The day after the Demon King’s wife arrived at the village, I found myself in Village Five. I was there to meet the women the beastman boys were planning to marry. Initially, we had intended to meet on the same day the Demon King’s wife arrived, but the schedule was pushed back a day at my own insistence. I had sent word in advance, so it didn't cause any issues.
Since the majority of the brides-to-be lived in the Demon Kingdom’s royal capital, Beezel had to work quite hard to transport them all to Village Five. I owed him my thanks.
"Ah, please, make yourselves at home and have some tea. The shop is reserved for us today."
The venue for the meeting was Kuro and Yuki, the sweets shop in Village Five. While Yoko’s mansion was an option, the place was simply too vast. I chose Kuro and Yuki because I didn't want to unnecessarily intimidate the girls. It also served as an opportunity to invite them to a shop I managed myself.
Accompanying me were Lu and Tia, acting in their capacity as my wives, and Sena, the representative of the beastman race from the Village of the Great Tree. We also had two of the Civil Official Girls, Galf and Daga as guards, and five lizardmen. Normally, that would have been more than enough, but Yoko, the Acting Village Head of Village Five, and Flora, who had come to the village for quality control on fermented foods, had tagged along as well. They claimed they were there to "observe"—a field trip, essentially.
Then there were the Demon King and Beezel. Beezel’s presence made sense, but I wasn't entirely sure why the Demon King was there. When I asked, he claimed the beastman boys were "precious combat assets" and that it was only right for him to greet their future wives.
I see. By "precious combat assets," he definitely meant they were key players on the baseball team. Was a formal greeting really necessary for that?
...Well, I suppose it was fine. When he asserted himself with such a dignified expression, I couldn't really argue.
Though, I did have one thing to say.
"Just how many pancakes have you eaten now? And you're insisting the only acceptable topping is strawberry jam? I wasn't asking for a food review, you know."
Well, I decided to leave the Demon King to his own devices. The boys had apparently been under his care in various ways back at the capital, after all.
The ones I actually had to worry about weren't the Demon King, but rather the four regulars who were sitting in their usual spots despite the fact that I had booked the entire shop. It wasn't a matter of them saying, "Don't mind us, we'll just do our own thing."
"Yes, thank you for your continued patronage, but as I said, we have a private reservation today..."
It was no use. I couldn't get through to them. I briefly considered banning them, but since the reservation was for our own convenience, I decided to let it slide.
"Fine. We’re going to be having an important discussion over there, so please don't be loud."
I left the regulars to Kinesta, the acting manager of Kuro and Yuki. We weren't discussing state secrets, so it should have been fine.
Three tables had been prepared in the back of the shop: one each for Gol, Sil, and Bron. Due to the number of wives involved, Sil’s table was considerably larger than the others. The boys and their future wives were already seated and waiting for me.
First, I stood in a spot where I could see everyone and offered a formal greeting. I introduced myself and congratulated them on their upcoming marriages. I wasn't particularly good at public speaking, but I did my best. Sena followed me with a greeting of her own, which was far more polished and organized than mine. I wished I could have sounded that composed.
Next, I made the rounds to each table. Ordinarily, the boys and their wives would have come to me, but given the sheer number of people, I decided it was easier for me to move.
The question was where to start. I chose Bron’s table first.
"Gol, Sil, sorry. I want to save the complicated stuff for later."
Lu headed to Gol’s table and Tia to Sil’s in my stead.
Sitting next to Bron was Aleisha, the office lady from the Galgard Noble Academy. She was a demon, and fifteen years older than Bron. My first impression was that she looked exactly like someone who spent her life doing administrative work. I had heard that she usually wore glasses and kept her hair tied back, but for today’s introduction, she had let her hair down straight and removed her glasses. I asked if she could see alright without them, and she assured me she was fine as long as she wasn't looking at documents.
We exchanged greetings, and I asked her to look after Bron. I wanted to hear more, but since today was primarily for introductions, I kept it brief.
Next, I moved to Gol’s table and swapped places with Lu. On Gol’s left was Lady Enderi, the seventh daughter of the House of Count Pugyal. On his right was Lady Kirisana, the fifth daughter of the House of Count Glitch. Both were demons and two years older than Gol. They were dressed in elegant gowns with their hair done up in sophisticated curls; they looked every bit the noble ladies. Lady Kirisana’s hair was noticeably curlier than Enderi’s, but I couldn't help but feel their aesthetics were a bit too similar. Honestly, I would have believed it if someone told me they were sisters.
