Chapter 118 - Black Wedding (4)

5

Stage clear.

That meant this world, [Tales of Sormwin Academy], had officially been incorporated into our Tower.

Hunters could now travel to and from this world.

Of course, that didn't mean anyone could enter freely. They would have to be screened by the major guilds. For instance, an ordinary hunter needed a permit to enter the Aegim Empire.

What that meant was...

A flash!

Not long after the stage clear was announced, white light flared. More flashes burst throughout the wedding venue. It was the sight of hunters being transported in.

"Death King! No, Kim Gongja! You!"

As the light faded, familiar faces came into view.

"How could you get married without even discussing it with us?!"

These were people who could travel between floors as they pleased, without permits: the leaders of the major guilds. One of them, the second-ranked hunter, the Black Dragon leader, was red in the face.

"I object to this wedding!"

"..."

"The Death King represents our Tower! Naturally, the wedding should have been held in Babylon, on our Tower's first floor, not here! It should have been broadcast live around the world! Invalid! This wedding is completely invalid!"

The Black Dragon leader wasn't the only one speaking up.

"Ahem. Hmm. Death King."

The number-one hunter, the Sword Star, also cleared his throat.

"First, congratulations on clearing the stage. Truly... That was a remarkably swift romance. No, I know it's rude to bring this up here, but if I might say a word as an old man..."

"Please don't."

"Hmm."

The Sword Star closed his mouth. Just what I would expect from someone who had lately been working on his overbearing old-man mentality.

"There was an uproar while you were conquering the Tower, Death King. Everyone wanted to know how on earth the two of you had fallen for each other. But I steadfastly took your side. Only those who have experienced love at first sight can truly understand it. Don't worry. I understand. Leave the Black Dragon leader to me. I'll calm her down."

For some reason, the Paladin lifted her chin proudly, her face otherwise impassive. The look she gave me seemed to be quietly saying, 'I understand your love completely.' I had no idea what she meant.

I turned to Raviel.

"Hmm."

Her face was expressionless. At first glance, anyway. Because I loved her, I could read that expressionless face.

Raviel was... watching the Black Dragon leader and her crowd with great interest. Honey overflowed from her red eyes.

"Gongja. My love."

"Yes, my love...?"

"It seems you have quite a few people to introduce to me."

Yes...

A little late, perhaps.

But the meeting between our families was about to begin.

6

I had taken it for granted that the families met before the wedding. But there was a cultural difference here, too. Apparently, in the Empire, it was customary for the families to meet after the marriage ceremony.

"Isn't that only natural?"

Raviel was the one who tilted her head in puzzlement.

"Many members of a house live far away in the provinces. A wedding is the occasion on which even those people are invited and gathered together. On the night of the wedding, the bride, the groom, and the members of both houses finally greet one another."

"Ah... That makes sense."

I understood immediately.

Yes. A marriage was also a union between houses. Hunters like us, who had fled the outside world, couldn't concern ourselves with family houses even if we wanted to... But the Empire was different. It placed far greater importance on a house than on an individual.

And this wedding went beyond a union between houses.

It was a marriage between nations. No, between worlds.

After all, Raviel represented the Empire, and I represented the Tower. This was our marriage.

"Ho ho..."

The chamberlain, who was also my adoptive father, wore a rueful smile throughout.

"I never imagined this gathering would turn out like this... I have lost count of how many carrier pigeons I have sent to His Majesty the Emperor today alone. Now I scarcely know what to report to him."

"Yes. This was not our intention, either."

The Black Dragon leader began to speak. She was perfectly composed, as though she had never gotten worked up at me. The powerful figures of the Empire and the Tower sat together at the table, wary of one another and equally bewildered.

"But I believe this is unexpected good fortune, not an unexpected misfortune, Your Excellency. We consider ourselves fortunate that our first meeting with your nation should take place on such a joyous occasion as a wedding."

And they talked, overcoming their wariness and bewilderment.

"Are you saying you have come from another world? This is a marvel difficult enough to explain to His Majesty, let alone announce to his subjects."

"Yes. You are quite right. We fully understand your nation's circumstances."

The Black Dragon leader nodded. She seemed accustomed to diplomatic occasions like this. She knew how to tread the line between courtesy and competence.

