74-Chapter 4-8 Kukri Village Banquet

A little while after sunset, my grandfather and I went to join the feast that the people of Kukuri village had prepared for us.

Because we were late, we got tangled up with a group of old men who had already made their way to the party, but the ladies helped us out.

However, the ladies surrounded me, touching me and confirming something.

And when they were done, all of them began to cry at once.

As I was confused and unable to keep up with the sudden turn of events, Uncle Mark, who came from behind me, put his hand on my head.

I'm sorry for the sudden goofiness, Temma. We all couldn't believe you were alive.

According to Uncle Mark, everyone was waiting in the garden for him to get ready, not believing what he was saying, but when they said they were ready to finish, there was a strange tension in the air.

But when we were just waiting for them to finish getting ready, I heard that they started to feel a strange sense of tension in the air, and some of the old men couldn't stand such an atmosphere anymore and started drinking to take their minds off things.

The old ladies didn't drink, but the fact that they saw and touched me in person probably broke their tension and made them cry.

'But I'm really glad. I'm glad Temma is alive.

Aunt Martha said and let me hold a card in my hand.

'Here's something I left with you from Shelia.......give it to Temma........'

It was my mom's guild card, a memento, so to speak.

'Thank you, Auntie...'

I took my mom's card and took out my dad's card from my magic bag and put it away in the same place.

'Whatever it is, it's a happy day! I'm going to make a scene like I used to!　

Uncle Mark's music started the party.

It was like a festival in Kukuri village, with everyone eating, drinking, singing and dancing.

There are about 40 people here now. More than half of the village was killed in the attack, and the number of people who survived was around 90 at first.

Since then, however, more than a dozen people have died due to infections and injuries caused by the zombies.

With half of the villagers dead and their houses destroyed, it was impossible for them to live in Kukri as they used to, so all the survivors moved to the city of Russell for a while, but from there, they started to rely on their friends and relatives, so that only the people here chose to live in the capital, according to the uncle He told me.

'Living in King's Landing, you can see how it didn't cost a fortune to live in Kukri village.'

But as luck would have it, most of the people here are former adventurers, and even those who aren't had experience hunting in the forest in Kukri village, so they're said to be able to earn enough money to make a living if they don't have the luxury of it.

While we were talking about such things, the conversation gradually turned to my story so far.

The story of Slarin and his friends came up, so I pulled them out of the bag and joined the party with them.

Everyone was quite surprised when they saw Solomon, but he was quiet, so by the end they were together and eating their food.

After that, the feast lasted until midnight, but by the end we were all drunk and sleeping in the garden.

I didn't get drunk because I don't often get drunk from alcohol to begin with, but I still fell asleep with Shiroumaru as my pillow, probably because I was so tired from all this.

I was able to sleep soundly that day. Did the nostalgic atmosphere have something to do with it?

Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep and someone had put the covers over me, and when I woke up in the morning, I was holding the covers in my arms.

The sun was already up, and it was getting light. The cool morning hours were long gone, and it was a little hot.

Almost at the same time I woke up, Shiroumaru got up vigorously.

'Won!'

Shiroumaru seemed to be urging for food, barking loudly and wagging his tail.

As if in response to his voice, groans could be heard from the surroundings.

It sounded like the moans of a zombie, which made me brace myself for a moment, but when I looked closer, I realized it was the sound of uncles suffering from a hangover.

'What the hell kind of voice are you making, man!

Such voices are raised here and there.

Apparently, the aunts are scolding the uncles. However, each time they do, the groans increase.

If this is the case, someone passing by might report it to the knights..............................There's something wrong with that house! And then....

I wanted to avoid that, so I handed out some of the pills I had in my bag that would help with the hangover.

The moaning gradually diminished as I handed out the pills that were fast-acting.

However, since it only helped to lighten the headache from the hangover and had no effect on the upset feeling in the chest, the uncles sipped water or soup and lay down... It's a miracle they didn't throw up.

The uncles were very upset with them...it seems that the women have a higher status in Kukuri village than the men.

While scolding them, the ladies were busy cleaning up the banquet, serving breakfast (or lunch?), and making sure that all the food was ready. They made and did their thing, laughing and chatting in between.

'Temma, good morning you don't look like you have a hangover.

Aunt Martha looks into my face to make sure I'm okay, and then she puts the breakfast on her plate.

'Yes, for Temma! Bread and soup and some leftovers from yesterday.

As my aunt handed me my breakfast, Shiroumaru peeked out from behind me.

It's as if she could use the rest, so hurry up! Or so I'd say. Solomon is standing behind Shiroumaru.

