A God Amongst Men

A War God Amongst Men

Naruto spent a month long of peace and preparations for the engagement party and war. It was two things at once, but both preparations had gone around smoothly without any troubles. He had managed to put up barriers around the royal castle to avoid attacks that might come from magical weapons or any attack from above. Even certain people could not pass through the barriers had he put up unless someone with special magic rewrites the laws of the barriers he placed. With everything going smoothly, you'd be forgiven if you forgot that very soon Fiore would become a battlefield of war with the Alvarez Empire.

The royal hall had a handful of people within it. Naruto could recognize every one of them. There was a reporter, taking photos. Toma hadn't stopped going all out to invite such people who take pictures and write good things about his daughter's marriage to Ishgar's most powerful wizard. The date for the wedding hadn't been sorted. Toma was only concerned about making such an arrangement. At this point, it might even be some years before the marriage is even planned. After the war, there would be the process of rebuilding and Naruto would have his many duties to handle. There would be no time to concentrate on the wedding. Naruto was sure this wasn't Toma's concern though. As long as he was tied to the royal family, the man didn't have anything to complain about.

"You don't look like someone who is celebrating," Mirajane said to Naruto – she was sitting with the blond along with Erza. The other people were dancing in the floor while some stood in groups, whispering things to each other. Princess Hisui was chatting with people while her father observed everything that was happening from his throne.

"How does a celebrating person look like?" Naruto asked with a curious eye brow.

"He smiles and dances around," Mira said calmly. "You've hardly put on a large smile since the evening started. You are making Erza look concerned that something might be wrong," she said with a smile.

"I'm not concerned," Ezra said quick to say.

Naruto smiled, looking between the two wizards. His eyes turned towards Hisui – she had a broad smile on her lips. She seemed truly happy. Then again, this was her night. But an even better night was going to come soon: Maybe not tomorrow, but it would come and she would be wearing a bigger smile than she had today. "There has just been a lot for me to do over the past month. Rest didn't come easy. I'm actually sitting because I am truly tired."

"You do put yourself in different situations," Erza said. She stared for a moment. This was just awkward for her. She really didn't know how she was going to behave here. She hadn't even spoken to Hisui yet but Naruto had said the princess would speak to her on this night.

"My input is always needed somewhere and I feel a lot better when I am doing something," Naruto said with a shrug. "There are just days the work is too much," he said. "I think th-" he stopped talking when he felt a familiar presence walk in behind him. Aika hugged him from behind, pressing her bust on his back before she kissed him right cheek while smiling slyly.

Both Mira and Erza just stared at the scene without saying anything. Aika watched the two with an amused look before pulling a chair and sat beside Naruto. "So this is the competition," she said looking at Naruto.

"Competition?" Mirajane asked.

"What does she mean by that? Mira and I are not competing on anything," Erza said.

Naruto smiled, waving his right hand dismissively. "She is just fooling around. She does that a lot. I have warned her to behave herself but since I have a soft spot for her, she takes advantage of it by disregarding everything I tell her to do," he said while staring at Aika. His eyes turned back to both Mira and Erza. "She is a former colleague of mine when I was still working at a bar. Mira, you know that, don't you?"