Bride Who Hasn't Fallen In Love For A Long Time

Bride Who Hasn't Fallen In Love For A Long Time (命永くて恋せぬ花嫁) is a game event that occurred in Mass for the Dead. It was released on June 15, 2021 to July 2, 2021.

Background
One after another women of noble birth who have gathered as bride candidates, have disappeared...Prince Zanac has asked to investigate the nobles, the party including Naberal, will conduct a collaborative investigation with the Blue Roses. In addition, two representatives will infiltrate as bride candidates――

Incident
Somewhere in E-Rantel, the protagonist and his colleagues, Soi and Surako, are visited by Prince Zanac Valleon Igana Ryle Vaiself who has a request to conduct an investigation on a noble. The prince explains that the noble in question has recently lost his wife due to an accident and is currently looking for a second wife. While it is not a big deal, it seems that the noble is soliciting out to candidates widely and using noble channels. The bride seeker is a noble with both financial power and prestige with looks so there are a lot of women who accepted the recruitment. Soi listening asks if all the bridal candidates are nobles, which the prince clarifies that many seem to be daughters of lesser nobles, but the advertisement also includes that status does not matter and welcomes any beauties. Still Soi wonders why the concern over the solicitation as there doesn't appear to be anything illegal. Zanac then dourly states that many of the maidens who visited the noble's territory have gone missing. This piques the protagonist's interest and he asks if it is suspected that the noble in question responsible. Unfortunately Zanac informs the adventurers that the noble has denied any involvement to the disappearances of the women, claiming they had left his territory and should have returned home.

Soi doubts that people going missing in the aristocrat's is explained by chance. Zanac admits that a large number of people have vanished in the noble's territory, though notes that Chaos Beasts and Contaminated Beasts and even bandits have appeared in the territory so it's not totally impossible that the noble is innocent. Surako inquires if any of the women were attacked when they were traveling back to their domains. So far the princes tells them that there are several cases of the maidens being attacked with their escorts from accounts of survivors that escaped. Blame seems to be pointed towards the accused noble, which Soi believes that the missing women are probably intentional and that the weight of sin should be proof enough. Furthermore the female adventurer thinks that it's not up to adventurers like them to find the truth. The prince states that the royal family is taking this matter seriously to investigate bur the matter is not so simple. There is so far no direct evidence that links the noble to the missing women and its complicated in that the noble a member of the Royalty Faction. If the noble is guilty it might cause an incident that may led other nobles following the former to go to the Nobility Faction. What he has given them is basically rumors that have circulated among the nobles and Soi deduces that Zanac wants to keep this incident quiet to prevent the Re-Estize Kingdom from fracturing.

Zanac cites the start of the Incident oversaw the Kingdom forcible cutting of the funds of the nobles under the pretense of an national emergency. The female adventurer recalls that from her investigation of Six Arms, such actions resulted in the confiscation of property from unscrupulous nobles and weakening them. The prince confesses that it was to cut off and starve Eight Fingers of its funds and eventually led to its destruction. Still the actions of the royals left many nobles dissatisfied but the reason why they did not take arms and cause a civil war was because they were faced with a great deterrent. But now that great deterrent is no longer available as the Warrior Captain Gazef Stronoff is absent.

