Chapter 118. Black Wedding (4)
Chapter 118. Black Wedding (4)
5
Stage clear.
That meant this world, [The Tale of Sormwyn Academy], had officially been incorporated into our Tower.
Hunters could now come and go from this world.
Of course, that didn't mean they could enter freely. They had to pass the screening of the major guilds. For example, an ordinary hunter needed a permit to enter the Aegim Empire.
Which meant......
Flash!
Not long after the stage clear was declared, a white light flared. Pop! Flash! Light burst out here and there across the wedding hall. It was the sight you saw when hunters were being transported in.
"Death King! No, Kim Gong-ja! You!"
When the light settled, familiar faces appeared.
"How could you get married without discussing a single word with us?!"
People who could come and go between floors as they pleased without a permit. The heads of the major guilds. Among them, the rank 2 hunter, Black Dragon Master (黑龍主), had turned bright red in the face.
"I oppose this wedding!"
"......"
"Death King is our Tower's representative hunter! Naturally, the wedding should be held not here but on the 1st floor of our Tower, in the city of Babylon! It should be broadcast live to the whole world! Invalid! This wedding is completely invalid!"
Black Dragon Master wasn't the only one who spoke up.
"Ahem. Hm. Death King."
The rank 1 hunter. Sword Saint (劍星) also cleared his throat.
"First, congratulations on clearing the stage. Truly... that was an incredibly fast romance. No, I know it's rude to bring this up here, but still, as an old man, let me just say one thing......"
"Don't."
"Hm."
Sword Saint closed his mouth. That was just like someone who had been working on fixing his boomer mentality lately.
"While you were conquering the Tower, all hell broke loose. Everyone was asking why on earth the two of you fell for each other. Death King. But I steadfastly took your side. Because love at first sight is something only the people who have experienced it themselves can understand. Don't worry. I understand. I'll soothe Black Dragon Master, so leave her to me."
And for some reason, Paladin (聖騎士) raised her nose high with a deadpan face. The look she gave me seemed to quietly say, "I completely understand your love." I had no idea what she meant.
I turned to Raviel.
"Hmm."
Raviel was expressionless—or so it seemed at first glance. Since I loved Raviel, I could read her expressionless face.
Raviel was... watching Black Dragon Master's group with immense interest. Honey overflowed from her red eyes.
"Gong-ja. My love."
"Speak, my love......"
"It seems there are many people you must introduce to me."
Yes......
A little late, but.
The meeting of the families, commencing now.
6
I had naturally assumed that the families met before the wedding. But there was a cultural difference here too. In the Empire, it was customary to hold the family meeting after the wedding.
"Is that not only natural?"
Raviel tilted her head instead.
"Among those belonging to a house, many live in distant provinces. The wedding is precisely the occasion to invite and gather even those people. On the night of the wedding, the bride and groom and the members of both families finally greet one another."
"Ah... that does make sense."
I understood immediately.
Right. Marriage was also the union of house and house. Hunters like us who had fled from the outside world couldn't even begin to speak of houses... but the Empire was different. It placed far greater weight on the house than the individual.
This wedding didn't even stop at the union of two houses.
A state marriage. No, a world marriage (世界婚).
Because Raviel represented the Empire. I represented the Tower. This was the marriage of the two of us.
"Heh heh......"
The chamberlain, who was also my adoptive father, wore a bitter smile the entire time.
"I never imagined it would turn into an occasion like this...... I don't know how many messenger birds I've sent to His Majesty the Emperor in just this one day. I'm at a loss as to what I should report now."
"Yes. It was not our intention either."
Black Dragon Master spoke. As if she had never gotten worked up at me, Black Dragon Master was utterly composed. The powerful figures of the Empire and the powerful figures of the Tower sat side by side at the table, wary of one another, and flustered together.
"But it will be an unintended fortune rather than an unintended misfortune. Lord Chamberlain. We consider it fortunate that our first meeting with your nation is the joyous occasion of a wedding."
And they conversed, moving beyond wariness and bewilderment.
"Are you not people who have crossed over from another world? It is not only a strange affair (奇事) that is difficult to explain to His Majesty, but also something that cannot easily be proclaimed to the subjects."
"Yes. You are quite right. We fully understand your nation's circumstances."
Black Dragon Master nodded. She looked accustomed to this kind of diplomatic setting. She knew how to walk the line between courtesy and competence.
"However, you must have witnessed it yourself, Lord Chamberlain: the invasion of beings from another world. If people deny that something exists, then one day, existence will deny the people. I worry about such a future."
