, but I need you to stick with Leena a little longer,” I said.

Even with Gramps there to keep sleazy nobles away, someone had to be able to go with Leena to places like the restroom. That meant we needed at least one woman nearby.

“Ugh, fine. I get it.”

Amur clearly wasn’t thrilled, but she knew there was no one better suited for the job. She accepted her fate with a resigned sigh.

“Well, Primera? Shall we?” I said.

“Sure. Amur, you take care of Leena,” Primera said.

“You got it. Leave it to me.”

Primera and I made our way to the dance floor. But just before we turned the corner, I caught a glimpse of Amur’s face—it sure looked like she was up to something.

“Do you think Leena will be okay?” Primera asked.

She must’ve noticed Amur’s expression too, but we didn’t have the time to go back, and we didn’t have any better options. We had to trust Amur to handle it.

Later, after the first few dances, we both returned to check in with them.

Leena looked exhausted. Gramps was next to her, and Amur was happily chowing down on food with a satisfied grin. And for some reason, Leon looked totally defeated and was hanging his head in shame.

The moment Amur saw me coming back, she swallowed the food in her mouth. “Tenma! There’s still time! Dance one song with me!”

I glanced at Primera to check in with her.

Primera nodded. “That’d be nice of you,” she said. “We can dance to the next song.” She was leaving it up to me.

It looked like we’d just make it in time if we headed over now, so I retraced my steps to the dance floor with Amur at my side.

Since I’d already left the dance floor once, a few women had started moving toward me when I reappeared. Once they noticed Amur beside me, they backed off. And then the dance with Amur began.

“Amur, slow down a little.”

“I can’t,” she said. “My feet will get tangled up, and I’ll trip if I go any slower.”

For some reason, Amur could only dance at double speed. She dragged me through the song like a tornado, and by the end, I was even more exhausted than after the last few dances combined. And to top it off, this had earned me another death glare from Lobo.

Primera’s POV

“Leena? Master Merlin? Why do you both look so worn out?”

After Tenma and Amur left, I noticed that those two looked totally drained. I offered them some water, but for some reason, both of them hesitated when they saw me handing them cups. It was like they were trying to figure out if it was safe.

“What happened?” I asked.

“Er, I’d rather not say...” Master Merlin said, giving Leena a meaningful look. It was obvious the answer had something to do with her.

I pressed Leena again.

“Amur waterboarded me.”

I wasn’t sure what Leena had meant by that, so I asked for more details. I thought it was probably best to sort through this before Tenma got back, especially if it was something delicate.

Leena glanced nervously at Leon. “I was messing around, pretending to be drunk and clinging to Amur, and she snapped. She said, ‘Fine! I’ll sober you up!’ and shoved a bottle of water in my mouth and forced me to drink the whole thing.”

Master Merlin spoke up. “I tried to stop her, but Amur was practically glued to Leena. I didn’t want to risk touching her inappropriately, so by the time I got them apart, it was already too late, and the bottle was empty.”

“My stomach was full of water and she...she...”

Internally, I started to panic, thinking that Amur had physically attacked her.

“She made me dance...and dragged me all over the floor,” Leena added.

Leena had probably gotten tossed around more than danced, but it still sounded rather forceful.

I could already imagine what happened next. “Wait, so does that mean...?”

“The water came back up... And in a big way.”

“I tried to stop her, but unfortunately, Leon got the brunt of it,” Master Merlin said with a groan.

I turned to Leon, who had been so quiet I forgot he was even sitting there. It was then that I finally noticed his hair and clothes were damp. So, basically...

“He got totally soaked.”

I felt bad for Leon and looked him over, but strangely, there wasn’t a drop of water dripping from him or his hair. Master Merlin looked bone dry too.

I asked about it, and Master Merlin gave me a sheepish look. “I redirected it with Wind magic the moment the water burst from Leena’s mouth. Unfortunately, Leon was standing in the way, so he ended up soaked on my behalf.”

So that was how it’d happened.

Apparently, Master Merlin had used Fire and Wind magic afterward to dry Leon off as best as he could, which was why his clothes were only slightly damp now.

“I guess that’s why Leon’s been so down...” I said.

I thought that maybe that’d be enough to shut him up for a while.

“That’s not quite it, actually. Leon still tried to find a dance partner, but everyone who saw him get drenched started spreading the story. Not a single person would accept his invitation.”

“He said it was the first time he couldn’t find a single dance partner.”

Leon’s struggle to find someone to dance with was an annual tradition by now, but usually, there were some friendly noble ladies who were close to Margrave Haust and would humor him, so he never got completely shut out. But this year, he’d really crossed the line.

Leena had felt responsible, so she had offered to dance with him, but since the nobles were probably already gossiping about what had happened, she had been advised not to draw any more attention to herself. She’d ended up getting turned down.

If only more people knew how considerate he really was, I’m sure someone would’ve asked him to dance...

That was what I thought as I watched Leon sitting there—a true victim of bad timing and even worse luck.

Part Seven

“Hmm, I know I volunteered to come along, but this is starting to feel more like a regular family trip than anything else,” Gramps said.

“That’s fine,” I said. “We’re all gonna be living together once she and I have gotten married, right? Think of it like a practice run.”

We were setting up our final camp of the trip with only half a day left till we reached Gunjo City.

Normally, we’d have arrived by now, but we were traveling at a slower pace this time to accommodate Primerera. We were getting her used to how we usually did things, so we had stopped early every day to set up camp. That’d made for a more relaxed journey overall.

“Primera, that fire’s too hot!”

“Eek, it’s burning!”

“No, it’s fine! Stay calm! We’ll just cut the burnt parts off!”

Jeanne was showing Primera how to cook, but Primera had misjudged the flames and nearly dropped the pan in a panic. Amur was just hovering by making snarky comments. She wasn’t exactly helping.

“Master Tenmaaaa! Tea’s ready!”

Aura was on tea duty tonight. She was in a great mood since her task list was short. If Aina were here, she’d probably have forced her sister to take on extra chores, but this trip had spared her from that kind of stress.

“Okay, so the first watch will be Amur and Aura. Second will be Gramps and me, and third’ll be Primera and Jeanne.”

With Primera here, we could rotate the night watch with three pairs without needing to rely on Rocket and the others. It wasn’t a huge deal, but it did help. We could even go with two and three for the first and last shifts. Having more options was always nice.

Primera wasn’t great at cooking or chores, but when it came to watch duty, she had experience both giving and taking orders in the knight order. That made her reliable out here. This time, I was paired with Gramps, but one of us could’ve teamed up with Jeanne or Aura, while Primera paired up with Amur if we wanted to balance the groups out more. But it didn’t really matter in terms of strength since we had Rocket and the golems with us, after all.

That night passed by without incident, probably because we were only half a day’s journey out from Gunjo City.

“Master Tenma! There are enemies ahead! Shall I run them over?”

“Permission granted! Flatten ’em!” Amur replied.

“Aura, Amur, knock it off,” I said. “Thunderbolt, pull to the side and stop.”

We arrived at Gunjo City right on schedule the next morning. But just after we entered the city and started to roll again, Aura said something outrageous, then Amur leaned out to check and said something even more outrageous.

I couldn’t just let them get away with that. That was why I told Thunderbolt to stop. I made Aura swap with Jeanne, and then I lectured the other two in the carriage.

“I know you’re joking, but you can’t just go around yelling stuff out like that,” Gramps said. He was backing me up in a harsher tone of voice than I’d taken with them.

Both girls went quiet after that, but it wasn’t like that’d be the end of it. Even if they didn’t pick a fight with those three up ahead, it was pretty much guaranteed they’d start something anyway. Either way, chaos was incoming.

The only problem was that Leni wasn’t here this time, so it was two-on-three. But if Jeanne were to join in, it would even out. There was no way Primera was getting involved, though.

Aura and Amur were now kneeling quietly in the corner of the carriage. They weren’t good at sitting formally like that, but thanks to all the times Aina and Leni had made them do it, they were getting better at it.

“Tenma, the Wildcat Princesses are here.”

Jeanne had taken over the driver’s seat, and Thunderbolt was still at a stop. The triplets must’ve gotten tired of waiting and had walked over themselves.

“Long time no see, you three!” I said, trying to act casually. I figured they probably hadn’t heard Aura and Amur’s earlier outburst anyway.

“They don’t look happy.”

“They probably didn’t hear them, right?”

Normally, the Wildcat Princesses would have been charging in with their usual chaotic energy and perfect triplet coordination. But today, they looked seriously ticked.

Just then, Primera poked her head out next to me. “What’s going on? They’re being really quiet,” she commented. She had noticed how unusually silent things were.

And then...

“Traitor!!!”

All three of the triplets exploded at me in unison. Honesty, I’d seen this coming.

“Amur! We’ve gotta protect the Lady of House Otori!”

“Yes! You’re right!”

Aura and Amur both jumped to their feet, ready for action.

One sharp glare from Primera made them knock it off. “Sit down,” she said sternly. “I’m sure you three have a lot to say, but we’ve got a packed schedule, so let’s meet at Full Belly tonight and talk it out then, okay?”

Primera had tried to stay calm and let them talk at first, but since they had all been shouting over each other, she had interrupted and set up a time and place for us all to meet. The sheer authority in her voice had made them freeze up, and they had quickly agreed.

“We’re heading to the knight headquarters now. Want a ride? We’re going past the guild.”

“We’ll walk!” the triplets said without hesitation, marching toward the guild. Primera had clearly intimidated them.

“All right, Jeanne. Take us to the headquarters,” she said.

“Got it! Let’s go, Thunderbolt!”

Thunderbolt started moving at Jeanne’s command. She still looked a bit nervous, however.

Amur and Aura were whispering to each other now, clearly pinning their hopes on Primera for tonight’s showdown against the triplets.

“She actually shut down the triplets without even giving them a chance to speak.”

“Yeah, she’s definitely their final boss!”

Primera wasn’t having it. “Aura. Amur. I’m not fighting with them.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The two of them looked like puppies who’d just gotten scolded.

“Hmm, I don’t really know the Gunjo City knights, so I think I’ll take a walk around town. I’ll meet you at the Full Belly Inn tonight,” Gramps said, and he casually jumped out of our still-moving carriage. Honestly, I was starting to wonder if he was afraid of Primera too.

“Great idea! I’m coming with you!” Amur leaped out too and started following him.

“I-I... I can’t...” Aura tried to follow them, but she didn’t have the guts or the skills to jump as well. She poked her head outside, gave up, and sighed in defeat.

“Was I really that scary, Tenma?” Primera asked.

“U-Um, no... They were just surprised, that’s all.”

“I see.”

Even Primera thought she might’ve gone too far after five people bailed one after another. And when she turned to me for reassurance, she looked even more depressed when I stumbled over my answer.

I felt bad, but no one looked more devastated than Aura, since she hadn’t managed to escape.

It might’ve seemed like I had delivered the final blow to Primera, but she had been hurt before that. Aura had just made it worse by failing to flee, and now, she was drowning in guilt.

“Oh, thanks, Rocket.”

I was trying to think of a way to cheer Primera up when Rocket popped up out of the magic bag with some tea and sweets. He gave them to her. Then, Shiromaru padded over and let her pet him. Solomon came by as well. Rocket was clearly trying to cheer Primera up, but Shiromaru and Solomon were just in it for the treats. Either way, it worked, and the animal therapy session was a success. Shiromaru and Solomon were both rewarded with snacks.

“Primera, the knights’ headquarters is coming up soon,” Jeanne said without hesitation.

She should’ve reported that to me since I was technically her master, but I guess I couldn’t blame her too much. Primera would be my wife soon, and once that happened, she’d be Jeanne’s mistress.

“Is Commander Alan really the only one coming to the wedding?” I asked.

“Yes. Everyone else has to work, so they can’t make it to the capital. Aida was also planning on coming at first, but she decided against it since their child is so little.”

Out of everyone we knew from Gunjo City, Primera only had Commander Alan coming from her side. I had the triplets, Ceruna, Henri, and Marks. Dozle and Kanna wouldn’t be coming since they couldn’t close the Full Belly Inn. They had Soleil to take care of too, so they had to sit this one out. Flute couldn’t come because of her baby, so naturally, the guildmaster had decided to stay home with them. Flute had scolded him for that, but she couldn’t very well run the guild solo while taking care of their child all alone, so she’d ultimately agreed. They had even sent us a letter explaining the whole thing.

“Primera and I will go in and say hello, but what about you guys?” I asked.

“Uh, should we just wait somewhere for you?”

“If there’s a carriage area we’re allowed to use, we could wait there. What do you think?”

“Well, let’s see. We’re only visiting the knights’ headquarters, the guild, and the Full Belly Inn today, so Jeanne and Aura, you guys are free to do whatever. You can wait here, go shopping, or do whatever you want,” I said.

Primera had an idea. “Maybe we should all just meet up at the Full Belly Inn later? Commander Alan takes forever once he gets to talking, and it could drag on forever if Aida joins in.”

I felt bad for making Jeanne and Aura wait around while Gramps and Amur went off and did whatever they wanted, but luckily, Primera’s suggestion was a good one.

“I wanna go shopping, then!” Aura yelled.

She took up Primera’s offer without a second thought. And, naturally, Jeanne went along with her. We told them to be back by evening and then went our separate ways.

Gunjo City was relatively safe, so I wasn’t worried about them going off on their own. However, I had Rocket and the others go along to guard them just in case, since everyone knew they were associated with the Otori family.

I told the girls to make sure Solomon stayed in the dimension bag so he wouldn’t cause a commotion in public. Just having Shiromaru out and about with them would be enough of a deterrent for any troublemakers.

“Tenma, you probably shouldn’t tell them they can wait here in situations like this. Aura probably doesn’t mind either way, but Jeanne will always choose to wait out of politeness,” Primera said as I was putting Thunderbolt and the carriage in my bag.

She was right. Aura always wanted to go off and play, but Jeanne would feel obligated to stay behind. She had gone shopping just now, but that had been more because she would always go along with whatever Aura wanted.

“You’re right. I’ll be more careful next time,” I replied. “Still, I’m impressed you picked up on that.”

“Honestly, I was more surprised you didn’t. But maybe it’s because I’ve been watching Jeanne from the outside for so long.”

After that, Primera started walking toward the entrance of the knights’ headquarters.

Jeanne’s POV

“I bought some meat skewers, Jeanne! And the big ones are for Shiromaru and Solomon!”

Aura came back with two oversized skewers and four regular ones. She handed the big ones over to Shiromaru and Solomon, and they were gone in a flash. The rest of the skewers went to Rocket, me, and Aura.

“Gunjo City has a lot of tasty food stalls, huh?”

“Yeah. There might even be more here than in the capital, honestly.”

The capital likely had more stalls overall, but if you were talking quality over quantity, Gunjo City probably took the cake. We’d already hit a few stalls since saying goodbye to Tenma, and every single one had been really good.

“So what should we do now? It’s still kinda early to head to the Full Belly Inn. Should we stop by the guild?” Aura asked.

“Sure. We don’t have time to take on any quests, but it’s not like we have anything better to do. Plus, Tenma and Primera might show up if we hang around the guild. Rocket, Shiromaru... What’s the matter?”

I had turned to the two of them to let them know our plans, but I noticed they were both staring intently in the same direction. I followed their gaze, but I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

“C’mon, Jeanne. Let’s get moving.”

“Okay,” I said. “Rocket, Shiromaru, let’s go.”

They finally looked our way again and started walking with us.

“If we go straight down this road and then take a right, the guild will be right there. Wait, isn’t that Master Merlin and Amur?” asked Aura.

“You’re right. It looks like they’re disguised or something, but I’m pretty sure it’s them.”

As we walked toward the guild, we spotted two figures up ahead, checking out food stalls. They had their hoods up so people around them hadn’t noticed who they were, but I recognized their cloaks instantly. They were definitely Master Merlin and Amur.

“Master Mer—Mmmph!”

Aura started to call out as we approached them, but Amur slapped her to cut her off. Well, she had actually just tried to clamp her hand over Aura’s mouth, but she had done it with such brute strength that it’d ended up being more of a slap.

“Shh! Don’t say that name out loud unless you want chaos!”

“Amur,” Master Merlin began, “that was too much.”

Amur let her go.

“Aura, your mouth is all red,” I said.

Amur had definitely left a mark on her face.

“We probably shouldn’t be wandering around too much,” he said. “Let’s go find a place to settle down for a bit.”

Master Merlin started walking off again, looking around for somewhere quieter. He turned down a side alley where there weren’t any shops. We followed him.

But then, he suddenly spun around. “By the way, we’re being followed. Who are you?” he asked, addressing whoever was behind us.

“An enemy?!”

“Eek!”

There was someone there, face and body concealed by a cloak, but Merlin clearly startled them. Amur lunged at the stranger right away, but honestly, I thought I recognized their voice from somewhere.

“Wait! I can tell just by touch... Leni-tan!”

The mysterious person Amur had tackled turned out to be none other than Leni, someone we all knew well. Amur looked genuinely happy to see her.

For some reason, Aura mumbled something about finding the third one. She looked equally pleased.

◆◆◆

“Ugh, I’m exhausted.”

“Yeah, same here.”

While we had been at the knight headquarters with Commander Alan, Aida had shown up since she’d heard that Primera and I were there. We had mostly been talking about Primera’s retirement ceremony, which was mandatory since she was a duke’s daughter and a squad leader. We had also been discussing how the handover would be handled. But as soon as Aida had arrived, the whole tone of the visit had shifted. Suddenly, all anyone could talk about were embarrassing stories and mistakes from Primera’s past, and, naturally, that had evolved into people teasing both of us.

Honestly, if one of the aides hadn’t come in and reminded Alan that he was way behind schedule, we probably would’ve been roasted for the rest of the afternoon.

“I was hoping to grab a bite to eat before heading to the guild, but it looks like we’d cut it too close... Should we just go straight there?” I asked.

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” Primera agreed.

Thunderbolt could get us there in about ten minutes, so we decided not to bother with the carriage and rode him there instead. It felt a little awkward since I’d never ridden through town on the same horse as a woman before, but considering we were about to be married, I figured I should start getting used to it.

“Tenma, take a left here. You can’t ride horses on the road on the right without a permit.”

“Okay.”

I wasn’t aware since I hadn’t really ridden on horseback around Gunjo City before, but apparently, there were certain roads you weren’t allowed to use without special permission. We’d gotten clearance for the carriage when we had entered the city, but the rules weren’t the same for Thunderbolt on his own. It was safer to use alternate routes.

Even though we had to take a bit of a detour from the route I’d originally planned, we still got to the guild way faster than we would’ve on foot.

“We’re just a little behind schedule, right?” I asked Primera.

“Right. We only gave them a rough estimate anyway, so this should be fine.”

Thanks to Thunderbolt and Primera knowing the roads well, we only arrived a little later than we’d planned. I guess you could say it was thanks to us having cut our date short.

“Well, let’s go in. Doesn’t something feel off?”

“Now that you mention it...it’s weirdly quiet,” Primera replied. “Oh, no...”

The second we stepped into the adventurers’ guild, both of us immediately picked up that something wasn’t right. We glanced around, and at almost exactly the same time, we both locked eyes with the source.

“A three-on-three staring contest...”

“At least nobody’s wrecked the place yet,” I said. “Or maybe they already did and got in trouble with Flute for it.”

Just like Primera had said, three people on one side of a table were staring at three others on the other side. Nothing had actually gone down yet, which was probably because Flute’s sharp glare from behind the front desk was holding them in check.

“Wait a second, why is Leni here?” I asked quietly.

All six of them suddenly turned to face us in unison—maybe they had heard me.

I ignored them for a moment. “Long time no see, Flute. Is that your kid?”

“It’s good to see you again, Tenma! Yes, this little boy is Hart. He’s my and Max’s son.”

Hart was fast asleep, completely unfazed by the tense atmosphere in the guild. I guess he had inherited nerves of steel from the guildmaster and Flute.

“So, Tenma. Looks like those folks are waiting for you. Shouldn’t you go say hi?” she suggested.

“I’d kind of like to know what the hell happened here before that.”

None of them dared to approach me while Flute was standing nearby, but if she were to step away, they’d probably come over the moment she backed off. From the expression on Flute’s face, she clearly wanted me to round up all six of them and get them out of here. And well, considering the fact that half of them were technically my responsibility, I couldn’t exactly say no. Still, before I dove into that mess, I wanted some intel.

“If you must know, the Wildcat Princess triplets came to check out the quest board like usual. However, Amur and the others showed up at the same time, and they all got into a little scuffle like always. It did get a little rougher than usual, however, so I had to step in and ask them to behave.”

Flute’s explanation made sense. And it was just like her to have been able to wrangle Amur without raising her voice. Lily and the others were one thing, but not many people could get Amur to settle down once she got riled up.

Now that I’d heard Flute out, it was just about time to face the group. But before that, there were two people conspicuously missing from this mess, and I had to find them first. Flute probably thought I was just stalling, but the more people I could rope into this, the less I would have to deal with on my own. Misery loved company, after all.

“Ah, there’s Gramps and Jeanne!”

The two of them were sitting off to the side, trying to be invisible while staying well away from the drama. Once we made eye contact, they both looked away like they hadn’t seen me at all.

I glanced over at Amur and Leni before heading toward Gramps. That seemed to be the signal, because both of them stood up and started heading toward him too. Naturally, Aura and the triplets came over as well and sat down near Gramps’s seat.

“All right,” I began, “I’m not even gonna ask who started this because we all know how that goes. Just don’t make trouble for everyone around you. And Gramps, you’re the adult here, so act like it. That’s all. You’re dismissed!”

I figured I’d just keep it short and sweet so we could move on, but Flute was still giving me a death stare. And judging by the looks I was getting from the adventurers and staff eavesdropping nearby, they weren’t exactly impressed with how I was handling this either.

Whatever. I ignored them.

I wrapped things up and then asked Jeanne and Aura to grab drinks for everyone. Gramps grumbled about not being anyone’s chaperone and ordered booze and snacks instead of tea. Jeanne and Aura returned with tea and started passing it around.

Flute sighed and gave in. “Well, as long as they’re not making a scene anymore...”

“Um, are you ever going to react to me being here...?” Leni hesitantly asked me at last while taking a sip of her tea.

“Let me guess. Amur told you we were headed to Gunjo City, and you decided to get here first and surprise us or something like that?” I asked.

Back when we had been in Haust, she had pulled the same stunt with Lani and Doni. Compared to that situation, her showing up in Gunjo City wasn’t even surprising. I mean, back then, it’d been a total coincidence, but this time, it actually made sense that she’d show up ahead of us if she’d heard our travel plans.

“Still, she got here really fast,” Primera remarked. “But Amur passes letters through her SAR contacts all the time, so maybe Leni got the message partway through and adjusted her course.”

