4. Unveiling Party

“Welcome Grace-san.”

“Thank you for having me here today. Edward-san.”

I’m wearing formal clothes, and I smile at Edward-san, who finds me and welcomes me with a smile.

Yikes, I’m getting nervous. 

This is his mansion, a party hall like a nobleman’s house, where dressed men and women are chatting over food and drinks.

Yes, I was invited by that letter to a social party he was throwing. 

According to him, he wanted to introduce me to his trustworthy merchant friends and in essence, it was the unveiling of his business partner. If I could do well at this party, it would raise the profile of me and Asgard and I might be able to get more collaborators and interest in my products.

Then, Edward led me to a place where a tall man and a small fat man were chatting.

 “Grace-san, this way, please.”

I wonder if these are the merchants that Edward-san trusts to be my potential collaborators. They both look at me with interest, but I wonder what they’re thinking inside.

I steeled myself and made my way over to them. Chris told me that Vigna was taking a long time to get dressed. She grinned a little and told me as she handed me the necklace I had asked for, saying it was ready.

It’s a little disheartening that she’s not around right now. Well, I can’t say that…

“Everyone, this is Grace Vermillion, the one I was telling you about. He is the one who invented the rubber and mithril alloys that I introduced to you the other day.”

“Like I’ve been introduced, I’m Grace Vermillion. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Oh, you’re the third prince aren’t you Grace-sama?”

I finished my greeting as I’d practiced, but when one of Edward’s friends said the word “third prince,” my body froze involuntarily.

In fact, this is not the first time I’ve been to this kind of event. I’ve been dragged along a few times because of royal family business. As soon as they knew I was the third prince, I remembered the look of contempt and words that usually came next.”

“I’ve heard rumors that you are working on the development of Asgard, which no one has been able to develop. Moreover, you’ve inherited Souzi’s relics and what you did with the Mithril alloy, that’s amazing. I couldn’t believe my ears when I first heard that mithril can be easily processed like that.”

“I also received some potatoes that you made, how did you make them so good? No, this is supposed to be a secret, but if you were here before, I wouldn’t have had to make a big deal about the Azul {TN: Previously translated as “Azure”} Chamber of Commerce. I’m grateful.”

“No, I’m…”

They praised me verbally. It’s the first time I’ve received such from other people. I was unintentionally confused, and Edward whispered in my ear.

“You may not be aware of it, but for us small and medium-sized merchants, you’ve made a saving grace in the hellish situation that is the Azul Chamber of Commerce’s monopoly. We’re really grateful to you guys you know. So I hope you’ll accept their praise honestly. Just thanking them will make them feel happy.”

“Yes, I understand. I’m also honored to be of service to you all and I hope you’ll continue to look forward to my Asgardian territory.”

This kind of direct praise and words of gratitude made me feel that everything I’d done up until now hadn’t been in vain, which strangely cheered me up. Then I shook hands with them both.

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Merchant

Calco-Kenshaw

Age: 40 years old

Specialties: Bargaining, haggling, metalworking, mine management

Skills: None

Information: A merchant with a background in craftsmanship. He runs a mine and has a good amount of money. He actually admires Bowman and hopes to meet him someday. When he first saw the mithril alloy, he was so excited he couldn’t sleep.

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Merchant

Salem-Anderson

Age: 43 years old

Specialties: food reporting, negotiation, trade.

Skills: Divine Tongue: Able to know the effects of the food he eats and what ingredients are used in the food.

Information: Third generation of a trading company that deals in food. He’s not that fat to begin with, but he gained weight from eating too many potatoes that Edward gave him. He’s secretly hoping that one day he’ll throw a party in Asgard territory.

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The taller one is Calco and the fatter one is Salem. I looked them up in the World Library and neither of them really seem to have any animosity towards me. No, I have a few things to say about them, but that’s okay. I’d be happy to invite them, including Edward to my territory sometime. 

So I talk to them about various things. There were ideas on how to use the mithril alloy, how to make something like this and also about the refrigerator I brought as a souvenir.

As I was thinking about these, I heard a commotion at the entrance. I wondered what it was and saw a beautiful girl with long light blue hair braided and dressed in a red dress that showed off her beautiful hair, looking around and looking a little nervous as she walked in.

