Anoseka Volume 2 Chapter 10

This is MTL. So, I cannot guarantee that the translation 100% contextually accurate or appropriate.

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Chapter 10 "Breaking into the Wedding"

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Wedding venue.

Marie muttered in her heart as she thought back on what had happened so far.

(Help me, onii-chan)

The person she turns to for help is her big brother from her previous life —— a man she can't praise as a wonderful older brother, but he always lends a helping hand when Marie is in trouble.

He was her big brother, the one she was proud of who would help her in a pinch.

His tendency to overdo things was also a problem, but if there was her big brother in a previous life, surely he would have been able to help her in this situation.

That's how it feels to her.

Marie felt strange seeing herself asking for help from her older brother who didn't exist in this world.

(Even in my second life, I'm still dependent on my brother. Really —— I feel like an idiot. Even though I'm the one who drove him to his death.)

In a previous life, she sent her brother to his death —— Marie also said of her brother, "I'm sure I gave him some crazy request, but I don't expect him to go that far! I mean, you're a member of society, so don't do anything stupid!" There are many things she would like to say.

(Now that I think about it, my big brother has such a pathetic way of dying. He's really an idiot —— and I'm pretty much the only one who would ask for help from such an idiotic brother.)

She looks down and mocks herself.

Tears fell down.

Although the veil hides the tears, the people around her cannot see them, but they flow down unstoppably.

Even though he couldn't have been here —— Marie couldn't help but mutter it.

"Help me——onii-chan."

Marie's murmuring voice was so low that Ricky and the priest couldn't hear it.

It was also because it was strangely noisy outside.

Marie had no time to care, but an armed knight rushes in during the ceremony.

The knight kneeled when he came to Count Offley's side.

Count Offley looks annoyed that the ceremony was interrupted, but the knight seems to have no time for that. He is hurriedly reporting something.

The buzzing grew louder, and just as the ceremony was temporarily interrupted - the double-opening doors of the ceremony hall were thrown open with a mighty bang.

Then the nostalgic, long-awaited voices and dialogues are heard.

"That marriage will have to wait!"

All eyes in the hall turned towards the entrance.

A young man breaks into the middle of a wedding ceremony.

It was like a scene from a drama, but Marie could see a very strange scene through the veil.

The young man's figure blurred by veil and tears —— looked like her big brother in a previous life.

"——Onii-chan?"

Marie hurriedly removed her veil, wiped away her tears, and stared at the figure of her older brother from a previous life —— But it was Leon standing there.

"W-What did you come here for!?"

Although through a veil, she feels ashamed that she had mistakenly identified Leon's figure as her big brother in a previous life.

Although Marie is upset, she yells at Leon and checks on him again.

A few moments ago she thought it looked like a scene from a drama show, but upon closer look, Leon's attire was unromantic.

In addition to wearing a pilot suit when entering the armor, he also holds an assault rifle in his hand.

With its futuristic appearance, it must have been prepared by Luxion for Leon.

When she looks behind Leon, there are armed knights and soldiers.

Their armor had a family crest depicting a rose and a sword, indicating that they were private soldiers of the noble.

All of them are holding rifles, and imposing.

It was not likely that he would dash in and grab Marie's hand and run away, as in the drama.

To begin with, Leon has a faint smile on his face here.

It didn't seem like things would turn out the way Marie expected.

"Sorry, but you'll have to cancel the wedding. There was no need for it in the first place."

It was the relatives of the Offley and Lafan families who were outraged at Leon's breaking into the ceremony with armed soldiers.

"I can't believe he is really breaking in!"

"What are the guards doing!? What happened to the guards!?"

"Take those people out!"

The guests made a fuss to get rid of him immediately, but Leon didn't seem fazed.

He took out several documents that he had apparently prepared in advance and showed them to everyone present.

The royal seal can be seen on the document.

"Don't move! We have permission from the royal palace. No matter how much noise you guys make, it's too late. Justice is on me."

Using the documents from the royal palace as a shield, Leon entered this place.

Officials from both families were surprised and looked at each other in confusion as they looked around at each other.

Then, the groom, Ricky, who was by Marie's side, furrowed his eyebrows and yelled.

"From the royal palace? That's a lie!"

To Ricky's agitated reaction, Leon calmly retorts.