Leni didn’t argue with that, so we were probably right.

“Tenma, you done?” a new voice asked.

Max, the guildmaster, had finally emerged from the back room. I had no idea if he was working or just hiding out, but I noticed that he didn’t show his face until the situation calmed down. The adventurers here and staff all gave him the cold shoulder as he walked in, but as usual, he didn’t seem to care.

He glanced at Flute as if to ask for permission before making his way over to me. “I’ve actually got something I wanted to ask you about,” he said.

“What is it? If it’s about money, I’ll need at least a year to think about it,” I replied.

“Hey, you wouldn’t think about lending me anything even if I asked, would you?” said Max. “Anyway, it’s not about that. Lately, adventurers have been bringing in a lot of horned rabbits, and I was wondering if you could take them off our hands.”

Apparently, word had gotten out that I was coming to town for my wedding, and somewhere along the line, a rumor had started that I’d be here to gather horned rabbit meat for the reception—just like what we’d done for Ceruna’s wedding. Adventurers must’ve gotten it in their heads that a similar request would be posted again, so now, they were bringing in more and more of that stuff.

“I can use it, so sure, I’ll take it. But you’re doing the butchering. And give me a bit of a discount while you’re at it,” I said.

“Sure, we’ll take care of the butchering. And talk to Flute about the discount. She’ll get mad if I try to decide that on my own.”

It would’ve been way easier to hash it all out directly with the guildmaster, but he clearly knew that too. I looked at Flute and tried holding up three fingers to test the waters, and she casually raised one in response. After some back-and-forth, we settled on a fifteen percent discount. I’d been aiming for at least twenty, but since I was bargaining with Flute, that was probably the best I could hope for. If I’d been negotiating with the guildmaster, I probably could’ve pushed for twenty-five...

“All right, here’s your payment. And make sure the guild puts out a notice that we won’t be buying any more after this,” I said.

“Understood. With all the overhunting lately, the horned rabbit population around here’s taken a nosedive anyway. Even if adventurers keep bringing them in, the market won’t crash,” Max said.

Right after we wrapped things up with Flute, a handful of staff members rushed to the storage area. They came back with some butchered horned rabbit meat and a contract showing the purchase amount. The guild had probably guessed that I’d be the one buying and had everything prepped in advance. And if that was true, then all my negotiations with Flute were just a formality. She’d just been messing with me the whole time.

Sure, I’d basically just been roped into helping the guild clear out their stockpile, but it’s not like I was walking away empty-handed. We were gonna need a ton of meat for the wedding and the after-party, so getting it even at a little bit of a discount was still a win.

Or at least, that was what I had to tell myself. Otherwise, the fact that I had thought I could push the guildmaster hard but barely scraped fifteen percent off the price with Flute was just embarrassing.

I was still stashing the meat into my magic bag, trying not to dwell on how thoroughly I’d been played, when the guildmaster brought a different bag over. He set it down in front of Primera and me.

“And this is a wedding gift from the adventurers’ guild,” the guildmaster added. “Here’s thirty whole chickens, ten boars, and eighteen deer’s worth of meat. We hunted them over the summer. The fat content’s low, but they should cook up light and tasty.”

Apparently, this meat had been gathered mostly by adventurers who’d attended Ceruna’s wedding, and the guild staff had handled all the butchering. It was a massive haul. The guildmaster laughed as he told me they’d had a lot more breathing room this time compared to when I would haul stuff in—his comment got a chuckle out of the nearby adventurers too.

“So yeah, no need to hold back,” he said. “Think of it as the guys who basically ate for free at Ceruna and Henri’s wedding paying you back.”

Max kept laughing, but it took him a moment to notice that the adventurers who’d been there that day weren’t laughing anymore. He quickly made himself scarce and retreated to his office.

With a bright smile on her face, Primera stepped forward and thanked the adventurers to smooth things over. I followed her lead, and the atmosphere in the guild returned to normal in no time. Honestly, it hadn’t gotten all that tense to begin with—just some friendly ribbing. Still, it was a good call on Primera’s part.

We hung around for a bit longer, but once it started getting closer to dinnertime, we thanked everyone again and left for the Full Belly Inn.

“We scored big,” I said. “It’s leaner meat, but it should be more than good enough for the wedding, depending on how it’s cooked.”

“Yeah, we really owe them one.”

“So what kind of dishes are you planning to make with it?” Gramps asked.

Primera, Gramps, Jeanne, and I were deep in conversation about how to use the meat when I glanced back and saw the same six people still locked in a standoff. Unfortunately, that didn’t change even after we arrived at the Full Belly Inn.

“Hi, Dozle, Kanna! Long time no see!”

The place was already packed since it was around dinnertime, but Dozle and his wife noticed me right away and waved. It looked like they were too busy for a proper greeting, though, so we just grabbed a seat and waited.

However, the only open tables were either for four or six people, so we ended up having Amur’s group and the triplets sitting together. Great.

“Hey, Tenma? Don’t you think these seating arrangements are a little dangerous?” Gramps asked.

“The triplets use the Full Belly Inn as their base, so they wouldn’t start anything stupid and risk getting kicked out. And Amur’s got Leni with her, so unless the Wildcat Princesses start something first, they’ll probably keep it civil. As for Aura, there’s no way she has the guts to cause a scene—it could cost her her job.”

I had said all that loud enough for the six of them to hear. The girls all twitched, just a little, and that was enough to thin out the tension. That especially went for Aura, as she looked visibly rattled. There was no way she’d be the one to make the first move now.

Things were finally starting to settle down, but then, I heard a small voice from below. Startled, I looked down and saw a little girl under the table. I used Identify just in case, but she turned out to be exactly who I thought—and she had every reason to be here.

Primera recognized her right away and greeted her with a smile. “Hi, Soleil!”

Soleil smiled back at her brightly.

It’d been almost a year since we had seen her last. I probably wouldn’t have recognized her at all without Identify. Kids really did grow fast.

“Hello,” I said to her.

“Hi!”

Soleil clung to my pants and looked up at me with wide eyes.

“She probably wants you to hold her,” Gramps said.

I reached out to pick her up, and sure enough, she threw her hands into the air. I lifted her up onto my lap, and she started looking around, all smiles. Meanwhile, the six at the other table seemed to suddenly lose interest in their staring contest...or maybe they were trying really hard to ignore the situation.

Soleil stayed on my lap for a bit before moving over to Primera and later Jeanne. By the time she ended up in Gramps’s arms, she looked sleepy.

Kanna came by to take her and carry her off to bed. “Thanks for watching Soleil. And sorry, Master Merlin,” she said.

Just as she left, Dozle came over with some drinks and a few platters of food. He also brought some grilled meat for Shiromaru and the others, plus bones that had already been used for broth and boiled tendons and trimmings.

“This one and that one are for Shiromaru and your followers,” he said. “It’s mostly scraps and bones we were gonna throw out, but they should be fine, right?”

“Yeah, that’s perfect. Thanks,” I said. “I’ll feed them in the bag, though. Don’t want to cause a stir.”

“Good call.”

It was probably okay to bring Shiromaru out here since most of the customers at the Full Belly Inn were regulars. But unlike the old days, I had Solomon now, and some newer customers probably wouldn’t take it too well. Some might have found the very idea of animals being out in the dining room to be unhygienic—never mind that some adventurers were way filthier than Shiromaru or Solomon could ever be. But those types never lasted long here. Dozle and Kanna ran one of the cleanest inns I knew.

“Still, it’s weird Soleil didn’t show any interest in Amur and the others. You’d think she’d be attached to the triplets since they’re based here,” I commented.

Primera let out an awkward chuckle in response, and the triplets looked a little awkward too. Amur, on the other hand, looked genuinely curious.

Something was definitely up.

“She probably just doesn’t like them,” someone said flatly.

“Soleil’s friendly and curious with everyone, though. She’s usually all smiles with anyone.”

“Yeah, but she’s really sensitive to tension or bad vibes. If there’s even a hint of weirdness in the air, she’ll stay away.”

Some of the regulars sitting nearby started to fill us in over drinks.

“Since she was born, she’s been surrounded by noise and clamor, so she’s totally fine with crowds. Actually, I’d say she likes it.”

“Yeah, when we’re all here drinking, she comes right up to us and smiles. She’s basically Full Belly Inn’s mascot!”

The other customers around us started chiming in with stories about Soleil. Maybe she hadn’t avoided the triplets because she didn’t like them. It really might’ve been the atmosphere that’d made her shy away.

But then, someone exposed the real reason.

“Honestly, the triplets fawn over her too much,” a customer said. “They fight over who gets to hold her and stuff like that. Honestly, it’s no wonder she avoids them.”

Judging by Lily and the others’ reactions to that comment, that was the truth.

Amur and Aura sure didn’t let that one slip past them. They jumped on the info and immediately started teasing the triplets.

“Honestly, the reason Soleil didn’t go over there isn’t because she doesn’t like the triplets. She probably just realized that Amur and Aura were the same kind of people.”

“Exactly.”

“I agree.”

“Well, I can’t argue with that,” Dozle said with a sigh.

None of them seemed to realize it, but the rest of us were just kind of exasperated. Not long after that, Kanna came back, more food was brought out, the drinks were flowing again, and the room settled into a lively, comfortable din.

Suddenly, Aida burst through the door. She was out of breath and totally panicked.

“Primera! Get to the headquarters now!” she yelled.

“What’s the matter, Aida?” Primera asked.

Aida ignored her question and grabbed her by the arm instead. “It’s an emergency! Tenma, you come too!” she yelled.

“Okay, but gimme a second! Gramps, take the carriage and Jeanne and the others to the headquarters. We’ll meet you there.”

“Got it,” he said. “We’ll head out as soon as we can.”

I handed Gramps the bag with Thunderbolt and the carriage inside before rushing for the door. Meanwhile, Jeanne was busy forcing water into a clearly tipsy Amur.

“Okay, let’s go,” I said.

“Huh?”

“Wait, what?”

Primera and Aida thought we’d wait for the carriage to be ready, but I had a faster way to get there.

“Hold still, you two!” I yelled.

“Eeeeeek!”

I scooped both of them up and took off into the darkening sky over Gunjo City at full speed.

“We’re here, but...”

“Can’t you warn us next time?”

“I don’t feel so good... Ugh...”

Our flight had only been about a minute long, but since it’d been so fast, it’d been totally unsteady and unexpected. Neither of the girls took it too well.

“Wh-What the heck just happened?” Primera asked.

“Just, ugh... Come on. The commander should already be inside.”

Aida had mostly recovered already, and just like earlier, she dragged Primera and me toward the knight headquarters.

“This is awful...”

“What the hell happened here?!”

A group of knights lay sprawled on the ground in the plaza inside the knights’ headquarters. Their uniforms were soaked with blood. Everyone seemed to still be alive, but if I didn’t act fast, some of them could go south quickly.

“I’ll start with healing magic! Who’s in the worst shape?” I yelled.

“Simon!” Aida yelled immediately. “His wounds are the deepest!”

One of the nearby knights pointed toward Simon and some others. “Captain Simon’s over there! We kept the ones in critical condition together!”

They were definitely short-staffed here. The medics couldn’t keep up, and the knights were desperately trying to help with treatment despite not being trained for it.

I quickly checked Simon’s wounds along with the others near him and began casting healing magic. In a perfect world, I would focus on each person individually, but I was too afraid some of them wouldn’t make it in time. Instead, I prioritized closing people’s wounds as fast as I could for now.

“Primera, get the healing potions! The ones marked with a five in this bag. Give one bottle to each of the critically wounded! I’m gonna go check on the others!” I said.

“Got it!”

A little over ten knights were in critical condition, but I managed to stabilize them with rapid-fire healing spells. They’d still need follow-up treatment, but I handed things here over to Primera for the time being and went to check if there were any others in dire shape.

“What in the blazes happened here, Tenma?!”

Gramps and the others had finally arrived, but I couldn’t waste time explaining the situation.

“Gramps! I don’t have all the details, but I need your help! Start healing the wounded. Jeanne, Aura, hand out potions to knights who are helping out! Amur, Leni, Lily, and the rest! I need you to help the knights however you can!”

Gramps could use healing magic and had way more mana and experience than I did, so things would move faster now that he was here. Jeanne and Aura always carried plenty of potions, and Leni could do some basic treatments thanks to her line of work. I hadn’t expected Lily’s group to show up too, but since they were adventurers, they’d at least know how to deal with injuries a bit. As for Amur, if nothing else, she’d be plenty useful for heavy lifting.

Normally, civilians wouldn’t jump in during an emergency like this, but no one batted an eye. Maybe it was because a member of the knights had directly asked us for help, or maybe it was because we already knew so many of them. It was more likely that nobody had time to explain, though.

Soon after Gramps and the others arrived, off duty knights who hadn’t been here began rushing into the building as well. Manpower stopped being an issue, and we were finally able to stabilize all of the critically injured patients.

Once things finally calmed down, someone came in to get me.

“Tenma! Commander Alan wants to see you!”

Since I still needed to fill Gramps in on the situation, I asked him to come with me.

Alan stood and bowed with gratitude the moment we stepped into the room.

“Master Tenma Otori and Master Merlin Otori. Thank you both for your assistance today,” he said.

“What happened? It looked like there was a battle here,” I said.

It might’ve been a small-scale incident, but the scene could’ve easily passed for a wartime field hospital. And judging by Alan’s darkened expression, that was exactly why he’d called us here.

“That...monster showed up.”

I assumed he meant something like Chaos. Still, I couldn’t believe just one of those abominations could cause so much damage.

“But the Gunjo City knights aren’t weak enough to get wiped out by one of those things,” I reasoned.

“So in other words, we’re talking multiple abominations like Chaos,” Gramps said.

If these creatures were man-made, it wouldn’t be surprising for several to show up at once. We’d been aware of that possibility all along—we just hadn’t expected how much worse the situation would really be.

“Five of them showed up. Two of them launched a surprise attack from behind the knights. They had a few monsters with them too.”

I’d figured there might be two or three at the most, but five... And to think that they executed a tactical ambush. That was disturbing. On top of that, these abominations even had the ability to command regular monsters.

Alan explained to us that Simon had taken about half of his second unit and half of the first out to the outskirts of the town for training. On their way back, they had spotted three suspicious individuals. A few knights had approached to investigate, but the trio had bolted. The knights had pursued them and managed to surround the group, but that was when they’d been ambushed. Two abominations and several beasts had attacked them from the rear, and the three suspects inside the perimeter had started going wild. The entire thing had devolved into total chaos.

Each abomination had been strong enough to take on several knights on its own. They had fought alongside other monsters and launched a coordinated attack. The knights had been at a disadvantage from the start.

Despite the chaos, Simon had kept shouting for the knights to remember their training and fight as a group. Thanks to him, they had managed to take down one of the monsters, but that’d made Simon a prime target. The enemies had figured out that he was the commander and had focused their attacks on him. As a result, he’d been critically injured.

Right after Simon had gone down, another group of knights had managed to seriously wound a second abomination. That’d been when the rest of the knights had finally arrived, and the enemies retreated since they were so outnumbered.

The Chaos-type abominations had used their remaining monster minions to slow down the knights while they carried off their injured comrades. The levels of intelligence and teamwork they’d shown made Chaos look like a wild animal in comparison.

“Gramps, if you got hurt and needed to recover, what would you do?” I asked.

“Rest or eat, I suppose?”

“What if you were a monster?”

“Same thing, I reckon,” he replied. “Tenma, are you suggesting those things are doing the same?”

“If their bodies are built anything like ours, then I think it’s possible.”

Alan nodded grimly. “We’re thinking along the same lines, and unfortunately, there are villages in the direction they fled. We’ve sent the first and second orders to hunt them down, but I doubt they’ll be able to handle it without casualties,” he said.

During the ambush, dozens of knights had been wounded, and some had almost died. Because of that, you couldn’t just glance at a village from the outside and know it was safe. It would take time to search the area thoroughly, but that kind of delay could easily cost lives. If we were lucky, we might take down an abomination or two after they’d wiped out a village. And if not, we’d take losses, and the enemies could still get away.

“Gramps, we gotta go. If we fly, we might be able to stop them before they do any more damage!”

He agreed with me. “Okay. But we need to see a map of the terrain and village locations first.”

“I have one right here,” Alan said, unrolling a map and laying it flat. He placed stones on it to mark Gunjo City and each of the surrounding villages. It was pretty clear that he’d called me here now to ask for help with the hunt.

“The closest village is five kilometers away, and the farthest is about thirty.”

“The knights started with the closest one, I take it?” Gramps asked. “In that case, it might make more sense for Tenma and me to hit the farthest ones first.”

“That sounds good to me. Primera, Gramps and I are gonna fly ahead. Can you explain the situation to Jeanne and the others? Tell them if things get dicey, they’re authorized to use the golems.”

“Got it. Master Merlin, Tenma... Please be careful,” she said.

“Master Tenma, Master Merlin, we’re counting on you. And Primera, I know you’re stepping down as captain soon, but right now I’m reinstating your full authority for this emergency,” Alan ordered. “Aida will support you as your vice-captain. I’m leaving command of the unit to you if something happens to me.”

“Yes, sir!”

There were probably other knights who could act as commander, but they’d be needed in the vanguard in an emergency. Primera was an obvious choice since she had previous command experience and was still technically an active knight.

“Be careful, Primera.”

After we said goodbye to her, Gramps and I took off into the sky, leaving the headquarters behind.

“So, Tenma, are we heading to the village farthest away from here first, or are we skipping ahead of the knights and going to the one after that?” Gramps asked.

“We can start with the village ahead of them,” I replied.

“Is that where you think the danger is?”

“Not exactly. I figure the third or fourth village is the most likely target, but I want to focus on the places the knights haven’t reached yet since it won’t take long for us to search them by air.”

Honestly, I thought the closest village was the one least likely to have any hiding monsters. If the abominations were intelligent enough to plan strategically, then they’d know that would be the first place we would check. It just wouldn’t make sense for them to hide out there. Sure, they might’ve already attacked that village, but if that’d happened, they probably wouldn’t be sticking around there.

“That’s fair. But how do you plan on finding them? It might be smarter for us to split up.”

Gramps was fine with checking the second village first, but he also suggested that we divide and conquer. One of us would check the second and third villages, and the other the fourth and fifth.

“Nah, we don’t need to do that. Actually, I’ve got a spell called Detection that lets me scan my surroundings. It can cover a ten-kilometer radius, and it’ll only take a few minutes per village. It’ll make more sense for us to stick together,” I told him.

“Hrm, I see... I think I’ll ask about that spell of yours later. For now, I’ll leave the monster searching to you. I’ll just tag along,” Gramps said before dropping back slightly to fly behind me.

Just like I had thought, the nearest village hadn’t been attacked. I couldn’t detect anything hiding there, so we flew past it. We passed by the knights who were heading to the second village, and just as we were about to come up onto the third one...

“Gramps! There are four abominations down there with no sign of any other monsters nearby. Two of them are already fighting villagers, but there are no casualties yet!”

“Let’s hurry up and get down there, then!”

The two beasts that weren’t fighting were in a barn. They were eating, but thankfully, it seemed like they were consuming livestock and not people. But at this rate, it was only a matter of time before someone would die. This battle had only just begun, so I thought we might be able to stop this without any deaths if we moved fast.

At least that was what I had been hoping for, but unfortunately, the beastly abominations suddenly mowed down a whole group of villagers in one sweep.

“Gramps! I’ll get their attention and use that opening to separate them!”

“Got it!”

I changed tactics and slowed down a bit, firing off a spell right above the attackers. It created a blinding flash of light and emitted an earsplitting noise—if someone was too close, it could fry your irises or rupture your eardrums. This obviously wasn’t safe to use too close to people, but it was the perfect way to grab someone’s attention from a distance.

The sudden blast caused the abominations to freeze mid-charge, and that gave Gramps just enough time to do what he needed to. He slammed into one and launched it into the barn. He whacked another with his staff, sending it flying in another direction. The light from the spell cloaked Gramps so that all you could see was his silhouette, which meant they didn’t see him coming till it was too late. Neither abomination could guard at all, so both suffered the full force of his attacks.

“Tenma! You take care of the one in the barn! I’ll get this one!” Gramps yelled. Then, he went after the one he’d knocked away with his staff.

That beast hadn’t been hit as hard, so it didn’t go as far as the one that slammed into the barn. A blow like that would’ve put any normal guy in the hospital, but before long, the abomination was back up on its feet, staggering a bit as it bared its teeth at Gramps.

“Okay, I’ll get the one in the barn. But first, Heal!” I yelled, casting a healing spell on the injured villagers. “The Gunjo City knights sent us! We’re here to hunt down those beasts! If you’re able to move, run for cover!” Then, I drew the kogarasumaru and turned toward the barn.

“Graaaaaah!”

The beast I had seen earlier burst through the wall and charged straight at me.

I sliced one of its arms off instantly. “Oh, they’ve got four arms now? Guess they can grow new ones whenever they feel like it, huh. Not that it matters, since this one’s already down to three.”

And just like Chaos, the abomination started regenerating a new one right away.

“This is such a pain. And what about you two? How long are you planning on playing hide-and-seek?” I called out in annoyance to the beasts still hiding in the half-wrecked barn, but they refused to show themselves. “All right, have it your way.”

I dashed in, immediately closing the gap between us. The moment I got within striking distance, the hiding abominations panicked and scrambled back.

“Oh no you don’t!” I yelled. “Ah, I get it. So this is what you were planning!”

Just as I moved in to pursue them, the two hiding in the back finally jumped out. It looked like they were trying to surround me—one was in front of me while the others were on either side. A classic ambush.

Surrounding a target—me—from three directions to try to overwhelm it with numbers and brute strength, huh? From their perspective, it was probably a clever plan, but it was too bad they didn’t realize that the second you’re caught hiding, your plan’s already toast.

They probably still could’ve steamrolled an average opponent, though, especially with all that power and those extra limbs.

But let’s be real. I wasn’t even close to being average.

“Guess what? I’ve got four arms too.”

The second the ones flanking me moved into range, I smashed them into the ground with my Guardian Giganto fists. One of them looked barely alive after the blow, just barely clinging to consciousness. I’d shattered the other one’s core, which had been in its chest, so it had died on the spot. The one left standing in front of me froze, totally stunned. Then, a half second later, it split clean in half. It was dead before it even hit the ground.

“I’m done over here, Tenma!” Gramps called as he walked over, stuffing a beast’s body into his magic bag.

“Same. These two are dead. Just one left.”

“Finish it off quick. I don’t want to watch you torture the thing, even if it is an abomination.” Gramps wanted me to put the thing out of its misery, but I had my reasons for keeping it alive right now.

“I don’t blame you for saying that, but there’s something I wanna do first,” I said.

