Chapter 54: A Great Feast

Thump.

Melsa dropped the stem of an owata on the desk; she’d brought it home from the Eastern Empire for reference. It made such a hard, dull sound that for a plant-type monster, it didn’t seem plantlike in the slightest.

William picked up the stem and carefully looked it over. “It’s hard, but super light... Maybe the stem here is structured a bit like bamboo?” William knew as much about owatas as he knew about other monsters he’d read about in books, but he’d never seen one in real life. Now, he could see for himself that the insides of the stems were hollow and sectioned off.

“I was only able to bring back the stem, but the leaves and seeds are apparently both hard and heavy.” Once the yellow flowers Melsa saw in the Eastern Empire were finished blooming, the seeds and leaves would form and grow heavier with each passing day. Because the stem was segmented, it would steadily bend, but it wouldn’t break.

“Wow! I can hardly believe these sturdy stalks can bend! Those seeds and leaves must be pretty darn heavy!” Emma said. She tried to flex the stalk herself, but it wouldn’t give at all.

“And you said they launch the seeds, right?” George shuddered, thinking that if something like that were to land on you, you’d be squashed flat. Once the seeds had grown enough to sprout, the leaves (which were there as weights) would all fall off and the stalk, which would have bent as far as it could, would pop back up at full force like a spring. This motion would send the seeds flying as if from a catapult, and they were weighty enough that, with such force, they would destroy anything that might get in the way of their growth. They could almost certainly demolish any house with ease.

“So how did they cut through this stalk, anyway? All the books I read said they were too tough to cut through no matter what you used.” Since there were no records of owatas ever appearing on the southern continent, William would’ve been hard-pressed to say the things he’d ever read on them were especially detailed, but everything he had read said they were too tough to be cut by any blade, and thus could not be felled. It was odd to him that there had been an owata’s stalk cut short enough to carry home in the first place.

Owatas supposedly could not be cut down, but the stalk Melsa brought home showed clear signs that it had been severed by a particularly sharp blade of some kind.

“Oh, they apparently cut this with one of the Eastern Empire’s national treasures... They said they slew this owata using a sword by some guy named...Okisato Nagasone? They apparently have a bunch of incredible swords being kept as national treasures, and only a few of them were able to cut through the owatas.”

“What?!” Emma twitched.

Did she just say...Okisato Nagasone?!

“Mother! That’s a kotetsu!”

Melsa gave Emma a look of confusion and tilted her head. “Kotetsu?”

“What else did they have, mother?! What other kinds of swords did they have?! Do they have Masamune?! Muramasa?! Kanemitsu?! Oooh, c’mon, you guys! What’s with the weird looks?!” At that point, Emma’s whole family was giving her a look that said, What are you talking about? Even William, the former otaku. Apparently, the rest of her family still didn’t completely remember their previous lives.

“What others were there...?” Melsa shook her head. “Regardless, I did hear that even those precious katanas were rendered dull after just one swing at an owata.” The Eastern Empire had given Melsa all the information they had on owatas, but she couldn’t remember the names of every last sword they’d used to kill one.

“Noooo! That’s a total waste of a kotetsu!” Emma was the only one who seemed to be distraught to hear that one of the Eastern Empire’s great swords had been dulled.

“So this...uh...kotetsu? I guess? Must be a katana that’s insanely strong, right? So why can’t we just use those?” George thought the whole reason owatas were so dangerous was that they couldn’t just be cut down.

“C’mon, George. Do you really think first-rate swords good enough to be national treasures are that easy to make? You just heard you can only use them once. Not to mention, you’ve gotta find people who know the right techniques too. Even if we could cut them down, it’d probably just be a couple!” Emma shot George a look as if to say, Think before you speak, man! The shock of losing such a historical relic made her especially harsh on her poor brother.

“But knowing you can cut them does mean we can harvest them, right?” Leonard said, trying to calm Emma down a bit.

“You’re right. But if this is all we could get from using one of their national treasures, then they’re probably almost all useless now, right? And from what we heard, the owatas have already spread pretty far and wide. About half of the Eastern Empire is already covered in them...”

In other words, they didn’t have nearly enough weapons. To defeat all those owatas, they would need several thousand swords that were sharper and more durable than even the most legendary swords of all time. It would be impossible. They knew they had to prevent the destruction of the Eastern Empire if they wanted their rice. However, if they could come up with a plan to do so on the fly, then the Eastern Empire wouldn’t have been struggling for so long. The whole family began thinking how they could solve this crisis. If they didn’t do something, then their precious, precious rice...

Wait.

Rice?

Precious rice?

“M-Mother! I just realized something!” The whole family had put their thinking caps on for once when Emma raised her hand to ask permission to speak.

“You already came up with something, Emma?” Though Emma was the Herald of Hullabaloos herself, she did have a very rare and creative mind, so Melsa was expecting quite a bit from her.

“The sun’s starting to set! And that means...we can start to get the rice ready, right?!”

The whole family gasped.

“You’re right!”

The next time the owatas would spread their seeds was in the summer. They could postpone their brainstorming for just a little longer. What was more important right then and there...was that night’s dinner. They knew they had to hurry and get to the kitchen, and so the fifth Tanaka family meeting was brought to a close.

◆ ◆ ◆

The family scrambled to the kitchen, where they found their cooks at a loss for what to do and four young blue-haired boys working their tails off.

“Well? How are we doing in here now?” Melsa asked the cook, who was simply watching the young men.

“Ah, Mistress Stewart. My deepest apologies, but these are all ingredients we’ve never used before, so...we weren’t sure what to do. The young boys you brought from the Eastern Empire seem to have it handled, but we can’t communicate with them...” the cook responded apologetically.

The spaghetti napolitan Melsa made in the Eastern Empire had been an even wilder success than she’d expected it to be. The gentle flavor of the spaghetti was a healing salve on the souls of the people of the Eastern Empire, who had long since given up on everything.

When Melsa had left the Eastern Empire, she had offered Ume all the recipes she could remember from her previous life as Yoriko. Ume had been shocked by how many there were, and then said she had a favor to ask of her.

“Lady Melsa. We will likely be out of rice in six months if things continue this way. We must subsist off of the relief the kingdom provided us for the next half a year until our Empire is destroyed. Can you please take these children and teach them how to cook so our people can still enjoy good food for the last months of their lives?”

Ume wanted Melsa to teach four boys how to cook food that the people of the Eastern Empire would enjoy, and those four boys were now working in the Stewart family kitchen.

“How are you doing, Ito? Is it too difficult to cook without magic stones?” Melsa asked one of the boys.

“Lady Melsa! No, it’s perfectly fine! It’s a lot like my grandma’s kitchen, so I’m making do.”

Melsa had been worried that it would be difficult for the boys to get used to life in the kingdom without magic stones, so this was a relief to her.

“Er... Lady Melsa? Their names were also a bit difficult to understand...or even try to pronounce,” the cook reported reluctantly.

“Everyone was able to say Prince Tasuku’s name just fine, though?” Emma had been enjoying the scent of the rice being cooked, but felt she needed to question the cook’s report.

“Well, that’s because... W-Wait, why are all of you in here?” It wasn’t just Emma but also George, William, and Leonard who had now gathered in the kitchen, drawn to the smell of the rice.

“Oh yeah... The king had no problem saying Prince Tasuku’s name either.” Leonard nodded, the grumblebugs in his stomach making a true chorus of sound.

“Prince Tasuku is easy to understand! But these boys...their names were like...Eetoo? Hera? Chihuahua? Na— Oh, I just don’t know! I can’t understand them, let alone remember their names!” the cook wailed. It was impossible not even being able to call them by their names.

“Mother, what are their first names?” William suggested using their first names if their last names were too difficult, all while trying to keep himself from salivating too aggressively.

“They’re all named Taro.”

In the Eastern Empire, all eldest sons were given the name Taro until they came of age. The second sons were named Jiro. The imperial family and the shogun’s family would pass their names down like kabuki actors, but male commoners would all be named Taro, Jiro, Saburo, and Shiro until they came of age. Girls, on the other hand, didn’t tend to change their names, so flower and fruit names were most common in hopes that they would grow up beautiful or would never go hungry.

“Er, milady? Was that...tarot? I’m sorry, I didn’t catch it,” the cook lamented again.

“I don’t think any of us can really understand why it’s so hard for you to get, but...that is a bit of a pickle, isn’t it?” William sighed sympathetically. The boys would solely be working in the kitchen, so if the cook couldn’t even say their names, that would be a problem. They couldn’t have one of the Stewarts permanently stationed in the kitchen to help out either.

“Well, why don’t we try giving them a name like they’d have here in the kingdom?” George suggested, wishing they could just get to the rice already, and called the boys over. While he’d heard about them during the family meeting, this was their first time meeting face-to-face, so he introduced himself first. “I’m George Stewart, Melsa Stewart’s son. This is my little sister Emma and my little brother William, and this is my father Leonard.”

The four boys seemed to be very diligent sorts, and they all bowed deeply before introducing themselves as well.

“I’m Taro Ito.”

“I’m Taro Hara.”

“I’m Taro Chijiwa.”

“I’m Taro Nakaura.”

They all had nervous expressions, as they knew they’d be in the Stewarts’ care from that day onward. Considering George was speaking directly to them, they thought he must have some business with them and were standing by awaiting his next move.

“Sorry to distract you while you’re cooking. Apparently, your names are a bit too hard for people of our kingdom to understand, so would it be okay for us to give you more kingdomesque names?” George had always been straight and to the point, and now was no exception. The boys considered this.

“Oh... We could tell the chef here seemed upset about something, but we didn’t know what. So it was just our names?”

“We’re going to do our best to memorize your words as well. If you can come up with whatever names work for us, it would be a great help.”

“Yeah, we don’t exactly know what names are used here in the kingdom.”

“It will give us bragging rights to go home with names of our own before we’ve even come of age too!”

None of the boys seemed all that upset about the sudden proposition and were quite open-minded about it. The head lady-in-waiting, Ume, had clearly chosen the right boys for the job.

Just then, one of the Stewart family’s servants timidly came into the kitchen with a report. “Lady Emma, one of your patients, Jacob, has a little brother who says he’d like to meet you. He seems to have come straight from work, so he’s not exactly in the most...tidy condition. Shall I turn him away?”

Not long ago, there had been incidents with the servants turning people away without telling anyone. That, along with the disaster of George forcing Emma to deal with the royal reward, and the fallout from those tragedies, had made the whole family, including the servants, especially strict about the importance of communication.

Communication was key to everything.

“Jacob’s little brother? He’s supposed to be a fisherman, right? Of course I’d be happy to see him!” There was no way Emma was going to turn down the little brother of Jacob, the sailor. Jacob was already a handsome older man, and a fisherman was just a different type of seaman.

Emma giddily made her way to the yard, as the servants were reluctant to let him into the actual house. There, she saw a tanned man who was even more muscular than Jacob himself.

“Lady Emma! Thank you for looking after my brother. I’m so sorry for showing up like this, but I fished up this rarity and just had to offer it to you...and I couldn’t wait for even a second to bring it.” The man had rolled up his sleeves to show his magnificent biceps. Sweat was glistening on his brow in the evening sun, as he’d hurried over right after finishing work. He seemed a bit nervous to be in the manor’s yard, and it showed on his face.

Oh, Emma was eating good.

Emma greeted the man, grinning ear to ear. “Why, no need to be so apologetic. Jacob’s on the mend now. Why don’t you give him a visit before you head home?”

“Agh... She really is an angel... We were right to have consecrated her...!”

“What?! P-Please, not this again! I’m a normal girl! Nobody’s consummated me, I swear!” Emma was still under the same misapprehension, so she vehemently denied it all.

“And such modesty! She really is as much of a saint as my brother said!” Jacob’s little brother whispered, his face reddened as he followed after Emma. George and William caught every bit of this.

“She never misses...”

“Is there anything worse than being worse than the devil? Because like...”

All the brothers could do was sigh. Seeing all these older men going from laughing off the rumors about saints to becoming devoted followers of Emma after a single smile was just too much.

“Oh! I nearly forgot! This fish is very rare around these parts, so I really, really want you to have it!” So saying, Jacob’s brother put the bag he’d been carrying on the ground and took out a large fish. He apparently had some seawater in the bag to maintain freshness, so it looked awfully heavy, yet he’d carried it like it was nothing. The fish he hoisted in those strong arms of his was a very fresh, beautiful pink fish. While he’d said it was rare, this fish was one the three siblings knew all too well.

“A red sea bream?!”

◆ ◆ ◆

An hour later, the family finally sat down to their long-awaited dinner, starting with fluffy, steaming, freshly cooked rice. They all put their trembling hands together to thank the heavens for the meal.

“Thank you...for this meal.”

And then, they took a bite of the food they’d dreamed of for so long.

“It’s amazing!”

“More, please!”

The servants all looked on in confusion as the whole family went crazy over the white grains. The cooks were confused to see the family lose their minds over a bunch of starch that hadn’t even been seasoned—they’d just boiled it in water.

“Oh, it’s so good... It’s really rice... Sweet, sweet rice...”

“What’re you crying for, sis?” William sniffled.

“You’re crying too, William!”

“More, please!”

“You’re already on your third bowl, George?!” William and Emma shouted.

After they’d all dined on the rice to their hearts’ content, Emma reached for the spinach salad. It was fantastic. She thanked the soy sauce and bonito flakes for gracing their table.

“See how nice of a time we can all have when we actually bring things to the table, instead of keeping them to ourselves, George?” Emma teased.

“Y-Yeah... Sorry...”

In the middle of the table was the red sea bream, looking majestic and lifelike.

“Rice, miso soup, spinach salad, and sea bream sashimi... This really is the life!” Leonard was practically trembling with joy.

“I kinda wish we had some wasabi, but it’s good with just soy sauce too. We have to save the Eastern Empire, no matter what. Right, sis?” There were still so many foods they wanted to eat. Having one of them made the family remember more and more ingredients that they missed. If the Eastern Empire were gone, they might never get them again.

