Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody, Vol. 7 Read online

  Miss Karina was attending the wedding with her younger brother, Orion, so she wasn’t with us.

  Even at their young age, Tama and Pochi were very enthralled with the wedding dress.

  Tama climbed up onto my head, and Pochi tugged on my clothes, waving her other hand excitedly.

  Mia attempted to follow Tama’s example, but I decided it was safer to catch her on the way up and hold her under one arm.

  “White dress.”

  “How lovely,” Arisa cooed. “Kimonos are great, but it’s really not a wedding without a wedding dress!”

  “Master, I would like a flower bouquet like the bride, I entreat.”

  Along with the younger group, Nana was also hanging on to me today.

  “It’s certainly a splendid procession.”

  Liza was composed as always, but the way her gaze was fixed on the bride hinted that she was excited as well.

  “Oh, she looks so happy. I’d love to be a bride like that someday, too…” Lulu sighed.

  “I’m sure you will, Lulu.”

  I patted her head lightly.

  A pure-white dress would look wonderful with Lulu’s black hair. If she got married someday, I’d make a handmade dress for her as a present.

  “Master…”

  Lulu pressed close to my shoulder.

  “Guilty?”

  “Hmm. I’m not sure.”

  Mia and Arisa squinted at us suspiciously.

  “Sir Knight, a messenger has arrived from Viscount Siemmen.”

  “All right, I’ll see them now.”

  One of the housemaids led me to the visitor. Since I checked my map on the way, I already knew it was Natalina from the scroll workshop. She probably had a delivery, though it was earlier than I’d expected.

  “Here’s your order, misterrr. Look good?”

  “Yes, that’s everything.”

  The scrolls I ordered were all finished ahead of schedule.

  As usual, formality was not Natalina’s strong suit.

  “Do you think the firework scrolls will be ready on time?”

  “Yeah! We’ve all been working day and night to make sure we’re done in time for the end of the reception!”

  “I’m glad to hear that.”

  I’d ordered some new scrolls, too. Shooter Version II and Multitool, plus a few more I’d been working on for a long time: Picture Recorder, Sound Recorder, Air-Conditioning, and UV Reduction. This last one was a request from Arisa.

  Multitool was a spell that could make a tool of any size and shape. I reused a lot of code from Magic Mold, so it was pretty easy.

  It would probably be possible to make swords and such with this spell. In my case, though, it would be faster to put Spellblade on my finger than to select Multitool from the magic menu, so I didn’t see that coming into play.

  That evening, I worked as the chef at Tisrado’s wedding reception, with Lulu and Arisa as my assistants.

  “Sir Satou, your tempura is truly divine.”

  “Indeed! I believe that the pickled ginger tempura is its ultimate form, but I would never turn down any other kind.”

  “I agree, Count Hohen. My opinion that shrimp is the ultimate tempura remains unchanged as well, but any tempura is a blessing to my palate.”

  For some reason, the heavyweight gourmands of the old capital, Marquis Lloyd and Count Hohen, had set up their seats next to my cooking booth.

  According to Tolma, they got along like cats and dogs, but at the moment they were clearly the closest of friends.

  “Sa… Sir Pendragon!”

  Miss Karina appeared nearby.

  In her impeccable makeup and dress, she was an impressive beauty even among all the attractive nobles at the reception. Naturally, I still thought Lulu looked even better, but it would be cruel to make that kind of comparison.

  Behind her was her brother and the next Baron Muno, Orion, as well as two young girls.

  “Sir Pendragon, allow me to introduce you. This is my fiancée, Muse, the daughter of Baron Lagoch.”

  Orion gestured to the plainer of the two girls.

  She looked around middle school age, with light-blond hair and a timid expression. Her features reminded me a bit of Sara of the Tenion Temple.

  According to my AR, she was part of the extended family of Duke Ougoch.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Muse. I am Satou Pendragon, a hereditary knight.”

  “Th-the pleasure’s all mine… I’ve heard much about you from Lord Orion and Lady Karina.”