I plunged the kogarasumaru straight into the beast’s arm. It had apparently recovered enough to start thrashing around again from the pain. The wound I made sealed up seconds after I pulled the blade out. In less than a minute, there was no sign that the beast had been cut open, not even a scar.

“Did you see that, Gramps? Its wound healed.”

“Yes, I did. But what are you planning on doing?”

“This.”

I drove the kogarasumaru right into the center of the beast’s chest. I sliced the abomination open and reached my hand into it, ripping its magic core out.

“What in the...”

The moment I yanked the core free, the beast started convulsing violently. Then, it died, just like that.

“Gramps, it’s pretty obvious the wound isn’t what killed it,” I said.

“Yep. It died because it lost its core.”

“That means we’ve just found the weak point of a beast that can endlessly regenerate.”

Sure, you had to have enough skill to aim right for the core along with enough combat ability to pull off a fight against one of these abominations, but this was a huge discovery. If there were some way to restrain one of them, even for a little bit, you might be able to smash its core with a blunt weapon and take one down in a single hit.

“Anyway, we should wrap this up,” I said. “We need to check in with the villagers to see how the wounded are doing and get a better picture of the damage.”

No one had asked us to go to those lengths, but this territory was under Duke Sanga’s jurisdiction, which made it my business. I figured we could relay a few requests directly to the duke too. I just had to be careful not to step out of line—after all, I was just an adventurer who had happened to take down beasts in his domain.

After I healed the injured villagers, I chatted briefly with the mayor. I asked him if he would keep the incident quiet, since we didn’t know how Duke Sanga would want to deal with it yet. I promised to pass along the village’s requests to him, like compensation for their livestock and barn repairs. Then, Gramps and I left and joined up with the knights who were on their way here.

I told the knights I’d taken out the beasts, and then I gave a report to the captain of the first brigade. He needed to know about the damage to the village and the request for discretion. Santos quickly whipped out a notepad and started jotting down everything I said.

For a bit, I worried that I had overstepped, but considering it was an emergency and I was engaged to the duke’s daughter, it seemed like I hadn’t caused any issues. Once I invoked Duke Sanga’s name, it wasn’t like Santos could do anything to me anyway. It was a ducal matter now.

Anyway, the reason he was taking all those notes was to prevent any future misunderstandings or violating the terms I’d given the mayor. He was also going to write up an official report for the knights later.

Gramps and I parted ways with the team and headed back to the headquarters, taking it a bit slower than we had when we’d left. The knights were still on high alert when we arrived, ready to deploy immediately if need be, but their tension eased a bit once they saw we’d returned. I reported to Alan that we’d slain the beasts, and hearing that, he dismissed half the knights. The other half stayed behind to take care of the injured and resume their usual patrol and guard duties.

Primera rushed over to us. “Tenma, Master Merlin, are either of you hurt?” she asked.

“Nah. I used the Guardian Giganto fists to smash ’em,” I told her.

“I’m fine too. I only fought one of them, and they weren’t very tough. By the way, can you just call me Grandfather? Or better yet, Gramps?”

Gramps had already asked Primera to call him that, but she just wasn’t used to it yet and kept forgetting. She said she would try to remember it going forward.

“Anyway, where are Jeanne and Amur?” I asked.

“Jeanne and Aura are helping with healing and preparing a late-night meal. Lily and the others went back to the adventurers’ guild to tell the guildmaster what happened and offer backup if needed. And Amur’s asleep,” she explained.

Jeanne, Aura, and the triplets were doing what I’d expected them to do. But Amur... Did they think she was too useless to help out or something?

“It’s embarrassing to admit, but with you and Mas—er, Gramps gone, Amur was one of the strongest people left in Gunjo City, even considering the knights. If something else were to happen, she’d have to be on the front lines. We decided it was better for her to save her energy and let others take care of tasks she wouldn’t be good at anyway. I just didn’t expect her to fall asleep so fast...” Primera muttered.

Amur was strong enough to fight a monster alone, just like the golems, Rocket, and my other followers. And since she could speak, unlike them, she could coordinate with others. It made sense to have her conserve her stamina, even if nobody expected her to pass out in the middle of all this chaos. But rest was rest.

“Well, nothing urgent’s going on, so Amur can keep sleeping. I’m sure tomorrow will be pretty chaotic, so I’m gonna get some rest too. I’ll park my carriage in the corner. Come wake me up if anything happens,” I said.

I would have to make a formal report to the guildmaster tomorrow. Duke Sanga or Albert would arrive in a few days, and I’d have to report to them then too. Not to mention that I had to get my wedding fittings with Felt done somewhere in there.

“You’ve got your own prep to handle too, Primera. So get some rest while you can,” I told her. “If you need anything, just ask me.”

“All right. I’ll ask right now, then.”

“Huh?”

Just as I was about to go to bed, Primera grabbed my arm.

“The guildmaster is waiting, so we have to meet with him right now. I need you with me to give the report.” She pointed toward Max, who looked very upset. “He’s mad that we took him away from Flute and Hart. I know you’re exhausted, so let’s just get this over with.”

She looked so apologetic that I couldn’t bring myself to say no. And just like that, I got dragged into yet another meeting.

Gramps took this as an opportunity to desert me.

“I just followed Tenma’s orders. I didn’t do anything else, so I’m going to take a nap,” he said. Then, he swiped my carriage and was already inside and asleep before I could do anything.

Meanwhile, our meeting with Max lasted until almost dawn. Even when I finally went to bed, Gramps dragged me out a few hours later when the knights returned.

For some reason, they started calling me the captain of the second wave of the monster hunt, so I had to attend every single meeting after that.

Part Eight

“You look completely exhausted, Tenma.”

Albert arrived from the capital about a week after the beasts had been defeated, acting as his father’s representative. Originally, the duke had planned to come personally, but the incident had stirred up so much trouble that he had to meet with the royal family instead. That would’ve been too much for Albert, so they had swapped duties.

“Between all the meetings, helping out with the countermeasures, and somehow also planning a wedding, I’m beat,” I told him. “I’ve still got some stamina left physically, but mentally? I’m running on fumes.”

“Well, that’s partly your own fault.”

I had learned that by name-dropping Duke Sanga in front of the villagers, I’d accidentally made myself an official representative of the ducal house. And since I was second in status only to Primera in Gunjo City, I was now required to attend all meetings with her, or sometimes even in her place.

I could’ve just stayed quiet and said I had nothing to do with the ducal house, but everything would’ve gotten dumped on Primera. That wouldn’t have been right either.

“Well, from the duke’s perspective, this was a great chance to highlight your relationship with them,” Albert said. “Plus, thanks to you, most of the people at those meetings actually shut up and listened.”

Albert had gathered all the village reps from around Gunjo City today for another discussion. I was a well-known adventurer and the one who had actually taken down the monsters, so my words seemed to carry more weight than Albert’s. Most of the questions ended up getting directed at me instead of him.

“Anyway, how is your wedding outfit coming along?” he asked.

“It’s getting there. There are just a few final adjustments to make, and then finishing up the matching accessories. After that, we should be all set.” I’d basically dumped the whole thing on Felt, but he had understood my situation and had gone out of his way to come to me for the fittings. That’d really helped me out.

“I didn’t expect the guy who beat all those beasts without a scratch on him to end up taking damage in Gunjo City. Twice in a row too,” he laughed.

Thanks to all the surprise meetings, I’d barely had any time to handle meals and additional food for the wedding. I had gone to talk to Dozle at the Full Belly Inn to see if he could help out, but the way I’d phrased it had made it seem like a formal request.

The moment I had brought it up, he’d bonked me on the top of my head. Kanna had come running over when she heard the commotion, and once he had told her what happened, she had bonked me in the same spot.

I’d winced in pain, and both of them said in complete unison, “You don’t ‘request’ something like that! You just ask for help, you idiot!”

“Dozle and Kanna were really disappointed they couldn’t attend your wedding, so they were probably mad because you weren’t open with them,” Albert said.

Reflecting back on it, I probably should’ve talked it over with Primera first, or at least given it more thought.

“Seriously, not many people in this kingdom can land a clean hit on you, Tenma. I definitely couldn’t. Well, maybe I could if it were part of a game. But not even Father could pull that off,” Albert added with a laugh.

He was right. Besides the people in my inner circle, like Gramps and the people from Kukuri Village, there probably weren’t that many who could get away with it. If some stranger tried, I’d probably hit them back with something three times harder without even thinking.

“If the king or queen tried, you wouldn’t complain as long as they had a valid reason, right? That means Dozle and Kanna are basically on the same level as the king and queen.”

Hearing it that way put things in perspective. At the same time, it made me feel like Albert was subtly accusing me of not respecting the royal family...

However, I did respect them—especially the queen. I fully recognized their positions. But because they were so familiar to me, I had gotten a little desensitized to the fact that they were royalty. That didn’t mean I was planning to change how I acted around them, but it was good to know how it might come off.

“Those two really are something special,” I remarked.

“Yep. If the Full Belly Inn was located outside Sanga territory, some noble would’ve tried to cozy up to them just to get closer to you. Then again, no one’s dumb enough to pick a fight with Father.” Albert was laughing as he said that, but he wasn’t wrong. The Inn would definitely draw attention elsewhere, both because of our connection to it and the recipes I’d shared with them. Dozle had even adapted some of them into original dishes, so just his cooking skills alone were valuable.

Still, since they had Duka Sanga’s backing, nobody could make a move to threaten that unless they outranked him. And even if someone did try something sneaky, the Inn had strong ties to the adventurer community. Somebody would notice if something fishy started happening.

“Just between us, the knights have been quietly keeping an eye on the place for a while now,” Albert said. “Not because they think the Inn is suspicious, but because places adventurers gather always attract a few shady types. Some of them fall into crime, but others use adventuring as a cover. Thankfully, no one’s ever caused enough trouble for the knights to step in, though.”

Albert paused there and glanced at me. Maybe it was because I was the most suspicious person to have ever stayed there.

“I mean, yeah. Dozle, Kanna, and even Flute were pretty wary of me at first. But I’ve never actually committed a crime, you know,” I pointed out.

“Things you’ve done don’t technically count as crimes, but we can definitely count enough borderline incidents on two hands. Mostly excessive self-defense against other adventurers or criminals,” he said.

Albert was trying not to laugh, but I didn’t think it was funny. Those times had to do with people who were trying to rob or kill a kid! It wasn’t like I was gonna lose sleep over a few broken bones or lifelong injuries.

My basic methods of self-defense were punching, kicking, throwing, choking, breaking or shattering bones, and occasionally crushing some balls. Depending on the situation, I’d also use bad guys as dummies for my sword techniques or magic tests.

“The knights’ report said all the victims were either known troublemakers or flagged as potential threats. None of them died either. The knights suspected you were behind it, but since no one ever witnessed you doing anything, and your normal behavior didn’t match the profile of someone who starts fights, they let it slide.”

So, basically, they just didn’t have enough proof to do anything about it.

“Well, that, and the fact that the people you punished were mostly criminals,” Albert added. “Honestly, it made life easier for the knights. Investigating fights between adventurers is a pain, and defending yourself isn’t a crime. You might’ve gone a bit overboard, but adventurers are expected to take care of themselves. Nobody wants to waste time protecting thugs.”

I had been useful to the knights in a way, but at this point, I was glad they hadn’t arrested me.

“I’d tell them to do their job, but I’m just an adventurer, so I guess it’s all about personal responsibility, right? Though technically, I was a self-proclaimed adventurer longer than a registered one.”

I had only registered as an adventurer after I turned fifteen. Before that, I had still taken quests here and there and hung around the guild, so my official title back then would’ve either been “Civilian (Minor)” or “Traveler (Minor).” That would’ve meant the knights hadn’t really been doing their jobs if they had been relying on me.

“In your case, there were also rumors you might’ve been a noble’s kid. Combining that with your strength and general vibes, most people figured it was safer to leave you alone. In the worst case, someone would step in to protect you if you were nobility.”

The first person who’d actually stepped in had ended up being Primera, the duke’s daughter. Maybe it really was fate after all...

“Anyway, you think our monster countermeasures will be looking better from now on?” Albert asked.

“It’s hard to say for sure, but I think things will go more smoothly. We might finally be past the stage where we have to sacrifice something every time just to win, at the very least.”

We were pretty much certain that the abominations’ vulnerability was the magic core in their chests. Discovering that had changed everything. If you fought with that weak spot in mind, you had options. Even if you were losing, as long as you grabbed that core and destroyed it, you could change the tide in your favor. That kind of knowledge gave people hope.

Of course, just knowing their weakness didn’t make them any less dangerous. If you faced one head-on, you’d still take the same amount of damage.

“Still, if our odds of surviving have gone up even a little, that’s something.”

“And it opens up our tactical options too,” I added. “Like maybe a few knights can pin the thing down, and then a golem can land a solid hit right on the core while it’s restrained.”

There were other approaches as well, like the one Jin and the Dawnswords had used against the hydra. They had stopped it from moving first and then extracted its core.

“Guess we’ll need to start thinking about capture tactics, then. We could use ropes, or maybe even battering rams. But none of the knights really know how to use ropes like that. It might be quicker to hire someone from the outside,” mused Albert.

“That’ll probably be the best bet. If we wait too long, the royal family or Marquis Sammons will scoop up all the decent rope handlers. Also, I’m useless when it comes to rope, so don’t expect me to teach anybody,” I told him.

In my past life, I had pretended to be a cowboy at times, trying to use a lasso and everything. It hadn’t been a very useful experience. Same thing for when I had tried using a whip because I’d been obsessed with a certain famous archaeologist. The fact that I hadn’t touched one since I had gotten here should make it clear how bad I had sucked at both.

Whips will hurt you more than your enemies will if you’re an amateur. But I guess that’s true for a lot of weapons.

“I’ll report this to Father right away,” Albert said. “We should send requests to every adventurers’ guild in Sanga territory to hire anyone with capture skills, either as soldiers or instructors.”

We didn’t specifically need adventurers, but they were the quickest way to obtain trained people who knew how to fight. Villagers with the right skills could work as instructors or in the reserves too. But if we pulled too many people from the villages, it would take them away from their jobs, which would hurt the local economy.

This might sound kind of bad, but adventurers were kind of ideal because they were more expendable from a duke’s perspective. That was just how the world treated adventurers. Well, most of them, at least.

“When are you guys planning on heading back to the capital, Tenma?” Albert asked.

“Pretty soon, now that our replacements are here. I’d like to leave tomorrow or the day after if everything is wrapped up by then, but there’s still a lot more to take care of than I expected. At this rate, I’m thinking of extending our stay a bit and getting Dozle to help me prep some extra backup dishes for the wedding and reception,” I said.

Jeanne and Aura had already started making what they could since their schedules had opened up after we’d extended our trip. But it was better to have too much than too little, so I wanted to make some more food. Still, if I kept doing things by myself or left it to Jeanne and the others, the flavors would probably start blending together. That was why I wanted to ask Dozle and Kanna for help instead.

Since they’d yelled at me for the same kind of thing recently, they’d probably say yes if I asked now...

“I’m glad you and Master Merlin are staying longer. You’re the only ones who have actually fought and taken down one of those beasts, so the intel you’ve got isn’t something the royal family has access to.”

The royalists—including Duke Sanga’s house—and some members of the neutral faction had agreed to share information about the abominations, but the first group that brought new information to the table would basically get the credit and all the political leverage. And since the beasts’ weakness had been discovered in Sanga territory, and seeing that I had been the one who’d found it while fighting as a member of their house—however much of a coincidence that had been—Albert clearly wanted to milk that for everything it was worth.

“I’d tell you not to go overboard and piss off the queen, but I’m on the Sangas’ side for this one,” I admitted. “Still, don’t forget that the Otori family can throw their weight behind the royal house if need be. Well, Queen Maria, to be specific.” I’d said that in a joking tone of voice, but I knew Albert would get the message. That wasn’t just talk. Under the right circumstances, it really could happen.

“Yeah, I’ll be careful. But it’d help if you gave me a heads-up instead of letting me walk into it blind.”

Albert was leaving the final call to me, just like I thought he would. It made sense, of course, because Gramps and I were the ones who had the info, even if we were technically on the duke’s side. If Albert were to get greedy and screw things up, or if it were to ruin relations with the royal family, there was no way Duke Sanga would let it slide.

“I’ll talk to Gramps and Primera about this too, just to make sure we’re all on the same page,” I said.

I could basically steer Albert however I wanted if I kept everything to myself. But I figured I’d bring in the two people who’d be able to keep me in check and who could act as an intermediary between House Sanga and me. But for Albert, that probably just meant there were two more people he had to walk on eggshells around.

Anyway, now that that’d been settled, Albert still had meetings with local officials, so I left him to that while I went back to the duke’s estate to explain everything to Primera and Gramps. Luckily, both of them were fine with it.

Gramps said he’d prioritize decisions that aligned with our family’s interests, and Primera said she’d consider the Sanga family’s position first when she weighed in. Not because she cared more about them, but because she could keep Gramps and me in line.

“The more likely problem is that Albert will get greedy and make the wrong decision. But if all of us are only looking out for the Otori family’s best interests, that’s not good either. I assume that perspective is what you were expecting from me, Tenma?” she asked.

She really did know exactly what I was going for. And since she wasn’t planning on going easy on Albert either, she clearly had the upper hand when it came to sibling power dynamics.

“Oh, right, didn’t you show Felt your dress? How’d that go?” I asked.

“Just fine. He said it matched your outfit well, and it should work as is.”

One of the main concerns about the wedding had been whether or not our outfits would match. Felt was making mine, and Primera’s had been handled by House Sanga’s personal tailor, who traveled between the capital and the duchy. That meant they hadn’t met to coordinate, so we were worried it wouldn’t look right side by side.

The two sides had handled things through letters, and Primera explained that they had decided to leave the final judgment to Felt, since he had seen both outfits. As a groom’s attire tended to be simpler anyway, he would adjust mine to match hers. While the duke’s tailor had more creative freedom, Felt was given the final say as a courtesy.

“Great, I’m glad to hear it. I’m really looking forward to seeing your dress at the wedding,” I said.

She’d probably already seen what I’d be wearing at Felt’s place, but it was kind of embarrassing to see her dress outside of the actual wedding, so I just left it at that. It was funny how I’d gotten better at saying that kind of thing lately. Maybe I was growing up.

“All right, how about we save the flirting for later?” Gramps teased. “Shouldn’t we talk about the schedule first? We’re behind as it is, so if we don’t hurry things up, we’ll have to end up postponing it.”

His comment made things feel a little awkward between Primera and me for a moment, but he was right. We still had a lot to sort out. We both sat down to go over the rest of the schedule with reddened cheeks.

That evening, Amur asked the question that was on everyone’s minds.

“When are we going back to the capital, Tenma?”

Primera and Gramps already knew the answer, but the others didn’t.

I put down my fork and explained our plans. “We’ll be leaving Gunjo City in three to four days at the absolute latest. It should take about two weeks to get back to the capital. The timing’s all messed up now, but we’re still planning to stop by Sagan City on the way there.”

We should’ve already been there, reporting Amy’s progress at school and the wedding to Amy’s family. But when it became clear that we’d be delayed because of the monster commotion, I sent them a letter telling them we’d be late. Skipping that stop wasn’t an option.

Besides, I was still technically Amy’s guardian. I couldn’t just blow them off because we were running behind.

“How long will we stay in Sagan?” Jeanne asked.

“Two days,” I replied. “I have to check in with Jin and the Dawnswords, along with the Tamers’ Guild, Amy’s family, and Master Gantz, that sort of thing. It might take three days, though, considering the talk with Amy’s family.”

Everyone seemed satisfied with that, so we resumed our meal.

Dinner that night went more smoothly than usual. Everyone seemed to be relieved to have a timeline to work off of now, so it was like a weight had lifted from our shoulders. The conversation flowed more easily, and the food disappeared fast.

The only one who hadn’t gotten to join in was Albert. He had returned late from yet another long meeting, and he’d been so exhausted that he’d ended up eating leftovers alone in his room.

“All finished,” Felt announced.

My suit for the wedding was finally done. It had taken longer than expected, and not just because of the Chaos-beast attacks. Felt had been incredibly particular about every little detail. I thought it looked fine as is, but he said that was because I was just an amateur. As a professional, there had been some things he just couldn’t let go. He had even ripped open seams and re-sewed some parts that’d been nearly finished. Honestly, I couldn’t even tell what was different from before, but since Felt took full responsibility for it, it wasn’t like I had a leg to stand on to complain.

“Tenma, sorry if this sounds kind of crass, but do you know how much this suit is worth?” Albert asked.

“It wasn’t very expensive if we’re talking about the raw materials, but I know that’s not what you’re asking. But honestly, I have no idea,” I confessed.

It certainly looked like a regular tuxedo, but it was made with some high-quality materials. The fabric had been made from Mary and Aries’s black wool, and it was sewn together with the finest spidersilk threads from Goldie and Silvie. The shirt was woven with a blend of mid-to-low-grade spidersilk thread. While I hadn’t had to pay for the materials, if one put a price tag on the suit, it would apparently be the most expensive one in the world.

But Felt’s attention to detail hadn’t stopped with the fabric choices. He’d even stitched the sleeves and hems with the highest-grade spidersilk thread I had from Goldie and Silvie. He had also used scales from a running dragon to craft the buttons.

Because of all that, it was impossible for me to guess the price, considering the level of craftsmanship that had gone into creating it. Even Felt didn’t really have any idea.

“Not only is this guaranteed to be a family heirloom, but it could even be a national treasure, Tenma! I’ve heard stories about mothers passing their wedding dresses down to their daughters, but you’ll definitely have to keep this tuxedo in the family,” Albert said.

I had to agree with him. It would be a waste if this suit didn’t get passed down. If I stored it properly in a magic bag, it could still be wearable in a couple of hundred years from now.

“Still, I can’t believe Felt dyed the spidersilk black. How does he come up with this stuff?” I said.

“I know. But even though he dyed it, it’s still got a sheen to it. I think it’s pretty charming. Some people might call it a waste, but you’ve got the spidersilk market to yourself—it’s not like anyone could complain. And if they did, you could just stop sharing your supply...though that would be more likely to cause a huge commotion. But it wouldn’t be against Tenma, obviously—the backlash would be against whoever angered him in the first place,” Gramps explained.

“No, I get it,” I replied. “What I do with my materials is my own business, and if anybody starts making a fuss about it, I don’t have a problem with cutting them off. It’s not like I’m trying to make money off Goldie and Silvie’s thread anyway. I’ll use what I want for myself, and then if there’s any left over, I can burn it or throw it away or whatever. But explaining the situation to Queen Maria would be a huge pain...”