"How can I cause all this fuss with fake documents? I got the proper permits, too, so here I am, all armed and get in."

Ricky stepped back, perhaps feeling pressured by Leon's smirk.

"I-It's impossible. How much of my house —— how could they give you a permit!?"

Perhaps amused by Ricky's agitation, Leon, who is in a good mood, begins to tell the story of how he got permission.

"No matter how much evidence I got and reported to the royal palace, it seemed that it was being suppressed somewhere. So, with the help of a few trusted contacts, I was able to report directly to the higher-ups. Then I got permission right away."

It was Count Offley who had a pale look on his face when he saw Leon laughing.

"What nonsense! Is that the extent to which the royal palace has cut us off?"

Count Offley had a look of disbelief on his face, but Leon was staring at him with narrowed eyes, as if he was angry.

"It seems you have quite a few allies in the royal palace. I'm sure they've covered up a lot of your wrongdoing in the past, but no one is going to help you this time."

"Guh!"

Count Offley looked frustrated, but he looked surprised, wondering what he was thinking.

Then, suddenly, he smiled.

"Don't think you've won with this, kid! No matter how much permission you get from the royal palace, the other nobles won't stay silent about this kind of outrageous act."

When Count Offley thinks he can still make a comeback, Leon tells him clearly.

"If you plan to rely on the Marquis Frampton, then give up. When I questioned him about his relationship with you guys, he said he had nothing related to you. ——Those who are connected to the sky pirates are not worthy of being called nobles. You can do whatever you want, he said."

The surprise at the mention of the name of the Marquis Frampton, their backer, and the knowledge that they had been cut off from their allies in the same faction, stunned Count Offley.

He does not want to understand the current situation.

However, all those involved in the Offley family who heard Leon's story were in a panic.

Marie's gaze scanned her surroundings, and that's when she caught sight of Stephanie.

She stands there looking at Leon.

"L-Lie——How could this happen? Because——How is it possible that someone who rose from being an adventurer —— could do something like this?"

Apparently, Stephanie didn't expect that Leon would come up with a scheme to force the Offley family into a corner.

After all, Leon is a boy who has risen through the ranks as an adventurer.

While she knew the young man was proud of his prowess, she didn't think he was good at scheming as well.

And the power struggles within the royal palace will not even help if the rural Barons step in.

No one could have imagined that Leon had this kind of talent.

Confused, Stephanie clung to Kara, who was at her side.

However, Kara brushes Stephanie off as she clings to her.

"Kara? W-Who the hell are you messing with! I gave you a lot of attention!"

"What is 'gave a lot of attention'? It's all over now. You should realize what you're doing. Because of you, even I got dragged into this! Because of you guys——"

Kara, who was crying, trembled as Stephanie reached for her hand.

They probably imagined their future and realized that there was no future for them as nobles.

Marie turns away from Stephanie, who is in despair after being rejected by Kara.

She was concerned about their relationship, but could not afford to worry about it at the moment.

Leon's expression became serious and he readied his assault rifle.

The atmosphere at the ceremony changed dramatically, and as the tension increased, it was no longer a place where jokes could be made.

Then, Leon announced.

"I shall ask Count Offley and Viscount Lafan, will you please come with me?"

When Marie's father heard his name called, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Why——Why are you trying to catch me too? I have nothing to do with these people!"

To Viscount Lafan, who calls the Offley family "these people," Leon gives his reasons while presenting evidence.

"The reason is that you made a secret agreement with Count Offley. I heard that you promised to cooperate with him in the matter of the sky pirates on condition that he shouldered your debt. Don't think you can get away with it, even though you were planning to make a fortune together."

Marie looked at her father in surprise and said, "Eh!".

It must have been true that there had been a secret agreement, and he was slumped down in his chair.

Marie's family members who were around him were all shaken up and seemed to know what was going on.

Marie expresses her disgust.

"I can't believe they were this rotten."

When he hears Marie's voice, Viscount Lafan looks up and begins to flatter Leon.

"I see. You've come all this way to get this girl back, then I'll allow you to marry her. So please spare us! Please! You want this girl, right? You can do whatever you want!"

He probably thinks that Marie is the cause of Leon's getting into this situation and hunting down the Offley family.

So, he thought, if he let him marry Marie, he would be overlooked.

Marie felt her gut churn.