Anyway the noble is a member of the Six Great Nobles. If a person such as he were to investigate them if will cause an internal commotion among the nobles, hence why he sought the adamantite adventurers help. The protagonist wonders if there is the possibility that they can leave the situation alone to the surprise of the others in the room. The princes tells the group that his father cannot abandon this issue as he loves the people. And neither can he leave the incident alone as if this problem is left unattended then his brother, Barbro Andrean Ield Ryle Vaiself will eventually hear of it. The second prince explains Barbro unlike the rest of the family who have been vacating the Royal Capital on various duties, has been ordered by the king to defend the city. Zanac suspects that his brother is annoyed with his younger siblings out on missions taking credit from their father, though the second prince states its a misconception as Barbro is not suited for a delicate mission such as this. So he wishes to have this matter resolved so it stays out of his brother's ears. Soi points out that the rumor will get out in the end and suggest that it would be better to let it run its course. The protagonist though has another opinion as he knows from his information that Barbro is a fool and as Demiurge once told him fools have a kind of horror that goes beyond imagination. If Barbro were to hear of the incident and handle it then his influence would possibly increase and led the Kingdom to ruin and would impede the strength of the Tripartite Alliance. In consideration of this, the homunuclus asks the prince to be given time to make a decision on whether to accept the mission. Zanac permits it but asks that he makes it soon. He mentions that his sister Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself is in the middle of negotiating with another adventurer team to collaborate on the investigation which turns out to be Blue Roses.

The adamantite adventurers relocate to another room to discuss the request from Zanac. The homunculus is about to send a [Message] to get permission from Momonga, but to his surprise gets a [Message] from Demiurge. Answering it the Floor Guardian apparently is aware of the request by the human prince. Demiurge ignoring the stunned response of the protagonist lauds him for gaining the trust of the Kingdom on such a sensitive matter. The protagonist though thinks that the Kingdom placing trust in him is mostly due to the absence of Gazef Stronoff and the part he played in his rescue and also Demiurge's performance as the Demon Emperor. Still Demiurge tells his peer that maintaining the trust the Kingdom has many benefits. The demon informs the protagonist that he has approval to accept the request from Zanac. In addition Demiurge wants the protagonist to piggyback on the request. The protagonist curious asks what it may entail and then Demiurge begins to disclose details of his assignment that will benefit Nazarick.

A few days later, upon receiving the request from Zanac, the protagonist and his colleagues with Narberal Gamma as a supporter to their party left E-Rantel to head for their destination by horse-drawn carriage. Along the way they are joined by Blue Roses. To coordinate better on the mission, Lakyus Alvein Dale Aindra and Evileye board the carriage of the protagonist. Despite the carriage<being cramp from the number of people, the adamantite adventurers get working to carry out the request. Lakyus starts the discussion by going over their information. The target of their investigation is none other than one of the Six Great Nobles, Marquis Blumrush who is said to rival or even surpass the king. Soi adds that the noble is a member of the Royalty Faction from before the Incident. The leader of Blue Roses agrees that to be true though in the marquis's case tells her peers that he was not always an absolute ally of the king compared to the Warrior Captain.

At this point Soi notes that the Kingdom adventurers are divulging in some bad rumors and though the content happened in the past, asks if it is alright to share with foreigners. Evileye tells them that there is no definite proof of these actions, but it is highly suspected, that Marquis Blumrush is indeed a greedy man who would sell out his own family for a gold coin and even information on his own country. Lakyus adds that the noble controls gold and mithril mines in his territory so he has the financial power to be number one in the Kingdom. The protagonist listening to the details notes to the women that there appears to be no incidences of missing people in his territory before. Evileye tells him that while it was common for nobles to forcibly take women in their territory as wives or slaves, no such rumors came from Blumrush. Soi thinks that the bride candidacy might be a sham but in fact a ploy to sell the women. Lakyus realizes that Soi is taking about slave trafficking but such a think was banned by Princess Renner. Surako tells her that may not be the case, as she remembers Cocco Doll the former executive of Eight Fingers was operating a slave ring. However Soi tells her comrade that since Clementine arrested him, he may not be involved in this instance. In Lakyus's opinion they could still be dealing with remnants of Eight Fingers or even Six Arms led by Zero.

To get to the bottom of these disappearances, Lakyus is certain that they will need to send bride candidates among them to investigate from the inside. In other words they need to conduct a infiltration investigation. The two leaders of the adamantite teams are in agreement. Lakyus has a candidate from her team that will serve in this role as an infiltrator which is Evileye, but the masked magic caster rejects the nomination before her name is called. Before Lakyus can argue with her teammate, their horse of their carriage is startled and the carriage stops. Soi peeks out and sees that the second carriage has also halted. Gagaran getting out from the other one calls out to the others that there is a Contaminated Beast blocking the path. Evileye taking that as a signal to go out and fight gets to avoid her argument with her leader. Lakyus is unsurprised at Evileye's reaction, expecting that she would react in this way. Soi and Narberal though curious as to what just happened decide it would be better to focus on eliminating the obstacle in their path as they leave their mode of transportation.