She was the one who managed the distribution of any spidersilk thread that I didn’t personally use. And if things went awry, she’d have to be the one to explain things to those who were on the waitlist. By the way, I wasn’t paying her for doing that. We had an arrangement that said a portion of the proceeds would go toward her charity work. Not only that, but whenever someone on the list finally got their hands on some thread, they were expected to make a donation to charity. It was officially labeled as a handling fee, but everyone knew what it really was. Anyway, after the sales and donations, we were left with a lot of money. But all that paled in comparison to the most valuable thing about the operation—the favors she was earning from selling it to the nobles.

Currently, the only official way to get the thread was via the queen or me. Since I gave her all the excess, even high-ranking nobles like Duke Sanga or Marquis Sammons had to go through her. This system also helped keep other nobles from trying to get it directly from me.

If anyone didn’t want to go through her to get the thread, they had two options. First, they could send people into the Sagan Dungeon to try to catch a silk spider, but no one had ever witnessed or reported this happening. The other option was to buy some from someone who had already gotten some from the queen. Resale was a risky move, however—if anyone got caught profiting off of it, they’d be put on Queen Maria’s blacklist. As a result, I hadn’t heard of anyone attempting it yet.

Most of the nobles who were trying to get the thread were reformists. There were a few royalists and neutral faction nobles too, but they still went through the queen. That boosted her authority, and the king’s by extension.

These nobles knew that pissing me off meant no thread for them. That led to them being careful not to become my enemies...although I wouldn’t exactly say they were trying to be my allies either.

“Still, considering how much spidersilk thread was used in your suit and Primera’s dress, these wedding outfits will go down in history for being the most expensive ones ever,” Albert said.

If the outfits were to be sold publicly, they’d go for outrageous sums.

“I’ve heard of cases in history where entire nations collapsed after spending their whole treasuries on royal weddings, so this probably wouldn’t be the most extravagant one ever, but it’s definitely the fanciest wedding in the last few decades,” Albert said with a grin.

“It’s not like I was planning on having some extravagant wedding. And neither was Primera. But we couldn’t exactly keep it small either since the royal family and Duke Sanga’s household are involved,” I countered.

Neither of us would’ve minded a low-key wedding, but since Primera was a duke’s daughter, we didn’t have much of a choice. We figured we would invite just the people close to us and have a wedding that was slightly larger than average. But since most of the people we knew, besides the folks from Kukuri Village, were nobles, narrowing the guest list was very difficult.

“I figured the guest list would mostly be royalists, but I saw that you went and invited someone from the neutral faction. I thought that was kind of amusing,” Albert said.

He was talking about Viscount Mustang, a neutral noble I’d kept in touch with ever since we had cooperated during the near coup a few years ago. We’d exchange letters occasionally, but we weren’t close enough to visit in person. Still, we had a connection, and that was why I had invited him, but apparently, that had caused a bit of a stir in noble society.

“I didn’t think inviting Viscount Mustang to my wedding would lead to rumors about poaching people from other factions and forming a new one...” I muttered.

The royalists were saying the king was using me to try to bring Mustang over to their side. Others were claiming that Duke Sanga was the one behind it, and that he was using Mustang and me to create an entirely new “Sanga Faction.” The neutrals were saying that Mustang, one of their most influential members, had decided to defect and side with the royalists at my request. And then the reformists’ theory was that the royalists and the neutrals were using my wedding to form an alliance and destroy the reformists in one fell swoop.

“Sure, an alliance between royalists and neutrals isn’t out of the question. But if you were going to make a new faction, wouldn’t you call it the Tenma Faction instead of the Sanga Faction? You’d be at the top, even if it were symbolically, and you’d have both military might and the people’s support. What the reformists are doing isn’t even funny; it’s just pathetic. If they’re so afraid of their own demise, maybe they should stop trying to pick fights for once,” Gramps said.

He had a point, but honestly, I figured most of the reformist nobles were already doing that. It was probably just a vocal minority that was making the rest of them look bad. Because of that minority, everyone assumed the reformist faction was full of extremists.

“I hear a few reformist nobles have already switched sides, for better or worse. Most of them moved over to the neutral faction. The ones who left were the more sensible members, so the neutrals got a pretty good deal out of it without even having to lift a finger.”

That shift just meant there’d be more resentment aimed at Viscount Mustang and me, of course. But those nobles were the ones who were jumping to conclusions and panicking. It wasn’t our fault they couldn’t control themselves.

“By the way... Tenma, Father’s been moping. Primera shot him down when he asked to walk her down the aisle,” Albert said.

“I figured she would. I actually told her I thought it’d be a nice gesture, but she said she wanted to come in together, the same way that Ceruna and Henri did. We agreed that she’d get to plan the ceremony and reception, so I couldn’t really argue with her,” I explained.

We had decided early on that Primera would handle the ceremony and reception however she wanted, and I’d be in charge of the after-party. Not because I had thought the bride’s opinion was more important for that kind of thing, but I had just really wanted to plan the party I wanted. Since we had to invite a bunch of nobles from Duke Sanga’s circle to the wedding, I didn’t want the folks from Kukuri Village to feel out of place. I didn’t think Duke Sanga’s and Primera’s guests would look down on them or do something bad to them or anything—I just didn’t want it to feel awkward.

That was why we had decided to have two celebrations. The first would be a more traditional wedding, like what Ceruna and Henri had. And the second would be more of a party, like we used to have back in Kukuri Village.

Unlike many other small villages, we had a church, although it didn’t have a priest. So it hadn’t been unusual for couples to just declare their unions in front of the other villagers and then celebrate together with a big, informal party. Gramps told me my parents had done the same; after they had received the king and queen’s blessing in the capital, they had gone back to Kukuri Village and threw a party there.

“So the second one’s more of a party for the people on your side. But I’m allowed to come too, right?” Albert asked.

“Of course. It’s mostly going to be my acquaintances, so obviously you, Cain, and Leon are invited.”

“You know I’m going to be more than your acquaintance. I’m about to be your brother-in-law, although it doesn’t really feel like it yet.”

I didn’t think it felt very real yet at all either. So far, I’d only ever thought of him as the straight man of the three idiot nobles, or Kriss’s sidekick at the most. It was hard to think of him as some older brother figure.

“I guess it can’t be helped, considering how we met, but could you at least drop the acquaintance part?” he asked.

Come to think of it, there had been that stalker incident in the past too. Maybe that whole mess, along with Kriss, was why I had never developed much respect for Albert in the first place...

“Leon will show up anyway, even if you weren’t invited. And the Kukuri Village folks are used to you three, so it shouldn’t be a problem,” I said.

Albert and his crew would visit often enough that they were familiar faces to the villagers, who also tended to drop by from time to time. So even if those three were to show up, no one would really mind. However, the villagers hadn’t hung around Duke Sanga or Marquis Sammons very often, so they might not have a lot to talk about.

Uncle Mark, Aunt Martha, and the others from Kukuri Village didn’t even seem that nervous around the king and queen. I had asked Uncle Mark about it, and he’d said, “People from the country have thick skins!” I figured the real answer was that they’d already met the royals a few times at our house and gotten used to them.

Kukuri villagers did have thick skins, though. Otherwise, it wouldn’t matter how many times they met them—they’d never be able to talk to royalty so openly. Maybe the reason I’d started calling the king “Uncle Alex” right after I had met him meant I was thick-skinned too. That, or I was just weird.

“Anyway, most of the guests at the after-party will be from Kukuri Village. It’ll probably feel like one of our usual parties, just a bit bigger. No need to be shy—you can just show up. The king and queen will be there, but just treat it like a casual party. You don’t even have to worry about formalities around them!” I said.

“Tenma, I’m still a noble of this kingdom, so I have to make sure I don’t come off as rude,” Albert replied. “Just because it’s casual doesn’t mean I can risk being disrespectful. I don’t want to ruin any relationships, and the king and queen will be there, you know? The best-case scenario would be getting disowned. Worst-case, I’d be executed. The rest of House Sanga would feel the effects if I screwed up too. Father could even be stripped of his title. Now, Cain and I would never take jokes like that seriously, but what about Leon? There’s always a chance he could do something like that, so don’t even joke about it.”

He knew I was just messing around, but he wanted to make sure I knew to watch out for whom I said that kind of thing around. I didn’t think even Leon would take it seriously, but it was probably safer not to risk that kind of joke around him, considering how unpredictable he got when he was drunk.

“Poor Leon. Nobody trusts him. But with his track record, it’s not hard to see why,” Gramps said. Even he seemed to agree that Leon was the type to screw something up.

Felt chimed in then, his voice serious. “Tenma, you shouldn’t talk about stuff like that in here. If some random person overhears you, they might think you were insulting the king and queen or the heir to House Haust.”

Of course I hadn’t meant any disrespect, but now that he mentioned it, I realized someone could take it that way. I made a mental note to watch myself more carefully in public. But I didn’t feel the need to change how I treated Leon.

“Anyway, don’t wrinkle your suit before the big day. The fabric is durable, so you don’t have to baby it, but the more carefully you treat it, the longer it’ll last,” Felt said, handing me the outfit. He then pointed at the door and told me to stick it straight in my magic bag.

With that, we were done at Felt’s shop, so we went ahead and left together.

“It seemed like Felt was mad,” I said.

“Can you blame him? If word got out to a rival shop that we were bad-mouthing Alex and others in his store, they’d place the blame on Felt, and it would spread around town. Even if he tried to deny it, his being in the same room when it happened might get him lumped in with us. The only way for him to protect himself was to scold us and kick us out,” Gramps replied.

“Yeah, I went too far. I didn’t think about how it could affect him,” I admitted.

It was easy to tease the royals casually since we were so close to them. But I often forgot that that kind of talk could be considered treasonous in front of others.

“Hey, Tenma? Isn’t there a chance that what I said back there could be taken as me insulting His Majesty as well?” Albert asked. He looked genuinely confused.

“Maybe not directly, but being with us makes you guilty by association, right?” I said.

“Exactly. Even if you didn’t say anything, you’re just as guilty, Albert. Actually, you might get even worse treatment since you’re so far below Alex in status. But I’ll make sure to put a good word in for you, if worse comes to worst,” Gramps said.

“Hey, c’mon! I didn’t do anything!” Albert whined back.

His reactions were just too funny, so we kept teasing him all the way back to the mansion. I was going to stop teasing Albert once we arrived home, but Primera and Amur overheard us. And unfortunately for him, they joined in on the roast.

The next day...

“Sheesh, after they spent all that time teasing me yesterday, you guys are already going back to the capital?” Albert asked.

We’d finished up our business in Gunjo City and bid farewell to our friends by lunchtime. Now, we were ready to head back to the capital.

Albert was a little disappointed, but he knew that we’d stayed here longer than anticipated due to the Chaos-beast commotion. So although he complained a bit, he didn’t try to stop us.

“All right! Let’s hurry and head over to Sagan!” I called over to Amur—she was in yet another scuffle with the triplets.

“I won again!” Amur cried out and came over to me.

Aura was behind Amur, wearing a tired look on her face. Beyond her were the triplets, who all looked frustrated. By the way, they had been excluding Jeanne lately, so she hadn’t participated from the very beginning, which only put more of a burden on Aura. I thought it was odd that not even Leni was joining in, but they told me that she was out shopping and gathering more information before we left. She wouldn’t return until our time of departure.

“I really hope nothing unexpected happens in Sagan...” Primera muttered as we were about to leave. Amur just gave her a sympathetic look.

Luckily, the trip to Sagan and our time there went smoothly—so smoothly in fact that it was a little creepy. For some reason, Amur seemed frustrated by that.

Part Nine

“Hey, Gramps?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t you think there are way too many people in here? This is my dressing room, not one for all the guys in the wedding,” I complained.

The big day had finally arrived. I’d changed into my suit and was waiting until it was time, but this place was packed full of people.

“I mean, I know why you’re here—you’re my family. But why are Duke Sanga and Albert here? They’re on Primera’s side,” I said.

Cain and Leon were also in the dressing room, and up until a little while ago, so were the king, Prince Lyle, Tida, Lord Ernest, and Marquis Sammons. Even Margrave Haust had been here.

Technically, the king, Tida, Lord Ernest, and Margrave Haust were guests I’d invited on my side, so it wasn’t unusual that they’d drop in to say hello. But Primera had been the one to invite Prince Lyle, Marquis Sammons, Cain, and Leon. And Duke Sanga and Albert were obviously her family members, not mine. It wasn’t like it was wrong for them to be here, but I would’ve expected them to be bothering Primera instead.

I told Gramps that, and he just shrugged.

“Eh, she probably kicked them out,” he suggested. “It’s not very proper to have a bunch of men around when the bride’s getting ready, anyway. They probably ended up here because they had nowhere else to go. Cain and Leon were likely just bored. Sure, Primera’s side invited them, but they’re basically both your guests.”

He did have a point. Even though the two of them had known Primera longer, they had stronger connections with me. When Primera and I had discussed seating charts, we had decided it didn’t really matter to us who sat where. So, in the end, they had been placed on her side since people tended to group them together with Albert.

However, that led to a different problem—Margrave Haust was being treated as one of my guests. He had met Primera through Leon, but they weren’t close. They certainly weren’t closer than Duke Sanga was to Marquis Sammons. But on the other hand, I’d actually visited his domain before, and we’d interacted quite a bit. Duke Sanga and Marquis Sammons agreed that Margrave Haust had stronger ties to my side than Primera’s too.

Luckily, Kukuri Village had technically fallen within the margrave’s territory, so I was counted among his former subjects. Later, Duke Sanga admitted the main reason for all that was actually to show off how well the margrave and I got along, but mostly it was a subtle way of evening out the numbers between my side and Primera’s.

“I guess I can’t really argue with that. It’s fine, I suppose...” I said. I didn’t really care about Leon and Cain being here, but... I let out a sigh.

“What’s wrong? Is there some kind of issue with Duke Sanga or Albert?” Gramps asked.

Duke Sanga and Albert suddenly froze—they had both been eavesdropping.

“Albert being here makes sense if Cain and Leon are here, and it’s not like the duke causes trouble. But I just remembered I forgot to tell someone about the wedding,” I admitted.

“Who?”

“Namitaro.”

Gramps grimaced. “Uh-oh. I’m not sure how to put this, but...that won’t end well.”

Honestly, I didn’t even know where Namitaro was right now. But if I’d remembered even two weeks ago, I could’ve used the whistle he had given me to contact him. The only reason I had remembered him at all was that lately, every time I went to sleep, the gods were invading my dreams again.

They’d known about my wedding for a while, but they hadn’t been able to summon me until recently. Three days ago, the god of creation had shown up looking like a shriveled mummy, tied to a pillar with a rope. Two days ago, the god of magic had been there, looking the same. And just last night, it’d been the god of skills. Yep, looked like a mummy too. They had all seemed so beat-up, I had honestly thought they were dead for a second. Luckily, they hadn’t been, though.

Each of them had been sacrificed in order to force a connection to me, like when they had sacrificed the creation god to bring me in a while back. First, everyone had ganged up on the god of creation and had beaten him to a pulp. Then the god of war had ambushed the god of magic because using magic would’ve made him harder to catch. Eventually, the god of skills had lost a duel with the god of destruction.

And on the final night of the increasingly sacrificial party they were having, someone brought up Namitaro. That was when everyone had realized I hadn’t told him yet. They had tried to contact him right away, but he hadn’t answered.

“If Namitaro finds out he wasn’t invited, he’s gonna go nuts... Maybe in a way none of us can even predict...”

He might charge through the capital, screaming my name. Or maybe he’d launch a Namitaro Fist into the sky with a bunch of fireworks...or even worse. Honestly, those scenarios might’ve had better outcomes than whatever reality had in store for us.

“Tenma, if Namitaro shows up and starts causing a scene, you’ll just have to give him a sincere apology and calm him down...preferably by taking one for the team,” Gramps said.

It sounded cold, but to be honest, it was my fault. And Namitaro was just as powerful as I was, even though a lot of people tended to forget it because of his behavior. But unlike me, he wasn’t tied to society or laws—if he were to go on a rampage and turn the capital into rubble, he wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.

I doubted he’d take it that far, but he might blow up our mansion a little.

“So my first big job as a married man will be apologizing to Namitaro...” I muttered.

“Let’s just hope it turns into one of those funny stories you can laugh about later...” Gramps said.

Both of us kind of resigned ourselves to whatever was going to happen. We weren’t being pessimistic, per se, but we literally had no idea how Namitaro might react. There was no way to plan ahead for it.

Noticing the dark mood settling over us, Albert and Duke Sanga quietly excused themselves, saying they were going to check on Primera. A few minutes later, they returned, looking kind of rough. Apparently, she’d shooed them away.

“All right. Let’s go over Operation Namitaro before the ceremony starts,” Gramps said. “The first step is that Tenma will offer him a sincere apology.”

“Got it.”

Just waiting around for the chaos to hit would only make the damage worse, so we figured we’d at least talk through some kind of plan for how we’d respond. Gramps would be the leader, and the rest of the guys in the room—me, Duke Sanga, Albert, Cain, and Leon—would be the core team. Honestly, I wish we had one of the royals with us, but of course none of them would show up when it actually mattered.

“If Tenma’s apology isn’t enough, then Albert will be up next. Consider this to be your first big job as brother-in-law.”

“But shouldn’t that be Primera’s job, as his future wife?” Albert protested.

“Oh, come on, Albert. You’ve known Namitaro longer than she has. Would you rather make your sister apologize on her hands and knees while you just stand there and watch?” Gramps asked.

“What? No! Wait, who’s getting on their hands and knees?!”

“Well, we need to show how sincere we are, right? Do what Master Merlin says, Albert. That’s an order,” Duke Sanga said.

Albert had been starting to agree to the plan before he heard about having to get down on his hands and knees. Luckily, his father ordered him to follow directions, so it was decided that Albert would be next in line after me.

“If that still doesn’t work, Cain and Leon will come next. They’re not technically part of Tenma’s family, so they’ll go after Albert. Make sure to be ready.”

“I can speak with Marquis Sammons and Margrave Haust on your behalf, so don’t hesitate to bow your heads if it comes to that.”

“Just make sure no one outside this room sees us doing it...”

“Shouldn’t you be protesting instead of negotiating?”

“Leon, Tenma and Albert have accepted their fates, and Master Merlin is coordinating everything with the duke. We’re already too far in for even royalty to stop this. So at this point, all we can do is hope to minimize the damage,” Cain said.

“Exactly. I’ll do my best to grant Cain’s requests,” Gramps said.

Cain had clearly resigned himself to the situation the moment this conversation had started, so now he was calmly talking Leon into going along with it.

At that moment, Aina arrived. “Excuse me. Lady Primera is ready now. May I bring Master Tenma to her?”

We hadn’t really come up with any solid countermeasures for the Namitaro situation, but it was clear there weren’t many options besides my groveling. So we put our strategy session on hold, and I headed off to meet up with Primera. Leon tried to sneak along with me behind Albert and Duke Sanga, but Cain smacked him on the head and made him sit back down.

Primera had a maid from Duke Sanga’s household taking care of her, but since she needed someone to go get me or run other errands, we had also sent over Jeanne and Aura to help.

Aina thought the two of them wouldn’t be enough, though, so as usual, we’d had to borrow Queen Maria’s personal maid, who also unofficially served as the head maid of House Otori. Plus, since most of the food we’d be serving today was from my own recipes, Aina needed to be around as the person in charge of anything kitchen-related.

“I’ve brought Master Tenma and his party,” Aina announced.

The door opened, and Kriss stood there to greet us.

“Move, Kriss.”

Kriss was standing directly in my line of sight, blocking me so I couldn’t see Primera.

“What do you mean, move? I opened the door, so I’m standing by the door. What’s wrong with that?” she protested.

“You did that on purpose,” Aina said sternly. “It’s a sliding door, and you could’ve just stepped aside. I’m guessing you’re just annoyed that you’re not the one getting married and decided to take it out on Master Tenma. Normally, you might get away with that pettiness if it only involved him, but Duke Sanga is here. Watch your tone.”

Kriss hadn’t realized that, apparently, and her face immediately went pale.

Why wouldn’t he be here? I thought.

Meanwhile, Aina swiftly dragged Kriss aside, removing her from the doorway.

Angela then rushed in, clearly flustered. “Father, you’re in here?! We’ve got guests arriving! Go with Albert to help greet them! Hurry it up!”

“Fine, but can’t I just say hello to Primera first?” Duke Sanga asked.

“You can do that later. Oh, pardon me for the commotion. This way, Father. And you too, Albert.” Angela just noticed Gramps and me standing there, prompting her to change her tone of voice. She then ushered Duke Sanga and Albert out of the room to explain the situation.

“What?! Their Majesties are already here?! I’ll go right away!” The duke looked genuinely concerned, so he gave us a quick nod and rushed off.

“Albert, move! I’ll explain things to Tenma,” Angela said, pushing her brother, who followed after Duke Sanga. “I’m sorry for the confusion. It’s just... The king and queen arrived much earlier than expected, and it has caused a commotion.”

“Hmph. Alex caused trouble again? Want me to go scold him?” Gramps asked.

“No, no! The issue is with one of the guests invited by the ducal household. His Majesty isn’t at fault at all!”

Even if it were the king or queen’s fault, there was no way Angela would ever admit it. Gramps was well aware of that, so he was just teasing her.

“Gramps, maybe don’t mess with people like that when it comes to the king,” I said.

“Master Tenma, I agree. Lady Angela, will you be seeing Lady Primera before you go?” Aina asked.

“No, I need to get back as well. Excuse me.” Angela hurried after the others.

“What do you think is going on?” I asked.

“Someone from the duke’s side probably said something rude to the king, trying to get a favor or something.”

I tried to eavesdrop on the conversation between Angela and the duke, but she’d taken care to make sure we couldn’t hear a thing. But the duke wasn’t so careful, and I heard him angrily snap, “That idiot!” Still, it couldn’t be anything too disastrous—if it was, they would’ve had no choice but to let me know.

“I haven’t heard anything myself,” Aina said. “But right now, Lady Primera takes priority. Come on, Door Girl. Oh, pardon—I mean, Door Lady. Otherwise, I’m going to tell Queen Maria you disrespected the duke.”

She had probably corrected herself to imply that Kriss wasn’t young enough to be called a girl anymore. Still, the second Aina mentioned the queen, Kriss closed her mouth and obediently opened the door.

That was when I finally got to see my bride-to-be.

“Primera, you look beautiful.”

I probably could’ve said something better, but that was all I could think of. And even saying that much had me blushing like a fool.

“Thanks. You look handsome too, Tenma,” Primera replied, blushing. Maybe this mutual reaction just suited us the best.

“Tenma’s suit could probably be a national treasure, but so could Primera’s dress. In fact, I’d say it’s even better. Not just any woman could pull that off!” Gramps said.

“Gramps, be careful,” I warned.

