In Another World With My Smartphone_Volume 5 Read online

  The grey-suited gentleman bowing to me was Olba, the merchant. He was Olga’s father. His build was as sturdy as always, and his fox ears and tail were twitching slightly.

  But what caught my attention were the two women standing behind Olba. They were both fox-type Beastwomen, and they looked to be in their late thirties. Though she had golden hair instead of silver, one of the ladies resembled Olga. Was she maybe...?

  As I shifted my gaze over to them, Olba beckoned them forward.

  “Ah, let me introduce you to my family. Arisa, Ilma, this is the Grand Duke of Brunhild.”

  “I am Olba Strand’s wife, Arisa Strand. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Your Highness.”

  “Similarly, I am his wife, Ilma Strand. Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for our daughter.”

  So they were Olba’s wives. I was surprised to find out that he had two, though!

  “Ilma is the mother of Olga and Arma. Arisa is the mother of my eldest son, Ikusa.” So the golden-haired Ilma was the mother of Olga and Arma. No wonder they looked so similar.

  Meanwhile, Arisa was the mother of Olga’s older brother. Said older brother was apparently studying commerce in Roadmare, and hadn’t been able to make it to the wedding.

  “So you had two wives, huh?”

  “Hahaha. I’d say that’s not too many, really. Many of my merchant acquaintances have as many as five wives and eight mistresses, you know.” Polygamy seemed to be completely fine in Mismede. Though it seemed the wives were ranked in a hierarchy.

  It seemed polygamy was acceptable in Belfast as well, as long as you held a rank of baron or higher. Of course mistresses didn’t count, so even if you were a commoner you could keep plenty so long as you had the funds to support them. Which meant you had to be a wealthy merchant, basically.

  Incidentally, although Lyon’s father was a baron, since he was the second son, he wouldn’t get to inherit the title. So Olga would be his only wife.

  He could still keep mistresses, but knowing him, I doubt he would. He was head over heels for Olga.

  “Now that I think about it, if you hadn’t helped set the two of them up, this might never have happened. You have my thanks for giving us ties to such an influential family as well.” Olba spoke earnestly as he watched his daughter and son-in-law happily entertain a crowd of friends. Behind Olga stood her younger sister, Arma, carrying a flower basket. Arma looked happy as well.

  “Oh yes, I almost forgot. For their wedding present, I constructed a hot spring inside their house. Once the ceremony’s over, you should give it a try. It draws its water from a source in Belfast, and it does wonders for exhaustion.”

  “Hoho... a hot spring you say?”

  “My, how wonderful!”

  “Let’s have a little soak on our way back, dear!”

  Olba’s wives seemed more excited about the spring than he did. Even a rich family didn’t have many opportunities to enjoy hot springs. Doubly so for one from Mismede.

  As Olba was the bride’s father, he still had to go around and formally greet all of the other guests. After a few more minutes of talking he took his leave and started going around the courtyard.

  “He looked really happy.”

  “It’s his daughter’s wedding, why wouldn’t he be happy?”

  As I replied to Yumina I mused on how things might have been different if Olga’s parents had been less willing to let her go.

  I’d like to think I wouldn’t become the kind of father that goes on about how they’d never let anyone have their daughter, but who knows. I wasn’t confident that I wouldn’t be too doting.

  Oh, looks like it’s the groom’s parents coming over this time.

  “Hey Sir Tou... my apologies, it’s Your Highness now, isn’t it? Anyway, thank you for all that you’ve done for our foolish son.” Lyon’s father, General Leon, humbly bowed his head to me.

  “Oh please, don’t. I’m here as a friend, you can just talk to me like you always have.”

  “Is that so? Then I’ll take you up on that offer, but just for today. I never dreamed you would rise up to the position of royalty. Ah, but if you’d married the princess, you could have become the King of Belfast too. I suppose regardless of your decision, it was always possible you’d be a leader.”

  It’s true that was always a possibility, but the situation had changed a lot now.