After subduing the Contaminated Beast the adventurers' Lakyus tries to convince Evileye to be the bride candidate. Evileye though insists that the infiltration mission would be better suited to Tina and Tia. Lakyus tells her that will not do, as Blumrush has already seen the twins at the royal palace. And while the twins coudl disguise themselves, Evileye is the bets choice as her face has never been seen before. The twins admit that this two be true and tease Evileye would make a good choice especially given her look. Evileye still doesn't want to do it and tries to use her age look as an excuse, but is shot down when Gagaran mentions that the bride candidacy has no age limit as if the candidate is young and selected then the noble would simply wait until the appropriate age to marry her. Soi asks the magic caster why she so apprehensive to do this assignment. Again Gagaran explains that the recruitment condition for bride candidates are required to wear their own costumes suitable for a bride. And Evileye has a resistance to wearing such costumes as to her they are for stupid women who try to get a man to protect them. To her getting someone to protect you because of being weak is stupid. It would better to get stronger so you don't need protection. And while Evileye knows that not all women are like that, there is a tendency so she honestly despises such types.

The leader of Blue Roses tries to appeal to Evileye's sympathy for the victims, but Evileye states that its none of her business and will not pretend to be one of those foolish women. Narberal speaks out telling her its crap. Her sudden outburst directs the adventurers attention on her. Narberal apologies as it just came unintentionally. Evileye remembering her when her team worked on that dwarf case asks if she has contempt for stupid women as she does? The undercover Pleiades member confirms this to the utter shock of Surako and the rest of Blue Roses. Evileye asks if she were to commit to this plan, would she look down on her? Narberal tells her colleague that it is possible and if she were in her shoes that she would hate to disguise herself as someone she didn't like. However as a rule of thumb she finds it necessary to undertake such work "as an adventurer". The masked magic caster in consideration sees that Narberal that maybe this work is not so different from how adventurers sneak into the burrows of dangerous creatures or rubbing their bodies with odors to "mask" themselves. Narberal includes that while the work the do may be unsavory, they should rather prioritize on loyalty and any other thoughts are trivial. Beside pretending does not mean one will be on the same level as these lower lifeforms. When asked if she is afraid, which Narberal states that through acting she learned to inspire herself to be what she despises. Of that she is afraid of becoming that which she pretends to be. Soi also adds that when people act, they start to sympathize with the "role". Noting that some actors who sympathize with the role too much will have their thoughts mixed up. This is of course a big risk, and Soi guesses that this is the real reason why Evileye is so afraid to take the role which the magic caster confesses to be true. She admits that a small part of her wants to be like those women seeking their knights but is too consciousness of feeling stupid. Additionally Evileye admits that she herself doesn't have a "priority" for this job as she doesn't have much love for this Kingdom. That being said, the masked magic caster changes her mind and accepts the role, not to save those women she despises but for herself to prove that she doesn't have any traces of those stupid creatures. Lakyus relieved thanks Narberal for her inspiring words though the other woman tells her that there is no need for gratitude as she said what was true. Soi then cuts her off to leave it that they finally have their infiltrators and should hurry to their destination. The adventurers agree and they resume their course on their carriages.

