Interlude: A Date Interrupted
“Congratulations!”
“Congratulations, you two! I wish you all the best!”
“You better not make your new wife cry, Lyon!”
“May you two be blessed with happiness!” Celebratory clapping filled the air. In the center of all the noise stood Lyon, a knight of Belfast. A little embarrassed, he beamed happily, standing next to his former fiancee. Indeed, she was now his wife. His wife was Olga, a foxgirl.
Lyon was bedecked in a splendid snow-colored tuxedo, while Olga wore a pure white wedding dress.
I had designed both of their outfits using references I had found online. Then I’d asked Zanac, the clothing merchant, to sew them. The two both had great figures, so they filled out the clothes nicely. I was honestly a little jealous.
The wedding was being held at Lyon’s parents’ house... in other words, General Leon’s villa. More specifically, in the Blitz estate’s courtyard.
The bride and groom’s families, all of Lyon’s fellow knights, and their friends from Mismede had all gathered to see them wed.
I’d opened up a portal to invite the Mismede guests over. Well, I suppose this could be called a success.
The newlyweds’ new home was within walking distance of the wedding venue. It was a nice house, but a bit too small to hold a grand affair like this. Which is why the wedding was being held at the groom’s parents’ villa.
The party was held buffet style in the courtyard. I’d attended their wedding not as the grand duke of Brunhild, but as the couple’s friend.
With me was Yumina, Elze, Linze, Yae, and Lu. Lu didn’t really know either the bride or the groom, but I didn’t want her to feel left out, so I brought her along too.
The guests all chatted amicably with each other. One of them broke off from the crowd and headed toward me.
“Your Highness, I humbly thank you for everything you’ve done for the bride and groom.”
“Don’t mention it. Besides, I’m here today not as a duke, but as their friend.”
The grey-suited gentleman bowing to me was Olba, the merchant. He was Olga’s father. His build was as sturdy as always, and his fox ears and tail were twitching slightly.
But what caught my attention were the two women standing behind Olba. They were both foxgirls, and they looked to be in their late thirties. Though she had golden hair instead of silver, one of the ladies resembled Olga. Was she maybe...?
As I shifted my gaze over to them, Olba beckoned them forward.
“Ah, let me introduce you to my family. Arisa, Irma, this is the grand duke of Brunhild.”
“I am Olba Strand’s wife, Arisa Strand. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Your Highness.”
“Similarly, I am his wife, Irma Strand. Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for our daughter.”
So they were Olba’s wives. I was surprised to find out that he had two, though!
“Irma is the mother of Olga and Arma. Arisa is the mother of my eldest son, Ikusa.” So the golden-haired Irma was the mother of Olga and Arma. No wonder they looked so similar.
Meanwhile, Arisa was the mother of Olga’s older brother. Said older brother was apparently studying commerce in Roadmare, and hadn’t been able to make it to the wedding.
“So you had two wives, huh?”
“Hahaha. I’d say that’s not too many, really. Many of my merchant acquaintances have as many as five wives and eight mistresses, you know.” Polygamy seemed to be completely fine in Mismede. Though it seemed the wives were ranked in a hierarchy.
It seemed polygamy was acceptable in Belfast as well, as long as you held a rank of baron or higher. Of course mistresses didn’t count, so even if you were a commoner you could keep plenty so long as you had the funds to support them. Which meant you had to be a wealthy merchant, basically.
Incidentally, although Lyon’s father was a baron, since he was the second son, he wouldn’t get to inherit the title. So Olga would be his only wife.
He could still keep mistresses, but knowing him, I doubt he would. He was head over heels for Olga.
“Now that I think about it, if you hadn’t helped set the two of them up, this might never have happened. You have my thanks for giving us ties to such an influential family as well.” Olba spoke earnestly as he watched his daughter and son-in-law happily entertain a crowd of friends. Behind Olga stood her younger sister, Arma, carrying a flower basket. Arma looked happy as well.
“Oh yes, I almost forgot. For their wedding present, I constructed a hot spring inside their house. Once the ceremony’s over, you should give it a try. It draws its water from a source in Belfast, and it does wonders for exhaustion.”
“Hoho... a hot spring you say?”
“My, how wonderful!”
“Let’s have a little soak on our way back, dear!”
Olba’s wives seemed more excited about the spring than he did. Even a rich family didn’t have many opportunities to enjoy hot springs. Doubly so for one from Mismede.
As Olba was the bride’s father, he still had to go around and formally greet all of the other guests. After a few more minutes of talking he took his leave and started going around the courtyard.
“He looked really happy.”
“It’s his daughter’s wedding, why wouldn’t he be happy?”
As I replied to Yumina I mused on how things might have been different if Olga’s parents had been less willing to let her go.
I’d like to think I wouldn’t become the kind of father that goes on about how they’d never let anyone have their daughter, but who knows. I wasn’t confident that I wouldn’t be too doting.
Oh, looks like it’s the groom’s parents coming over this time.
“Hey Sir Tou... my apologies, it’s Your Highness now, isn’t it? Anyway, thank you for all that you’ve done for our foolish son.” Lyon’s father, General Leon, humbly bowed his head to me.
