The Betrothal Surprise
Before the shattered World Tree.
The Great Mother Erzsebet stroked the severed cross-section of the World Tree with eyes so cold they felt devoid of any emotion at all.
“Mirinae. What exactly happened here?”
“Um? I don’t know either. You saw it too. It just… collapsed all at once.”
“Isolate. Did you witness it?”
“I’m sorry, Your Highness. I didn’t see anything.”
Erzsebet understood that the two Elf Guardians’ explanations provided no real help and clicked her tongue in disapproval.
She then began examining the cross-section once more. It was smoother than before, as if it had always been that way—smoother even than the cut her earlier kick from the lion spirit had left.
“Some human boy claims he did this himself.”
“I heard that too. It might be true, seeing how he held out against you and ran away.”
“Why didn’t you catch him?”
“Why can’t you catch him~? Then what? You’re gonna show up like a nine-tailed fox and kill them all by yourself? How are you supposed to stop the two of them alone?”
“…Did the nine-tailed fox escape? I didn’t know that. But that fox wasn’t that strong anyway. Proof was that we only got caught helplessly after falling into the traps we set.”
“Hah! That’s why young ones aren’t good enough. You’ve never experienced a nine-tailed fox disaster, so how would you even know it’s scary?”
Mirinae, who was younger than her, poked Erzsebet in the ribs and shook her head vigorously. Erzsebet’s face twisted in displeasure at the words, yet she still had nothing more to say.
It was true that she had never experienced a nine-tailed fox disaster. She knew how many Guardian Elves had been slaughtered by a single nine-tailed fox and how the surviving elders had all fallen into a defeatist mindset. But she refused to underestimate the event by claiming “it didn’t happen to me, so it can’t be the same now.”
“I can handle it. Next time….”
“No, you were the one who said you’d go find the lion because it has the best compatibility with you, Erzsebet. But you lost it, and while you were gone some brat chopped down the World Tree and the nine-tailed fox escaped too. You were supposed to be here instead of me!”
“…I see. I understand.”
“Yes, that’s enough. Mirinae-nim. It seems the Great Mother has understood well enough already.”
“What? That’s enough? Aigoo—! That’s why when you get old you just have to die, right? Or should I just go off somewhere like the young ones these days and do some work? As a former Elf Guardian I’d probably get paid a lot.”
Mirinae, who had been scolded, pretended to die instantly and grumbled. Erzsebet, who had heard such complaints for thousands of years, simply ignored her with a light shrug.
While Mirinae kept grumbling beside her, Erzsebet looked at Isolate and gave her orders.
“You really are the only one.”
“…Thank you, Your Highness.”
“Isolate, take Mirinae and go find that human boy. You may kill him.”
“Understood.”
Mirinae, muttering to herself from the side, sighed while watching Erzsebet completely ignore her and issue orders.
“What? You’re really gonna chase me out? At my age, all I do is jump with my feet?”
“If Mirinae lets me take over the duties of Great Mother here instead, I won’t leave.”
“Thank you very much. Our Great Mother.”
However, Mirinae had a trump card—her age and experience. Erzsebet, who was supposed to be the one taking over her duties as Great Mother, could throw the role back at her at any time by claiming she was too young or that only an elder should do it.
Being the Great Mother was a tiring position that even an immortal elf would call tiring. Mirinae had no intention of sitting in that seat.
“Then go. Go find that boy. You may bring him back or kill him, it’s up to you.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Yes, yes. It’s what our Great Mother orders, so I have to.”
Smiling brightly, Mirinae nodded at the command. Then, as if she had suddenly remembered, she tilted her head and asked.
“Oh right. If you touch her and it causes a war, what then?”
“I would have told you. You can bring her back or kill her freely.”
Erzsebet looked at her as if the question was ridiculous.
“I won’t consider the aftermath of that storm.”
“…Idiot.”
Mirinae gave a bitter smile and packed her two swords, leaving the deep forest. Two Transcendents, two Elf Guardians, had stepped out of the forest they were guarding and into the world.
***
“Evan, be still.”
“Ugh… this is so uncomfortable.”
“Just endure it a little longer.”