(What is this guy? He ruined my happiness, and now he's going to use me to escape?)

He usually has a habit of acting like a big man, but now he is begging Leon for his life.

Seeing her father's pathetic appearance, Marie takes a step forward trying to beat him up.

"Cut it out —— Heh!?"

Ricky's arms hugged her from behind and tightened around Marie's neck.

Ricky's eyes are bloodshot.

"D-Don't move! Do you care what happens to this woman! If you take one more step, I'll break her neck!"

"Let me go! Let me go, you bastard!"

Marie tries to resist, but her position is so bad that she can't shake him off.

Ricky is bigger and, apparently, more powerful than usual because of his agitation.

Even Marie couldn't shake him off.

The soldiers were pointing the muzzle of their rifles at Ricky, but they couldn't fire because he was using Marie as a shield.

Ricky takes Marie hostage and negotiates with Leon.

"Thank you for your efforts to get this woman back. I'm not interested in her in the first place. If you want her, you can have her. But only if you let me go."

It seems that Ricky is planning to escape even if it is only by himself.

Leon seemed a little irritated by Marie being caught.

Leon replies in a lower voice than before.

"I'm sorry, but I have orders to capture every last one of you. I can't let you go, especially since you're an heir."

He answered calmly, but it seemed like he was angry.

Seeing him quietly angry reminded Marie of her big brother from her previous life.

Leon and his older brother from a previous life overlap in Marie's mind, as if they were the same person.

(Lies!? Don't tell me that Leon is really——)

That's when she thought so.

As Leon raised his left hand and swung it down, a thin light burned Ricky's shoulder through a hole in the ceiling.

"Ah!"

Ricky's face contorted in pain and he suffered as he released his arm from Marie and placed his hand on his own shoulder.

"I-It hurts. S-Somebody help me!"

Marie ran away from Ricky, who was crouching down and crying, and ran to Leon.

"Leon!"

Leon lowers the muzzle of his assault rifle and says with an astonished yet somewhat pleased expression on his face.

"You look happy that your marriage was ruined. I knew you weren't happy about it"

Marie looks down, unable to look directly at Leon's face.

"I-I'm sorry. Y-You know——"

Luxion came down from the ceiling, interrupting the conversation.

[Master, the operation has moved on to the next stage.]

Leon shouldered his assault rifle, turned around and gave orders to those around him.

"All right, then, let's get this one done quickly. We have other things to do today. As soon as we arrest the parties involved, head on to the next one."

Isn't the wedding stopped and that the end of it? Marie tilts her head.

"Isn't it already over?"

In the first place, the battle seemed to be over when Leon and his group stormed into the building.

When Marie asked if there was more to come, Leon gave a wicked smile.

"Actually, I have a deal with the royal palace."

"A deal?"

"The Offley's territory is a floating island, right? The royal palace says it's too much trouble to manage, so they say I can keep it as my share."

For the royal family that controls the center of the continent, it seems that managing the floating islands taken from the Offley family is extremely troublesome.

It cannot be said that the related vassals of the Offley family are also without ties to the sky pirates.

For that reason, everyone is removed, but in that case, management becomes extremely troublesome.

"Eh? Do you get this floating island, Leon?"

Leon lets out a deep sigh at Marie's statement.

"If the royal palace is so kind, I wouldn't have a hard time. Your family, the Viscounts of Rafan, have lands on the mainland, right? We're going to invade there too, but if I am willing to pay off the debt of the Viscount Lafan family and give the land to the royal family, they say I can do whatever I want."

In other words, the only land that the royal palace wants is the Viscount Lafan family's land.

The deal was that the floating island of the Offley family would be given to Leon and his family if they would shoulder the enormous debt of the Viscount Lafan family.

It would be the property of the Offley family that would be used to pay off the debt.

Luxion provides additional information.

[What the kingdom wants is the fortune that the Offley family has amassed. Incidentally, Master's big brother is on his way to the Viscounts Lafan's territory, so he will be able to conquer it soon.]

Leon talks about other collaborators as well.

"The poor boys' group is all out to help you, too. I'm sure they're all in high spirits right now, attacking your parents' house."

"——Hmm? Does that mean my parents' house is going to be destroyed? Wait a minute, I have kind of a mixed feeling about it!"

Marie was happy to be helped, but she had mixed feelings when she heard that her family's home was being invaded.