After a night of talking and playing around Noel and Owari went to sleep and got up early the next morning. They still had five days until the party so they spent the time leisurely going to various places and checking out the deals they could make both for loans and to contract out the building of their home. They had already made plans based on what they wanted, all they needed was the budget.
It took about three days to get everything in order. When all was said and done they had a budget of about 500,000 credits. Turns out when you make as much as Owari does per year that people are willing to take a chance on you even if you’re a hunter with a high-risk job. Because of that they managed to double their current money for investing into their home.
Of course Noel felt a little bad since Owari was paying for basically everything, but in the end money was no object to him. If he didn’t spend it here he would have nowhere to spend it. She did however manage to get an extra 50000 which wasn’t bad. She could get more by asking her family but she refused to do so.
Once they had the budget they went to various places to get an idea of what to expect. In the end they decided on a rather expensive option. They were going to build a two-story house with a large living room, dining room, and kitchen. Then there was going to be two bathrooms, one down stairs and the other in the master bedroom. There were three bedrooms including the master bedroom. There was also a cellar and attic for storage. At the back of the house is a two-story study extension with built-in bookshelves along the walls and a number of tables for reading at. Owari literally decided to build a library in his house.
The reason they chose the people they did was because they could get it done in only four months. It was incredibly fast considering the scope of the building, but they were guaranteed by a number of sources. Even Tristain said they were reputable so Owari decided to trust them. The final cost was 480000 credits. Owari would that meant they could take out a smaller loan to pay for the house. In the end Owari needed a 150000 credit loan which wasn’t too bad.
The main reason they decided to have a rush job was because they wanted to move in soon. They had finally decided on a wedding day on their birthday, both for simplicity and because they thought it was amusing. They wanted to move into their new house before getting married. That way they could get used to the feeling of living together. Some might say it was rushing things, but in the end they had already tried going slow once and it didn’t really pan out. For them it was better to get these things over with.
“So what exactly should we do for a wedding?” Owari asked as he lazed around on Noel’s couch.
“How am I supposed to know? Do I seem like the type of girl who daydreamed about the day she got married?” Noel asked with a chuckle.
“Actually yes. After all I know you like romance novels.” Owari called her out.
“Hey!” She pretended to be offended. “Fine, I did do some planning once or twice.” She admitted.
“So what’s the plan?” Owari asked curiously.
“Who said I was going to use my plan? I was just a kid back then.” Noel denied him.
“Then I guess we gotta think up a new one. Not that it matters to me. I’m not really one for formalities.” Owari chuckled.
“Well you’ll be taking this one seriously.” Noel glared at him.
“Of course.” Owari just smiled, whatever made her happy after all. It was a day more for her than him.
“So who should we invite?” She wondered.
“Obviously our friends and acquaintances here in the city. Your father and brother, my mother as well. As for your grandfather, that's about whether he can make it, though I doubt it. Maybe a few of your closer relatives. Also we could invite a few of the acquaintances we made at the genius gathering. We could always give them a heads up early on so they can make time in the future if possible.” Owari thought about it seriously.
“I’d prefer to have two, one for here and one in my home territory. But that’s a bit much even for me.” Noel laughed. “Let’s let’s let Rebecca and Lance know tomorrow. I’ll visit Rebecca and you go to Lance. I’ll write a letter home soon and you do the same. We can do the planning after the genius gathering. For now let’s focus on the things right in front of us.”
“Well all that’s in front of me right now is you.” Owari smiled.
“No flirting, this is serious.” Noel pretended to be angry.
“Yes yes, whatever you say.” Owari just laughed it off. After that the two spent the rest of the day flirting and talking about this and that.
The next day came and Owari went over to see Lance after noon, when he got there he was accepted pretty much right away and went up to meet him. “So what’s up?” Lance asked curiously. They had been hanging out off and on for the past few months so it wasn’t weird for Owari to come, but he seemed to have something on his mind.
“Before that, how have things been around here?” Owari didn’t feel like getting to the point right away. Less because he was avoiding the subject and more because he knew it would dominate the conversation once he brought it up.
“Pretty good, I’m free most days now. How about with you?” Lance had recently been getting freer and freer as he delegated more of the duties he used to take on himself. He couldn’t handle the stress anymore so he had no choice. Luckily he was well respected by all the employees here so it wasn’t a big deal.
“Noel and I just hired some people to build us a house a little ways out of the city.” Owari felt this was the most interesting thing to happen lately.
“A house?” Lance was shocked.
“What’s so surprising about it?” Owari chuckled.
“Do you plan to move in together?” Lance felt it was quite quick, though he had never been in a relationship himself.