  In spite of my friendly greeting, Miss Muse seemed nervous or even suspicious of me.

  Had she heard some strange rumor about me or something?

  “Sir Satou, do you know how amazing Mistress Karina is? She received invitations to dance from dozens of nobles before we even arrived.”

  This was not Miss Muse but the girl behind her, the pink-haired Princess Menea herself.

  She was dressed in a way that accented her beauty well; sandwiched between her and Miss Karina, I’m afraid Miss Muse was all but invisible. This seemed a shame, since she was fairly cute herself.

  “B-but I refused them all, of course.”

  Karina was quick to deflect Menea’s flattery.

  “But you were quite popular yourself, weren’t you, Miss Menea?”

  Orion’s cheeks were red as he complimented Princess Menea.

  The stiff smile on Muse’s face behind them was painful to witness.

  “Thank you, Lord Orion. However, my heart is already set on someone else.”

  Alarmingly, Princess Menea’s gaze was fixed on my face as she spoke these words.

  “But Mistress Karina is ahead of me in line,” she continued with a giggle, “so perhaps I shall aim to be a viceroy’s second wife.”

  I had no idea what she was getting at.

  “Why, you little minx… If my master marries Karina to become a viceroy, you better believe his second wife will be yours truly.” Behind the cooking booth, Arisa muttered darkly, adding to the drama.

  A bottom-tier noble like me would never become a viceroy, so this all seemed like a moot point.

  “Sir Satou, it would be a shame to spend such a lovely reception cooking. Why not leave such silly work to your servants and share a dance with me, if you please?”

  Menea took my hand eagerly.

  Her attitude toward me certainly changed after the whole black dragon encounter.

  I didn’t remember doing anything to curry her favor, so I had no idea what she was thinking.

  “Silly work, you say?”

  “Princess though you may be, I cannot abide such words.”

  The two men who responded to Princess Menea’s words were Marquis Lloyd and Count Hohen.

  “Huh? I—I beg your pardon?”

  “Satou’s cooking is like unto an art!”

  “If you do not understand such an art…you are unworthy of the Lumork royal family’s rose-colored hair, which the ancestral king Yamato once called an untold treasure!”

  These two were way too serious about cooking.

  “Marquis Lloyd, Count Hohen, please. There is no need to be so harsh on my behalf.”

  “Harrumph. If you say so, Sir Satou.”

  “Yes, very well. We would hate to trouble our favorite chef.”

  Princess Menea seemed unnerved, so I gently put a stop to their raging, giving her a chance to make amends.

  “My apologies. I chose my words unwisely in my eagerness to invite Sir Satou to dance.”

  When Princess Menea gave a sincere apology, Marquis Lloyd and Count Hohen nodded and returned to their discussion about food.

  “Allow me to repeat my request. Sir Satou, please dance with me.”

  Princess Menea took my hand again and batted her eyes.

  For some reason, Miss Karina seemed to be glaring at her almost as furiously as Arisa.

  Just then, a new intruder entered the fray.

  “Satou! What’re you doing cooking here?”

/>   The hero noticed me from a distance and came over.

  Behind him was the rest of his party, all dressed up for the occasion.

  They were every one of them beautiful with great figures to boot, so it was definitely a sight to behold.

  “S-Sir Hayato Masaki the Hero?”

  “Sister, is Sir Pendragon a friend of Sir Hero?”

  Baron Muno must have brought up his children to be hero fans as well.

  “Wow, is that tempura? Can I get some?”

  “Good evening, Sir Hayato. Would you like some freshly cooked white rice as well?”

  “For real? That would be awesome! Load me up, please!”

  The women behind him also gave me friendly greetings.

  Returning their greetings, I complimented each woman in turn. It was nice not to have to stand on ceremony.

  You’re not getting too friendly, are you? Arisa mouthed at me, so I simply mouthed back, Of course not.

  Before I started cooking, I decided to introduce Miss Karina and company to the hero.

  “H-hang on. The hero of the Saga Empire came over to greet Sir Pendragon?”

