The Aftermath

Oriente 6, Heaven

After what happened a few moments ago, I went back to the reception and then to the restaurant to get something to eat, but on my way, Urakaze appeared again, this time with several photos of the wedding, apparently she was there with the intention of taking as many as she could and then selling them to me.

"For fifteen thousand each?"
"And only the set is sold?"
"You took almost 100 in a wedding that lasted less than 10 minutes!"
"I can't pay that."
"It's robbery!"

"This is the price of the hotel's photography service"

"The original price is crossed out with a marker!"

"Inflation has raised the prices of things"
"The transport portals do not work"

"This is not how the economy works here!"

"Then you will have to tell your wife that you did not buy the photos of the most important day in her life because you were cheap."

"This is blackmail!"

But just then someone came to stop the discussion that I had almost turned into a fight. It was Stella, she appeared with her usual serious face.

"Is the manager Urakaze here?"
"Just who I was looking for"

"I thought you had left"
"Is there anything I can do to help a police officer?"

"Yes, I was actually conducting an inspection at the site as I was passing through"
"And I was looking for you to inform you of various price irregularities at this location."
"There are quite a few things that are priced higher than they should be by law."

"Cra..."

"As if that were not enough, an inspection of the kitchen has revealed a number of serious deficiencies in the handling of food and knives.
"In addition, several parts of the hotel are not prepared in the event of an earthquake, and several places are at risk of starting a fire."
"Which is quite serious in a place like this."
"Finally, in reviewing the bills of our agent Cesar, we have noticed that her rate is suspiciously high compared to the other guests".
"It's like you are trying to take advantage of the situation she's in, just because she has nowhere else to go."
"This is punishable by law and the punishment can range from compensation to the closure of the hotel in the worst case."
"Are you aware of the situation, miss Urakaze?"

"Cesar's thing is just an error in the billing system, I was just arguing with her."
"You see why I tell you to take the batch of 100 photos for only one hundred."
"Also, the renewal process for the other areas starts next month.
"I'm still getting the papers."
"Give me more time, please don't shut us down!"
"Please!!"

After seeing that the possibility of closing the hotel was real, the owner of the inn completely changed her attitude and became completely submissive to what Stella asked her to change in the hotel and various changes in prices. I was already there, but I didn't want to bother her, so I left. At one of the tables in the dining room I met Momo, who was eating ice cream alone. She looked a little sad, so I went with her to see what was going on, but when she saw me she was so surprised that she almost choked on it, so I had to run to help her. And although nothing serious happened, some of the ice cream fell on my clothes, yes, the formal clothes I had not changed since the wedding.

"I'm very sorry, I didn't mean to cause you any more problems," the crystal angel said as she used some napkins to clean me up.

"Don't worry, it's something that can be removed by washing," I replied as I took off my jacket and put it on the table.
"I just wanted to ask you, what the hell was all that about today?"
"What was that about me marrying Tamamo and the spell they put on her?"
"What were you thinking?"

"Well, it is clear that we owe you an explanation," Stella appeared behind me.
"When Momo informed us about how Tamamo attacked you yesterday, and how you decided to go talk to her."
"The Council took it very seriously because we could not allow a goddess to interrupt our operation to protect the Codex, so we began to propose ideas on how to help you, one of which was to send a fighting machine through magic."
"We could force the two of you to work together and prevent her from destroying you, so we made the crystal monster a little like one of the dragons you used to face, so you'd have more of an advantage in fighting it.
"It took almost the entire development team to create something like this so quickly and ship it so far.
"I have to admit it was a sloppy job, but with only 30 minutes to design it and ship it, it was the best thing to do."
"What we did not expect was that Miss Tamamo would fall in love with you because of your impressive work in rescuing her."
"When Momo told us, almost all of us were in shock."
"But when we discussed it with others, we realized that we could use it to our advantage"
"If we married you both, we could start to rehabilitate Tamamo and you could help her to find the right way, and by the way, you would have a goddess at your side, which could be a problem for you if you have to fight instead."
"She is something that is out of your abilities to really fight you with her full power, right? but this is a win-win situation now".

*SLAP!!!*

My hand had landed in Stella's face. I'd like to say it was unintentional, but it wasn't. I was angry, angry at her, for how she acted, for how she treated others, for what she did.