Evan glared at Rainia’s tail as she spoke. It was wagging back and forth. While she could endure her whole body aching by wagging her tail, he could not.
So right now Rainia was forcing discomfort on him because she didn’t feel it herself.
If it had been any other woman, he would have swung his sword immediately—but since it was Rainia, he couldn’t.
“It’s done. You can move now.”
“Uwaaah…! It’s so annoying!”
Before Nau’s words had even finished, Evan threw off the clothes he was wearing. He peeled them off one by one, then peeled them off again.
After removing his priestly robes entirely, a pile of clothes as tall as his height had appeared. In other words, Evan had been wearing clothes that stacked up to his own height.
While loosening his stiff body, Evan looked at Rainia, who was still taking off her clothes, and asked.
“Why do they even wear these?”
“Beastman traditional clothing. Traditional customs don’t have a reason. They just do it.”
“Such things….”
As a young man who hated traditions, meaningless acts, and anything pointless, Evan made a disgusted face and stuck out his tongue.
But that was the end of it. Now there was no reason to wear those traditional clothes.
“Picture’s here. Want to see?”
“Ah, yes!”
Evan ran over to the frame Nau was holding. In it was a picture of himself and Rainia sitting in traditional clothes until just moments ago.
Evan let out a delighted “hee~” at the almost identical image, as if it had been cut and pasted.
“What is the principle behind this?”
“When light passes through a narrow hole, an image forms….”
“Ah, yes.”
Evan realized the words were professional jargon and quickly turned his head. He had caught that he wouldn’t understand even if he heard it.
But he couldn’t take his eyes off the picture. He had seen such images in the Guild Headquarters or the Royal Palace.
Back then he had thought they were drawn perfectly like real life… But they used magic to draw them like this?
“Now I just need to send this picture along with the letter.”
“Are you really going to do it?”
“Of course? You think I’d just stop here and discard everything?”
“Um… it’s not like that….”
Evan looked at Rainia with a worried expression. Her idea of marrying him had not changed even now.
Unable to stop her bold momentum, Evan had eventually compromised halfway and agreed to an engagement instead of marriage. In return he received the right to freely use her tail.
Just as Evan was about to sign the engagement papers after being hooked by her fluffy, soft, wagging tail—Rainia had finished the engagement ceremony in an instant and even created the picture.
“Well—something will work out! Ah, I’ll send the letter and the picture.”
“You sending it, Evan? Whether you or the kids go, it’ll be about the same.”
“Fufu, I have something special for you.”
As he said that, Evan received the letter, tucked it into his spatial pocket, and immediately contacted Canelly. The alchemist who had been on standby 24 hours a day and 365 days a year answered right away.
[Evaaaannn!?]
“Ah, Canelly. Busy?”
[No no no no! Not at all~!]
“Then can you do one favor? I just sent a letter to the spatial pocket. Deliver it to His Majesty the Blue King.”
[Ah… that’s… that’s all?]
“Yeah. I want to see his face soon. If you do this, maybe I can go home sooner?”
[On it right away~!]
After the communication ended, Evan shrugged as if to say “what do you think?” and looked at Rainia. Rainia’s eyes sparkled as she observed Evan’s new side.
“…Evan, that person named Canelly.”
“Ah, you don’t know? She’s the state-approved alchemist. Not as famous as I thought.”
“No, that’s not it— Is she a woman?”
“Yes? Yes, she’s a woman.”
“Treating a woman like that… since when….”
While Rainia muttered softly, Evan’s earring began to ring with a buzzing sound as a communication attempt came through.
It was Canelly. Evan asked what was wrong when he answered, and Canelly replied in a slightly trembling voice.
[I-I’m here- Evan? I delivered the letter to His Majesty the Blue King, but… uuuuh…]
“Hm?”
[You’ll find out in a bit…]
“What is it—.”
KRRRRRRR-!
Just as he was about to ask what that noise was, a thunderbolt suddenly struck the manor. The group jumped in surprise and opened the windows to look outside. There, purple lightning crackled fiercely.
The lightning contained considerable energy, and only one person in this world could wield such power.
The Blue King.
Only the Blue King.
And when interpreted, the message in the lightning was…
—Divorce, you bastard.
It was roughly that feeling.