“We’ve gotta figure out a way to get rid of those owatas before the summer.” Emma was more determined than ever as she gulped down the sashimi and the rice.

While the maids, servants, and cooks had initially been watching quietly, they were no longer able to contain themselves. “Er... If I may? That’s... That fish is still raw? You know that, right? You’re not really going to eat it like that, are you? It’s still raw!”

The kingdom didn’t have a culture of eating fish—or rather, any kind of meat—raw. Eating fish without at least cooking it slightly was simply unthinkable. It was disgusting, even. This family, who was eating raw fish as if it were the tastiest thing in the world, was completely bizarre to them. Yet they didn’t even hesitate and even seemed to be fighting over who got more.

About thirty minutes earlier, the siblings had brought the red sea bream to the kitchen.

“Oh, this sea bream is so fresh! Is there any particular way you’d like us to prepare it?”

“Sashimi, please!”

The whole family was on the same page about this one thing, at least.

Chapter 55: The Generation Gap and the Unheard Plea

“Dinnertime, everyone!”

After the most satisfying meal of all time, the three siblings brought the cats their supper as well. While they would normally have eaten together, the Taros were at the manor today, so they had the kitties hiding in a different house. Considering the ninjas were still terrified of the cats to this day, the Stewarts all agreed at the family meeting that it would be best to introduce the kitties to their new guests carefully.

“Meooooow!” Kongming responded, leading the pack of kitties in response to Emma’s voice.

“Today’s dinner is a very special fancy feast!”

They poured the miso soup over rice with bonito flakes and red sea bream sashimi on top. The cats had been eating people food ever since they had come to the capital. They’d been happy to eat monsters back in the Pallas region, which meant the only food the family had had to prepare for them were snacks they’d eat with Emma.

In the capital, however, Emma had worried about the cats’ unhealthy diet, wondering if maybe it would be best to cut down on grease and salt, but Kongming disagreed. According to Kongming, they were eating because they’d enjoyed it in their previous lives, but they didn’t actually need food to live. Normally, they could just absorb the mana around them for the energy they needed. Their bodies didn’t require food...but they still wanted to eat a good meal. They were Tanakas, after all, and every Tanaka loved food.

“Myah?”

“Mrowr? Meow?”

Guan and Zhang looked at the dinner with confusion. The two of them had been raised on kibble from the time they were born, so this was the first time they’d ever seen such a big feast.

“Mrowr!” Unlike Guan and Zhang, who were sniffing the food to see if it would be good, Kongming and Liu were both excitedly digging into the kind of food they’d missed for so long. The two of them kept chatting while they ate, making rowowowow sounds, while Guan and Zhang cautiously approached the curling topping of bonito flakes and gave them a lick.

“Meow?!” The two of them apparently loved it as much as General Kongming and Liu, and soon they were making rowowow sounds of their own.

“Hee hee. You like it?” Emma giggled, watching over them so as not to disturb their meal.

“Hey, sis? The cats are always talking when they eat. What are they saying?”

“Oh, I’ve always wondered the same thing.”

William and George had been thinking about it for a while and hoped Emma could interpret for them. The cats ate the same way they had in their previous life: meowing all the while.

“Hmm? Oh, they’re mostly giving their food reviews.”

“Their what now?”

“You heard me. In our last life, I always thought they were doing it to keep other kitties from taking their food, but it turned out they were just saying what they thought about the food.” Emma listened in on the kitties’ rowowows to see what they were saying now. “Kongming, who used to eat our leftovers in our previous life, says... ‘This rice is soaking up the dashi very nicely. The fancy appearance of the bonito flakes and fish adds to the depth of flavor. One would never imagine this could all be contained in one meal. I don’t like this food. I love it.’”

“That is an insanely in-depth review.”

“Isn’t that a line from Catatouille?”

The general’s food review was a lot more in-depth than either of them had imagined.

“And Liu here, who was split between leftovers and kibble, is saying, ‘Yummy! It’s been so long since I had fish! Yummyyyy! Myummy, even!’”

“Right, so Liu’s just saying exactly what she’s thinking.”

“What does ‘myummy’ mean...?” To William and George, it sounded like Liu was making the same rowowow sounds as Kongming, but she was saying completely different things after all.

“Guan’s saying, ‘I’ve never eaten anything that tastes like this before, but it’s not bad! I prefer meat, though. I wanna go monster hunting sometime. I wanna eat the raw monster meat!’”

“Guan likes meat? I feel like he only had kibble in our previous life?”

“Yeah, uh... I dunno if it’s good for him to be eating raw monster meat...”

Guan’s tastes were a lot more like a wild animal’s than they’d assumed. Not even the Stewart family had eaten monster meat raw.

“And last up, our kibble and lickable kitty treat fiend Zhang says, ‘It’s so soft and easy on the teeth! I like it! All the liquid makes it like my kitty treats! Oh, they were so good... I wish I could have them again someday... Kitty treats... My precious kitty treats...’”

“Zhang...”

“No kidding about the kitty treat fiend part...”

Just as Emma said, all four cats really were giving their own unique reports.

“Myaaaah!”

The kitties kept saying they wanted to eat more, and wound up enjoying it so much that they licked their bowls clean. As the siblings watched over them lovingly, they swore in their hearts once more that they refused to let rice, miso, or bonito flakes disappear from this world.

From that day forward, the siblings all started seriously researching how they could defeat owatas. They gathered all the books they could from the academy’s library, which had the largest collection in the kingdom, and even made owata monster karuta cards. They tried everything they could think of on the stalk their mother brought home: boiling it, burning it, hitting it, cutting it, but all to no avail.

“I think we’re pretty much done for, sis...” William moaned as he slouched onto his desk.

“My hands are so numb I can’t even move them anymore...” George furrowed his brow, having tried to cut and hit the stalk with swords and staves and every manner of thing until his hands hurt. “After all this, it doesn’t even have a scratch on it...” Despite having whacked countless swords and sticks on the thing, it still looked exactly the same as when their mother had brought it home.

“It doesn’t look like any of these books are gonna be of much use to us either.” All of the books they’d found said the best way to deal with invasive plant monsters was to find the original and cut it down. Once they found the originating plant monster, all the others would wither away. However, the theory was that the owatas in the Eastern Empire had come from a single seed that had attached itself to a monster that had come through a localized barrier crisis. If they didn’t even know where the owatas had come from in the first place, they wouldn’t be able to find the originating plant. And even if they could have, the Eastern Empire’s greatest swords had already become useless, so they wouldn’t even be able to make a dent in it.

“The swords from the Eastern Empire must be pretty damn incredible to have been able to cut through this thing. This sword was pretty expensive and everything.” George usually didn’t complain much, but even the Tanaka family’s gorilla-strength son with the power to break boulders had been unable to put a scratch on the owata.

“Considering how it’s both lightweight and tough, we could make a fortune if we knew how to harvest it...” Emma murmured. The owata was like bamboo, and if they could figure out how to process it, it could easily be used as a general-purpose material. Maybe if they could make shields or armor with it, it would be useful for monster hunts too.

There were a lot of things they had figured out from all the trial and error experiments they’d been doing each day. For instance, boiling it in seawater would cause mucus from the inside to float out of the top in little balls. This mucus seemed to work as a natural adhesive, allowing it to stick owata to owata. It also had similar thermal conductivity to metal, so they were able to use it as a grill to cook meat over, which was especially tasty. (Naturally, they’d already tried it.)

“We could put some ingredients in the owata, put a lid over it, and boil it to make some pretty well-preserved meals, huh?”

“Oh right! It’s similar to bamboo, so maybe it has the same antibacterial properties too?” William agreed as he flipped through more of the papers he had on the desk.

When they adhered a lid to the owata section, it was too tough to peel off vertically, but if you twisted it horizontally, it would pop off quite easily. In other words...

“We could easily make some canned food for the kitties if we could use this.” Liu and Guan would be thrilled if they did.

Putting the kitties aside for a moment, this would allow them to be able to can food, thus making portable preserved food a possibility. Even if there were a food shortage, everything had to go by sea because monsters made it impossible to travel by land, so it was likely that any supplies wouldn’t make it.

The Western Empire once faced food shortages, and they had to take the conditions at sea into consideration, as it could potentially have delayed the shipment. As such, they were unable to receive any perishables and could only import what would keep for long periods of time. They were able to prevent starvation, but it had led to widespread cases of what they now knew was scurvy.

Emma had heard that heating canned food when it was airtight helped preserve more vitamin C too. Since scurvy was a disease caused by vitamin C deficiency, if they could popularize canned food, it could be a preventative measure against the disease. And if there was no worry about scurvy, then the amblypygids (Emma’s precious tailless whip scorpions) wouldn’t be treasured so highly as a medicine to treat it. And if that happened, should anyone ever manage to find out that the Stewarts had the amblypygids in their care, they wouldn’t get in trouble for it. And that was the most important part of all.

After mulling everything over in her head, Emma’s eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. “All right! Let’s beat these owatas and make canned food outta them!”

“That’s a great idea and all, sis, but we have to figure out how to beat them first.”

“We can’t even scratch the things. How are we supposed to process them to make cans?”

William and George had to give Emma a reality check. It wasn’t like they had time on their side before the owatas fired their next seeds. If only they could stall them for some time...

“Hmm... Oh! What if we improve their nutrients so they live three times longer?! Then the seeds can fly even farther, maybe even passing the Eastern Empire altogether and falling into the ocean instead!” Emma was starting to get a bit annoyed after all her brainstorming and just threw out an idea.

“C’mon, it couldn’t be that easy to make them get any...bigger... Wait, can it, sis?”

“Just changing up their nutrients isn’t gonna make them bigger that much...faster...or is it?”

The brothers couldn’t deny Emma’s offhanded plan. After all, their sister, the Herald of Hullabaloos herself, had already done something like that.

“Emma!” Suddenly, they heard Melsa shouting from the yard. The three siblings knew this was bad news—they could tell by the tone of her voice. They knew just what it was, and their bodies twitched and shuddered in fear. It sounded like she’d finally found them out. “Emmaaaa! Geoooorge! Williaaaam! Explain yourselves this instant!” Her fury was heard all across the Stewart family’s massive premises.

“Y-Yes, ma’am!” The three siblings rushed to the yard.

“All right. Who wants to tell me what happened here?” Melsa was standing in the middle of the yard a little ways from the main building, looking intimidating as ever. She was pointing at the amblypygids that Emma had taken such a shine to. Melsa had happened upon them just as they had been practicing military formations under Kongming’s guidance. The cats, sensing Melsa’s anger, put some distance between them and were grooming themselves as though they had no idea what was going on. The poor amblypygids, now without their commander, could only wander about helplessly.

“Er... I have no idea what you’re talking about...” Emma was desperately trying to pretend she had no idea by dodging the subject entirely. It was over if she admitted her fault. She was totally gonna get yelled at.

The cat, or rather the amblypygids, had been let out of the bag the day Melsa came back from the Eastern Empire. So why was Melsa so upset now of all times?

It was because Emma was going to Emma.

“Look at me. I want you to look right into my eyes, Emma. What did you do? How is it that things wind up like this every single time with you?!” Melsa grabbed Emma by the shoulders as she fired question after question. She wasn’t about to let Emma run from this one.

“Er... Wind up like what...?” It was pretty hard to feign ignorance about this subject, but Emma persisted out of fear of her mother’s wrath.

“Emma. You know what I’m talking about. You don’t have to look hard to see that these creatures are Violet... No, not even Violet-sized. They’re bigger than our silkworms!”

It was perfectly understandable that Melsa was so upset. The fact that she hadn’t screamed and run away was proof that she was a Stewart through and through. The amblypygids had only been about ten centimeters when the Stewarts first encountered them, but over the past few days, they’d suddenly grown to ten times that size. Ten times the size of the creatures that had caused such a massive panic in their school. One didn’t need to imagine...in fact, it would be better not to imagine the sight. There were some that were even bigger than a whole meter. Unfortunately for everyone, and completely unintentionally on Emma’s part, they’d grown bigger than Violet or the silkworms themselves.

“I...think maybe one of the kids we had doing the chores...accidentally gave them the growth supplements I use for the silkworms...?” Emma really hadn’t been planning on making them bigger. She’d been far too busy researching owatas to even think about it. All she could imagine was that they’d eaten the silkworm food, like what had happened with Violet.

The Stewart family had been giving jobs to the children of the slums to help them become self-sufficient. The family provided them with handmade uniforms and found work for them in their home, with the Rothschild Company, and with the tailors as well. The kids were then able to buy food with money they’d earned all by themselves. The more they ate, the more they could work. The healthier their bodies, the more they were able to use their heads. The more they could use their heads, the more they’d gain an interest in studying, so they could increase the work available to them.

Harold, the painter who had been looking after them all this time, was shocked by how much they’d changed. They had started pestering him about how they wanted to learn to read, write, and do arithmetic so they could take on different jobs. They looked nothing like the children who used to collapse in the middle of the road out of hunger.

Out of all the jobs they could pick, working at the Stewart household was excessively rare among the girls. It was practically unthinkable, and the biggest reason was that it meant they had to take care of the bugs. Finding a little girl who thought bugs were cute was like finding a needle in a haystack. The three siblings had been too busy researching owatas, so they’d been asking the kids to look after their bugs a lot more often, and there were a lot of them—of all different varieties. There were just as many kinds of food, and on top of needing to have a high tolerance for bugs, one had a lot to remember, making it a particularly challenging job. The kids might very well have accidentally given the amblypygids the food meant to increase the size of their silkworms. In fact, that was the only reason any of them could think of that the amblypygids could have gotten as big as they had. The siblings hadn’t even realized it until seeing them all lined up, and by that point, they were massive—it was already too late.

“What are you going to do about this, Emma?!” Even Melsa, who had praised Emma for managing to make the silkworms bigger, was upset about this one. If it were just the silkworm larvae, that would’ve been one thing. With Violet, it was just one more bug, so she was ready to let it slide. But the amblypygids had thrown the girls at school into the deepest pits of hellish terror. Their shape was horrifying enough, and there were an agonizing number of them too. If the world at large were to find out about these massive monstrosities, it would create a panic the likes of which had never been seen before.