“Oh please, don’t. I’m here as a friend, you can just talk to me like you always have.”
“Is that so? Then I’ll take you up on that offer, but just for today. I never dreamed you would rise up to the position of royalty. Ah, but if you’d married the princess, you could have become the King of Belfast too. I suppose regardless of your decision, it was always possible you’d be a leader.”
It’s true that was always a possibility, but the situation had changed a lot now.
I had my own country to run, and though I hadn’t made it public yet, I was engaged to Yumina.
And since it seemed Belfast’s queen had hidden herself from the public eye for some time, it was very possible that a proper successor would be born soon.
If a son was born, they wouldn’t need me. But, if the new child was a girl, any guys Yumina gives birth to would become the heir to Belfast. Which would make any son born from the other four girls the heir to Brunhild.
There was a mountain of problems I still needed to think about. I hadn’t even gotten married yet. I really shouldn’t be worried about kids.
“Father! You can’t speak so casually to the ruler of a country...” I heard a reproachful voice from behind the general. I turned to see a tall man in his late twenties sporting the same moustache as Leon. I felt like the only non-moustached guy in the world. But if he called Leon his father, then he must have been...
“Oh yes, this would be your first time meeting him, Lord Touya. This is Shyon, Lyon’s older brother. He’s a member of the army’s first division. Even though he’s more skilled with the sword, he’s a pathetic fellow who let his younger brother get married before him.”
“Will you give that a rest already?! ...It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Your Highness, the Grand Duke of Brunhild. My name is Shyon Blitz, a soldier in the army’s first division. Thank you so much for attending my little brother’s wedding ceremony.”
Shyon then bowed to Yumina, who was technically his boss; Lu, the princess of Regulus; and even to Elze and the others. It was obvious he shared his brother’s straight-laced attitude. Or rather, they’d both inherited it from their father.
“I can’t wait to see what my grandkids will look like. If I get a grandson, I’m going to train him myself. Imagine what someone with beast blood in them could do with my Fire Fist technique. He’d become the best martial artist in Belfast for sure!” Hey old man, rein it in before you turn from a doting parent to a doting grandparent. I wondered if the family would end up being alright.
Though it was true that their children would have beast blood in them and therefore be stronger than regular humans... I get the feeling even if their first child was a girl, General Leon would still try to teach her martial arts.
“Oh yes, didn’t you establish a knight order in Brunhild as well? Next time you have the opportunity, why don’t we do a joint training session with our knights and yours? I’m sure it’ll be good practice for both sides.”
“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. My units are still new to being knights, so they’re not very good at coordinating their movements yet. Though I’d say their individual strengths are pretty high.”
“Hmm, it’s true just strength isn’t enough. But coordination between troops isn’t something that can be forged in a day. You’ll need a lot of training for that... Have you tried group drills?”
“You have a point... Maybe I should have more large-scale mock battles. They may end up having to fight large bandit groups or the like, so...”
“Hey, you two. Do you think you could talk about politics some other time? You do realize this is a wedding, right?”
Yumina interrupted our conversation. She looked rather fed up with us. Though her annoyance was definitely justified. We probably shouldn’t have been talking about fighting and death during a wedding. It soured the mood...
“A-Anyway, I’ll contact you about the details later.”
“V-Very well. That seems wise. Now then, Your Highness. We’ll be taking our leave.”
General Leon and Shyon awkwardly hurried away from us and went over to the knights’ table.
“Being enthusiastic about your work is a good thing, but could you forget about it while we’re here at least?”
“Sorry, the conversation just sort of went in that direction. Plus his idea was interesting, so, you know...” Being scolded by Lu, of all people, I couldn’t help but let a reluctant smile coat my face.
“I thought it was a pretty good suggestion, to be honest. Joint training sounds like it’d be a blast.”
“To tell the truth, I also thought the same, I did.” Elze and Yae spoke their opinions bluntly with reluctant smiles of their own, whilst exchanging glances with each other. Well, these two were just that type of people, really.
“Touya, shouldn’t you be making preparations for your speech? It’s scheduled for pretty soon, isn’t it?” Linze reminded me of my next role. I’d almost totally forgotten about it. Since I was the grand duke of an entire country — small as it was — that technically made me the most important person in attendance. Because of that, I’d been asked to give a speech for the newly married couple.
Due to the fact that I was still somewhat unfamiliar with this world’s customs, I had asked Kousaka to prepare a standard celebratory speech for the wedding on a paper script, but...
When I checked my coat’s inner pocket, the only thing there was my good old reliable smartphone.
I checked my other pockets for the script containing the speech, alas... Even after checking my coat’s outer pocket, the pocket in my pants, and the inside of my [Storage] spell, the paper containing the speech was nowhere to be found...
Eh? Huh? What in the...?
“...What’s the matter?”
“...I think I’ve lost the paper with my speech on it...”
“What?!” The girls all yelled in unison.
Eh? Huh?! Did I accidentally drop it somewhere?! H-Hang on a minute! Without that script, I’m in some seriously deep shit! I can only remember bits and pieces of it, and that’s hardly gonna help me here!