When her eyes met mine, she came over to me with a slightly angry look on her face. She looks like a work of art with her cleavage exposed without being too vulgar and her beautiful, sculpted face.

“Oh, how beautiful…”

“I wonder if she’ll dance with me.”

Whether it’s the merchants who interact with various people or not, it’s a trivial matter, there’s also a voice which points out that she’s an abomination and such whispers go round, but the girl is not interested. At the same time, she walks straight to me and said with an angry look as usual.

“I’m sorry that it took me so long to get back to you, Chris was so noisy.”

“Oh, oh… don’t worry about it.”

I was so taken aback by Vigna’s beauty that my voice involuntarily trembled. Behind my vision, Chris-san smirked and pointed at her neck. I looked at her in confusion, but then I realized that Vigna’s beautiful neck had no accessories whatsoever.

Chris… So that’s what you’re saying. 

“Vigna… I’ve been thinking about giving you a present, since you’ve always done such a great job guarding me. Would you like to receive it?”

“This, ah… thank you. I’m sorry but I was wondering if you could put it on for me. This dress is hard to move in.”

She then turns her back to me and exposes her neck. A little nervous, I put the necklace around her neck, it’s embedded with a light blue gemstone that’s as beautiful as her blue hair.

It’s not my imagination that her familiar face is bright red and I’m sure my face is bright red as well.

“Why don’t you two dance, since you’re here? I’d like to see Grace, the star of the evening, and Vigna, his escort, dance as well.”

Edward-san smiled and suggested we dance. Now that I’ve attracted so much attention thanks to Vigna, it would be a good idea to introduce me now.

But just when I thought Vigna wouldn’t like to be seen that way, she turned away from me and held out her hand. It’s as if she’s asking me to dance. 

“Vigna, will you dance with me?”

“I can’t help it. I haven’t danced in a while, so don’t laugh at me if I fall.”

She said this with an unusually soft smile on her face. As soon as I hold her hand, the music starts to play. Oh.

I know this song. I miss this song. 

Then she and I start dancing together. Despite what she said, her steps are in perfect sync with mine and her beauty makes the crowd cheer.

That’s right, she’s the one I’ve practiced my ballroom debut dance with. in the end, it turned out that my skills were off and we never danced in a big way like this, but even though everyone else left me, she’s always been with me, hasn’t she? I don’t know why, but when I think about it, my heart starts to pound.

Calm down, you’re dealing with Vigna!

I told myself to calm down. I looked at her face, the angry expression on her face was gone, her cheeks were red and she was dancing happily. Seeing her face, I realized that my heart was pounding even harder.

When our dance was over, the room was filled with applause from the surrounding merchants.

After that, I was invited to dance by several women and Edward introduced me to many people. Perhaps it was because of the dance I had just done, but everyone seemed to remember me.

During this time, Vigna was always close behind me, as if she was trying to protect me. She had been asked to dance many times, but each time she had refused, saying, “I’m Grace-sama’s escort”. I wouldn’t be offended if she at least danced with them.

If this was my unveiling party, I’d say it was a huge success and It was a fun party. I’ve never had a good impression of parties because I’ve always been treated like a piece of miso, but this was a really fun party.

“I’m going to go change now.”

“Oh, good work.”

I had just finished the party and was drinking water in a private room when Vigna approached me. It’s a shame that I won’t be able to see her in her dress, but I’m sure she’ll get mad at me for saying so.

“What’s wrong?”

“Thank you for that… necklace, it made me happy.”

When I gave her a dubious look, she said that while looking away from me. Seeing her, words I couldn’t say until now, naturally came out.

“Thank you for everything and you looked really good in your dress today. You were probably the most beautiful person at the party.”

“Eh… oh…”

When I said that, her face instantly turned as red as an apple. I wondered if she thought I was teasing her. Normally, her fists would be flying.

No, but this girl has a really beautiful face. She’s violent, though. 

“You too… that… was cool.”

As soon as I braced myself, she roughly closed the door and walked out. I thought dresses were supposed to be hard to move in. She’s very agile. Thinking about that, I remembered what happened today and my heart got hot.

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