203-Chapter 13-11   Wedding Ceremony Day




Okay, let's get started.

 At my signal, the curtains of the Manchuria Pavilion, the venue for the wedding, were drawn all at once and the hall went dark. In the meantime, me and Primera moved to the officiant's table. After we finished moving, Grandpa used his 'light' magic to illuminate me and Primera.

''We will now hold the wedding of adventurer Henri and adventurer guild employee Serna. 

 A small chuckle could be heard from the audience, perhaps because of my unusual speaking style, but as soon as Primera tried to open her mouth, it went quiet.

'To begin, I'd like to introduce our special guest.

 Primera introduced Albert, Cain, and Leon. Normally, they don't introduce guests in this way, but the introduction of the duke, marquis and the next head of the frontier earl changed the atmosphere of the attendees. They seem to be very tense, but I hope that they recognize that this wedding is something special.

''Now then, the star of the day is entering.

 As I said this, the door was opened by Primera's men who were waiting near the entrance. As soon as the door was opened, the magic was extinguished and the ceremony hall was reduced to only the light that shone from behind Serna and Henri, revealing the shadows of the two men.
 As soon as the doors closed and the hall went dark again, Grandpa's magic illuminated them as they walked out. Walking in the light, Henri looked more manly than usual, probably because of the atmosphere of the hall. And Serna looked very mysterious and attractive, the threads of Gol and Jill used in her dress shimmering as she walked. The sight of them was enough to make the female attendees, as well as the men, gasp in admiration.
 I watched as they made their way to the front of the crowd before moving forward to the front of it.

"I, Temma Ootori, do hereby ask you both, on behalf of all of you, to take your marital vows.

 I wondered if it was okay for me to play this role, but apparently it's not particularly strange because even at a nobleman's wedding, they sometimes ask a priest, someone of higher status than them or their boss, or if they're a civilian, they ask an acquaintance or friend.

'Groom Henri. Do you swear to love, honor, and cherish your bride, Serna, as your wife in health and in sickness, in riches and in poverty?
Yes, I swear!

'The bride Selna. Do you swear to love, honor and cherish your groom, Henri, as a wife, in health and in sickness, in riches and in poverty?
Yes, I swear.

 Henri's voice was quite loud from nervousness, but he answered with more force than he had in practice, and Serna answered quietly, tearful.

''Then, I'd like to ask you to exchange rings.

 When I gave her a look, Primera lined up beside me with a small box of rings, and secretly signaled to Henri to put the ring on Serna-san's finger... but as it happened, Henri took the ring for herself. At that moment, Felt, who was watching from the audience, directed a near-killing pressure at Henri. This caused Primera's men who had come in to help, Nicholas and the other knights in Rion's guard, as well as the adventurers, to react and start moving, but they seemed to realize the reason immediately and watched warily. It was about to get pretty risqué, but thanks to Felt, Henri quickly realized his mistake and replaced it with a ring for Serna and put it on Serna's finger.
 It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what you're going to do with it.

''Then kiss your vows.

 In a previous life, a camera flash would have illuminated them like a rainstorm, but in this life, no such thing existed, so instead, me and my grandfather's magic illuminated them.

'With the vows I just made, I now acknowledge these two as husband and wife. The witnesses are all the people here, and the two of you will live a life of shame to those who have witnessed your vows here.
"Yes!

As they replied, the attendees applauded and cheered loudly. Well, some of them were so excited that a few adventurers raised Henri up and were about to go straight to dump him somewhere.........but the attempt ended with the female adventurers getting pissed off.

'Well then, to your meal........Primera, you look like a guest.

 Just as they were about to start eating, Slarin, who had been watching outside, raised his red flag. Primera also checked Slarin's flag and signaled to her men who were waiting near the door. Then.

Don't ask me why.

 As soon as Slarin swung the flag down, the door was violently opened to reveal Henri's father... but before he could say all that, a few of the Primera's men had their swords pointed at him and he was falling on his ass.

'What are you doing all of a sudden! We are Henri's people!

 Farman protested on behalf of his father, who was falling on his buttocks. His father seemed to remember what he'd come here for.

You! You know who we are and you're doing it!

 His father was shouting such things while he was aware of Viscount Abyss, but our Viscount ignored his father and kneeled down on the spot.

''It's been a long time, Albert-sama, Primera-sama.''

