Ch.244-4. Wedding Ceremony (2)

# -4. The Wedding (2)

Unlike the world of humans and elves that had embraced an era of peace, that place was still filled with all sorts of issues.

The Babylon Kingdom was still experiencing tumultuous days, perhaps due to the aftermath of defeat or perhaps because of the emergence of a new ruler.

Lilith, who had somehow ended up on the throne, asked her secretary.

“Lu, how’s the situation?”

“Currently, there’s opposition between two factions, Your Majesty—those who believe you should be removed from the throne, and those who accept the defeat and believe we should maintain positive relations with humans.”

Lilith wasn’t particularly pleased with the current situation.

Her body was still not fully recovered from the effects of the war, and now she had to deal with a situation that required her physical involvement.

“What if we request help from the Empire… that wouldn’t work, would it?”

“That would ruin the country. I mentioned there are two opposing factions, but there’s quite a power difference between them. The former group is significantly outnumbered.”

While ordinary citizens typically belonged to the former group, soldiers who had directly participated in the war and high-ranking nobles overwhelmingly supported the latter.

In this situation, even if she were to subjugate them with human assistance, nothing would change.

If she did that, the current ruler would be labeled a coward who climbed to power only with human help.

Lilith was well aware of this fact.

“So… in the end, I have to handle this myself?”

“Of course, just like the previous king did.”

The Babylon Kingdom had experienced numerous rebellions and assassination attempts over the years.

However, during his reign, Bael had suppressed all those variables solely with his own strength and eventually earned respect from those who had once looked down on him.

And now, this situation required the same approach.

Overwhelming force to silence those who were making noise.

“Can I do it?”

“You’ve become the Demon King now, so you have those skills.”

“That’s true, but…”

“They’re not really effective yet, right? That’s natural, given your approval rating.”

Being a Demon King isn’t just about sitting on the throne.

One must earn their recognition to truly become one. As such, Lilith was currently just a half-baked Demon King.

“What should I do…?”

“How about that?”

“?”

She had an ominous feeling that another strange suggestion was coming, but she listened anyway.

She had no choice…

“What is it?”

“Remember when we saw that guy having a showdown at the Colosseum!?”

“Wait… you… don’t tell me?”

“That’s exactly what we should do! I’m kind of a genius, how did I come up with this!!”

She was dumbfounded.

Not only was the idea absurdly strange, but the fact that Lu was genuinely excited about it as if it were a brilliant suggestion was equally baffling.

“Let’s be more realis—”

“Sounds good to me.”

Interrupting Lilith’s words, an unfamiliar person joined the conversation. He genuinely seemed to think positively of that suggestion.

But that wasn’t the important issue right now.

“Ah! You startled me! Who are you?”

“Lu… something? That’s a really good idea. Beat them all one-on-one, and they’ll listen.”

“Ah… seriously…”

“Should I spread some rumors? I can do that much before I leave.”

“No… wait, more importantly, why are you even here?”

When Lilith asked that, he pointed at himself with his finger.

That gesture was truly… irritating.

“Who else would I be talking to!? Do you want to get hit?”

“The reason I’m here isn’t anything special. I came to give you this, a gift. For Lu as well.”

He handed over two pieces of paper, making a big show of it being a gift.

Lu and Lilith each took one.

They then spent a moment reading what was written on the papers.

“What? Already?”

“Yep, that’s how it turned out.”

“Well… congratulations, but… is it okay for us to attend?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Well, there will only be humans there, right? Even so?”

“Don’t worry, most of the faces there will be familiar to you anyway.”

It seemed he had originally come all the way here to deliver news about a wedding, but after hearing their conversation, his purpose had changed.

He very naturally shifted the topic.

“So when are you doing that? If it’s tough for you, I can help out like a relief pitcher. I’ll disguise myself and pretend to be a demon.”

“Are you serious about that?”

“It sounds fun.”

When that suggestion first came from Lu’s mouth, Lilith had thought it was a worthless joke not even worth considering.

But now that this guy was talking like this… the possibility was starting to become more and more apparent.

No matter how many opponents there might be, with Lu, Lilith, and Albert, they could easily subdue them all.

“It might actually work? From their perspective, they’d think it’s doable since they only need to defeat the three of us.”

“Exactly, that kind of feeling. It’s neither underhanded nor too straightforward, which is good, right?”

“Should I… participate too?”

“Of course, I’ll have you face just regular soldiers. Though regular soldiers probably won’t volunteer much.”