While the adventurers advance towards their destination, in a room of a large mansion in the territory of Marquis Blumrush, the noble is having a meeting with a robed individual. The corrupt nobles asks the other man if he was pleased with the girls he sent to him, which his client informs him were not bad quality but he still requires more. The noble thinks that he has delivered quite enough and tries to underscore that he provided his client with top quality goods. Hearing his reluctance, the robed man asks the marquis if he wants to pull out of their arrangement. Marquis Blumrush states he does not as he is fully invested in the venture. Pleased with his response the robed man tosses the noble a large bag of coins. The amount of money in the bag causes Blumrush to comment that business for his compatriot must be good, though the robed man advises the marquis it would be unwise to pry for more information. The man leaves but not before reminding Blumrush to keep his side of the deal. Alone Marquis Blumrush chuckles to himself that he still doesn't know what his partners are thinking, but could care less of what they are doing to the women he sends them. It pleases him that he has deceived the king so far, but should be careful as there are limits. Even with Gazef Stronoff gone he can't do anything that will divide the nation but still wants to fill his pockets with his ill gotten gains.

After the adamantite adventurers arrive at the town in the territory of Marquis Blumrush, the adventurers divided into two groups: one being the infiltration team and the other being the survey team. The infiltration team is composed of Evileye and Narberal while the others are part of the survey team. While the latter collects information in town, Narberal and Evileye are in the back alleys talking. The masked magic caster expresses her surprise that the other woman is one of the infiltrators for the mission. Narberal merely states her being one of the bride candidates is practical as her face is not very well known unlike the rest of her comrades. The upcoming mission makes Evileye nervous and worried. Narberal offers its not too late to pull out though this would hinder the success of their collaboration. Seeing there is no choice Evileye agrees. Narberal then starts to give their cover story, when she is interrupted by a trio of men who makes lascivious passes at Narberal and offering to show her around. Evileye seeing the dregs wants to ask the three on any information in the city. On the other hand Narberal refuses to be directed by Evileye and opts to handle the men herself. They approach the trio and try to politely decline them, but the men do feel insulted and start to get aggressive. The two woman annoyed at the disrespect of the three then demonstrate their superior physical ability.

Meanwhile at an old inn room, the survey team are interviewing one of the survivors of a bandit attack in the territory. The man explains that right after his two daughter undertook the tests of the marquis for the bride selection they were returning home by carriage. On the way the man tells the adventurers that his family was attacked by bandits who kidnapped his daughters. Soi thinks that it sounds like the bandits could be hired by Marquis Blumrush. The members of Blue Roses though wonder who the victim how he managed to survive as the bandits would not leave any witnesses to the kidnapping. The victim admits that due to not being able to afford a coachman, he was driving the carriage. When the attack happened, a fireball was shot near the horse, startling them. In the confusion the band connecting the horse and carriage broke and the bridle got entangled with his arm. The horse had pulled him from the carriage and to safety. By the time he untied himself, and returned to the scene the bandits were gone and so were his dear daughters. Tia and Tina guess that the man was lucky and that the bandits made a poor case of judgement and assumed the father would die being dragged by the horse and so prioritized capturing the girls instead. As for the fireball, Lakyus deduces that there is a magic caster amongst the bandits one that can use 3rd tier magic which is quite rare.

The father curses himself for jumping to the invitation to come to the marquis's territory for a bridal selection. Surako curious asks why he did as his daughters seem too young to marry. The man gloomily answers that he used to be an imperial noble an the protagonists immediately realizes that he was among the nobles that fell from grace after the reformations by the Bloody Emperor. The father admits that he and his family were stripped of their ranks as nobles, but he could not accept the reality and poured his efforts into maintaining his previous rich life. It was his belief that his family would be restored to their former glory when the emperor died. He kept borrowing money to show that his house still had their pride as nobles. However he was brought to his grim reality when his older daughter died. She was the only person who tried to convince him to accept his situation that he was no longer a noble, worked alone and supported the family. He is ashamed to say that he wished he could have seen it sooner and was proud of her for what she did for her family, but he knows that his daughter only supported them because of her two younger sisters. The man continues explaining that his eldest was a victim of the Bloody Emperor's machinations when disaster struck E-Rantel. The father did not even know she was there at the time but was informed of her passing when he received compensation for her services were delivered. It was thanks to that compensation he was able to repay his family's debt and became more financial wise. The adventurer Soi surmises that the father came to the marquis's territory to have his daughters apply to be brides to the noble in hopes of giving them a good life. The former noble admits it to be a shallow idea, but he heard this news from an associate in this country about the bride recruitment. His friend's daughter has also vanished and it leads him to suspect that the marquis had a hand in that. Unfortunately Lakyus cannot offer him any definitive proof that it was the marquis but it is highly likely, but promises him that if it is indeed true he will receive a reasonable compensation. However the man only requests to have his daughters returned. The members of the protagonist's team take pity on the human, especially Surako. Though Soi and the protagonist privately discuss that the man's actions may not be altruistic for his daughters and may have been using them to return to noble society through the Six Great Nobles. In this case the protagonist would not put it past it that the father could be on the side of the enemy.