“What? All I meant was that the dress is so well-made that a woman has to be as gorgeous as Primera to pull it off. What else did you think I meant?”

“I’m just warning that even that kind of comment can cross the line, depending on how you phrase things. So you have to watch your words,” I said.

Gramps wasn’t wrong, though. Primera’s pure-white wedding dress was adorned with rose-patterned embroidery. And that embroidery had been done by top craftsmen chosen by Duke Sanga. The dress would’ve been stunning even if it’d been made from regular materials, but the fabric had been woven from spidersilk thread. So just like Gramps has said, her dress was a dazzling piece, even more priceless than my suit.

Felt’s craftsmanship was impressive too, of course, but he couldn’t compete with a ducal family’s personal artisans. Primera’s dress had also required a lot more spidersilk to make.

She looked incredibly beautiful in that pure white gown with her red hair. The dress was a thinner fabric than what she usually wore, and it hugged the curves of her lovely figure and emphasized her ample chest even more than usual. My gaze couldn’t help but naturally gravitate toward it.

I was still a guy after all—but maybe that was what caused me to walk right into Gramps’s trap.

He grinned smugly at me. “Sure. We’ll go with that.”

Primera, Jeanne, Aura, Amur, and Kriss hadn’t overheard us—in fact, I didn’t even know half of them were here, and I’d straight-up forgotten about Kriss. But Aina had definitely heard our conversation and gave me a meaningful smile.

Yeah, I’ll definitely have to bribe her later to keep her quiet...

Just then, I noticed someone approaching the room. Judging by the sound of their footsteps, I figured they were one of the duke’s servants.

Gramps, Aina, Kriss, and I all noticed the sound. The smile disappeared from Aina’s face as she walked over to the door. I stepped in front of Primera, and Gramps placed himself between the entrance and the rest of us while Kriss casually moved in front of Jeanne and the others.

Identify told me that the visitor was a maid from the estate, but considering how flustered Duke Sanga had looked earlier, the fact that a maid was rushing to this room right now meant something serious was going on. We didn’t want to take any chances.

Aina slipped out the door before the maid could open it. They talked for a few minutes in the hallway. Once the maid left, Aina came back inside to explain.

“Master Tenma, Lady Primera. The situation has been resolved without incident. Still, it seems we need to slightly delay the start of the wedding as a result. I’ll go confirm what adjustments will need to be made to the schedule. Please wait here for a bit, Master Tenma and Master Merlin.”

After that, Aina leaned in and whispered something to Jeanne, Aura, Amur, and Kriss. She tried to do it subtly, but I noticed. Also, something about the way she was acting seemed weird. I focused my ears hard, trying to catch what she was saying, and then expanded my Detection ability to cover the entire wedding venue and its surrounding areas. All that gave me a pretty good idea of what had caused the commotion.

Aina was just about to slip out the door after giving Kriss her instructions, but I called out to stop her.

“Aina, can I ask you something before you go check the schedule?” I began.

“Of course. What is it?”

“The earlier incident—did it involve Viscount Braun?” I asked, dropping the name of Mom’s former household.

The second his name left my lips, Gramps bolted straight for the door—or rather, for Aina, since she was standing in front of it. Thankfully, I managed to hold him back in time.

“Whoa, Gramps! Settle down!” I told him. “I know it seems like there’s no way around it, but there’s still a tiny chance they weren’t directly responsible. But if you charge out there right now, it could just make things worse.”

“And why would you think that, Master Tenma?” Aina asked casually, but it was obvious that I’d hit the nail on the head.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t just tell her I’d used Identify and Detection to figure it out.

“Rocket just told me.”

I used Water magic to create a floating blob that looked like Rocket. Gramps probably immediately knew it was a fake, but Aina wouldn’t be able to. She didn’t have his magical abilities, and she was also far enough away that she wouldn’t notice.

I told the two of them that Rocket was monitoring the area for me and reporting his findings to me through the blob. Aina seemed to accept this because she let out a small sigh, her shoulders drooping as she did.

Honestly, Rocket could report something like that, but only with vague words and phrases. Plus, the farther away he was, the less clear his messages would be. Basically, I’d be able to get something like “Mom,” “former house,” “here,” or something like that.

I still wasn’t sure if that ability was unique to Rocket or was something all slimes could do. But I certainly hadn’t heard of another slime doing it, so I was leaning toward the former.

Either way, Aina had no way of confirming whether I was telling the truth about Rocket or not, and Mom’s former family member was here. Because of that, she couldn’t just ignore my question. Plus, it wasn’t like I had any reason to take orders from her anyway. She could try to stop me, but I would just go to Duke Sanga or someone else to find out.

And it didn’t really matter if charging in would cause more trouble anyway. It was my wedding, after all. I could just say that I was worried about something jeopardizing the ceremony, and then I’d be in the clear.

Aina clearly believed we’d only escalate things if we went out there now. “I’ll explain the situation to Duke Sanga and have him come here directly. Please just wait here, Master Tenma and Master Merlin,” she replied.

“Still, what the hell is Viscount Braun thinking? If they’re trying to say they’re connected to me through the Otori family, then why did Duke Sanga go handle it?” I asked.

“Maybe he thought if you or I went to deal with it, we’d take off someone’s head,” Gramps suggested. “Besides, with you being the head of the family and me acting as your proxy, the only other person with any authority would be Mark. Or maybe Amy, since we’ve adopted her. But let’s be honest, Maria and Alex would’ve made a scene and come out with some excuse to get involved anyway, and that would’ve caused even more of a scene. Duke Sanga might’ve stepped in as damage control.”

“Or it was a mistake on Father’s part. The fact that Father rushed out there himself makes that the most likely explanation,” Primera said quietly.

That did make the most sense. If it really had just been a guest causing trouble, whether it was Viscount Braun or not, someone would’ve come to alert Gramps or me. Or they would’ve asked Aina or one of us to go.

But if that had been the case, then why had Duke Sanga taken it upon himself to go deal with it? Primera and Gramps seemed just as confused about that as I was.

Just then, Duke Sanga strode into the room.

“Excuse me.”

And there was someone with him.

“Hendrick?” Primera looked shocked to see her older sister’s husband, Hendrick von Salsamo.

Hendrick began to apologize. “Master Tenma, Master Merlin! I’m so sorry!”

When it came down to it, what’d happened was a stroke of really bad luck.

The reason a member of Mom’s former household had shown up at the venue was pretty straightforward. A vassal of Hendrick’s family had invited him. That vassal had apparently been classmates with Viscount Braun (who was a family member of Mom’s), and they had kept in touch since their days at the academy.

Once Viscount Braun had heard about my marriage to Primera, he’d decided to use that opportunity to sneak into the ceremony to try to mend things with the Otori family. He had assumed that even the most unwelcome guests would be tolerated at a wedding.

He had also figured he’d name-drop me to schmooze with Duke Sanga and the other high-ranking nobles while he was at it. But he hadn’t thought about the fact that crashing a wedding might backfire on him and only piss everybody off. Basically, he was desperate, a complete idiot...or both.

The vassal who had let them in had fallen for Viscount Braun’s smooth-talking ways and had gotten greedy. He’d thought that helping them would get him an in with more influential figures—like my family, for starters. But he clearly hadn’t known enough about me, because if he had, he would’ve been able to predict how badly this would go.

When Hendrick had discovered what his vassal had done, he’d snapped. The moment he’d spotted the guy and Viscount Braun, he had punched them both out and dragged them outside. They’d almost lost their heads to boot.

Anyway, Prince Lyle had stopped him just in time, so aside from a couple of bloody noses and split lips, they were still more or less intact.

Duke Sanga told us that his comment earlier had been aimed at Hendrick for trying to kill somebody at a wedding, for putting Prince Lyle on the spot, and for spilling blood in the same venue where the king was present.

Also, Viscount Braun had been trying to approach the king himself, which could have easily been taken as a threat. Worst-case scenario, the royal family could’ve left the venue entirely—they could have even canceled the wedding. If that’d happened, the blame wouldn’t just fall on Hendrick—Duke Sanga’s entire house would’ve been held responsible too.

Duke Sanga said that if Hendrick had just dragged them out quietly and beaten them up in a back alley somewhere, it wouldn’t have been such a big deal. Sure, it probably would’ve still attracted some attention, but at least it could’ve been handled by someone more discreet, like Dean, Jean, or one of the duke’s guards.

“But no, he had to do it right in front of the king, the queen, and the rest of the royal family!” Duke Sanga muttered.

“Well, it’s also technically Prince Lyle’s fault for stepping in without waiting for Dean and the others, but I guess that’s not the point,” I said.

“No, it’s not. If it hadn’t happened right in front of them, we could’ve claimed ignorance or handled it after the fact. But this...”

“We can’t cover this up,” Gramps grumbled. “Not when it involves the royal family and Duke Sanga.”

These people could’ve swept almost anything under the rug as long as there wasn’t an audience. But to do something so stupid in full view of everyone...that automatically made this a national incident.

From what I understood, Hendrick had known Prince Lyle from their days at the academy, so the prince had just moved without thinking. That was yet another reason the whole thing had been a string of really bad luck.

At the rate things were going, it was possible that the wedding could get called off. And there was just no salvaging the fact that Hendrick had screwed up, no matter how much we might try to spin it. So, instead, we had to figure out a way to cover it all up—even if it had to be by force.

Sure, I was technically one of the victims in this mess, but since Mom’s former household was involved, I couldn’t claim to have no connection to it either. More importantly, I couldn’t let the wedding get called off. I had to make this work out, no matter what.

I thought about it for a while and came up with a solution.

“Basically, Hendrick lashed out because he was furious on my behalf. His body moved on its own because he was so angry. Right?” I said.

In other words, we could say that he hadn’t acted out of personal rage. He’d taken action because he couldn’t forgive anyone who tried to ruin his sister-in-law’s wedding.

It was a pretty flimsy excuse, but those who knew about the long-standing grudge between my family and the Brauns were aware that it went all the way back to Gramps’s generation. If we fed the public a story that was just the right blend of facts and fiction, we could probably rally up plenty of support.

Plus, if the king were to toss out even a single line of praise for Hendrick, it would boost Hendrick’s credibility. That way, his reputation would stay intact, even if things got a little messy. Maybe we’d even get a little reputation bonus for showing how generous the king was.

“All right,” I said. “I’ll go run this by the king and queen. Hopefully they’ll play along.”

“Sounds good. I don’t think they’ll say no, but just in case, remind them that I’ve got a whole lot of dirt on both Alex and Ernest. There’s no better time than to use it!” Gramps said.

We’d need to clear everything with the royal family since this entire plan hinged on them. The king and queen had never had a high opinion of the Brauns, probably thanks to their friendship with Mom and Dad. While I thought they might grumble at the plan at first, I figured they’d go along with it.

Gramps looked downright giddy as he mentally sorted through which piece of blackmail to use on whom.

“Well then, Duke Sanga and Hendrick, I’ll go talk to the king and queen,” I said.

“The king and queen are waiting in their private chambers,” Aina said, and she led us there.

Long story short, the king and queen approved my plan without a hitch. Also, we got a surprise apology from Prince Lyle, who was still sitting formally on his knees and getting scolded by the queen and king.

They’d chewed him out and told him that he should’ve sent Dean or Jean to go after Hendrick. There had been no reason for him to have acted on his own.

Normally, the prince would’ve known better, but since Hendrick was an old friend of his, he’d felt personally responsible and had acted without thinking. He seemed to really regret it.

“I think the whole thing’ll blow over just fine,” I said.

“Hmph. I’m a bit disappointed I didn’t get to blackmail Alex or Ernest, but I suppose it’s worth it if the wedding will go smoothly now,” Gramps said.

Now back in Primera’s waiting room, we reported the outcome to Duke Sanga and Hendrick. The duke seemed a bit exasperated by the situation, but the count let out a visible sigh of relief.

“So what’s going to happen to the Brauns and Hendrick’s vassal?” I asked.

“Viscount Braun will most likely be stripped of his title,” Duka Sanga replied. “His reputation was already poor, and he couldn’t even run his domain properly before he went and caused this commotion. He’s not in danger of the death sentence, but the viscount will probably go to jail. As for his family, they’ll probably be shuffled to his wife’s relatives or exiled somewhere.”

“And my vassal will be dismissed from his post, transferred to my domain, and imprisoned. Further punishment will be decided afterward,” Hendrick said.

So the viscount would be locked up for creating a disturbance and trying to sabotage a wedding where the king would be in attendance. It wasn’t a capital offense, but it was still serious. His family would get lighter sentences. If someone stepped forward to take responsibility for them, they’d be handed over to be in their care, but if not, they’d be exiled from the capital.

Hendrick hadn’t said it outright, but it sure seemed like his vassal was going to be executed. After all, Hendrick had tried to kill both his vassal and the viscount, even though Prince Lyle had stopped him. That alone made the outcome all but certain.

Duke Sanga and Hendrick apologized once again before heading off to rejoin the other guests.

“Well, that’s one crisis averted. We won’t have much time to relax before the ceremony starts now, though,” I said.

“I agree,” replied Aina. “There are guests with other engagements, and now that this incident has been resolved, I’m sure many are eager for the day’s events to begin.”

The ceremony had already been delayed for quite a while now. Since things had finally settled down, it made sense to get going as quickly as possible.

As we were thinking that, one of the staff members came in to tell us they were ready for us to begin.

“Aina, sorry to trouble you, but could you check my suit and Primera’s dress?” I asked.

I knew our outfits probably weren’t dirty, but they might’ve gotten a little wrinkled. Aina was sharp-eyed and calm, so she was the perfect person for the job. I definitely couldn’t trust someone like Aura to check us. She’d miss something or mess it up.

“Both of you look fine,” Aina said.

“All right, then you can tell the staff we’re ready to start,” I replied.

“Very well.”

Once Aina confirmed we were good to go, she stepped out to inform the staff. A few minutes later, she came back in with them. Now that we were prepped, they wanted to notify the guests and begin right away.

Less than ten minutes later, Primera and I were standing at the doors of the venue, waiting for them to open.

“Tenma, now that we’re here, I’m so nervous. I feel like my heart’s going to explode. What should I do?” Primera asked, sounding concerned.

“I feel the same. I thought I’d gotten pretty brave over the years, but I guess I was no match for this kinda thing,” I joked back.

That helped ease the tension for both of us, and we smiled at each other. Then, the staff gave the signal to open the doors.

Primera gently linked her arm through mine.

“Shall we?” I asked.

“Okay.”

And just like that, Primera and I took our first step together toward becoming husband and wife, in front of all of our guests.

Primera’s POV

I always thought something like this would never happen to me. I was always the one on the outside looking in. I believed I just wasn’t meant to be the main character of anyone’s story.

Even though I’d been born into a ducal house, I was lucky enough not to be used as a political pawn. Maybe it was because I was the youngest daughter and everyone adored me. Or maybe our ducal house was stable enough that they didn’t need to marry me off.

But I still lived a life far removed from the expectations of a noble.

If I wasn’t going to fulfill my duties as a noble, I should’ve found a way to live without relying on my family, just like Leena did. I knew she hadn’t completely cut ties with her family, but she’d built enough of a reputation as an adventurer that she had more than repaid her family for their support.

But my parents paid for my school tuition, and I got my job using their connections—even getting a position far above what I was qualified for—all thanks to their backing. Honestly, I felt more like a burden than anything else.

Maybe that was why when I had first met Tenma, I couldn’t help but envy him. He’d had everything I had wanted, and he’d gotten it all without the help of anybody else.

At the time, I had been the captain of a knights’ brigade, but I’d only graduated from the academy a year before. I had finished with top grades, but most new graduates had to start as a trainee knight, running errands and gaining experience for a few years.

But not me. And the only reason they’d made me captain was because of my last name.

No one said that to my face, of course, but I knew. I could feel the people staring at me. I would overhear laughter from knights when they thought I wasn’t around. I always pretended not to notice, but every time it happened, dark, bitter feelings swirled in the pit of my stomach.

Then, Tenma showed up. He and the triplets had wiped out a bandit gang that the entire knights’ brigade had been struggling to take care of. He had even rescued the victims.

I despised him for it.

Maybe I could’ve rationalized it in my mind if some veteran adventuring party, like the Dawnswords, had taken care of it. Perhaps my jealousy wouldn’t have eaten away at me as it did. Yet Tenma’s party seemed to have been thrown together on a whim. The triplets were younger than me, and Tenma had just registered as an adventurer. That had been his very first request.

I assumed their success was just a fluke and not due to actual skill. I desperately wanted to believe that.

But as a result, I had all that misplaced frustration, jealousy, and bitterness, and I took it out on him. Tenma brushed it off like it was nothing. He didn’t change his attitude toward me when he learned I was a duke’s daughter either. And honestly, that scared me.

Later on, with the incident involving Guise, I thought maybe I’d finally get the chance to earn a little credit for myself. I was furious that my father’s name had been dragged through the mud, but at the same time...part of me was a little glad. Only a little, though.

Father saw right through me, of course. He gave me a stern lecture about my petty jealousy and misplaced joy. But then Tenma handled Father so calmly, and that was when I really took notice of him for the first time.

From there, that interest turned to sympathy when I learned more about his past. Then, that sympathy became respect. I remember when I felt jealous of him. I remember when I got angry, when I was afraid of him, when I grew interested in him, when I pitied him, and when I came to admire him. But I couldn’t say exactly when I fell in love with him.

I’d vaguely known that I liked him—that much was obvious to me. But I don’t know when it grew into something deeper. Maybe it was at Ceruna’s wedding? Or maybe it was even earlier, like when Tenma came to report that he’d be leaving Gunjo City.

Either way, I was already aware of my feelings by the time he’d asked me to dance. That was why I was happy when he proposed to me, and why I hadn’t hesitated. I was just happy.

We’d already made it halfway down the aisle, and right now, I could clearly see the faces of everyone sitting near the front.

Father and Mother were tearing up. Albert and Eliza were smiling warmly at me, as were my other sisters and brothers-in-law. Gramps looked like he might even cry, and Mark and Martha were smiling. The king and queen had huge smiles on their faces as well.

But the people I had looked at first were Jeanne and Amur. They were seated just behind Gramps on Tenma’s side. They were closer to the front than the king and queen, which said a lot. I understood how they felt about Tenma, and I knew he cared deeply for them too. And I also understood more than anyone what it meant that I was the one becoming his wife while they watched from the sidelines.

Maybe that was why my heart ached a little when they smiled at me without a hint of resentment. They didn’t flinch or frown. The two of them were genuinely supporting me.

Of course, it helped that Tenma had left the possibility open of taking them as secondary wives someday. It was a strategic move, but I couldn’t blame them. Having them around made me feel more secure as well. It was only fair that I’d accepted those conditions.

We passed by Father, Mother, and Gramps in the front row, and then there was only the priest ahead of us. Just a few more steps, and I’d no longer be Primera von Sanga. I’d become Primera Otori.

Tenma and I fell slightly out of sync for a split second. I was so nervous. But he looked like he was too, which helped me relax a bit.

We stopped in front of the priest, and he began to speak. He gave a long speech, most of which I couldn’t even remember because I was so tense.

Eventually, he turned to Tenma and asked a question. Without hesitation, Tenma replied, “I do.”

When the priest turned to me, it still felt like I was in a daze. But I remembered what we’d done in our rehearsal, so out of that memory and instinct alone, I managed to reply, “I do.”

The priest looked a little surprised—I might’ve answered a hair too soon. But Tenma was smiling, so I thought it probably wasn’t a big deal.

Then, the priest handed us our rings. Tenma gently slid mine onto my left ring finger, and I did the same for him. I’d thought this part would feel more emotional, but my mind was already skipping ahead.

Then came the moment we’d all been waiting for.

“You may now seal your vows with a kiss.”

It’s time to kiss...

Just remembering that moment ahead of time had helped ease my nerves. I’d been so anxious during our vows, but I’d calmed down during the exchange of rings.

Still, having your first kiss at the altar had to be pretty rare outside of an arranged marriage.

And just like that, I was nervous again.

Tenma was standing in front of me. He lifted my veil and placed his hands on my shoulders. His face slowly inched closer. Then, he suddenly turned his body, shielding me from something as he faced the entrance.

Gramps, Amur, Viscount Hana, Kriss, and Jean all jumped into motion. Dean led the royal guards as they moved to protect the royal family on the other side of the room. Even Blanca was shielding his wife and son.

The Sanga guards were slower to react—they only started moving after Dean and his men had already taken their positions. Even the fastest among them, Steel, was still a beat behind. Not that I could blame him, really. He just wasn’t on the same level. Still, even a split-second delay could be fatal in a real battle.

Once the commotion died down, we would owe many people some deep apologies. Even though I had been threatened to go through with this prank, I had still agreed. My only defense was that I wasn’t the only one who’d been in on it.

Still, I honestly wished the intruder had picked a different time, like just a little earlier or a little later. As I silently cursed them, I found myself silently apologizing to everyone in the room.

Part Ten

I was a little surprised that Primera had said “I do” before the priest had even finished his question, but thankfully, it hadn’t caused any issues.

Everything up through the ring exchange had gone smoothly, and now it was time to kiss.

The guys were definitely gonna tease me for having my first kiss be at the altar on my wedding day. I could make excuses and just say there hadn’t been a good time before now, but let’s be real. I was too much of a chicken. I had no excuse.

Our first kiss was less than a minute away. I reached for Primera’s veil, placed my hands on her shoulders, and leaned in, trying not to let my nerves get the best of me.

Wait, something’s coming toward us... And it’s fast!

I felt a presence rushing toward the venue. I immediately activated Detection and Identify, but I couldn’t figure out who it was.

Gramps, Dean, Hana, Blanca, and I all noticed them approaching at about the exact same time. We readied ourselves without a word. The second Dean moved, Jean, Kriss, and everyone else shifted to protect the royal family. Amur was a hair slower than the rest, but she still reacted before Steel did.

As for Margrave Haust, he was said to be on par with Dean when it came to raw strength (as long as magic wasn’t involved), and he moved even later than Steel. But given that he was the kind of person who was used to being protected rather than protecting others, it wasn’t really a fair comparison.

Anyway, it didn’t matter much. The entire thing had happened in less than a second, so it was hard to call it a critical failure. This just proved how ridiculously overpowered our guest list was.

I kept Primera behind me and had my eyes locked on the entrance. There was no time to draw a weapon. When it came down to it, I’d just have to go straight to magic.

The intruder stopped just in front of the doors, and then...

“Hold it! Stop this wedding at once!” came the new voice. It was like something out of a movie.

Our intruder...was Namitaro.

I’d been worried about what kind of stunt he’d pull, but man, he had chosen now to show up? There was no way this was a coincidence.

At least neither Primera nor I went running to him, leaving the other at the altar like in one of those cheesy movie scenes, though.