“W-Well... Y’know, since they’re ten times bigger...it makes them ten times cuter too, right?” Emma was hugging the bugs, so it would be harder for her mom to say she should put them back where she found them.

“Mm-hmm. Anything else?” Melsa’s eyes were terrifying. When Melsa got like this, there was no way George, William, or even the cats would come to Emma’s rescue. Even now, the brothers were avoiding making eye contact, and the cats were still grooming themselves. Emma knew that she couldn’t just dig her heels in on it not being her fault. She’d done it before and had Melsa’s wrath rain down on her like a bolt of lightning. In order to get out of this, she needed to come up with a damn good excuse and she knew it.

“A-And, um... Well... Uh... L-Look at their magnificent...uh...pinchers! With how big and powerful they are, I bet you they could cut through an owata!” In a fit of desperation, Emma insisted that the amblypygids could help the Stewarts with the problem they were currently facing. She couldn’t mumble her way out of this. She needed to stand strong and firm with her words, or she would never get out of it.

While the amblypygids had mostly been looking apologetic up until that point, they all looked up at Emma the moment she said that as if to say, Wait, what?! They started waving their arms (pedipalps) back and forth as if to say, Nononono, there’s no way!

After all, the things Emma was talking about weren’t pinchers in the first place—they were more like arms. And just because they had arms didn’t mean they were armed. They were desperately trying to communicate this.

“And, uh... I’m pretty sure I read in a manga once that if every animal on earth were the same size, bugs would be the strongest of all!” Emma continued, really laying it on thick now.

What?! How are you even coming up with these ridiculous reasons?! The amblypygids kept trying to shake their arms (pedipalps) in refusal. We know we look like this, but we’re not venomous, and we don’t bite, and we don’t sting or anything! We’re just harmless loners! Please don’t treat us like your final secret weapon or something! We just want to keep to ourselves!

“See how excited they are, mother? They want to help us too!” Emma talked up the amblypygids with a flourish...and their arms, which had been raised high to insist they couldn’t, came to a halt. They had a terrible feeling about how their protestations had been interpreted by Melsa.

Emma would have used any excuse to get out of trouble. She would have made any lie into a truth to get out of trouble. She was now already thinking about what food she would have to give them to make them stronger than the greatest swords in the Eastern Empire. It didn’t matter whether it was possible or not. She was going to do it. After all, she would have done anything to get out of trouble.

Side Story: The Stewart Family Workers’ Union and the Very Polite Bugs

“W-We have terrible news!” One of the servants came rushing to the three siblings in a panic. “Lady Emma, it’s Martha! Martha came face-to-face with the (enormous) amblypygids in the yard, and now she’s passed out and foaming at the mouth!”

“Sh-She’s what?!” The three siblings, who had just gotten home from school, were horror-struck. Emma’s personal maid, Martha, was the biggest bug hater of all the servants in the Stewart family’s employ. While she was able to just barely tolerate the silkworms as the family’s breadwinners—and even Violet since the spider had saved Emma’s life—she had been on the verge of breaking down over the amblypygids Emma had recently brought home en masse.

Honestly, she had every right to be upset. Emma’s beloved newcomers weren’t exactly pleasing to the eye. Even those who didn’t hate bugs would shriek at the sight of these critters. Even just imagining a whole group of them swarming sent chills up Martha’s spine. She’d done everything she could to avoid them, but there were some chores that required her going into the yard. She’d been on as high alert as she could have been, but luck had not been on her side that day.

What was worse, the amblypygids had gotten just as huge as Emma’s other creepy crawlies. There wasn’t a human alive who could stay calm in the face of a swarm of massive amblypygids. Martha, being the bug hater that she was, was no exception, which was why she collapsed right on the spot. It would have been no exaggeration to say that in her fading consciousness, her last thread of patience had snapped.

There was a group that might have only existed at the Stewart household (in this world), ensuring that employees had a safe working environment and were always treated fairly. It was, indeed, a workers’ union. The staff were able to occasionally bring up requests or complaints to their employers, the Stewarts, in order to improve their working environment. While these requests were overwhelmingly about the bugs, they’d managed to come to an understanding for every issue up until this point. But this time was likely to be a lot more contentious, because Emma had just seen the hellish sight of the screaming servants running from the truly tremendous amblypygids, who were carrying the twitching and foaming Martha back to the manor on their backs... And, unfortunately, Martha was the no-nonsense union director of the Stewart Family Workers’ Union.

◆ ◆ ◆

Several days later...

“We’ve come to talk to you today about your amblypygids.”

In the Stewart family meeting room, the workers’ union representatives (servants) were sitting in a row facing the Stewart family. “We were never informed that they had grown to such a size. Essentially, you did not inform us of something very vital to our continued work. This is a serious problem. What are your thoughts on the matter?” The union leader, Martha, looked right at Emma. Just as Detective Meownan always said: There was only one truth. And there was only one culprit when it came to bugs.

“I-I mean, to say it’s that serious is a bit, you know... I-I just knew you didn’t like bugs and I didn’t want to scare you, so I thought it best not to say anything...” Emma stammered, though she’d been more motivated by the need to avoid Martha yelling at her. Her mother had already laid into her enough on the matter, so she would rather not have Martha doing the same.

“Lady Emma, do you understand how someone who dislikes bugs would feel about this? Just hearing the sounds of them skittering behind you is enough to make your heart stand utterly still. And the fact that the ones skittering on these grounds happen to be massive is positively revolting!” The maids who were serving the tea all nodded in agreement with Martha. It had only been Violet before then, but now they were paranoid they’d see tons of those skittering monstrosities whenever they turned around. They couldn’t work under those conditions.

“We did make sure to tell the servants who weren’t bothered by bugs. Emma didn’t tell you out of the kindness of her heart. There was no malice behind it, Martha.” As always, Leonard leaped to his daughter’s defense.

“If there had been, I would have quit long ago!” Martha glared at Leonard with a look that screamed he should stop coddling his daughter, for Pete’s sake. Finally, she came to the union’s collective request. “We demand hardline workplace reforms!”

Martha went on to outline her plan to separate the insects from the servants.

“You will keep the bugs past this boundary. And I want you to raise them somewhere we can’t see them. And if you ever get any new ones or make them bigger, you are to warn us immediately!” The union (or rather, Martha) had been quite forceful, so the family had been unable to do anything but nod in return.

“Wow, I didn’t know we had a cave around here...” The three siblings, the cats, and the amblypygids all looked up at the side of a sloped mountain that jutted out of a part of their massive property. The native vines hung from the entrance like a curtain, and they’d been unable to see it from a distance, but there was a wide-open space extending far inside, just as Martha and the other members of the union had said. It was a very nice cave. Since the mountain was entirely on Stewart land, the chances of anyone other than those already involved with the family sneaking in were very low.

The servants’ (mostly Martha’s) heartless request was that the amblypygids were to live in that cavern and to make the best effort to keep themselves concealed from the servants’ view.

The moving party took the amblypygids’ bug pen that had been in the middle of the yard to the cave.

“Oooh, I’m so sorry you babies have to be taken so far away...” Emma cooed as she petted the poor amblypygids.

“If you ever need anything, don’t be afraid to ask.” George said sympathetically, cutting through the greenery at the entrance to make it easier for them to pass through.

“If it ever gets too hard for you to be here, I’ll fight Martha for you, okay? I don’t care if it means I’ll get fewer snacks or be forced to study more. I’ll fight her!” The pitch-black entrance of the cave—which seemed to stretch on forever—made it feel like a ghost could leap out at them any second. Emma was racked with guilt at having to make her sweet little babies live in a place like that. However, even she had to concede to the workers’ union, given that they were always looking after her and her family.

“Mrowr...” Kongming licked Emma’s cheek to comfort her.

“Hmm? You’ll let me ride mew to the cave every day? Thank you, Kongming...”

Under the siblings’ watchful eyes, the amblypygids started to skitter toward the entrance of the cavern one by one. However, they quickly turned around and scurried back out to Emma, stretching out their pedipalps to try to tell her something.

Skitter skitter! Skitter! Skitterrrrr!

“What is it?” Emma asked worriedly, and Kongming nodded in response to the amblypygids.

“They look really worked up about something. What are they saying, Kongming?” William asked. Despite their strange appearance, the amblypygids were generally rather reserved, so seeing them so desperately trying to say something worried him.

“Mrowr! Myah myah!”

“Wait, really?!” Emma was shocked by Kongming’s response.

“They hate it, don’t they, Emma? I knew it.” George remembered Emma saying that bats, natural inhabitants of caves, were amblypygids’ worst enemies, so he was a bit worried as he looked between them and the entrance of the cave.

Emma slowly shook her head in response to George’s question. “No. The opposite, actually.”

“Huh?”

“The cave is nice and damp, and the dark feels especially comforting. They’re saying it’s the best new home ever.”

“Wait, really?!” the two brothers blurted in unison.

“But what about the bats? They’re natural enemies, right? Did we get lucky and this one just doesn’t have any?”

“No, it does. And lots of them too.”

“But they still think it’s the best? Wait, are all of our amblypygids mega-masochists or something?” William was shocked by the prospect, as though he were totally blind to his own proclivities.

“Well, they’re huge now, so even if the bats try to come at them, they can strike back. In fact, the amblypygids are carnivores, and they said bats looked awful tasty...”

“Oh, right! They’re way bigger now!”

The siblings were still thinking of them as the weak and shy little things they’d originally been looking after, but now that they’d gotten so large, there was no way they’d be afraid of a bat. What was more, because they’d gotten so large, the carriage Joshua had prepared for them had frankly gotten a bit cramped. While they could survive in it, squeezing their legs in and lying on top of one another, it was hardly a place to rest. Compared to that, the cavern gave them all the space they’d wanted, just as damp as they’d always wanted, and just as full of food as they’d always wanted (after all, they had a twenty-four-hour bat buffet right there).

Skitter skitter?

“Mrowr mrowr!”

The amblypygids happily asked Kongming who had prepared such a lovely place for them to live, and Kongming told them it was Martha.

Skitter skitter! (Well, we would like to thank her, then!)

“Mya myah! Myah mrowr!” Kongming told Emma what the amblypygids had been saying.

“Th-They want to thank Martha? I get why they’d want to, but they really shouldn’t let her see them...” The courteous amblypygids had already started enthusiastically heading back to the manor before Emma stopped them. Even Emma had the good sense to stop that—she couldn’t have Martha foaming at the mouth again.

“Myah myah!” (Why don’t mew sneak a little present in front of Martha’s room? It’ll be fine as long as she doesn’t see mew, right?) Kongming advised the disappointed amblypygids.

Skitter skitter! (A present... Then perhaps we shall leave a bat before her doorstep without being seen!)

“Mrowr! Mrowr!” (I recommend a cicada or a mouse!)

“Ah, yeah, let’s not do that, okay?! No bats or mice or anything, okay?!” Emma once again put a stop to their unsettling brainstorming. Unless they happened to be a billionaire superhero or the mascot of the most magical place on Earth, those presents were sure to be taken as pure harassment. No way a lady like Martha would enjoy them.

“Mrowr mrowr?” (What about some fruit? Or some mushrooms from the mountains?) Kongming was sympathetically insistent on helping the amblypygids.

“Er... I mean, we can eat those, but...” No matter how careful they were, if Martha caught sight of a single one of them, it would be all over. No matter the intention, Martha wouldn’t be the type to thank them for always bringing her fruit.

Skitter skitter? (Then what should we do?) The amblypygids were sadly at a loss. Not thanking someone for such a lovely place would simply bring shame upon all bugs.

“Hmm... You know, Martha did eventually start to soften up around Violet and the silkworms...” William mumbled, noting that Martha being not great with bugs was an understatement. The siblings were all desperately trying to think of a way for the amblypygids to show their gratitude. “So maybe we just need her to know how useful they are?” William suggested possibly raising her tolerance for them before they started leaving gifts.

Skitter skitter? (Her tolerance?)

“Got it! So you want me to hone their snipping power!” Emma agreed with William’s assessment.

Skitter...skitter? (Snipping...?)

“Hmm?”

“Mrowr?”

“If these guys’ snippers can cut through an owata, they’d be our ace in the hole in the Eastern Empire!” Emma’s eyes sparkled with excitement as she looked at the amblypygids. “Why, they wouldn’t just be useful, they’d be straight up heroes who saved a whole country!”

Skitter?!

“And if they became heroes, then it’d make Martha like them more, and I won’t have to get in trouble with mother either! Wow! It’s seriously two birds with one stone!”

Skitter skitter? (Wait, don’t we get any say in it?)

And so, the amblypygids were tasked with figuring out how to cut through an owata in order to gain Martha’s approval.

Skitter skitter? (Don’t we get a say in this...?)

Chapter 56: The Roar-ky Theme and the Family Curse

Myah myah meooooow... Myah myah meooow...

Myah myah meoooow... Myah myah meooow...

From that day forward (the day the amblypygids moved to their new home), their lives were changed. The bugs had already been rather athletically minded as they trained their military formations, but now they were training with the cats, whether the siblings were at school or not, based on the training Emma had come up with.

“Mroooowr myah myah meow meow!” (Swing across with a twisting motion, and jab!)

“Myah myah!” (And jab!)

“Myah myah!” (And jab!)

“Myah myah!” (And jab!)

The four cats surrounded the amblypygids as they put their everything into these techniques that...were hard to explain. None would ever have expected they were the same loners who lived hidden away. They’d had raw eggs added to their meals, did some...hard to explain running and some hard to explain jump roping... Their training consisted of trial and error based on whatever Emma (someone who’d never even bothered to exercise in her past life and had been more of an indoorsy type) could recall about athletics—with most of her knowledge coming from hot-blooded sports anime.

“Sis...do you have any ideas from this era?” William asked, in utter disbelief over seeing that Emma had asked Joshua for a way to make the full-body training cast from Fur of the Giants, with a reference image and all.

