Chapter 1858: Ship Party Invitations ⑪
In a Japanese-style house in a provincial town in a rural area of Hydra Kingdom, one of the otherworld immigrants, Okura Shigenobu, was looking at an invitation letter that had been sent to him and his wife Hannah.
Placing a teacup of green tea in front of him, Hannah sat down across the table from him, tilting her head.
[……What’s the matter?]
[Ahh, no…… I was just thinking whether or not I should dip into the savings.]
[I’d like to first ask about that savings though……]
[Oops…… Let’s shut our eyes to that, okay? It’s not that I have a source of income that I wasn’t handing to you, it’s just that I’ve been saving up some of the money I’ve made from Flying Board winning bets and stuff.]
[Good grief. So? Why do you need to dip into that savings?]
Seeing Shigenobu awkwardly scratching his head, though she had a wry smile, Hannah asked with a gentle voice. She had no intention of reproaching Shigenobu for having secret savings…… Rather, Shigenobu hands over most of his income and savings to Hannah, so although Hannah feels like Shigenobu should have a larger share, Shigenobu essentially only receives a fixed amount from Hannah as his “pocket money” each month and doesn’t spend more than that.
[I need a formal outfit for this party…… and it has to be of a certain high rank or else I feel like it would be trouble.]
[Ara? Doesn’t it say we can wear whatever we want?]
[……But my guess is that this part will be a gathering of extraordinary people.]
[Ehhh!? I- Is that so?]
[Yeah, my first basis for that guess is this invitation letter. Black magic parchment is quite expensive. It would have been a different case if Kaito got a preference for luxury, but that isn’t the case, right? In that case, the one who prepared this would naturally be a maid serving Kaito or perhaps that beastman kid Anima that Kaito had mentioned before. In that case, at least those kids are judging the people they’re sending these invitations to with the thought “It would be rude if the invitation isn’t at this level”, which gives you a glimpse of the party’s rank as well.]
Before being summoned as a Hero, Shigenobu attended various parties as the heir to his company. While he may not be very familiar with noble society, he does have some knowledge and experience when it comes to social circles.
[At first, I thought that Kaito’s lovers among the Six Kings and Shallow Vernal-sama might also come…… Of course, it’s definitely an outrageous party even without such consideration, and it’s a place where one needs to be properly dressed. I’m not sure how close Kaito is to the Six Kings and the other influential figures who aren’t his lovers…… My intuition tells me that Shallow Vernal-sama would bring the Supreme Gods, all the Supreme Gods coming with their Executives, and the Human Realm’s Kings would bring the other members of royalty and nobility…… I’m thinking that this would be a gathering of people of that caliber.]
[……I- Is it really gonna be that outrageous?]
[It’s all just speculation, but it’s better to prepare for the worst-case scenario. Even without considering that, it’s certain that Kaito’s lover Underworld King-sama and Shallow Vernal-sama will definitely be there, so dressing appropriately can’t hurt…… Well, let’s go to the Capital to check out some rental clothes.]
[I understand. Hmmm, I’m kinda getting nervous now.]
As Hannah nodded in agreement with Shigenobu’s words, feeling that the topic had come to a close, the sound of the bell announcing a visitor rang out, and when she went to receive the guests…… She found Rejnhardt and Sylphia.
[Yaa, Shigenobu!]
[……I did indeed tell you to come visit a bit more frequently, but you guys are taking things to the extreme……]
For these two long-lived friends of his who were rough with their time intervals, Shigenobu previously told them to show up at a higher frequency. He did tell them that but…… Since then, they started visiting him seven to ten times a month……
After chuckling somewhat amusedly at Shigenobu’s astounded look, Rejnhardt and Sylphia also sat down and accepted the teacups that Hannah brought them.
[So, what were you two doing?]
[Ahh, it’s for these invitations……. Extraordinary people will be there, so we were talking about renting formal wear.]
[I see, Rei and I were thinking of wearing the clothes we used to wear when we served at the castle, but their designs are so old now that we’ve decided to get new ones.]
[Ah, that’s right! In that case, we’ll be paying for Shigenobu and Hannah’s, so how about shopping with us? We have money…… plenty of them.]
Rejnhardt says this and puts a bag on the table, and seeing a lot of gold and white gold coins inside, Shigenobu and Hannah’s eyes widened.
[……Oi, oi, what crime have you committed? Obediently turn yourself in.]
[That isn’t black money, okay!? This is part of the money sent to me by my beloved daughter, Sieg.]
[That’s even worse. The heck are you two doing, buying clothes with your daughter’s wages……]
[No, wait, that’s not it! There are many circumstances behind this……]
Upon hearing Rejnhardt mention using the money sent by Sieglinde to buy formal attire, Shigenobu cast him a look of disbelief, to which Sylphia smiled wryly and explained.
[No, in the beginning, Rei and I had been saving up the money Sieg-chan had been sending us…… but umm…… We’ve saved up so much money that we could probably afford to throw a royal wedding and still have money left over. It also keeps on growing, so we thought it’s about time we started using some of it.]
[That’s right. We did tell Sieg she doesn’t have to keep on sending anymore, but she’s pretty stubborn……]
[……I mean, is Sieg that well paid?]
Sieglinde basically sends money to the two of them every month. It originally started because she felt responsible that they had to quit their positions as Court Mages, but now it feels like it’s become a habit.
Rejnhardt and Sylphia initially accepted it without much thought, planning to save it for Sieglinde’s wedding later on, but over the past few years, the amount of money Sieglinde had been sending has increased dramatically.
[……No, Sieg’s pet Rainbow Dragon apparently gives her a material that Phantasmal King-sama is very fond of and buys off from her at a high frequency.]
[……There are too many points in that sentence that I’d really like to throw tsukkomis at. A Rainbow Dragon pet? Phantasmal King-sama? Hey, give me a more detailed explanation…….]
Hearing Shigenobu say this with a big sigh, Rejnhardt and Sylphia looked at each other and after wryly smiling, they began talking about the details of the situation.
<Afterword>
Serious-senpai : [Come to think of it, regarding Vier’s story a while ago, there were a lot of medical terms mentioned, but did she get that from a previous Hero Actor?]
? ? ? : [Ehhh!? Is there such a convenient story…… So it isn’t because there’s this transcendental beauty out there with an incredibly vast and deep knowledge spanning from future medical techniques and research to the ability to gradually elevate medical standards through associations and societies, taking into account the era and level of civilization, all while possessing the capability to execute such plans!?]
Serious-senpai : [It’s you!? Speaking of which, this guy was also transferred from a world that can be called Future Earth in a sense……]