“How dare you try to get married without telling me?!” he yelled. “Even if the sun will forgive you, I, Namitaro, will not!”

Namitaro ignored the tension in the room and made a beeline for the second row on the Otori side. He headed toward Jeanne, but the seats were too tightly packed for him to squeeze through. He ended up moving to a corner where Shiromaru and the other followers were sitting.

We all stood there frozen. After that huge, dramatic entrance, Namitaro just settled into his seat.

“Ahem!”

The king loudly cleared his throat, bringing us all back to reality. Neither he nor Queen Maria looked shocked by the interruption, however. I glanced around and noticed that there were two others who also looked strangely unsurprised.

I had a hunch.

“Primera, did you know about Namitaro?”

“I did,” she confessed. “I’m sorry.”

“And so did you, Amy?”

“Yes.”

Primera was way too calm, and Amy looked more scared than surprised.

“Namitaro here is a good friend of Tenma, the groom,” the king announced, addressing Primera’s side of the guests. “Due to unfortunate circumstances, Namitaro has only just arrived at the wedding. Although his entrance was unexpected, I see no reason to further delay the ceremony.” He then signaled to the priest to continue.

Everyone returned to their seats, some looking more baffled than the others.

The priest leaned in and whispered that we could go ahead, but...

How the hell am I supposed to kiss her now?!

Namitaro had totally ruined the flow and the mood. Trying to kiss her now was beyond awkward.

I managed to lift her veil again and place my hands on her shoulders...and then I froze.

So did she, for that matter. Probably because I was supposed to kiss her now, and I just...wasn’t doing it.

We ended up just awkwardly staring at each other up close.

But then, she closed her eyes and leaned toward me. Almost automatically, I did the same...and somehow managed to kiss her.

I don’t know if most of the guests batted an eye, but I was certain everyone who actually knew me managed to figure out what’d happened.

I’d totally chickened out.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the priest declared, clearly not caring about my worries—or maybe he was just pretending not to notice.

And with that, in the eyes of both the kingdom and the gods, Primera and I were now husband and wife.

The original plan had been for us to make a quiet exit and let our guests move to the reception hall, where we would later make our dramatic entrance together. But obviously, I had to deal with something else right now.

I had to speak to Namitaro first. As soon as we left the room, I pulled Aina aside and asked her to bring everyone involved to my dressing room. She brought Gramps, Amy, Duke Sanga, Albert, the king, Queen Maria, Prince Caesar, Marquis Sammons, Margrave Haust, Cain, and Leon—all people who were in our inner circle, as well as those who had some apologizing to do. Basically, these people were the heaviest hitters at the wedding, so Namitaro couldn’t complain as long as they were on board. Primera was technically involved too, but I didn’t ask her to come along. She needed time to change into her reception outfit.

As soon as the group was gathered together, I got down on my hands and knees in front of Namitaro.

“Master Namitaro, I deeply apologize,” I said.

Albert, Cain, and Leon also had apologies to make, but they got a pass thanks to Namitaro’s generosity. They just stood behind me, watching me bow instead.

Honestly, I didn’t mind having to do this. After all, I kinda deserved it. But I did feel like I had the right to complain about the timing of his appearance, and I was fully prepared to comment on that. I had already planned out what I was going to say. But before I could even say a word...

“I really wanted to bring Hii and Bon with me, ya know? Bon was all fired up about coming, but Hii said no. I even thought about sneaking little Bon in anyway, but I didn’t wanna ruin your big day or anything! But since Amy gave me the heads-up about it, I think I can let everything slide now that Tenma apologized,” Namitaro announced.

I was really grateful to Hii the behemoth, because even if just her baby had shown up, this wedding would’ve either been postponed or just plain ruined.

Also, Amy hadn’t sought out Namitaro to tell him about the wedding. She’d contacted him to ask some questions about aquatic monsters, and as they were chatting, she just so happened to mention it.

Because of that, Namitaro had realized I’d totally forgotten to invite him. He had then threatened Amy, telling her not to tell me that he would be coming. Amy had been super anxious about it and hadn’t been sure if she should really keep it a secret, so she had confided in Primera. Primera hadn’t known what to do either, so she had ended up asking the king and queen.

Now, under normal circumstances, a duke’s daughter couldn’t just casually drop by the castle and ask the monarchs for advice. But since they visited my house so often and were generally easygoing, and because Primera was my fiancée, they hadn’t minded at all.

Primera had brought it up about a week before the wedding, as the queen had noticed that she seemed anxious and had asked what was wrong. Both the king and queen had been shocked to hear that Namitaro had been forgotten, and even more surprised that he was planning to crash the ceremony. The two of them had quickly come to a conclusion, however, saying that “As long as Tenma’s the one who suffers for it, we’ll let it slide.” That was also why they hadn’t hung around my dressing room for very long earlier.

I was surprised to hear that Amy had been absolutely terrified. Namitaro had told her not to say anything, yet she’d blabbed to Primera, so she understandably thought that he was going to blow up on her.

Luckily, that bit had turned out to be just a simple misunderstanding. Namitaro had meant for her not to tell me, not that she couldn’t tell anyone. He wouldn’t have cared if the entire capital had known as long as I was still in the dark.

Amy looked visibly relieved now. The stress must’ve been eating her alive. And given the way that Namitaro had shown up, arriving at quite possibly the most dramatic moment of the entire wedding, I couldn’t blame her for having been so stressed. Anybody else might’ve just straight-up burst into tears.

“Welp, you gave a proper apology, so I guess I can forgive you,” Namitaro said. “Wouldn’t wanna mess with you too much and cause trouble for my poor Primera! But you know, if you really wanna patch up my poor, wounded heart...I think one or two boxes of those golden treats might just do the trick.” Namitaro’s words cut right into me as I kept my forehead planted against the floor. Of course he was going to demand a bribe.

“Rocket, bring it out,” I called out. Rocket had been keeping my peace offering safe and produced five boxes. “Here you go, Namitaro. Your favorite golden sweets.”

Namitaro opened one box slightly and looked inside. “Hm, very clever...” He sounded quite satisfied. “All right, I guess these will do. I’ll consider the matter settled. But shouldn’t you be getting ready for your reception right now, Tenma?”

Thanks to those golden sweet potato confections, I’d secured Namitaro’s forgiveness. I was just bummed that Albert had gotten off easy. I had really thought I could drag him into this somehow. Cain and Leon might’ve been a tougher sell, but Albert should’ve been a shoo-in. But since Namitaro had barged into my dressing room right at the start of this, I hadn’t had the time to set up that trap.

Well, this was technically my fault, so maybe it wasn’t fair to drag Albert down with me. It left a bitter taste in my mouth either way, though. I seriously considered cutting back his dessert portion out of petty revenge.

As Namitaro and the others left, Primera and Aina arrived, slipping into the room just as the chaos wrapped up. Their timing was great, but considering the looks on their faces, they weren’t too thrilled that I still wasn’t ready.

I quickly changed and passed Aina’s inspection. After that, Primera and I moved to a waiting room next to the reception hall. We were originally supposed to enter the party right away, but our guests were running late since I’d pulled aside such a large group of them earlier.

“I’ll be returning to the venue to help with the food preparations now,” Aina said with a bow.

Some of the royal family’s butlers and maids, Cruyff included, were helping with food service to prevent poisonings. If anyone with malicious intent wanted to sabotage this wedding, either to hurt the royal family or just plain stir up trouble, this would be the perfect opportunity for them to do so. The royal family trusted Houses Sanga and Otori, but there was always the risk of something being slipped in during transit somehow.

The royal staff who normally handled the king and queen’s affairs stepped in with the pretext that House Otori was understaffed. The Sanga servants didn’t need to be involved this time since they had helped out during the ceremony. We thought that splitting the duties this way was fair.

The butlers and maids from the royal family who hadn’t attended the ceremony had already taken care of poison tasting during the wedding in a separate room. Sure, on paper, they had been checking for poison, but it had been more like a snack break. Each of them had received a half-portion of each course. When Queen Maria had explained the plan, there had been no shortage of volunteers.

Cruyff and Aina had personally handpicked the final team, who were the best of the best in the kingdom. As for Cruyff and Aina, they would be regular guests at the reception. Servants from House Sanga would be in a separate room with the guests’ attendants, eating the same meal with slightly smaller portions. Not every dish was included for them either.

“Well, I’m glad we ended up having the ceremony at a church. It gave us the perfect excuse to turn down that ridiculous gondola idea,” I said.

Primera agreed with me. “I know. I don’t care how much Albert complained about it either. There’s nothing he can do if ducal authority doesn’t extend to the venue.”

Albert had been really pushing for some crazy gondola entrance. He had even tried to get Eliza involved and use her to convince Primera to do it, saying that everyone would be talking about it if the sisters-in-law did it together.

His plan had been to hold the wedding at the Sanga estate because setting up the gondola would be easier there. But Primera had refused, saying that since she was marrying out of the family, she didn’t want to have her wedding at her family’s estate.

Duke Sanga had caved to the pressure and sided with us. And thanks to the queen pulling some strings, we had been able to secure a famous church in the capital, making it so that Albert had no choice but to give up on his gondola fantasy.

At least for the wedding, that is. His next brilliant plan had been to have a gondola at the party we were holding at our estate. That one had been easy to shoot down, because there wasn’t even anywhere we could install one at our place. We might have been able to use the second floor or the roof facing the backyard, but we would risk damaging the walls. In the end, that idea had gone nowhere too.

As we were chatting about all that, someone came in to tell us it was time for us to join the reception. Primera and I stood in front of the doors, just like we had before the ceremony. I still wasn’t really used to this yet, but I definitely felt more at ease than I had before the wedding. As we walked over to our seats, Albert caught my eye. He looked like he was pouting because we weren’t arriving via gondola. I nudged Primera, and we both gave him the biggest smiles we could muster.

I’m sure that to everyone else in the room, this looked like some sweet moment between newlyweds. But Albert probably thought we were taunting him. And, well...we were.

Count Sylphid was our host for the reception. After we took our seats, he gave a short speech, introducing Primera and me. Then came the other guest speeches. The king and Margrave Haust spoke on behalf of my side, and Prince Caesar and Marquis Sammons for Primera’s side.

The original plan had been for the king and Marquis Sammons to give the toasts, but once we had decided to invite Margrave Haust, we’d invited him to speak too. We thought it would be a good way to show how well the Otori and Haust families got along now. And we had thought that asking Prince Caesar to be on Primera’s side would balance things out nicely. Gramps had suggested swapping the king out for just Margrave Haust, but the king had flat-out refused, so we’d had to ask the prince. Otherwise, the two sides would’ve had an uneven number of speakers.

After all the speeches were done, the waitstaff passed out glasses, and Count Sylphid led the toast. That signaled the beginning of dinner, and the servers began to bring out the food.

Once the first course had been served, a butler moved next to Count Sylphid and began to introduce the dishes. I recognized him because I’d seen him at the palace several times, but we’d never actually spoken to each other. Earlier in the day, I had asked who he was, and the answer had shocked both Primera and me.

“That’s Cruyff’s son?” Primera had blurted out, her eyes wide.

For some reason, I’d always assumed Cruyff was single, but apparently I had been wrong. This butler really was his son. The young man wasn’t nearly as eccentric, but he was an excellent butler, just like his father. That was why we’d asked him to handle the dinner introductions and also to be the head of the butler team for the evening.

Many of the guests looked shocked as he explained each dish, but not in a bad way. We had chosen my all-time best culinary creations, including dishes we thought would go over well with nobles. Primera, Aina, and Cruyff had all approved my selections, so I was confident that nothing on the menu would cause any issues unless someone had certain personal preferences.

The first thing they were surprised about was the soup course, which was a savory egg custard—basically chawanmushi. Although it technically counted as a soup, it was rare for it to be served as part of a formal Western-style dinner like this. However, most of our guests loved it. The general consensus was that it was unusual, but delicious.

Next, we served a toasted baguette topped with sea urchin, with the latter being provided by Queen Maria’s family. That also got great feedback.

After that, we served marinated and grilled tyrant salmon from the SAR.

Then, it was time for the wedding cake. It was huge, clocking in at two meters tall and two meters across at its base, with eight stacked layers. Obviously, just piling that much cake on top of itself would crush the bottom layers, so we had used stands to support each tier. Despite that, it had to be moved with extreme caution. There was no way I was letting Aura anywhere near the thing.

Our cake was ridiculously oversized, but we had plans for the leftovers. Some would be handed out as gifts, and the rest would be served at the party at the Otori estate. Nothing would go to waste.

At first, we’d planned on bringing out the cake near the end of the meal, but because it was so big, cutting it and serving it would take ages. Instead, we decided to bump up the cake-cutting ceremony and then have the cake taken to the back to be sliced. While that happened, guests would enjoy a refreshing yuzu sorbet after their salmon.

Unfortunately, that meant that by the time Primera and I got back to our seats from cutting the cake, our sorbets would have melted. It wasn’t ideal, but I wasn’t going to complain either.

“Now, for their first official act as husband and wife, it’s time to cut the cake!” Count Sylphid announced.

Primera and I walked up to the cake and accepted a large ceremonial knife from one of the servers.

“Everyone, please give them a warm round of applause!”

And that was it. Our first act as husband and wife was over in a few moments. I mean, all we had to do was cut into the cake together, so it wasn’t like it would’ve taken a long time anyway. Anyway, once that was done, we returned the knife and went back to our seats. This normally would’ve been when we’d go off to change our outfits, but since we had decided to wear the same clothes until the end of the reception, we were just going to sit down and enjoy our meal.

But that was when something happened that no one had expected, including Count Sylphid and me.

“Here, Tenma.”

Primera had swiped some of the icing off the knife and was holding it up to my mouth. Everyone was staring at us. There was no way I could weasel out of this one, so I just went for it. I leaned forward and licked the icing off her finger.

Then, I got some icing on my own finger and offered it to her.

“Let’s give another round of applause for the newlyweds’ first bite!” Count Sylphid announced. He had immediately turned it into a part of the reception, as if this had been planned all along.

Nobles didn’t usually do things like this since they didn’t serve themselves at meals, but the tradition of having a first bite was something done by nobles and commoners alike. We hadn’t officially planned to do it, but Count Sylphid had played off Primera’s surprise gesture anyway.

When we got back to our seats, Primera’s cheeks were flushed. I couldn’t tell if it was because she was embarrassed, if it was the wine, or if it was because of the atmosphere. Maybe it was a mixture of all three. Either way, I knew my face was just as red.

We sat down right as the next course was being served. Our half-melted sorbets helped cool us down a little. There wasn’t very much of it, but a little sorbet was better than nothing. I wished I could have a bit more to cool me down even more, but the next dish was already before us.

It was time for the main course—the meat. There were three different types, all served together on a single plate. It was a heavy dish, but we’d made sure the portions of each were small. These ingredients were rare and expensive, so some guests actually complained that the portions were too small.

We were serving wine-braised white buffalo, hamburger steak, and roasted wyvern. The hamburger steak was rich and delicious, made of a mixture of buffalo and wyvern meat. We did still have some of the bicorn meat in storage, but since there wasn’t enough to serve everyone, we’d left it off the menu.

“Looks like the roasted wyvern’s the most popular. We might run out,” I said.

“It’s so rare and delicious. I’d go back for seconds if this dress weren’t so tight,” Primera said with a sigh.

There were no seconds for the buffalo dishes, mostly because we had a limited amount of meat, and the taste wouldn’t be as good if it wasn’t served piping hot. The roasted wyvern had been offered with seconds in mind, though, and we even had a live carving station. People kept going back for more, whether it was thick slices or thin.

“Do you think people will have room for dessert?” I asked Primera.

“Probably not, but they can always take some home instead.”

Some guests might’ve forgotten there’d be dessert at all. Either way, we would be handing out to-go boxes at the end, so they could have something sweet later, regardless. That was assuming their desserts even made it home. If they wanted more, they’d have to go visit the Full Belly Inn and buy some themselves later.

After the meat course, we brought out some fruit as a palate cleanser. Dessert followed that.

We decided to have a few dessert options. Originally, we had wanted to have a dessert buffet like at Ceruna and Henri’s wedding, but you couldn’t make nobles line up like commoners to serve themselves. Instead, we had the staff bring around small carts loaded with desserts. Everyone could pick out what they wanted, and then the staff would circle back around to offer guests seconds. That way, everyone got to choose their favorite desserts without ever having to leave their seat.

But before that, slices of the wedding cake were being served. Each layer of the cake was filled with fruit and icing. The slices were thin, but since they had such generous fillings, some guests probably figured the cake was the entire dessert course.

“We joked about making the cake this big, but I bet we won’t even finish it off after the party later tonight...” I muttered under my breath.

“Didn’t we agree that it’d be half the size? And then it doubled somehow. Also, don’t forget that this is our wedding. It’s not time for the party yet,” Primera said with a glare.

It always turned into a party when the people from Kukuri Village and our close friends got together. There was just no getting around it. Honestly, I thought this would’ve been wilder from the get-go, but I wasn’t about to say that out loud.

Primera was the bride, and this was her wedding. I quickly apologized and tried to smooth things over.

“Well, I’m not surprised either way, but it does look like more ladies are going back for dessert than the men,” she said.

“Let’s see... The ones really going for it are Gramps, Leon, Prince Lyle, Margrave Haust, and Yully. Yully makes sense, but I’m surprised Margrave Haust is so into it,” I commented.

I’d sent Yully an invite since we were on friendly terms, and he had gladly accepted. I didn’t have a ton of friends, so I’d wanted to invite as many of my acquaintances as I could. But of course, there were traitors like Jin and the Dawnswords—they’d said that formal gatherings weren’t their thing and had declined the invitation.

That was why I really appreciated the fact that Margrave Haust had agreed to come, as well as Yully, who hadn’t even seen me that much.

Still, I guess I had assumed men like the margrave preferred booze and salty snacks over frilly wedding cake. I was surprised to see him digging into the desserts.

Speaking of people who declined invitations to my wedding, besides the Dawnswords, the triplets had also declined, as well as everyone from the Tamers’ Guild except for Agris. Jin and Dawnswords said they’d be at the party later at our house, though.

The triplets wouldn’t be coming at all. Well, technically, they couldn’t. All three of them had planned to attend the wedding, but things were rough for them back home. Their mother had thrown out her back right before harvest season, and their little brother was going through a rebellious phase. Their grandparents weren’t in the best of health either. With all of that going on, the triplets couldn’t leave Gunjo City for very long.

In the end, the guests on my side included my family, the king and the king’s guard, Margrave Haust and his wife Edelia, Yully, the guildmaster from Russell City, Ceruna, Henri, and Marks from Gunjo City, Agris, Master Gantz, and Amy’s parents, Rick and Karina, from Sagan. In addition to those, Lady Hana, Sana Blanca, and Yoshitsune had come from the SAR, and from the capital, Kelly and four of her female dwarven staff were in attendance.

Oh, and I also had a talking fish on my side, which was pretty rare.

Some people couldn’t make it here due to work or family obligations, but despite all that, over thirty people had shown up as my guests. I felt really grateful.

Primera’s side had more than double that, but since I had so many bold personalities and colorful characters on my side, maybe it kind of balanced things out.

The desserts weren’t disappearing as fast as we’d expected, but the food had gone over quite well, judging by everyone’s reactions. Most of our guests were enjoying tea and relaxing after their meal now.

We were in the middle of that peaceful tea time when Count Sylphid came over and quietly let us know it was time for the final event. The moment he said that, Kriss’s eyes began to blaze with enthusiasm. This was the moment she’d been eagerly awaiting—the bouquet toss.

Weddings were said to be good luck, and going by all those romantic superstitions, she was determined to catch the bouquet. And her odds were excellent when you took the other participants into account. The only eligible ladies here were Kriss, Aina, Jeanne, Aura, Amur, Luna, Amy, Kelly, and Kelly’s four dwarven staff.

That’s right—only my invited guests would be participating. All the women on Primera’s side were either married or dating someone already, and that meant Kriss didn’t have to be bound by politeness or restraint here.

Perhaps sensing impending danger, Count Sylphid suddenly suggested that we take the bouquet toss outside. I thought it was a good idea and agreed.

We all moved to the garden, and the participants lined up in front of Primera and me. The rest of the guests stood a ways back to watch.

“We’ll begin the bouquet toss once everyone’s ready!” Count Sylphid announced.

Primera turned around and launched the bouquet into the air. It flew in a perfect arc behind her, high over the women’s heads.

Kriss was the first to react. She dashed forward, slamming straight into a wall of dwarven women, but that didn’t deter her. She charged them like a bull, determined to push straight through them. Just as she was about to break through, Kelly and Aina grabbed her by both arms.

That should’ve taken her out, but Kriss kept dragging them along like a human tank, inching closer to the bouquet.

Then, Amur used Kriss as a launchpad, springing off her back. That threw Kriss off-balance, and then Kelly and Aina tackled Kriss to the ground. It was only then that she was out of the running.

Meanwhile, victory was almost in Amur’s grasp until Aura pulled on her tail. Amur yelped and crash-landed right on top of Kriss. Aura soon lost her balance and fell right on top of Aina.

Someone is going to get totally chewed out over this later.

The scene grew more chaotic by the second. Now, the only ones left standing were Jeanne, Luna, and Amy...or so I thought.

In a matter of seconds, the whole situation changed. Jeanne and Amy ran right into each other and fell flat on their butts. Luna tried to leap over the pile of girls with Kriss at the bottom, but tripped.

The one who actually caught the bouquet was someone who shouldn’t have been in the running at all.

“I got it!”

It was Yoshitsune.

Apparently, he had thought anyone could join in. While Blanca and Sana were distracted by the knock-down, drag-out fight over the bouquet, Yoshitsune had made a break for it and had snatched up the bouquet before anyone could stop him.

Yeah, he definitely inherited those reflexes from Blanca.

Most of the nobles on Primera’s side didn’t know how to react, but Gramps, the king, and everyone else on my side burst out laughing. They all started cheering for Yoshitsune.

Normally, if a guy caught the bouquet, people would tease him, and the women might even boo him. But this time, it was just a kid who had no idea what it even meant. No one was about to complain, especially since the most important people here looked delighted by it.

Yoshitsune got to keep the bouquet. He proudly ran over to me, eager to show it off, while Blanca and Sana looked mortified and bowed repeatedly to Primera’s guests. This was already turning into a funny story, though, and I was sure that when Yoshitsune grew up, the tale of the time he crashed Tenma and Primera’s wedding would be a legendary one told at every drinking party.

Part Eleven

“All right, everybody! Time for the bride and groom’s grand entrance!”

After we returned to the Otori estate, Primera and I went to our respective dressing rooms and changed. For some reason, Namitaro was acting as the emcee, and he summoned us out to the garden, where the party would be happening.

“Rocket’s the priest. Tenma and Primera, since he can’t talk, just kiss when he jiggles! Now hurry up and get in position!” he said.

