Chapter 486 – Alban Eiler (3)
March is when spring is in full bloom, and flowers begin to bloom in meadows and gardens of artisans.
In addition to various things, I am not alone in preparing for the wedding.
Dana, too, seemed to have a little bit of anticipation for holding the ceremony in the way of her hometown—a wedding following traditional rites was not strange even from a modern sensibility——she was consulting with her mother-in-law in between excavations.
“Scatter it, Hoaeeng.”
As I was playing, scattering petals of wildflowers in my wife’s yard on holiday, Dana flipped through the papers and said:
“Husband, husband. Look at this.”
“Meme?”
When I called and let’s go, she spread the paper with the translation of the aphorism of the ruins.
“It’s a translation of the Huldupolk Ruins, but there was a festival in Erinn called Alban Eiler.”
“Alvan Eiler… Do you mean the light of the earth?”
It sounded like that to my ears.
“Right, it’s the spring equinox in Britannian terms. It is a festival held on March 21st to celebrate the first day of spring. It was said that other descendants of Erinn other than Huldfolk were also doing this event.”
I listened to Dana. In Ulster, Alban Eiler is the day when seeds are sown, and it is said to be one of the times of change when the Druid magic becomes stronger.
There were similar events and festivals that my mother-in-law learned from the previous priest, but they were almost lost in Pict, leaving only names.
“But isn’t that the senior’s handwriting~? Why do you react as if you are hearing it for the first time?”
“Third-class translators don’t remember what they translated.”
“No, even if you say it with a straight face… “
Lalilura, who was eating the fruit that Frank cut – the one given to her by her father-in-law – said it as if it was absurd, but damn, in the last 1-2 months, where was the one or two translations I’ve been working on?
Of course, if you do it like me, there is a high possibility that the quality of the translated version will be broken like Gyeonghwasuwol, but I am not the one who translates. Interpretation is only Papago, and I am only transcribing.
And damn, where is the bastard who remembers the contents of the flashcard he wrote a week ago in the first place?
“Anyway, and again?”
“On this day, there is a tradition of holding a ceremony while praying for blessings from gods or spirits. It wasn’t a tradition that existed from the beginning, but it seems that a change occurred around the middle of the ancient civilization… Wouldn’t it be okay for the wedding day?”
Dana tickles as if she’s trying to hide her shyness. I grinned.
People say that preparing for a festival is the most enjoyable, and that is no different from a wedding. This is a fact that I felt when I conceived the ceremony with Fran.
“Right. It must be a wedding suitable for an archaeologist couple.”
Isn’t it plausible to stand as a representative of the tradition while restoring it?
According to the original tradition, it would be a party where the newlyweds hold a ceremony and have fun, just like a traditional feast… This time, it will be just me and Dana’s wedding, so it’s okay in terms of fairness.
The meaning of being blessed by a god or a spirit is also very good.
“But isn’t March 21st still a week away?”
If it’s tight, it’s tight, and if it’s relaxed, it’s relaxed. Dana shrugged her shoulders as if it would be okay.
“What is not suitable? I already ordered clothes similar to the dress I found in the ruins.”
“If it’s your sister.”
I accepted Dana’s offer after rolling the Elite Greatsword. The preparations were roughly completed for 1-2 months, and all I had to do was set a date. It’s all the more so because I don’t need to invite anyone to this wedding.
Aren’t there people from the lab who would be upset if I didn’t call them in Alwyn? Just talk and it will arrive in half a day.
‘Still, it’s not like having a wedding wearing such a bloody metal arm.’
A prosthetic arm is a man’s dream, but he is in prison at a wedding.
I placed my hand on the prosthetic arm on my right arm and used the rune of ᛒ (Berkanan).
“Surprisingly thin texture!”
Add rune transformation magic to her own mana, and recreate her arm skin!
To put it simply, it’s like a very high-quality color copy, and when you touch it, it turns out to be fake! But that’s why I think it’s worth camouflaging!!
By the way, this name was taken from a cartoon setting that was very popular in the past and had a lot of hiatus!!
“Resurrection of appearance!!!”
“It’s fast…”
Veronica let out an exclamation of disgust or admiration. Huh, even when I look at it, it’s a perfection that can only be seen with the real arm.
Me and Dana finished all overdue tasks and urgent fires.
Now let’s focus on preparing for the wedding.
***
A week to set a date for the wedding, and the Picts prepare for their first Alban Eilaire in hundreds of years.
My mother-in-law had already started writing down the knowledge of the head priest who had been handed down by word of mouth, and instead of discarding the magic reagents she had purchased as experimental materials and had no effect, she made a new inventory slate.
