Evening at the Imperial Capital City of Jeffer.
In the downtown area of the city, a busy inn stood beside the street. The staff of that establishment were in a rush, running and dashing around to tend their tenants and customers, who mostly consisted of itinerant merchants and adventurers..
Given the current time of day, the establishment was busy accommodating its tired tenants with a hot dinner to fill their growling stomachs after a day of work. In addition to the cold breeze of the early winter, the people there sure needed to warm their bodies up.
Ching. Ching.
As the inn was busy, the bells of the wooden doors harmoniously chimed, and a group of people entranced themselves, which made the people inside take a glance at them and pop their eyes out.
It would be utterly normal in these times to have the doors open to receive more customers. But the ones who just entered were some people who had not checked in at the inn for some time.
“The Myriad Wings!”
Jenna, the daughter of the inn’s proprietor, cried out with plates balancing on both her palms as the group of Michael, Lucy, Gabrielle, and Uriel walked into the building. It had been weeks since the party went there, so Jenna’s excitement perked up once she saw them again.
Her exclamation grabbed the attention of the other staff and customers inside; some of them admired the members of the party, so they turned their heads toward the group as well. Not only the regular patrons but also the new customers were filled with awe upon laying eyes on the stunning figures of the ladies in the group.
“Hello there, Jenna.” Greeted Gabrielle to Jenna, who was approaching them instead of tending to the customers. “Long time no see; how’s the business going?”
“It is doing well, Miss Gabrielle. Winter is coming, so an influx of people is to be anticipated.”
After the discussion with the Raeven family, Gabrielle told Mylene and Claire that she would be gone for a while to inform her friends about their engagement. That was why she brought Lucy and Uriel along with her and went to the inn where they had been lodging while adventuring.
“I see.” Uriel repeatedly bobbed her head with her hand under her chin. “That is great, I guess.”
“So, may I know why you are all here?” Jenna asked. “Are you going to check in?”
“Ah, well, no.” Lucy responded. “Actually, we are here to announce something, and it will not take a long time.”
“Really?”
Hearing that, some of the people inside turned their attention to them to listen to what they would say. The volume of the area decreased significantly so that the announcement could be conveyed to everyone’s eyes smoothly.
The group did not visit the inn for some time, and then they suddenly reappeared to announce something. Whether their announcement had an effect on them or not, it did not matter as long as they heard the angelic voices of the party members.
“Ahem.” Gabrielle’s gentle voice rang out as if to catch the attention of those inside. “Before anything, I would like to thank you all for having us here in this inn. For the people with whom we became friends and for the time we spent together as residents of this establishment, thank you very much for everything.”
“…”
Everyone intently listened to her words as she spoke. Her voice might be angelic and innocent, but each of the words she uttered was filled with flags that notably intensified the tension that the listeners were feeling inside.
“I am going to announce that Lucy, Uriel, and I myself will be retiring as adventurers.”
“Aww…”
The people inside, including Jenna, felt dismayed upon hearing that. But there was nothing they could do if that was what they wanted.
“Everyone, I would like to tell you that…” Gabrielle paused and then held the hands of Lucy and Uriel, who were standing beside her. “We are retiring because I am going to get married to someone.”
The whole inn went silent after Gabrielle casually announced that with a smile. Some of them thought that they misheard it, but the expressions of the members of the Myriad Wings told them the truth.
“Damn it! Who is that lucky bastard?!”
After a moment of silence, a man in the corner smashed his table and yelled at the top of his lungs. Afterwards, the emotions of the people inside, mostly the admirers of the females of the party, burst out, which eventually led to an uproar.
“What?! Gabrielle is getting married?!”
“Impossible! This must be a dream!”
“How am I supposed to live now that my inspiration has been taken by someone else?!”
“There is no way I can let that happen!”
Shouts of disheartened men resonated in the interiors of the inn as they became emotional to deny the thing that Gabrielle just said. Some of them were actually crying, feeling betrayed by the fact that someone was taking their angel.
Their cries were so loud and outrageous that a patrolling knight even checked what happened inside. But Michael told him that everything was okay, so the knight stepped back and continued patrolling the city roads.
“Please calm down, everyone!”
“It cannot be helped, Gabrielle.” Said Lucy. “Many men had a thing for you, so they might feel ntr’ed by it.”
Among the admirable members of the Myriad Wings, Gabrielle had the biggest fan base. It was not that the other three were unpopular; they were actually popular among the citizens. Gabrielle was just built differently.
Due to her godly beauty and charisma, many people immediately fell for her charms as soon as they caught a glimpse of her. So getting that much reaction was somewhat plausible.
“What?! Miss Gabrielle is getting married?!” Jenna almost dropped the plates after hearing that. “Is that the reason why you have not been around here for a while?”
“Yes, Jenna.” ｏｖ𝚕．ｃｏ𝚖
“May I know who the person Miss Gabrielle is going to marry is?”
The inn went silent once again when Jenna asked that natural question. Even though it might be hurtful, everyone wanted to know the lucky person Gabrielle was going to wed—a person other than Lucy and Uriel who had the privilege to indulge her heavenly figure.
“Well, I am actually going to marry two people.”
“Ugh?!”
The hearts of the people there suddenly shattered into pieces upon hearing that. One already broke their hearts, but making it two doubled the pain as well.
“Please don’t be surprised, but I am currently engaged to Mylene and Claire Raevender.” Gabrielle said as she showed her the golden ring on her finger.
“Wait,” one of the men pondered. “They are the Sword Saint and the Sage, aren’t they?”
“They are women, right?”
“Now that I think about it, Miss Gabrielle cannot just give herself to a man so easily. I should have trusted her more.”
“Phew, I almost got a heart attack. At least they are not men.”
The ones who were going to marry Gabrielle were both women, which somehow brought a sense of relief to the people inside. Hearing that fact removed some thorns in their hearts, making the tension inside decrease gradually.
“So Miss Gabrielle will be marrying into a noble family?”
“That is right, Jenna.”
“Are Miss Lucy and Miss Uriel fine with that? How about you two?”
“We are fine with that, Jenna, so you don’t have to worry.” Lucy then patted Jenna’s head. “We had discussed that Uriel and I would be joining them as well; we three are a package after all.”
“We might not be able to visit here afterwards.” Said Uriel. “But we will surely visit you again if we have time.”
“Them retiring means that this party will disband as well.” Noted Michael. “But even with that, I will still continue being an adventurer, though solo.”
Even though the ladies had retired, Michael would continue their legacy by himself. Michael was not included in the marriage, so he had to work to support himself and his girlfriend, Nefa.
“That’s all we wanted to announce.” Gabrielle said that as she glanced at the people around her. “Well, then, it is getting late, so we have to go.”
“Aww… We will be going to see each other again, right?”
“Of course, Jenna.” Gabrielle then hugged Jenna to comfort her. “We will definitely come back to visit you, guys.”
After that, Lucy and Uriel joined them and embraced Jenna for a while. Their female acquaintances also joined the club to bid farewell. The men just stared at them with green eyes since Michael was intently watching them.
“Okay, everyone. We have to go. See you next time.”
“See you next time!”
Once they had said their farewells to one another, the Myriad Wings officially disbanded and silently walked out of the establishment.