“Touya, sis says everyone’s in place, and they’re all waiting for you to stand up on the platform to give your speech!” Arma came up to me and greeted me with a smile as bright as the sun. All I could do was respond with a stiff, forced smile and reply with “I. Will. Be. Right. There.”
“Touya, just remember! All you need to do is congratulate them! Give them words that celebrate the occasion! That’s all they want from you!”
“Y-Yeah, you’re right.”
“You absolutely cannot say anything about ‘growing apart from each other,’ ‘a ravine growing between people,’ or ‘how all things eventually come to an end.’ Don’t mention anything such as that which may invite misfortune! You understand what I am saying, do you not?!”
“Huh? Ah, I get it. Yeah, you’re right. I’ll keep that advice in mind.”
This is bad. Very bad. At this rate I’m likely to fumble my words and say things I probably really shouldn’t... Though at the same time, I can’t exactly just stand up and say “Congratulations to the bride and groom! Lyon, Olga, I wish you happiness in your new married life!” because that feels way too impersonal...
It’s not like I could just say nothing, either. That’d be too rude! What was the standard practice for a wedding celebration? Should I break out into song like somebody’s uncle who showed up out of nowhere but everyone loves anyway? No, no, no. Rejected. I’d be way too embarrassed to do something like that. What else is there...?
“Oh yeah.” In that moment, I had a flash of brilliance. In my old world, there was a little something special of a standard tradition for weddings. Normally I wouldn’t be able to do that kind of thing myself, but luckily for me I had That Magic to help me out here.
“Sorry, Arma. Can you ask them to wait for just ten more minutes? I need time to make certain preparations, you see.”
“Eh? Umm, well, okay. I’ll ask them to wait a little longer.” Arma left in a dash heading back to the others.
Alright, time to get this show on the road.
I began my search for certain people whom I was sure would be amongst the crowd for this occasion.
“Ahem. I stand here today as Mochizuki Touya, the grand duke of Brunhild. To Lyon and Olga, I wish you all the best in your marriage on this day.” I made use of my Null spell, [Speaker], I made sure that my voice would reach all those present in the garden. There appeared to be some commotion among some guests present who were unaware of my position as the grand duke of a country, but I continued my speech in spite of that.
“From now on, these two will be building a family of their own. For this joyous occasion, I would like to present to you the image of a wonderful family that they may one day become themselves.” Lyon and Olga looked at each other, seeming puzzled by my words.
Keeping my eyes on them, I stepped down from the platform and cast my Null spell [Mirage].
What appeared upon the stage was the image of a young, yet great man. He was holding a newborn baby aloft, letting out a yell of joy. By his side was a woman smiling softly in joy, along with a young boy standing beside them.
The baby held aloft by the young man was letting out innocent, joyous laughter.
“...That’s me.”
“Eh?” Lyon let out a quiet whisper, which Olga overheard.
“...That baby is me, when I was just born. My brother... and my late mother, they’re both there. The one holding me is my father, back when he was still young...” Lyon shifted his gaze over to his father, General Leon. Leon himself was looking straight ahead, entranced by the image before him.
The scene being displayed abruptly changed to a new scenario. This time there was a slim, fox-eared young man gazing lovingly into a cradle with a sleeping baby in it.
“Father...?” The young Olba gently poked the cheeks of the baby, and a gentle smile rose to his face. Irma, in the bed nearby, giggled at the sight.
Olba and Irma were likewise both captivated by the image before them.
Though the image itself was an illusion, the events themselves reflected actual events from the past. Just earlier, I had talked to General Leon, Shyon, Olba, Irma, Arisa, and two of their acquaintances, and requested that they let me see all of what they remembered of these events through my [Recall] spell. I then used those memories to recreate the image being projected upon the stage.
The significant events of the lives of the two young versions of Lyon and Olga began to play out one after another before the audience, accompanied by some fitting music.
The fact that Lyon was born with a weak body. The first time that he unwillingly took up sword training. The time he went fishing with his older brother. The time he got into a huge argument with his father. The time when his mother passed away. The time he persuaded his father to let him become a Royal Knight instead of a soldier in the standing army. The extremely strict training he undertook and overcame, becoming a splendid member of the knight order...
The fact that Olga was a tomboy as a child. The time she returned home late and was scolded by her mother for it. The time that she was overjoyed when her father brought back souvenirs from a far-off country. The time when her younger sister was born. The time when their whole family went on a trip together. The time that Olga studied and studied and did all that she could, before being accepted into the service of the palace. The time her family held a congratulatory party for her after being accepted into the palace...
The reflected memories of both families softly faded away, leaving behind an image of both Lyon and Olga as they were today. An image of the two smiling happily together, and both of their families congratulating them on the event.
And thus, the illusion softly and slowly faded out now that the story was over.
I stepped up onto the stage once more, and spoke to the two through my [Speaker].
“I hope that the love your families both poured their hearts into raising you will be passed on to you both, so that your children might grow up in a similarly wonderful family household. I believe, from the bottom of my heart, that the two of you will do this without my needing to tell you. I would like to present only words of celebration on this wonderful occasion to the both of you. With this, I end my speech in honor of the married couple. I wish you all the best in your new life together.” Having finished my speech, I gave a bow. Everyone gathered immediately broke out into applause at my presentation. It made me feel pretty embarrassed.