The first festival to be held by those who had been ostracized by foreigners, who opened the gates of the village.
The anticipation made the preparations quicker, and on the first day of the week, I was wearing Ulster’s traditional wedding dress and was standing by in a corner of the village.
“The sun is bright. A grain of sand sparkles.”
It’s been 2 hours since I put on the fancy formal clothes and waited. Had I known it would be like this, I would have come a little later.
Let’s look at the sky. The sun is close to midheaven.
Alban Eiler is a festival that starts in the afternoon and ends with a campfire at night. Of course, I don’t throw live sacrifices in the straw like the Huldupoks do.
“Time is shit, friend.”
I nervously dropped my legs waiting for Dana to come.
Following my wife’s desire to see her husband’s surprised reaction this time, I have been kicked out until today while the wives gathered in order to try on a dress for Dana.
However, the time of humiliation when the father-in-law looked at her pitifully and prepared snacks for her is now over.
Today is the wedding day.
On this joyous day, I sat on the stump, waiting for the bride, gazing at the weight of my right arm and trembling legs, looking at my pocket watch. It’s the second one, but I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.
If this is the case at a wedding, how will the wives endure when they give birth because they are impatient by the side?
─Jerbuck.
I had been waiting for a second like an hour, but I woke up quickly at the sound of footsteps coming from afar. Dana in a wedding dress approached me while I was pondering about the truth of the world in a corner of the village.
The messy dog hair was tidied up like a ghost, and the length of the hair was extended to the waist for some reason.
What can I say about a dress with shoulders that reveal both of the pretty shoulders. The dress that tightened the slender waist emphasized Dana’s hips and long legs, and was a mix of sexiness and innocence.
Our Nunna, with her long purple hair undone, stopped a few steps away and smiled.
“How do you feel?”
“… It’s so damn pretty I can’t even speak.”
I said with difficulty closing my gaping mouth.
“I think I did well not to see what it would look like in advance. It’s fortunate that I’m so fascinated right now, if I had seen her a few times and got used to it, I would have been embarrassed to see her because I was fascinated by my older sister’s beauty and kept glancing at her.”
“Baby, flattery.”
Dana put her hand through her wavy hair as if she was embarrassed.
As soon as I came to my senses belatedly, I ran to Medadada.
I asked permission with my eyes and touched it, but it’s not a wig, it’s 100% steamed hair.
Even I, who insisted that short hair is a hairstyle only suitable for real beauties, Dana’s long-haired beauty in her dress made her eyes wide open as if she was enchanted by her fox.
“What? What? Why are our eyes and hair so long? Am I dreaming again?”
“I’ve been trying to change things for a while. They say it will go back to normal tomorrow.”
“My God, on horseback, how? Who raised you with magic?”
“That is me.”
As I was flustered in joyous astonishment, the head of a Mohican dressed in a different world-style suit gave a thumbs up.
Damn you, Semmus.
“What is it, why are you here?”
“A magic item that grows hair. Unit price 3 silver. Great for stealth operations.”
“This guy was hired by the chief for a while as an advisor. Few people have encountered the outside world from the perspective of an Ulster. It is also the first contact with the outside world, and it must be carefully prepared.”
In place of the young black cow who answered the questions, the adventurer wizard belonging to the Magi Magi, who was paired up with Semmus the other day, told me.
Its name… S… S… Was it Avang Strasche or something?
“Thank you for the wizard-like explanation time. But what about you?”
“Me? I’m inviting this guy to the team… The priest here says the magic master of the trickster I was tricked into? He wondered if he could get some congo. There’s nothing to lose by learning Shadowless Spear magic, and Alwyn has a lot of work to do.”
Oh, that’s right.
After all, everyone has to find their own way.
I chased away the two unsuspecting males with a whimper and looked back at Dana. After all, my wife’s transformation is thousands of times more important than a man who only has a good face.
Is it because of the long hair and dress? Dana didn’t have the usual sullen impression at all. She put her hand on her waist.
“Hey, how long are you going to bruise? We have to wait together and leave, but are you going to keep engrossed like that?”
“Oh yeah. It should be.”
I blamed myself and stood next to Dana, punching her so that her cheeks didn’t swell. She hesitated a bit, as if her confidence just before her was a lie, then crossed her arms around my arm.
After waiting for a while, a villager called us as if the first half of the festival was over.
The two of us walked side by side on an unpaved road.
The wedding venue was an old Erinn building that Dana had painstakingly restored.
Like Stonehenge, the building, built of stone and wrapped with cloth and wood, felt as if it had already been imbued with the presence of holy nature, even though it hadn’t been long since it had been built.
