The wedding reception began, and nearly two hours have passed.
During that time, we were constantly greeting and being greeted by guests, making it difficult to move.
Well, wedding receptions on Earth are usually like this, and since we’re holding it jointly this time, our individual burdens are probably reduced.
It’s good to think so, especially since we aren’t being constantly refilled with sake as the grooms.
The invited guests, including royalty and nobles, occasionally discussed politics, but those invited as friends seemed a bit out of place.
However, such situations are common in Amister, so some people seem to be used to it.
“Still, I’ve never heard of a wedding reception on this scale.”
“Yeah. Well, it’s the Celestial Emperor, His Highness, and the Grand Order’s Master all holding a joint reception, so in a way, it’s understandable.”
Linus, the Hunter’s Master of Feel, and Laberna, the Crafter’s Master, as they ate and drank normally, spoke to me.
Both of them seemed to have been invited to wedding receptions several times before and mentioned they knew some people there.
“It also helped that the timing was good. Well, I don’t know if we’ll host one in Alka again in the future.”
“That’s a shame. I’d heard about it, but I was surprised it was actually floating in the sky.”
“Indeed. If this place were offered as a venue, you’d make a fortune, wouldn’t you?”
Not as a resort or tourist destination, but as a venue for wedding receptions and the like.
Certainly, they could charge venue usage fees and accommodation fees, but doing so would likely result in a constant stream of inquiries, making it impossible to continue our Hunter activities.
“We haven’t considered that. If we want to earn money, hunting monsters is more than enough.”
“That’s true for you guys.”
“With ten Ancient Classes, just entering a Labyrinth would earn us a fortune. From my perspective, I’m grateful for that too.”
Feel is our hometown, so if we sell monster materials, it will be through Feel.
From the perspective of Feel’s Crafter’s Master, it makes sense that they want us to continue our Hunter activities because it leads to the acquisition of rare materials.
“Mikasa also said something similar.”
The Trader’s Master, Mikasa too.
For Traders, it’s also a chance to earn from rare materials, and since they fetch higher prices, it would be a major blow if we stopped hunting.
“Speaking of the Trader’s Guild, aren’t you planning to open a branch in Prada Village?”
“It’s more of an outpost than a branch. It might become a branch in the future, but for now, they’re observing the situation.”
“Of course, the other Guilds are in the same situation.”
The port construction in Prada Village is proceeding smoothly, and there have already been numerous round trips between Feel and Prada Village.
They’re planning to go to Glacian soon, but the formal opening of the port won’t be until next month at the earliest.
However, Prada Village doesn’t have any Guilds, so there were rumors about establishing new branches, but it seems like all the Guilds will initially operate with outposts.
It seems fine for the Hunter’s Guild and Trader’s Guild to have branches, but there’s also the issue of staffing, and for a village of that size, outposts are rarely established.
However, since Prada Village will be a transportation hub, even as an outpost, they will dispatch a considerable number of people, and the scale will be substantial, with the Trader’s Guild resembling a branch in structure.
“There’s also escort duty for ships, but is the Hunter’s Guild okay with this?”
“Of course not, but you can see it from Feel’s current situation, right? They’re completely short-staffed. Well, since it will be easier to go to Glacian, Rodpiece, and Acquario, I guess some will gather there?”
The Hunter’s Guild outpost is reportedly being built at about half the size of the Feel branch.
They’re considering renovations and will be equipped with a dissection room, but last year, Retisencia’s operatives raided Feel, and the number of Hunters significantly decreased, so local Hunters can’t be relied upon much.
There will likely be some gathering due to the port, but it’s still uncertain.
Feel isn’t without rookie Hunters, but their numbers aren’t particularly large, and more importantly, with several An and Catastrophe Species Orcs in Mylight, it’s not easy to train them.
Yes, I’m counting on Hunters from outside.
“That’s true. In that case, I’ll start preparing MARS soon.”
“Oh, understood.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
For now, we plan to operate in and around Feel and Prada Village and will also be undertaking escort missions for ships heading to Glacian.
We can accept permanent and posted requests from the Hunter’s Guild regardless of rank, as long as we don’t mind the reward rates being unchanged.
We maintain a minimum rank requirement, so while we can perform the essential tasks, there are still varying degrees of success.
However, that’s precisely why escort missions are almost always by direct request.
There’s no point dwelling on that, and it’s not something to worry about right now, so I gave Linus and Laberna a brief greeting and decided to prepare MARS.
When I announced that I would activate MARS, everyone became very curious and gathered outside the torii gate.
Many people rarely get to see moving monsters, especially high-rank monsters, so their interest is understandable.
Furthermore, since MARS is a magic tool that creates monster illusions, there’s no risk of injury even if attacked.
It might be fine for research purposes, but it’s completely useless for combat training, so we’re still working hard on that aspect.
“Now, I will activate it.”
After giving some brief instructions, I activated MARS.
I’ve done it several times in tests, but this is the first time using it with people watching, so I guess this is a presentation?
The MARS I’m activating this time is a prototype, shaped like a grandfather clock nearly two meters tall.
