At Last
""Oniichan, look at this~""
Allen and Elena, dressed in cute, pure white clothes decorated with bright white flowers, spun around on the spot as if to show off their new clothes.
"Ohh~ it suits you so well. So cute~"
""Ehehe~""
Today was the long-awaited wedding of Wald-sama
In the end, I didn't get to meet Wald-sama's bride, Rosalie-sama, beforehand.
"Allen-chan and Elena-chan are both very adorable~"
""Thank you! Obaasama is pretty, too!""
"Fufu, thank you. Ah, of course, the clothes suit you as well, Takumi-san."
"Thank you very much. You also look wonderful, Rebecca-san."
Rebecca-san, dressed in formal attire, had a yellow artificial flower hairpin-style hair ornament in her hair, which we had made after we arrived in the capital.
"You are using the hairpin today."
"It's very nice, after all. And very suitable for today. Moreover, I'm matching with Elena-chan."
"So happy we match!"
Elena also had her hair neatly tied up and was wearing a white flower hair ornament.
The chain decorated with pale pink glass beads swayed with each of Elena's movements.
"Almeria is also wearing it. Take a look later."
"Almeria-san, too? I'm happy to hear that, but today is a very important day, is that really alright~?"
"We wear it because it is an important day. Well, let's get ready."
I was told that in Aetheria, marriages take place in front of the statues of Gods in a temple, with family and friends watching the couple sign something like a marriage certificate. The marriage then comes into existence.
Normally, the ceremony ends with the vows or a small dinner with those close to the couple.
However, this is not the case for nobles, who must hold a party to unveil the marriage.
The scale varies, but the ceremony and the reception don't seem much different from those on Earth, do they? However, I have not had the experience of attending so many weddings, so this is just my impression.
"Heeh~ So there was a temple within the castle as well~ Isn't it a little bit too grand?"
""So huge~""
The temple where Wald-sama held the ceremony was located adjacent to the castle. The temple was more magnificent than the temples I have visited in other cities.
I had always assumed there was one temple per city, but the royal capital is a big place. I wouldn't be surprised if there were more than one.
In fact, it would be less likely to cause problems if there were separate temples for the commoners and for the nobles.
""Here~?""
"Yeah. It is here."
After arriving at the temple, We parted from Rebecca-san, who was going to the place of worship, and I took the children to the anteroom where the groom, Wald-sama, was waiting. The flower children are both on the bride and groom's side.
""Congratulations!""
As soon as we got permission to enter the room, Allen and Elena rush toward Wald-sama as if they were going to jump on him.
"Allen, Elena, slow down! You cannot push Wald-sama down! You are going to get your clothes dirtied before the ceremony!"
""Ah, right.""
I hurried to stop them, and the children stopped a step or two away from Wald-sama.
"Just the clothes!? Why don't you worry about me, too!?"
"I'm sure you would not get hurt by the two of them. Ah, congratulations on your big day."
"Your nonchalance is cruel. But well, thanks."
I thought to give him words of congratulations before I forget, but... it appears he wanted me to worry about him.
But well, it's better than forgetting about it.
"Is that your formal attire? It suits you."
"It's a bit too formal for me, so I don't like it that much."
I have never seen a knight in formal attire before, but it was a bit more glittering with more ornaments and such.
And in his costume, Wald-sama looked somewhat more dignified than usual.
"Still, I didn't think I wouldn't meet Rosalie-sama until today."
"I can't let her be introduced to unmarried men before the wedding, ya know?"
"Eh, so there was a reason like that? I see, I never knew your desire to monopolize was this strong, Wald-sama~"
"Is that bad?"
Wald-sama must really love Rosalie-sama.
"No, not at all. I'm very convinced. Please introduce us after the ceremony."
"Ou."
Well, it looks like he will introduce us soon, and as for the fact that he hasn't let us meet her until now, I'm over it.
""Will do our best to throw flowers!""
"Ou. Work hard for me, will you? Come to think of it, the flowers were to be prepared by you guys, right?"
""We gathered a bunch! Take a look!""
Allen and Elena were ready to show the baskets of flowers that they had with them to Wald-sama.
"Ohh, you are right. Huh, the hell is this!?"
""... Flowers, you know?""
"I can tell that! I did not mean that, I meant the color!"
""Uniyu?""
It seems that Wald-sama has noticed that they were not ordinary flowers.
""It's white, you know? Should have picked red instead?""
"That's not it. Pistil aside, it's strange that even the stalk is white!!"
""Ah, he shouted~""
"He did, didn't he~"
Wald-sama shouted when he saw the overall white flowers we had obtained in a dungeon.
Incidentally, I showed the flowers to the other members of the Ruven family first, and although they were surprised, they simply said, "So there are flowers like this, too~"
"Takumi! You did that on purpose! Did you prepare those flowers knowing I would say this!?"
"Hahaha~ Well~ Thank you very much for the reaction I expected."
"You~~~"
"Isn't it fine? It's a bit different, but it's a normal flower."
"The fact that it is different does not make it normal!"
Wald-sama's interjection never stop. Well, I'm the one who's making him agitated~
"Is this no good?"
"We picked lots, you know~"
"Ugh!"
Allen and Elena look up at Wald-sama with sullen expressions.
Then, Wald-sama choked on his words. The children's puppy eyes seemed to have hit him directly.
""......""
The children look up at Wald-sama silently, waiting for his reply.
"I, I did not say that!"
""Yay~!""
Perhaps he couldn't endure it anymore, but Wald-sama easily gave his acceptance.
Whether the children's gesture was unintentional or aimed at him, I can't determine, but it's a powerful technique anyway~
""Oniichan, he said it's fine!""
"Let's leave it like that, then."
We have other white flowers, so I was going to change them to regular ones if Wald-sama said absolutely not, but he gave his permission, so we are keeping the dungeon-grown flowers.
"Is it about time? Allen, Elena, do you remember what you have to do?"
""Yeah, no worries!""
Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a rehearsal, so the children have to play their big roles on the spot. So I made sure they remember the order and what they are supposed to do.
Well, my kids are smart and have excellent memory, so I don't have to worry about them.
"Well, I will go inside first, so you two do your best."
""Yea!""
From here on, we were going our separate ways. I decided to head to the place of worship where the ceremony was to take place.
~
Marriage Ceremony
In the place of worship, several people who seemed to be representatives of both families and knights were already seated, so I hurriedly went to a seat near Matthias-san and Rebecca-san.
I should probably be sitting at the end of the table, but Matthias-san and the others told me that I was also a member of the Ruven family and instructed me to sit nearby.
"The groom and bride are about to enter."
After waiting for a while, the door to the place of worship quietly opened.
When the doors opened, Allen and Elena walked in first, holding baskets of white flowers, scattering them as they walked. After them come Wald-sama and Rosalie-sama with their arms linked.
Wald-sama's expression was more serious than I have ever seen before.
Rosalie-sama was wearing a... veil, so unfortunately I couldn't see her face clearly, let alone her expression. However, I could clearly see from her white dress that she had a great style.
Come to think of it, there are no rules about the color of the costumes for the marriage ceremony in Aetheria. But it seems that they often wear matching colors, though.
The uniform of the Royal Knights that Wald-sama wore was white, so Rosalie-sama's dress was also white... Thanks to that, the ceremony looked just like my image of it.
""We done~""
"Good work."
When Wald-sama and the others came to the front of the God statues, Allen and Elena, who had finished their work, came back to me with radiant expressions, so I thanked them in a small voice and patted them on the head.
"The groom, Grunwald Ruven. Bride, Rosalie Graciez. Ye walk together ......—""
The Father? Pastor? No, Priest? Well, I don't know what it's called or what his position is, but the person in charge of the ceremony made Wald-sama and Rosalie-sama pledge, or something like that. He spoke to Wald-sama and Rosalie-sama about the something similar like the "In sickness and in health," something like that.
"Do you swear by the Gods?"