I shifted my gaze to the bride and groom to find that both of them had broken down into tears. I wondered if maybe I’d overdone it a bit... Olga was hugging her mother, Irma, crying in her arms.
As I stepped down from the stage, Olba and General Leon both stood forward and bowed before me.
“You have my heartfelt gratitude for giving such a wonderful gift to us all.”
“Likewise, my thanks to you, Touya. You’ve given us the greatest words of celebration that anyone ever could have.” I had mixed feelings about the situation. I couldn’t really tell them that I’d lost the actual script that had been prepared for me, and that I came up with this idea on the spot... But, well, they all seemed to be happy about it, so I was just glad they liked it.
After all that, the only thing left was the final words from the bride and groom.
As they stepped up to the stage, I cast [Speaker] on them one more time.
“Everyone... Today, we’ve taken the first step in our new life together. I’m thankful beyond words for all your blessings and words of celebration. To be honest, I am still inexperienced in many ways, but I would be extremely glad for you to continue to support us as we set off down a new path together. Thank you all, every one of you here!” A warm applause followed as the bride and groom bowed up on the stage before all those present.
“Once the ceremony is over, the grand duke of Brunhild himself has privately reserved his game room for us! To all those present who have no pressing matters to attend to, I extend an invitation to you all to join us there if you would like!” The entire crowd raised their voices in excitement and anticipation. From there, I cast a [Gate] and fixed the location to the game room in my castle in Brunhild.
In the game room, the Blitz family maid and the Strand family employees had come to provide assistance for the guests.
They had already prepared mountains of food and drinks on the tables for all the guests, in preparation for the afterparty.
Normally the afterparty of a wedding would only include close friends and relatives and the like... Although I’d already learned time and again that relying on common sense from my old world was useless over here.
“Oho. So this is Brunhild’s rumored game room, is it?”
“There are many things of great interest all around me. Truly a fascinating place.” And so, the bride and groom’s parents came to join in the afterparty.
General Leon looked ready to play until he collapsed, meanwhile Olba’s instincts as a merchant were thrown into overdrive at the sight of it all.
What followed was an explosion of merrymaking hijinks as everyone present ran around having the time of their lives. Between all the drunken antics and folks playing games, the whole place was as lively as it ever could have been.
After a while, a number of guests left for home through my [Gate]. Most of them were young women. As they were leaving, a number of men came forward saying that they would ‘escort the ladies home.’ One such man was Shyon — Lyon’s older brother — who came forward to escort a particularly beautiful young lady home. He was a smooth player.
As the clock struck ten, the bride and groom decided to rest for the night. I had already prepared a guest room for them further away in the other end of the castle. It was the first night of their marriage, so, well, even I knew the implications of what came next. A number of the guests wished to spend the night in the castle, too, so I directed them to a different area of guest rooms. Naturally, aside from family members and married couples, I made sure that the men and women’s guest rooms were set apart from each other for obvious reasons.
After partying well into the early hours of the morning, a number of the guests woke up with hangovers. I had made a tactical retreat the moment I saw my chance, but apparently General Leon and Olba had kept drinking with each other for the longest time, until they retreated to their own guest rooms where they immediately collapsed into their beds and fell asleep in no time at all. Lyon and his new wife left early in the morning to their family home. I wished them well.
It was a tense time setting it all up, but it all worked out. After a while, I was surprised to learn that a trend in Belfast began where people partied far into the night and had fun after a wedding.
“Let us deepen our love.”
“Come again?” I froze at Yumina’s sudden exclamation. What in the world was she thinking, saying something like that out of nowhere? I would’ve at least liked to eat my breakfast in peace and quiet for once.
“The thought came to me after seeing that wedding ceremony the other day. I would like our wedding to be just as beautiful and display our overflowing love for each other. For that, I believe we need to get to know each other better, connect with each other on a deeper emotional level, and deepen our love for each other.” In contrast to Yumina whose eyes were sparkling with a spellbound gaze, all I could do was give my best effort to return her gaze with a forced smile. I understood what she was saying, and I also believed that it was an important step in furthering our relationship, but, well, my embarrassment was the foremost emotion that seized me in that moment.
Ignoring my feelings completely, a certain person leaped up from their chair at the dining table. That person was none other than Lu.
“A wonderful idea, Yumina! I had been thinking the same for the longest time! We really must deepen our bonds of love with Touya!”
“Exactly!”
“Indeed!” The two princesses leaped up and embraced each other in their mutual understanding. It should, by all rights, have been a charming scene to watch, but something about the whole situation made me feel very anxious and uneasy.
“Err... What, exactly, did you have in mind?” Linze, her face completely red, inquired this of Yumina, while keeping her gaze locked onto me. Elze and Yae had both stopped eating their meals partway through and were also gazing over at the princesses.
“Why, a date, of course!”
“A date?! I know of dates! It’s where a man and a woman who are close to each other go around many places outside together!”