"Hm. Well said."
"Thank you, Lord Chamberlain. What we must practice going forward is common understanding. Five years. Ten years. Twenty years. Perhaps even longer than that......"
The two sides conversed calmly.
Raviel held the Empire's people in her grasp, and I received the complete trust of the Tower's people. The marriage of the two of us was a great fortune for both sides.
The mere gathering of both sides' powerful figures in one place was originally a difficult task. But the wedding of Raviel and me accomplished that difficult task from the very start. There could be no better beginning than this.
"......"
I sat at the head table with Raviel. I reached under the table and took Raviel's hand. Squeeze. Raviel laced her fingers through mine as if it were only natural.
"......"
A single touch of hands put me at ease. The night was deep. The stars were bright. Candlelight flickered on the table, and people exchanged words across the candles.
Suddenly, everything was beautiful.
"Raviel."
"Speak."
A small whisper.
"There are some people I'd like to introduce to you."
"Other than those here?"
"Yes."
"Then I must see them."
Raviel rose from the head table.
The Empire's people all fell silent at once.
"The night is long today. Speak calmly among yourselves. I will step away briefly to meet my consort's people."
"......"
No one could stop Raviel from taking the lead. As expected of the Duchess of Ivansia. If leaving when one wished to leave was proof of power, then my wife wielded absolute power here.
The place I led Raviel to was where the cultists sat gathered in groups.
"Oh! Young Cult Leader! You're newlyweds from now on!"
Sword Demon raised his cup and laughed, kahaha. All the cultists were drunk on the wine provided at the wedding hall. They tried to stand and greet me when they saw me, but I waved my hand. At that, the cultists clasped their fists in salute from their seats.
"Congratulations!"
"We offer our felicitations, Young Cult Leader!"
"The wine here has a peculiar taste and it's really good!"
"Long live the Demonic Dominion!"
"Whew! The two of you truly suit each other!"
The wedding hall grew noisy in an instant. That was unavoidable, since nearly a thousand cultists were raising a ruckus. I gave a bitter smile.
"Sword Demon, come here."
"Eh?"
Sword Demon blinked, still holding his cup. He wore a blank expression, as if he hadn't expected to be singled out by me. His thoroughly drunk comrades around him snickered.
"See! I knew that guy would get scolded by the Young Cult Leader someday!"
"He always forgets to add the honorific when he calls the Young Cult Leader. What an idiot."
"Give his ass a good smack, Young Cult Leader!"
"Uh... uhhh......"
Sword Demon set down his cup and shuffled over hesitantly. The boldness he'd shown when beheading the general of the ghost legion had vanished completely. He shrank back like a child who had done something wrong.
"S-sorry. Young Cult Leader. I'm just an uneducated bastard, so polite speech doesn't come easy to me. But in my heart, I truly think well of our Young Cult Leader, so......"
Sword Demon rambled on with excuses.
I placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Raviel."
And I spoke to my bride.
"This man is Sword Demon."
"......"
"He's a subordinate of the person I served as my master. My master was the leader of a place called the Demonic Cult (魔敎). My master chose four people who were exceptionally outstanding among the cultists, and called them the Four Demon Lords (四魔君). Sword Demon is one of them."
"Oh ho."
Raviel looked Sword Demon over carefully. Sword Demon flinched.
"A simple man. His speech is rough and his manner is coarse. That proves your master did not judge people by the roughness of their speech or the coarseness of their manner. Since he found people in rough and coarse places, he must surely have been a precious and noble person."
"......"
"I am Raviel Ivansia. A duchess of the Empire, and the wife of the Young Cult Leader whom you serve. I look forward to your acquaintance."
"Y-yes. I look forward... to your acquaintance."
I turned my head.
"Moonshadow Demon Lord."
"......"
"Come here."
One person among the cultists stood. He bowed his head courteously.
"Yes. Young Cult Leader."
A strange silence settled over the night sky. The voices that had been drinking and chattering died down. I called the Four Demon Lords one by one, and each time, the Four Demon Lords were exceedingly courteous.
And then I called the next person I had to introduce.
"Agwi."
"...Yes, my lord."
"Come here."
"Yes."
Agwi, who had been mingling with the cultists, stood. As if she had been waiting for my call, she had already tidied her clothes neatly.
"This child's name is... Agwi."
I said.
"Agwi was originally born as a nameless monster. A doppelganger. She could imitate whatever she devoured. At first, Agwi swallowed beasts like frogs and snakes, and then, by chance, she happened to eat a human. And......"