""I do.""
And finally, he asked this Wald-sama and Rosalie-sama.
When Wald-sama and Rosalie-sama swore—the bell of the bell tower rang with a clang, clang, clang.
"Blessed be, husband and wife!"
As the final words were spoken, a breeze blew through the closed room, and the flowers scattered along the passageway, dancing softly.
[Wha!?]
Everyone in the place of worship looked up in astonishment.
Since this was my first time attending a marriage ceremony in this world, I wondered if this is normal~....... Because you can do it with wind magic.
But from the reactions of the other people, it would definitely be different. So that means—
(... Syl-san? What are you doing?)
(S, sorry.)
I secretly called out in my mind to the person I thought was the culprit of this event. The reply came immediately. As expected, the culprit seemed to be Syl.
However, when Wald-sama looked at me with a skeptical look as if to say, "Was it you? I was completely falsely accused. I shook my head as I stared back at Wald-sama.
(But, but! It wasn't on purpose!)
(What do you mean by that, Syl-san?)
While having a silent exchange with Wald-sama, I continued my conversation with the panicked Syl.
(Takumi-san! I beg you, stop using honorifics!)
(Please explain. Depending on that, I will have to change the way we interact in the future!)
(Fue~n.)
At any rate, I asked Syl for more details.
(Erm, let's see... marriage ceremony is a kind of so-called ritual ceremony...)
(Yeah, so?)
(Even if it was just to help, I was so happy to see my children involved in the ritual that my... powers spilled... out~)
(......)
(I really am reflecting on this!)
... Haah~
So he got emotional or something? I'm not sure what to do with him.
"As you were both blessed by the Gods, you will have good fortune in the future."
The Priest seemed to sum it up well, and the attendees began to calm down.
I don't know if it was a blessing or not, but it really was the power of God and... well, it must be a good thing.
(Be careful in the future, okay?)
(... Yes.)
Syl seemed to be well remorseful, so I didn't blame him anymore.
I don't want to blame him any more than I have to. I think he might start crying if I continue blaming him.
"The groom and bride are leaving."
A fully satisfied Wald-sama left the place of worship with Rosalie-sama in tow.
As they exited, Matthias-san and Rebecca-san come over and patted the children on their heads.
"Good work, both of you."
"Allen-chan, Elena-chan, thank you for your hard work~"
""Did we do good~?""
"Yeah, you did great. There were no problems."
"You were wonderful~"
""Ehehe~""
Perhaps happy to be praised, Allen and Elena smiled shyly.
"By the way, Takumi-san. I wonder if you did any tricks with the flowers the kids scattered?"
"Hahaha~ I didn't do anything. I thought it was a stunt using wind magic that you guys decided on?"
Rebecca-san seemed to suspect that it was me who made the flowers dance.
Well, I could have done it if I wanted to.
"It wasn't. That's why I was very surprised."
""It was pretty, you know?""
"Indeed. The flowers were fluttering and dancing prettily."
"So it wasn't staged, it was really a blessing. That's amazing for Wald-sama."
""Amaz~!""
I could have made it look like I did it, but that would have been too much of a turn-off, so I decided to just go with the direction that Wald-sama got the blessing.
"If it really was a blessing, it would not only be awesome, it would be a big deal..."
However, Matthias-san made a troubled expression.
"... Would it cause a fuss?"
"Highly likely."
Probably the Priests belonging to the temple will make a fuss. They are Gods' servants, after all.
Oh, do people perhaps try to stick close to people who have been given Gods' blessings or something like that? I have read those stories!
"Let's pretend I did use wind magic."
I don't want to cause a fuss and put Matthias-san and the others in a difficult situation, so in that case, I will retract my previous statement and put myself in the firing line!
Come to think of it, is it bad if they find out about me and the kids? That I am a God's retainer, and they are a God's children... Oh, and I have the title of Blessed! No, but my children and I are at a higher level than the norm, so it's unlikely they will see the title column even if they check it out. So I'm not so worried about being found out.
"How about something like, I was so moved by the ceremony that I inadvertently triggered my magic...?"
That is not a lie. It was Syl who did it, though.
"In that case... but..."
"Yeah..."
Matthias-san and Rebecca-san looked troubled.
I'm not sure if this made-up story is good enough. But is there any story that could be more successfully falsified than this~...—hm? No, that's not it? Is there a problem from the standpoint of a Guardian or something like that?
"Let's just try to calm the situation first."
""!""
Matthias-san and Rebecca-san felt their eyes whiten for a moment, but nodded their heads as if determined.
"Sorry about that."
"Thank you, Takumi-san."
After that, we went to the Priest who was facilitating the ceremony to talk to us and forcefully explained that it was wind magic, not a blessing.
... Is this the best way to clean up?
~
Meeting
We successfully persuaded(?) them that the incident was my wind magic, we quickly moved to the reception hall.
The reception hall was a hall with a large window facing the garden right next to the temple. In the warm season, people can have a party in the garden that can be seen from the window, but unfortunately, it is cold now, so the party will be held indoors.
Wald-sama and Rosalie-sama were not yet at the venue because of costume change, but the guests have already gathered, so Velio-san and his friends were taking care of the guests. Matthias-san and Rebecca-san were in a hurry to join them there and receive congratulations from the guests.
"Wald-sama, may I come in~?"
I headed to the room where Wald-sama was, wondering was happening, and knocked on the door.
"Takumi!"
"That was close! Please don't open the door with such force."
The door opened with a bang immediately after I knocked, and Wald-sama, dressed in a dark gray costume, jumped out. The door opened outward, so it almost hit me.
"Rather than that, earlier, that was your doing, right? Right? Please say it was!"
"Unfortunately, it wasn't."
When I denied it, Wald-sama's expression turned despairing.
"... Although I say that, we convinced everyone that it was me who used wind magic unintentionally."
"Really!?"
"Yeah. But isn't it nice that a God gave you a blessing? Can we really pretend it didn't happen?"
"If God really blessed us, then I would be happy as it really is a good thing, but... the fuss that goes along with it is too much trouble."
"......"
... Could a God's blessing be considered a thankless act, then?
"It's still better if they only tell you to 'come to the temple often to pray,' but it's never going to work that way. They'll say things like, 'Since you received the blessing, you should serve God in the temple,' and they'll try to keep you there in any way possible."
"Ah~ that doesn't sound good."
It is fine to be thankful for having received the blessing and to voluntarily become a priest, wanting to be a servant of God, but it cannot be forced.
I mean, I don't think that God and others are thinking of taking away the freedom of those who they have given their blessings. In fact, I am allowed to live as I please, and I am spending my time freely.
But the priests who serve God seem to think differently. It's troubling.
"I don't mean to deny the existence of God, but I don't want other people telling me what to do with my life."
"No, I think that's fine. I think God think say so, too."
"Do you really think so...?"
"I do."
"I see."
When I assured him, Wald-sama's face broke into a smile with relief.
"Speaking of which, are you ready to go to the reception hall?"
"On my part, yes. Rosalie will... take a little longer?"
Well, the men may be done with a quick change of clothes, but the women's preparations take time, don't they?
"Madam is ready."
"Looks like she's done."
A well-timed knock on the door announces that Rosalie-sama was ready.
"Let's go then. Takumi, you are just in time. Let's go together."
"Eh, is that okay?"
"Ou. She's officially my wife now. Besides, I'm sure Rosalie would like to know what happened earlier, so you go ahead and explain it to her."
I'm going to meet Rosalie-sama with Wald-sama since it seems that Wald-sama is finally willing to introduce me to Rosalie-sama.
"Rosalie, I'm entering."
"Wald-sama, I am sorry to have kept you waiting."
"Oh, you look pretty. It suits you so well."
When Wald-sama entered the room, he saw Rosalie-sama and immediately praised her.
""So cute~""
"Haha, yeah~"
Allen and Elena looked at Rosalie-sama and told their impressions in a hoho~n way. I thought so too, so I guess I can't stop them from doing so.