“That’s right. It mainly involves going around having meals together, going shopping together, watching plays in theaters together and such. By which it’s an event which deepens the intimacy and emotional bonds of those who are on the date together.” Yumina gave the excited Lu a brief explanation of what a date would entail.
Deepen our intimacy...? I mean, I’m already engaged to everyone, so I don’t really know if a date’s gonna do anything to deepen our intimacy any more than it already is.
“As a matter of fact, Touya has been neglecting us far too much lately. Are you that type of person? The kind of man who would catch and keep a fish without ever feeding it?”
“Erk...”
“I-I feel the same! Like yesterday, I didn’t get to see Touya even once after we’d finished our breakfast meals.”
“I, too. That is... I have been feeling rather... Lonely, lately... I have.” Urk. It was true that I’d been running around all over the place doing this and that, not having much time to spend with the girls. I felt like I should reflect on that and try to make it up to them somehow.
It may very well have been true that I’d been taking advantage of their good will and running off doing my own things instead. Still, I did love these girls. I wanted to be with them forever, and I wanted to make them all as happy as I possibly could. In spite of that, I hadn’t been putting in enough effort for that.
Still, a date? A date... Even if we went on one, there still weren’t many places in Brunhild where we could go out and enjoy ourselves on a date... I could take them to the Silver Moon Inn, or a cafe somewhere, but that was about all I could think of on that front. As for clothes shopping, there was always Zanac’s store or Olba’s Company.
Even if we went shopping, we could only really visit three or four stores. Would they really be satisfied with just that?
“It’s a bit more than just that. I want to go out with Touya, and make precious memories together so that one day, when we’re older, we can happily look back on those memories, on things like ‘We did do something like that, didn’t we?’ or ‘Something like that did happen, didn’t it?’, and I want to be able to reminisce about such things with Touya as we grow older and older and make more and more wonderful memories together.” That was right... Yumina was absolutely right. Besides, my [Gate] wasn’t just limited to Brunhild, it could take us just about anywhere we wanted now, be it other countries or wherever. If I didn’t make use of that ability now, then when would I?
“...Alright, then how about this. For today, we’ll all go out together on a date. We’ll visit lots of places and do a whole bunch of fun things together.” The moment I spoke those words, everyone’s faces lit up in smiles. In that very moment, I decided I wanted to protect those smiles forever.
“Now that that’s decided, we must make suitable preparations!” Lu’s announcement seemed to have flipped a switch in everyone, as they began devouring their breakfast at an amazing speed before clearing away their plates and heading straight back to their own rooms. I could understand that they were excited about it, but if you eat your breakfast that fast it could be bad for your digestive system.
As for me, I went to visit Kousaka to let him know that I had to change our planned schedule to another day as an important matter had come up. Fortunately, the work we’d had planned only involved things like marking the districts of the town and inspecting land that could be used for farming, so I figured it should be fine.
I sat out on the terrace enjoying the wonderful tea that our butler Laim had prepared as I waited for the girls, when suddenly I heard a stampede of footsteps heading right in my direction.
“Sorry for the wait.”
“...” Gazing upon the sight of the girls before me, I very nearly spilled my tea everywhere.
Everyone’s outfits were drastically different than usual.
Yumina was dressed in a cardigan with a large collar, a tiered skirt, and black tights.
Lu wore a jumper skirt, and a blouse with a ribbon on the front.
Elze had decided to go with a blouse, with a long, knitted cardigan over it, as well as a culotte skirt and black tights.
Now Linze, she had gone with a classic dress with an embroidered flower pattern around the collar, wearing a cardigan over the top, and kneesocks for her legs.
Amongst all of this, Yae’s outfit was the one that surprised me the most. She kept her ponytail as it was, but she wasn’t in her usual hakama, or in fact any Eashen clothing at all — Yae was outfitted in a hooded blouson jacket and knee-length trousers. She wasn’t wearing her usual zouri either, but rather fashionable shoes instead.
None of their outfits looked like fashion that was common in this world at all.
“Those clothes...”
“We each had Zanac make them for us specifically for this sort of occasion. We ordered them specially once we learned that you’d come up with the designs for them, Touya.” I certainly had given such clothing designs to Zanac by way of my [Drawing] skill, but I honestly hadn’t expected the debut of those designs to happen like this.
“So... H-How do I look?”
“Eh? Ah, yeah. You look really beautiful. Those outfits actually look really great on all of you. They really suit you.” Elze asked me while blushing, and I just answered reflexively. But it was true that I thought they all looked really cute in those clothes. I never would’ve thought that a simple change of clothes would leave such a deep impression on me.
“Well then, let us depart on our date! Oh, but before that...” As if taking the lead for something, Lu turned to face the other girls and clenched her fist.
Following her lead, the rest of the girls also each clenched one of their fists with a sharp look in their eyes.
“Rock, paper... Scissors!”
“That was a draw, so... Go!”
Umm... What exactly are you refined ladies up to, playing rock-paper-scissors...?
“I have won!”
“I-I won, too!” It seemed like Lu and Linze had won at something, but... What was this all about? Just as I was wondering that, the answer came to me without warning. Rushing up to my side, Lu and Linze each wrapped themselves around my arms.
“Just remember that we’re going to be switching after a while, you two.”