“But, like...all I can think of otherwise is running with a rope around your waist dragging a tire behind you... I guess we could use a hippopotomal tire?”

“What part of that sounds like it’s from this era?! It’s like you’re trapped in the Showa era, for Pete’s sake!”

Just then, the children who had been tasked with looking after the bugs came running.

“Lady Emma! We’re so sorry! If we hadn’t mixed up the food, this wouldn’t have happened...” They seemed to have a hunch as to why the amblypygids had suddenly gotten so big and had come to apologize.

“It’s all right. Just be more careful in the future, okay? Besides, I’m hoping now that in about a month, these little guys will be able to cut through an owata. That way, nobody gets in trouble.”

Though the temperature was lower in the capital than in Pallas, it was still starting to feel like summer.

The Stewarts had managed to keep the royal family and the knights from finding out about the amblypygids so far. They’d initially thought the grounds they’d moved onto were far too big for them to ever get used to it, but it turned out to be just right for keeping the bugs hidden. Though considering how large the amblypygids had gotten, nobody would even think they were the same bugs in the first place.

“We’re gonna make sure we can look after the bugs just fine even when you’re all not around, Lady Emma! We won’t mess up like that again!”

“Hee hee. Well, that’s quite heartening to hear.”

In a month, their school would break for summer vacation, which would last two months. It was longer than the summer vacations they’d had in their previous lives, mostly because it was the time when social events would really ramp up in the capital. Under usual circumstances, they would have gone back to their home in the Pallas region (thus avoiding the social hubbub), but they’d decided instead to go to the Eastern Empire.

It was all for rice.

From another’s point of view, it would have looked like they’d been chosen to engage in an exchange program. Out of consideration for the Eastern Empire, which had been in a period of isolation for many long years, the owata problem was kept a secret that only the royal family, Oliver the diplomat, and the Stewart family were aware of. Considering the risk that something major could happen should other countries find out about the Eastern Empire’s stock of magic stones, they figured it would be safest to keep everything confidential.

“Lady Emma! Do you mind if I come look at the bugs with you?” a young boy with blue hair called to her with a big, friendly smile.

“Oh, Miguel! Are you all done making miso?”

“I am! Though really, all we could do today was wash and soak the soybeans. Mancio, Martinho, and Julião are all resting with the ninjas right now.” The ninjas and the Taros had all been hard at work all morning preparing the soybeans Joshua had procured. Starting that day, they would be making miso at their house.

“I can’t wait!” Once they’d finished making the Stewart family’s homemade miso, they could have miso soup every morning like they’d always dreamed of.

“You’ll probably be able to eat it next year. Our country may already have been destroyed by that point, but it makes me happy knowing that the flavors of our land will be passed down to you all. We’re putting our whole heart into making sure it will be extra tasty.” Miguel Taro Chijiwa smiled at Emma in a way that really showed he’d given up hope for his country and accepted his fate.

“Don’t smile like that, Miguel. You’ve gotta believe we’ll save your home. See how hard my little amblypygids are working?” They’d also heard that the swordsmiths in the Eastern Empire were hard at work trying to make swords on a par with the national treasures to give their country even the slightest bit more of a fighting chance.

“Lady Emma... Just please don’t work too hard for our sake. I feel terrible that you have the fate of the Eastern Empire entirely on your shoulders. We’re already so grateful just for having received your provisions.”

“Miguel...”

Unlike the ninjas, the Taros had never been attacked by the cats (possibly because they were so young), so they accepted the beasts with an open mind and had been honing their cooking skills hard every day. The boys had even managed to communicate with the Stewart family’s cooks and had taken it upon themselves to teach them how to make dashi and cook the rice. They were such hard workers that the maids were especially fond of them, with even Martha heaping praise upon them. They couldn’t possibly lose a country that raised such wonderful young men...or grew such tasty rice.

“Besides, I’ve already found meaning in my life just being able to see such incredible bugs. Just look at the way their cephalothorax connects to their abdomen...it’s so cute... It looks like their pedipalps have gotten sturdier too! And have their back legs gotten stronger? I feel like they’re a lot more stable when they attack now.”

“I should’ve known you’d notice, Miguel! You see it, right? I knew they’d have trouble using their full strength if they didn’t have the leg support! So I changed up their diet a bit and added some more running in the morning and evening.”

“That certainly makes sense. Training one’s lower half is especially important when learning sword skills as well. Could you tell me a little more about how you changed up their diet?”

“Of course! So, first you give them whole raw eggs...”

“Whole raw eggs... What a novel concept...”

Since the four boys had been worried about their home, the family showed them the amblypygids to explain their strategy against the owatas. Even for the open-minded youngsters, it was enough to stun Mancio, Martinho, and Julião. Only one of them, Miguel, looked upon the bugs with sparkling enthusiasm. He was Emma’s very first bug-loving friend.

“Could you tell me what you feed your silkworms next?”

“Sorry, but that’s a trade secret, Miguel.”

“A trade secret...? That’s too bad... Oh! What about Violet? Can you show me Violet next? Your gorgeous purple spider!”

“Hee hee. I think Violet’s taken a shine to you too, Miguel.”

Miguel would frequently spend his time off chatting with Emma about bugs, so they became fast friends. Emma was also the one who’d given the Taros names that were easier for people in the kingdom to understand. Despite the fact that naming someone normally required one to think carefully and be responsible, Emma had quickly given each of them a new name.

“Is it really okay to let her just decide like that?”

“She didn’t hesitate for a second...”

William and George had tried to press her to think on it more, but Emma was hard in her resolve.

“Uh, but it’s obvious that Ito would be Mancio, and Hara would be Martinho, and Nakaura would be Julião, and Chijiwa would be Miguel?” Emma had been fully confident, as though it were so painfully obvious that there was no point in even thinking more about it. The four boys, being the way they were, didn’t have any objections to the names either. In fact, they found them surprisingly fitting and seemed to take to them quite well.

“Do you have any idea why it’d be obvious, William?”

“No idea. The boys seem pretty surprisingly smitten with the names, though, so...I guess we’ll just have to go with it. We can’t exactly fight her on it. I’d kinda thought we’d go with something like Alexander or Napoleon or whatever...”

“See, I was thinking of something like Bruce or Jackie...”

“Oooh, if that’s the direction, then maybe Jet or Sammo Hung...?”

The pair had started muttering about the names they’d painstakingly come up with until they felt someone’s gaze on them.

“C’mon. That’s all way off base,” Emma had said coldly. Farther in, the Taros had all nodded in agreement. Either way, you really couldn’t ever count on the Tanakas when it came to names.

Chapter 57: Meanwhile...

“What the hell...is this place...?” Robert looked up at the sky in disbelief. The sun was brilliant, signaling that summer was near. When he lowered his gaze, he saw fields, fields, and more fields. Nobody could have imagined that the boy who’d orchestrated that horrendous incident at school would now be standing smack-dab in the middle of a field in a poor farming community.

That night, Robert had been captured by the prince and his knights and thrown into jail. He wasn’t stupid. After a day...two days...three days...he’d had plenty of time to realize just how awful his prank had been.

He’d faced numerous interrogations from men with more prestige than his father—leaders you would never see outside of the most stately evening affairs.

He’d been told the number of victims.

He’d been grilled on the whereabouts of the amblypygids.

He’d been told, again and again, the value of the amblypygids.

Robert had had no idea those disgusting things were worth anything at all. Yet not even the entirety of the Lance family fortune would have been enough to compensate for the loss. How could he have known? His father had screamed that at worst, both he and Robert would be locked up for life, or be the first people to be executed by guillotine in over three hundred years.

This apparently hadn’t been the only thing his father had done that ran against the kingdom’s interests. Robert later heard that the king’s rage was palpable, and that it wouldn’t have been a surprise if the Lance family’s name had been wiped from the country’s history from that day forth.

However, Robert’s head was still on his shoulders today, and though his father was no longer the head of the household, the Lance family had not been erased as a whole. The sole reason that Robert was still alive beneath the wide blue sky was thanks to the greatest victim of the incident, Emma.

She’d said, “It’s not nice to bully a poor girl, but I’m sure Lord Robert and Lord Brian have shown they’re sorry enough to be let out already.”

Everyone was shocked by her saintly proclamation. Her face, which was so beautiful it had even captured the stubborn prince’s heart (and everyone in the country knew it), had been painfully scarred from when she’d risked her life to save the royal family. The compassion she held for everyone, the modesty she displayed, her discerning gaze—which always focused one step ahead—and the way her smile never faltered, no matter how difficult the circumstances she found herself in were... It was only natural that a saint like her would know forgiveness in her heart.

Even if it was an unprecedented incident in the school’s history, it was likely that the outrage about it had been so extreme because the victim was Emma. She’d suddenly gotten so popular that people had started calling her a saint. Whenever anyone heard about the tragedy, it tore them apart, and they couldn’t possibly make rational decisions. Emma addressing the issue was the only reason they’d finally stopped to think about it all.

Had these been ordinary bugs, had the target not been young ladies, and had it not been at school, he and Brian wouldn’t have been imprisoned. While the amblypygids wouldn’t come back to them, the victims’ wounds would have healed. Based on Robert and Brian’s conduct, it was hard to imagine either of them had known just how rare the amblypygids were, and some began to say that the head of the family should have been more responsible for them.

In the end, their punishment was nothing more than to pay for the cost of dispatching the royal knights, the girls’ counseling, the medical bills, and the losses the school faced by being canceled. And that was all. As nobles, paying all those costs wasn’t an impossible feat at all for them, and Robert and Brian had been quick to take the offer, wondering if they’d been blessed by the heavens above.

Just as Robert was wondering if Emma Stewart actually was an angel, he and Brian were separated and taken in separate carriages to the entrance of a run-down old farming village far from the capital. They’d really thought for a moment that they were going to be taken back to their manor until the knights announced the shocking truth.

“Robert Lance. You will be working here to pay off the debts you owe. You’ll plow the fields, sow the seeds, and grow vegetables here.”

“What.”

“We will come buy your produce at market prices.”

“Seriously? You’ve got to be kidding me! Take me home this instant! I can pay it all off in seconds! I-In fact, I’ll give you my ring! It’s worth far more than what I owe!”

“Your debts will be paid with the vegetables you grow. Here are funds for your living expenses. We’re not heartless, after all. We’ll just add this to your total debt.” The knights handed Robert a bag full of coins. He was a bit relieved at how heavy the bag was, and he untied it to check inside.

“What?! Are you joking me? This is all copper! How am I supposed to live off of just copper?!” No matter how heavy the bag was, it was hardly anything if it was just copper.

“It might not be like this in the capital, but copper’s the coin most circulated around these parts, young man. These villagers have never even seen a gold coin.”

“How does anyone live without gold? What about clothes? Shoes? You can’t get anything with copper!” Even the clothes on his back had been tailor-made. He hadn’t been able to change since he’d been locked up either. He couldn’t believe that just earlier that day, he thought he would have a chance to take a bath and eat a nice meal at home.

“Uh...if you need clothes, you can get some hempen ones for ten copper. And your shoes...well, you can carve your own out of wood. That’s what everyone else in this village does.”

“Hempen...clothes?! Do you seriously think someone of my status would wear hempen clothes?! Who do you think I am?! You seriously expect me to wear hempen clothes and wooden shoes and use nothing but copper?! I’m not some kind of filthy guttersnipe!”

How dare they... How dare they?! How dare they?! I’m Robert Lance! In just ten years, I’ll be a proper high-class duke! These disgusting knights shouldn’t even have the right to speak to me!

“You’re a criminal, Robert. You only live because Saint Emma spared you. But if you really can’t stand it, there’s always the guillotine.” The knight glared at Robert. Those who had been at the scene knew just how bad it had been. Emma Stewart, the greatest victim of the incident, had been so distressed by it all that she couldn’t even stand. Her elder brother George had needed to exercise utmost caution as he’d slowly, slowly carried her away. After doing something so horrendous to a young girl like that, the knights thought Robert should have been happy to even be alive. Fighting the urge to cut him down themselves, the knights finally turned on their heels to leave.

“W-Wait! Please, just take me to a different village at least! Nobody...at least, no human could possibly live in a place like this!”

The houses and streets were run-down, and the livestock were all terribly thin. One didn’t have to be up close to tell how poor this village was. One of the knights stopped and turned back at Robert’s scream.

“Oh, I nearly forgot. This is within the Lance family’s territory. In fact, this is what an average village is like here. Now, what do you think might happen if these villagers, whom you have forced to pay very hefty taxes, find out that you’re the lord’s son?” Robert’s pleas fell on deaf ears as the knight got into his carriage with a dry laugh.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Your Majesty! Please, explain!” Prince Edward, who had always been known for his calm and cool demeanor, uncharacteristically shouted at his father. “You know how dangerous it is with the owata threat in the Eastern Empire! They only have a few months left! Why are you letting the Stewart family go there when it’s so dangerous?!” Only the royal family, a select few diplomats, and the Stewart family were aware that the Eastern Empire was on the path to ruin. The owata plant monster threat had already covered the majority of the land, and there was no solution in sight. Going to the Eastern Empire was obviously a life-threatening excursion.

“Calm yourself, Edward. This was a request from the Stewarts themselves. They’ve been filled with grief since the family matriarch’s visit, and the count implored me to let them try to help.”

“But why is Emma...I mean, why are the children going to such a dangerous place too?!”

The king looked his son in the eye. “Edward. You know why more than anyone.”

“Nngh... Because Emma’s such a kindhearted girl. If someone is suffering, she will lend a hand, even if they’re in another country altogether. But Your Majesty, you know she’ll push herself to her limits. She’s frail! She’s delicate! We don’t know whether she can handle a voyage by sea, nor the change in environment in the Eastern Empire!” The prince couldn’t stand the thought of Emma in pain. He wanted to keep her as far away from danger or sadness as he could. All he wanted was for her to be happy. If she had to go to the Eastern Empire, then Edward wanted to do what he could to protect her. He beseeched the king, “I’ll go too.”

