Renge wants to marry me. Not just to be his significant other, but to really…marry me. I can’t believe this. I’m so happy… Is this a dream? Is this real?
“And where do you intend to live?”
“Guh?!” Renge looked pressured by Air’s question. “Well, we intend to develop Deshmel, so why don’t we have a house here?”
“I don’t mind,” I smiled. “I’ll be able to work here, after all.”
That was a pretty good answer.
Making our new home in Deshmel felt right. Dad and Lico would probably have a home built in the noble area, so we could take advantage of that. But still, I wanted to go back to Rofola. But like Dad suggested, if we build a Rofola Lodge branch here in Deshmel, it might make me feel a bit more like home.
“Come to think of it, Marcus did mention he was going to live in the noble town here and set up a Rofola Lodge branch, too. Were you going to have Tina be the proprietress of that branch?” Renge asked.
“Huh…?”
“If so…I’ll be willing to help. I’ve never had to serve customers before, so I’ll need Tina to teach me how to do it,” he continued.
“Ah…”
Building an inn here, and managing it with Renge? I’ve never even imagined that, but that…sounds perfect! I can cook, while Renge handles the customers at the counter and shows them to their rooms. We could hire people to do the cleaning and laundry, and I’d spend any free time working in Lico’s lab.
It wouldn’t be exactly like the Rofola Lodge, since we wouldn’t be surrounded by nature, but eating meals with our guests, listening to their troubles, and offering them medicine to help their lives sounded amazing. And if we had kids, we could show them off to our guests…
René could work as a craftsman in the noble city and could come over for lunch sometimes. On days off, we could go back to Rofola and have a girls’ night out with Nakona and Moné.
“I think…that’s a great idea!” I exclaimed.
“Then, erm…let’s go with that— Oh?” Renge smiled initially, but soon became expressionless. Based on his reaction, I could tell something happened.
“Did something happen to the Great Curalius?” I asked.
“The Colossals started their invasion,” he said. “We’ve got plenty of defenders, but Colossals are very durable, and it’ll be a hard battle. I’m sorry, but I have to head back. She recovered thanks to your medicine, but the Great Curalius is still quite old.”
“Why don’t you let Revireus intercept them?” Air proposed. “I could let him go if it’s for that reason.”
“I do think it’d be good to let them realize Revi is the next Mythical king, but if we let him handle it, he’ll burn the whole place down. I feel like it’d be better if I left him under your training until he learns to restrain his powers,” Renge said.
Oh, yes… Lord Revireus is pretty reckless.
Mirage and Jiril both nodded in agreement.
“Why didn’t you teach that young dragon better?” Air asked.
“I’m not good at teaching people how to fight,” Renge replied. “The Great Curalius and Eure said I’m too soft.”
“Oh, you do have a penchant for spoiling people.”
I can’t say I expected that would be why…but it does suit Renge to be too nice for that.
“I’m sorry you had to come when you’re so busy,” I said.
“No, I really wasn’t clear about things, and I’m glad we got to talk about our future. I just hope we can do everything according to schedule,” Renge said.
“That’s true.”
Just today was nerve-wracking enough. Would we really be able to get married by next year? I hung my head, but Dad walked up to me from behind and placed an encouraging hand on my shoulders.
“Don’t worry. We’ll help you prepare.”
“Yeah,” Lico said.
“That’s right, you’ve got us to help you, hm.”
“Yes! It’s your wedding with Lord Reeeeenge, so we should make it a graaaand event that will go down in hiiiiistory!”
“No, we want an ordinary wedding!” Dad and I said as one.
Letting Jiril and Mirage handle it will absolutely complicate things!
Seeing all of us react this way made Renge laugh out loud.
“I’ll head back, then… I’m leaving, but Air, don’t force Tina into anything absurd,” Renge said strongly.
“I know. Goodness, it’s a shame Curalius won’t deify. She’s a dragon, after all…” Air whispered in complaint as Renge teleported away. Even as he complained, he was picking away at his mouth-watering Ukok.
I’m glad he likes it.
“She’s only weak now due to her old age, which speaks to her experience and wisdom,” he continued. “You’d think she’d be interested in deifying…”
“The Great Curalius was on the verge of reaching the end of her lifespan, so I really think you shouldn’t force any more work on her,” I said.
“Mm? Reaching the end of her lifespan? And she came back to life? How?”
“Um, well… You see…” I began to tell him what happened.
It was my…no, technically it was Lord Revireus’ fault. I accidentally made a very dangerous potion, which allowed her to cheat death. Back when I was abducted by Edesa Kura and taken captive by the Kaguya with a Will of its Own, Renge showed up to save me, and the Great Curalius helped out a lot, too.