"Wa, Wald-sama."
"Um? Ah, this fella is Takumi. The kids are Allen and Elena. I think I told you about them before, but they are adventurers under our family's Guardianship."
Rosalie-sama noticed us and looked at Wald-sama in a panic, so Wald-sama introduced us.
Rosalie-sama was tall, a woman who could be described as an extraordinary beauty, and the blue mermaid dress she wore suited her style very well.
She is a woman who could be described as having a beautiful appearance, with cute gestures and facial expressions. It's amazing that Wald-sama could find himself a woman with such a gap~
""Huh? It's gotten chilly~""
"!"
Suddenly, there was a feeling of cold air flowing in the room, and when the children pointed it out, Rosalie-sama gasped.
"Calm down, Rosalie."
"Ho, however, the children..."
"It's fine. Magic power coercion won't work on these guys."
Wald-sama was patting Rosalie's back and talking to her slowly to calm her down.
Is it perhaps leaking out because she can't control her magic power? Err... I heard the coercion from strong magic power feels overpowering, but I can't feel anything~
"Indeed. The coercion is not a problem.——Allen, Elena. Do you feel like you are having trouble breathing, or like you are being held down?"
""Nope~""
"Everything looks fine then. Rosalie-sama magic's attribute is Ice, then?"
"... Y, yes."
"I see."
So, does this mean that this cool air is also caused by the magic power leaked from Rosalie-sama, and it is actually affecting the surrounding environment?
""Oneechan can make the room chilly?""
"How amazing~"
"So useful in summer~"
"... Eh?"
The children treated Rosalie-sama as an aircon, which stunned her.
""Wald-sama can~""
"Warm up."
"In the cold~"
""Good in winter~""
And now they treated Wald-sama as a heater. Or rather, they remembered that Wald-sama's magic aptitude is Fire?
"Oi, you guys, what are you saying. Magic is not supposed to be used like that."
""Wald-sama, can't do it~?""
"......"
The children's questioning made Wald-sama avert his gaze.
"... So you can't, huh."
When I blurted out a few words, Wald-sama glared at me.
It's just my imagination, but I have a feeling that if Wald-sama tried to warm up the room a little, he would burn it down instead.
"Fufu."
Rosalie-sama giggles at our exchange.
Then, I couldn't even feel the cold air anymore.
""She laughed!""
"P, pardon me."
"Can't apologize!"
"Laugh a lot!"
"B, but..."
""Going to tickle you?""
"Ehh!?"
Allen and Elena began to play with Rosalie-sama.
"Wald-sama, should I stop them?"
"N~ they seem fired up, but Rosalie seems to be having fun, so ain't that fine?"
Since Wald-sama gave his permission, I decided to let the kids do whatever they wanted for a while.
~
Meeting 2
"O~i. You should stop soon."
""Oka~y.""
I stopped the children before Rosalie-sama, who has been tossed around so much, gets tired.
Then, after Rosalie-sama calmed down, I briefly told her how things ended up in the worship room, and Rosalie-sama looked relieved. Seeing her like that, I was reminded that blessings are still something unwelcome favor. Well, it's not about the Gods themselves, but about the people who belong to the temple.
However, there is nothing I can do about it, so I will leave it at that.
"Oniichan, where is Oneechan's hairpin~?"
"N?"
"Elena wants to match!"
"Oh, you want to wear the same one now?"
"Yes!"
It seems that Elena wants Rosalie-sama to wear a hairpin-style hair ornament as well.
"What? What about a hairpin?"
"We have prepared a hairpin for Rosalie-sama to celebrate.——Err, here it is."
I took out the hairpin made for Rosalie-sama with blue artificial flower from the Infinite Storage, and showed it to Wald-sama and Rosalie-sama.
"Let's be matching with Elena?"
Elena turned around and showed the hairpin in her hair.
"You see, Obaasama and Oneesama are wearing the same one!"
"Rebecca-san and Almeria-san are wearing the same one today. It would look good with your current outfit, would you like to use it too, Rosalie-sama?"
Rosalie-sama's current outfit was blue, and it didn't look like it would mismatch with the hairpin, so I recommended it to her. It's not often that all four of them get to wear the same thing.
"Heeh~ isn't that fine? Lemme see, I will put it in for you. Do I just insert it?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Is over here good? Oh, it suits you well.—Thanks, Takumi."
"Yay~ matching~"
Wald-sama received the hairpin from me and quickly put it in Rosalie-sama's hair.
"... Ta, Takumi-sama, t, that... thank you very much."
"No, no, we have other congratulatory gifts, but I will give them to you later. Oh, and please don't call me with '-sama'."
"T, that's..."
"That would probably not be possible because of your upbringing, so why don't you go with '-san' instead?"
"O, okay. T, then, you can call me, too..."
I think Rosalie-sama wants me to stop adding '-sama' to her name, though she didn't finish her sentence.
I could tell just by talking to her a little. Rosalie-sama is kindhearted and graceful woman.
I haven't heard what the bad rumors are, but they must be untrue.
"Wald-sama, I don't think I can call her like that, what do you think about me calling her 'Rosalie-san'...? Can I call her like that?"
"... Why are you asking me?"
"I wouldn't want you to be jealous."
"... If you change the way you call me, I will allow you to call her with '-san'."
"Eh!? So it came~ Even though Wald-sama feels like Wald-sama~"
"What kind of reasoning is that!?"
There is no logic. But, the only one in the Ruven family who I call with "-sama" is Wald-sama~ Should I change the way I call him? No, but I feel like I want to keep calling him "Wald-sama". What do I do?
"N~ what should I do about this~"
""Wald Nii?""
"Huh? So Wald-sama is not Niisama?"
I was wondering whether I should change the way I called him, but Allen and Elena seemed to change their way of calling him immediately.
Velio-san is "Velio Oniisama", but Wald-sama is "Wald Nii".
""Oneechan is Rosalie Neesama.""
"... Neesama."
""No?""
"N, no, I'm honored! T, that, may I call you Allen-san and Elena-san then?"
""Yeah, call~""
The children were quick to change the way they called Rosalie-sama... I mean Rosalie-san, too.
"If I'm to change the way I call you, then 'Wald-san' would be the safe bet, I guess?"
"You don't have to use honorifics. Or, you can call me 'Aniue', too."
"Not possible."
"Immediate refusal!? And you declared it so easily, too!"
I answered quickly, but I see that Wald-sama prefers to be called "Aniue", huh.
"Oh well. Anyhow, you are forbidden from calling me with '-sama' the next time."
"Eh, you are banning it?"
"Even though you treat everyone as your relatives, it's only me whom you call in such a distant manner!"
"......"
I also thought that earlier... but in fact, Wald-sama was sulking because he felt left out?
"Haha."
"Don't laugh."
"You also have a cute side, Wald Niisan."
"...... Shuddup."
I dared to call him "Niisan," and Wald-sama turned his face away while swearing.
I couldn't see his face, but maybe he was embarrassed because he was a little red behind the ears.
"Wald Niisan, look over here. Ah, let's take a picture!"
Come to think of it, I forgot to take pictures!
I can't take any more of Wald-san in his knight's formal attire and Rosalie-san in her white dress, but I have to get a shot of them in their current outfits! And of course, the kids in their finest!
I quickly took out the camera from the Infinite Storage and set the magic paper.
"Oniisama, please look this way."
"No way!"
"Fufu."
Rosalie-san smiled happily again, seeing the exchange between me and Wald-san.
I will usually call him "Wald-san," but when I have a request or want to make a joke, I will call him "Wald Niisan" instead.
"You really seem like real brothers."
""They are very close~""
"I envy you."
""Is fine.""
"Will get even closer."
"With Rosalie Neesama!"
"Fufu, thank you very much."
The children had fully opened their hearts to Rosalie-san.
""Rosalie Neesama.""
