201-Chapter 13-9 Two brothers




'The day after tomorrow is the wedding, are you ready for it?'

 In response to my question at the meeting at the Manchuria Pavilion, the venue for the meeting, Serna-san smiled smugly and answered "yes," but Henri was so stiff and nervous that he didn't seem to be able to hear me. Two days ago and at this rate, I wouldn't be of any use tomorrow at all. And on the day........heart, it's not going to stop, is it? I was worried about that, but when I shifted my gaze, I saw that my father and wife had thought the same thing and looked worried.

'Shall Henri have the meeting he needs first, and then we'll take it slow until the show?
'That would be nice. Even though he's one of the stars of the wedding, the man is the bride's complement, you know.

 The old man doesn't seem to be asking much of the groom (Henri), as if something happened at his wedding with his wife. The lady sitting next to the old man just nodded her head in agreement with him.

 After that, I managed to finish Henri's meeting, although it took some time, and I relegated Henri, who was showing a sense of accomplishment, to a corner of the dining room for Serna's meeting, but this one ended in about a fraction of the time of Henri's, so overall we were able to finish in the time we had planned.

'Henri's stuff, we might as well not move it again today. Temma, take Henri to his room and give him a lift.

Yes.

 I lent Henri, who was in love with me, a shoulder to take him to his room because his old man told me to... he was too much in love with me, so I was completely transporting him rather than lending him a shoulder, so I got to my room and threw him on the bed as soon as possible. The bedding was quite a mess, but I figured Serna would take care of it later anyway, so I left it there and went back to my old man and the others.

'Pops, I left Henri here.
Oh. Okay, Temma. You can keep this for next time.

 The old man had recommended cooking while I was taking Henri to the restaurant, and he left the finished product with me. He kept the pots and pans he received in the magic bag and served more on the day of the wedding.

The Magic Bag makes the day a lot easier because you can prepare the food a few days in advance.

 If you store the finished product in a magic bag, all that remains to be done is to take it out and put it on a plate, so you have a lot of time to spare on the day of the event. However, even if you are able to make all of the dishes beforehand, you are not completely relieved from cooking, as there are things that need to be added to the plates, but still, it is definitely easier than ever to reduce the amount of work you have to do.

'Well, I'm going to go home for a while then. I'll come back in the evening.

 After saying that, I left the Full Stomach Pavilion and almost bumped into a man who was outside the door. I bowed my head lightly and apologized, and he bowed his head as well, but he left without entering the full stomach pavilion. Although it was a suspicious act, I decided that maybe I just wanted to see what it was like inside... but when I turned around, still curious, the man was gone.

'It didn't seem to be hostile... but I'll just pay attention.

 Just to be sure, I went back to the Manchuria Pavilion and reported to the old man again, but he said there were quite a few people who did so, so there was no need to worry too much about it.
 I thought he was a little too optimistic, but he said he was a former adventurer, and he didn't need to worry about it, as he never missed a beat in his training.

''Well, most of the guests at the Mangokutei are adventurers, and they're all regulars, so I don't think we'll fall behind so easily,''

 When I went back to the pavilion and told everyone about it, Primera said that to me. If you ask me, it's true, and I know I'm just worrying too much... but I'm a little annoyed with Cain and Chris-san who are smirking and laughing at me. And since they stopped grinning before I could do anything, I couldn't even get back at them.

'If only Rion were here at a time like this I could take my mind off the gloom.
That's a bit of a stretch...

 Primera was slightly drawn back when she heard my words, but Albert, Cain and Amour nodded, so my thoughts should not be wrong.......

''Well, let's leave aside the way we're handling Rion, we're going to eat dinner at the Manchuria Pavilion again today, so if you have plans to go out, return early or meet directly at the Manchuria Pavilion.

 With those words, we were dismissed, but it seems that none of us had any particular plans to go out, so we each moved around the mansion to our hearts' content. By the way, I felt a little tired and was going to sleep, but for some reason Albert and Cain followed me to my room. Moreover, Cain has a card in his hand and.....

'Yes! The revolution succeeded!
''Ahhhhhh!''

 And so it was decided that a millionaire's tournament would be held in my room. By the way, Cain was the one who started the revolution, and Chris and Amour were the ones who screamed.

Hey, Albert. Without Leon, I don't know who Cain would go after.
Yeah, well, that makes for a heated game of ... yikes.

 Because of Rion's absence, Cain's aimlessness was eliminated, and that made it more difficult to know who would be at the bottom of the list, resulting in a game-playing millionaire... well, when we played before, it wasn't just Cain, but me and Albert, too. It was just that he was back to being the original millionaire because he was aiming for it.
 So the millionaire had a good time, and in no time at all it was time to head to the Manchuria Pavilion. In the end, I couldn't sleep, but I felt my exhaustion was blown away by the distraction of having fun.

I guess it's all right.
Hmm? What did you say?