"Shiroumaru is still the same, but this boy eats well, too.

The ladies are sorting the meat and vegetables from yesterday's leftovers for Shiroumaru and his friends.

At first, they seemed to be quite afraid of Solomon, along with a slight wariness at the sight of him, but now they don't seem to care much about him.

'At first I was a bit... well, quite surprised and scared by the fact that it's a dragon, but when you look closely at it, it's pretty. More importantly, you're more beautiful than that guy.

That guy is probably a dragon zombie. I don't want to have Solomon with that thing, but that's not an option. I was rather surprised at how well everyone had adapted to the situation.

''Speaking of which, will Tenma be living in King's Landing now?''　

''No, I'll be in King's Landing until the tournament, but after that I'll return to Seigen to conquer the dungeons.　

When I answered over breakfast, the ladies looked surprised and complicated.

'Why don't you do that while living in King's Landing!

'Yes! I've been trying to get to know you...

"We should all live in King's Landing!

The aunts started fussing about trying to talk me out of it.

'Enough is enough!'

The fussing aunts were stopped by the uncles who stood up, holding their heads down.

'Temma isn't a little kid anymore! It is promised that Tenma has the talent to follow a dragon and become an adventurer who will make history in the future. And since we won't be seeing Tenma again, we should just smile and watch over her instead of them....

Uncle Mark's words quieted not only the aunts, but also the uncles who had tried to convince him with them.

In the midst of this delicate atmosphere, the previously forgotten grandpa spoke up.

''Mi, mizuu~''

........Apparently, I'm still suffering from a hangover.

But because of that, I feel that the air is somewhat more relaxed than it was earlier.

It doesn't mean that we can't see each other again, so if we have the chance to do this in the future, let's continue to drink, eat and make noise like this, just like in the past! Just like in the past!

The aunts reluctantly agreed to my suggestion, and they agreed to support me for now.

Later, after we finished breakfast, we broke up in threes, with me, Grandpa, Uncle Mark and Aunt Martha remaining there at the end.

'So, what are you going to do now, Temma?'

"I'll gain experience through training and requests for a while. And then I'll participate in a martial arts tournament.

There is about a month and a half left until the convention.

However, it seems that preparations for the festival have begun everywhere in the city, and you can hear people talking about the festival in many places.

''Well then, you'll be in the royal capital at least until the end of the festival, right?''

The aunt said that and was thinking about something.

Then they chatted a bit about small talk and so on, and then the uncles left as well.

"Well then, let's go back to the castle for a while.......grandpa?

Apparently the medication wasn't working well and the hangover hadn't subsided.

Since I couldn't walk around with my grandpa in this situation, I decided to carry him into the room and let him sleep in a suitable room.

Just to be sure, I asked Slarin to take care of him, and I also left some water and medicine for him, so there should be no problem.

There is a little over 10km from my grandfather's house to the king's castle in a straight line, and if you want to go down the road, it seems to be about 12km.

The fastest way is to fly to the castle, but it seems to be an unnecessary hassle to do that.

So I ran to the castle of the king for training, as expected in the center of the country, there were a lot of people.

The people were just the right obstacle, and I think the training was of good quality...but I got too absorbed in it. I found myself running in the opposite direction of the doorway to the castle wall closest to my grandfather's house.

Moreover, the gatekeeper at the doorway was suspicious of me, and it took me a long time to get there.

The fact that I was a royal guest was saved by more than one knight of the First Order who happened to be passing by and was a witness, but even I would have suspected it if I was asked to enter from a child who was sweating and breathing heavily, but even I would have suspected it.

The gatekeeper apologized, but I said I didn't care and went under the gate.

Later, I remembered that I had a coat of arms given to me by the Duke of Sangha and decided to use it next time.

It was three hours after we left my grandfather's house that we arrived at the royal castle due to such happenings.

The gatekeeper of the castle knew me, so after a brief check, he let me in.

When I went to the front door of the castle, Jeanne and Aura greeted me.

''Welcome back, Tenma-sama.''

Welcome back.

They both bow their heads together and greet each other.

'Lady Temma, Maria is waiting for you. We will show you around.

With that, Aura leads me away.

Her appearance is full of discomfort and I worry that she has eaten something strange. And behind her, Jeanne follows silently........honestly, it's creepy.

There's also a hint of Aina nearby, as if she's trying to hide.

As it was, I was brought to Maria's room on the upper floor of the audience room.

This castle, apparently, is the room of the royalty from the upper floor of the audience room.

'Excuse me, my queen. I have shown Lady Temma to you.

Aura is knocking on the door. I don't know what she didn't like about the nearby Aina, but I could sense a little irritation from her.