  I had my own country to run, and though I hadn’t made it public yet, I was engaged to Yumina.

  And since it seemed Belfast’s queen had hidden herself from the public eye for some time, it was very possible that a proper successor would be born soon.

  If a son was born, they wouldn’t need me. But, if the new child was a girl, any guys Yumina gives birth to would become the heir to Belfast. Which would make any son born from the other four girls the heir to Brunhild.

  There was a mountain of problems I still needed to think about. I hadn’t even gotten married yet. I really shouldn’t be worried about kids.

  “Father! You can’t speak so casually to the ruler of a country...” I heard a reproachful voice from behind the general. I turned to see a tall man in his late twenties sporting the same moustache as Leon. I felt like the only non-moustached guy in the world. But if he called Leon his father, then he must have been...

  “Oh yes, this would be your first time meeting him, Lord Touya. This is Shyon, Lyon’s older brother He’s a member of the army’s first division. Even though he’s more skilled with the sword, he’s a pathetic fellow who let his younger brother get married before him.”

  “Will you give that a rest already?! ...It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Your Highness, the Grand Duke of Brunhild. My name is Shyon Blitz, a soldier in the army’s first division. Thank you so much for attending my little brother’s wedding ceremony.”

  Shyon then bowed to Yumina, who was technically his boss; Lu, the princess of Regulus; and even to Elze and the others. It was obvious he shared his brother’s straight-laced attitude. Or rather, they’d both inherited it from their father.

  “I can’t wait to see what my grandkids will look like. If I get a grandson, I’m going to train him myself. Imagine what someone with beast blood in them could do with my Fire Fist technique. He’d become the best martial artist in Belfast for sure!” Hey old man, rein it in before you turn from a doting parent to a doting grandparent. I wondered if the family would end up being alright.

  Though it was true that their children would have beast blood in them and therefore be stronger than regular humans... I get the feeling even if their first child was a girl, General Leon would still try to teach her martial arts.

  “Oh yes, didn’t you establish a Knight Order in Brunhild as well? Next time you have the opportunity, why don’t we do a joint training session with our knights and yours? I’m sure it’ll be good practice for both sides.”

  “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. My units are still new to being knights, so they’re not very good at coordinating their movements yet. Though I’d say their individual strengths are pretty high.”

  “Hmm, it’s true just strength isn’t enough. But coordination between troops isn’t something that can be forged in a day. You’ll need a lot of training for that... Have you tried group drills?”

  “You have a point... Maybe I should have more large-scale mock battles. They may end up having to fight large bandit groups or the like, so...”

  “Hey, you two. Do you think you could talk about politics some other time? You do realize this is a wedding, right?”

  Yumina interrupted our conversation. She looked rather fed up with us. Though her annoyance was definitely justified. We probably shouldn’t have been talking about fighting and death during a wedding. It soured the mood...

  “A-Anyway, I’ll contact you about the details later.”

  “V-Very well. That seems wise. Now then, Your Highness. We’ll be taking our leave.”

  General Leon and Shyon awkwardly hurried away from us a
nd went over to the knights’ table.

  “Being enthusiastic about your work is a good thing, but could you forget about it while we’re here at least?”

  “Sorry, the conversation just sort of went in that direction. Plus his idea was interesting, so, you know...” Being scolded by Lu, of all people, I couldn’t help but let a reluctant smile coat my face.

  “I thought it was a pretty good suggestion, to be honest. Joint training sounds like it’d be a blast.”

  “To tell the truth, I also thought the same, I did.” Elze and Yae spoke their opinions bluntly with reluctant smiles of their own, whilst exchanging glances with each other. Well, these two were just that type of people, really.

  “Touya, shouldn’t you be making preparations for your speech? It’s scheduled for pretty soon, isn’t it?” Linze reminded me of my next role. I’d almost totally forgotten about it. Since I was the Grand Duke of an entire country — small as it was — that technically made me the most important person in attendance. Because of that, I’d been asked to give a speech for the newly married couple.

