3.6

Oh my, a wedding

Malcolm and Conrad would be going on their own for now and Hiro had no desire to follow either. The young man returned with a bucket in his hand and a spring in his steps. On the way back he encountered Owain, who was also returning home.

“Hi, Hiro!”

The young man waved and runs at him, as enthusiastic as ever.

“Hello, Pryce-san”

“Just call me Owain, wouldn’t want you to confuse Caron”

“Alright then, Owain-san”

“Nice to meet you here! What is in that bucket?”

“Um, fishes”

“Oh cool, did you catch them?”

“No, it was Malcolm and Conrad… well mostly Conrad. I only provided motivational support”

“That’s very important! I don’t think I could do anything without Caron nudging me on. I won’t even be able to get out of bed!”

Hiro said that as a joke of course but Owain took it completely seriously. The young man had learnt that despite his cheerful nature, his host actually didn’t really crack any joke.

“Anyway, I just grabbed some snacks from the pastry place, do you want any?”

“Nah, I ate plenty of Caron’s earlier”

Momo-chan: [Even I feel full from all of those]

“I get ya, her snack is the best! Too bad we ran out though, didn’t expect that many people in the house. Even the princess stayed the night at our place! I can’t believe it!”

“You know what, maybe I will have a bite. Just to see what it’s like”

Owain opened the bag to reveal a bunch of flavour sticks, there were different colour but all of the same shape. Hiro tried to take one and gave it a try. Um, apple flavour, quite delicious but nothing inspiring. The young man asked.

“Do you like these?”

“No not at all! They are fun to eat but I am spoiled by Caron’s handmade sweet now”

“Then why do you take so many of this kind?”

For some reason, Owain seemed puzzled about that simple question. The young man wrecked his brain thinking about something. Finally, he had the answer.

“Oh I forgot you don’t know!”

“Huh?”

“This is the only kind of snack made!”

“Wait, only this. Then what about all the things that Caron made?”

“What about them?”

“I mean, there were a lot of variety there?”

“Oh, that’s just her!”

“Eh?”

“Only Caron and a few others make different kinds of snack and they aren’t distributed. Only close associates get to eat those. Guess I am quite lucky!”

“I see…” [I see…]

“Come to think of it, in Japan, are there any snacks?”

“Of course we do” Hiro answered “There are a lot of different kind of all shape and size and taste even”

“Whoa, are there more types than what Caron can make?”

“Obviously, I don’t even know how many different kinds of snacks are out there. There are even jobs to manufacture new flavours even”

“That sound wonderful! So more flavours exist, I would love to try them all someday”

Momo-chan: [I highly doubt you could try them all]

Hiro agreed with the sentiment, but he remained quiet. The young man didn’t want to ruin this moment of wonder. Still, he couldn’t help but think back of Caron’s wonderful treats…

Hiro: {Wait, I just realised something}

Momo-chan: [What?]

Hiro: {All the kinds of snacks and foods that Caron made are ones we already know. The same taste the same recipe}

Momo-chan: [Now that you say it]

While Hiro wasn’t a snack connoisseur per se, he could recognise most of the stuffs his host made. Since people from his world were definitely summoned before, maybe that wasn’t much of a surprise. Heck, the folks here even used the same calendar system, the only difference was that this was the year 109.

Come to think of it, there was something that Hiro had been wondering for a while. The young man asked and prayed that this wasn’t a sensitive topic here.

“Um, Owain-san, can I ask something about you?”

“Yes, what is it!”

“How old are you exactly” Yes, this was the question that had been weighing in his mind.

“Me? I will turn 18 soon and so will Caron!”

Hiro could almost hear something breaking in his head. These two were actually younger than him! And yet all these times he had thought of them as his seniors. To be honest, that impression was mostly created by Caron who was very much an adult… that and their relationship.

Hearing that reminded Owain of something, however.