"Let's take~"
"A picture together~"
"Right. It seems that Wald-san needs a little more time to calm down, so let me take a picture of the three of you first."
""Yea!""
First, I took a picture of Allen, Elena, and Rosalie-san together.
"Yep, looks good. Hey Wlad-san, take a look at this. Didn't it come out nicely?"
"Takumi, do you have more magic paper?"
"I have plenty on me."
"... I will refrain from interjecting about you having plenty of something so precious. If you have surplus, then please let me buy my share off of you."
"Roger that. Would you like a picture with the three of them together? Or would you prefer one just with Rosalie-san?"
"Both."
I took three shots of the resurrected Wald-san. One with Rosalie-san, and one with the children, and one of me and the children with Wald-san.
In the meantime, Wald-san's milk brother, Sylas-san, came to pick us up. It was almost time to enter the venue.
After asking Sylas to take a last picture of all five of us together, we headed to the reception hall.
"By the way, Takumi."
"What is it?"
"Are you not going to call me 'Niisan' anymore?"
"... Did you like it?"
"......"
Just before we parted in front of the venue, Wald-san asked me quietly.
It appears he took liking to me calling him "Niisan".
"I will call you like that once in a while. Well then, Wald Niisan, I wish the best of luck at socializing to you."
"Ou. You guys be obedient."
"Then, to answer your expectations, shall I make the flowers rain with wind magic?"
"Don't! I beg you, be obedient!"
"Roger that. I will obey Oniisama's instructions!"
At the last minute, Wald-san said something that sounded like we might do something, so I joked with him, and he did his best to stop me. Well, since Wald-san is the star of the show today, we will follow his instructions!
~
Wedding Reception
Once we got into the reception hall, to say the least, we were bored.
We couldn't get close to the Ruven family because they all seemed busy, and we couldn't find anyone we knew.
"What do we do?"
""N~ over there~?""
"Ah, yeah. That might be good."
There were refreshments available in the reception hall, so I decided to grab a bite to eat with the kids there.
""Ah!""
"What is it, Allen, Elena?"
""Oniichan, that~""
"N?—Eh!?"
While picking snacks, Allen and Elena noticed something.
I looked in the direction they were pointing and saw Sajesh Krantz, who had professed his love for Wald-san and who, of course, had looked upon me as an enemy, as a love rival.
It was hard to imagine that he had been invited to the wedding party, but he must have blended in since admission was not restricted.
""He's crying~""
"... Yeah. His tears are already flowing out like waterfall~"
Sajesh was sobbing as he looked at Wald-san.
I don't have a very good impression of this guy, but the way he cried just blew that impression out of the water, and I was stunned.
""Going?""
"Eh? Going, you mean to Sajesh? Eh, are we really going!?"
My intention was to pretend I had not seen him and walk away, but the children were different.
They took my hand and headed in the direction of Sajesh.
""Are you okay?""
"Y, you guys are from that time..."
""Sad?""
"O, of course! Ugh~..."
Sajesh opened his eyes in surprise when he noticed us, but the tears continued to flow.
He had been crying while standing earlier, but he crouched down with his face down.
""There, there."
As Allen and Elena approached Sajesh, they patted his head in a comforting manner.
He was crouching down, so his head was in the right place~
"I, I loved him. I really did."
""Yeah, yeah.""
"You really liked~"
"Wald Nii, didn't you~"
The children listened to Sajesh claim with good intentions.
"Ugh~..."
""Cry it out~""
I had nothing to do but watch the three of them quietly.
"... Takumi-san."
"Ah, Isaac-san, long time no see."
Then Isaac-san, the third son of the Risner family who, like the Ruven family, looked after us, and a fellow knight colleague of Wald-san's, called out to me with a puzzled look on his face.
"I was afraid I wouldn't see you today because of the crowd."
Only a few representative Knights were present at the marriage ceremony. They were all older than Wald-san, so they were probably his bosses or Senior Knights. And there were many Knights at the reception, and I was told that Isaac-san would also attend the reception. Well, I couldn't find him before, though.
"I got in action immediately after finding him... but why! Why did you guys get in contact with Sajesh earlier than me!"
"Ah~... sorry?"
It seems that Isaac-san had found Sajesh and was acting to keep him from meeting us.
"Sajesh has not moved from the position I first saw him, so you must have contacted him on your own, correct?"
Since Sajesh is prohibited to have contact with us, it would be a problem if Sajesh approached us. So, I had to make it clear that it was us who approached him.
"And so... what kind of situation is this?"
"I don't know!"
"Takumi-san?"
"No, I really don't understand. The kids found Sajesh crying and said they were going to him, and they dragged me here."
"......"
"If I had to answer the question as I saw it, I would say that the children were trying to comfort him!"
The kids were still comforting Sajesh, who was still in tears.
Isaac-san looked at them to check them out again and rubbed his brow as he let out a sigh
"... Takumi-san, you didn't stop them?"
"There was no time to stop them. I mean, my kids would never voluntarily approach anything dangerous, so if it's not dangerous... Well, I guess it's fine~ I thought."
"......"
Isaac-san rubbed his brow again.
"Sajesh, isn't it about time you stopped crying?"
"Ugh..."
I call out to him, and Sajesh, who was squatting down and looked up at me.
Sajesh has an androgynous face. And when he looked up at me with a crying face, he looked like a small animal or something.
"That didn't work.—Isaac-san, what should we do about him?"
"What should we do, you ask... I wonder about that."
"Are you guys alright~?"
"Deputy Commander!"
While Isaac-san and I were wondering what to do, a Knight about the age of Matthias-san, whom we saw at the marriage ceremony, came over to us, lightly raising his hand. Apparently, he was the Deputy Commander.
"By Deputy Commander, do you mean that he is the second in command of the Knights Order after Felix-sama?"
"That's correct. You can go with that."
To go into more detail, Isaac-san said that there are three Deputy Commanders, and as such, the roles of the Deputy Commanders are divided into three: One who oversees the Knights of the Royal Guards, one who oversees the Dragon Knights, and one who oversees knights other than the Royal Guards and Dragon Knights.
"I am Reginald Vassar, who is in charge of the Royal Guards. We meet at last, Kayano-dono."
If he's in charge of the Royal Guards, then he must be Wald-san and Isaac-san's direct boss.
"It's an honor to meet you, Vassar-sama. As you know, I am Takumi Kayano. By all means, please call me Takumi."
"I will call you Takumi-dono then. You can call me Reginald. And you don't need to use honorific titles or honorifics."
Reginald-san seemed to be a friendly person.
"As you would expect, it is impossible for me to not use honorifics, so I will call you Reginald-san."
I should probably call him "Reginald-dono", but since I am not used to calling people like that, I will just call him "Reginald-san" as usual.
"By the way, what do you mean by 'we meet at last'?"
"I mean as it is. I have heard a lot about you because I am often involved with the royal family in my position. However, the opportunity to meet you in person has been difficult to come by. So today, I finally had the chance to meet you."
"From Tristan-san and others, huh~ I bet they told you some weird things about me."
I don't know what they were talking about or how I am being talked about, but since Reginald-san didn't seem to be wary of me, he doesn't seem to have a bad impression?
"Isn't that because you act funny?"
"Eh, that's rude. I'm just acting normal, okay?"
"I heard that what happened earlier in the place of worship was your doing, right?"
"... Ah."
You mean the fluttering flowers incident.
"I was so moved that my magic power just unconsciously leaked out of me. There was nothing I could do about that."
"Takumi-san... what did you do?"
"The flowers scattered on the floor suddenly floated up and fluttered about. It was as if God had blessed the event."
When Reginald-san explained what had just happened, Isaac-san looked at me as if to say, "What are you doing?"
"As I said, there was nothing I could do about it."
It wasn't me who did it, but Syl.
I really wanted to tell the truth, but I had to endure for the sake of a peaceful life. Endure.
"Well, it was a surprise, but it was a great performance. I think it's going to catch on."