  Due to the fact that I was still somewhat unfamiliar with this world’s customs, I had asked Kousaka to prepare a standard celebratory speech for the wedding on a paper script, but...

  When I checked my coat’s inner pocket, the only thing there was my good old reliable Smartphone.

  I checked my other pockets for the script containing the speech, alas... Even after checking my coat’s outer pocket, the pocket in my pants, and the inside of my [Storage] spell, the paper containing the speech was nowhere to be found...

  Eh? Huh? What in the...?

  “...What’s the matter?”

  “...I think I’ve lost the paper with my speech on it...”

  “What?!” The girls all yelled in unison.

  Eh? Huh?! Did I accidentally drop it somewhere?! H-Hang on a minute! Without that script, I’m in some seriously deep shit! I can only remember bits and pieces of it, and that’s hardly gonna help me here!

  “Touya, sis says everyone’s in place, and they’re all waiting for you to stand up on the platform to give your speech!” Arma came up to me and greeted me with a smile as bright as the sun. All I could do was respond with a stiff, forced smile and reply with “I. Will. Be. Right. There.”

  “Touya, just remember! All you need to do is congratulate them! Give them words that celebrate the occasion! That’s all they want from you!”

  “Y-Yeah, you’re right.”

  “You absolutely cannot say anything about ‘growing apart from each other,’ ‘a ravine growing between people,’ or ‘how all things eventually come to an end.’ Don’t mention anything such as that which may invite misfortune! You understand what I am saying, do you not?!”

  “Huh? Ah, I get it. Yeah, you’re right. I’ll keep that advice in mind.”

  This is bad. Very bad. At this rate I’m likely to fumble my words and say things I probably really shouldn’t... Though at the same time, I can’t exactly just stand up and say “Congratulations to the bride and groom! Lyon, Olga, I wish you happiness in your new married life!” because that feels way too impersonal...

  It’s not like I could just say nothing, either. That’d be too rude! What was the standard practice for a wedding celebration? Should I break out into song like somebody’s uncle who showed up out of nowhere but everyone loves anyway? No, no, no. Rejected. I’d be way too embarrassed to do something like that. What else is there...?

  “Oh yeah.” In that moment, I had a flash of brilliance. In my old world, there was a little something special of a standard tradition for weddings. Normally I wouldn’t be able to do that kind of thing myself, but luckily for me I had That Magic to help me out here.

  “Sorry, Arma. Can you ask them to wait for just ten more minutes? I need time to make certain preparations, you see.”

  “Eh? Umm, well, okay. I’ll ask them to wait a little longer.” Arma left in a dash heading back to the others.

  Alright, time to get this show on the road,

  I began my search for certain people whom I was sure would be amongst the crowd for this occasion.

  “Ahem. I stand here today as Mochizuki Touya, the Grand Duke of Brunhild. To Lyon and Olga, I wish you all the best in your marriage on this day.” I made use of my Null spell, [Speaker], I made sure that my voice would reach all those present in the garden. There appeared to be some commotion among some guests present who were unaware of my position as the Grand Duke of a country, but I continued my speech in spite of that.

  “From now on, these two will be building a family of their own. For this joyous occasion, I would like to present to you the image of a wonderful family that they may one day become themselves.” Lyon and Olga looked at each other, seeming puzzled by my words.

  Keeping my eyes on them, I stepped down from the platform and cast my Null spell [Mirage].

  What appeared upon the stage was the image of a young, yet great man. He was holding a newborn baby aloft, letting out a yell of joy. By his side was a woman smiling softly in joy, along with a young boy standing beside them.

  The baby was held aloft by the young man was letting out innocent, joyous laughter.

  “...That’s me.”

  “Eh?” Lyon let out a quiet whisper, which Olga overheard.