"As always, you bastards do what you want with others," I shouted in anger.

"Cesar!" Momo said.

"Leave her alone, in a way I deserve it for how I acted."
"But I will also remind you, Cesar, that you have to protect the Codex and you know better than anyone that we can't let the misfortune of Atlantis happen again. "
"And that we too will do everything to prevent it, even if it means playing dirty," said the angel dressed in white, now with part of her face red, but with a serious face.

"One day you will do what you want again and you will get a backfire so much that I'm even afraid of what might happen," I said to her as a warning.

"The same thing can happen to you if you just do what you want, in fact, looking at you, it is clear that it has already happened now, Miss White Fox Girl".

"The difference with you is that I was ready to face the consequences of my actions from the first day I touched a gun.

I was so angry that I just got up from the table and left without saying anything. I didn't even want to see her face. But on the way back, Momo seemed to want to talk to me again.

"I'm sorry for everything that happened today.
"If I hadn't informed Stella, none of this would have happened to you."
"This is my fault," the transparent girl said as she bowed her head in apology, without being able to see her face, I could hear that she was crying.

"I'm not angry with you, you just did what they asked you to do."
"What I'm angry about is Tamamo, she's been alone most of her life, she finally manages to find the company she's looking for, and then again several people take advantage of her and her condition to benefit from her."
" Just like what happened before her, and no less than an official wedding, the one who married us is the same one who took advantage of her, as if she just wanted to make fun of everyone here".
"They only put what they need above others, it seems like they only care about the results, not the people they have to trample to reach their goal".
"The same thing happened before against the Dragons, and it seems that they will continue to do so.
"But what makes me most angry is knowing that I can see why they think that way, too.
" I'm so afraid of what happened in Atlantis that I would do anything to never see a single dragon in my life."
"I promised so many people that we would end that nightmare, so many people saved me at the cost of their lives just to give me a chance to win, that I feel like I should at least pay them back by keeping the world they died for free of these beasts.

"Cesar" said the angel girl.

"But this does not mean that someone else has to pay for the sins committed by others".
"Tamamo is just a victim between all this, and once again all because of me and my desire to return with my family".

"That... that's not how she sees it," the angel stood next to me, speaking to me with a happier tone now.

"This may have been done by Stella and her companions, but that does not mean that you saved Tamamo with your own strength, and if she fell in love with you, it was because of herself, not because of an external factor, what you did not hear was that it also surprised them, no matter how they had acted or not, the result would have been the same".

"But what if I'm not what she was looking for?"
"Just something that maybe looked like it, and she was wrong in her choice?"

"Well, then you just have to do what my boss told me to do when I was depressed about myself."
"So you just have to become the person she wants you to be and everything will be fine."
"If you want to be the perfect husband for her, then fight to be that."

"Do you really think I can do that?"

"Well, you better make it happen, because you were the one who told me that."
"And I don't want to call my boss a liar."
"You should also have more confidence in yourself, you may not know it, but because of how you are with others and how you protect them even from yourself, more than one person could be in love with you".

"Do you really think that could happen?"
"Who would want to be with a broken person like me?"
"I'm afraid of the dark, and I can't be calm without a gun, sometimes I have panic attacks even in quiet places, and I hate crowds."
"Who would see someone like that with good eyes?"

"Well, Nanami knew about your problems and she didn't care and she married you too and I wouldn't mind marrying you either."

"Wait, what?"

"AHH!"
"But look at the time, I have to go right now to prepare everything for tomorrow!"
"Bye now!!" she said as she ran off.

"She didn't deny the last thing she said?"

I'm not an idiot, I was aware that maybe Momo could feel something for me because I was the only one who made fun of her glass body in front of her and she wouldn't get mad at me about it. In addition to how choosy she was with her life, it was almost a miracle that she agreed to work for me and take care of my father just because she needed money. There was something else behind her behavior, only that I couldn't confirm it until today because I didn't want to bother her. But all this makes it even more annoying because it is certain that Stella knew it too, but still she forced Momo to help me marry Tamamo, despite her feelings. And her eating ice cream was her struggle with her hidden feelings.

I'll have to clear things up between me and Momo. I will also have to clear things up with Tamamo. I do not know what awaits me, but I hope not to screw up with all these problems that have fallen on me.