“Don’t be childish, Edward.” The queen, sitting on the king’s right side, shut down the prince instantly. “You can’t possibly be unaware of why the academy goes on break for two entire months despite being the most comfortable place in the capital.”

Indeed, the reason was that it was the most important social season for all nobles in the capital (one which the Stewart family skipped almost every year). Important people from different countries would travel to the capital for the occasion, and given that people in this world could only live in places covered by the barrier, international trade was a must. Even as the second-born prince, it would be unthinkable for him to be absent during this time. Maintaining good international relations was a very important part of the royal family’s job.

“Edward, I’m sure it will be all right. You know how Emma is. I just know she’ll be back with us for the new semester, looking bright and cheery as ever.” Rose, the king’s concubine, who sat at his left side, consoled the prince.

“Edward, the Stewart family has been hunting monsters along the border for some time. They are the only family out there who would be able to return at all from a land covered in monsters like that.”

Thus, the poor prince’s pleas went unheard.

◆ ◆ ◆

“What did you just say, Joshua?!” Daniel, who had just finished transporting large quantities of Pallas silk to the capital before the social season began, shouted.

“I’m going to the Eastern Empire over the summer break,” Joshua said, his gaze unwavering.

“We’ve been informed that the Western Empire had a poor cotton harvest last year. It’s very likely they’re going to raise the prices as a result. I told you we will need to negotiate with them, didn’t I?” Daniel asked, rubbing his temples.

The capital exported silk, and the Western Empire exported cotton. Silk was a luxury, but cotton was a necessity. Most commoners could only afford cotton, and many even wore hempen clothing. Even nobles hardly wore silk every day, so cotton was overwhelmingly the most common material. If the Western Empire raised the prices on cotton, it would be a major blow for the merchants. And even without that, they’d had far more expenses piling up recently.

“You did. And the information I gathered was that they haven’t had the luxury of harvesting cotton due to civilian uprisings in various parts of the Western Empire.”

“Where...did you get that information?”

“Because they’re stationed here in the capital. It’s only natural that I’d know this, as I am a merchant too.” If they were able to calm the Western Empire’s rebellious civilians, the matter of harvesting would be settled as well. However, he hadn’t heard anything good about the newly installed king. “In other words, it’s unlikely we can rely on cotton from the Western Empire for the foreseeable future. I believe we should adjust and tell our personnel to focus on getting more hemp into the country instead.”

“But that’s not...” The social season was the busiest and most important time of year for a merchant. They had to make sure they had stock of a variety of dresses and gemstones, and merchants from each other country would come by with their own merchandise, so they could stock up on inventory. This was especially important for merchants in the capital, as the capital couldn’t produce its own cotton, despite the high demand. Many other merchants and individuals were likely to stock up on their own, so being able to obtain the amount one needed depended on the merchant’s skill. And given that they were still dealing with the boycotts from the firstborn prince’s faction, having Joshua away from the capital would be a major blow to the Rothschild Company.

“The head of the firstborn prince’s faction is currently away from the capital, so I imagine we’ll be able to sell quite a bit of silk this year.”

“Duke Lance is away from the capital?” Daniel asked. Duke Lance was one of the four great dukes in the capital. While rumor said that the duke’s son had been behind the incident at the academy, all other information had been kept strictly secret, and hardly anyone knew what had really happened.

“As long as we’re not meeting merchants from the Western Empire, then the Rothschild Company will be just fine without me. Besides, anywhere the Stewarts are is bound to become an economic hub. I won’t be coming back from the Eastern Empire empty-handed.” Though it had been kept top secret, the Eastern Empire had a massive collection of magic stones. What was more, given how much Emma had been longing for rice and other foodstuffs from the Eastern Empire, Joshua was certain he could turn a profit on those ingredients in the capital as well.

“Joshua... You certainly have been putting in the work in the capital, haven’t you?” Joshua had become frighteningly good at his job. However, Daniel knew after having raised Joshua for so long that he had one fatal flaw. “What’s your real reason for going, Joshua?”

“The Stewart family recently employed four boys from the Eastern Empire. One of them is a boy named Miguel, and he’s getting along very well with Lady Emma, and he’s just always, always, always...!”

“I knew it...”

“He got his hooks in her by talking about bugs, and now he’s captured her stomach with his foreign cooking... What’s worse, I talked with him, and he’s a bright, cheerful, and a perfect gentleman!” And what if, while I’m not there...the two of them...the two of them...! “In other words, I don’t care what you say, father. I don’t even care if our whole company goes under. I’m going to the Eastern Empire.”

What was more, the Eastern Empire was dangerous. Joshua wouldn’t be able to handle finding out something had happened after the fact again, like he had with the localized barrier crisis. He’d been training his body into one that could protect Emma ever since. He might not be able to protect her with a sword like George or Prince Edward could, but he wanted to be by her side. He wanted to be by her always, watching over that angelic smile.

◆ ◆ ◆

Although he didn’t do it physically, Daniel wished he could heave a massive sigh. His son had changed so much since the day they’d first met Emma. He’d originally worried his son would be too much of an introvert for the merchant life, but he’d done a complete one-eighty once he’d met her. Although everything came with the preface that it was for Emma’s sake, he’d picked up work at an astonishing speed. He’d now managed to market the local products that had been hidden in the Pallas region, and was the greatest at distributing said goods around all the merchants. What was more, it would have been no exaggeration to say that he was the sole person able to contend with Emma’s ridiculous ideas and requests. Whatever products came out of that were certain to sell as well.

Everyone told Daniel that he had the perfect heir, and they certainly meant well. They’d say all that was left was to find Joshua a wife. With the money and talent Joshua had, he could have any woman he wanted, so they’d say Daniel should hurry up and get him hitched already...which was far easier said than done. After all, Joshua didn’t have any other choice. He only had room for one girl in his heart: Lady Emma Stewart.

If Emma were anybody else, Daniel wouldn’t be so exasperated. If she were any other girl, he would’ve happily gotten the two of them engaged just like everyone suggested. Unfortunately, she was Emma. And with Emma came her father Leonard, who was practically obsessive in his adoration of his daughter. Then there was her uncle Arven, who was completely niece-brained. And as though those two weren’t enough of a barrier, she’d gained the affections of the second-born prince Edward, and rumors of her being a saint had spread throughout the kingdom at a ridiculous speed.

Emma was no longer the kind of girl a wealthy merchant could marry. Joshua didn’t stand a chance...but even knowing that, his son was still pushing forward.

Thinking about his son’s future was a massive headache for poor Daniel.

Side Story 2: Playboy

The second-born prince was painfully aware of his own ignorance. Edward held his head in his hands as he sat in his office.

Even though school was out, the prince still had work to do. On his desk was the survey of all the high-ranked officials’ food distribution, which Emma had called into question during the royal ball. It was just as Emma had said: The amount of food distributed depended on the noble in charge at the time. To make things worse, more nobles than not were practically giving out nothing more than scraps. In those instances, no matter how one tried to divide it up, it wasn’t nearly enough food for a single meal, let alone an entire week’s worth.

“How were they supposed to live like this...?” The reports stated that the buildings in the slums were nearly in ruins, and were on the brink of collapse. Despite the dangers in the area, there was no way anyone could fortify their spaces because the doors and windows had practically already rotted off anyway. There wasn’t a single building with a roof, floor, and walls all in decent condition. What were they to do when the wind was stronger than usual? Or during the rain? Or when it was too hot or cold? How were they supposed to live?

“I’ve gone with my sister for food distribution duty before. I believe it was a different group of people almost every time, Your Highness,” Arthur responded with a stern expression. Since Arthur was generally alongside the prince as his bodyguard, his younger sister, Marion, was usually the Bell family’s representative for food distribution. Marion’s heart always broke for the poor children, and she’d wanted to do everything she could, but the other nobles frowned on people working outside their assigned weeks, and she had to keep up appearances, as stupid as they were. She’d had no choice but to give up. “I’d heard some who were of working age could get lucky enough to find work and leave the slums. Especially now, when there’s a lot of manual labor needed. But the children who are too young...”

The orphanages in the capital were always filled to capacity, and the surplus children wound up in the slums. Some parents from impoverished regions also abandoned their children in the slums to slim the number of mouths to feed. In their last bit of parental love, they believed that the slums would at least keep their children fed because of the food distribution system. However, given the actual state of the food distribution, the number of children who would even live long enough to become working age was likely only a handful.

The prince had wondered how they’d managed to live for so long...but the truth was that many of them hadn’t been able to live that long. Arthur could only think back to his sister’s helpless laments.

“Why didn’t I know this? They’re citizens of our country. As the royal family, they’re our citizens.” The prince’s heart hurt every time he looked at the reports. It was just like during the localized barrier crisis, when he’d cut the slime because he hadn’t known any better. The slums weren’t even far from him. It would only take an hour by carriage to get there from the castle. It was still well within the capital, so why had he gone so long knowing nothing about it?

Ignorance was a crime. He wasn’t about to live in a way where “doing nothing” was an option. It wasn’t right.

Edward stood from his seat and spoke with determination. “Arthur, get ready to go out. We’re going to the slums. I won’t be satisfied by just looking at reports.”

“What?! Y-Your Highness, you can’t!”

“As a part of the royal family, I have to see for myself.”

“Wait! Your Highness, wait! We can’t leave on a moment’s notice!”

“Please, Arthur.” The prince bowed his head. The royal family wasn’t meant to lower their heads so easily...but this wasn’t a simple problem.

The prince had never worn such a grave expression, and it was enough to make Arthur fold. After all, it was a bodyguard’s role to listen to the prince’s most selfish demands. “I... I understand. Give me one hour. I’ll find a way to get us permission and gather some of our strongest knights.”

“No, we don’t need anything that extravagant. We’ll be fine with just the two of us.”

“What?”

“I won’t be able to see or learn what I need if I’m surrounded by knights.”

“There’s no way they’ll let us do this, Your Highness...”

“Then we don’t have to tell them. The slums are still part of the capital, so it’s hardly any different from going to school.”

“You know how different it is!”

“You heard that Emma went there with only her brothers. I might not be as strong as George, but I’m certainly more physically capable than Emma and William. We’ll be fine.”

“But those three are always getting into trouble!” Arthur put his foot down, as those three were the last people the prince should have been taking inspiration from. There was the one incident with Robert (the fight in Monster Studies), the other incident with Robert (with the slime gelatin), the latest incident with Robert (the bugs)...

“Those were all Robert’s fault. How could you blame the victims for that?”

“I-I mean... I guess you’re right, but...” Arthur caught himself before he said the only reason the prince could say that was because he hadn’t seen how Emma had devoured the slime gelatin. It would be wrong for a knight to tarnish a young lady’s reputation like that, but the Stewart siblings (mostly Emma) were getting into more trouble than he was even aware of.

If only someone could have told him not to give in to the prince’s whims this time.

◆ ◆ ◆

In the public district, there was a strangely open area in the crowded streets. Standing idly right in the middle were Arthur and Prince Edward, who had disguised themselves as commoners. The prince and Arthur had compromised and come to the public district with Arthur as his only guard...but everyone’s reactions felt off still. They’d dressed in commoners’ clothes that Arthur had prepared, and the prince was wearing a large hat low on his head to cover his black hair and eyes. It was a perfect disguise, yet people around them still gave them a wide berth and kept glancing their way.

“Huh? Hey, isn’t that Lord Arthur? Oh, and...” The familiar voice calling from behind them grew softer. “Your Highness? What are you doing here?”

Arthur turned toward the voice. “Oh! George!” George, the Stewart family’s eldest son, was wearing conspicuously patched-together clothes, carrying a ton of luggage, and giving the two a confused look. “I could ask you the same question!” Arthur asked, worried something might have happened to George to have him in such servants’ rags.

“Who, me? Uh... I’m, uh... ’Scuse me for a sec.” George lowered his voice and spoke to the prince, who was looking around him. “Your Highness, I’m by myself today. Emma’s at home studying owa—I mean, just studying! She’s not here.”

The prince, who had perked up thinking he’d get to see Emma outside of school, was deflated in an instant. “O-Oh! That’s rather unusual for the three of you to be apart...”

“Well, Emma can’t exactly leave the house on her days off right now...” With Emma being the Herald of Hullabaloos and all, she was under strict observation with her mother Melsa and her grandmother Hilda working in shifts to watch her around the clock everywhere except school. At that moment, she was likely at home, dutifully studying the information on owatas her mother had brought home.

“Oh, the incident at the school was awfully taxing, after all...” the prince said, trailing off. “No matter how she pushed herself to go to school and pretend to be okay, there’s no way she could recover so quickly from such a horrible experience.”

“Emma...” Arthur and the prince’s expressions darkened when they heard Emma couldn’t leave the house.

George raised an eyebrow. “Huh? I mean... Y’know, let’s just leave it at that. So, what’re you doing here? You’re all dressed up like a couple of highfalutin’ nobles sneaking into the public district for some mischief or something.”

“What?”

“I had some business in the slums, so I was just on my way there,” George continued, shifting the load he was carrying.

Arthur and the prince had really thought they’d put on decent commoner disguises, but apparently they’d been seen right through. Though they were wearing more casual fare than usual, the two of them were still openly carrying swords, their belts were fitted with pure silver, and there wasn’t a single scuff on their shoes. They looked so suspicious that the shopkeepers were all on guard and had asked George to go see what the weird-looking nobles wanted.

To people in the public district who just wanted to live in peace, nothing was more of a nuisance than nobles thinking they could “casually” sneak into brothels or buy some of that “feel-good” grass. Most lords who came by for those purposes had a snooty attitude, and the swords, belts, and shoes were all the kinds of things muggers would go after, so trouble practically came hand in hand with them. And while it could maybe be considered cute if these nobles felt bad after learning their lesson, many of them would instead call their bodyguards to come get revenge. Every time that happened, all sorts of places in town would get damaged in the process. It was honestly more than they could bear.

