"Alright, it's time to get started on the cooking, but... Tenma, are you feeling okay?"
"Dad, have you ever actually seen me hungover? Besides, I didn't drink any more than usual yesterday, so I'm perfectly fine."
"Yeah, I know full well how much of a lightweight you are, so I'm not the least bit worried about you. What I *am* worried about is Albert and the rest of the tasting committee, though..."
"...Probably... fine, I think."
Of everyone who had been drinking at last night's banquet, the only ones who hadn't ended up hungover were me, Grandpa, and Reni. Everyone else was suffering from hangovers, with Jeanne — the one person who hadn't drunk at all — taking care of them. For the record, Albert, Cain, and Amour had all been eating and drinking like it was a competition, which left them with the worst hangovers of the bunch. Chris had been drinking while clinging to Anri, while also petting Shiromaru as she drank, all while gazing at the blissful-looking Serna — which earned her the distinction of the absolute worst hangover of all. Primera had gotten mixed in with Albert and the others despite claiming that "the knights have been training me hard lately," and it seemed she had accidentally reached for some high-proof liquor, which knocked her out early. And then there was Aura, who despite being a maid was also suffering from a hangover. Honestly, all I could do was sympathize. She had been sitting near Chris — who had been drinking while gazing at Serna — and ended up getting roped into Chris's clinginess, which resulted in her bearing the brunt of what was essentially displacement drinking. I felt partly responsible for that too, since we had abandoned Aura out of fear of Chris, so I decided to keep Aura's hangover a secret from Aina, and resolved that if it ever came out, I would defend her with everything I had.
"So, what happened to the three from the 'Mountain Cat Princess' guild?"
"Apparently they had a commission lined up from before, and they left bright and early looking like they had the weight of the world on their shoulders."
The three of them apparently hadn't wanted to go, but skipping a commission for that reason could lead to all sorts of trouble, so they had reluctantly headed out to fulfill it. The reason I knew so much about their state was that the party had continued late into the night, and rather than dragging all the wasted attendees home when it finally ended, I had simply set up camp in the Manpukutei's dining hall. Normally, Dad would have kicked me out, but with Albert present he hesitated, and since the other guests at the inn had also been at the party, he decided to let it slide. Still, we had clearly caused trouble for both the inn and the other guests, so I figured some kind of compensation was in order.
"I hope nobody messes up a commission because of their hangovers... So, about the wedding feast — what kind of dishes are you planning to serve?"
"Let me see... In broad strokes, we'll need appetizers, fish dishes, meat dishes, dessert, and palate cleansers like soup and salad in between, plus drinks. The dessert is already decided, so I'm thinking we figure out everything else."
"For drinks, we'll need aperitifs too, and it'd be wise to prepare some low-alcohol options and juices for people who can't handle much alcohol or can't drink at all. We should also have post-meal tea."
The drink selection alone was going to take up more than half the target, but more options were better than fewer, so I decided to place orders through Dad with the liquor shops and specialty tea shops in Gunjou City.
"For the salad, I'm thinking seasonal vegetables, and for the meat dish, roast wyvern — or should it be wyvern? And for the fish, we've got tyrant salmon, so how about foil-wrapped sliced tyrant salmon?"
"I'd like one more meat dish and one more fish dish. Something that'll really surprise people when they see it."
Since he wanted dishes that would impress not just in taste but in appearance, Dad asked me if I had any ideas, but nothing came to mind right away, so I decided to table it for later.
"For the appetizers, I think the chicken ham with pickles from yesterday would work."
"That sounds good to me. It was delicious. And the soup from that time too — we could serve that as well."
"If it's that, then we can make it since we're already familiar with it, which would save time."
And just like that, the menu for the wedding feast came together at a brisk pace — everything except the meat and fish dishes.
"Well then, in the spirit of testing the flavors, let's try making the chicken ham and soup... Or rather, it's about the only thing I think I can keep down right now."
It felt less like a tasting and more like a hangover meal, but maybe appetizers should be easy to eat even when you're hungover...
"Tenma, give me bread!"
"Me too!"
After the meal had started, it seemed Amour was feeling better, as she and her grandfather began requesting bread together. Following their lead, the unaffected Leni and Jeanne also began eating bread. In stark contrast to those four, the five still suffering from their hangovers wore pained expressions as they slowly lifted soup to their mouths with spoons.
"My lady, your table manners are a bit poor. And you're scattering crumbs everywhere."
"Hmm~... But this is the tastiest way to eat it."
"Well, I suppose there's truth to the idea that slightly poor manners can make food taste better," the old man agreed.
Leni had been scolding Amour for tearing bread, soaking it in the soup until it was soft, and then eating it by bringing the edge of the plate to her mouth to shovel it in. The grandfather seemed to approve of this eating method, lightly defending Amour from Leni's admonishment.