Agwi kept her head bowed meekly. Her shoulders trembled faintly from time to time. The strange silence continued throughout the hall.
I introduced these people's lives, and by doing so, I introduced my own life.
One person told another person about their life. Softly. Beneath the night sky. That alone, just that, was this sacred.
"Also... ah. Right."
I unfastened the holy sword from my waist.
"This child is Sparkle."
"Sparkle?"
"Yes. Originally she had a slightly more plausible name. She was deceived by a bad man and sealed into a sword. Her real name, [Goddess of Protection], felt wasted, so I just gave her the nickname Sparkle. Because she's, well, sparkly... very much so......"
"I see."
Raviel smiled slightly.
"My consort's naming sense is rather severe. Harsh. If it were me, I would have at least given her the name Hwi (輝)."
[Sparkle pledges loyalty to the Hero's spouse!]
Sparkle had quickly switched the target of her loyalty.
"Hm."
And then.
"You can't see him here right now, but... I have one friend."
The guardian spirit.
"Raviel will probably never see him. You can't meet him either...... This friend's circumstances are a bit unusual. He can't appear before other people."
My partner.
"His way of speaking is also incredibly vulgar. Hm. His mouth is about thirty times filthier than Sword Demon's. But he's incredibly strong. Tremendously... I first learned swordsmanship from this friend, and I learned aura from him too."
"Oh ho. A benefactor, then."
-......
The guardian spirit was silent.
With his arms crossed, wearing his shabby martial arts uniform.
Instead of running his mouth as usual, the guardian spirit simply watched me and Raviel in silence.
"...Without this friend, I probably wouldn't have been able to endure my time alone."
"Is that so."
"Yes."
"Then I should properly express my gratitude to that friend."
Raviel bowed her head.
Toward the empty air where nothing could be seen.
"I became happy after meeting Gong-ja. If that friend had not helped Gong-ja, my happiness could not have come to be. I offer my thanks to everything that allowed Gong-ja to be here at this moment."
The guardian spirit slowly spoke.
-Hey, this kid's a lunatic, so take good care of him.
I spoke on his behalf.
"If that friend had heard your thanks, he probably would have said, 'This kid's a lunatic, so take good care of him.'"
"You have a wonderful friend."
I took a deep breath.
"Raviel."
This.
"This is my everything."
Everything I cherished.
Everyone who had opened the door to my heart and come inside.
My family (家門).
"......"
Raviel squeezed my hand tightly.
"My husband."
"Yes."
"Let us dance."
Raviel's eyes carried an intense demand. I hesitated. When Raviel looked at me like that, when she strongly wished to do something with me, I could not refuse.
"I've never properly danced before."
"A little of the butler's memory should remain. Use it as reference."
"What if I make a mistake and step on your feet? I'll kill myself."
Raviel answered with action instead of words. She bent down and removed her black shoes. A moment later, she stepped barefoot onto the grass and soil of the lawn.
White feet.
Just from removing her shoes, she seemed to have become as light as the wind.
"Come."
"......"
Hesitantly, I removed my white shoes and socks. At that, Raviel immediately took my hand and led me.
One step. Two steps.
Raviel stepped on the fallen petals on the lawn with her toes. Magnolia, cherry blossom, white petals grew whiter as they were stepped on.
"......"
No one made a sound. No music could be heard. There was no chandelier adorning a ballroom; only moonlight settled on the flower garden (花園) like frost.
A ball for just the two of us.
"...Look."
I smiled as I stepped through the steps.
"It's a mess. I've already stepped on your feet three times. Dancing really isn't my specialty. Are you trying to embarrass me to death?"
"It's fine. I just need to step on your feet just as many times."
Squish. The moment the words left her mouth, Raviel stepped on the top of my foot. Her full weight transferred over. Raviel smiled playfully.
"See. It's fair."
There was the smile she showed only to me in this world. My red jewel. My heart. My music.
A chandelier of moonlight illuminated our shadows.
The dance of the two of us was not about not stepping on each other's feet. Even if we stepped on each other's feet, it was about not letting go of each other's hands until the end. It was about smiling softly at any misfortune and looking at each other's faces.
I belonged only to Raviel.
Raviel belonged only to me.
Yes. We danced. Every place the moonlight fell was a ballroom for Raviel and me. As long as the two of us were together, any world could be made into a stage.
On this day, we were married, and.
Our next story would begin on a stage a little higher than before.