And it didn’t necessarily have to be just the three of them; they could also select capable individuals from among those who supported peace with humans, so there were options.

Assuming that was settled… they needed to decide on something else.

“What should the reward be?”

“Reward?”

“There needs to be a reward for people to volunteer, right? Let’s put the Demon King position on the line, decisively.”

“Isn’t that structure only disadvantageous to us?”

“If you win, it’s a gain. And it’s a fight you’re going to win anyway, so what’s the issue?”

He continued with a confident tone.

“It’s natural to bet your entire fortune on a 100% win rate, isn’t it?”

“Still…”

“Are you scared?”

“Huh? Me?”

He gave a meaningful smile and headed towards the exit of the office.

Showing signs of leaving soon, just before opening the door, he said to Lilith:

“Then do as you wish. I’ll look forward to good news. I’ll be going now.”

After leaving those words, he left the office. Lu and Lilith looked at each other after witnessing the scene.

“What is that guy… really up to?”

“Let’s start preparing bit by bit. The sooner we do it, the better.”

***

At this point, about four months after the end of the war—a long time if you consider it long—

The world, except for that place, was fully enjoying the peace that had come after a long time.

And among those peaceful places, there were people who were having the happiest days.

“I’m excited… extremely…!”

The man in a neat suit was stomping his feet.

But unlike his noisy feet, his face was blooming with smiles.

“Aren’t you?”

“Why would I be? It’s not my wedding.”

“That’s true. Ah, but I really want to see it quickly.”

“See what?”

“My honey. I haven’t seen her even once.”

Though he didn’t specify what he hadn’t seen, it was quite obvious.

Elin, staring intently at her phone and moving her mouth here and there, asked him:

“Don’t people usually try on their outfits together before the ceremony?”

“We did, but I wasn’t there. I wasn’t here at that time.”

“So you don’t even know what kind of dress your sister is wearing?”

“That’s right.”

He wanted to rush into the bride’s waiting room right away, but… he held back.

Restraining that urge, he welcomed each person who arrived at the venue.

“It’s been a while, everyone. Have you been well?”

“I’ve been fine.”

“I’ve been doing relatively well, though that beast that charges at me recklessly is still the same.”

From Marco, who was still working on subduing the beastmen who remained at the border with lingering attachments, to Amelia, whose recent activities were completely unknown, to Ariya, who had only recently been able to rest a bit, and so on.

Many people secretly visited the venue.

The Saint, who seemed to be appearing after a long time, spoke.

“The tuxedo suits you well.”

“Ah, thank you.”

“Where’s the bride’s waiting room?”

“If you go straight that way, you’ll find it.”

“Thanks.”

“I want to go too, let’s go together.”

Watching Ariya heading to the bride’s waiting room with Amelia, he felt quite envious.

Albert asked Marco, who was watching the same scene with a completely different look in his eyes.

“How’s it going these days?”

“Better than expected.”

“Can I have high hopes?”

“Maybe.”

Marco left those ambiguous words and entered the venue.

Elin was still fiddling with her phone, and he welcomed those who came after.

They had faces that were seriously familiar.

“Hello? Long time no see?”

Starting with Chris, who greeted energetically, to Reikle, Reina, Rachel, Luna, and other kids around my age.

And among them was also Diabolica.

“Hello, Your Majesty?”

“It feels like it’s been a really long time. Thank you for your contributions during the war.”

“You flatter me.”

“By the way, already getting married… humans really do everything quickly.”

Diabolica must be very busy these days too.

Nevertheless, he gladly accepted the wedding invitation, though being a war hero was probably a big reason.

There was absolutely nothing bad about maintaining a relationship with him.

But Albert was purely looking at that fact and was grateful for it.

“Thank you for attending. Let’s go inside quickly.”

Diabolica and the others also entered the venue and took their seats.

After 10 minutes, 20 minutes passed, the venue started to fill up, and by about 40 minutes, everyone who had been invited had already arrived.

Just before entering the venue, at the very last moment, he took a deep breath.

“Hoo… Hoo…”

Only then did his heart start beating normally.

He was listening attentively to the host’s voice coming from inside the venue.

-Next, the protagonist of today, the groom! Albert Veros will enter. Please give him a warm round of applause. The groom is entering!-

-Clap clap clap clap clap clap!!!-

He stepped forward one step at a time, hearing the applause of the guests with both ears.

Though his face showed signs of tension, his steps were dignified.

“Hoo… let’s go.”