“Oh wait! I completely forgot to tell you, next week is my birthday”

“That’s great”

“Me and Caron will get married then as well! Would you like to come?”

“Of course, that would be an honour”

“Thanks, I look forward to seeing you there!”

So these two weren’t married yet, and the concept of marriage did exist here. Was it already here or introduced by a summoned? Hiro couldn’t really know.

“We actually planned to get married like two weeks before actually”

“Really? What happened?”

“You arrived! Right at our doorstep!”

Oh right. Hiro did remember asking about that during the meal. Apparently Suiren showed up at the house with a bloodied him on her back one night. The Pryce just took her in without any question.

They had certainly done a lot for him. Before coming to this world, Hiro couldn’t even remember the last time he was happy.

“Owain, I want to say something…”

“What is it, I’m all ears!”

“I should really have said this before but… thank you, and Caron, for everything you guys have done for me”

“Huh? What did we do?”

“Well… you harboured us, you fed us, you took care of us, all without wanting any compensation. That’s more than what I am used to all my life!”

“It isn’t much, really”

Hearing that hurt slightly, even though Hiro had no right to complain. Here he was, pouring his heart out, a bit sudden but it was still what he wanted to say. And the way Owain treated it all so lightly…

“Everyone here would have done the same”

True, the tavern owner did let Malcolm and Conrad in his place after all. He even went so far as to hide the former, that was until Willow arrived.

Oh well, such a ridiculous thing to be upset about.

“I know, I just want to thank you, that’s all”

“I see, thanks for that!”

Being thanked for saying thanks, now that’s new.

Owain seemed to have an idea that he was quite excited about. Suddenly, the young man looked giddy like a child, as usual actually.

“Hiro! I want you to have something, follow me!”

And with just that, Owain took off in excitement before Hiro could say anything. The young man decided to follow. Where they ended up was the workshop that Malcolm talked off earlier. It was right next to the Pryce’s house but this was the first time Hiro stepped foot in the place.

Most of the space was separated by a glass wall, behind was a garden full of different kinds of plants. Despite having no exposure to the sun, they seemed to be growing all right.

Other than that, this place looked just like a normal workshop albeit without any machinery. The tools were all there though, hammers and spanners galore. Their designs were exactly like those that could be found back in Hiro’s world.

“Now that I think of it, this is the first time you have been in here”

“Yeah, you have quite a lot in here”

“Well, not ‘me’ per se. I can’t requisition any of this. It’s actually all Caron’s”

“Um, does a healer uses all of this?”

“Not a normal one no, but she is part of the Containment squad, apparently they use a lot of equipment like this”

Owain opened a wall panel to reveal a huge device. It looked like an oversized black bazooka with a trigonal nuzzle. Attached to the thing was a thick lethal strap with the phrase ‘Primum non nocere’ sewn onto it.

“What is this?”

“Oh, it is a heavy duty flamethrower, I have never seen Caron touches it though”

Momo-chan: [I can’t really imagine someone like her wielding this… thing]

Hiro: {Well, she was in that costume with the plague doctor mask. Maybe this isn’t that huge of a step up}

Momo-chan: [… Actually I can imagine it now]

“Anyway, back to the thing I wanted to show you!”

Owain certainly switched priority with ease. The young man closed the panel and opened the drawer of a small desk, proudly announcing.

“By the way, this is my corner!”

He dug through some papers; a few pieces even fell to the ground. Hiro approached to pick them up just when Owain found what he was looking for.

“Here, have this!”

It was a fancy looking card.

“It’s the invitation to our wedding next week! Do you want it?”

“I love it. There is a blank space here though”

“Oh, that’s for name. Can you write down your name in Japanese!”

“Alright”

As soon as he had the confirmation, Owain handed the young man a normal looking pen. Before Hiro could finish he was handed another blank invitation.

“This one is for Suiren!”