As it turned out, the two of them were actually relatives. That explained it. At any rate, I gave my greetings and told them I hoped the three of them would get along well. I made sure to tell Gol to treat them right, too.
Once I finished, I called over the two Civil Official Girls who had accompanied us. As it happened, these two were the older sisters of Lady Enderi and Lady Kirisana. It wasn't exactly a "strange coincidence"—the older sisters had attended the same academy before coming to the village with Frau, and the younger sisters had met Gol when he enrolled there later. That was all.
"As their older sisters, please give them your blessings... Wait, what's wrong?"
Lady Enderi and Lady Kirisana had both frozen as stiff as boards.
The two Civil Official Girls claimed they were simply nervous because it had been a long time since they last met, which seemed plausible enough. Enderi and Kirisana were nodding their heads frantically in agreement, after all.
I left that table to the sisters and moved on to Sil’s. I swapped with Tia and prepared to give my greetings. Before me sat Sil and nine women.
Yes, this was definitely the complicated one.
And... how should I put this? I wasn't sure if it was the right way to describe it, but all nine of them had "big sister" personalities. There wasn't a "younger sister" type in the bunch. You’d think with nine people, there would be at least one, but they all radiated that same mature energy. Well, I suppose that was their business... but come to think of it, Gol and Bron’s wives were all older sister types too.
I tried not to dwell on it, but I offered a silent apology in my heart. Sorry, boys.
I began exchanging greetings with the women surrounding Sil. The third one was Lady Konegit. In reality, she was Hou Leg, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Kingdom. I had been briefed on this beforehand.
Just yesterday, I had sat down with the Demon King, Beezel, Gratz, Randan, and Hou herself to talk. I started by asking what on earth she thought she was doing, only to be subjected to two hours of her gushing about her romance—and she was completely sober the entire time. It seemed she was genuinely serious about the marriage. The Demon King and the others had tentatively given their approval, though it came with conditions.
She would continue her duties after the marriage, a condition Hou accepted given her position. Essentially, she would stay in office as long as the current Demon King was on the throne, with provisions for maternity and childcare leave.
The thing I wanted to address was a certain suspicion of mine. It might have been nothing more than my own cynical speculation, but I had to ask.
"Did you trap Sil?"
"No. Though I suppose I might have employed a bit of tactical maneuvering in love."
Tactical maneuvering, huh? That was a difficult one to judge. At any rate, since I had confirmed the desire to marry from both Hou and Sil individually, I decided to give my approval as well. Though, even without it, I suspected they would have gone ahead and done it anyway.
I finished my greetings with all nine women and asked them to take care of Sil. That should have been the end of it for today, as the primary goal was just the initial face-to-face meeting. We could handle the specific details another time.
Just as the gathering was about to break up, however, I asked everyone to wait.
Right on time, the Progenitor-san arrived, leading six beastmen—three men and three women. They were all somewhat older. Everyone except for Galf looked confused, wondering who these people were. They weren't residents of the Village of the Great Tree, after all.
"Gol, Sil, Bron. Would you be willing to accept a few words of congratulation from them?"
At my question, the three boys seemed to realize exactly who they were. These were residents of Howlin Village—the parents of Gol, Sil, and Bron.
The reason today’s meeting had been delayed was because it took time for me to get them here. With the Progenitor-san’s full cooperation, travel hadn't been an issue. The real obstacle had been their hearts. Despite the circumstances, they were plagued by regret for having sent their children away when they were still so young. They had insisted they had no right to celebrate the boys' marriages, but Galf, Gatto, and I had spent time persuading all six of them.
Ever since we established the wyvern communications with Howlin Village, I had been receiving frequent, detailed letters from the parents. I knew they hadn't forgotten their sons and that they truly wanted to celebrate, so we were eventually able to win them over.
It was a surprise for the boys, though I had sounded them out indirectly. I hadn't made the decision to bring the parents here on my own; I had consulted with most of the village residents before inviting the six of them.
Their words of blessing were brief, but seeing the look on the boys' faces, I knew I had made the right choice in calling them.