“Such regret, regret indeed...”
“Hey! Aren’t you clinging to him a bit too much?!”
Oh, now I get it. Hrmm... On the one hand this is a very pleasurable experience, but on the other, it’s pretty damn embarrassing... Meanwhile, Laim was laughing at the sight. Yup, definitely pretty embarrassing...
I somehow managed to convince the two ladies to just link arms with me instead. It was still embarrassing, but it was better than having them wrapping their entire bodies around me in public. Though I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a pleasant experience either way.
“Now, where should we go first?”
“Let us visit Refreese first! I have never been there before, and I would like to see it at least once.”
“Alright, if that’s what you want. Refreese will be our first stop, then.” Everyone was on board with Lu’s suggestion, so I whipped up a [Gate] to Refreese’s Imperial City, Bern.
Bern was a beautiful scenic city surrounded by wonderful sights of nature. It resembled the towns of Santorini with their overlooking view of the Aegean Sea, as the blue of the sea and the sky merged together into the horizon blending together into a single world of blue. The white walls of the stores and buildings of the street on the hill road only helped to enhance the beauty of the scenery.
Perhaps it was because we were in a high place, but we were embraced by a gentle and refreshing breeze.
“What a lovely city this is!”
“The breeze is so refreshing, it is~” Being their first trip to Bern, Lu and Yae were enraptured by the wonder of the beautiful scenery around them.
Yumina had apparently been here a few times with her family due to royal affairs, meanwhile Elze and Linze were born and raised in Refreese. I’d heard from them that they’d been to the Imperial City a couple of times before. After admiring the scenery, next we took off to go wander around the fancy accessory shops and general goods stores in Bern, enjoying our little shopping trip.
When all five of the girls asked me to pick out something that suited each of them, I at first struggled to think of what would be best for each of them. After a lot of thought, I went for a selection of five brooches, each styled after the design of the flower that best suited each girl, and gave them to the girls as gifts.
I also picked up a few souvenirs for the people back at the castle. They were always helping me and looking out for me, so I wanted to thank them in some way. I hoped they’d be happy with what I got for them.
Our next stop was a cafe at the top of a small hill, where we decided to have a bite to eat. Apparently the time to switch had come, so now Yumina and Elze were linking arms with me.
Assaulted by their “Say aaah” attacks as they fed me by spoon, my shyness began to reach critical levels. Yumina was pulling off this advanced move like it was nothing, while Elze on the other hand let out her little “S-Say aaahhn” attack while blushing to her ears.
God dammit, why are you so cute, you little rascal?!
“Wherever are we going next, then?” Yae asked as she took my arm. Lu had taken my other arm once more.
“Ah, Touya, look! It seems like there’s a theatre troupe putting on a display down in the town plaza.” Yumina pointed to a poster on the wall. It was an advertisement by a theatre troupe for a play called “Bakram the Mighty Dragon Slayer.” By the title alone, it didn’t feel like the kind of performance you’d usually go to watch while on a date.
“Bakram the Mighty Dragon Slayer is a love story about a certain woman. In order to gain approval for the marriage of her beloved, she goes on a quest to fight an Evil Dragon, but the Dragon...”
“STOP! If you spoil the story, it won’t be nearly as interesting to watch!” As the older sister, Elze stopped Linze before her explanation went into spoiler territory. Still, a love story, eh? If that was the case, maybe everyone would enjoy seeing it, after all.
“So, you wanna go see it?”
“Yes!” Right as we were about to head to the location of the plaza listed on the poster, our path was blocked by four men.
“Yo, buddy. Popular guy, ain’t ya? Makes me real jealous, y’get what I mean?” One of the men called out to me with a vulgar smile staining his face. The guys were all dressed like adventurers, but not a single one of them seemed to have any decent equipment on them at all. If anything, they just looked like a group of halfwit thugs. They didn’t even look that much older than me. Though in this world, that was still old enough to be considered an adult.
“Do you have some business with me?”
“Nah, nothin’ that important. Y’see, we ain’t got much cash right now. Then we come across a dude who’s trailin’ a bunch of women all wrapped ’round his arms, an’ we figured y’might be able to spot us some cash with the virtue of that wide ol’ heart a’ yours. Get it?” So they were just decorating extortion in pretty words. It was a sad sight to see such human trash loitering around in such a beautiful city. The emperor sure must have his hands full already, and now this...
“Look, buddy, don’t you think it’s a bit shameful to be trying to extort money, even from a guy like me? You’re old enough to be responsible for your own livelihood, so just go out and get a job like everyone else.”
“The fuck you say?! Look, brat, d’ya even get what’s goin’ on here?!”
“We ain’t lookin’ for a priest, we’re lookin’ for a profit. Now hand over yer wallet if ya know what’s good for ya.”
“Hell, if ya ain’t gonna hand over yer wallet, we’d be fine takin’ them girlies ye’ve got with ya. We’ll make sure to take reeeaaal good care of ’em in yer place.” The thugs all burst out into a vulgar display of laughter.
One of them reached out his hand toward Lu, so I figured I should at least give him one good punch to set him straight and took a step forward. But before I could do anything, two people made their move before I could.