"Hah-ha~ Well, I will practice making the flowers dance beautifully so that I can accept the requests anytime."
"That's good. When my daughter gets married, I will ask you to do it."
I don't know if he was serious or joking, but I knew that Reginald-san was an easy to get along with kind of person.
~
Wedding Reception 2
"Now, enough chit-chat, let's get to the matter at hand."
"Matter at hand?"
"Oh, come on, it's Sajesh Krantz. We can't just leave him like this."
"Oh, I nearly forgot."
Reginald-san, like Isaac-san, seemed to have rushed over to do something about Sajesh.
"Did you come all the way here for that, Reginald-san?"
"I got a request from Grunwald. He asked me to come over to you. Normally, I would have left it in the hands of my subordinates, but I couldn't let it ruin the big day for him."
It seems that Wald-san also noticed Sajesh and asked Reginald-san to take over for him, since he was unable to act himself.
"So, what's the situation, Isaac?"
"I was just checking with Takumi-san as to how this situation came about. But..."
Isaac-san, who was asked to explain about the situation, looked at the direction where the children and Sajesh were with a troubled look on his face.
"... It appears that the kids are comforting Krantz."
"That's right. Exactly that."
There was no backstory, really what they saw was what we got.
"As I told Isaac-san, it was us who came to Sajesh, he did not approach us."
"Can I ask you why you approached him yourselves?"
"Because the kids felt that they couldn't leave him alone, I guess? I was dragged over here, too."
"Hah? Why would they..."
Reginald-san's face turned to a look as if to say, "I don't understand their meaning!"
"Allen, Elena, how is Sajesh?"
""N~?""
"The tears~"
"Won't stop~"
While I was talking with Reginald-san, I took my eyes off Sajesh, so I checked with the children to see how he was doing, and it seemed that he had not yet stopped crying.
"I don't know how his tears can keep pouring out. He's going to get dehydrated at this rate~"
"Should we."
"Bring water~?"
"Wait a moment. Let's tell the waiter, they will bring it for you."
Isaac-san stopped Allen and Elena from going to get water and asked the waiter for water.
"Here, drink up~"
"Take your time~"
"Th, thank you..."
""Sure~""
The water soon arrived, and when the children receive their glass of water, they encourage Sajesh to drink.
"This is the opposite of 'taking care of' we all had in mind, no?"
"Hahaha~"
Reginald-san was smiling a little, looking at the children who were taking care of Sajesh, and Sajesh who was being taken care of.
"Wanna drink."
"Some more water?"
"I, I had enough."
""I see~ Then~""
"Wanna eat something sweet~?"
"There is lots over there, you see~?"
After giving him water to calm down, the children suddenly ask Sajesh to go to the refreshment corner.
"Allen-kun, Elena-san, let's go to the waiting room for a light meal instead of the refreshments."
""Waiting room~?""
"Yes, he cried a lot. It would be better for him to cool his eyes."
Isaac-san casually tried to take Sajesh out of the hall.
""What about sweets~?""
"Let's ask them to bring them over to the waiting room."
Allen and Elena looked at Isaac-san, then at me, and finally at Sajesh, nodding to each other as if agreeing on something.
""Can you stand~?""
"Y, yeah."
""Let's go then.""
The two of them then helped Sajesh up and walked towards the entrance of the venue, pulling him by the hand.
They must have accepted Isaac-san's suggestion and headed for the waiting room.
"As expected of you, Isaac-san! I guess this will pull him away from this place."
"Isaac, well done!"
"But... we haven't solved the root of the problem, have we?"
"That's true~ What do we do~"
Isaac-san was right, we were only able to move him away from the place, but the situation has not changed at all.
"'For now, let's go to the waiting room. Oh, you will go with us, won't you?"
"I can't just leave you like this, after all."
"Right."
I followed Reginald-san, Isaac-san and the children to the waiting room.
Then, when Sajesh had calmed down, the interrogation finally took place.
"So you're saying you came to take a last look?"
".. .Yes."
Sajesh seemed to have come for a last look with the intention of giving up his love for Wald-san once and for all after he got married. However, when he saw him, he was still overflowing with feelings of love for him. Moreover, he was confronted with the reality that his feelings could not be fulfilled because Wald-san was so happy beside his wife. As a result, he cried until a few minutes ago.
"And so, have you given up?"
"... Not completely, but I am ready to move on."
"I see. If you're going to leave without returning to the venue, I have nothing to say to you. What about you, Takumi-dono? If you want me to punish him, I can do that, too?"
"That won't be necessary."
"I see."
It was the children who were harmed by Sajesh's actions in the Gaya Forest. Since those children don't care about it, I won't ask for a punishment.
"U, umm, I'm sorry about what happened at... Gaya Forest. I know it's not something that can be forgiven with just an apology, but let me say this. I am truly sorry."
Sajesh apologized for the incident at the Gaya Forest.
From the expression on his face, it seemed that he was truly sorry.
"Allen, Elena, he's apologizing... what will you do?"
"Okay~"
"We forgive~"
"Eh? You are going to forgive me? Eh?"
Leaving the decision to forgive or not to forgive to the children, they were able to accept the apology in a relaxed manner.
I guess... they didn't care that much to begin with.
Sajesh himself, who apologized, was more confused by how easy it was.
"... That's way too anticlimactic~"
"Is this how it's supposed to end?"
Reginald-san and Isaac-san were whispering to each other with troubled expressions.
They seemed to be worried about whether it was okay to end things like this.
"Let's end this now. It's a celebration, and there's no need to go out of our way to make things bigger."
"That's true. Oh, and aside from today, do you want the Sajesh Krantz's contact ban to remain in place? Or do you want to retract it?"
We quickly put today's matters to end, and talked about the future.
"It makes no sense if my children approach him, so I'm fine with retracting it. Oh, and just so you know, if he approaches us again with hostility, I will return the favor."
"It's normal not to be friendly when the other party is hostile. That's fine."
That being the case, I decided to abolish the prohibition of contact from Sajesh's side.
"Right. May I introduce you to my subordinates, Takumi-dono?"
"By subordinates, do you mean the Knights?"
"Yeah, yeah. You have a lot of opportunities to meet with the Royalty, so I think it would be better to get to know them."
Sajesh left, and we returned to the reception hall, where Reginald-san was going to introduce us to his men (The Royal Guards) who came to the wedding reception.
Of course, there were knights that we knew like Najack-sama and Claudio-sama, and there were Knights that knew me and my children one way or another, but I got to know many of them throughout the day.
~
Gifts
After yesterday's wedding reception, the newlyweds had some time alone together, so we were to meet again this afternoon with Rosalie-san, who had married into the Ruven family. The entire Ruven family, except for Lucario-kun, who was napping, had gathered in the common room.
There were four sofas surrounding a table in the center of the room, with the couple and their family sitting on three of them and me and the children on the remaining one, creating a family reunion with one irregularity.
"Wald-san, Rosalie-san, congratulations again."
""Congratulations~""
"Ou, thanks."
"T, thank you very much."
We already said this yesterday, but we congratulated them once again.
"Wald-san, I know it's too early, but this is our gift to you. Please acce—"
"I don't want it."
"Haah!? What do you mean, Wald-san!?"
And I immediately tried to give him the congratulatory gift we had prepared, but... Wald-san immediately rejected it.
"I'm sure there's something absolutely outrageous in there, so I'm definitely not going to accept it!"
"Ehh!?"
I thought there might be a chance that he would receive it... and then return it immediately, but no way, he refused to receive it from the very beginning.
Perhaps surprised by Wald-san's argument, Rosalie-san, who was sitting next to him, had her eyes widened to the point of being almost as wide as they could be. On the contrary, the other members of the Ruven family, except for Wald-san that is, were in a watchful mode with happy expressions on their faces, as if Wald-san's statement was as expected.
"You can't say that~ Wald Niisan, you must accept it~"
"I won't accept even if you call me brother here!"
