Countdown at the Altar
“I actually…”
“Actually?”
Hudson drew a deep breath.
“I’m a sinner.”
“The sinner who stole my heart?”
“No… that’s not what I mean…”
“Don’t worry. The ceremony will take place in a week. I’ve prepared everything, so all you have to do is show up, Hudson.”
“Wait. A week…?”
Hudson was stunned.
Even for a rush job, how could anything move this fast?
Was marriage supposed to barrel forward like this, without a single pause?
“You don’t have parents, Hudson. No need for a formal introduction of the families. Just bring yourself. Your curse is already lifted—why drag this out any longer?”
“But… I don’t even have clothes to wear yet…”
“Those are already prepared. From before the Great Expedition.”
“……You prepared them before the Great Expedition?”
Insane.
What in the world was going on?
The Great Expedition was more than half a year ago.
She had planned to hold the ceremony the very moment he returned alive.
He had thought the same, of course—but even so, this was far too soon.
“Why? What’s the problem? Don’t tell me you don’t want to marry me?”
Serengeti’s expression darkened at once.
If he left her like this, she would spiral into endless wild fantasies.
He had been through this countless times, so Hudson hurriedly waved both hands.
“Th-There’s no way. You’re the only one for me. I’m just… too happy, that’s all.”
Serengeti’s face bloomed bright again, as if the gloom had never been there.
“Right? Then shall we go eat?”
“Uh… yeah…”
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.
Fine. Today isn’t the only day.
Hudson let out a small sigh.
Time flew like an arrow.
Seven days later, the wedding day arrived.
The breakneck pace left Hudson so busy he barely had time to breathe.
In the end, I never managed to tell her properly…
He hadn’t even properly conveyed that he was a Player.
There had simply never been a moment to speak.
After that day, he hadn’t even found time to see Serengeti.
Not even on the wedding day itself.
Is this really right?
Was it all right to just drift into marriage like this?
While hiding the most important secret of all?
But there was little time left to agonize.
The hour had come.
The wedding hall.
In the place where everyone had gathered.
Ah…
The moment he saw Serengeti in her dress, every last worry vanished at once.
Because she was too beautiful.
Beautiful enough to steal the words from his throat.
But that happiness lasted only a moment.
The progress speed of the ‘World’s Erosion Rate’ is rapidly accelerating.
Erosion Rate has reached 20%.
If you do not log out within 30 seconds, you will die.
“Hah.”
Inside his study, Marquis Weiser let out a disbelieving laugh.
All because of Serengeti. His own daughter.
—My lord Marquis. No—Father. I will marry Hudson.
Of course he had opposed it with every fiber of his being.
What kind of child was Serengeti?
His only daughter. The sole heiress of the house.
No matter how closely Hudson served Randolph, at his core he was still nothing more than a merchant upstart.
He could not hand Serengeti over to a mere merchant.
—If you continue to oppose my marriage to Hudson…
—If I oppose it? Will you kill yourself?
At best she would try to toy with her own life as leverage.
Having already faced death once, she must have thought that staking her life again would force his permission.
But that was pure nonsense.
Marquis Weiser had weathered every storm life could throw at him and gained an unshakable heart. A childish tantrum from Serengeti was something he could laugh off with ease.
—Then I will marry into House Vilmaim.
—What…? That is absolutely out of the question!
But House Vilmaim changed everything.
Vilmaim. Vilmaim of all houses!
Those absolute scoundrels who had been at odds with Marquis Weiser for generations!
The mere thought of sharing a table with those ill-mannered brutes already turned his stomach.
—I’ve already finished speaking with them. Here.
—……
A single letter.
When he saw the seal of the Vilmaim family head stamped upon it, Marquis Weiser’s face drained of color.
The handwriting was unmistakably that of the Vilmaim head as well.
And of course the contents concerned marriage.
—W-Without even my permission…
—The head of House Vilmaim may be bald, but he is a man of ambition. Bald or not, he is still better than some merchant upstart.
—You… are you serious…?
—If I cannot hold the ceremony with Hudson, I will enter House Vilmaim. I suppose I will spend the rest of my life hearing nothing but curses against my father.
A move beyond imagination—one he had never even considered.
She had sealed off every possible escape route and thrown down the gauntlet.
Only then could Marquis Weiser truly face Serengeti.
“Heh heh.”
It was absurd, yet for Marquis Weiser alone it was a stroke of pure genius.
House Vilmaim and his own had been unable to coexist under the same sky for over a hundred years.
Declaring she would go there was on an entirely different level from simply throwing away her life.
I thought she was a girl who knew nothing but the sword.
She had grown.
The uncultured sword-obsessed child now knew how to issue a proper threat.
And it wasn’t only threats she had prepared.
Hudson’s résumé, is it?
Where on earth had she gotten something like this?
Countless sheets of paper.
As he read the history written beneath them, Marquis Weiser was once again struck with astonishment.
◈ Owner of Casino ‘Hudson’ in the Golden City of Arcana
◈ Honorary Advisory Member of the Arcana City Council
◈ De facto Leader of the Information Guild ‘Stars and Night’
◈ Originating from ‘Blood Fall’ — one of the Ten
◈ Founder of the Labyrinth Merchant Company
◈ Founder of the Labyrinth Bank
◈ Finance and Treasury Officer of Labyrinth City — Hudson
◈ The one Randolph trusts most deeply
Even the report itself strained his belief.