"But you, too, witnessed the invasion by beings from another world, Your Excellency. If people deny reality, eventually reality will deny them. That is the future I fear."

"Hmm. You make a sound point."

"Thank you, Your Excellency. What we must work toward is mutual understanding. Five years. Ten years. Twenty years. Even if it takes longer than that..."

The two sides spoke calmly.

Raviel held sway over the Empire's representatives, while those from the Tower trusted me completely. Our marriage was a great stroke of fortune for both sides, too.

Normally, simply gathering the powerful figures from both sides in one place would have been difficult. But our wedding had accomplished that daunting task from the outset. We couldn't have asked for a better start.

"..."

I sat beside Raviel at the head of the table. Reaching beneath it, I took her hand and squeezed it firmly. As though it were only natural, she entwined her fingers with mine.

"..."

That single gesture reassured me. The night was deep. The stars were bright. Candle flames flickered on the table, and people conversed across them.

Suddenly, everything was beautiful.

"Raviel."

"Speak."

A quiet whisper.

"There are a few people I'd like to introduce to you."

"Other than those here?"

"Yes."

"Then I must meet them."

Raviel rose from her seat at the head of the table.

The Empire's representatives fell silent as one.

"We have a long night ahead of us. Take your time speaking with one another. I shall go and meet my wife's people for a moment."

"..."

No one could stop her from leaving. Truly, she was the Duchess of Ivansia. If being able to leave whenever you wished was proof of power, then my wife wielded absolute power here.

I brought Raviel to where the cultists sat in groups.

"Oh, Young Cult Leader! You're a newlywed now!"

The Sword Demon raised his cup and laughed uproariously. All the cultists were drunk on the wine provided at the wedding. They tried to stand and greet me, but I waved them down. So they saluted with a fist cupped in the other hand while remaining seated.

"Congratulations!"

"Our humblest congratulations, Young Cult Leader!"

"The wine here tastes unusual, but it's damned good!"

"Long live demonic rule over the world!"

"Whew! You two make a wonderful couple!"

The wedding venue instantly grew noisy. That was inevitable with a thousand cultists making a racket. I smiled ruefully.

"Sword Demon, come here for a moment."

"Eh?"

Still holding his cup, he blinked. He looked dumbfounded, as though he hadn't expected to be singled out. His thoroughly drunk comrades snickered around him.

"See! I knew that bastard would get a scolding from the Young Cult Leader someday!"

"He always forgets to address the Young Cult Leader respectfully. The idiot."

"Give his ass a good spanking, Young Cult Leader!"

"Uh... Uhhh..."

The Sword Demon set down his cup and approached hesitantly. All the boldness he had shown when beheading the ghost army's general had vanished. He shrank back like a child who had done something wrong.

"S-sorry, Young Cult Leader. I'm an uneducated bastard, so polite speech doesn't come easy to me. But in my heart, I think very highly of our Young Cult Leader..."

As he rambled on with his excuses, I placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Raviel."

Then I spoke to my bride.

"This is the Sword Demon."

"..."

"He served the person I took as my Master. My Master led an organization called the Demonic Cult. She chose four particularly outstanding people from among its followers and called them the Four Demon Lords. The Sword Demon is one of them."

"Oh?"

Raviel studied him slowly. The Sword Demon flinched.

"An unaffected man. His speech is rough and his manner uncultivated. He proves that your Master did not judge people by rough speech or uncultivated manners. Having sought people in rough and barren places, she must have been a noble and lofty soul."

"..."

"I am Raviel Ivansia. A duchess of the Empire, and the wife of the Young Cult Leader you serve. I look forward to knowing you."

"Y-yes. Likewise... my lady."

I turned my head.

"Moonshadow Demon Lord."

"..."

"Please come here."

One of the cultists stood. He bowed his head respectfully.

"Yes, Young Cult Leader."

A strange silence settled beneath the night sky. The voices drinking and chatting faded. I called the Four Demon Lords one by one, and each was scrupulously courteous.

Then I called the next person I wished to introduce.

"Hungry Ghost."

"... Yes, my lord."

"Come here."

"Yes."

Hungry Ghost rose from among the cultists. Perhaps she had been waiting for me to call her; she had already straightened her clothes.

"This child's name is... Hungry Ghost," I said.

"Hungry Ghost was born as a nameless monster. A doppelganger. She could imitate whatever she ate. At first, she swallowed animals like frogs and snakes, but one day she happened to eat a human. And..."