'You can come in,'

From inside, Maria gave her permission to enter the room.

It was then that Aina approached noiselessly from behind Jeanne.

'Excuse me, Maria-sama. Come in, Lady Temma.

Aina opened the door herself and let me in.

'Lady Temma, I'll take Aura and the others.

When Aina said that, Jeanne and Aura turned pale, but they followed her without refuting or disobeying her.

'Come in, Temma, come in,'

Excuse me.　

I walked into the room and found Lady Maria and Lady Isabella sitting in chairs.

'I'm sorry, Temma. We just wanted to ask you a few questions.

Maria offered me a seat in front of her, and as soon as I took my seat, she broke off the conversation.

'What are you going to do now Temma?'

Now? First, you have to train until the martial arts tournament...

I counted my fingers and tried to tell her what I was going to do in the future, but it didn't seem to be what Maria wanted to hear.

'No, Temma, it's not about that. I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about what you're going to do in the future. Specifically, like marriage.

What? Marriage....I'm not thinking about it right now...but so what?　

At my words, Maria-sama and Isabella-sama looked as if they wanted to say, I knew it.

''Temma-san you've been spotted by some nobles.　

You fought against a nobleman in Gunjo City you must have a bad reputation.

They seemed to be taken aback by my words.

''No nobleman would care about such a small thing. The ones that are being eyed are mainly nobles below the Viscount, where they have more than one daughter.''

There are some lowly noblemen who want to use my daughter for their own ends, Mr. Temma.　

I can't hate to hear that much about it... or I can't blurt it out.

'Mostly in relation to Solomon and the royals, I suppose.

Since my abilities as an adventurer are probably not well known outside of the Duke of Sangha and the Marquis of Samonth's connections, it's probably Solomon, the dragon, or someone who wants to take me in, or a reformer who wants connections with royalty.

'Yes, that's right.

Maria looks a little angry.

'So, Temma, will you marry me? Or you can get engaged!

'Mother-in-law the way you put it, it's like your mother-in-law is asking you to marry Miss Temma.　

'That's not very nice! ........But, Temma. Are there any good women in the royalist or factionless faction?　

I was asked in such a miko-playing atmosphere, and for a moment I thought of a female acquaintance (single only) I'd had so far.

''........none. I hadn't thought of such a thing before, and........

As I said this, I felt Maria and the others' eyes seemed to light up for a moment as I turned to the front.

''That's true. It was all of a sudden....................But remember, Temma has stepped into a world like that. In some cases, those who won't give up unless they adopt Temma to a royalist aristocrat or get her engaged to a royalist relation may come to mess with you.

I wondered if I had misjudged the look in their eyes earlier, but Maria and the others advised me with a conciliatory laugh.

After that, we spent some time chatting about trivial matters and left Maria-sama's room after about an hour.

'Looks like Temma has gone...'

'Looks like it...'

Maria and Isabella started to talk after Temma left the room, leaving just enough time to finish a cup of tea, just in case.

'You saw the look on Temma's face when she talked about women!

Yes, I was watching you! That was a look that reminded me of someone else!

What Temma saw was apparently not a mistake.

'I don't know who it is, but I know who the candidate is based on my preliminary research!

'If that storyline reminded you of that, then you must be doing me no small favor!

Which means that if it's the person you have in mind, Temma might be willing to marry... and possibly become...!　　

Yes, I think the odds are better than looking for one from scratch!

They are talking about Temma. It's already like being a first-time girl....

'This is just my hunch but I think Temma likes the older ones better. See, in Kukri village, it seems like there were only older people there.

But then again, you might want to adore someone younger than you!

They show off their ideas in various ways.

'Well I think my first choice would be Primera, my second choice would be Chris and my third choice would be Leena.

I'd say my first choice is the three cat sisters, my second choice is Primera, and my third choice is Jeanne....

They each present their predictions.

'It doesn't look like there won't be a Leena, does it?'

'No, in her case, it's more like Leena forced her to come on and just go with it..................one wrong move and she'd be a stalker. For that matter, isn't it unfair to have three first choices?

'The three cat sisters are triplets, so if we're going to get married, I think it's going to be all three of us at the same time! It's a harem all at once!

They gradually escalated, saying that Temma would be able to handle at least three people at the same time, or that she would be spoiled when they were alone, and finally, they went past marriage to talking about children, saying that I will name Temma's child after her, etc.

If a stranger saw these two people now, he would probably not recognize them as the queen and the crown prince.

That's how strange the content and atmosphere of their talk was.

Their conversation continued until Aina, who had come to check on them, noticed them.