Air listened to my story, and then fell silent.
“Hm, Air?” I asked.
“Oh, yes. In that case, I should go and get Renge to return.”
“Return? Why?”
“So I can make Curalius into a god. I’m not sure if she’ll be of much use, but it’s better than nothing.”
“Where did that come from? The Colossals are attacking her right now! Why call him back?!”
Air, why do you have to do everything in the spur of the moment? What brought this on?
“Curalius probably became half-dragon half-deity,” he said.
“How?”
“She was old and about to breathe her last, but your potion resuscitated her. That made her cross a certain threshold. If a dragon becomes aware that they’re living a new life, they deify.” Air spoke in a good mood and chewed on a chunk of Ukok before getting up. He looked ready to teleport, when suddenly, he paused. “Holy Woman, could you pack the rest of that meal for me?”
“I, erm, I could make it into a sandwich,” I suggested.
“Sounds good.”
I guess he really liked it.
I cut up some vegetables and cut some fresh bread in half to make a sandwich. Being a Japanese person in my past life, sandwiching any food in bread was second nature to me.
Air said he’s fine with this, so it works! But since it’s very oily, maybe I should wrap it in some leafy vegetables first. That should do the trick.
“Here you go,” I said, handing the sandwich over.
“Thank you. I’ll be off, then.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow, when you come to train me.”
Air teleported away, the sandwich in hand.
Is the great Curalius really about to become a god? I just hope Renge doesn’t end up fighting with Air again…
“At any rate, congratulatiooooons, Holy Woman!”
“Congratulations! Good for you, hm!”
“Huh?” I was taken aback as the Mythical ladies suddenly hugged me from both sides and started patting my head.
“Goodness, you haven’t realized, hm?”
Haven’t realized what? What are they celebrating?
“We’re talking about your engaaaaagement to Lord Renge!”
“He just publicly proposed to you, hm!”
“Ah…”
They’re right, Renge just…promised to marry me. Even though we haven’t done anything a couple does yet…and in front of Dad and Lico, at that!
“E-Erm, Dad?”
“Aye, I saw the whole thing. You’re getting married, aren’t you…?”
You don’t have to look so serious about it…
But that made the realization set in. I was getting married to Renge. We were going to set up a new inn here in Deshmel, which we’d manage together. It was a dream come true.
“I guess you should start planning your wedding, then,” Dad said.
“Right, what should we do about that? I’ve never been in a wedding before…” I said.
There were people who got married in Deshmel, but their idea of a wedding was to swear their eternal love in front of the Holy Woman…which was to say, me. I didn’t even remember what those impromptu weddings were like because I was really nervous at the time. I used to believe that lapses of memory that come from being nervous was some kind of joke, but then I experienced it myself. So while I was at weddings before, I didn’t actually remember any of them.
“Hm, that makes sense. People don’t really hold weddings in roadside inns,” Lico said.
“Nakona has this problem, too…. Shida’s body entered puberty now, but it’ll take him at least five more years for it to end,” Dad said.
“Yeah, well, if Nakona were to get married to Shida when he looks the way he does now…people would think she’s crazy. Or a criminal,” I said dryly.
The Elf of the Sun’s curse was lifted from Shida, but he still looked like an eight-year-old. With the curse lifted, he was beginning to age and mature, but it would take a few years before his outward appearance matched Nakona’s age. Nakona couldn’t marry someone who looked like he was half her age. It would make her look like some kind of criminal deviant.
“What about you and Lico, though?” I asked.
The two of them fell quiet.
Huh? No answer? They’re averting their gaze, too. They haven’t considered that, either?
“Ah, you see, the two of us…” Dad started.
“We figured we could just register as a married couple and be done with it,” Lico explained. “We’ve got work and research to take care of, and both of us were married before. We feel like this isn’t something we need to show off, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Dad agreed.
Jiril, Mirage, and I looked at them expressionlessly. What were they saying?
“Hm, this is a good chance, Holy Woman. They’ll give you a good impression of a wedding ceremony to work off of, hm.”
“Good ideaaaaaa. Weddings on this continent differ by country. But here in Deshmel, the women wear dresses and the men wear tuxeeeeedos when they swear their love before you, Holy Womaaaaaaan. Let’s let them do iiiiit.”
“Huh?!” Dad and Lico were both taken aback by Jiril and Mirage’s forceful suggestion.
“Jiril, arrange for teams to handle outfits and makeup,” I said. “I’ll draw up a guest list based on their acquaintances. Mirage, you gather up the cooks in Deshmel and have them cook the menu I’ll prepare.”
“T-Tina?!” Dad looked at me, shocked.
“Tinaris, wait!” Lico tried to stop me, too.
“No buts!” I chided them.