"What do you think, Tenma?"
"Well, dipping bread in soup is delicious, but... shoveling it in is a little bad-mannered, isn't it?"
Perhaps because I voiced an opinion closer to Leni's, Amour started arguing back with things like, "This is how I eat when I pour miso soup over rice," or "It's an application of the proper way to eat rice bowls," but when I said, "That's partly a cultural difference, and eating something served as soup like a rice bowl is naturally going to be called bad manners," she seemed to realize she was at a disadvantage and tried to gain allies by looking towards her grandfather and Jeanne, only to be pointedly ignored.
"Well then, my lady. Now that the results are in, shall we begin the lesson on proper eating manners?"
Unable to retort or find support, Amour received a very bright smile from Leni, who then began instructing her on how to properly drink soup.
"Hey, Dad, serving bread in the soup as a crouton substitute might be a good idea too."
"That might work. If you add it as an ingredient from the start, you don't get crumbs when you tear it," I agreed.
However, "Even if you use bread as an ingredient, it seems wasteful to throw away the parts you trim to shape it," Dad worried, so I told him we'd use those parts in other dishes. "Then, let's try it out a bit now," he said, and retreated into the kitchen. After a while,
"Here's the one where I put in the bread as-is, this one is where I toasted the bread first, and this is the one where I fried it in oil,"
he announced, placing three types of soup in front of everyone. After taking a survey,
"The soup with the toasted bread is by far the best!"
"Well then, the soup is settled."
The soup with the toasted bread got five votes,
everything else got zero votes—
and with that result, one item on the wedding menu was decided. As for why there were only five votes in total:
"I suppose in that state, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference."
Albert and the rest of the hungover group couldn't tell the difference in taste. Not only that, they couldn't even manage the softened bread, so they had all abstained from voting.
"Even so, I can't believe the nobles—who were supposed to be our strongest assets—ended up being out of commission..."
"Sorry..."
"My bad..."
"I'm terribly sorry..."
"Ugh..."
Albert, Cain, and Primera seemed to have been helped by the medicine I'd given them, as they'd recovered enough to at least respond. Chris, however, was still in a bad state—it was doubtful whether she'd even heard what I said. Incidentally, Aura had been rushed off to the restroom by Jeanne the moment the soup was brought in, and she still hadn't returned.
"There's nothing we can do about it... Come on, Chris, let's go. Honestly, you were the one who said we should work together to re-educate the young lady, but you're the one causing more trouble than she is..."
Chris ended up being taken to the restroom by Renny, who couldn't bear to watch any longer. However, Chris was in such a state that even a small jolt risked breaking her completely, so it took dozens of times longer than normal to cover the dozen or so meters to the restroom.
"Alright then, Old Man. I've got somewhere to be, so sorry, but could you look after everyone for me?"
"Well, even if you ask, I've got work to do too, you know."
Ignoring the Old Man's words, I headed toward my next destination—the adventurer's guild. But Amour was also preparing to follow me, so I said one thing:
"Amour... you're still hungover. I'm not taking you with me."
"I'm fine. This is nothing."
She had that "I'm absolutely coming with you" look about her, so I hesitated over whether to say anything, but decided it was better to be honest,
"Amour... honestly, you reek of alcohol. And you can barely stand without wobbling. If you run around in that state, you're going to have a miserable time — that much is obvious."
My merciless words hit Amour like a blow. She made a wounded face, then sat back in her chair and turned away with a huff.
"Tenma, that was pretty harsh, even for you."
"Yeah, no way you say that to a girl."
Jeanne and the old man both jumped in to criticize me in unison, but if I hadn't put it that bluntly, Amour never would have backed down, and I'd have a real problem on my hands if I dragged her along and she got sick. After explaining that to the two of them, I strode out of Manpukutei and headed for the Adventurers' Guild.
"Huh?"
I walked into the Guild building and scanned the room. Sure enough, the person I was looking for was sitting in her usual spot.
"Flute, are you sure you should be working?"
The person I'd come to see was Flute. She'd said she'd come to Manpukutei yesterday but never showed, so I'd been worried something had happened. The Guild hadn't sent any emergency notice, so I figured it wasn't a health issue, but her not showing up had me thinking she must have gotten buried in work late into the night — so I was a bit surprised to see her here looking perfectly composed.
"Oh! I'm so sorry about yesterday. You were kind enough to invite me, and I..."
When I asked Flute what had happened, it turned out she'd run over schedule at work yesterday, but figured she could still make it and headed for Manpukutei together with the Guild Master. However, right as they reached the staircase, her baby kicked, and the sudden movement startled her into losing her balance. The Guild Master panicked and rushed to catch her, and then — convinced she'd overexerted herself at work and was in bad shape — simply took her home to rest.
