Ch.269Side Story: Birthday Banquet – 4

As soon as I saw that ridiculous scene, I wanted to run straight back to Earth, birthday be damned, but knowing the aftermath would be unbearable, I held myself back and spoke.

“Let’s disguise ourselves first.”

“Huh? Disguise? Why?”

“Could you walk into a place like that exposed? I can’t. Absolutely not.”

I pointed one by one at the apartment-sized banners floating in the sky and the large holograms standing throughout the capital. Kang Yuna snorted.

“Hey, those weren’t made to mock you. They’re all to celebrate your birthday. If it were me, I’d obviously—”

“Just so you know, if you say you could handle it, I’ll do whatever it takes to do the exact same thing on your birthday. Right in the middle of Seoul, with your name instead of mine, complete with banners and holograms. With Eternal Guild’s resources, you know that’s entirely possible, right?”

“…In my experience, nothing in life is certain. Even I would have snuck in. I completely understand how you feel.”

She immediately backed down after my threat. Seems she didn’t have the confidence to handle that kind of embarrassment either.

We cast simple disguise spells and headed toward the capital. Given how vast the capital was, the number of holograms was substantial. You could see at least one wherever you looked.

“Mother… Father… Good heavens…”

As soon as we reached the boundary, I quietly covered my face. A magical signpost explained that a quarter of the capital had been designated as a special festival district for the next ten days.

That meant a full quarter of the imperial capital had been turned into a venue for celebration.

While Laura and Erestica likely deserved credit for getting the emperor’s permission, the financial burden of maintaining the festivities fell squarely on House Crate. The scale was truly beyond imagination.

“Look here, Yuseong. There’s even a message written by the emperor himself.”

Kang Yehna examined the writing beneath a hologram of me. Beside her, Kang Yuna read it aloud.

“I, Emperor Ercarenchia Cresenne von Uperantis Bellium, hereby commemorate the birthday of House Crate’s youngest, Mira Crate…? Wow, you’re amazing, Yuseong. The emperor himself is congratulating you on your birthday?”

“I know…”

Kang Yuna, who had been busy teasing me at first, gradually shifted to an atmosphere of undisguised amazement as the full picture became clear.

In the distance, I could hear boisterous sounds. According to my detection magic, it was a parade. From the circumstances, it seemed to be marching through the city periodically.

“You there, why the long face? On such a wonderful day.”

An elderly man, quite drunk despite it being the middle of the day, suddenly placed his arm on my shoulder. His eyes were half-glazed from however much he’d been drinking.

“A wonderful day?”

“Of course it’s wonderful! Absolutely wonderful! Do you know what the Crate Merchant Guild did? They offered to cover losses for all shops in the capital if they sold their goods at a discount! A 70% discount, no less! Everyone’s going wild because of it!”

The old man gulped down what looked like a 1.5-liter mug of beer.

“And that’s not all! I hear you can eat and drink all the world’s delicacies for free if you go to the festival district! They don’t let just anyone in, but who cares! For people like us, even this much is more than we could ask for!”

“…I see.”

“Yes! Hehehe, I don’t know who this Mira Crate fellow is, but how could I not congratulate him after all this! A toast to Mira Crate!”

After emptying the rest of his beer, the old man told me not to look so gloomy on such a good day, and to relieve stress by eating and drinking heartily, before chuckling and disappearing.

“…”

As my expression turned half-dead, the two women quietly gauged my reaction. I rubbed my face with my hands and spoke.

“Let’s go.”

“Where to?”

“Where else? To this so-called festival district. I need to see for myself what’s going on.”

My words sounded grand, but it wasn’t like we could turn back now. We continued along the road. Every bar we passed was in full celebration mode. I could hear people congratulating me on my birthday everywhere.

Most of those words were probably being shouted by drunk people who had no idea who I was, but that would change after my birthday ended.

We soon arrived at the area designated as the festival district. A magical barrier covered the entire vicinity, presumably to restrict entry, and a red carpet with purification magic was laid out from the entrance.

The red carpet extended as far as the eye could see. It seemed to cover every possible path.

“Is this it?”

Kang Yuna asked with her mouth full, hands laden with all sorts of food. At first, she had been cautious of my mood, but halfway through she started enjoying the otherworld cuisine on her own.

Kang Rahye was also carefully nibbling on a chicken skewer, swept along by her sister. I didn’t mind others enjoying themselves, so I let them be. One person suffering was enough.

“Looks like we’re supposed to walk on this.”

“Right. And the moment we step on it, our biometric information will be shared. It’s probably for identification.”

Just as I was about to get up, having noticed another spell besides the purification magic on the red carpet, I sensed someone’s presence right beside me.

“Excuse me, could you wait a moment?”