Villagers and a few acquaintances were at their seats. The lord of Alwyn, who seems to have come to interact with our family, researchers, Lirua and other Winglings, and the Picts.
And Dana’s hometown people.
Even if there was no beauty to the fullest, the people who wore clothes that made use of old traditions in a place full of vitality of nature and took care of their grooming were very lively.
It was a little funny that the father-in-law, who was sitting in the high table, was already sniffing as if his nose was getting cold.
Standing in the vanguard was her mother-in-law, dressed in an equally modest dress, completely hiding the skin beneath her face.
[Chief Sirona Verbeia congratulates the Pict child who is facing another change in their noble life.]
My mother-in-law, who was turning over the stiff new paper, opened her mouth.
Those eyes warmly prayed for a new start for her daughter and recited a congratulatory message from her ancestors.
[──I hope you always have work in your hands. May you always have one or two coins left in your wallet.
May the road always appear before your feet. May the wind always blow behind you, and may the sun shine on your face.
Even if it sometimes rains on your road, may a rainbow appear soon. Be poor in misfortune and rich in blessing.
Slow to make enemies, fast to make friends. May your neighbors respect you, and let misfortune ignore you.
Half an hour before the devil knows you’re dead, I hope you’re already in heaven.
May the saddest day you’ll ever go through be better than the happiest day you’ve ever had.
──And may God always be by your side.]
After the short congratulatory message, the mother-in-law smiled heartily.
“Congratulations on your marriage, my daughter.”
“… If you’re going to catch the form, hold onto it until the end. It will break your immersion.”
Dana wiped her slightly watery eyes and smiled. I gripped her hand tighter.
The past is a person’s root, hidden or forgotten.
Just as there is no tree that bears fruit without roots, even if you turn away or leave, your birth or past will not disappear.
Compared to the inexhaustible history of the endlessly unfolding world, our individual lives may seem fleeting and insignificant.
That’s why we make and hide secrets, and sometimes deceive others with a confident attitude.
It is because he believes somewhere in his heart that his shameless mistakes will never be talked about forever.
“Dana, congratulations on your marriage!”
“The dress suits you well! How can you not recognize me!”
“Come back often from now on!”
However, the history that will not even last 100 years is not easy to forget or forget.
Just as the memories of the 10-year-old Bora-haired kid reunited after 20 years remain in the memories of the villagers.
Just as the forgotten past, which has disappeared from history, vomits out secrets hidden in front of hands digging up soil from hundreds of years ago.
It’s a thing of the past that I’ve already forgotten.
Because of the good faith and goodwill that Dana had built up with her neighbors as a child, she now has a future kissing her husband in the blessings of her hometown.
Anyway, if you think about it, it makes sense.
After all, even the history of that majestic world is made up of such trivial and misunderstood lives intertwined.
That’s why I, too, was able to smile as I hugged Dana, who was hugging my waist, as if she were proud of her husband to the people of her hometown.
***
After the ceremony to bless the marriage, it was time for the villagers to enjoy the festival.
It would have been a bit silly if they completely ignored us, but since the dance moves of the people dancing in the middle of the village meant to wish for the happiness of the bride and groom, it was a bit of a stretch to say something.
As the night approached, people who were excited about experiencing the traditional festival of their ancestors for the first time even set fire to straw bales in advance.
Even the slightest bit of cold was warm enough to be swept away by the heat of the fires and festivities. Me and Dana sat near her and opened her bottle.
My daughter and my daughter-!!
A priestess dancing while playing a traditional musical instrument against a campfire, and men applauding as if possessed by the priest’s dance moves. As you can see, there is no mate, so it seems that he is aiming to become the groom for the next festival.
Well. It’s more like a feast than a festival, but it’s not bad either.
“Now that we have started interacting with the outside world, Pict’s uniqueness will inevitably become more blurred than before.”
Even the father-in-law, who had shed tears just looking at Dana in a wedding dress until earlier, seemed to have calmed down a bit now, and roughly wiped her nose and said,
“As such, it is only natural that the movement to inherit the culture of old Ulster took place within the village. If there are people who are interested in the outside world, maybe there are people who want to continue living in the village.”
“Your father-in-law must be busy too.”
“Where can I be? We also need to raise a new priest… Because our patriarch is also in his age. According to my thoughts, the next chieftain will probably be Sirona, but before that, I need to raise a successor.”
“Chief? Mom?”
Dana, who had been taking a break from wandering about – was so active that I wondered if it was because of her skirt being less wavy – she blinked. The father-in-law smiled.
“Yes. Can’t I do it? But being so busy is not a bad thing. It’s time to stop spending leisurely time just staring at the vegetable garden. That’s why, it’s nice that you’re wearing winter clothes, so it’s really warm.”