“Of course. Since this is a good time anyway I guess I should tell you why I came. Noel and I are getting married in June. We wanted to let you know ahead of time.” Owari laughed when he saw the shock on Lance’s face.
“Already? It’s only been a year and a half since you met.” Lance felt it was a bit rushed.
“But we get along so well anyway. Plus it feels like a lifetime for me.” Owari didn’t say it, but to him he believed his life didn’t really start until he moved to Leviathan city.
“How cheesy. I get it though. Well I assume you’re telling me because you plan to have a wedding?” Lance figured this would be the only reason he would bring it up. Knowing him he would just silently get married and never tell anyone.
“Of course. Noel is telling Rebecca today. It was my job to come tell you.” Owari replied.
“Well I’ll gladly attend. It shouldn’t be hard to take a day off.” Lance easily agreed.
“Perfect. Well that’s all there is to that I suppose. We still need to plan everything out before we have any concrete details. On another note, it’s been a while since we went out on a hunt together. Are you up for it once this party is over in a few days?” Owari asked with some hope. He needed to hang out with a guy or he would go crazy.
“Would we even be able to hunt together? I’m only mid gold.” Lance sighed. Owari had long overran him.
“Of course. I could use it as a chance to train my tamed beasts.” Owari’s beasts were all of low rank compared to him. He tended not to use them since to him they were precious pets and friends and he didn’t want to risk their lives. He enjoyed the small moments they had together when he visited them. Plus he would go out and play with them on occasion.
“Alright, I don’t mind then. Let’s talk more about it after the party.” Lance wanted to talk more but the end of the month was always the busiest.
“I’ll get going then.” Owari stood up and left. He was never one to drag things out.
Owari wondered what to do with the rest of his day. In the end he decided to stop by to set up a time to take his driver’s test. He wanted to get his license before he moved to his new house. It would be wildly inconvenient if he had to run for eight hours every time he wanted to get to the city.
After setting up a date for tomorrow Owari went loitering about town before returning to get his mail. There was little of interest among the various mail he received. It was just very standard reports about this and that. In the end he went back to his inn room and looked around. He rarely slept here anymore and it was more of a storage room by this point. He picked up his suit for the party which was tomorrow and made his way over to Noel’s to relax. Luckily she was already home waiting for him so there was no problem with him getting in.
The next day the two got up and did their morning routine before getting dressed and ready to attend the party. It started fairly early. The Luna family was probably going to be doing something big this year since they wanted to leave an impression on everyone. Owari didn’t really care one way or the other, but he was curious if that girl he met way back when would be there.
The two walked to the venue arm in arm. This time it was taking place at the Luna family’s own dance hall. It was a large building no smaller than the previous year’s venue. It had many tables set up and even a temporary bar. Technically people were legally allowed to drink upon reaching adulthood, but few respectable people did so. Though for special occasions some people got a little looser in their prohibition.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Owari and Noel gave the bar a wide berth and made their way to an empty table to sit down. As usually they came early and were in fact some of the first people there. Actually they were the first non-family members to arrive. Seeing this the few members of the Luna family who were qualified to attend were surprised. But more than that they were excited. Every member of the Luna family in the city knew what they looked like and who they were.
One of the various members approached them. He was probably around 22 which meant he was platinum rank. When he arrived he immediately spoke up. “It’s nice to meet you, my name is Jeremy.” He held out his hand. Owari and Noel shook it in turn.
“I’m Noel, and this is Owari.” Noel introduced them.
“I’ve heard a lot about you, though this is our first meeting.” He chuckled.
“Indeed, I don’t recall seeing you before. Though I have heard of you from some of your family.” Noel took the lead talking to him.
“You’ve heard of me?” This surprised him.
“Sure, you’re quite talented after all. It’s only natural that your family would speak of you.” Noel felt it was obvious.
“I didn’t think they’d try to brag to a Silverblood, how tactless.” He laughed at his own family.
“I think they were just trying to show they were ready to be seen as a major family.” Noel felt it was quite ordinary to try and show your best cards to others when you were trying to impress them.
“We don’t have anyone nearly as impressive as either of you though.” He smiled as if he didn’t find it to be a problem.
“You’re quite self aware to know it’s unnecessary to have absurd talents to join the major families.” Noel noted. “Most people would think it’s a necessity, however almost no family had such people upon being accepted as a major family.”
“I’ve heard a bit about it.” He glanced over at Owari nervously. He had heard Owari was the higher rank between them yet he had yet to speak.
“No need to be so anxious. I speak for both of us.” Noel spoke out against his thoughts.