"Well, I'm relieved to hear nothing actually happened to you... But the Guild Master really must have panicked, huh?"
"Yes. I kept telling him I was fine, but he forced me into bed anyway. And on top of that, I asked him to pass along a message to Manpukutei, but it looks like he forgot."
Forgetting the message was a hassle, but it also showed just how much the Guild Master cared about Flute, which gave me a warm little feeling. That said, it really didn't seem like the Guild Master I knew...
"Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about Serna's wedding."
Serna was on the late shift today and wouldn't be coming in until the evening, so I'd checked that in advance and come at this hour specifically to avoid her.
Flute listened to what I had to say. She didn't complain at all about having been replaced as matchmaker without being told, but there was one thing that did bother her about the arrangement — me being the one to serve as matchmaker.
"Is it really okay for an unmarried man to act as a matchmaker?"
Well, this time it wasn't so much a formal matchmaker role as it was more of a witness to the ceremony, and besides —
Noble
I told them it should be fine since it was their idea.
"Oh, and regarding Serna's wedding — I'm planning a little bit of mischief, so I also came by for a pre-planning meeting. Do you have a moment?"
When I cut to the heart of the matter, Flute gave me an utterly exasperated look. Then—
"Let's start by heading to the Guild Master's office, shall we... I don't know what you're planning, but please don't do anything that would make the two of them hold a grudge."
Following Flute's worried lead, I made my way to the Guild Master's office, where I found the Guild Master hard at work. This was probably what he was supposed to look like as Guild Master — but knowing him specifically, you'd think he'd be either slacking off somewhere away from the office or dozing off at the Guild Master's desk. Well, maybe the old man's words had actually gotten to him after all, though he wasn't exactly leading the charge on work — he was just stamping documents that had been brought to him. So maybe the staff's mental burden had lessened compared to before. It was a strange thing to say that an increase in the Guild Master not doing work led to a decrease in the staff's mental strain, though.
"So, Tenma's partner turns out to be Anri's father, huh..."
"Though I doubt the other party has even the slightest suspicion that they've made an enemy of Tenma."
The Guild Master wore a look of faint sympathy toward Anri's father and was clearly angry upon hearing the assessment of Serna that Anri's father had supposedly given.
"I understand the reasoning, but rushing the wedding forward like this — isn't that going too far? Once everything is settled, the two of you need to go apologize to them again."
What the Guild Master said made perfect sense — but as someone who knew the old Guild Master, I still couldn't shake the feeling that this man sitting before me might be an impostor. Maybe that suspicion had leaked through on my face, because Flute glanced at me and muttered under their breath—
"Tenma... you'll get used to it."
Flute's words made me realize that behind that simple phrase lay what must have been an incredible amount of hardship.
"Well, that's something for later... By the way, Flute — do you happen to know where Serna ordered her wedding dress from?"
Serna had mentioned that her wedding dress was already finished and stored at the shop, so I wanted to know which shop that was.
"Yes, I do. I recommended a shop I used to her."
The shop was run by someone Flute knew — a former guild employee — and apparently, guild workers getting married tended to use that shop quite often.
After asking around for more details, I learned that the owner, a former guild employee, also worked as the craftsman himself. He could be temperamental, but his skill was undeniable — so much so that within just a few years of taking up the craft, the owner of a large shop in the Royal Capital had personally come to recruit him.
"Well then, I'll go check it out."
"Yes, if you mention my name, I think they'll at least hear you out even if they're busy... But he can be a bit rough around the edges, so whatever you do, please don't pick a fight with him."
As I headed toward the craftsman's shop, Flute's worried voice still echoing in my ears, I couldn't help but wonder — did Flute really think I was the kind of reckless idiot who'd go around picking fights with just anyone? The thought made me just a little uneasy.
"Come on in!"
Flustered by the gruff greeting, I opened the door to the shop Flute had recommended and was greeted by a burly man with a thunderous voice and a physique that could rival a bodybuilder.
For a moment, I wondered if I'd walked into the wrong place, but the signboard out front confirmed this was the right shop.
"I was referred here by Flute..."
"Flute sent you? And what business does the dragon-slaying hero have with a clothing shop?"
The big man seemed to know who I was, but... surely if a customer walks into a clothing store, you'd assume they're here to look at clothes? Well, my purpose this time wasn't simply to browse, so in a sense his question wasn't entirely off the mark. Still, his manner of customer service was worrying, to say the least.
"I'd like to consult with you about a wedding dress for Serna."
"Huh?"
I was starting to understand what Flute had meant. That warning hadn't been about me — it had been about this big guy... or at least, that's what I decided to believe.
"I want to give it to Serna as a gift, and I need it made to match the dress."
The big man had been glaring at me with a fearsome expression, as though I'd been criticizing his work. But—
"By the way, please use this material."