That was why the townspeople were watching the prince and Arthur from afar, and the women and children were keeping their distance so they couldn’t get yelled at for “bumping into them.” It was understandable that when they’d spotted George—whom they’d seen spending a lot of time around the Rothschild Company employees—they’d ask him to do something about it.

“It’s dangerous to go to the slums by yourself, George! You need at least five guards to keep you safe!” Arthur scolded him, knowing that the siblings had just gotten into trouble for going there by themselves.

“It’s totally fine, though? I mean, I say I’m going to the ‘slums’ to make it easier to understand, but it’s Stewart family territory now.” It was his own territory, so naturally, George wasn’t all that concerned about swinging by.

“Right... It’s Stewart family territory already...” Arthur mumbled.

Upon Emma’s request, the Stewart family had been gifted the slums as a reward from the royal family for their many meritorious deeds. The memory was still fresh in Arthur’s mind. There were all sorts of procedures that had to be sorted out with royal gifts, and they’d gotten started on the process right away.

The prince thought for a moment, then grinned.

“Your Highness?” Arthur had a bad feeling about this.

“George, would it be all right if we went with you to the slums...I mean, the new Stewart territory?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Your Highness! George! You can’t both just agree on that like it’s nothing! George, what would you do if something happened to the prince?!” Arthur shook his head emphatically, knowing now his gut feeling had been validated. This was not what he and Edward had agreed on. However, because he got himself worked up over this, he’d raised his voice ever so slightly on the busy street.

One of the shopkeepers, who happened to overhear the word among their hushed tones, pulled George over by the sleeve. “Wh-Whoa... Hold up! George, did he just say the prince?”

“Huh? Oh, that’s uh...y’know! These two are...uh...traveling performers! Yeah! They’re like...actors...for a new play... So they’re like...wearing their costumes out for a uh...dress rehearsal or something...” George knew if people found out the second-born prince had graced the public district with his presence, it would cause a huge scene, so he hastily came up with a crappy excuse.

Arthur realized his mistake and zipped his lips while hiding the prince behind him. This looked like it could turn into a major issue, and it was his own fault. Even if George had been put on the spot, his excuse was ridiculously bad. While Arthur was grateful that George had tried to cover for him, it was so obviously suspicious that it made them look even more suspect than before. There was no way anyone would ever fall for such a...

“Oh, I knew it! I was just thinking how handsome those two were! It makes sense if they’re actors!”

“If a couple of hunks like them are gonna be onstage, you bet I’ll be there!”

“And just look at how lovely that boy in the hat is! What I wouldn’t give for him to come by my shop...”

Or...maybe they would. The townsfolk all fell for it hook, line, and sinker. Apparently, Arthur’s good looks were more convincing than George’s ridiculously suspicious reaction. All the districts’ middle-aged ladies, who had initially been looking on from afar, came rushing out.

Well, it wouldn’t do for a Bell, who came from a long line of knights, to shrink back in front of such lovely ladies. He put a hand on the prince’s shoulder and showed his brightest smile.

“My name is Art, and this shy young man is Ed. We’re pleased to make your acquaintance, Madams.” He gave a coy look at the women, placed a hand to his chest, and bowed for them.

“Eeee!” The women squealed with delight at the handsome, perfect gentleman before them, their voices ringing all throughout the public district.

George and Edward could only marvel at Arthur, as he waved at the screeching crowd.

“Lord Arthur is incredible... He got all the old—er, I mean, young ladies making heart eyes at him in an instant...”

“Maybe he’s more cut out for acting than knighthood.”

The prince noticed two children crying out, cutting through the sea of women flocking to Arthur.

“Lord George!”

“Hmm?” The two children were wearing matching purple outfits, making them look quite put together. They seemed more well-to-do than most in the public district. The prince let George know they were calling for him, and the children cried out when they knew they had his attention.

“Lord George! There’s been another robbery!”

“They hit Harold and everything!”

George sighed in irritation. “Again?! Ugh, they do this every time there’s nobody on guard! All right, I’ll take care of it! Show me the way!”

“Okay! It’s this way!”

“Your Hi—I mean, Ed! Something came up, so you take care and get home safe, okay?” George said before he took off after the children.

“Art, you really are such a handsome fellow...” one of the women cooed.

“Why, I’m over the moon to hear that from such a lovely lady as yourself. Ah... Wait, where’d George go? And Ed?!”

“Hmm? Oh, they went running toward the slums!” The shopkeeper pointed, and Arthur followed her gaze only to see George and Prince Edward disappear around a corner after two children.

“Aaagghhh! Your Highness!” Arthur shrieked. “I told you that you couldn’t leave my side for a second!” He gave a quick bow to the ladies and took off toward the corner the prince had disappeared around.

The women stood in silence for a moment.

“That was awfully dashing of him, wasn’t it?”

“It sure was!”

“It was like he actually was a real knight!”

“I bet he’ll make a stupendous actor.”

“Let’s all cheer him on!”

Even after Arthur left, the women continued their excited fangirling.

◆ ◆ ◆

Slam!

A tall, thin man slammed into a pile of hard bricks.

“Harold!” Two children came running toward him with worry. When the man saw them, he shouted.

“You idiots! I told you to stay away!”

They ignored the man’s protestations and desperately began removing bricks that had fallen atop him. “But you’re gonna die, bro!” they wailed.

“Look, it ain’t like we took all of it. Nobody’s gonna know if we just take a little!” Even the man who had sent Harold flying into the wall winced at the sight. No matter how many times they hit him, Harold wouldn’t acquiesce.

“These bricks were given to the slums by the Stewart family. They used the taxes from the Pallas region to supply us with them. I can’t just let anyone have them. Besides, the Rothschild Company brought them to us. If even a single brick is missing, they’ll know.”

After the coup d’état attempt the previous year, the price of building supplies like bricks had risen steeply. The Stewarts had provided the slums with materials to help with rebuilding efforts, but people were constantly coming by to try to steal them and make a quick buck. They usually had people standing guard from the Rothschild Company, but some people were persistent enough to lie in wait for times when they weren’t present.

“The hell’s a twig like you tryin’ so hard for, anyway?!” Another man approached with a nasty grin and grabbed Harold by the collar of his shirt, lifting him with one hand like it was nothing. Despite how tall Harold was, even his feet came off the ground.

“Hngh...!”

“Harold!”

“Hand over the bricks if you wanna live! Do you have any idea who we are? We’re the big bad bruiser-brawlers, Aiden and Caiden!” The man who’d lifted Harold had a smug, self-satisfied look on his face as he introduced himself.

“Uh...”

“Huh?”

Neither Harold nor the children had ever heard their names before. Harold generally stayed in and kept to himself while painting, and these children were still pretty new to the slums, so they hadn’t been made aware of anyone like that. Regardless of how famous these ruffians might have been in the slums, their names didn’t do much for a shut-in painter and a couple of new kids on the block.

“Oh, that’s it! You’re all gettin’ a beatdown! You’ll be cryin’ for mercy when I’m done with ya!”

“Lord George! They’re over here!”

“Whoa, Harold’s off the ground!”

“Urgh, you guys...!” Harold grimaced, still being held aloft by the man. He thought he’d gotten the children out of harm’s way, but they were back again. What was worse, they brought George with them. “I-I’ll be fine! Just get out of here!”

While the kids saw George as someone older, the boy was smack-dab in the “child” category for Harold. And although his clothes let him fit right in with the slums, he actually was the son of a count. If George wound up getting hurt, there was a high chance it wouldn’t just be the ruffians getting the book thrown at them—even Harold and the kids could be in trouble.

“Are you okay, Harold?! I’m here to help!” Unfortunately, George wasn’t intuitive enough to pick up on Harold’s inner thoughts. He saw the man lifting Harold up in the air, dropped everything he was carrying, and started running even faster.

“Whoa! Where do you think you’re goin’, buddy?” The other man stood in George’s way. He was licking his lips at the prospect of having a new punching bag to play with.

“Stop! He has nothing to do with this! I’m who you want!” Harold was already beaten to a pulp, but he was still trying to hold their attention. He couldn’t take the thought of seeing any children get hurt.

“Oh, don’t worry about me. I’m pretty strong.” George kept his smile in front of the man blocking his way.

“Don’t be stupid! Get out of here!” This is exactly why you nobles are such a pain, Harold thought. He desperately tried to wriggle free to save George, but the man holding him up was far too strong and he couldn’t budge. “Damn it all!”

Young lords are taught basic sword techniques from a young age. However, that training was only going to backfire in a situation like this. These boys all thought they were strong, but their strength only went so far as the classroom. They were nothing more than schoolboys with no actual experience. That kind of child’s play wasn’t going to cut it in a survival of the fittest situation like this.

“No, seriously. I’ll be fine, Harold.” George said, scratching his head awkwardly over Harold’s worried expression. “I know what it looks like, but I’ve got plenty of experience.” George gave Harold a confident thumbs-up.

“Then don’t look away, you idiot!” Harold shouted.

The man standing in front of George swung a sucker punch right at George’s face.

Crack!

“Aaaaagh!” A horrible, bone-breaking sound rang out and the man collapsed to his knees, clutching his hand. Not George—the man who had attacked him.

“Huh?”

“Lord George, that was amazing!”

Even after getting hit, George was standing as though nothing had happened.

“Oh, sorry, man... You okay? You came at me outta nowhere so I wound up taking it on the forehead. I guess everyone always says I’m pretty hardheaded, so...you probably broke your finger, huh?” George scratched his head again and extended his hand out to the crouching man.

“You little punk! You think you got the best of me?!”

“Huh?”

The man slapped George’s hand away, fell onto his back, and aimed a kick at George’s neck. A knife jutted from his leather shoes, and even just a scratch with it would have been a fatal wound. It didn’t matter how cowardly it was; victory would go to whoever lived to tell the tale.

“George!”

When Prince Edward and Arthur came running, the knife in the man’s shoe was only centimeters away from George’s throat. Both of them reached out to rescue him, but they couldn’t possibly make it in time.

“Oh, hey, you two! I didn’t know you were coming along!” George turned to face them, and at the same time grabbed the foot aimed at him without even looking. “Whoa, you’ve got a knife in your shoe! It’s like you’re a ninja or something!” George brought his face closer to the foot he’d just grabbed to get a closer look at the knife. The man knew it would’ve been the perfect opportunity to stab George in the eye, but he couldn’t move his foot a single centimeter.

“Wha— What’s going on?! Let go of me! Hello?!” The man’s legs were stronger than his arms, but no matter how much he struggled, he couldn’t pull his leg away.

“I can if you promise to be a good boy and head home.” George said with a sweet expression.

“Like hell! You think I’m just gonna take this lying do—”

That was all George needed to hear. He swung his own leg over the left leg in his hand like he was going to straddle it, then in a practiced movement, caught the man’s right leg, twisted it, and slammed him backward. In other words, he was doing the figure-four leg lock. It was a wrestling move he used to use on Peyta when they’d play-wrestle in their previous life, so it felt pretty nostalgic to use it again. “Ow! What the hell?! Owowowow!” The man screamed in pain.

“What the hell are you doing, Aiden?! Quit screwin’ around!”

The figure-four leg lock didn’t exist in this world, so the man going through it was experiencing a bizarre kind of pain, fully reduced to a mess of confusion and fear. No matter how much he screamed and shouted, nobody could have understood what he was feeling.

“You promise to go home now?” George asked the man again. There weren’t many who could say no when they were locked down like that.

“P-Promise! I swear! I’m begging you, let go of meeeee— Owowowowow!”

“Son of a... Aiden, quit acting like you run the show here!” Having heard his partner suddenly surrender, the other man threw Harold to the ground and rushed to hit George.

“George!” Edward and Arthur put their hands to their swords, but George reacted faster. He released the figure-four and dodged the incoming fist with ease, then caught it in the air. From there, in another (seemingly) practiced move, he leaped up, wrapped his legs around the man’s head, swung himself around, and slammed the assailant to the ground. In other words, he did a flying arm bar on the man. Considering it was so dangerous, George had only ever seen it on TV, but with how strong he’d become from all of his monster hunting, he was able to do it with ease.

“Ow! Owowowow!” Just like the first man, this man also howled in pain. The flying arm bar wasn’t a move that existed in this world either.

“I dunno what you just did, but it was awesome, Lord George!” The kids watching the scene started egging George on with cheers as the man screamed. Getting to see a massively successful pin like that was always fun.

“I-I-I give! I’m begging you! Please, just let me go!”

Once George let them go, the two cocky would-be bandits took off with their tails between their legs.

◆ ◆ ◆

“I’m so sorry. Thanks for the help, but please don’t stick your neck into something so dangerous next time, okay?” Harold warned George. His heart seriously wouldn’t be able to take it if George got hurt.

“You worry too much, Harold. Those were just people! It’s not like people can breathe fire or spew poison mist or self-destruct or anything. I’m totally fine!” George laughed. His usual opponents were monsters on the border of the barrier. “Humans’ vital spots are all in the same place, so it doesn’t matter if you hit ’em, or cut ’em, or squeeze ’em, or stretch ’em, or twist ’em, it’ll still do damage. It’s a lot less to think about!” With some monsters, no matter how much you hit them, the strikes would bounce right off. Some would split into multiples when you cut them. Some would unleash a horrible smell if you squeezed them. Some would change colors when you tried to stretch them out. Some would sprout little baby forms if you twisted them.

“R-Right.” Harold and George clearly lived in different worlds. The artist swore right then and there that he was never going to the border.

“Lord George! Teach us how to do the cool stunts you did to beat those guys!”

“It was so cool!”

“Yeah!”

The children, who had the privilege of being the first in this world to ever see the figure-four lock and flying arm lock, were completely hooked.

“Oh, that? That’s called a figure-four leg lock and a flying arm lock.”

“Yon...what?”

“That’s not what he said! He said yo...dademe? And uh...udeme...?”

“Lord George, what the heck did you just say?”

The kids were all confused, like the names of the attacks were all Greek to them.