"Then, I won't call you like that anymore. I will revert to calling you Wald-sama!"
"Eh?"
When I declare that I will revert to the way I called him before, which took a lot to change, Wald-san made a surprised expression.
"My, oh my!"
"Oh dear!"
"Fufu."
Rebecca-san, Almeria-san, Rosalie-san who saw the exchange between me and Wald-san laughed in amusement.
"You two are such good friends~ Looking at you, you guys are like real brothers."
"Truly."
"Wald had a hard time being honest since he was a little kid, and he could be stubborn like that once in a while."
"Oh yes, he was."
"Oh my, isn't he stubborn from time to time, even now?"
"......"
When Matthias-san agreed with Rebecca-sam's words, Velio-san brought up the story about Wald-san when he was little. Then, Wald-san, perhaps embarrassed, covered his face with his hands and looked down.
""His ears are so red~""
"Allen, Elena, you cannot point that out."
""Can't~?"
"That's right. Not saying anything there was the correct move."
""Alright~""
"Takumi, shuddup!"
"Eh, me!?"
Wald-san was unreasonably angry with me.
"By the way, Takumi-san, may I ask what you have prepared for the celebratory gift?"
"Of course."
Rebecca-san brought the conversation back on track, and we returned to the celebratory gift we prepared.
"U, umm... you already gave me a very nice hair ornament, didn't you?"
Although Wald-san still refused to accept my offer, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to present our gift. But I was cut off by the reserved Rosalie-san's remark.
"That's a lovely one, isn't it? Let's wear it together again."
"Y, yes. Gladly."
"Oh my, Mother-in-law, please let me join in at that time."
"Elena, too~"
"Fufu, of course."
The relationship between mother-in-law and daughters-in-law in the Ruven family seems to be good.
"The hair ornament was just one of the gifts. There are others... First of all, there's this one. It's an accessory to yesterday's hair ornament."
The hairpin-like hair ornament was given yesterday, but the replacement ornament in a different color had not yet been given, so I first took it out of the Infinite Storage.
I was finally able to take out the first item~
"Oh my? This is a part of the hairpin, isn't it?"
"Yes it is. That hairpin has replaceable parts."
"Eh, is that so?"
"I can see the different colors of the stones. I guess you could change it according to your mood on the day. Takumi-san, you have created something amazing again, didn't you~"
"Yes, I never heard of such idea before."
Rebecca-san and Almeria-san raved about it.
"I wonder about that? I just made a suggestion, since Elena was having trouble choosing a color. As Rebecca-san said, you can use whatever color you want depending on your mood."
"Even so, usually the hair ornament in its entirety gets changed."
"... Well, that's true."
If you are a noble with a lot of money, you can probably own a number of hair ornaments. Normally, they wouldn't think of replacing parts to reuse one thing all over again~ Well, but it could become popular among the nobility and commoners with limited financial resources.
"Then, the next items."
Before I could be stopped, I took out the items one after another.
Next were a necklace and earrings made to match the hair ornament, a crystal blue bird obtained from the Dungeon of Colors, and a yellow butterfly flower.
"These are for Rosalie-san. And this is for Wald-san."
"Paper?"
I handed a piece of paper to Wald-san. On it was an inventory.
Orc King, Orc General, Armored Buffalo, Bloody Wolf, Evil Viper, Kraken, Worm, and so on. It listed the types of monsters, and said that he can have the meat of those monsters whenever he wants. Basically, I wrote down what I would call high quality, but I also mixed in some that were in bad stock, like worms.
Well, the problem is that this can only be given to them when we are staying at the Ruven residence.
"!!"
Wald-san gasped in surprise when he saw what is written on it.
"Wald, what is written on it?"
Wald-san asked by Velio-san, silently handed the inventory to him.
Velio-san tilted his head curiously and checked the inventory with Almeria-san.
"Haha!"
Velio-san let out a laugh and handed the inventory to Matthias-san and Rebecca-san.
"Oh my."
"Fufu."
Matthias-san and Rebecca-san laughed merrily, and the inventory was handed to Rosalie-san.
"... Eh? Wald-sama, this is not a joke?"
"That's right. It seems like a joke, doesn't it? But, Rosalie, in the case of these guys, it can't be a joke."
"Eh, then, they really can arrange for these things?"
"Rather that arrange for them..."
Wald-san glanced at us while muddying his words.
"We have~"
"Them all~"
I told Allen and Elena that I was going to give meat to Wald-san, so of course they know the contents of the inventory. So they got what Wald-san was implying and happily affirmed it.
Children don't like to sell meat, but they don't mind giving it away at all~
"I can give you any of them right away, so don't hesitate to tell me if there is something you would like to eat. Oh, how about a quick dinner tonight?"
"Allen thinks that Orc King would be a good choice!"
"Elena would like Evil Viper!"
"......"
Rosalie-san froze in surprise at our remarks.
~
Tolerance Level
"O, oi, Rosalie, are you okay?"
"Y, yes..."
"Really? Are you not feeling sick or something?"
"I am fine."
Wald-san called out to Rosalie-san, who had become absentminded, and looked to see how she was feeling.
"Takumi, Rosalie still can't tolerate your eccentricities, so you should be a little more careful."
"Calling them eccentricities is rude~"
""Eccentiwhat?""
"It means weird behavior. We didn't do anything like that, did we?"
""Didn't!"
"Wald Nii~"
"So rude~"
At first, Allen and Elena were puzzled, not understanding the meaning of what was said, but when they understood the meaning, they puffed out their cheeks and protested to Wald-san.
"Won't give."
"Any dragon meat."
"To Wald Niimon!"
And so they declared to Wald-san.
"Dragon meat!? You've given up on the wyvern, haven't you!?"
""Haven't given up!""
"Takumi!!"
"They are just saying it. I don't have any plans on accepting the Wyvern request. But that doesn't mean we have given up on dragon meat either."
"Oi!"
Sooner or later! Is certainly what I am thinking.
"But, when that happens, what to do~..."
"Oh my, what is the matter, Takumi-san?"
"You know, we still have other family members in our group, right? I was wondering how I should introduce them to Rosalie-san."
I should probably introduce Joule and the others, but I'm hesitating because I don't know what Rosalie-san's tolerance level is.
"""""Ah~..."""""
Everyone in the Ruven family, except Rosalie-san, understood exactly what I was talking about. They looked at each other and wondered what we should do.
"... Rather than keeping quiet and suddenly bumping into them, isn't it better to let her prepare her mind before introducing them?"
"Right~ I have told those kids that they are free to do as they please as long as they are on our property. I don't want to restrict them now."
"Then, let's tell her now."
In the end, we decided to tell Rosalie-san about Joule and the others.
"Rosalie, listen to me carefully."
"Y, yes!"
Seeing Wald-san with a serious expression on his face, Rosalie-san straightened her back and also listened with serious expression on her face.
"Takumi is truly outrageous person."
"Wald-san, you are being rude."
"Shuddup, Takumi! I'm only telling the truth. You be quiet for a moment and listen!"
"......"
I was about to speak up when Wald-san started to speak out of turn, but he was so blunt that I decided to just shut up and listen.
"Listen, Rosalie, Takumi has familiars."
"Is Takumi-san a Tamer, then?"
"Technically, they are Contracted Beasts that I contracted using Dark magic, so I am a little different from your standard Tamers, but we are the same in that use familiars."
"So you are not saying that I should be careful because they could be in our garden, or something, right?"
"Yeah, it's unlikely that his familiars will wander around here when Takumi isn't around. It's the species of his familiars that's the problem."
"... They must be of incredible species, then."
"Yeah, to put it bluntly, they are terrific."
Rosalie-san closed her eyes to meditate, and when she opened her eyes, she looked as if she had made up her mind.
"Wald-sama, go ahead. Please, speak."
"Fenrir, Celestial Tiger, Scarlet King Leo, Thunderhawk."
