Ren felt a twist in his stomach, and adrenaline surged through his veins. His heart raced like mad, but then fear got torn to shreds by anger. He could feel it building up rapidly.

‘Yes! Yessss! Yeeeees!’ the voice of the Hearteater echoed in his mind, even though he hadn't even touched the sword's handle.

Then a third hand appeared, gripping Ryoma's forearm. It was Kazuki, who approached them.

"Then I'm choosing her as well, but I can tell you right now that you won't be able to take the two of us on," he said with surprising firmness, radiating confidence.

His appearance surprised everybody, eliciting gasps from some. For Ren, it quenched the flames of anger in his mind. He felt suddenly reassured that he was not alone, that he had the support of a true friend by his side.

"That would violate the rules. You can't gang up on one in a three-sided duel," Ryoma pointed out, his face beginning to show slight signs of irritation. He tried to keep it at bay, but his annoyance was becoming evident.

"You don’t want to marry this woman, which violates the tradition as well. What you want is to fight Ren, and you are only looking for an excuse, so save your words. He is my friend, and if you want to take something from him, I won't stand by and watch."

Ryoma's whole expression changed; he bared his teeth at Kazuki, even growling, but then he pulled his hand back and stepped away.

Ren immediately glanced at his friend, who responded with a wide smile before patting him on the shoulder. "I wish the two of you happiness," he said.

The young warrior of the Noroi clan nodded in response, and then his eyes darted to Mirai. She had a blush on her cheeks, clearly feeling quite embarrassed that two candidates had just openly declared their desire to fight over her.

"W-will you have me?" Ren asked.

"Yes," she replied, looking deeply into his eyes.

"Then it’s decided," The Divine Sovereign entered the conversation. "As this dispute concludes, and I see no other candidates showing a desire for marriage, I officially announce the candidate tournament over. Thank you, everybody, for your participation." With those words, he just left, accompanied by all the guards, and even by the woman in pink kimono.

Satoru and Hiroshi saw this as a signal to jump into action. They both quickly moved to Ren, grabbing him and Mirai.

"Time to go. We don’t want any more trouble," said the old man, pulling them away.

The other girls, who clearly were keen to marry a candidate, jumped to the offensive, approaching others, and quickly gathering around the victorious young gentlemen creating a perfect distraction.

"W-where are we going?" Mirai asked, surprised by the suddenness of the situation.

"To my house, to celebrate," said Satoru.

Ren seized this moment to turn and look at Kazuki, who was completely surrounded by the females. With a bright red face, he tried to defend himself from their advances, but his awkwardness made him completely defenseless.

‘It will be good for him,’ Ren deemed with a smile on his face. "Thank you! I will never forget this, Kazuki!" he yelled, briefly prompting his friend to smile widely, but then the smile disappeared as the girls pushed further.

The group of four quickly exited the stadium building, and Satoru and Hiroshi relaxed a bit.

"I believe we should introduce ourselves," the doctor said as he stopped, letting go of Mirai. "I’m Hiroshi Hayashi, a doctor," he bowed slightly.

"Mirai Noroi," she responded with a much deeper bow.

"I’m Satoru Noroi, Ren’s adoptive father," the old man joined, letting go of his son. "I invite you both to my house to celebrate! This boy deserves it!" He grabbed Ren once again, squeezing tightly. The pride he felt was visible in every single move of his.

"It’s nice to meet you, future father-in-law," she bowed again.

Then the old man pushed Ren to get closer to her. A bit embarrassed, he approached, but Mirai took charge of the situation. With a blush on her cheeks, she wrapped her hands around his arm.

Hiroshi and Satoru flanked them both, then began escorting them out of the complex, next through the inner district, until they finally arrived at the house of the old man. The walk was a bit awkward and silent, but the situation changed when they entered the house.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Ayako came out of the kitchen as soon as she heard the door sliding open. Her gaze immediately shifted to Mirai, and a massive smile bloomed on her lips.

"Come, come in!" She encouraged, immediately grasping the situation, moving forward to open the door to the dining room. "I have food prepared! Ohohohoho, I knew you would win!" She added, suddenly opting to approach Ren, and grabbed his face into her hands. "You are such a good boy!"

Her words made Ren blush, while Mirai had to bite her lips not to laugh.

This began a true feast, but despite the joyful atmosphere, Ren was quite silent, stealing glances at his soon-to-be wife. His lack of engagement in the celebration left plenty of room for Satoru to tell his wife about the tournament. His mouth would not close, and Ayako listened to everything with deep interest.

Here and there, Hiroshi butted in to add something or elaborate on facts that the old man was barely touching.

Hours passed like that. The food was cleared, and the topic of the tournament also ran out.

Mirai seized this opportunity. She began by clearing her throat. "We should see the house… Maybe," she proposed.