“Gnuogh?!”
“Ahgyaaagh!” Yae grabbed the laughing thug by the wrist and threw him straight down onto the ground.
Elze swept the legs of another one of the thugs and then sent him flying.
“Wh-Whaddya think you’re doin’ you bitch?!”
“I don’t want to waste my precious time dealing with human garbage like you. Would you get the hell out of my sight, right this instant?”
“I very much agree, I do. I very much would not care to dirty our precious day dealing with the likes of you, I would not.” Elze and Yae shot the thugs a glare so cold it could freeze the very air itself.
When I glanced to my side, I noticed that Lu, Yumina, and Linze were all shooting the same ice-cold glare at them. The atmosphere was so tense I could barely move. My instincts were telling me that the girls were even sending me the message “Don’t you dare lift a finger here.”
“Crazy bitches, don’t fuck with us! Ya’d best be ready now that ye’ve done that to us!” The two thugs that had been knocked down stood back up, and the whole gang whipped out knives from their pockets. They must’ve thought we’d be easy to take down, judging by the disgusting smiles on their faces.
“They must surely believe that they could intimidate us if they came at us in a group all armed with knives, I suspect.”
“I suppose I should have expected this. They truly are little more than a group of petty thugs.”
“They’re the textbook example of utter lowlifes.” These girls weren’t holding anything back...
“ORAAH!” One of the men Linze had called a lowlife charged straight for Elze, knife in hand and ready to stab her. Naturally, Elze wasn’t about to be taken down by a puny thug like this. There was a dry cracking sound as Elze shattered the hand the man was holding the knife in, and in the same movement she brought her heel crashing down against the back of the man’s head.
“Guhhuergh?!”
“You bitch... Guahberagh?!” A second man charged at Elze from behind, only to be knocked out in one shot by Elze’s roundhouse kick.
Another charged at Yae, who swiftly dodged the man’s knife, grabbed him by the arm, and slammed him against the wall in a single swift movement.
The last man standing looked at Yae and Elze like his brain couldn’t even process what had just happened.
“Y-You bastards! I’ll get you for this! You’d better remember that!” Abandoning his companions, the man ran away in such a rush that he tripped over several times as he fled.
“As if we’d bother to remember a lowlife like that.”
“Everything from the way he ran away to the line he left us with merely proves his status as a mere thug.”
“He got... everything that he deserved.” They really were running their mouths off here...
“Elze, Yae, are you alright?”
“As if I’d ever get hurt against an opponent like that.”
“Goodness sake... It appears that fools like them can be found in any country, they can.” Yae remarked as she observed the three men collapsed before her. There was some truth to her words, though. On rare occasions, thugs like that even popped up in Brunhild sometimes.
“You fellas are pretty strong, huh? But you’d best be careful. They’re part of a group of scoundrels who’ve claimed this area as their territory. Their leader’s a bit of an infamous big-shot, almost worse than the actual criminals around here. My advice? You should probably get out of here as soon as you can.” A kind old man who’d watched our little conflict gave us a concerned warning. The fact that these thugs had their own territory was bad enough already. Disorder among the public leads to disorder among the whole country. Next time I see His Imperial Presence, I’ll need to give him a strict talking to.
“Alright, let’s forget about all this nonsense and get going. Wouldn’t want to miss the play.” Elze grabbed me by the arm and took off running. I struggled to match her pace for a moment there.
“Hold it right there, Elze! It is my turn to take Touya’s arm!”
“It is my turn too, it is!” Everyone began chasing after the two of us as we dashed down the hill. Lu and Yae were shouting out complaints, but they still seemed to be having great fun with it all.
We joked around with our mock-complaints and little arguments in a way so as not to cause any public disturbance, as we entered the tent where the theater troupe was putting on their play.
“That was pretty interesting!”
“Yeah, both the acting and the script were great.”
“Bakram the Dragon Slayer” was quite an interesting play. It started out as a simple love story, but as the tale progressed, political intrigue, love rivals, and Dragons all made an appearance. It was a gripping production that spanned four acts.
Best of all, this wasn’t fiction. Apparently the play was based off a true story from a hundred years ago. Of course, certain parts had likely been embellished for dramatic effect.
“Maybe we should invite a troupe like that to our country sometime.”
“I don’t see why not. I’m sure everyone would be happy.” Chatting excitedly, we made our way to the restaurant that’d recently become the talk of the city in Refreese. According to Yumina’s sources, even the reclusive princess has snuck out of the castle before to go eat there. I really hope we don’t end up running into her...
After a few minutes of walking, Yae and Elze sidle up to me and surreptitiously whisper into my ear.
“We’re being tailed.”
“I knew it.” A while back I’d noticed a group tracking us.
“There’s six to our right, five to our left and eight behind us... I believe that’s all.”
“That’s quite the force. What do you imagine their objective is?” I casually glanced to my right. The figures instantly retreated into the shadows, but before they vanished I distinctly made out one of the thugs we’d ran into earlier.
“I guess he brought his cronies along to try and teach us a lesson.”
“Aaah, I see now.”
Elze heaved a sigh as understanding dawned on her. Yae slipped back and informed the other three of the situation.