"......"
Rosalie-san froze again.
"Rosalie! Rosalie, are you okay?"
"Y, yes. Somehow..."
Rosalie-san managed to come to her senses as Wald-san shook her body.
"I am amazed. They are all incredible species, aren't they?"
"Right? If you had one of them, you'd get a lot of attention, but he's got four of them."
"There's a Forest Rat, toomon!"
"Pastel Rabbits as wellmon!"
It seems that the children did not like the fact that Wald-san spoke only about the four species that were A and S-rank.
"They are not the terrific kind, but the cute kind, right? It's not like I forgot about them."
""They are all cutemon!""
"... O, ou."
Wald-san was at a loss for a response to the six-year-old's assertion that a species that frightens even adults are cute.
""Oniichan, they are cute, right!?""
"Of course. Everyone is adorable and reliable."
The children are right, my Contracted Beasts are all cute kids.
"Well, Rosalie-san, what do you think? Are you sure you are okay with me showing you my kids?"
"Yes, I'm fine. You can go ahead, Takumi-san."
Since Rosalie-san said it was okay, I called Joule and the others, so that they could remember her.
(Oh! Is that person Wald-sama's bride?)
(Oh my, so you are introducing us to her as well!)
(That is great.)
(Ohh~ what a pretty person~)
(They make a great match!)
Joule and the others noticed Rosalie-san's presence and looked at her with great interest.
"Rosalie-san, this is Fenrir Joule, Celestial Tiger Feat, Thunderhawk Bolt, Scarlet King Leo Vector, and Forest Rat Mile."
"Oh my! How cute!"
"Then, the five Pastel Rabbits, Shiro, Pipi, Cha Cha, Reamu and Mimi."
"Fufu, how fluffy."
I handed Shiro to Rosalie-san, and she hugged her as if spellbound.
"Takumi, I have a favor."
Seeing Rosalie-san in such a state, Wald-san spoke to me with a more serious expression than ever before.
"If you want to capture Pastel Rabbits, Allen and Elena would be better suited for the job."
I had a vague idea of what he was asking, so I told him that he was asking the wrong person before he could state his request.
""Want one~?""
"Please."
""Can't be helped~""
Their faces were full of motivation with smiles on their face, though their little mouths were saying it with a sense of disapproval.
It appears that going to the forest to look for Pastel Rabbits in the near future has been decided on.
""What color would you like~?""
"Color? Wouldn't it be more difficult to find one based on a color?"
"Just in case?"
"Any wish?"
"Oh, if that's the case, I think I'll go with... blue. That color looks best on Rosalie."
""Roger that!""
Just in case... they said, but I'm sure Allen and Elena will manage to find a Pastel Rabbit in blue.
"Rather, are fine with just one?"
Before I knew it, Rosalie-san was eagerly playing with not only Shiro, but also the other five Pastel Rabbits.
Since she seemed to like fluffy things, one rabbit didn't seem to be enough.
"... I didn't know Rosalie liked fluffy animals~"
... It appears that Wald-san wasn't aware of her love of fluffy animals.
"If you can capture them, I'd like to have some more. Oh, and just so you know, I'll pay you well for the request fee."
"This can also be considered wedding gift, so I decline the request. But just so you know, I cannot make any guarantees."
"I am aware of that."
After that, everyone watched Rosalie-san who was crazy about fluffing for a while.
But then an incident occurred.
(I'm also worth petting!)
Perhaps jealous of the adored Pastel Rabbit, Vector suddenly turned around on the sofa and walked up to Rosalie, and for some reason, his body grew bigger.
~
Broad-minded People
"Vector!"
(N?... Ah~!)
When I hurriedly called his name to warn him, Vector showed a panicked look, as if he hadn't noticed that he was growing in size.
""""""!""""""
Although smaller than his original size because it was indoors... everyone in the Ruven family, who only knew Vector the size of a large dog, was startled and froze. One wrong move and panic could ensue~
(Ah~ Vector did it now~)
(He's getting scolded later.)
(There's nothing we can do to cover for him.)
(Geez~!)
Joule, Feat, Bolt, and Mile stared at Vector in dismay.
"Oh my! Incredible!"
However, Rosalie-san suddenly stood up and, no hesitation, hugged Vector.
"... Eh?"
(Ohh?)
I choked on my words at this unexpected turn of events.
Vector that was hugged was also startled, and his gaze wandered around.
(Ohh! Wald-sama's bride is one amazing person.)
(Indeed. It's not every day that someone is able to embrace Vector after seeing him for the first time.)
(Amazing. Very big guts.)
(I admire her!)
Joule and the others, who were impressed with Rosalie-san, were praising her.
"Fufu, it feels very nice."
(Right! Since Niichan shampoos my fur, it's pretty fluffy, isn't it?)
"Yes. It also smells very good."
(Riiight!)
Perhaps because he was so happy to be praised, Vector quickly calmed down and became friendly with Rosalie-san... Rosalie-san was a surprisingly gutsy person~
"Takumi! Explain what is going on!"
Then, Wald-san came to his senses and shouted at me to explain.
"Err... not only Vector, but also Joule and Feat... they are just reducing their size, as they are actually fully grown-up~"
"I never heard about this!"
"Well~ I thought it would be more peaceful if you thought they were pups~... so I left the misunderstanding as it was."
"Tell us! Isn't this important stuff!?"
"Indeed. I am regretting it very much right now."
I really do. I really wish I had just said it before. If I had, I wouldn't have shocked everyone.
"Then, Joule-chan and Feat-chan can also get bigger?"
(That's right, Mama. Wanna see?)
"Yes, I would like to see it."
(Alright.)
(Then, me as well.)
Joule and Feat, who were being held by Allen and Elena, quickly returned to their larger forms as soon as they landed on the ground.
(... What do you think, Mama?)
(... Aren't you scared?)
"My! My, oh my!"
Joule and Feat looked a little worried, seemingly worried that everyone will be scared by their appearance.
"I am not scared at all. You are very adorable!"
But instead of being scared, Rebecca-san happily walked up to Joule and Feat and hugged them as hard as she could.
"Yeah. We know that you guys are good kids. We won't be scared just because your bodies are bigger."
Matthias-san also walked up to Joule and Feat and patted their heads.
"Father, Mother, please let me pet them, too."
"I would like to as well."
Velio-san and Almeria-san also moved closer to the two animals to pet them.
"Vector, you are going to crush Rosalie."
(Wald-sama, it's okay! I am very careful!)
Wald-san also went to Rosalie-san's side and patted Vector.
Let's see... it seems that all of them accepted it easily.
""Everyone gets along~!""
"Yeah, that's right. They do."
I don't know if it's okay for me to say this, but... I wonder if it's safe to accept them so easily.
But well, I'm glad it all worked out~
"Takumi, you do not have any other secrets, do you?"
"... Eh?"
For a while, Joule's group and the Ruven family continued to interact with each other, but suddenly, Wald-san threw a word of confirmation to me. I reacted to that with all my might.
"... Oi?"
"Hahaha~"
Because of the way I reacted, Wald-san looked at me with suspicion.
As expected, I can't say that I'm from a different world, and that I'm also a God's retainer, and that my children are also God's children... so I laughed and covered it up.
"Oh my, Takumi-san, you are still hiding something?"
"Are you not going to tell us about it?"
"Not just yet..."
Rebecca-san and Matthias-san were clearly amused.
"Not now? Does that mean you will tell us when the time is ripe?"
"Yes, I think so... someday."
I don't know when that time will be, but... I hope one day, I can tell everyone~
"You!"
"Hah!"
Wald-san came up to me and rustled my hair roughly.
"I'm not going to let you go through it alone, whatever it may be, so make sure to let us know properly. We think of you as family, so you guys should consider us your family as well."
"......"
Wald-san's words made me cry involuntarily.
I tried my best to fit in with the world of Aetherdia. Well, there are many things that I've opened myself up to, but....