It’s sturdy because it’s made of Lapis Laz, but as a prototype, it has absolutely no design features.
On what would be the clock face, attribute magic and Inn have been infused with Fusion Magic as much as possible using the magic stone of a Pentaceratops, so I believe it can reproduce the monsters’ attack methods to some extent.
And by setting a magic stone near the Tenma Stone, the monster’s illusion appears.
Since it’s the first time and it would be better to have an impact, how about using a Tyrannosaurus rex magic stone right away?
“Whoa!”
“Tyrannosaurus rex!?”
“Even knowing it’s an illusion… the power is incredible.”
The M-I rank Monster Tyrannosaurus Rex is an An that nearly destroyed Valentia several decades ago.
Therefore, Dragon King Folias, Duke Blitz Ouroboros, the Dragon King Folias’s brother, and Lord Harut, who was appointed Grand Dragoner’s Master, are on guard, even though it’s just an illusion.
This was due to my lack of consideration.
“I apologize, my consideration was insufficient.”
“No, it’s fine. Allosaurus inhabit the Solpreza Mountain Range, so if it’s an An of that species, we can’t afford to be indifferent.”
It’s a relief to hear that.
Saur species from the Solpreza Mountain Range rarely descend, but they don’t never descend, and a few are always hunted each year.
Allosaurus are particularly fierce, and the Tyrannosaurus rex is an An of that species, so Valentia constantly reviews hunting records and takes countermeasures.
Therefore, it’s natural that research on Tyrannosaurus rex with MARS is wholeheartedly welcomed.
“It’s still a prototype, so as you can see, it moves rather freely. My primary goal is combat training, but it can also be used for monster ecological research, so I’m thinking of making its movements more restricted.”
“Indeed, whether for research or training, it’s difficult to use as is.”
“But this is amazing. You can’t see An up close like this.”
“That’s right. Moreover, since it’s an illusion, even if it were to go berserk, there would be no damage to the surroundings. Although space is required, monster research will still progress, making countermeasures easier to develop.”
That’s precisely the biggest problem.
High-rank monsters are often large species, and aquatic species are even larger.
Therefore, securing a space where these large monsters can move to some extent is essential.
Furthermore, the current MARS cannot be used for aquatic species.
I tried using Lance Merlin’s magic stone, but it just fell to the ground and flopped around, unable to do anything.
It’s only natural that aquatic species can’t move on land, as they live in water.
“The Tyrannosaurus rex is M-I rank, so this is the limit for the current MARS. Therefore, next, I will show you an illusion of a different monster.”
Saying that, I removed the Tyrannosaurus rex magic stone and inserted another one.
That magic stone was from an S-N rank Monster Allosaurus.
Since it’s the same species as the Tyrannosaurus rex, the difference will be easy to see.
“An Allosaurus.”
“But it’s moving more agilely than the Tyrannosaurus rex.”
“Yes. I believe it can reproduce up to G-rank quite well.”
Unlike the Tyrannosaurus rex, the Allosaurus looks down at the gathered people.
Oh, it raised its arm.
“Whoa!”
“I can’t believe it swung its arm down…!”
“But nothing happened.”
“Indeed. Even knowing it’s an illusion, my body froze…”
As a dragon species, the Allosaurus’s attack power is comparable to that of a G-rank Monster, and some individuals can even blow away P-rank Monsters.
It’s natural to be surprised when an attack like that from an Allosaurus, even an illusion, nearly hit you.
It’s difficult to use for combat training if it attacks indiscriminately, so adjustments are needed for that as well.
“As I mentioned earlier, there is still room for improvement, so I don’t know when it will be completed. However, since this is a valuable opportunity, I intend to show monster illusions as much as possible.”
When I said that, cheers erupted.
Traders, who make their living through research, were particularly excited.
It allows them to research monsters without putting themselves in danger, so I can understand their feelings.
For Hunters and Ritters as well, understanding monster ecology is crucial for survival, so they seem eager to see as many different monsters as possible.
In that case, I shall meet their expectations.
After that, I exchanged magic stones one after another, creating monster illusions.
Requests were made for not only Saur species but also Dragoon species, and I accommodated them as much as possible.
Of course, I don’t possess the magic stones of all monsters, so I had to decline many requests.
Nevertheless, everyone’s expectations seem quite high, so I must keep working hard on the development.
I never expected such high expectations, and it’s a bit of pressure, but it also invigorates me.
The MARS demonstration then continued for about an hour, concluding the presentation.
After that, it was back to the wedding reception.
Various countries expressed their desire to install MARS once it’s completed, but I informed them that due to the astronomical development and manufacturing costs, it would initially only be installed at the comprehensive school planned for Memoria.
I prepared all the materials myself, so it wasn’t that expensive, but ordinary people can’t do that, and if a country were to prepare the facility, all materials would have to be purchased, so I did some calculations.
The estimated cost exceeded 1 billion El, which was quite frightening.
I omitted the detailed calculations, so there will be some fluctuations.
However, at this point, there’s no turning back.
I have to finish it.