“How unpleasant...”
“Some people never learn I suppose.”
“Sheesh, what a pain.” I could feel the girls’ wrath flare up. The heat was almost palpable. Well, I understood their anger. To be honest, I was rather frustrated myself. They were interrupting my precious quality time with everyone.
I could have just locked on to all of them and hit them with [Paralyze], but then they might have come after me again. It would be best to put an end to this once and for all.
“It’s not so bad to get some exercise before dinner, right?”
“I doubt we’ll manage to even work up a sweat... It’s obvious those thugs won’t put up a decent fight.” I made small talk with Elze as I lured the thugs into a deserted alleyway. The sun was just beginning to set, and the sky was a fiery red.
I was hoping to settle things before night fell.
“This should be good enough.” We stopped at an empty street. Seeing their chance, the thugs trickled out from behind the cover of nearby buildings. They were carrying crude cudgels in their hands. Two, four, six... more than I’d thought. Less than thirty though.
“They’s the ones, boss!”
“Oh, pretty little things, ain’t they? This should be fun.” The thug from earlier had brought over a hulking bear of a man. He had a knife in his hand, and a longsword strapped to his waist. So this guy was the Big Boss of the little ruffian gang, huh. Well, whatever.
Fitting of a boss of a group of trash, the boss himself had quite the crooked-looking face with his perverted grin.
“Yer luck ran out when you made an enemy of us, fellas. Oy, you there. Yeah, you, the brat. If ya leave all the cash you’ve got on ya and hand over the women, I might even consider lettin’ ya go free.”
“Dumbass.” I whipped out my Brunhild gun and shot the leader right in the temple with a rubber bullet. Knocked back by the force of the sudden attack, he fell backward and collapsed to the ground unconscious. I wasn’t about to just stand and wait for an enemy armed with a weapon to come charging at me.
“B-Boooss?!”
“Y-You bastards, the fuck d’ya think you’re doin’?! Guys, go get ’im—”
“Blow forth, Wind! Soaring, Spinning Gust: [Whirlwind]!”
“Uwoooooaaahhh!” A burst of wind came out of nowhere and sent a number of the thugs flying into the air. As expected of Yumina, skilled as ever.
“Entwine thus, Ice! Frozen Curse: [Icebind]!”
“Nuoouh?! M-My feet are frozen?!” This time Linze showed off her magic skills by freezing one of the thugs’ shoes to the ground. Normally that spell was meant to freeze the legs completely, meaning Linze had deliberately held back.
Following up Linze’s move, Elze moved in with a straight punch of considerable force, sending the thug flying through the air so hard that he was blown right out of his shoes still frozen to the ground.
“Gnuhuoh?!”
“Ouhgack?!” Apparently Lu had snatched one of the enemy’s weapons before anyone could even notice, and was striking down thug after thug with a simple wooden stick.
“Lu-dono’s skill is rather impressive, it is. I suppose it is time for my turn, then.” Yae swiftly snatched a length of timber from one of the thugs and struck one of them heavily right on the shoulder. With her improvised weapon, she continued to send anyone who came her way flat to the ground face-first with great skill.
After just a single minute had passed, roughly thirty or so thugs were all down and collapsed in the alleyway.
“Well, then.” Using [Power Rise], I gathered the entire group of thugs into one big pile. I took a piece of paper and wrote “These men are a group of bandits and robbers. I have therefore taken the liberty of arresting them.” and slapped the note on the leader of the group.
Having done this, I opened up a [Gate] to the Refreese Knight’s patrol station that I’d seen near the theater tent and lugged the lot of them through it. That took care of that.
“Honestly... Now our precious date has been completely ruined.” Yumina puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction, and I did my best to calm her down. She was cute when she was angry, but I still wanted the girls I loved to be smiling as often as possible.
“C’mon Yumina, we can all just visit anywhere at any time. We’re going to be together for the rest of our lives, after all. We’ll have plenty of chances to go on dates. In a few years, we might even look back on this little incident as a funny memory. To be honest, I still really had a lot of fun with our date today.”
“Touya...”
“Hey, don’t just casually say it like our date’s already over! We’ve still got plenty of time to go out and have even more fun!”
“Very true, indeed.”
“Precisely! Now, let us all head off to a restaurant!”
“I’m, looking forward to that.”
“Hey, don’t drag me along like that! The restaurant’s not gonna get up and run away, you know!” As the sun set on our date and the stars in the sky shone above us, we, all of us, all ran together under the starlit sky.
The food in the restaurant was delicious. It was so good that I couldn’t have been more satisfied. Everyone had returned to their usual cheerful selves, too. We managed to end our hectic date on a very positive note.
When we returned to the castle, I handed out the souvenirs that I’d bought for everyone. I took a bath and went to my room to retire for the night, only for that thought to be interrupted by a certain group of five girls in their pajamas who had barged right into my bedroom, leaving me at a complete loss.
Just for the record, nothing indecent happened between us at all. The five had fallen right asleep in my bed leaving little room for me, so I had no choice but to sleep on the couch for the night. Still, all in all, it had been a wonderful day.
I told myself that I’d do my best tomorrow, too.
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