  “...That baby is me, when I was just born. My brother... and my late mother, they’re both there. The one holding me is my father, back when he was still young...” Lyon shifted his gaze over to his father, General Leon. Leon himself was looking straight ahead, entranced by the image before him.

  The scene being displayed abruptly changed to a new scenario. This time there was a slim, fox-eared young man gazing lovingly into a cradle with a sleeping baby in it.

  “Father...?” The young Olba gently poked the cheeks of the baby, and a gentle smile rose to his face. Irma, in the bed nearby, giggled at the sight.

  Olba and Irma were likewise both captivated by the image before them.

  Though the image itself was an illusion, the events themselves reflected actual events from the past. Just earlier, I had talked to General Leon, Shyon, Olba, Irma, Alisa, and two of their acquaintances, and requested that they let me see all of what they remembered of these events through my [Recall] spell. I then used those memories to recreate the image being projected upon the stage.

  The significant events of the lives of the two young versions of Lyon and Olga began to play out one after another before the audience, accompanied by some fitting music.

  The fact that Lyon was born with a weak body. The first time that he unwillingly took up sword training. The time he went fishing with his older brother. The time he got into a huge argument with his father. The time when his mother passed away. The time he persuaded his father to let him become a Royal Knight instead of a soldier in the standing army. The extremely strict training he undertook and overcame, becoming a splendid member of the Knight Order...

  The fact that Olga was a tomboy as a child. The time she returned home late and was scolded by her mother for it. The time that she was overjoyed when her father brought back souvenirs from a far-off country. The time when her younger sister was born. The time when their whole family went on a trip together. The time that Olga studied and studied and did all that she could, before being accepted into the service of the palace. The time her family held a congratulatory party for her after being accepted into the palace...

  The reflected memories of both families softly faded away, leaving behind an image of both Lyon and Olga as they were today. An image of the two smiling happily together, and both of their families congratulating them on the event.

  And thus, the illusion softly and slowly faded out now that the story was over.

  I stepped up onto the stage once more, and spoke to the two through my [Speaker].

  “I hope that the love your families both poured their hearts into raising you will be passed on to you both, so that your children might grow up in a similarly wonderful f
amily household. I believe, from the bottom of my heart, that the two of you will do this without my needing to tell you. I would like to present only words of celebration on this wonderful occasion to the both of you. With this, I end my speech in honor of the married couple. I wish you all the best in your new life together.” Having finished my speech, I gave a bow. Everyone gathered immediately broke out into applause at my presentation. It made me feel pretty embarrassed.

  I shifted my gaze to the bride and groom to find that both of them had broken down into tears. I wondered if maybe I’d overdone it a bit... Olga was hugging her mother, Irma, crying in her arms.

  As I stepped down from the stage, Olba and General Leon both stood forward and bowed before me.

  “You have my heartfelt gratitude for giving such a wonderful gift to us all.”

  “Likewise, my thanks to you, Touya. You’ve given us the greatest words of celebration that anyone ever could have.” I had mixed feelings about the situation. I couldn’t really tell them that I’d lost the actual script that had been prepared for me, and that I came up with this idea on the spot... But, well, they all seemed to be happy about it, so I was just glad they liked it.

  After all that, the only thing left was the final words from the bride and groom.

  As they stepped up to the stage, I cast [Speaker] on them one more time.

  “Everyone... Today, we’ve taken the first step in our new life together. I’m thankful beyond words for all your blessings and words of celebration. To be honest, I am still inexperienced in many ways, but I would be extremely glad for you to continue to support us as we set off down a new path together. Thank you all, every one of you here!” A warm applause followed as the bride and groom bowed up on the stage before all those present.

  “Once the ceremony is over, The Grand Duke of Brunhild himself has privately reserved his game room for us! To all those present who have no pressing matters to attend to, I extend an invitation to you all to join us there if you would like!” The entire crowd raised their voices in excitement and anticipation. From there, I cast a [Gate] and fixed the location to the game room in my castle in Brunhild.