  “And Sir Pendragon called him by his first name, too…”

  “Haven’t you heard? Sir Pendragon accompanied the hero to deal with a dragon.”

  “I-is that true? We must get him to marry into our family, then…”

  As I was chatting with the hero, I overheard some nobles gossiping about us.

  That last line was a bit of an issue, but there wasn’t much I could do about it, so I just ignored it and prepared a tempura set for the hero’s party.

  Arisa was the one to bring the food over to them.

  “Thank you for waiting, Sir Hero.”

  “P-Princess Arisa?! Why are you doing the work of a servant?”

  The hero’s loud shouting sent a ripple of chatter through the nearby nobles and servants.

  “I am a former princess, remember. And I could hardly go messing about while Lord Satou is hard at work. At any rate, isn’t this maid outfit wonderful?”

  Arisa did a little twirl.

  “Of course! It looks amazing on you!”

  Princess Meriest and Miss Ringrande frowned at the fawning hero, each tugging one of his arms in protest. It was a pretty cute gesture of jealousy.

  “Would you like some of this as well?”

  Trying to distract them from the hero’s folly, I offered them some food.

  “Oh, you brought this, too?”

  “It looks like water, but it certainly smells remarkable.”

  This was my consommé soup, a secret menu item of sorts.

  Mia didn’t like mass-producing it, so I made a single pot to give to special requesters only.

  The portion I gave the hero and company came out of what little hadn’t already been reserved.

  “…Delicious… Truly, this is a miracle dish worthy of the gods’ dining table.”

  Princess Meriest reacted with exaggerated excitement when she tasted the soup.

  Her bright smile made it clear that she wasn’t just being polite.

  “Did you hear that?”

  “Wow, consommé soup really is amazing…”

  “So even Her Highness of the Saga Empire is enchanted by the miracle chef?”

  More gossip from the nobles.

  I hope all these weird rumors don’t follow me on my travels.

  “Ladies and gentlemen! Your attention, please! The bride and groom are about to enter.”

  After I chatted with the hero’s party, Karina, and the others for a while, a voice rang out from the back of the reception hall.

  The lighting in the room dimmed, and Light Magic shone a gentle spotlight on the bride and groom.

  The two of them proceeded toward an enormous eight-layer wedding cake hidden under a cloth shroud.

  The cake alone wouldn’t be able to support the full weight, so all but the top three layers were strengthened with a firm bread core on the inside.

  “Today we will participate in the famous cake-cutting ceremony outlined in the tales of the ancestral king. The legends say that this ceremony will ensure a healthy heir for the new bride and groom.”

  A gentleman who seemed to be the moderator used the Wind Magic spell Amplification to announce the proceedings.

  Cutting the cake was evidently a storied ritual in this world.

  When the wedding cake was uncovered, gasps of admiration arose from a group of noble young ladies in the audience.

  If I remembered right, I’d made a strawberry shortcake for that group at a tea party.

  I held up Arisa so she could see the cake cutting over the crowd.

  “How lovely! I’d love to cut a cake with you like that someday, master.”

  “I would like to wear a lovely dress like that, myself.”

  “Sure, why not?”

  “Really?!”

  “You mean it?”

  “Sure. I’ll make a dress for you, Lulu, and a cake-cutter for Arisa.”

  I made a joking response as the two pressed closer.

  Of course, I really did intend to make a dress for Lulu someday.

  “Don’t play with a maiden’s heart!”

  Flustered, Arisa bopped me repeatedly on the head. As I attempted to calm her, a bright light from outside the window suddenly lit up her profile.

  “Whoa! Are those fireworks?”

  Forgetting her attack on me, Arisa looked up at the fireworks appearing in the night sky through the window.

  The overtime from the workers at Viscount Siemmen’s scroll workshop really paid off.

  “How beautiful…,” Lulu murmured as she gazed at the colorful fireworks.

  Personally, I thought she was a hundred times more beautiful, but it would be unkind to interrupt her first-ever fireworks display with such a statement.

  Glancing around, I saw that everyone seemed to be enraptured by the fireworks, regardless of their age or gender.