Namitaro sounded suspiciously hyped up. I wondered if he’d been drinking.

To make matters worse, everyone thought he was hilarious and kept egging him on. I was seriously considering making a run for it, but then I noticed something.

“Rocket is really into this...” I muttered.

Someone had slapped a fake mustache on the middle of Rocket’s round body. He had completed the look with a black hat.

“I’m not sure he looks like a priest, though... He’s more like some kind of mysterious orb,” Primera whispered to me.

To make things even more bizarre, Rocket was perched on a raised dais above us. He was backlit by torches, which added to his surreal, glowing presence. As Primera had said, “priest” wasn’t the right word. He looked more like some kind of divine relic that had been passed down by the gods.

Somehow, staring at his ridiculous, yet majestic form made it impossible to run away. The next thing I knew, Primera and I were standing in front of Rocket, ready for our big moment. There was no backing down now, but it was pretty awkward with so many people heckling us.

I glared at the two worst offenders.

“Ack!”

Suddenly, it went quiet.

Jin had just gotten whacked twice—one smack on the head from Mennas and one jab to the gut from Leena.

Meanwhile, Margrave Haust had punched Leon square in the face, and Leon had been too stunned to even yelp. I glared at Albert and Cain, mainly out of habit, since I had expected them to keep Leon in line. But Margrave Haust had acted before either of them could even blink.

Now that the two main troublemakers had been neutralized by force, the crowd quieted down enough for our big moment.

Primera and I kissed, and Namitaro took that as his cue to kick off the party.

“Big round of applause, everyone!” he called out. “Now that the newlyweds have been properly introduced, it’s party tiiiime! Eat as much as you want! Let’s get the booze flowin’! Kick back and go wild!”

Our guests split up into two camps, and Primera and I were swarmed by the folks from Kukuri Village. They all talked to us at once—crying, laughing, and shouting congratulations. There were so many that I couldn’t understand half of what they were saying, so I wasn’t even able to reply.

I kept hearing some things over and over, though. “Congrats!” “We’re so happy for you!” And “Ricardo and Celia.” Everyone was thrilled for us, and they were thinking of my parents too.

The other group of guests was focused on food. They were mainly the ones who’d already eaten at the church ceremony.

Nearly everyone I had invited to the church ceremony on my side was attending this party. The ones who hadn’t come were the king and queen, the other members of the king’s guard besides Dean and Kriss, and Viscount Mustang. From Primera’s side, the only people who were in attendance now were the members of Duke Sanga’s house, Marquis Sammons, and Leon.

We hadn’t invited the Salsamo and Cagliosto houses to this party since this was mostly for the Kukuri villagers. The king and everyone had already met the people from the village before and were on friendly terms with them, but official duties made it impossible for the king and queen to set aside an entire day for festivities. Instead, Tida and Luna were attending as representatives of the royal family along with Lord Ernest, who acted as their guardian.

“They really put me through the wringer...” I muttered.

After the Kukuri villagers had mobbed me, they had suddenly hoisted me up and started tossing me in the air. That had lasted for over ten minutes, and at the end, even Jin and the Dawnswords had joined in. They had gotten way too carried away and had kept trying to throw me in Namitaro’s pond. I had bailed at the last second by floating in the air and turned the tables on them, though. Leon and Jin had gotten dunked in the water instead. Everybody else had managed to escape while those two flailed in the water, so unfortunately, I hadn’t been able to get more revenge.

“Sorry it was so rough on you,” Primera said. “I got off easy; they only asked me a bunch of questions...”

“It’s just part of village tradition. You know, it was pretty wild when it was Ricardo’s turn! They tossed him into a goat pen, straight into a pile of filthy, dried-up hay that was going to be thrown out,” Gramps said.

“Isn’t that going a little overboard?” Primera asked.

“I can totally picture Dad losing it...”

Gramps explained that Kukuri Village had a bizarre tradition where the groom, and even sometimes the bride, would be carried around the whole village and dumped somewhere at the end. They changed the drop-off point every time, and there was no way to predict where the couple would end up. The people carrying the groom would either decide beforehand or just improvise at the last second. The mildest case Gramps could think of was when they had just tossed the newlyweds into bed together, but the worst was when someone had gotten thrown into a pile of manure.

That not-so-lucky guy had happened to be Uncle Mark. Dad had been the ringleader that time and wanted to get revenge for what’d happened during his own wedding, but Mom had stepped in at the last moment and stopped him. So, in the end, Uncle Mark hadn’t gotten totally covered in manure or anything, but he had gotten a little dirty.

“Well, getting thrown into a pond is nothing compared to what happened to Dad and Uncle Mark. Still, good thing I didn’t have to go through it,” I muttered.

I watched Galatt and Mennas tease Jin—he was soaking wet—while Leon sat formally on his knees at the edge of the yard. He was also drenched.

Primera chuckled wryly and nodded. “Maybe it’s about time we helped Leon out a little. Sure, he did try to mess with you, but it’s not like anyone’s gonna hold a grudge over something like that. Don’t you think Margrave Haust is being a little too strict?”

Margrave Haust had been kind to me lately, and there weren’t any lingering hard feelings between the Kukuri villagers after everything that had happened, but our relationship wasn’t as easy or smooth as it was with the king or Duke Sanga. Maybe that was why he was being so strict with Leon. Still, all the villagers got along with Leon just fine, but pushing things too far could backfire here.

That was probably why Gramps decided to step in before things escalated. Not that Leon being forced to sit formally in our backyard was unusual. At this point, it was just another funny story we’d retell over drinks.

Regardless, Gramps went over and said something to the margrave, who then looked at me and gave a slight bow. Then, the margrave bowed to Gramps, and Leon finally stood up.

Unfortunately, Leon’s legs must have fallen asleep from sitting formally like that, because he fell straight to the ground with a thud. Everyone nearly burst out laughing. It’d be hard for anyone who’d only seen this scene to believe that there had ever been any bad blood between House Haust and Kukuri Village.

“Shouldn’t you be going around pouring drinks and greeting everyone?” Primera asked. There was a hint of concern in her voice, probably because I hadn’t really spoken to anyone since I’d gotten swarmed before.

“Nah, it’s fine. After the groom goes through something like that, everyone knows he’ll just wanna grab food and have a good time. People will come up to us if they want to talk.”

I wouldn’t say this was a good example of a standard rural wedding, but when it came to Kukuri Village, any excuse for a party would turn into a full-blown festival. For example, they had thrown a wild party for my birthday one year, even though nothing had gone on the year before or after. Basically, the villagers had just wanted an excuse to celebrate—it never really mattered what the occasion was. And even if there was a guest of honor at a party, they’d get some good-natured teasing as well.

Sure, the people from the village were genuinely happy that Primera and I had gotten married, but they were also looking for an excuse to let loose. That was why the best thing we could do now was to sit back and enjoy the vibes. If anyone needed something, they could come to us.

Primera and I began making our way around the food stations, grabbing bites to eat here and there. Just as I expected, we got a mixture of well-wishers and good-natured teasing from guests as we passed. A few of them were already drunk and started getting a little too rowdy, but their wives and friends quickly dragged them off before it got too far out of hand. This celebration was way more laid-back and relaxed than the formal ceremony had been, although I’d never admit that to Primera, of course.

By the time we’d made the rounds, most of the villagers were preoccupied with the food and drinks, and they had stopped coming over to us too. Instead, people who hadn’t attended the ceremony, like Jin and the others, started approaching us one after the other. Jin was the only one goofing around, though, so it wasn’t difficult for us to deal with.

“I heard you’re going to Duke Sanga’s duchy for your honeymoon, Tenma. Got any idea when?” Jin asked.

He had clearly had too much to drink. After I dealt with Jin, Primera’s mothers came over and whisked her away—they’d clearly been waiting for an opening to snag her.

Shortly after, Duke Sanga came up to me with a drink in hand, also wanting to know when we’d visit.

“Well, if we wait too long, we’ll have to deal with the snow,” I told him. “We’ll probably leave in a week or two. We’re only planning on staying for about ten days, though.”

He said a trip of ten days felt a bit short, but if you included the whole travel time, it’d take about a month. Since the Otori family wasn’t nobility, a monthlong trip was kind of a big deal. I was used to longer journeys as an adventurer, though.

Marquis Sammons came over with a hopeful look on his face as I chatted with the duke. “Do you think you could swing by the Sammons march on your way back?” he asked.

“I don’t think so, unfortunately. That would mean taking a pretty big detour north,” I replied.

“I assumed as much, but that’s a shame.” He looked a little disappointed, but it was clearly put on. He and Cain really were father and son.

The closest domain to the capital was Duke Sanga’s to the southeast. Then came Marquis Sammons’s to the northeast, followed by Margrave Haust’s to the east.

We could stop by the Sammons march after visiting Sanga, but we were planning to go south on the return trip to visit Gunjo City. His domain was in the complete opposite direction, so it just wasn’t possible to get there in the amount of time we were spending.

“I bet the real plan was to brag that Tenma and Primera came to your march for their honeymoon, which you could then use to boost local tourism,” Margrave Haust said as the marquis was still putting on his act.

Margrave Haust and Marquis Sammons chatted like old friends.

“Don’t tell me you’re thinking of using Tenma as a ploy to boost tourism as well, Margrave?” the marquis asked.

“Not at all. There’s nothing in my domain worth showing off! If I tried to force it to bring in tourists, it would just backfire.”

“Well, your territory doesn’t really need tourism anyway. What with the new fort and that whole wyvern incident, your economy is booming. It’s probably got a good few years ahead too.”

“And I’m grateful for that.”

I was a bit surprised by how chatty the margrave was being here, but it did make sense. We were in a casual, lighthearted setting, and he was with Duke Sanga and Marquis Sammons—people who were more like old friends than fellow nobles. The relationship between the three of them reminded me of Albert and the others, but unlike Leon, the margrave actually had an intimidating aura that set him apart from the other two men. Honestly, I couldn’t ever imagine Leon being like that, no matter how old he was.

Before I knew it, both the margrave and marquis had completely forgotten I was there. They were chatting like they were the only ones in the room.

Duke Sanga was being left out too. “Don’t worry about what Marquis Sammons said. He knew from the start you couldn’t visit. He just said it to poke at you. He’ll be satisfied as long as you visit someday,” he told me.

I asked him about his duchy, and he recommended some spots for us to visit. The one that stood out the most was the lake, which was the most popular tourist destination in the entire duchy. The lake was huge, and each town along its shores had its own local specialties that came from the water. Just traveling along the coast of it sounded fun. We wouldn’t have time to do that for too long, and realistically, we’d only get to see a few towns at best, but that was exciting enough for me.

Eventually, the margrave and the others brought Duke Sanga back into their conversation. I scanned the area, wanting to get something to eat, but I spotted two people who definitely seemed excited to see me. The second I noticed them, one of them made eye contact, so I couldn’t pretend I hadn’t seen them at all.

“Hey, Tenma! Would you say something to this useless guy?” Kelly said.

“Who are you calling useless?! Don’t you know that you should respect your elders?!” Master Gantz shot back.

“Kelly, Master Gantz, please don’t start any trouble at my wedding,” I replied. “Anyway, I’ve got somewhere to be.”

I sensed impending chaos, so I tried to dip out right away. My escape attempt was thwarted immediately, though, as Kelly circled around in front of me while Master Gantz grabbed my shoulder from behind.

“Tenma, will you tell him that stalking is a crime?!” Kelly demanded.

“Huh? Ow!”

Despite my best attempts to keep a poker face, the thought Gantz is stalking Kelly?! flashed through my mind. Gantz must’ve noticed my reaction—his grip on my shoulder became so tight that I thought my bones were going to break.

“Sure, he keeps bugging me too, but it’s my sister who’s really getting the brunt of it!” Kelly added.

“What?!” I said loudly, and just like that, Jin, Galatt, and a group of dwarf women who worked for Kelly started heading over to us.

“It doesn’t matter who you call,” Master Gantz said to me. “We’re not letting you run away this time, so you might as well just give up and listen.”

Master Gantz’s grip finally loosened once the others closed in on us. I took that as my chance to break free, but Kelly was ready and waiting for me. I was still stuck here, and all that had changed was who was keeping me captive now.

At that point, there was no way to get out of this. I gave in and let Kelly say her piece. Honestly, most of what she said was pretty reasonable.

“Master Gantz, maybe you should just go and apologize right now? One apology won’t fix everything, I’m sure, but it’d be better than doing nothing,” I suggested.

“Yeah, Master Gantz,” Jin said.

Galatt agreed. “There’s no point in dragging it out. It’s best to get it over with.”

They all seemed to side with Kelly without even hearing Gantz’s version. Kelly told us that Gantz’s ex-wife was actually her older sister. Well, the two of them technically weren’t divorced, but Kelly still explained it like that. And Gantz had been constantly pestering Kelly for updates on how her sister was doing.

The reason Kelly’s sister had left Gantz in the first place was that he was a heavy drinker who would refuse jobs he didn’t feel like doing. And when he did want to work, he’d disappear into his workshop for days without even returning home. She’s just had enough.

If she really wanted a divorce, she could’ve just served him with a formal notice of separation, but there was no record of that happening. I couldn’t just take everything Kelly had told me at face value, but she did seem to be the most credible person here. And judging by the crowd who was eavesdropping, it seemed like the court of public opinion was solidly in Kelly’s favor.

The rest of us played it safe by convincing Gantz to apologize to her, making it look like we were on Kelly’s side.

Kelly didn’t seem too impressed with me, though. She glared at me and my attempts at being diplomatic. She wasn’t wrong that I was trying to be neutral here, but Gantz was someone I owed a few favors to, and Kelly was a friend. I didn’t even know her sister at all. Because of all that, this was about as far as I could go.

“Hey, Kelly? Did your sister actually say she wants a divorce?” I asked.

“Not really.”

“Then maybe you should talk to her about it and figure out how she really feels. If she wants out, I ask the king about doing something,” I offered.

Gantz worked in Sagan, and Kelly worked in the capital—both territories under royal domain. Because of that, I could frame this as a matter of two well-known blacksmiths having a serious issue. If things were bad enough, reporting it wouldn’t be out of line. Involving the king was a last resort and definitely a nuclear option, but if Kelly’s sister really wanted a divorce and Gantz wouldn’t budge, it’d be one way to make it happen.

Of course, doing that would probably burn my own bridges with Master Gantz. Still, if he refused to change his ways while her sister genuinely wanted to leave their marriage, maybe that would just be a price I had to pay.

It might’ve sounded like I was just throwing around the king’s name like a flex, but I figured both of them were just drunk and in their feelings. And honestly, I didn’t agree with how the sister behaved either. Whatever the case, everyone needed to sit down when they were sober and work it all out, with her in the room too.

Anyway, I had dropped the king’s name as a way to shut things down for now.

“Kelly, talk to your sister and see what she has to say, and then tell Master Gantz her exact response. And Master Gantz, once she does that, then you can have a chance to say how you feel too. Does that sound fair?” I suggested.

It wasn’t my problem, so I figured I’d try to put an end to this conversation and leave it to the people who were actually involved. As the two of them stood there thinking it over, I quietly slipped away. Jin and Galatt followed me for a bit, but they eventually veered off and headed toward a table with some drinks.

I spotted Marks and Henri looking totally exhausted while Ceruna and a few others were happily eating desserts. It looked like they were in a whole other world.

I decided to greet her first since the other two looked so tired. “Evening, Ceruna. Are you having a good time?” I asked.

“Yes! We had lots of delicious desserts at our wedding as well, but your selection is even better, of course! It’s been so much fun!”

It wasn’t like I had consciously used Ceruna’s or Albert’s weddings as practice runs for my own, but looking back on it now, I’d definitely used both of those experiments to improve my own party. I couldn’t really say she was wrong.

“That’s the kind of comment that would get misunderstood by someone who doesn’t know the whole story, Ceruna. Maybe take it down a notch,” I said.

I knew she was just teasing me and not criticizing, so I didn’t mind. But while I was a commoner, this wedding also involved the duke’s family. And depending on who heard, that kind of comment could be seen as a major faux pas. Luckily, most people knew Ceruna was a good friend of mine, so I doubted anyone would take it too seriously.

Marks looked like he was sweating a little over it, though. It made sense—he’d been promoted since the last time we’d met. Now, he was the treasurer of the Gunjo city council. In corporate terms, he was like an executive in a corporate subsidiary under a parent company, meaning House Sanga. If Marks got in trouble, he wouldn’t be the only one affected. It would cause serious headaches for the entire council.

“I don’t think you need to worry that much,” Primera said with a laugh. “Ceruna’s got a point. The only correction I’d add was that our wedding rehearsal wasn’t at her ceremony, but at Albert’s.”

At Primera’s brother’s wedding, we’d not only decided what food we’d want today, but more importantly, we learned what not to do—like make a ridiculous grand entrance on a gondola.

“It’s not like I can say, ‘Oh, good, that’s a relief’ in my position, though,” Primera said.

“I don’t think the ducal family’s got the time to get worked up over something that little. You could probably take it easy, like Ceruna. Anyway, why does Henri look like he just got hit with a carriage?” I asked.

Ceruna had a warm, welcoming vibe to her that reminded me of Aunt Martha or Kanna. Honestly, I could see her becoming a no-nonsense mom who totally wore the pants in her marriage. It wouldn’t surprise me if she got along with Queen Maria either.

Still, Henri looked even more wiped out than Marks. He was still slumped over in his chair.

“I didn’t expect the guest list on your side to be that stacked, Tenma. Even if we were sitting way off in the back, just being that close was enough to suck the life out of me. Honestly, Ceruna’s the weird one for being totally fine with it, though,” Henri said.

Apparently, they’d expected Primera’s side to be full of nobles, but they hadn’t counted on mine to be packed with them too. And since they’d been invited to the ceremony, they had assumed it would be a relatively small affair despite the bride being a duke’s daughter.

But what had actually happened was that every member of the royal family had shown up at the wedding, along with all the major nobles who had influence over the entire kingdom. And since Marks and Henri had been two of the few commoners in attendance, they had ended up drawing attention from Primera’s guests too (excluding most of the royal family, House Sammons, and Leon). On top of that, the king and queen were aware of my connection to Marks and had gone over and talked to them personally.

That last part was totally unheard of. Supposedly, Marks and Henri had been so nervous they’d almost passed out. Ceruna had handled herself just fine, though. Maybe she just had nerves of steel, or perhaps she was just weirdly calm in situations like that, much like other women I knew.

“Maybe it would’ve just been better to invite you guys to the evening reception,” I wondered aloud.

“No, that would’ve caused its own problems,” Marks said. “Tenma, publicly, you’re the one who saved Ceruna’s life. And more than that, we’re indebted to you for everything you did at the wedding. Once the invitation arrived, our connection meant that we had no choice but to attend. Honestly, I wouldn’t have been promoted to council treasurer if it weren’t for my connection to you.”

In a city the size of Gunjo, council and government positions usually went to people with noble backing. Because of that, even being appointed to an assistant-level role with no experience was unusual. His promotion almost certainly had something to do with him knowing me, as I had a relationship with the duke.

Of course, that didn’t mean it was only because of me. His own ability and efforts got him part of the way there, but knowing me had tipped the scales in his favor. After all, despite being considered one of the top adventurers in the kingdom, I kept my inner circle pretty small. If anything ever came up, Marks could end up being Gunjo City’s direct line to me. So basically, if they had declined the wedding invitation, or even opted to only attend one part of the festivities, it might’ve looked like our connection wasn’t that strong at all.

“There’s lots of good food here, so enjoy yourselves,” I said. “Even if you get a little carried away, most of the people here won’t even bat an eye.”

I couldn’t say that nobody would care, but there were definitely more than a few people here who were more likely to make a scene than Marks and Henri. Honestly, these two could afford to loosen up.

After that conversation wrapped up, I continued making the rounds to greet everyone. Most people were already enjoying themselves, eating, drinking, and chatting, so they didn’t need me to babysit them. It was kind of amusing to see the contrast between Marks and Henri and the rest of the guests.

As I was looking around, wondering who I hadn’t talked to yet, Amur suddenly appeared out of nowhere and gently guided me away from a certain direction.

“Tenma, don’t go that way,” she told me. “That path is cursed. There’s a demon of jealousy over there again.”

“A demon of jealousy? Oh, never mind. I got it.”

The demon she was talking about was Kriss, who was silently chowing down on a pile of meat.

“Kriss got beaten to the altar by someone her age, and the guy she was hoping to snatch went and married Primera. So now she’s trying to let off some steam by devouring the most expensive meats in sight.”

Amur’s words were harsh, but Kriss really did look like she was stabbing every bite of food in anger. Her plate was also stacked with premium cuts of meat.

“By the way, Sana said she’s heading back to her room early. Apparently, Yoshitsune went so wild during the bouquet toss that he hit his limit.”

After catching the bouquet earlier, Yoshitsune had been rowdy all afternoon. He’d crashed at dinner.

Most of the guests at tonight’s party, like people from the Tamers’ Guild and the Dawnswords, were staying at inns they’d booked themselves. Others, like the people from Kukuri Village and Duke Sanga’s family, were staying at private homes in the capital. As for Hana, Blanca, and the others, they usually stayed at our estate when they visited the capital. Others who weren’t familiar with the city, like Marks, were also staying the night with us.

But with the amount of drinking going on here, even those with places to go nearby would probably end up passing out somewhere random. Just in case, we’d already set aside rooms for the ladies and the noble guests (except for Albert, Cain, and Leon) and were keeping an eye out for anyone who looked like they might pass out.

“Oh, right. I was told to come get you,” Amur said.

I figured Hana had sent her, but then I saw who she was pointing at.

“My mothers-in-law?” I asked.

Sure enough, Olivia and the others were gathered together with Primera, Duke Sanga, Albert, and Eliza nearby. Gramps was also there, calmly sipping tea as if none of this concerned him. It seemed like both families were chatting with each other. I had no idea what Amur had been doing over there, but she headed straight for the food table once she was done delivering the message, so I didn’t get the chance to ask.

“Is everything all right, Mothers?” I asked as I approached Olivia and the others.

Right away, I sensed something was off. Really off.

Basically, the women looked annoyed. Duke Sanga and Albert were pale, hovering nearby like they were criminals waiting for their sentencing. Gramps still sipped on his tea like it wasn’t his problem.

I knew exactly which two were the culprits here. I didn’t know what they had done yet, but hopefully someone would tell me sooner or later. I didn’t want to end up on the chopping block along with them.

“What’s the matter?” I then asked Olivia, who seemed the most upset.

“These two said something totally ridiculous, and we just need you to help us clear something up, Tenma,” she said, glancing at me. “I’m about to say something that may make you feel uncomfortable. Is that all right?”