Hudson.
What the hell is this man’s true identity?
If the résumé was accurate, this fellow was no ordinary merchant.
He was the very hand of darkness that lurked in the shadows and steered the markets.
‘Stars and Night,’ which bought and sold information, always ranked among the top ten in that industry—and if he truly came from ‘Blood Fall’…
I doubt he would have told her any of this.
This was almost certainly not something Hudson had volunteered.
Serengeti.
She had uncovered it herself.
Serengeti knew far more about Hudson than he had expected.
Perhaps even more than what was written here.
‘The one Randolph trusts most deeply.’
And that final line.
Could that even be called a ‘record’?
Yet if one understood who Randolph was, it most certainly could.
He trusts Hudson more than those who walk beside him?
Marquis Weiser stroked his chin.
Randolph was a knightly sort of man.
Naturally he would feel closer to those who fought back-to-back with him.
Hudson used his merchant’s instincts to manage the city, but the time he actually spent at Randolph’s side was limited.
And still Serengeti stated with absolute certainty that he was the one most deeply trusted.
Was it true?
It must be.
Serengeti had served Randolph longer and more closely than anyone.
If she saw it that way, then it was so.
Moreover, Marquis Weiser could not help but marvel at Serengeti’s preparations for the wedding itself.
He had thought her nothing more than a thoughtless child.
Yet before he knew it, she had grown enough that he could entrust the future to her.
Aside from the sword, has she ever been this earnest about anything?
He could say with certainty that she had not.
And so, on one hand, a touch of regret stirred in him.
It felt as though he was only now discovering a side of his daughter he had never known.
“Already that child… heh heh.”
Marriage.
A wedding, was it?
Yet Serengeti had already passed the usual age for marriage.
“The sooner the better, I suppose.”
So holding the ceremony as quickly as possible would be best.
All that remained was deciding whom to invite.
I’ll have to summon them all on an emergency basis.
It would cost a fortune, but if he called them with an ‘emergency’ summons, a week would be enough for everyone to gather.
He would give her the most magnificent wedding possible, under the blessings of every relative and associate.
As a father, that was all he could do for her.
Hudson’s eyes trembled wildly.
Only moments ago he had been lost in the sight of Serengeti.
The messages that now floated before him snapped his mind wide awake.
“Looks like the groom has completely lost his soul staring at the bride.”
“They’re a fine pair.”
“Serengeti! You’ve taken after your mother completely.”
Ah…
The countless guests filling the hall.
Every last one of them was a relative of Marquis Weiser.
Even those with whom relations had been poor had gathered without a single absence—more than two hundred guests now watching Hudson and Serengeti.
Hudson himself had invited fewer than twenty, yet thanks to Marquis Weiser the place was packed.
A wedding magnificent beyond compare.
What wedding could possibly be more blessed than this?
You have received a Lv.6 attack!
‘Guardian Wall (Lv.7)’ — Remaining time: 24 seconds
If you do not log out within 24 seconds, you will die.
The problem was that even now, his body on Earth was under attack.
…Hudson’s face went deathly pale.
The Guardian Wall he possessed was only Level 7.
It could defend against attacks of Level 7 or lower for thirty seconds.
If a stronger attack landed, or if thirty seconds passed, Hudson would die.
What do I do?
There was only one method.
Leave this wedding hall and log out.
With the Second Invasion underway, he doubted any truly safe zone remained—but if he found the safest place possible and logged back in…
Impossible.
It was impossible.
Everyone would find it strange.
And before long, every single one of them would become certain that he was a ‘sinner.’
Serengeti knowing he was a ‘sinner’ and Marquis Weiser plus every last relative knowing it were as different as heaven and earth.
Forget marriage—he would be reported to the Death God Religion and sentenced to death.
They would spit on his corpse in disgust and click their tongues.
You have received a Lv.7 attack!
‘Guardian Wall (Lv.7)’ — Remaining time: 19 seconds
If you do not log out within 19 seconds, you will die.
“Why is he just standing there?”
“Isn’t he a little too stiff?”
“Haha. Must be nervous.”
People murmured among themselves.
Makeup had at least hidden the color of his face, but his expression had frozen so completely that it showed.
…The attacks were growing fiercer by the second.
At this rate he would truly die.
He had to log out right now.
Abandon the marriage with Serengeti, or stake his life and go through with it.
Hudson barely managed to lift his head and look toward Randolph.
But looking at Randolph would never produce an answer.
Randolph was currently back in Korea.
While he himself was in Britain.
On an isolated island, no less.
Were the people in the castle all right?
You have received a Lv.7 attack!
‘Guardian Wall (Lv.7)’ — Remaining time: 14 seconds
If you do not log out within 11 seconds, you will die.
“Maybe the merchant is feeling the pressure of a knightly house?”
“Well, there are over a hundred people of knightly origin gathered here.”
As more time passed, some began to criticize Hudson’s demeanor, however subtly.
True to their knightly lineage, many found his unmanly attitude frustrating.
You have received a Lv.7 attack!
‘Guardian Wall (Lv.7)’ — Remaining time: 8 seconds
If you do not log out within 4 seconds, you will die.
Eight seconds.
There was no more room left.
No answer left.
What do I do…
KRA-KOOM!