“I will also write letters often. When I have free time, my father also writes.”
“To trust those who claim to be a transport guild again? I’d rather go see you myself.”
“Ah, that’s a bit evan. Put up with a letter My husband asked the lord to root out corruption in that guild.”
The father-in-law, who seemed to have been hurt by Dana’s sharp words, widened her eyes.
“… Is that true, son-in-law?”
“Now that the priest said they hated them the most, did you get rid of them quickly?”
I shrugged my shoulders slightly, recalling the development of roasting and eating beans in a flash of lightning. Politics is so scary, folks.
“That is very good news. Then things will be different Don’t write me often.”
“You can write in Ulster. I’ll buy you a present from time to time.”
“Yeah, so be it. I’ll send you some of the fruit I’ve grown too.”
It was a bit funny to say on the day of her wedding, but considering it was a conversation between family members reunited after 20 years, she was good enough to hear.
Incidentally, the lord of Alwyn shook hands with the chief who appeared with a cane in the middle of the festival, and left after having the invited artist draw a portrait of the memorable scene.
Two portraits were drawn, and the Pict-in village took one of them.
Put it in a frame and decorate it at the chief’s house. Dana and I skimmed over the written treaty between the village and Alwyn, and it was very conscientious. At least I wouldn’t have to worry about being scammed.
Well, even after watching Dana and I yaburi in the conference room, there was no reason to cheat.
“Eck. Your mother is calling Don’t go.”
The father-in-law, who had been talking for a while, got up when his mother-in-law called. The mother-in-law, who was talking about this and that with the vassal of the lord, was laughing at the priests’ dance as BGM.
After politely seeing off my father-in-law, I erased the trustworthy son-in-law’s expression from my face and shook the bottle in a dignified manner.
“Nuna, do you want us to have a drink soon?”
“It’s good. Get me a drink.”
“Yes, madam.”
A full glass of Ulster’s traditional cider was poured.
It’s probably a drink brewed from interactions with the Britannians, but this one also tastes pretty good. Dana smiled at the bright yellow liquor being poured into her glass. My older sister likes to drink too.
“By the way, husband, isn’t it a bit strange that it’s cider and it’s not sweet at all?”
“It’s because all the sugar has been converted to alcohol. Even in the wild, there are fruits that naturally turn sugar into alcohol, and in our world, wild elephants, monkeys, ostriches, and giraffes eat them and have fun.”
“Wild animals? It’s funny, I want to fucking watch it. But don’t you get eaten by carnivores when you’re drunk?”
“There are a lot of elephants and giraffes who are drunk and have impaired anger control. Doesn’t my older sister have an eye for killing each other? Where is the discerning eye that has always failed while trying to be promoted to a doctorate?”
“I can’t hear because I have a master’s degree at Evebeb. Please speak at a high frequency that even the doctor can hear.”
“Aren’t you tired of that one pattern? Very older sister, her speech is getting dull day by day. Is it because you love your husband so much that you can’t speak harsh words?”
“Phehe, asshole. Look at her face turning red and talking loudly.”
“This thump.”
Calling a bald person bald and calling a master’s graduate a master’s is really cowardly.
I grumbled and tipped my glass.
Originally, at weddings in another world, honey wine called ‘honeymoon’ was usually drunk, but that was also filtered at our wedding, as a Germanic custom spread. This time, the focus is on Ulster. Algan?
Dana laughed and spilled her drink, and I unknowingly brought my lips to the liquor flowing down the neckline and got hit.
“You! Aren’t you standing there?!”
“Kyahahaha!”
“It’s slow~ It’s slow~! City kids say it’s a turtle!”
As we tilted our glasses shoulder to shoulder like that, I saw the village kids playing loudly.
The Wingling-in children, who are interested in the outside world but too young to venture into the city, and the Pict-in children. And it’s a mixed combination of their children brought by people from Danane’s lab.
The night is near, but I wonder if they burn off the rest of their stamina before they fall asleep and play together.
In the field of cultural convergence, the heart becomes grand. Is this really the Pict that chased out even the most distressed strangers? The real mother-in-law is a legend…
Perhaps because of my drunkenness, I was thinking nonsense, but when I saw an ordinary girl who stood out among the little kids over there, I was dumbfounded as if I had been hit with a high kick in the back of the head.
“… Hey. What are you doing there?”
“Yes? I’m playing tag right now… Why? Would you like to join us?”
Shin, the girl I met two months ago at the abandoned ruins, asked while shaking her head from side to side.
Why are you here again? I didn’t send an invitation to the forest.