“I guess I will write in her stead then”

Come to think of it, Hiro still had no idea what was the woman’s name or who she was. For some reason, thinking that one day that information would come was somewhat scary. That’s strange, he should be glad to know them…

“Whoa, these letters look so fancy!”

“Funny you would say that, my handwriting is quite atrocious”

Momo-chan: [Yes, even mine is better than this]

Hiro: {Because you are from when we were still drawing letter}

Momo-chan: [Oi! I am not that far back!]

Hiro: {Really, it’s all a blur now}

All of the invitations were handwritten in Welsh by Owain. That language also used the alphabet which Hiro did know. The young man could understand a bit of English even. But all of these letters might as well be gibberish in the way which they were arranged.

Maybe he just signed a slave contract or something, Hiro chose to trust that it wasn’t the case.

Meanwhile, Owain was gathering all the fallen papers. They were invitations, or supposed to be but the young man made a mistake. All incomplete except for one, with the word ‘VICTOR’ written on it.

“Wait, is that…”

“So you saw it” Owain held the piece of paper in his hand, he seemed conflicted “I made this for Victor, but I couldn’t give it to him”

“Why is that?”

“I just… can’t”

It was rather surreal seeing Owain being something other than enthusiastic. Even though this wasn’t the first time Hiro was still not used to it. The last time he looked conflicted was earlier when Victor entered the dinning room.

“You seem really torn up about this…”

Hiro didn’t know whether it was a good idea to ask this or not. He decided to anyway. Owain leaned on the small table with a sombre look on his face.

“I have heard a lot about that man from Caron. He practically was the one who raised her even. So, I was so sure that she would be overjoyed for him to be at our wedding. We couldn’t send any letters, however, due to the blackout but I still made the invitation anyway”

“But he did arrive”

“Indeed, I never expected that. Needless to say, I was so eager to finally meet him, to give this to him. In the end, I just couldn’t”

Owain let go of the invitation which fell gently to the floor.

“As a kid, I was taught to love the Divine and despise the Heretic. A despicable figure whose crime blights us even now, what’s not to hate. But after meeting Caron, the image she painted was so different. It was of an intelligent individual with boundless compassion and empathy. I was converted, or at least that was what I thought. Perhaps after all these time, that man has finally repented I though. In my mind, I forgive him for his sin. I wanted to meet this person who means so much to my beloved!”

The young man paused in contemplation before continuing.

“… Then I met the man and my blood started to boil. It was so strange, I never felt those sorts of emotion before. It was intense, it was unfamiliar, it was so ugly! The only thing I knew was that I can’t stand the sight of the person in front of me! There is so much I want to talk about with him, about Caron. But at that moment, it was all a blank”

To Hiro, it was surreal seeing Owain being anything but positive. But in truth, it was just as surreal to the young man himself, who had never felt hate before that instance, before he met the Heretic. Hiro couldn’t understand that, how much of this hatred was so ingrained, programmed. But he could see that Owain was conflicted, that he was torn.

Hiro slowly picked up the invitation from the ground and put it in Owain’s hand. The young man couldn’t help but be confused by the gesture.

“Eh?”

“I want to ask. Is Caron important to you?”

“Of course, she is my beloved!”

“Do you think she would want to see him at her, at your wedding”

“… She would be… happy”

“I don’t know how strongly you feel toward Victor at all. It’s down to you, if seeing Caron being happy worth it, if it can outweigh your hatred. If not, just… throw this away, burn it or something”

It was not Hiro’s place to say something like this as a guest and all. But still, he wanted to do something for his host who had been so kind to him. This was the young man way to help, at least all he could think of for now.

Owain looked at the invitation with contemplation. It wasn’t long before the young man reached his conclusion. He turned to Hiro.

“Sorry, I have to go”

With that, the Owain bolted off before his mind could waver. Hiro remained and waited, there was no need to go, he already knew the answer.

But still, seeing it with his own eyes was a different matter. In just a blink of an eye, Hiro found himself running after Owain.