“It’s true.” Owari spoke to alleviate some of his worries. “I just figured I’d let her take the lead this time. We have to talk to a lot of people tonight so it’s best that we switch out to give the other rest.” Owari explained.
“That makes sense.” Jeremy nodded. He hadn’t really thought of how busy they would be. In fact he realized what a golden opportunity he had been given for them to arrive early.
As they were chatting another group of two entered the hall, as soon as they saw Owari they showed some surprise and walked over to him. “It’s been a while.” It was Merrily and Zacharias who Owari had met once before.
“It has.” Owari nodded to them.
“You all know one another?” Geremy was surprised.
“We’ve met before. Though we haven’t spoken since. Congratulations on reaching gold rank.” Owari praised them.
“How did you know we weren’t gold rank before?” Zacharias asked bluntly.
“I could sense your strength. If you’re a gold rank you should be able to do it too.” Owari replied.
“I can. But you don’t feel all that strong.” He said with some challenge in his voice.
“He’s a platinum rank you dolt, stop antagonizing him.” Merrily sighed. This was not how she wanted their second meeting to go.
“It’s fine. After all, I am hiding my strength. After all if I went around letting my aura go wild then ordinary people would instinctively fear me. That would be a bit awkward.” Most people above gold rank start to gradually gain control of their aura and if you can’t hide it then most beasts will avoid you.
“Oh.” Zacharias seemed to accept the reasoning and didn’t challenge him any more.
“Well that was easy.” Owari laughed.
“He’s not very bright.” Merrily said openly. “But outside of his pride he’s a nice guy.” She didn’t have all bad things to say about him.
“I’m sure he is a wonderful person.” Noel said sincerely.
“So how have you been since then?” Owari asked the two of them to keep the topic from wandering into sensitive subjects.
“We’ve been well. Our beasts have evolved to high silver rank. Although admittedly it was with help from our families. As for our rank it went up mostly because we have good teamwork with our beasts. Our actual individual ability is still about high silver. But we were always more focused on building up our teamwork with each other and our beasts.” Merrily answered.
“How interesting. It’s very different from our method where we fight alone and train our beasts alone. I’m curious as to how effective your method is.” Noel spoke up.
“It requires a lot of skill and coordination. It’s especially hard to communicate mid-battle. Most of the training comes from getting used to the cues of the other fighters and learning when and with what to follow up with. Though the benefit is the ability to use higher-risk moves that leave more openings because you have a partner to back you up.” Merrily happily explained.
“Sounds impressive.” Owari never discounted any kind of strength, regardless of where it came from.
“Thank you.” Merrily replied happily.
The few of them talked a bit more as people started to file in. Soon enough people started to recognize Noel and Owari and started approaching them. Some were people he met last year, while others were the newer platinum ranks who were here to represent their families like Geremy. Soon their original conversation partners got fazed out and new people started to replace old. It was a bit unfortunate but most of them were willing to accept it seeing how busy the two were. They also spent some time spreading the news of their engagement and possible invitations they may send out.
Suddenly Owari stopped talking to someone he had been speaking to and smiled. “Let’s go meet an old friend.” Owari spoke to Noel.
“Oh? Who is it?” Noel tried to look above the crowd but was too short.
Owari didn’t answer and he calmly walked through the crowd of people who split the way for him. Nobody was willing to block his path to interrupt his meeting with a friend. As soon as the people started parting Noel saw who it was they were going to meet. Standing a bit awkwardly at the end of the parting sea of people was a shocked Kent.
“It’s been a while, how have you been?” Owari asked as soon as he got close.
“I’ve been mostly good.” He smiled a bit awkwardly as he looked around at the crowd filled with dozens of people.
“How has your strength been progressing?” Noel asked curiously.
“I haven’t increased my rank yet. The aquila family has been having me take martial arts lessons to solidify my foundation. They also gave me a new mystic art more fitting to me so I needed to relearn it. My instructor says I’m talented but I don’t really know. According to him I should be as strong as most low gold beasts.” He wondered if this was enough to satisfy them.
“That means you’re about where we were at your age. Good job.” Owari congratulated him.
“It’s a shame. If we kept training him he would be even higher than we were. I wonder how shocking that would be.” Noel sighed as though it were a pity.
“I’d really rather not go through that again.” Kent blurted out.
“Why not? You will probably be doing the same soon anyway. Once you finish your training with your instructor.” Owari smiled at him causing a shiver to run down his spine.
“According to my father in law the training I’m currently under makes everyone else in my generation cry foul and they always complain. Compared to your training it’s like heaven.” He couldn’t help but say this. He had seen a number of his fellow trainees complain about the training or whine about the cramps and pain it caused. Not once had Kent spoke a peep about this though, in fact sometimes he would continue the training after it was officially ended as long as the instructor was free.