 My muttering seemed to be heard by Amur, but he didn't seem to be able to hear it clearly, so I fooled him into thinking it was nothing and proceeded to the Full Stomach Pavilion. Since Albert and the others are there, the servants of the mansion tried to prepare a carriage, but since we would need several cars if we were all to ride, we had to walk to the full stomach pavilion. Well, since me and my grandfather are there, it was decided that there is no danger, but since some of us may be drunk when we return, it was decided that we would just put them in the dimension bag that contains the slarin'.

'Isn't the Fullness Pavilion quieter than usual?'

 Normally at dinner time, the noise of adventurers and guests can be heard outside to the street, but today there was no such noise.

It may be that way at times, since there seem to be guests in the house, but for now, why don't we go inside and see for ourselves?

 I walked in like my grandfather said, and there were just as many customers as usual, but I got the feeling that most of them were looking for something to do.

'Here at last! Temma, I want you to go upstairs to the big room at once!

 When the old man realized that the guest who came in was me, he pointed upstairs in a panic.

But first, why don't you tell me what's going on?

'Yeah, well to put it simply, two of Henri's brothers came in disparate and got into a pot and fumbled here, and then Viscount Abyss, who came in as a snitch, came in, and it's a delicate atmosphere.

 Just hearing about it made me want to turn around and go home. Well, I can't do that.

I wanted to go home so badly but I had to go. Grandpa, Albert, Primera, come with me.

 When I called out to the three of them, Grandpa and Albert quickly nodded, but Primera looked surprised, as if she hadn't expected her name to be called. Also, Amour, who for some reason was ready to go, had the same surprised look on his face.

''Grandpa is my advisor, Albert is to keep Viscount Abyss in check if something happens, and Primera is to have Serna-san follow him.

Where's Henri?

'You can leave it alone. I'd rather leave you to deal with your own two brothers I know it's a weird vibe because you couldn't.

 When I told Amur what the three people who called out their names were supposed to do, I mentioned Henri's name, but Henri was going to ignore it from the beginning. Well, Amur seemed to agree with that, but the rest of the guys looked like they wanted to say something.

It's not that I don't like Henri or treat him roughly because he's a man. It's just that this is a problem on Henri's side, so I just wanted to make Henri take some responsibility as well.

 When I told them my own way of judging Henri's treatment of him, they seemed to have a reasonable amount of understanding, but Chris-san, Albert and Cain still seemed to be a little skeptical.

'For now, shall we head to the room where Serna and the others are?

 With heavy steps, I headed upstairs and as I stood in front of the room where Serna and the others were, I felt as if the heavy air was flooding the room to the outside. And when I knocked and opened the door, I almost reflexively closed the door because the air was even more heavy than I thought it would be.

''It's nice to meet you, Viscount Abyss. I'm Temma Ootri, who planned (...) the wedding of Serna and Henri this time.

'This is Bonito von Avis. Head of the Viscount's family, and has been in the service of the Dukes of Sangha for generations.

 When I entered the room and was the first to greet Viscount Abyss, his reply gave me the impression that he was a bit dour... but...

It's been a while, Viscount Abyss.
'Oh! Master Primera, it's been a long time!

 When Primera greeted him, the dour face from earlier changed to a big smile.

''It's always the same. I don't mind........''

 I was about to call out to Albert, who was looking somewhat lonely while watching Primera and Viscount Abyss talking, but those words came out of Albert's mouth before I could call out to him.

''Well then, in the meantime.......Selna-san, what's going on?''

 Of all the people in this room, Serna was the only one who seemed to be able to speak most objectively at the moment, so I half-heartedly nominated her, and Serna looked at Henri once and then began to speak.

'First of all, Henri's oldest brother came over and we were talking in the dining room, and then the second brother came over.

 He works for Gloriosa, but he is not considered to be his successor. The second brother is not as good as the first, but he is his father's favorite, and he tells his friends that he is the second son to succeed him. In addition, Henri and his elder brother share the same mother, but his father had fathered his second brother out of the home, and they took him in after their mother died when he was twelve or three years old. Because of that background, they don't get along well with their siblings, I've heard.

It's not just a matter of time before you're able to get your hands on a new one. But even after we moved to a new location, the atmosphere remained acrimonious...

 As it was, I thought that Viscount Abyss was going to intercede or listen to the two of them, but he came with them in silence to this room that the old man had hastily prepared, and they were quietly drinking tea until we (Primera, to be precise) came in.

'So, Henri's brothers...'
It's Daniel.
It's Farman.

 They asked me from a seat away, and I immediately said my name. They said the oldest son was Daniel and the second son was Farman. When I asked each of them why they had come to see Henri, Daniel said that he had heard that Henri was getting married, so he had come before his father to congratulate him, and Farman said that he had come to convince him to call off the wedding. The two men argued in the cafeteria because they knew what Farman was up to, and that's when he said, "Go home! Listen to me! They had an argument about

'If that's the case, shall I ask Farman to leave?

 From what I heard, it seemed that Farman had the same idea as his father and came to interfere, so I was about to get rid of him for now, and was about to check with Serna, when Farman heard my voice and started to panic.