Back in the alleys, Evileye is arguing with Narberal over the pounding she gave the "maggots" though she herself is accused that she enjoyed it as she beaten one of them for calling her a "chibi". Both agree to try to not let their emotions get ahead of them so as not to hinder the mission. Based on her haughty personality, Evileye asks her partner if she is a noble's daughter or a princess. Alas Narberal refrains from divulging about her origins. The two then go back to the mission. A collaborator has gone to the estate of Blumrush to give their introductions and so Narberal suggests that they prepare their attires appropriate and wear their bridal gowns. After they rendezvous with their collaborators the two women are guided to the mansion. of the marquis.

The two undercover adventurers arrive at the mansion of Marquis Blumrush and are welcomed as Nabe and Iville. The women are guided by the servants into the estate with the other bride candidates to await the exam prepared by the marquis. As they wait, both women receive looks and words of awe by the other women. Nabe perplexed by the attention comments it to Iville who replies that her beauty impresses the competition which pleases Nabe. The same is not said by Iville as she detests her appearance. Unknown to Nabe, her partner feels ridiculous as she has been stuck in appearance of a twelve year old girl and wearing something a mature woman would wear. Nabe brushes Iville's discontent believing that some people might appreciate her current aesthetics. This only further causes Iville to mention that the only one would would have any liking to this kind of attire would be a certain hobbyist in the Dragon Kingdom. Habing no idea who or what she is talking about Nabe tries to calm her teammate to not break character less she kill her. Iville thinking the other woman is joking then sarcastically comments Nabe about being her "sister" in this mission. It of course was not a joke, as Nabe finds it truly unpleasant to be working with Iville feeling it to be similar to how she felt when being revived. The two turn to their surroundings noting that there are more women applying for the recruitment than expected, and guess that the kidnapping rumors were suppressed in the area.

A servant enter and thanks the women for their patience and then present his master, Marquis Blumrush. The noble welcomes his guests for participating in his bridal recruitment. He has a small exam he wishes to impose upon them to select his next wife. According to him, under the will of his late wife she left instructions for him to follow to select the woman who would be entrusted to her husband. He jokingly states that if he failed to uphold the requirements she may come back as an undead an haunt him. The women in the room praise him being truth to the expectations of his former wife. That being said Blumrush presents them the content of the exam, and reveals a chain goblin. The appearance of the demi-human shocks the women in the room and are at a loss of how the monster is pertinent to the exam. The noble to their utter astonishment explains he wants them to fight it. Since its chained there is no risk of any actual danger, but according to his wife he must acquire a beautiful, noble and brave bride. The only way to prove that any of the women meet these criteria is to have them battle the demi-human. The content of the exam baffles Iville, though Nabe finds it eerily similar to a test in the Queen War between Albedo and Shalltear Bloodfallen. Despite the odd exam, the two proceed to take it.

While Narberal and Evileye were taking their exam at the mansion, the survey team was interviewing families of the victims staying in the city. SO far from their investigation while many of the missing women vanished in various circumstances, they all have a common factor in that they were separated from their companions or vanished due to some kind of threat along the way.

Aftermath
TBA