The Seven Star Sword incident had little impact in the eyes of ordinary people, but all sorts of rumors circulated among those who were better informed.
Under the World Government's manipulation of the information, the story became that Bondrewd had uncovered the Seven Star Sword's secret, only for the Great Angel to snatch it away.
Now, the "invincible Seven Star Sword" had fallen into the Great Angel's hands.
Amid this atmosphere of "Bondrewd is stirring up trouble yet again," the seas remained peaceful for another month or so.
As December arrived, another story spent some time in the headlines.
-The Great Angel had entered yet another marriage alliance.
...December 23.
Heaven's Gate Town-
From the beginning of December, the Babylonians here had started making all the preparations for their king's wedding.
Guests and tourists also poured into Babylon's only port city open to outsiders.
Babylon had stationed considerable manpower at the port as well.
Meanwhile, the "locals" who had settled in Heaven's Gate Town enthusiastically began doing business with these "visitors."
Most of the visitors were not invited guests and would not enter the Church or the party venue, so they would celebrate with the residents in the town's taverns.
It gave the economy a tremendous boost.
"-It's so lively... This is nothing like before. It's almost ridiculous."
Uta held Sephiroth's hand, swinging it in wide arcs.
Today, she wore a white sleeveless shirt under a fitted blue denim jacket, fashionable denim shorts, and women's combat boots.
To conceal her identity, she had also put on polarized sunglasses with pink cat-shaped frames and tied her red-and-white hair into a bun, hiding it all beneath a large cowboy hat.
"...Yes, it is."
Sephiroth wore a men's denim outfit in matching colors. He had transformed his wings into electromagnetic waves and put