Lately, I'd had a nagging feeling that I'd forgotten something. I thought about it for a while.
"That's strange... I feel like something's missing... Ah! Vanir!"
I teleported briefly to the Kill's dungeon to see if Vanir had taken up residence there. But the dungeon was only full of undead; there was no sign of Vanir.
"Why hasn't he shown up yet??"
I had no choice but to return to the village and this time go to Wiz's shop.
"Welcome~ Ah! Tae-jin, it's been a while."
"Long time no see, Wiz."
"You must have been busy lately. I haven't seen you in Axel Village for a while."
"Yes, I had some business in the Royal Capital."
This time as well, I bought a large amount of Experience Potions and Skill Point Potions from Wiz. Again, Wiz was overjoyed.
"Thank you~ With this, I should be able to get by for a while."
Hearing her say that, it seemed she had wasted all the money she earned last time on useless items again.
"Wiz... I don't mean to be rude, but I think it would be good for you to also sell popular magical tools."
"Yes... I know. But when I actually go to buy items, my merchant's intuition kicks in, and I see things that I think will sell well."
I had no idea what she was talking about. I wanted to tell her, 'You have no merchant's intuition,' but I held back, gave her a lunchbox, said goodbye, and left. Konosuba really is a world where it's harder to find normal people.
At any rate, I didn't see Vanir at Wiz's shop either. It seemed my actions had changed the future.
"That's too bad. Vanir was like a supporting character in Konosuba. I wonder what he's doing and where..."
I went home, drank the potions, and while resting, did some cooking. Kazuma was out on quests again today with the returned Aqua and Yunyun.
In the evening, Kazuma and the others came back. Their expressions were all bad, and they looked like they had been through a lot; their clothes were torn in places and covered in dust.
"You guys look like you had a rough time."
At my words, Kazuma looked at Aqua, sighed, and told me about what happened today.
"Sigh... Today we went to exterminate a goblin horde near the village. Someone got lured into a cave, and when we went to find them, we fell into a trap. That's how we ended up like this. Fortunately, Darkness held them off, and Yunyun and I managed to kill the goblins... but why did the difficulty suddenly spike like this..."
Kazuma kept glancing at Aqua as he spoke. Feeling his gaze, Aqua began making excuses.
"So what if a goblin was carrying gold coins and treasure somewhere? Anyone would have followed!"
"Is that any excuse? If you saw something like that, you should have discussed it with us. Going alone without saying anything just means you wanted to keep all that treasure for yourself!"
"Well... I might have shared it if I got it..."
Aqua's nonsensical rhetoric made Kazuma so angry that his face contorted, and he ended up saying something he shouldn't have.
"Sigh... This isn't working! Let's take a few days off and seriously think about our party composition..."
I could understand Kazuma's position. Yunyun had joined them for a while and they were clearing quests easily, but then the bad luck bomb that is Aqua returned, making it hard to adjust to the suddenly increased difficulty.
Everyone went silently to their rooms. The atmosphere was quite bad. Yunyun came to me, very worried about Kazuma's party.
"Um... Tae-jin, will Kazuma's party be okay?"
"Well..."
Kazuma's party would probably work things out this time too, but I couldn't give a definite answer to Yunyun's question.
Yunyun's presence in Kazuma's party seemed to have been counterproductive. This was something that didn't happen in the original story, so I also couldn't tell how things would turn out.
After everyone had bathed, I prepared a delicious dinner, hoping to cheer them up a little. But even while eating the delicious food, everyone ate in silence and then went to their rooms.
Luna came home after work and, noticing the bad atmosphere in the house, asked me what was wrong, so I told her what had happened.
"I see... Still, Kazuma's party members are cheerful people, so I'm sure things will work out, don't you think?"
"Maybe."
The next day, Sena came from the palace with official documents and a reward.
"Head Inspector, thank you for your hard work. This is the reward and a letter of appreciation from His Highness."
"You worked hard too, Sena."
At that, Sana blushed.
The total reward was 200 million eris. I set aside 66 million eris for Aqua, as promised. Then I gave 20 million eris each to Sena and the two knights who had worked hard with us.
"Head Inspector, can we really accept this?"
"You all traveled around the kingdom and worked hard, so of course you deserve compensation. Besides, Sena, you're about the age to get married, so it's good to save up some money."
Hearing my words, Sena and the knights were moved.
"Thank you, Head Inspector. Also, His Highness says that your wedding will be prepared for you at the Dustiness family's main residence in one week."
"I see. Understood."
It seemed the inevitable had finally come. I had no choice but to agree. After treating Sena and the knights to a delicious meal, I sent them off.
By evening, Kazuma's party returned. The atmosphere between Kazuma and Aqua was unusual. I asked Megumin, and she said they had been drinking separately at the Guild and had gotten into another fight. Darkness and Megumin had quickly stopped them and brought them home.
"Hmph!! I'm leaving this stupid party!!!"
"Fine!! That's what I wanted!! If you're just going to be a burden, then get out!!"