  Throughout the room, lovestruck young nobles cuddled up together as they watched the show. Just for tonight, I decided not to inwardly curse their happiness.

  As I looked around, I caught sight of the hero in the crowd.

  I pretended not to notice the tears of homesickness rolling down his cheeks.

  When the fireworks display was over, single young nobles crawled out of the woodwork to invite any free young ladies to dance.

  Still in high spirits from the cake cutting and the fireworks, the girls seemed quite willing to indulge them.

  On the edges of the lively dance hall, maids began to push around small wagons.

  They were bringing slices of the wedding cake to all the visitors.

  “Delicious!”

  “Yes, it really is. What is this fruit?”

  “This is the lulu fruit, which is cultivated in Viscount Emerin’s orchard.”

  The ladies’ eyes sparkled as they ate the sweets.

  Just as I’d hoped, many people seemed to be interested in the fruit, and the maids provided the information I’d given them in advance.

  As thanks for the free advertisement, I’d made a cake for the maids and waitstaff as well.

  “Here you are, Sir Satou.”

  A maid handed me a plate of cake, which I gave to Arisa.

  Because Arisa and Lulu were attending as my staff rather than as wedding guests, they had not been accounted for when the cake was cut, so I shared my piece with them.

  “Sir Pendragon! So this is where you’ve been hiding.”

  “Hello, Sir Kirk.”

  Viscount Kirk Emerin, the owner of the lulu fruit orchard, approached with his daughter Rina.

  “We’re receiving all kinds of requests for the lulu fruit, thanks to you.”

  “I’m very glad to hear that.”

  Some of the sharper nobles had already started business negotiations with Viscount Emerin.

  “…E-erm, Sir Satou? If you wouldn’t mind, I…”

  At the gentle prompting of one of her at
tendants, Miss Rina set down her cake and approached me.

  “Mistress Karina, Sir Satou’s going to be stolen away if you don’t act fast.”

  “Wh-what?”

  Just then, Princess Menea cut in, bringing Miss Karina along by the hand.

  “I’m sorry, but Sir Satou has already promised to dance with us first.”

  Um, I don’t remember saying that…

  Besides, there was no shortage of dancing time, so it seemed silly to me to argue over turns…

  Before I could stop Princess Menea’s rampage, another contender entered the fray. I was in high demand this evening.

  “Hello, Satou.”

  “It’s been a long time, Lady Sara.”

  It was Priestess Sara of the Tenion Temple. She’d been hiding out in the Tenion Temple sanctuary to escape from the third prince’s marriage proposal, but now that he’d been sent back to the royal capital, it was probably safe for her to venture out again.

  Behind her were two more priestesses, from Parion Temple and Garleon Temple respectively.

  As Nanashi the Hero, I’d rescued these two and Sara from being sacrificed for a demon lord’s resurrection. I hadn’t seen them since, so I was glad they looked happy and healthy.

  “This must be Sir Satou.”

  “Lady Sara thinks quite highly of him.”

  The two priestesses murmured behind her.

  According to the AR label, they were relatives of Sara. One was blond and one was redheaded, but their features bore a strong resemblance to Sara’s.

  The important-looking figures behind them were some of the head priests and priestesses of the same temples. Unfortunately, it looked like the head priestess of Tenion Temple couldn’t come due to her poor health.

  “Would you like to dance, Satou?”

  Sara gazed at me steadily.

  Princess Menea was practically crawling on top of a table to protest.

  But she was interrupted before she could speak up.

  “Sara!”

  “…Sister Rin.”

  Overprotective as ever, Miss Ringrande leaped to Sara’s defense.

  “You’re pretty popular, eh, Satou?”

  “I wouldn’t say that.”

  I shrugged sheepishly at the hero’s sly remark.

  Yes, a lot of young women were clamoring over me, but they were all in their teens.

  Unfortunately for them, my tastes ran at least five or ten years older than that.

  In the end, with Princess Meriest’s mediation, I agreed to dance with each of them in turn.