House Disaea also attended the joint wedding. The old head of house had brought along Shun Ukiyo and Kakejiku Byoubu as he walked around greeting other guests. Although it was an auspicious event, Shun didn’t seem very happy.
“What’s wrong, Shun? Even though we have Japanese food, you don’t seem too happy about it.”
“I feel like I’m a bad omen, sitting here at such a happy event. By the way, Byoubu, aren’t you meant to be on guard? Aren’t you eating too much?” Shun was proud of his job as an assassin for House Disaea. However, he felt like he didn’t really fit in and had at first declined to attend the joint wedding. He only ended up going because the head of the house ordered him to.
“Well...I guess I shouldn’t be eating while working...but this sushi, it’s so good...” she admitted, self-conscious about what she was doing. As it was a ceremony, it would be impolite for her not to eat, but since she was working, it was actually impolite for her specifically to be eating now.
“Ho ho ho. My cute Shun, don’t bully Byoubu like that. It makes me happy to see her enjoy herself,” the head of House Disaea said, sticking up for Byoubu and her rudeness, even though she was meant to be working as a guard. Due to his old age, he probably lacked a healthy appetite, but he seemed to take pleasure in watching youngsters enjoy their food.
“You’re too easy on Byoubu.”
“Ah, but I’ve also left you to your own devices too, you know? You don’t always have to stick by me.”
“Hey, hey, you say that now...” Shun said as he looked around the room, feeling fed up. There were a lot of Japanese dishes lined up around the hall, which was filled with envoys from a variety of countries. The envoys were all too occupied by political discussions, and the food had mostly gone untouched. Shun thought it was a waste of delicious food, but he could also understand that the politicians were working hard. The fact that one of the guards was enjoying the food was only Shun and his master’s problem, after all.
“You’re the one enjoying it the most.”
“Huh, really?”
“Good, good! You might as well eat it or it’ll just go to waste!” Byoubu was really savoring the food, based on her expression. She usually took her job seriously, but she had let her guard down in order to enjoy the taste of home.
“You can ask Danua for more if you want, you know?”
“Huh, can I?”
“You’re gonna eat more...?”
“Don’t say it like I’m some glutton, Shun. I haven’t even eaten that much!”
Danua was able to recreate any dish she had eaten. Byoubu, after giving it some thought, had decided on a dish she wanted to request from Danua. “I’d like some curry. I’d especially like some curry from that small soba restaurant inside the train station.”
“What, now...?”
“When you can’t get something, it makes you want it more... How about you, Shun?”
“After work.”
Since Byoubu was talking about what she wanted to eat, that made Shun want to eat something too. He hadn’t really missed any particular kind of food, but now he suddenly had an appetite for it.
The head of House Disaea laughed. “We’ll leave that for later... Why don’t we go see Pandora? I think she’s currently lined up with the other Sacred Treasures.” The highlight of today’s wedding was the Eight Sacred Treasures, which had all been gathered together by Arcana. There had never been a country before that had collected all eight of the legendary Sacred Treasures, and having done so was a huge point of pride for Arcana.
“That reminds me. Apart from Pandora, I’ve never seen any of the other Sacred Treasures.”
“Same goes for me. We don’t really come to the royal capital a lot like the other houses.”
The group headed towards the exhibition hall, which was located quite a distance away from the main hall. The Treasures were all lined up on display within the national treasury of Arcana and were currently being heavily guarded. There were also other items, like gifts from Magyan, as well as some other high-value items on display, with Magyan soldiers guarding the area. The merchant house of Disaea had many treasures of its own, but even they didn’t have a showcase of this caliber.
One part of the display especially stood out—the display of the Eight Sacred Treasures in the center of the room. However, as Noah and Danua were unable to fit into the room in treasure form, only six were on display. One of those Sacred Treasures was Pandora, which was owned by Disaea. They had bought the legendary item a long time ago, and it had been locked away until the most compatible user, Shun, appeared. Pandora, a large suit of armor, was now on display, seated in a chair similar to when she had been locked away. She was a terrifying size and was really a spectacular sight.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen her seated in a chair. It’s so picturesque.” The three people from Disaea approached the display, being careful not to disturb the other guests. They were about to be stopped and warned by the guards, but as the head of one of the four great houses was present, they let them pass. More to the point, they were also currently lending Pandora to the royal family.
“...!”
The sentient armor, Pandora, responded to Shun and the others’ sudden appearance. In order to preserve her dignity, she was unable to move, but she began to complain about how bored she was and how much she disliked being with the other Sacred Treasures.
“Shut up, you.”
“If you stayed quiet, you’d be such a cool piece of armor...”
She had ruined the ominous aura around her as she grumbled out complaints. Shun was worried that it could lead to her losing her dignity.
“Well, we can always talk with Pandora. Why not have a chat with the other Sacred Treasures?” Without Noah and Danua, Pandora was the biggest item on display. Although one’s eyes would be drawn to her first, that wasn’t to say the other five weren’t equally majestic.