Then Aqua suddenly looked at Megumin and Darkness and said,
"So, which one of us are you going to follow?"
"Huh?"
Surprised by Aqua's sudden question, Megumin and Darkness were flustered. This felt just like a childish couple fighting and asking their children, 'Do you want to live with Mommy or Daddy?'
"Come on! Hurry up and choose!!"
Then Darkness carefully said,
"How about we just calm down, rest for a few days, and then get back together and try to do better..."
"Hmph!! That's not going to happen!! So, which one are you going to follow!!"
"Ugh... well..."
As Megumin and Darkness didn't know what to do, I spoke up.
"If your party falls apart, I'll take Megumin and Darkness."
"What did you say!!?? That's cheating!!?? Then take me too!!"
Aqua also asked to be taken, but I refused.
"No! You two are the main ones who ruined the party. I can't take you. You might just cause trouble in my party too."
"..."
At that, everyone became quiet.
"Anyway, think about it carefully."
That day passed like that. Starting the next day, Yunyun and I went back to the Royal Capital and began taking quests.
Now that Yunyun's level was high, she didn't level up easily even after doing many quests, and I was even worse. I kept thinking that I wished the Demon King's army would invade again.
A week passed like that, and my wedding approached. Whether their fight hadn't been resolved by then, Kazuma and Aqua were still not talking to each other. Whenever their eyes met, they'd frown, glare at each other, and growl.
"Sigh... On top of Kazuma and Aqua's problems, now a wedding..."
Darkness, also suffering from a headache, bowed her head, holding her forehead in her hand.
"I'm sorry to say this, but someone as upright and perfect as you, Tae-jin, isn't really my type. I don't care about appearance or physique.
It's essential that he's a stubborn, one-track-minded pervert who cheats on me with other women and is in heat all year round. He should be a hopeless guy who looks down on life, wanting to live as easily as possible.
Even better if he's in debt! He doesn't work, just drinks, and complains that the world is at fault for his hopelessness.
Then he throws an empty bottle at me and says, 'Hey, Darkness, go earn some money with that ugly body of yours'... Kyaah~ Drool~!"
Excited, Darkness described her ideal man. Everyone listened in shock, silently staring at her. I was no exception.
Is this wedding really a good idea...?
If Kazuma was a bit extreme, Aldap might have been a better marriage partner for Darkness.
"But I suppose this is fate... I will always be grateful for how Tae-jin helped our family, and I will do my best to repay you."
"R-right... I'm glad to hear that."
This time, I didn't have to prepare anything for the wedding. The palace took care of everything. The guests were all nobles. The only adventurers present were Kazuma's party, Yunyun, and my wife, the Guild staff member, Luna.
The wedding ceremony followed noble procedures, but the ceremony itself wasn't that different from commoners'. Only the use of high-quality items and things like the reception were a bit different.
"May the blessing of Lady Eris be upon the groom and bride for their future lives together... Groom, you may kiss the bride."
I kissed Darkness, who was wearing a wedding dress.
Smack~!
"I hereby declare you husband and wife."
Wooo~!!!
Clap, clap, clap~!
As the wedding ceremony ended, Ignis, proving he was a doting father, started crying profusely.
Yunyun watched the ceremony with a dark expression the whole time. Luna also had a bad expression, but she was better off than Yunyun.
Since Darkness was a noble, my name had now become 'Dustiness Ford Tae-jin'. The funny thing was that Luna also was forced to become 'Dustiness Ford Luna', but since the noble family name came first, it couldn't be helped.
During the wedding reception, Darkness and I went around greeting the nobles. Fortunately, since I had been serving as Head Inspector, I knew almost everyone there, so greeting them wasn't too uncomfortable.
There were also nobles whose curses I had removed, and some who sent various gifts, saying they wanted to repay their debt of gratitude.
"Congratulations on your marriage. Please take care of Lalatina."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
"Please take care of Lalatina, Sir Tae-jin."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
After greeting the royal family, we went to where Kazuma's party was. Aqua and Megumin were too busy eating the high-class food to pay attention. Luna, Yunyun, and Kazuma congratulated us.
"Congratulations, Tae-jin, Darkness. So, does that mean you're retiring as an adventurer now? I really hope so."
"What are you talking about? I'm going to continue working as an adventurer!"
"Ahaha, I see... Damn... My plan..."
Kazuma trailed off, looking disappointed. It seemed he had some sort of plan.
"So, I was thinking, since everyone's party atmosphere isn't great, why don't we all go to Arcanletia for a hot spring trip? Sort of like a honeymoon?"
Kazuma's party took it positively.
"That's a good idea. A hot spring trip... We've been having a tough time lately, and we've saved up a lot of money, so a change of pace once in a while wouldn't be bad."
There was a reason I made this choice. One was to deal with the Demon King's general, Hans. The other was to bring a certain priest into the party. He was also quite an oddball, but his skills were top-notch.
Also, unlike Aqua, he wasn't unlucky, so bringing him along probably wouldn't be a problem.