 Viscount Abyss's actions made his father look like he didn't understand the reason, but Farman, while expressing a sense of panic, fell to his knees, just like Viscount Abyss.

''It's been a long time, Viscount Abyss. So what in the world do you want on this auspicious day?

 Albert listened to the requirements in a tone that seemed to accuse Viscount Abyss, and he answered with his head bowed. In the meantime, his father was forced to kneel by Farman, and was immensely disappointed when he was told in a whisper who Albert was.

'I'm sorry to have come on such short notice, but could you make room for us as well?'

 Viscount Abyss, after talking to Albert for a bit, asked me for permission to attend the wedding.

''If you are related to the two of them and sincerely want to celebrate, there is no problem. However, I think we can prepare a seat for one Viscount-sama in the front, but the rest of you will be in the back.

 Viscount Abyss nodded at my words, but his father seemed unconvinced.

''Don't be silly! Why do I have to sit in the back! Why don't you just do the adventurers around there behind you!

 At his father's words, the adventurers, who had been quiet until then, were about to lose their temper and sit up. His father, oblivious to this, continued

What's your attitude in the first place? Who the hell do you think you are, asking me to get behind you as a commoner!

 And so on. Hearing these words, the adventurers, who had almost lost their temper, sat back in their chairs.

''You say you are a commoner, but are you a nobleman? If you are not a nobleman, then you are a commoner too, right? Besides, you say he's the father, but since you disowned Henri, the parent-child relationship has been severed, hasn't it? Why should you have a special seat at the table for a commoner who has interrupted someone else's wedding? Even though you're at the back of the line, just be thankful we have a seat for you.

 His father's face turned red at my provocation, and he looked like he was about to explode, but

'Enough! If you'd just listened to me, you would have had a right to your own devices!
"Viscount Abyss, why have you brought this man here? He's ruining a wedding.
'Even though I disowned him, I never expected him to imitate this at my son's wedding... At any rate, I'm sure he took it lightly, thinking that this kind of thing wouldn't happen if I was there. I am sincerely sorry.

 His father froze in surprise as Viscount Abyss yelled at him. And he was pale in the face as Viscount Abyss stared at him as he apologized to Albert and the attendees. And finally.

''The one you were ridiculing as a commoner just now is Lord Temma Ootori, known as the 'Dragon Killer. It is now common knowledge among the nobles of this country that the Ootori family has to be more careful than a lowly nobleman when it comes to being a commoner.

 The moment he found out who I was, his father fainted and collapsed.

''I can't believe you fainted like this you've wasted a lot of time thinking about it.

 Farman muttered something like that as he looked down at his unconscious father and apologized to the attendees in the hall. Most of the attendees were suspicious of Farman's sudden change in attitude, but when Albert told them that I was helping him in his plan to destroy his father, they gave him a big round of applause.

'Now that we're all settled, I'd like to call it time to eat.......there will be some drinks, but please enjoy it with the motto 'Drink but don't be drunk'.

 The drinkers cheered when they heard the liquor was going to be served, but they quieted down when the last part of the drink was lightly killed. If they did this much, they wouldn't cause the kind of foolishness they would do in a tavern.
 As they were about to start eating, Farman was about to take his father home, but Henri and Serna held him back, and they decided to lay him down in the back (and let him go) and eat at the front.

'We'll start with an appetizer,'

 We'll start with something lighter, such as my dad's special chicken ham, soup with horned rabbit and marinated Tyrant salmon.

It's rabbit horn stew and salted salmon.

 I served something a bit hearty. However, what was served was "Stew in a Pie" covered with a pie, and "Tyrant Salmon in a Salted Cauldron", which was grilled with salt.

'The salt-roasted one will be cut up here, so please be patient,'

 The stew was handed out first, and the salted cauldron was cut into pieces after having the old man break the cauldron in front of everyone. Normally, it would be correct to serve them one dish at a time, but this time we decided to serve two at the same time because it was also meant to show off to Henri's father. Well, since his father is unconscious, the point of serving them both at the same time is gone, but since everyone is happy, it's fine.
 I checked on the attendees when I served the palate-cleansing sorbet, and they all still seemed to have plenty of room in their stomachs. I think they will enjoy the main course as well.

'Next up. Next up is an assortment of Wyvern meat dishes.