Hungry Ghost kept her head meekly bowed. Every now and then, her shoulders trembled faintly. The strange silence continued.

I introduced their lives, and in doing so, introduced my own.

One person told another about his life. Softly. Beneath the night sky. That alone was this sacred.

"And... Ah. Right."

I unfastened the holy sword at my waist.

"This one is Sparkle."

"Sparkle?"

"Yes. Her original name is a little more impressive. A bad man tricked her and sealed her in a sword. It seemed a shame to use her real name, [Goddess of Protection], so I gave her the nickname Sparkle. Because she sparkles... A great deal..."

"I see."

Raviel gave a small laugh.

"Your naming sense is rather cruel, wife. Ungenerous. I would at least have named her Radiance."

[Sparkle pledges her loyalty to the Hero's spouse!]

Sparkle was remarkably quick to switch her allegiance.

"Hmm."

And then.

"Though you can't see him here... I have a friend."

My attendant spirit.

"You'll probably never be able to see him, Raviel. Or meet him... His circumstances are a little unusual. He can't appear before other people."

My partner.

"His way of speaking is incredibly vulgar, too. Hmm. His mouth is about thirty times fouler than the Sword Demon's. But he's incredibly strong. Unbelievably so... He's the one who first taught me swordsmanship, and aura, too."

"Oh. A precious benefactor."

-...

My attendant spirit remained silent, his arms folded over his shabby martial robes.

Rather than running his mouth as usual, he simply watched Raviel and me without a word.

"... Without him, I probably couldn't have endured my time alone."

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

"Then I ought to thank this friend."

Raviel bowed her head toward empty air, where she could see nothing.

"Meeting Gongja has made me happy. Had his friend not helped him, my happiness would never have come to be. I offer my gratitude to everything that has allowed Gongja to be here at this moment."

My attendant spirit slowly opened his mouth.

-He's a crazy bastard. Take good care of him.

I spoke on his behalf.

"If he heard your thanks, Raviel, he'd probably say I'm a crazy bastard and ask you to take good care of me."

"You have a wonderful friend."

I drew a deep breath.

"Raviel."

This was it.

"This is everything I am."

Everything I cherished.

Everyone who had opened the door to my heart and stepped inside.

My family.

"..."

Raviel gripped my hand tightly.

"My love."

"Yes."

"Let us dance."

There was an intense demand in her eyes. I hesitated. When she looked at me like that, when she so strongly wished to do something with me, I couldn't refuse.

"I've never really danced before."

"You should still have some of the butler's memories. Draw on those."

"What if I make a mistake and step on your foot? I'd kill myself."

Instead of answering, Raviel showed me through action. She bent down and removed her black shoes. A moment later, she stepped barefoot onto the grass and soil of the lawn.

Pale feet.

She had only taken off her shoes, yet she seemed to have grown as light as the wind.

"Come."

"..."

Hesitantly, I removed my white shoes and socks. Raviel immediately took my hand and led me onward.

One step. Two steps.

With the tips of her toes, she trod on the petals scattered over the lawn. Magnolia blossoms, cherry blossoms. The white petals grew whiter beneath her feet.

"..."

No one spoke. No music played. There were no chandeliers adorning a ballroom; only moonlight settled like frost over the flower garden.

A ball for the two of us alone.

"... See?"

I smiled as I followed the steps.

"I'm a mess. I've already stepped on your feet three times. Dancing really isn't my specialty. Are you trying to kill me with embarrassment?"

"It is fine. I need only step on your feet just as often."

The instant she finished speaking, Raviel pressed down on the top of my foot. I felt the full weight of her body. She smiled playfully.

"See? Perfectly fair."

There was the smile she showed to no one in this world but me. My red jewel. My heart. My music.

The chandelier of moonlight illuminated our shadows.

Our dance wasn't about never stepping on each other's feet. It was about never letting go of each other's hands, even if we did. About looking into each other's faces with a small smile, whatever misfortune befell us.

I belonged to Raviel alone.

And Raviel belonged only to me.

Yes. We danced. Everywhere the moonlight fell was our ballroom. As long as we had each other, we could turn any world into a stage.

On this day, we were married.

And our next story would begin on a stage a little higher than any we had reached before.