However, from the point of view of Wald-san and his family, there must be things that are obviously unnatural. I am very glad that they consider us family, even if that is the case.
"... Wald Niisan."
"What?"
"I have been thinking, and I really want to splurge more on your celebration. Is there anything you would like?"
"I don't need anything more!"
"No way. Please say that you want something."
Anyway, now I want to give something back!
So, for starters, I decided to increase Wald-san's wedding gift.
""Do you want us to get Dragon meat~?""
"No, I don't!"
"......"
"Takumi, don't look so troubled about this!"
As I was thinking about whether I should go dragon hunting like the children said, I was stopped by Wald-sama with great vigor.
""Then, sparkly stuff?""
"Gems? We don't have many kinds of gems, do we~"
The only gems we have are... pearls, crystals, and ruby gemstones? No, there was also onyx and tortoiseshell that we got from a dungeon. Oh, I remember there were some gems on the collars for Contracted beasts that Syl gave me!
"Hiking in the mountains?"
"Searching a dungeon?"
"I told you, you don't have to go anywhere! I mean, why are you trying to find it anyway? Normally, you would go to the store to buy it!"
""Ah, I see! Then, wanna go buy it?""
"I told you, you don't have to go! Ri, right, that's it! Pastel Rabbit! You're going to go find Pastel Rabbit for us, aren't you? That's enough!"
Wald-san was desperately trying to stop the kids.
At first, it was me against him, but before I know it, it's the kids against him~ That's so strange.
"Allen, Elena, let's go look for the Pastel Rabbits for now. We will see what else we can find. How about we leave the things we find in Wald-san's room?"
""Let's do that~""
"Oi!?"
Everyone giggled at the exchange between me, the children, and Wald-san and said, "You really are like brothers."
~
But the Pastel Rabbits...
""Let's search~!""
(((((Oh~!)))))
The day after the Ruven family get-together, we came to the forest to capture Pastel rabbits for Rosalie-san. Knowing that we were planning to stay in the Capital until the new year, Wald-san said that we could go looking for them when it was warmer, but the overly-excited children didn't want to wait. So we went out early the next day.
Well, I don't think the kids would be able to wait until after the new year to go out and play, or to take requests.
"Now then, which way do we go?"
""That way~!""
The direction to go is, as always, the direction Allen and Elena want to go.
"Speaking of which, are you looking for blue Pastel Rabbit?"
"Silver and."
"Red would be nice."
"Silver and red?"
"For Wald Nii and."
"Rosalie Neesama."
"Ah, you are talking about the two's hair color."
""Yeah!""
Silver and red Pastel Rabbits, huh~ It would certainly feel like Pastel Rabbits picked especially for those two with those colors...... Is there such a thing as a silver-colored Pastel Rabbit, though?
""Ah, will look for blue, too~""
"N? So you are bringing back three Pastel Rabbits for Wald-san and Rosalie-san?"
""Yeah!""
Well, keeping Pastel Rabbits doesn't take much effort, and they don't require much money for food, so three rabbits should be no problem.
"I hope we find them."
""We will!""
"... Haha, that's right~"
The children's enthusiasm was truly amazing. I felt overwhelmed.
(Hey, hey, are you going to pick herbs today, too?)
""We are~""
(Oh my, you two are such hard workers~)
Although they have not been asked to do so, the children seem to be planning to collect medicinal herbs as well.
(Niichan, Niichan, will there be any of those? Mushrooms buried in the snow.)
"Oh, you mean Snowbelow mushrooms? I don't think there are any around here, because they only grow where the snow is deep enough."
Since there is only a thin layer of snow around here, we would have to go further into the mountains to find Snowbelow mushrooms.
(Ehh~ Allen, Elena, let's go deeper into the mountains. Remember, we found lots of Pastel Rabbits in a cave before, so we may find a lot of Pastel Rabbits there again~)
Maybe because he found Snowbelow mushrooms delicious, Vector seemed to be eager to go and pick them.
""N~?""
(I don't want to sell them too much, but if we pick a lot of them, we can use them to complete requests and stuff, right? Niichan said they are rare mushrooms!)
""Sell them~?""
(We will pick a lot and sell only a little.)
It is not often that Vector, who usually hates to sell food, proposes to sell them.
Is he so eager to go pick Snowbelow mushrooms that he proposed to sell them?
(Niichan, those mushrooms can be sold, right?)
"Well, they will sell, and there will definitely be requests for them."
As I recall, there seems to be a request every year for Snowbelow mushrooms, but not many people are able to accomplish it. They're hard to find mushrooms. The Guild would definitely appreciate it if we fullfiled the request.
""N~""
(Look, didn't you two want to raise your ranks?)
Vector was trying very hard to persuade Allen and Elena. It really was a rare sight.
(Hey~ Allen, Elena, please~)
""Hm~m.""
(Right, right, let's bring it as a present for Wald-sama's bride!)
""Ohh! Let's go get them!""
(Yay~)
When Vector brought up Rosalie-san, Allen and Elena, who seemed reluctant, immediately changed their opinions, and Vector's wishes were granted.
So we decided to head for the top of the mountain, where there was a lot of snow.
""A little more?""
"Yes, I think a little deeper would be better."
As we climbed the mountain, the snow gradually got deeper and deeper, and as expected, the children found it hard to walk, so I put them on the back of Feat who turned bigger.
""So much snow~""
"Yeah. I wonder if this is deep enough, I think there might be Snowbelows around here."
Then we stopped climbing at a depth roughly below my knees.
(I will look for them!)
Vector immediately smelled the area and started looking for the Snowbelow mushrooms.
(Here~!)
Then, he immediately seemed to have found something. Well, it's probably a Snowbelow.
He plunged head first into the snow, and dug into the snow vigorously.
(Found it~!)
It seems that he has successfully found the first Snowbelow.
"Oh, that's quite an acceptable size."
Vector found a Snowbelow mushroom about 10 centimeters in diameter.
The more snow that accumulates on top of the Snowbelow, the bigger and tastier it becomes. At this size, I'd say it's about... the bottom of the average tier.
(A little smaller than the ones we picked last year?)
"Well... I guess so. But, it will still taste good."
The average size of the Snowbelow mushrooms we picked last year was 14 to 15 centimeters. The largest was 18 centimeters, I think. Compared to that, this one was certainly smaller. But, well, they taste good even at this size.
(Muu~... Niichan! Let's go higher!)
Joule didn't say that to agitate the Vector, but he apparently didn't like that it was smaller than last year's.
"The ones found around here are good enough."
(No way! I want to find a bigger one!)
"......"
Vector was now completely on fire.
"I'm going to have a hard time climbing higher than this."
(Then, you guys stay around here! I'm going higher!)
"......"
I tried to tell him that it would be tough to climb higher even for him, but the Vector showed no sign of stopping.
"Ah~ right... Bolt, Mile, can you guys go with Vector?"
(Yes, leave him to us!)
(Alright! We will look after him!)
Vector is rather often left alone and free, but somehow I felt it was dangerous today, so I decided to attach Bolt and Mile as his guardians. Both Bolt and Mile seemed to have read my intention, and gladly accepted my request.
"Vector, you must stay close to Bolt and Mile."
(Got it!—Mile, quickly get on!)
(Gee~ Calm down a little, Vector!)
I gave my permission, and Vector hurriedly picked Mile up on his back and ran toward the summit.
(Then, Aniue, I'm off as well.)
"Ah, this, take this!"
As Bolt rushed to chase after the two animals, I hurriedly handed Bolt a magic bag.
(Will they be okay?)
(I hope he doesn't do something anything foolish like melting all the snow on the mountain...)
"... Eh?"
The three of them quickly disappeared from sight, and I shuddered at the words muttered by Feat.
"Bolt, Mile, it's up to you."
As that was something I could see happening, I prayed to Bolt and Mile to return safely.
I prayed for them to come back safe and sound, without causing any disasters!