“I said they’re called a figure-four leg lock and— Wait! I must be saying that in Japa—I mean, the Eastern imperial language!” The kids’ terrible ability to pick up what George had said was just like when Joshua couldn’t understand the words haramaki and kairo around the ninjas. “Er... They’re moves in professional wrestling... Er, shoot. You probably don’t understand that...uh... They’re submission holds? Yeah! It’s a way to get your opponent to submit to you!” George tried to find words in the kingdom’s language that would describe the moves.

“Submission holds? So wait, does that mean there’s a bunch more?!”

“Show us how you did those, Lord George!”

“They were so, so, so cool!”

Apparently, seeing pro wrestling moves and wanting to try them was a trait in both Japanese and kingdom-born children.

“Er... I feel like it’s not really appropriate to teach kids how to pin someone into submission like that. I’ll teach you when you get older, okay?” George put a stop to this, knowing the excitable kids would just wind up getting hurt if they tried what he’d done.

“Pfft... C’mon, George... Don’t put it like that...” Arthur snorted, unable to hold back his laughter.

“Huh?”

While George meant “submission” as the way someone would straddle an opponent for a pin, apparently the meaning that came across in the kingdom’s language was...a little bit different. Arthur was desperately trying to hold back his laughter, while Edward stood behind him, his face bright red up to his ears with an awkward expression.

“Huh?” Unfortunately, George didn’t realize what he’d said to embarrass the prince so badly.

“By the way, I take it these two obviously rich boys sneaking out without permission or guards to cause trouble are friends of yours, George?” Harold asked with a furrowed brow. He had a bad feeling about all this.

“Right?! If you’d been walking around looking like that in the slums a few months ago, you woulda gotten swindled for sure!”

“You gotta be more careful!”

The children piled on the warnings to Arthur and Edward as well.

“Huh? Oh, this is the second-born prince Edward and Lord Arthur of the Bell family. I ran into them in the public district.” While George had come up with a shoddy excuse in the public district, he gave a totally honest introduction in the slums.

“George, what are you doing?!” Arthur panicked over what might happen if they were exposed in such a place. If rumors started popping up, they’d be in serious trouble.

“Oh, it’ll be fine! The people of our land have tight lips! Right, Harold?” Before the slum kids were allowed to work, they were strictly taught how to tell what information was secret and what wasn’t. Things like where Harold found the raw materials for his pigments, how they made their silk, the existence of the giant cats and bugs, how the count’s daughter would sometimes stay overnight in the slums...in fact, there were more things they had to keep their mouths shut about than not. Therefore, the children were well aware that they shouldn’t talk about the fact that the prince and the son of a duke had sneaked into the slums either. Thanks to Harold’s daily teachings, these kids could keep a secret.

While George casually asked Harold to confirm this, the man in question was terribly alarmed.

“Is that seriously what you’re asking me right now?!” While he’d had a vague idea that they were nobles poorly pretending to be commoners, he never would have expected they were the prince and the son of one of the four great dukes. He shot George a furious glare and had the kids all line up. “C’mon, kids! You have to bow! I’m gonna do it first, so you watch and learn! And do it right after me!”

Harold performed a perfect bow before the prince. Though the children watched him carefully and did their best to mimic it, their first attempts weren’t very polished.

“I apologize for our rudeness, Your Highness. These kids—I mean, these children still don’t know how to do a proper bow. I hope you can forgive them.” Forgetting to bow before the royal family could, in a worst-case scenario, be punishable by death. Given that the children of the slums were orphans with no one to look after them, they were easily disposable.

“It’s quite all right. I’m at fault for hiding my identity.” Edward dismissed the bows with an awkward expression. He wanted to say they didn’t need to bow to him outside of formal occasions, but on the off chance they happened to run into other members of the royal family, he couldn’t guarantee they’d be as forgiving. After all, there were some in the royal family like his uncle—who’d led the attempted coup in the capital—who believed the royal family was above all.

“Rather, I find it unusual that someone who isn’t a noble could do a royal bow with such precision.” Arthur was surprised to see that Harold’s bow would have put many nobles to shame.

“Yeah, ’cause our bro knows everything!”

“He knows lots about nobles too!”

The children started bragging happily after hearing Arthur compliment Harold.

“Cut it out, you little punks! Er...well, I know how things look now, but there was a time when I used to paint engagement portraits for nobles...” Harold mumbled, averting his gaze. It made sense for a man who came to live in the slums to potentially have had some tragic fall from grace.

“Hmm... Y’know, maybe it’d be better to focus on etiquette instead of reading and writing while we’re here in the capital. Emma and William are busy going through all that owata information, so maybe I should talk to mother and grandmother about getting an etiquette coach over here...” From the reactions of the people in the public district when Arthur and the prince showed up looking like “a couple of troublemaking rich boys sneaking out and pretending to be commoners” and the incident with Harold’s injury when the Stewarts first came to the slums, it seemed like the nobles were more likely to cause problems than any of the ruffians there. Maybe if the kids learned some very basic level etiquette, they’d eventually get to the point where other nobles wouldn’t get mad at them anymore.

Emma said she wanted to have a building that could function as a school for the slums, so George thought it might be better to make the scale a little bigger for these purposes. He started picturing the slums’ layout in his mind.

He’d volunteered to help with repairing and rebuilding the slums using his knowledge from his previous life as a foreman, but it was starting to look like it would be a bigger project than he initially thought. Still, compared to how Emma and William were poring over every last scrap of information in the Eastern Empire and the kingdom on owatas (with some of them even in the Ancient Western Empire’s language), his was the easier task.

Just as George began to lose himself in his thoughts, a few lively voices rang out.

“Oh, it’s Lord George!”

“Lord George!”

“Yaaay, it’s Lord George! Hiii!”

Apparently, some of the little girls from the slums had finished their tailoring work. They came running over once they saw George.

“Oh hey! Welcome back, girls. Were you tailoring today?” They’d all been carrying fabric home to dye with Harold’s handmade pigments, but apparently they were so excited to talk to George, they had to stop.

“All the girls love Lord George,” the slum children whispered to Arthur and Edward. While the girls at school all kept a fair distance from him because he had such a stern appearance, the girls here (who were all very young) flocked to him.

“So he’s a real ladies’ man, then. Makes sense.” Arthur laughed.

◆ ◆ ◆

A few days later...

“Seeing it really was far different from just hearing about it.” Edward murmured as he was moving to his next class with Arthur.

After all that ruckus, they’d been shown around the slums, and the prince had been shocked by just how much older, more damaged, and unsafe all the buildings were and just how large the orphan population was. It was all far worse than he’d imagined. While the Stewart family was speedily making progress in improving the conditions there, there were still plenty of places they hadn’t gotten to yet.

However, despite their crude living conditions, the children there were shockingly motivated. They were studying and working with far more enthusiasm and excitement than any of the lords and ladies who were attending school without any hurdles holding them back.

Arthur nodded in agreement. “That’s for certain. I was surprised by the state of things as well. All the girls were already able to read and write simple sentences, and the boys were all weirdly knowledgeable about bugs... What’s more, I had a servant ask around and there apparently hasn’t been a single rumor about us sneaking out into the slums.”

“Some of them weren’t even old enough to have received a tutor if they were nobles, but they were studying all the same. I suppose the ones who saw us really did listen to George and keep it to themselves.” Just as George had said, the people of the Stewart land had tight lips. They understood the assignment on both a fundamental and practical level.

“Oh, speak of the devil! It’s George!”

George was walking in front of them looking more than a bit puzzled. When he noticed Arthur waving to him, he looked up and responded. “Oh, Your Highness and Lord Arthur! Hello there.”

“Hmm? Where are Lady Emma and William?” Arthur asked, knowing Edward likely wanted to see Emma. George’s siblings were almost always with him while at school, but they were nowhere to be found.

“Oh, they’re already on their way to their next class. I dunno why, but I was told to come see Professor Wolfgang in the counseling office...”

“What? Professor Wolfgang’s in charge of counseling on top of teaching...” Arthur gave the prince a look, as if to ask, What did George do?

“Uh... Yeah, I seriously have no idea why I’m being called in...” He’d actually thought things had been a lot less crazy lately since Emma had been focusing on dealing with owatas, and it was weird for him to be the only one being called upon, so he really was confused.

“Eep!”

“Oh! Sorry about that. Are you all right?”

George had stopped in the middle of the hall to talk to Arthur and the prince, and a girl who hadn’t been looking where she was going bumped into him.

“No, I should apologize to yo— L-Lord George?! Ah... I-I’m so terribly sorry!” Although George immediately helped the girl, who’d staggered after her bump, the moment she saw who she’d run into, her face went bright red and she rushed away.

After watching the girl take off, Arthur and Edward turned back to George.

“George, what did you do?”

“George?”

“Huh?”

George knew he hadn’t touched her inappropriately or anything, but she’d completely changed her attitude the second she saw his face.

“Look, isn’t that the older Stewart brother...?”

“Looks like the rumors were true...”

“And here I thought he was more straitlaced than that...”

All the students who noticed the girl running kept their distance from George and started whispering.

“Wha...?”

Afterward, George’s voice could be heard screaming “It’s all a big misunderstanding!” from the counseling office.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Let’s call it a day.” Melsa, who had taken on the role of teaching the children of the slums etiquette at George’s behest, let out a sigh.

“Is something the matter, Lady Melsa?” The kids were worried by her despondent expression.

“Oh, I’m sorry, kids. I’ve just been trying to figure out how to get my children interested in romance.” Melsa had done everything she could, attending tea parties and more since she’d come to the capital, but with her stern-faced gorilla son, her old-man-and-bug-loving daughter, and her youngest liking them really, really young, the search for love was still in stormy seas for them all. “I’d like to at least get George engaged sometime this year...”

While she hadn’t given up on Emma or William, it would be too difficult to break through their particular tastes at the time. Especially with the rumors of Emma being a saint or whatnot. Even if she offered Emma as a potential partner, more and more suitors were turning her down, saying they weren’t worthy.

The kids, however, were quite confused by Melsa’s lamentations. “Wait, but...Lord George is super popular with girls, Lady Melsa!”

“I know. He’s quite popular with little girls. But I still can’t seem to find him a fiancée...” While George was well-liked by girls, they were unfortunately far too young for him, and Melsa wasn’t willing to wait. “I just want to hold a grandchild of my own soon...” Melsa sighed again.

Once Melsa went home, the children began to discuss what they’d heard.

“I think it’s just that noble girls aren’t into Lord George.”

“That can’t be it! Lord George is so handsome and dependable!”

“Yeah, what she said!”

George was immensely popular among the younger girls. They immediately came together to deny the first boy’s suggestion.

“But you saw the way Lady Melsa was sighing!”

“They just don’t understand how wonderful he is, I’m sure!”

“Then we should tell everyone what makes Lord George so awesome!”

The children were all so grateful to the Stewart family, and they’d always wanted to take every opportunity to repay them. They all agreed this would be the right course.

If only Harold had been there, then this tragedy could have been avoided. Unfortunately, Harold was at one of the Rothschild Company’s stores painting that day, so he was absent. Perhaps if Huey, one of the more perceptive children from the slums (who had originally pickpocketed George’s monster karuta set) had been there, they could have avoided all this. Unfortunately, Huey was busy with work at the Stewart household (one of the most popular jobs among the slums kids), and he was gone that day as well. There was nobody there to stop them, so their (well-intentioned) conversation continued.

“So one of Lord George’s best qualities is that he’s strong, right?”

“Yeah, he took out those brick burglars like it was nothing, right? I wish I could’ve seen it...”

“Yeah! It was so cool! What was it he called them? Submission something?”

“That was it! He’s super good at straddling people into submission!”

“But he said us kids weren’t supposed to do it... Lord George said there were even more techniques than the ones we saw too!”

“Oh, and we should make sure everyone knows girls love him too!”

“Lord George is so kind, and dependable, and grown-up, and...and...”

“Okay, so basically, Lord George knows a ton of submission techniques, he’s super good at pinning people down, and girls everywhere love him, right?”

“Yeah, that’s perfect! If we bring it up around the tailors when going to work, it’ll probably spread through the shopping district and the noblewomen will have to hear it!”

“Oh! And we should say that he’s super nice, so he’s happy to play with anyone too! I heard noblewomen are kinda shy, so maybe this’ll make it easier to talk to him!”

“Ooooh, great idea!”

These completely well-intentioned rumors about George did indeed spread from the shopping district to the aristocratic district to the school in no time flat. This purehearted move from the children of the slums instead pushed Melsa’s dream of holding a grandbaby a little bit farther away.

Side Story 3: The Secret School Club

The academy in the capital had many independent, student-run clubs. For instance, when Melsa’s mother Hilda (aka the Etiquette Demon) had been a student, she had used empty classrooms to give lessons on how to find the perfect angle for bowing. That tradition had been passed down and was now the Etiquette Club. Young lords hoping to become knights made jousting clubs. Some had social clubs to help network in high society. Some were latching onto the latest dance fads with dance clubs. The students at school came up with clubs left and right to help them mingle.

Before Monster Studies class one day, Emma was invited to the Embroidery Club by one of the Advanced Embroidery students who had taken notice of Emma’s skill. While they wanted an answer sooner rather than later, Emma hadn’t even known there were any clubs at school, so she’d had no idea what to expect. To help Emma understand, the twins told her about the clubs they were a part of.

“We were invited to a club where we learn about different hairstyles, right Caitlyn?”

“We meet up in the lounge in the girls’ dorms after dinner, right, Catherine?”

“There are quite a few girls in the Embroidery Club, so I think you can join without any worries.” Francesca added, warning Emma that there were some weird clubs at school that she should watch out for. Some were just excuses for the higher-ranked students to make themselves feel more important, some just did the bare minimum of club activities so they wouldn’t get caught by the instructors, and some wouldn’t let anyone even know what they were doing.

“I’m in the knight club myself. Our Swordsmanship instructor is our adviser, so we’re even permitted to have matches against each other, though it’s with practice swords, naturally. The Embroidery Club should have a teacher adviser as well.” Marion added, explaining that while outsiders weren’t allowed on campus, teachers could be advisers for the clubs.