The woman who opened a dimensional door without any warning signs was clearly a skilled practitioner.

I turned my head. Burning red hair, equally burning red eyes, and to complete the picture, a party dress in the same burning red color as her hair.

With that hair color, eye color, and that style of dress coat, there was only one person in the entire empire who would dress like that.

“What can I do for you, Red Tower Master?”

“The Crown Princess passed along a message to the Mage Association. She said if I found a man with a deathly expression trying to avoid stepping on the red carpet specially installed by the Red Tower, it would likely be someone I know, so I should approach him. I wondered what she meant, but here you are, just as described.”

“…”

“You seem to be using a disguise spell too. Care to remove it?”

The Red Tower Master approached with a grin. Kang Yuna froze at the sight of a woman whose mana levels were visibly extraordinary. In contrast, Kang Rahye remained indifferent.

“Is that how you treat someone you know? How will you deal with the consequences?”

“It’s not like your magic classes will be delayed by ten years or anything, right? I’m just faithfully following the Crown Princess’s instructions.”

From those words, it was clear she had been certain of my identity from the start. With a sigh, I dispelled the disguise magic. A small mist dispersed, revealing my true appearance.

“So it is you, Lord Mira.”

The Red Tower Master grinned.

“You’re being rather curt.”

“It’s a special day. Can’t I get away with this much?”

Looking closely, her cheeks were slightly flushed, suggesting she’d already had a few drinks.

“Besides, you’ll soon forget about me speaking informally to you. You’ll be experiencing much worse things.”

“Worse things? What do you—”

Before I could finish, the Red Tower Master raised her arm to the sky. With a bang, red fireworks that matched her eye color painted the blue sky.

Immediately after, dimensional doors opened from all directions, and people poured through.

“Mira! We’ve been waiting for you!”

Priscilla was the first to jump into my arms, followed by other familiar faces. Everyone was dressed in rather classically designed party attire.

Erestica’s impact was particularly striking. With a higher level of exposure than others and her exceptional physique, it was impossible not to draw attention.

Kang Yuna froze in shock at the sight of the Eternal Guild leaders all rushing toward me.

“Hey, Kang Yuseong. You… how… I mean, how… no, what? Why are the guild leaders here…?”

“Keep watching and you’ll understand.”

But things didn’t go as I said. A dimensional door opened a step later, and a completely unexpected figure appeared.

“I was told I’d see something surprising if I came here.”

Laura’s father.

“Is this what you wanted to show me?”

In other words, the Emperor of the Empire.

His eyes carefully scanned my surroundings. He seemed to have grasped the situation just from what he was seeing. He probably already knew from reports, but seeing with one’s own eyes is vastly different from hearing about it.

“Your Imperial—”

“Ah, that’s enough. Just call me Emperor. I’m wearing a disguise spell at a banquet venue, so formalities defeat the purpose. Just think of me as a neighborhood uncle who came to eat and drink merrily.”

As if a neighborhood uncle could set foot in a place like this. While I smiled wryly, the Emperor, who had cast aside all formalities, looked at Laura.

“Now I’d like to hear about this surprising thing, my daughter. You haven’t forgotten our bet, have you?”

“Of course I haven’t forgotten. I’ve already won, how could I forget? Look over there. There’s something that will surprise you, Father.”

Laura pointed to the spot beside Kang Yuna, where Kang Rahye stood with her appearance altered by disguise magic. Realizing what was happening, Kang Rahye smiled enigmatically and spoke.

“It seems she’s referring to me.”

Her manner of speech had returned to that of the Sword Saint. The Emperor’s eyebrow twitched slightly, perhaps sensing something familiar in the tone that so brazenly addressed him.

The disguise magic on her body dispersed like mist. Long brown hair reaching her waist and a single remaining sky-blue eye were revealed.

“It’s been a while, Emperor.”

The woman who had transformed from A-rank hunter Kang Rahye back to the Sword Saint, once the hope of all humanity, greeted him with a light smile.

“…Sword Saint.”

The Emperor swallowed. His pupils, filled with surprise, briefly darted to her missing right arm before quickly returning to their original position.

“The entire empire searched for you so desperately, yet you appear to celebrate Mira Crate’s birthday.”

“Indeed. I owe this child a debt I couldn’t repay in a lifetime.”

“Well, well…”

With a genuinely helpless smile, the Emperor turned his gaze to me.

“I had a bet with my daughter. She said there would be something surprising. I just lost because of that.”

“…What does that mean?”

“What do you think?”

The hand bearing the weight of the entire empire rested on my shoulder. His voice, lowered to barely audible, whispered to me.

“Perhaps, for the first time in imperial history, permission for polygamy might be granted to someone other than the Emperor.”