'No! No, I'm pretty sure he wanted to call off the wedding, but I'm not against their marriage! I'd rather you be happy!

 And so on and so forth. Those words made us ... especially Danielle, suspicious.

'You'll wonder why all of a sudden, but he means what he says.

 Viscount Abyss, who had been delirious to the Primera until then, finally returned to the same mood as when I first saw him and joined the conversation.

''I was suspicious at first too, but after hearing a lot of things, I decided that he's not the same person as his father. Also, he's the one who called me here today.

 Maybe the fact that he called Viscount Abyss means that he's not really trying to sabotage the wedding. Daniel still seemed skeptical, but our image of Farman was slowly beginning to change in our minds.

'Whether you believe it or not, I want you to listen to me first.

 Hearing that story completely changed the impression we had of Farman. That's even Daniel, who was most suspicious of it. And it was something that surprised even Viscount Abyss, with whom we had spoken beforehand.

'To sum up the story, Farman was on the side of Serna and Henri, and there's no doubt that he tried to call off the wedding because he was thinking of the two of them. But apart from that, he was also acting for his own agenda....

'There's no doubt about it. I did it for the sake of both of you, but also because it would have interfered with my plans. But it's also true that I thought it would be better for both of us if we had the wedding after my plans were complete.

 It would certainly be better for Serna and Henri to have the wedding after Farman's plan succeeds, and if it fails, they'll just go back to the state where they tried to have the wedding on their own. Maybe even in a failed state, it would most likely turn out well for both of them, so either way, Farman was right, it would be better after the plan was implemented.

'Then, Farman, let us be part of that plan. Well, actually, after their wedding, that plan... well, it's more like we're going to put it into effect with some changes, but that should have a better success rate than doing it alone.

 At first, Farman was reluctant to accept my proposal, but as we talked about it in detail, he became more and more enthusiastic, and eventually he said, "Let me get on board with that! He lowered his head.

 Thus, the number of allies on Serna's side unexpectedly increased, and the number of allies on his father's side became almost zero.


 ------ Before the entrance of Gunjo City--. ----


'At last my friends! I'm back!
"Master Rion, please don't shout late at night, as it may disturb people around you.
I'm sorry...

 Rion, who was completely unable to raise his head to the knight of the guards, immediately bowed to the people who were slightly around him as well as the people who were in the vicinity as soon as he uttered the words of apology.
 The people in the vicinity knew at first glance that Leon was a nobleman, and although they were surprised by his sudden shout, none of them complained outwardly, but only lightly returned the bows to Leon. However, it was only the civilians who were in the vicinity (...), and the soldiers on guard who were standing at the entrance immediately called for backup and went to Rion and the others to interview them... but the knights on guard showed the family crest of the frontier county family and came to Gunjo City. By telling them the reason and why Leon had shouted, they were soon released.

''Well then, let's head immediately to the residence of the Sanga duke family. However, in the city, please let the horses advance side by side. Do you understand, Lord Lyon?
Yes.....

 The soldier at the entrance, who saw Rion like a child being admonished, despite being a nobleman and an adult, felt lightly pity for the knight who was admonishing him.........
 The knight of the guard, who had no way of knowing that he was being pitied, proceeded ahead as if he were leading Rion and arrived safely at the residence of the Duke of Sanga's family.......

'Mr. Lyon, I understand that Mr. Albert and his friends are at dinner, and they are not at home.
All right, then, we'll head over to the place you said everyone was going to eat!

 Saying that, Rion tried to guess that everyone would be at the 'Manchuria Pavilion' that was mentioned earlier in Temma's story, and was about to head there, but....

'Master Rion, I hear it's been quite some time since you all headed out to dinner, and if we continue to head out, there's a chance that we'll end up going the wrong way.
Surely that's not a good idea then let's wait here a bit longer.

 They were waiting outside for everyone's return, but after about 30 minutes, Rion became numb and said he was going to the Full House. The knights had no choice but to go along with him, but before they could ask the servants where the restaurant was, Leon started to go ahead and they had to chase after him in a hurry. Moreover, since Leon didn't know exactly where the Manpuku-ji Temple was, he had to waste a lot of time until a passing drunk asked him for directions.
 Moreover, when they finally arrived at the dining room of the Manchurian restaurant, it was closed, and they had to turn back to the Sanga dukes' mansion again. Moreover, Leon's misfortune didn't stop there; when he returned to the pavilion and asked his servants, they told him that no one had returned yet.
 Rion wondered if it wasn't the Fullness Pavilion, but that was simply because Temma and the others were eating in the large room upstairs while they used the large room upstairs for their discussion with Serna and the others, so they weren't in the dining room downstairs, and in fact, Rion's hunch was correct.
 He proposed to search the city again, but the knight rejected his suggestion, so he quietly asked the servants of the mansion to prepare a room for him and wait for everyone's return there.
 However, at that time, there was still a drinking party called a meal at the Manpuku-Tei, so it will take more time to return to the mansion.