 They have prepared an assortment of small portions of dishes made from Wyvern meat. Roast wyvern and hamburgers, cutlets, karaage and skewers - it's like a collection of all their creations. In fact, because of the rarity of the ingredients, it was the best turnout yet from those in attendance.

After the salad, it's time for today's featured dish.

 From the attendees who apparently thought the meat at the Wyvern was the best, there was an exclamation of surprise as to how much more food would be served.
 As if in response to their voices, the lights were turned off and a five-tiered wedding cake was brought in from the dining room by Amour, Jeanne, Aura, Leni and Princess Wildcat, about a meter high.

'This is the first joint effort by the bride and groom to have it done in front of you.  

 When the cake was placed on a table in the center of the hall, I called them to me.

Then, please.

 At Primera's signal, the two men breathed together and put the knife into the cake. At that moment, Albert and the others applauded as they had discussed, and the attendees who had only been watching them applauded along with Albert and the others.
 The bottom four tiers of the cake were cut into pieces by the father on the spot, but the top one was removed without being cut, and then it was brought in front of Serna and Henri.

'First, the bride and groom are invited to eat. Please.

 Seeing that the cake had been cut up and lived by all of us, we decided to let the two main guests have a bite of it first. This had been discussed beforehand, but Henri was so nervous that he tried to carry it to his own mouth when he had to feed it to each other. However, Serna quickly put the cake in front of Henri's mouth, which he realized just before he put it in his mouth and managed to bring it to Serna's mouth.

''Well then, everyone, please eat.''

  One was the method of feeding each other as a couple, just like Serna and the others, and the other was the method of eating on your own while watching them, with Flute and the guild leader representing the former, and Leon representing the latter.
 With the meal over, most of the schedule was over, and the rest was just to take it easy for each of them to take it easy until the end time, when Farman said he was taking his father home with him. The reason being that it's been a long time since he passed out, and there's no telling when he'll wake up, and it would be easier to carry out the plan if he woke up in a place where we're alone rather than here.

'I understand that but don't kill me if I'm wrong. Even if you're out of touch with him, he killed his father, and the culprit is the groom's brother, or something like that, it'll only be a negative for both of you.

 Farman laughed and nodded at the strong reminder, and assured him that he would never do that. Farman carried his father to the carriage without Serna and Henri noticing, and left the full house as it was.

Mr. Temma! Thank you so, so much!
Oh, God!

 I saw Farman off and turned around to go back to my seat, only to be hugged by a sobbing Mr. Marx.

'Such, such a wonderful wedding! Serna looks happy! I wish my sister could have seen it!
Hey, Mr. Marx. You'll have to leave for now.

 Mr. Marx seemed to be quite drunk and wasn't listening to me. All I could clearly hear was the first words of thanks, and the rest was just fragments. Most of it was all about Serna's murdered mother and father, so I took her to a corner of the hall so that the other attendees wouldn't hear, but Marx's voice was too loud to be of much use. However, since most of the attendees knew what was going on with Serna, they deliberately shouted loudly and pretended not to be listening, or tried to talk to the guests who didn't know what was going on to distract them.

'Temma, I'll take your place.

 As I was trying to establish a conversation with Mr. Marx somehow, my grandfather came and took over for me. For a moment, I thought it would be better if I listened to the conversation, since Mr. Marx probably wanted me to listen to him, but I didn't think I could talk to him properly as it was, so I decided to let my grandpa's age do the talking.
 I stood apart for a while and watched the two of them, but my decision seemed to be correct, and after a while, Mr. Marx seemed to have calmed down a lot and listened to his grandpa.

'Congratulations, Serna,'

'Thank you, Temma. Such a fine wedding ... what can I say...

 Serna thanked me with tears in her eyes and was being patted on the back by Primera (...). I thought that the role belonged to the groom, Henri, but that Henri, in fact, was stuck in a state of limbo, surrounded by senior adventurers and friends.
 Friends and colleagues had gathered one by one at Serna and Henri's place, so they gave up their places and tried to go check on Daniel... but Daniel seemed to be drunk and was propped up on the table.

'Lord Otori, I am truly grateful to you for allowing me to attend your wedding.

 Viscount Abyss came all the way up to me to thank me.

''Please tell that to Serna-san and Henri.
''No, in cases like this one, it's basically the organizers who decide who participates. Although I was an acquaintance of Henri's, I was never acquainted with Lord Otori, and he had some troublesome people with him. I wouldn't be surprised if he refused.