When I produced the thread ball — a high-quality product crafted by Goru and Jiru — the big man's eyes went as wide as they could possibly go.
"Th-this... the quality of this material is on a completely different level... Could this be the 'Spider's Thread' I've been hearing about in the industry?!"
As I wondered what was going on, the big man seemed to pick up on my thoughts and explained, "It's said to be a national treasure-class thread that only those recognized by the Queen Consort herself can obtain." Well, that rumor wasn't entirely inaccurate. Goru and Jiru themselves were extraordinarily rare Monsters, and it seemed they only spun their thread in places where they felt safe. Furthermore, beyond the quantity I needed, Maria managed the rest, selling only to people friendly to me.
As a result, nearly everyone who wore clothing made from their thread was a noble of the Royalist Faction, and the craftsmen who had ever handled the thread were all retainers employed by those nobles. Because of this, even if you tried to question a craftsman about the thread's origin, you'd be blocked by the noble who had imported it, and even if you somehow got past that noble, the next—
Maria—
—would be where your efforts came to a dead end. If you quietly backed off at that point, there wasn't much of a problem, but if you pushed too hard, you'd earn the displeasure of the royal family, and things would get very ugly.
"Will you take the job?"
"Of course!"
The large man answered in a somewhat overbearing tone.
"But what exactly are you asking me to make with this?"
"A wedding veil. The deadline is one week. Can you do it?"
"A week... I'll take it on! But if we leave it like this, the veil alone will be far too magnificent, and the balance with the dress will be off."
As expected of someone with Flute's skill, he immediately pointed out a problem I hadn't even considered. And he promptly proposed a solution.
"The first thing that comes to mind is to not use this thread for the entire bouquet, but to mix it with ordinary thread for about half of it, and then use the remaining thread to add decorations to the dress. I think that would minimize the difference in balance."
According to the large man, the plan was to lower the rank of the veil while raising that of the dress.
"Then I'll leave it to you. I'll leave extra thread here, so use it as you see fit."
"Got it! Also, you can use the same tone you'd normally use at the guild. No need for polite speech. Well, I'll keep using this manner of speaking myself."
It seemed this large man's personality matched his appearance perfectly. When I told him everything was left to him, provided it stayed within the parameters of Serna's order, he grinned and said, "Then there's no problem." Curious, I asked for details. Apparently, due to budget constraints, Serna had specified the order should have a general shape that fit within the budget, with all decorative details left entirely up to him.
"In other words, as long as I stay within the initially specified budget, what materials I use is up to me. Well, there is the condition that I can't deviate too much from the client's image, of course."
He also mentioned that even if Serna ended up disliking it, removing any added decorations would be simple, so it should be fine unless something truly exceptional happened.
"Well then, I'm counting on you."
"You got it! Leave it to me!"
This large man seemed similar in type to Master Ganz, but since he didn't have the master's quirks, he seemed easier to get along with.
"So, that's the situation. Everything related to the dress seems to be going smoothly."
When I returned to the guild and gave my report, Flute looked a little surprised at first, then adopted an exasperated expression.
"For you, Felt-san, Tenma-san was an ideal high-paying client, wasn't he?"
That large man, Felt, was active as an adventurer but had injured both his legs just before reaching B-rank. He was unable to recover completely and was forced to retire. Afterward, his experience as an adventurer was valued, and he was hired by the guild. He retired from there before I arrived in Gunjou City and dove into the world of fashion. As for why his career change led him to the fashion world, it was because his hobby was sewing. The reason sewing became his hobby was that, as a rookie adventurer trying to save money on clothing, he started buying cheap, worn-out clothes from a second-hand shop and repairing them to use. He kept it up because it passed the time during campouts and similar activities, and before he knew it, his skill had far surpassed that of an amateur. However, being a former adventurer, he had a rough temperament, and combined with his actual skill, he was known to chase away any client he took a dislike to. By the way, Felt was also one of the people Flute used as a shield when the guild master tried to escape during Flute's pregnancy scare.
"I have acquaintances who are craftsmen with that kind of vibe. Besides, since I'm the one going to ask him for the job, I'll put up with a little at the beginning."
Along the way, I got irritated several times, but I suppose it was fortunate that I had built up some tolerance working with Master Ganz. If this had been the old me, I probably would have walked out of the shop midway and gone looking for somewhere else.
"If you had the time, I'd like you to take on some commissions here in Gunjou City as well, but it doesn't seem like that's possible."
"Let's leave that for another occasion, then."
After all, Serna's wedding preparations had to take priority, so even though I felt bad for Flute, I decided to decline this time around.
"Also, while I won't be accepting commissions, I can put one in… or rather, I'd like to put one in."
"A commission… you say?"
It seemed my saying I wanted to put in a commission caught Flute off guard, as she responded with a voice tinged with confusion.