Chapter 542: Their Announcement

That night, in a room at the inn, Tauro and Aeris gathered everyone together and announced that they were officially dating with marriage in mind.

Both of them were blushing slightly and looked a bit shy, but Ragune and the others, of course, welcomed the news wholeheartedly.

“So it finally happened, Leader! And Aeris, you really stayed devoted to this dense Leader—good on you!”

Ankh laughed as he repeatedly slapped both of them on the shoulders.

“It was only a matter of time before you two started dating, but this must be a huge relief for you now, Aeris!”

Since Ragune was also someone Aeris often consulted with, she was beaming with joy as if it were her own achievement

“Congratulations to both of you on your engagement! In that case, you’ll need to tell your families about it!”

Zion bounced up and down in excitement and pointed out an important matter.

“Zion’s right. Since Ragune has connected the ‘Dimensional Corridor’ to Marquis  Vandyne’s home, it might be a good idea to at least report to them. …As for the Leader’s family, maybe we can have the Marquis pass along the message to Count Graundewald?”

Ankh offered his thoughts on how to handle informing both families.

“…You’re right. I got so carried away that I forgot about that. …Aeris, is that okay with you?”

Even Tauro, who is usually calm and collected, had not thought that far ahead this time.

“Yeah. Let’s go see Dad tomorrow. I want to see my younger siblings too—it’s been a year.”

Aeris nodded, clearly having had it in the back of her mind as well.

“I never thought that this first visit to the north would become such a special place for the two of you! Wahaha!”

Since the north had brought nothing but trouble like the impostor incident involving the Empire, Ankh looked especially happy about this joyful news.

“…Hmm. So the ring on Aeris’s ring finger—that’s an engagement ring, then?”

Ragune, who had been glancing at her hand for a while, finally voiced what had been on her mind.

“Hehe. Tauro made it for me on the spot with creation magic♪”

Aeris happily showed the ring to everyone.

“A black metal ring—that’s pretty rare.”

Zion leaned in close, staring at it intently.

“It’s meteor iron from Rangas’ forge in the dragon people’s village. He said it was too small an amount to really use, so he gave it to me—but it was perfect for a ring. And I’ve enchanted it with various spells, so it should protect Aeris.”

Tauro looked proud, clearly pleased with his handiwork.

“Oh? What kind of magic did you put on it?”

Ankh’s adventurer instincts kicked in, his curiosity piqued.

“Huh? This isn’t just a normal ring?”

Aeris  is also surprised by Tauro’s words and stares at the ring.

“Umm… it’s a black ring with a magic circle drawn on it in a gold pattern, and it’s designed to draw out the power of the red magic stone and the meteor iron. I checked it with my ‘True Eye’, and it seems that the red magic stone strengthens the wearer’s power and wards off evil, while the meteorite casts a barrier that reflects random magic on the wearer.”

“““Oooh!”””

Ragune and the others exclaimed in amazement.

“As always, the things our leader makes are way too good to be true!”

Ankh praised him, half exasperated.

“Tauro’s creation magic is probably the only thing able to pack that level of advanced technique into such a small ring….”

Ragune sighed in disbelief, but praised the craftsmanship.

“As expected of Lord Tauro!”

Zion, ever the devoted follower, showered him with praise.

“A normal ring would’ve been fine too… though I am happy.”

Aeris muttered, perhaps imagining how outrageously expensive it might be.

“Huh? But you’d want something special, right?”

Tauro replied, sounding slightly offended.

“With you, Leader, this goes way beyond ‘special’.”

Ankh pointed out, laughing.

“Aeris, Tauro’s love is pretty heavy.”

Ragune teased her playfully.

“He doesn’t seem to think it’s heavy at all, though.”

Aeris smiled and answered Raguneas she watched Tauro argue back at Ankh.

“That’s just who Tauro is. He’s the kind of man who’d shave years off his life to craft weapons and full gear sets for everyone, all ‘for the team.’”

Ragune spoke of Tauro’s greatness.

“Lord Tauro said that everyone getting stronger benefits the team, so it’s an investment. That’s why I’ll just keep working hard to live up to his expectations!”

Zion’s attitude toward her benefactor never wavered.

“Hehe, that’s true. I received a very special ring—but maybe this is just another example of that.”

Aeris gave Tauro a warm look.

““That’s not the same thing.””

Ragune and Zion both immediately denied it.

“That ring is Tauro’s way of saying, ‘You are special to me,’ Aeris.”

Ragune explained its meaning.

“Yes! It’s proof that Aeris is the one special to Lord Tauro!”

Zion passionately backed that up.

“Thank you, both of you. But if that’s the case… isn’t this ring too special? Doesn’t that make his feelings a bit heavy?”

Aeris joked, and the three of them laughed together.

“What’s going on? What are you three talking about?”

Tauro wrapped up his conversation withAnkhand walked over to them.

“We were talking about how heavy your love is.”

Ragune teased Tauro this time.

“That’s true!”

Ankh threw an arm around Tauro’s shoulders and burst out laughing.

“Eh? My love is heavy!?”

　Tauro was surprised by the words and gave Aeris a confirming look.

“Hehe. It’s fine—my love’s heavy too, so I think it balances out nicely.”

Aeris answered with a smile.

“““Thank you for the meal.”””

Ragune and the others teased the lovey-dovey couple, then all broke into laughter once again.

Tl note:

Heavy love-very affectionate