I had no idea what she was referring to, but I had no other choice but to agree. I nodded.

“Apparently, this one here said that if you and Primera have a son, he wants to be the one to teach him everything. And Albert agreed, saying that he wanted to join in and help teach!”

At first, I didn’t really get what the big deal was, but out of the corner of my eye, I could see Primera shaking her head. I knew I probably shouldn’t ask what the problem with all that was.

“Whether our child is a boy or a girl, they’ll be the next heir of the Otori family, so we’ll be handling their education,” I said. “Of course we’ll need advice, being new parents and all, but we won’t be having another family educate our children.”

My mothers-in-law all looked satisfied by that answer. Primera and Eliza also looked visibly relieved.

I could’ve damaged my reputation with my in-laws if I’d asked, “Well, what’s wrong with that?” That was because it would’ve sounded like I would be okay with Duke Sanga—and Albert, as the next duke—educating our future children. Some could’ve interpreted that as me trying to hijack the ducal family with my own child.

Even if it was just a drunken slipup that never left this room, something like that could still create a serious rift between our two families.

If a rumor like that were about a random commoner’s kid, people might be able to laugh it off, or at worst, punish the commoner, and then it’d be over. But if the child in question was mine and Primera’s, the chances that it would grow larger than just a silly, drunken joke increased exponentially—especially when you considered our future child’s potential in terms of power, politics, and bloodline.

I made sure everyone was aware of that. “Duke Sanga, that kind of talk still puts us in a tough spot, even if it’s just a friendly comment over drinks. You’re the one who said you didn’t want to give an Otori child succession rights to the ducal house, remember? I know you want to dote on your grandchild, but that’s a separate issue. And Albert, you should’ve shut this down the moment it came up. I don’t know what you were thinking, but don’t test Eliza’s patience, all right? Depending on how things go, I might have to reevaluate how I deal with you as well,” I warned.

I figured the duke was probably just getting sentimental about his future grandchildren, but I couldn’t rule out the possibility that Albert was seriously thinking about pulling an Otori child into his house. Who knows, maybe he wanted to make my future kid one of his vassals or something.

Even if that hadn’t been his intention, Eliza might’ve taken it that way. And judging from her mood, she definitely had. I could tell by the look on her face that she was wondering if he was planning on making Primera’s child the heir instead of one of her own.

“Tenma, I know we called you over here, but it seems we’ve got a few things to straighten out between ourselves first. Could you excuse us for a bit?” Eliza asked.

In other words, my role here was finished. And it definitely seemed like Eliza was dismissing me here as the future duchess. I wasn’t obligated to obey her, of course, but hanging around now would just make things worse. I’d either seem nosy or like I just didn’t know when to leave. I gave a quick nod and quietly backed off, bringing Primera and Gramps with me.

“Oh, and Tenma, I think we may have troubled Marquis Sammons and Margrave Haust a bit. Would you mind passing along my thanks to them later?” Eliza added.

Now that she mentioned it, I realized no one had approached us during this entire conversation. Some people were probably trying to avoid making trouble, but the marquis and margrave were likely running interference for us behind the scenes to keep the area clear.

“Sure thing. But be sure to give your husband a thorough scolding for me,” I replied, speaking in a tone of voice I usually didn’t use with her.

“Leave it to me. Mother, Father, please do the same on your end,” she said, and Primera’s parents replied the same way I did when she addressed them.

Looking at them, I realized that if I’d answered even slightly incorrectly earlier, I’d probably be getting a lecture along with Albert and Duke Sanga right now. A shiver ran down my spine. Still, I didn’t feel all that bad for the two of them. They had walked right into that one.

“Marquis Sammons, Margrave Haust, thanks for covering for us.”

Primera and I had gone over to show our gratitude. Both men glanced toward the back of the estate, where Duke Sanga and Albert were now being lectured.

“Well, we did mention something to nearby guests, but honestly, everyone was already keeping their distance before we even said a word,” the marquis said.

Margrave Haust chuckled. “His Majesty visits here often. The people around these parts are pretty quick to pick up on trouble.”

“Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve formally introduced my wife to you yet, Tenma,” Marquis Sammons said. He beckoned over a woman who had been chatting with Edelia. “This is my wife, Rutile.”

“I’m Rutile von Sammons. I’m terribly sorry that our sons have caused you so much trouble,” the woman said, bowing deeply. She was apologizing, but I could still feel her eyes sizing me up even as she bowed.

I hated to say it, but something about her rubbed me the wrong way.

“Mom, you probably shouldn’t do that with Tenma,” said Cain, walking up behind her. He sounded more exasperated than upset.

It looked like the marquis had tried to stop her too, but Cain had beaten him to it.

“I’m guessing you were trying to read his expression, trying to figure out what he really thinks about what Gary did or what he really thinks about me. But Tenma’s not a noble, so that kind of stuff just makes a bad impression,” he told her. “If you want to say sorry, just come right out and say it. I think that’s probably enough.”

“Cain, can’t you at least sound more confident when you say things like that?” I asked.

Rutile lifted her head and stared right at me.

“That’s exactly what we’re telling you not to do,” Marquis Sammons said, stepping in this time. It was only then that the unsettling vibe I had sensed from Rutile went away.

“I’m sorry about that, Tenma. Mom’s kind of calculating. Conniving, maybe? She’s got this habit of figuring out how to get the most out of people,” Cain said.

“Cain, that makes your mother sound like an awful person,” the marquis said. “Tenma, I apologize if she’s offended you. She just takes her nobility very seriously. Rutile believes the ideal relationship is one where both parties benefit and grow stronger through mutual cooperation.”

“Basically, she’s the type who would say, ‘I’ll use you, and you can use me. As long as it’s a benefit to both of us, that’s all that matters,’” Cain said dryly.

“Well, yes, but only at first. Once we have an actual bond, it doesn’t matter to me if I gain anything, as long as the other party doesn’t betray me,” Rutile said.

Cain hadn’t been completely wrong, but Rutile’s explanation made sense. Honestly, her mindset kind of seemed in line with mine.

“Sounds more like a businessperson or an adventurer than a noble,” I said.

“Well, I come from a family of merchants who made our way up the social ladder. I suppose that formed my outlook on things,” she said.

If that was the case, I felt like we’d get along fine as long as I treated her like I did Cain and Marquis Sammons. Still, I had to ask her something.

“So, how exactly were you planning to get something out of me?” I asked. I wanted to know how she thought I could be used, and what I’d get in return.

“Well, honestly, I don’t even have to try. Just Cain being friends with you brings us plenty of benefits. Remember when Cain tagged along on that wyvern hunt in Margrave Haust’s domain a few years ago? That boosted his reputation a bit, which elevated our entire family, although I am troubled that we haven’t been able to return the favor yet,” she admitted.

Back then, I’d been keeping an eye on things in case Cain needed backup, but he, along with Albert and Leon, had taken care of the wyvern without my help. It’d been a tough fight, but they had gotten a clean win, fair and square.

Rutile might’ve said that the family hadn’t paid me back yet, but I was fully aware of how much help I’d gotten from Cain and the marquis when it came to navigating royal affairs. She was just being modest.

“And let’s not forget that you saved Gary’s life twice, even after everything he did to you. There’s no way we can make that up to you,” she said.

“That is true. Honestly, that whole mess helped straighten him out a bit. If he had never improved, we might’ve had to fake an illness and lock him up in the estate.”

“I know, right? We were lucky we patched things up when we did. Because if not, I doubt we’d even be here tonight. The royal family wouldn’t have said anything, of course, but their opinion of us would’ve plummeted.”

Back then, I hadn’t had really strong ties to the royal family. But Gary had apparently disrespected Gramps too, who’d only tried to help. And that was not to mention that he’d tried to steal Solomon from me while I had been an adventurer working in a royal territory. Even if the royal family had acted politely on the surface, their trust in the Sammons family could have quietly tanked.

“You could say Gary created the bond we have now. It’s complicated, isn’t it...?” Marquis Sammons murmured.

Rutile, Cain, and he all fell silent after that, looking a bit gloomy. Honestly, I didn’t have anything to add on that topic. Sometimes, you just had to wait for people to bounce back on their own.

Just then, someone cut through the lingering tension with a blade.

Margrave Haust let out an exasperated sigh. “Oh, come on now! You don’t have to pout. Maybe it started as a bad connection, but we’ve got a good relationship now, right? Honestly, I’m jealous. At least you didn’t have to go through hell to get here,” he said.

When you really thought about it, both of our stories had their own scandals. My first meeting with Gary had been terrible, and I still had zero contact with him. But thanks to the bond I shared with the Tamers, I had gotten along well with Marquis Sammons almost immediately. And Cain and I had been close enough to call each other best friends ever since the whole episode about Leon being a stalker.

I couldn’t say the same for Margrave Haust, though. Aside from Leon, we hadn’t had any direct connections in years. In fact, there were rumors going around a while back that said our relationship was so bad that I wanted to kill him. And, well, that wasn’t entirely false. After what had happened, I had seriously considered it, but that grudge had faded with time and distance. I had begun to understand that even though some awful things had occurred, there had only been so much that could have been done. Even so, I still couldn’t bring myself to see him in a friendly light. When I had heard their house was on the brink of collapse, my first thought had been “Serves them right.”

“If Leon hadn’t pulled it off, we really might’ve had to give up the title and our lands,” Margrave Haust said with a chuckle. “We only just barely held on, but that was what let Leon form a bond with Tenma.”

His words seemed to lift the spirits of House Sammons, at least a little. But in exchange, Margrave Haust was starting to look like he was reliving all his past failures in slow motion.

Thankfully, Gramps, Primera, and even the clueless Leon showed up at just the right time to steer the conversation in a lighter direction. Still, the Sanga family was our topic of discussion.

When the after-party rolled around, neither Duke Sanga nor Albert showed their faces. However, Eliza and the mothers-in-law were all there, enjoying themselves as if nothing had happened. Maybe the duke and Albert joined in later after Primera and I stepped out, but we didn’t see them either way.

The next morning...

“Well, Tenma! Looks like you had a great night, huh?”

Leon and the others grinned and teased Primera and me when we showed up. We’d slept in a bit.

“Sure, because I’d definitely try something with a bunch of perverts lurking around, straining their ears to hear something!” I shot back sarcastically.

The women nearby glared coldly at Leon and the others.

“So if they hadn’t been here, you would’ve done something, Tenma?” Namitaro smirked.

“Of course he would! They’re newlyweds, after all. I’m impressed Tenma held out this long. Having a gorgeous girl by your side and not laying a finger on her takes some serious restraint,” Gramps whispered behind me.

I pretended not to hear either one of them.

Primera had been standing next to me, glaring at Leon. But when she heard what Gramps and Namitaro had to say, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, and she scampered away.

As for Duke Sanga and Albert, they had mysteriously vanished during their lecture. They were eventually found passed out in Jubei’s barn.

Extra Short Story: Jean, the Overworked Man

“Phew, almost done. Just need to wrap this up, and I’ll be all clear for tomorrow’s class observation... Hm?”

“It’s Edgar, Vice Captain.”

“Come in,” I said.

I had been in my office, working through a mountain of paperwork, when Edgar had knocked on the door.

He stepped inside. “Could I get your signature on these?”

“Let’s see... Yeah, this looks fine.”

I signed the papers and handed them back. Edgar bowed and went to leave, but I stopped him.

“Wait, could you tell Kriss to bring me those documents I gave her yesterday?” I asked. “The deadline’s still a ways off, but you know her. She’ll probably hand them in right at the last minute.”

“All right.”

Actually, I had a feeling Kriss hadn’t even started yet.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Edgar returned, dragging Kriss through the door. Just like I had thought, she hadn’t done a damn thing yet. She just bowed and begged me to wait until the end of the workday because she’d turn them in then.

That was still two hours away, but I didn’t think she would be able to finish it before then at all. Still, the real deadline wasn’t until the day after tomorrow, so even if she couldn’t do it today, we’d still finish it within that window. I wasn’t going to tell her that, though, because she needed the pressure to get her work done.

“Hurry up and get it done, then. It better not be sloppy, though!” I warned her.

“Yes, sir!” Kriss then saluted and bolted for the door, leaving it wide open behind her.

I turned to Edgar. “Keep an eye on her. If it looks like she’s rushing and messing things up, make her stop and let her finish it tomorrow. She can bring it to me the day after.”

“Yes, sir!”

My main concern was that Kriss would panic and turn in something sloppy and half-hearted. But I knew that Edgar could handle her. Actually, when I thought about it, maybe it was time to start giving Edgar more experience managing the more difficult members of the team. That could lighten my own load in the long run.

Just as I had expected, Kriss didn’t make the deadline that day. She turned in her work two days later instead.

That should’ve been the end of it, but Edgar burst into my house the next morning—on my day off, no less—in a complete panic.

“Vice Captain Jean!”

It was already strange for him to show up at my place, but to do it first thing in the morning in uniform could only mean one thing. Something had gone seriously wrong.

“What happened? Get in here quick!” I yelled.

We couldn’t discuss king’s guard business in the open like that, so I yanked Edgar aside before he could say anything else. Sigurd was with him as well.

“It’s Kriss!” he cried. “She didn’t complete the documents she was supposed to submit to the Ministry of Finance by noon today!”

I didn’t even know what to say.

“One of them needs Captain Dean’s signature, but...”

“But she forgot to get it,” I said, completing his sentence.

“That’s right.”

And, of course, Captain Dean had been sent out days ago as part of Prince Caesar’s escort. They were away on a regional inspection tour.

“I’ll need to sign it in his place, then,” I replied. This also meant I’d definitely have to go grovel before the ministry of finance.

“Vice Captain, the class obser—”

“Sigurd, don’t say another word. I just need to figure out how to get through this.”

Unfortunately, I had no choice but to skip my daughter’s school event as a result of all this. She cried, but there was no way to fix this paperwork mess without me.

“How many unfinished documents are we dealing with, Edgar?” I asked once we got everyone together.

“One urgent one for the ministry of finance, and then four more are due next week. All were assigned to Kriss.”

“And actually, we discovered two more that are due the day after tomorrow. They’re also Kriss’s,” Sigurd said.

“Kriss, you are this close to getting demoted, or maybe even just fired,” I told her.

“I’m so sorry...”

“Stop talking and go write!”

“Yes, sir!” Kriss replied.

I probably didn’t have the authority to fire her on my own, but if I pushed the issue, I could probably get her removed from the king’s guard. I’d known her for too long, though, so I just couldn’t do that to her.

If this screwup of hers had been a truly irredeemable one, then maybe I really would have had to be the one to fire her. I’d owe her that much.

I had a plan to deal with this. “All right, I’m going to head to the ministry of finance to beg for an extension. I’ll ask them to hold off until the last possible second, but honestly, I don’t know how that will go. You three, divide the work and start processing the paperwork for submission. Group together anything that seems like it’ll need my signature on it,” I ordered.

In an ideal world, I’d check over everything before signing it, but we didn’t have the time right now. I’d have to rely on Edgar and Sigurd to make sure things were accurate.

“Good news, everybody. The ministry of finance—well, Prince Zane, to be exact—has agreed to give us until the end of the day. But Kriss, you know what it means if you miss this extension, don’t you?”

“Yes, I understand! I’ll finish it, even if it costs me my life!” she vowed.

Prince Zane was the minister of finance and a member of the royal family, but he had taken time out of his busy schedule to hear us out. He’d graciously granted us an extension. But now, if we were to miss the submission deadline by even a few seconds, Kriss wouldn’t be the only one in trouble. If it came to that, my own position could be on the line for damaging the royal family’s reputation.

“I can handle things that are due the day after tomorrow. Everybody else, keep working on the documents for the ministry of finance, and bring each completed batch right to me!”

Even though the pressure was on, we could make it if I helped with today’s batch. This wasn’t an ideal situation, but it was better to have the other three stay focused on their assigned documents. Meanwhile, I’d move ahead on the later ones myself and hand them off to either Edgar or Sigurd for review when they had a free moment.

We pushed forward, sometimes asking idle team members for help. Somehow, we managed to finish everything on time, just barely. Kriss and I rushed over to the ministry of finance with the documents, only to be met by a lecture from Prince Zane. A staff member checked our paperwork nearby as we got an earful.

“What the hell were you thinking? It’s only been one day since the last catastrophe! Even I can’t cover for you anymore!” I shouted.

Kriss had really done it this time. She had decided to hand confidential files regarding troop placement and tactical plans to my wife while I hadn’t been around. All because she hadn’t been able to hand them off to me directly. Was she out of her mind?!

Under different circumstances, this was something that could’ve gotten her kicked out of the king’s guard entirely. She could’ve even been charged with mishandling classified information. Or labeled as a traitor, if worse came to worst.

But we got lucky. The king, Prince Lyle, and Queen Maria all agreed that my wife had taken proper care of the documents, so they weren’t concerned. Thanks to their generosity, this issue didn’t go beyond the king’s guard, and Kriss’s only punishment was having to give up her day off.

Honestly, it was frustrating seeing how lightly she got off for this, even though I’d have a hard time watching Kriss be hauled off to the slammer.

Isekai Tensei: Recruited to Another World Volume 13 / End

Afterword

Hello again, this is Kenichi, the author...who has also managed to injure himself by tripping over his own feet!

The volume began and ended with a wedding, but when I started writing this storyline, I’d actually planned for Tenma’s wedding to be at the beginning of volume 14.

So, how did it get moved to volume 13? Well, I just didn’t have enough content for the previous arc. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if two whole volumes of wedding stuff would be too much either. Volume 14 will kick off with a brand new arc, so maybe it all turned out for the best.

The hardest part of writing this volume was definitely the wedding itself. Honestly, I have zero experience with real-world weddings. Not only have I never been married, but I haven’t really gone to many either. My relatives have either had super-private ceremonies or skipped the whole thing altogether and eloped.

So, I started researching by reading online articles, wedding venue brochures, and the works. Eventually, I wound up relying on an old movie I saw years ago. I barely remembered anything about it except for how it ended, but I wanted this story to be inspired by that movie! (It’s not plagiarism, I swear! Just a tribute!) While I was brainstorming, the only wedding scene that really fit with Namitaro’s antics came from that movie.

I think the real highlight of this volume might be its cover art. That piece might be one of my favorite works so far, out of all the illustrations, color inserts, and covers in this series. I really love it. Thanks so much for the amazing work, Nem-san!

Anyway, that wraps up volume 13. What did you think?

I know that life can feel a little overwhelming at times, what with the way things are in Japan these days, but I hope this story lets you take a little break from reality. If so, that would make me really happy.

Finally, I want to thank everyone who worked on Isekai Tensei: Recruited to Another World, and, of course, all of you readers too.

—Kenichi

Bonus Short Story: Amy’s in Trouble

“Okay, so I just need to infuse my mana while I blow into the whistle from Namitaro...”

I went to the river closest to the capital and tried blowing into the whistle that Namitaro had given me three times, but it didn’t make much of a sound like I was expecting it to. It just made a kind of “Ho-hee, ho-hee, ho-hee” noise.

I thought I had messed up, so I tried blowing it several times after that, but all my attempts ended up sounding the same. Either it was supposed to sound like that, or it was just plain broken.

“I don’t know if he heard me or not, but I’m sure it’s fine...”

It wasn’t like I was summoning Namitaro for some urgent matter, after all. I just wanted to ask him about aquatic monsters for my homework. If I couldn’t get a hold of him, I’d just find some resources at the school library or ask some of my teachers.

I decided I would give him about a week to show up, and I’d do some research on my own while I waited. If Namitaro did end up coming, I’d ask him what I wanted to know. Otherwise, I’d talk to my teachers about anything I couldn’t find out on my own or still wanted to know.

“I thought I’d enjoy some seashells for once, so I picked up a bunch of ’em, but they were all poisonous! My stomach hurt so bad... It was total hell! And if it affected me that much, then you’d better be careful, Amy. In all seriousness, you could even die.”

Namitaro had shown up after all, and he was telling me some silly stories about his own experiences.

“By the way, anything interesting going on with you lately, Amy?” he asked. “I’d be especially interested in hearing about funny stories involving Tenma, like screw-ups he’s made, or even weaknesses of his you might’ve found out.”

Even though he had treated me to some stories that made me laugh, I felt bad talking about Master like that... But I thought that maybe it would be okay if I explained the rough time he was having lately. That was why I went ahead and told Namitaro how busy Master had been lately, planning his wedding to Primera.

“Now hang on a damn minute. Nobody told me Tenma was getting married! Give me more details, Amy!”

It was then that I realized I’d made a huge mistake.

Namitaro then began pressing me for every single detail he could about Master and Primera’s wedding. Then, he swore me to secrecy before going back to the river. Honestly, I didn’t hear what he had said at the end because he had been talking so fast, but it was clear that Namitaro was absolutely furious.

“Wh-What should I do?! Well, for now, I have to finish my homework.”

When I thought back on it later, I had no idea why I had prioritized my homework assignments, but that goes to show just how flustered I’d been.

I finished my homework at an astonishing speed, and after agonizing over what to do next, I decided to consult with Primera, the bride. She couldn’t come up with a way to solve the problem either, though, so we were at a total dead end.

Then, suddenly, the queen appeared before us.

After the queen heard us out, she asked Primera for her opinion and then immediately proposed a plan. It was surprisingly simple, and although I had some concerns, I didn’t think it would pose a huge problem, considering Namitaro’s temperament.

The queen’s plan was as follows:

“Let’s have Tenma accept full responsibility for this. Namitaro should have been one of his invited guests after all, and since Tenma messed up and forgot to invite him, he can be the one sacrificed in this situation. That way, both you and Primera will be safe, Amy. And so will the capital, of course. I didn’t see Namitaro myself as he left, but if he was as angry as you say, we can hope the damage will be kept to a minimum as long as Tenma obediently apologizes.”

The queen was being kind of vague, but I felt like the “damage” she was referring to was just Master. Personally, I felt that there was no other choice but to let Master take the damage here, but I glanced over at his future bride, wondering what she thought. Surprisingly, Primera was all for the queen’s idea.

It felt a little cold of me to put the blame on Master since I had caused this whole situation, but he and Namitaro had been friends longer than I had known him. In fact, you might even call them best friends. Because of that, it was better to just let the two of them deal with it. I got a little embarrassed when I realized the queen was suggesting this because she trusted them so much.

We discussed the plan some more, and although we had decided on a solution, there was no guarantee that it would go off perfectly. I was so worried about it that my heart felt like it was about to explode during the entire wedding.

Incidentally, I got extremely high marks on my homework that Namitaro had helped me with. Unfortunately, I had been so anxious about the wedding that I couldn’t even be happy about my good grades, though.

Oh, and the king had been present during our discussion with the queen, but I had been so nervous about the ordeal and intimidated by the queen herself that I honestly didn’t even remember what he had said...