 As he said this, Viscount Abyss looked at the four banners on the wall. Those four flags contained the crests of the Otori family, the Sangha family, the Samons family, and the Haust Frontier Count family.

''That was probably intended to use me to show Henri and Serna-san their power... but to be honest, I'm glad they left before that one tried to carry me. Trying to compete with these four families with just one Viscount family is just laughable. Whether I was carried or refused to participate, it would have only embarrassed me either way.

 So it seems that he was grateful that he was given permission to participate in the form of jumping in before his father mentioned Viscount Abyss's name.

''It's about time I went too.

 Viscount Abyss is going to help Farman after this. I heard that he was planning to leave the hall before those two, but he stayed behind to talk to me, so he was just in time.

I'm not sure if I can be of as much help as Albert and his friends, but I'll be there to help you if you need anything. Also, take care of Master Primera.
Thank you... what?

 I tried to question him about what he meant, but Viscount Abyss left the Fullness Pavilion in a hurry.

''Why do you want to play fast and loose with me...''
I hope so.

 As I was sighing at Viscount Abyss's misunderstanding, Mr. Flute approached me from behind.

''Well, putting that aside........it was an amazing wedding. As expected of a 'dragon killer', are you serious about it?

 Flute-san was smiling teasingly. The guild leader was not beside him, and Flute-san noticed my gaze and used her finger to tell me where he was. The place where the guild leader is.....

He would have been the first person to go to Henri in a hurry to make fun of him.

 At the innermost part of the circle surrounding Henri... or rather, next to Henri, was the Guild Chief. The guild chief was pestering Henri as if he was drunk.

''That, can we leave it alone?''
I'll save my sermons for later. If you wait, you'll just make things worse.

 You're firmly on your ass................

'Anyway, Temma-san, are you sure you want to leave her alone? You seem to be in some kind of trouble.

 When Mr. Flute told me to look at him, I looked over and saw that Primera was being tangled up with a drunkard named Chris........

I'm going out for a while.

 I said no to Mr. Flute and went over to Primera and Chris, and Chris was literally getting involved with Primera.

'Mr. Chris, Primera's in trouble. So get away, get away.
Yeah, hey!

 I pulled Chris, who was tangled up in the primera, away from him and sat him down in a chair, and soon after, Leni came over and took Chris somewhere else.

Thank you for your help...
'That was a disaster. Because Mr. Chris, who turned out to be so annoying, is getting more and more drunk. I think it's time to call it a night and let's get into the after-party.

 As it was, I decided to re-partition once, since it was going to be tough on Serna-san, who was wearing her wedding dress, let alone Henri and the attendees.
 When I told everyone about it, Serna-san looked obviously relieved and went upstairs to change. However, Henri still wasn't released, so I decided to let him deal with the guild leaders as it was.

''Well then, now that the guest of honor has finished dressing up.......let's go into the after party! We'll have a variety of food and drinks for you to enjoy to your heart's content! However, please use common sense. Otherwise.........I'll be angry.

 The attendees were very excited at the 'food and drink' part, but as soon as I added 'I'm angry' at the end, they quieted down. Incidentally, the dishes brought to the restaurant were leftovers from the course and easily prepared items, as well as bread and other items, and we made it a buffet style, where each one is eaten to its liking. However, if that were the only option, some idiots would have taken the whole plate, so we made a rule that each person was given one plate and could only take as much as they could put on their plate at a time, and that they could not have another plate until they had eaten all of it.
 It's a very good idea to be able to have a good idea of what you're going to be doing. Most of the men missed out on the food as they secured most of it and shared it with each of them.

'Maybe we should have made a rule about sweets too...'
No, that's... that's... that's what I expected.
'Yeah. You see, over there, they put the security on their colleagues (male knights) and the primera's men (female knights) are joining in.
'Well, since it's Temma, you've got a spare supply of sweets, don't you? Put that out there.

 As I was talking with Albert and the rest of the women eating sweets while looking at them, Rion said something unnecessary. Because of this, their gazes naturally focused on me, and some of them were so strong that I could almost hear a voice saying "If you have it, get it out.......".
 My obsession with sweets was so strong that no matter how much I said I didn't have any, I couldn't get people to believe me.

'My obsession with sweets is too strong, it's scary...'

 I was a little traumatized. The after-party was over without incident, and we rushed into the third party where we just drank and milled around.