“Then it isn’t hard enough.” Owari shook his head.
“Speaking of father in law, how goes the engagement?” Noel asked curiously, giving Kent a break about the training.
“It’s going.” Kent said noncommittally.
“Something wrong?” Noel asked with an eyebrow cocked.
“She’s just a little overbearing.” Kent sighed. “She always wants to see me or be around me. She constantly talks when we’re together and I barely get a word in. It’s exhausting.”
“Just give it time. She’s probably just excited.” Noel chuckled.
“I still don’t understand why she’s so cheerful about it.” Kent had thought she would resent being married off at her fathers convenience.
“She’s been raised that way since birth. She had probably imagined being married off to all kinds of terrible people, and instead she got you. Based on what you’re saying you at least listen to her talk, and based on your personality you’re probably quite nice to her in general. It’s way better than some alternatives.” Noel explained. “Once she gets a better idea of who you are she’ll remake the decision and her attitude will shift. So just leave a good impression while you can.”
“I’ll do my best I guess.” Kent still wasn’t sure how he felt about the whole situation himself.
As they talked another familiar face to Owari and Noel approached them. “So who’s this?” It was Rebecca who spoke up.
“This is Kent.” Noel responded as though it answered everything.
“Oh so this is him.” Apparently it had.
“You know me?” Kent asked with shock.
“Sure, Noel told me about you. You’re their student right? You’re lucky, it’s a one in a million chance to get picked up by these two.” Rebecca laughed.
“Well I’m glad they decided to help me. My whole life was changed because of them.” Kent was genuinely grateful towards Owari and Noel.
“That’s what happens when you have the right connections. Speaking of which, how has that been going for you two?” She asked with a little curiosity.
“Pretty well. Everyone is tripping over each other to make connections with us.” Owari answered.
“That doesn’t surprise me. Unfortunately I haven’t had such luck.” Rebecca sighed.
“You will now that you’ve shown your connection to us.” Noel reminded her.
“I forgot all about that. I should have come sooner.” Rebecca sighed.
“So what’s going on here?” Someone approached and said. It was Max Vermillion who Owari and Noel had met the year before. It was one of the few people they bothered staying in contact with.
“Just a meeting between old and new friends. You’re welcome to join.” Owari laughed.
“I’d be glad to. My name is Max Vermillion.” He held out his hand to Kent who shook it. He also did the same with Rebecca.
“It’s nice to meet you.” Kent said somewhat nervously.
“It’s a pleasure.” Rebecca was much more relaxed.
“Nice to meet you too. And the pleasure is mine.” Max naturally accepted their greetings.
“Max, this is Kent, our student. And this is Rebecca, a member of the Sapphire Agency and our friend.” Owari introduced them.
“There you are with that our again. What are you two, one person?” Max laughed.
“Well in some situations it’s appropriate to say our. You just happen to ask a lot of questions that require the term.” Noel defended them.
“Yeah yeah I get it.” Max didn’t bother arguing. He knew now he could never win anyway. Both of them were too good at keeping the upper hand. Though whether that was because they were communicating by letter or not he wasn’t sure.
“So how have you been?” Owari asked.
“I’ve been good. I recently met with my fiancee, she’s doing well. She’s a member of the Aquila family. She’s actually Gregory’s sister.” Max didn’t seem to feel bad about this.
“Aquila family?” Kent was surprised.
“Yes, is there something wrong?” Max was curious why he was so shocked.
“He’s marrying into the family.” Owari answered for him seeing Kent so nervous.
“Is that so? Guess that makes us relatives of sorts.” Max laughed, he had long ago given up any biases he had after Owari and the rest humbled him last year.
“I guess so.” Kent smiled awkwardly. He was still getting used to talking to the Aquila family let alone someone from another family. Especially here where he represented the Aquila family to some degree.
“So where is Gregory anyway?” Owari asked curiously, he hadn’t seen him anywhere. He was also another person that he kept in contact with.
“He’s trying to convince his sister to come.” Max had an odd look on his face when he said that.
“Sister as in your fiancee or another sister?” Owari asked.
“It’s the same sister. She’s a bit of a tomboy so she isn’t willing to wear a dress. She wants to come in casual wear. She wouldn’t listen to me so I left it to him. Honestly I don’t see anything wrong with it if it makes her happy.” Max shrugged.
“I’m curious to meet this fiancee of yours.” Noel smiled.
“Hopefully she shows up eventually. I’ll introduce you.” Max also smiled, he saw no reason to refuse to do so after all.