"Oh, right! The house!" Ren immediately picked up on her words, pulling out the scrolls he had stuck behind his obi so he wouldn’t lose them.

He opened the first one, which was a nicely decorated piece of thick, rolled-up paper. The signs written with black ink were unreadable for him, but Hiroshi took over quickly explaining everything. There was information that Ren Noroi was now gifted the title of the candidate, bestowed upon him by the city of Hikarimura.

The other scroll was slightly more complicated, bestowing upon him ownership of a house somewhere in the Noroi clan district. There was an address, but he couldn’t really tell where it was, even when Satoru tried to describe the location.

"We should go and check it!" Satoru stated while getting up.

The rest followed him eagerly, with Ren being the most eager. He hoped to actually ditch the group soon after arriving at the right place so he could spend some time with Mirai. She also appeared quite keen to come.

Just moments later, they were all heading through the streets of the Noroi clan district. Soon the architecture started to change into a much nicer one, and moments later, they stopped in front of a wooden fence. Beyond it was a nice-looking house.

"You should be the one to go in first. After all, it’s yours," the old man encouraged.

Ren nodded at his words, then pushed the gate open, revealing a small but nice flower garden. It had a short paved road leading to the front porch of the house. Upon sliding the door open, he revealed a corridor with rooms on the left and right sides, which eventually led to a kitchen.

Compared to Satoru, this one was modern, with a tap and a sink. The stove was also nicer, taller than what Ayako had to work with. There was also additional furniture, including the dishes and kitchen utensils.

There were two sets of doors inside. One led to a storage room with stairs going underground, where it was much colder. The other one led to a porch on the back, where the rest of the garden was.

It was small but enough for children to play around if they were ever to come into the picture.

As soon as the tour came to an end, and they all gathered back in the corridor, Hiroshi said, "It’s been a long day. I’m tired, and I’m sure you two would like to have some time for yourselves as well, so please excuse me."

"Thanks for everything, doctor," Ren immediately said.

"You can always count on my help. Now, I’ll be going," he bowed slightly, then headed for the exit.

At the same moment, Ayako prodded Satoru with her elbow, keeping a straight face.

"Ugh… Yes! It’s time for us too," the old man bowed slightly as well, followed by his wife.

"Thank you for everything!" Ren repeated.

"Hohoho, don’t mention it," Satoru responded.

Moments later, they were all gone, and the situation turned awkward because the moment Mirai and Ren looked at each other, they realized how shy they felt. Each had a blush adorning their cheeks. This led to them staring into each other's eyes for a moment before finally, Mirai broke the stalemate by taking two slow steps forward and pressing her lips against Ren’s in a gentle kiss.

She closed her eyes, enjoying the closeness for a couple of seconds. He couldn’t take it. Her sweet scent, the heat coming off her body, and his own desires prompted him to put his hands on her shoulders.

She gently withdrew her lips from his.

"I want you," Ren whispered.

"I know," she replied. "But first, we have to get married."

"Huh?" Her words felt like a bucket of cold water. "W-we will get married," he stated.

"I hope so too, but before I can marry you, I need you to promise me one thing. If you promise me this, I will marry you. I will become yours, and I will do my best to make you happy."

For a moment, he was bewildered, thinking the deal was already sealed, which apparently was not the case. Then, he calmed down, allowing rational thought to take over.

"W-what do you want me to promise?"

"I understand that not all the candidates have the desire to venture into the Realm of Gods, so I will not pressure you to do it. But if you ever decide to go, I want you to take me with you," she revealed. „You have to promise to take me along.”

"B-but... Can that even be done?" He asked, then realizing that his question might sound foolish, he quickly explained, "I-I had an accident, and I lost some of my memories, so sometimes I ask stupid questions like this. Is… Is it possible?"

She giggled, covering her mouth and briefly closing her eyes. "It is. Not many do it because the Realm of Gods is considered a very dangerous place. But if I am to be truly yours, I don't want you to leave me here alone. There's also one more reason. I don't want to hide it from you, as I don't want to hide anything from you as your wife. I had an older brother who became a candidate, and he ventured into the Realm of Gods. I will not pressure you, but if there's a chance, I want to see him once more."

Despite her words, Ren did feel the pressure, at least in that moment.

"I... Uhm..." He mumbled, unable to formulate his thoughts because of his emotions.

"Hey... Stop." She gently held his face in her hands. "I told you, I will not pressure you. But if you make this decision one day, I want you to take me with you. Now, we need to visit the city office so you can receive your monthly allowance as a candidate. We also need to buy a few things if we are going to live here, and there's not much time left before nightfall and there is no food in this house." She released his face and took his hand. "If you still want to marry me, that is."

"Y-yes! I do," he squeezed out, and then a smile lit up his face.

Mirai giggled once more before starting to lead him outside. Like this, the two of them ventured into the city to retrieve the coins and purchase the necessary items to start their life together.