George’s interest was piqued by Marion’s explanation. “Wow! You can actually have mock-fights? That sounds awesome! I barely get any physical activity outside of father’s early morning training and our Hunting Techniques class, so I feel like I’m getting kinda rusty.”

“You. Are. Fine, George.” William and Joshua, who had just finished Hunting Techniques class and were still trying to catch their breath, were muttering curses at the human gorilla before them.

“Hmm... Well, my schedule’s a bit too packed to do any club activities, but maybe I’ll think about it after summer break,” Emma said, carefully omitting that she was busy studying owatas. “Oh, it looks like Professor Wolfgang’s here, everyone!”

Just as the bell rang signaling the beginning of class, the door opened and the Monster Studies instructor entered. Wolfgang Garianno had a terrifyingly stern face and was an imposing beefcake of a silver fox (according to Emma). The moment he appeared, the students all sat up straight out of fear and nervousness. Only Emma, the old man lover herself, was utterly taken with his bald head and thick neck muscles.

Gosh, if Professor Garianno were a club adviser, I’d join in a heartbeat... But Professor Marcus has that mysterious vibe about him that makes him a promising prospect too...

“Emma Stewart! Quit spacing out! How do you best defeat this monster?”

“Oh, I know! Salamanders are monsters that can summon flames at will, so the best way to take them down is with a full frontal assault with lots and lots of water. Unfortunately, since water is a valuable commodity on the border and it would take a lot more water than we could afford to take one down, we tend to use physical assaults in Pallas. I recommend bows and arrows or spears so you can keep your distance from the flames!”

“R-Really...?” Professor Wolfgang was shocked. He’d never heard this before. In fact, he’d heard that a salamander’s flames were so strong that even if you tried to use ranged attacks instead of water, it wouldn’t be enough to keep one from getting burned.

“Yes indeed, Professor! You see, their actual bodies are quite cool, so you can use their skin on your burns to help them heal faster!”

“Y-You can?”

In fact, in the Pallas region, they were in the process of developing a product using large cuts of salamander skin to help reduce fever by placing them over the patients’ foreheads. Even if a sheet of skin grew damp because of the fever, all one had to do was place it over a fire, and it’d cool once more, making it something one could use near-permanently. The only problem was that it was a bit smelly, but they’d asked the Rothschild Company to find a work-around for it.

“Lady Emma, the rest is a trade secret, so if you could...” Joshua put his finger to his lips to quiet her.

“Also, when salamanders think they’re in danger, they can cut off their own tails to escape. Which means you can raise—”

“Lord George! Trade secret!” Joshua clamped his hand over George’s mouth. His treatment of Emma and George was completely different, but that was just how things were. “Lady Emma’s ingenuity is worth more than a thousand gold coins! I can’t have anyone stealing her ideas in a place like this!”

Turning Emma’s ingenuity into actual money was Joshua’s duty and his reason for living. He wouldn’t let anyone get in the way of that—not even her older brother.

“Er... Well, then...let’s continue. Open your textbooks to page seventy. Salamanders are monsters that look like lizards covered in flame. It can use those flames to attack at will, so they’re very dangerous. Do you all hear me? I’ll say it again. Salamanders are very dangerous monsters.”

Even if Emma’s ideas could be “worth thousands of gold pieces,” as Joshua said, the professor had to wonder who in their right mind would go out hunting salamanders in the first place. Wolfgang simply couldn’t fathom the mindset of people born on the border. He valued being alive, after all. Salamanders were so fearsome, even a Monster Studies instructor like him couldn’t be sure he could defeat them one-on-one. So how in the world were they getting tons of them to...raise(???) or processing them for merchandise? All the students in his class were terrified just seeing the pictures of salamanders breathing fire in their textbooks.

It was likely that George would hunt them, Joshua would stockpile them, raise them, and process them for sale. But that only worked for those kids. Normal people...in fact, even normal hunters wouldn’t dare suggest physical attacks to avoid “wasting water.”

“I’ll repeat myself one more time. Salamanders are extremely dangerous monsters.” All Wolfgang could do was drill home to his students how dangerous salamanders were, so his students, who were not from the border, didn’t get it into their heads that they could handle them.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Hey, sis? I’ve kinda got a thing to do today, so...” After Monster Studies, as they were all headed toward the courtyard to get lunch at the food court and eat together, William excused himself from the group.

“Wait, again?”

“Yeah. I’ll be sure to be back in time for the next class.” William said, then sped away without even saying what he was going to be doing.

“Lord William’s been quite busy during lunch these days, hasn’t he?” Francesca said as she watched him leave.

“He’s always hanging around us older girls, so he might just feel awkward around us. Perhaps he’s found some boys his own age to spend time with? My brother and Prince Edward have been so busy with palace work, they haven’t even been able to attend classes either...” Marion said, attempting to empathize.

“Hmm...” George and Emma were both tilting their heads. Marion said he was hanging around “older kids,” but considering he had memories of being in his thirties in his previous life, they figured everyone would feel younger than him.

“I really hope he’s not up to anything weird...” While Emma, with her memories of her previous life, frankly couldn’t trust Peyta as far as she could throw him...

“Lady Emma! I’ve brought macarons for us today.”

“Macarons?! Then let’s hurry to the courtyard!”

With just a simple word from Joshua, Emma’s focus went entirely from William to macarons instead.

◆ ◆ ◆

Meanwhile, in a classroom that was empty thanks to the students leaving for lunch, William was skulking around, trying to keep a low profile. If he were in Japan and his mental age matched his youthful appearance, one might assume he’d found a stray cat and was sneaking off to give it food in secret. Unfortunately, this was another world, in the kingdom, and William’s mental age was that of a dirty-minded, thirtyish-year-old man. After carefully checking to make sure nobody was around, he knocked on the door of one of the classrooms.

“What’s the password?” a nervous voice asked from within.

William swallowed, checked to make sure nobody was around again, and responded, “Pigtails, oversized sleeves, miniskirts, and thigh highs.”

The door opened and several young boys welcomed William in.

“You’re late, Mr. President! You know we can only meet during lunch!”

“I know. Sorry, VP.” William sighed and placed his bag on the desk inside.

This was one of those clubs that Emma could never know about. It was one of those weird clubs Francesca had mentioned. The worst kind of all: the kind that never let anyone know what they were doing. In fact, it was so secret, not a soul even knew it existed. And its name was The 2D Cutie Appreciation Club. It was a club William had made, and was the one place on campus he felt could heal his tired soul.

“I know this is sudden, but I’ve gotten some new works from our sworn brother, Lord Carne Lombart,” William said, pulling a sketchbook from his bag.

“Hell yes!” all the members of the club cried with excitement. They’d been waiting for this moment.

Carne Lombart, the second son of Marquis Lombart, was a man who’d graduated from the academy with exceptional grades two years prior...and a diehard lolicon. A year ago, he’d met William and Emma in the Vallery region. He’d nearly brought his fetish from the land of 2D to 3D and set himself on a path that would send him straight to jail until the siblings helped him change his ways. Since William saw him as a kindred spirit, the two of them continued exchanging letters even after Carne returned to the capital. Rather than despairing over his love of young girls and being responsible for a series of horrible murders, Carne was now living a perfectly upstanding(?) life, and it was all thanks to William and Emma.

“This is a collection of paintings from an artist in Brother Carne’s employ,” William said. The sketchbook was packed with pictures of cute little girls in pastels.

“Ooooh! Wow, this painter’s really starting to get what moe is all about!”

“Yeah, the light pink on the elbows is really somethin’...”

“Interesting... This must be that new concept you mentioned to us before, President William. Little animal ears on the head... I understand now. Seeing really is believing.”

Carne had been giving financial backing to artists in the capital, so they would draw him his ideal girls in return. While they’d started by trying to recreate the holy relic that Emma had drawn, they’d begun to grow into their own and had been making original characters lately. Through bizarre circumstances altogether, William had spread the gospel of moe through his kindred spirit and led Carne down a new path. William couldn’t enjoy these pictures at home without worrying about his sister’s disgusted looks, so this was the only place he could safely share his thoughts with others.

“But when we compare this to the holy relic...”

“Yeah, it’s not quite as moe as that one...”

“Are there any new holy relics for us, President William?”

It wasn’t the artists’ fault, but after one glimpse of the holy relic, it was impossible to not want something of the same quality.

“I’ve tried everything I can, but it’s very difficult.” The only way to get the holy relics the club members were asking for was to ask his sister to make them. And every time he asked, she looked at him like he was a rotten orange. Meanwhile, her desk was packed full with pictures of the king, Professor Wolfgang, and Harold. The hypocrisy!

“President William! What about the painter from the slums you told us about? He spends a lot of time around children, so you thought he might be able to make lovely art himself...”

They were asking about Harold. William thought after seeing how skilled the man was at painting those fancy strawberries on Joshua’s storefront and how he had experience looking after the kids in the slums that maybe he might be the painter they’d all been dreaming of, and he’d told Carne and the 2D Cutie Appreciation Club as much.

“That was, um... I may have jumped to conclusions.” While he had asked Harold to draw something for him...

“President William? What do you mean? We’ve really been looking forward to it...”

“I mean...I did ask him for a picture, but, uh... You wanna see? You’re gonna wanna brace yourself.” William reluctantly removed a piece of paper from his bag.

“We’re the 2D Cutie Appreciation Club. We are always ready for any—”

“VP! What’s wrong?!”

“What’s going on you tw—”

The picture Harold had given them of the girls of the slums left the 2D Cutie Appreciation Club at a loss for words. It was indeed a very feel-good picture in soft colors, just as William had requested. Ten girls, all in matching, colorful, soft-looking clothes were smiling in a circle. While it had less moe appeal and more of a realistic quality, one could easily tell just how skilled the artist was. Their carefree smiles were all truly adorable. The problem was what was in the center of the picture.

George Stewart.

“President William! What is happening here?!”

Right in the center of the picture was President William’s older brother, George, surrounded by the girls of the slums.

“When I asked the artist, Harold, for a picture, he told me he’d just finished sketching something he’d seen. All he needed was to color it,” William sputtered, squeezing his hands tightly balled fists.

“Wait, this was a sketch?”

“Wait, so then...you mean...this heavenly scenery...was something that actually happened? In real life? Is that what you’re saying to us?!”

“N-No, it can’t be! Say it isn’t so, President William! Look at George in the middle there, surrounded by so many adorable girls... He doesn’t look like he has a single ulterior motive whatsoever!”

There wasn’t a wicked sense from this picture in the slightest. None of them could have managed it. And they could tell the one who painted it had no ulterior motives either.

“So what...? You have to be a damn saint in order to get anywhere near girls?!”

“The hell is with this thing?! It’s like they’re trying to rub it in our faces that girls don’t like us! It’s so...humiliating! No! I feel so utterly defeated! No! This is nothing but despair!”

“Was your brother a messenger sent from the heavens to punish us for the sin of having preferences, President William?!”

George was smiling so gently in the picture. It was a gentle smile that showed that even the very act of admiring young 2D girls was awful. It was so supremely righteous that it made the 2D Cutie Admiration Club members feel sickened by their own ugliness.

“Nah, I don’t think my brother was born to fulfill some big mission like that or anything...” Actually, my sister’s the one who wants to eliminate all lolicons, William thought.

“So what, he’s just naturally like this?” There George was, naturally surrounded by girls, and they were a bunch of dudes stuffed in a dark, empty classroom looking at pictures. The difference between the world in the picture and the world they were in was doing some serious psychic damage to the poor members. They thought pictures would be their salvation, but this showed them that pictures were just as bad as the real world.

“So there really is no safe place for us... Not in the 3D realm or the 2D realm...”

“This is just so... It’s so very...”

“Aaaaagh! I can’t take it! How could you show us something so cruel?! Club’s canceled, everyone. I can’t do it anymore. My poor, pure(?) heart can’t handle looking at 2D cuties ever again!”

“VP?!”

The picture Harold had given them was perfectly respectable without a single questionable quality to it. It gave the members of the club pangs of guilt for even looking at 2D little girls. The actually pure and sacred picture made feelings of repentance well up inside them all. The shock of it was enough to send the VP—who had been excited until just moments ago—running out of the room, unable to take the guilt on his conscience any longer.

“Wait, what?! Canceled?! Hold up, you don’t... Guys, what are we gonna do...?” William turned to face the other members after the vice president ran out...but the remaining members couldn’t look him in the eye either. “Wha... Wha? Huh? Huh?!”

And so, this secret club that never let a soul know what they were doing, quietly lowered the curtain on their short-lived activities from that day forward.

◆ ◆ ◆

“So this is what the artist you mentioned drew. Interesting. I imagine there aren’t many in the capital who can paint as well as him. Though if you ask me, calling it an ‘artistic difference’ can only take one so far.” Carne Lombart said, his thoughts running back to the holy relic of Pawkura. She truly was peak moe.

“Oh, I should’ve known you could handle this as just an artistic difference, Lord Carne!” William was so relieved that Carne had been able to look at the picture without taking psychic damage like the rest of his (now disbanded) club had. Once school had let out, William had gone to the castle where Carne worked to complain about how his secret club had disbanded.

“It’s so overwhelmingly pure, like a religious painting, almost. Add the bold use of color, and George’s completely innocent (noncreepy) smile as he’s surrounded by so many cute girls... Yes, I think one who has only begun to walk the path of the lolicon may look upon it and be racked with guilt at the stark difference between themselves and the person in the painting. I can see how it might be enough to break them. After all, the path of the lolicon is a constant battle between one’s own morals and the public view. Once you become like me, a picture like this simply isn’t enough to move you at all.” Carne had spent the year throwing his money at countless artists and basking in all their lovely pictures anyway. Having met William and finding a kindred spirit made his self-esteem stupidly strong as well. Everyone feels better knowing they’re not alone.

“You really are the only one who understands me, Lord Carne.” William said, his eyes watering as he clutched Carne’s hand.

“W-Wiwwiam...”

The castle maids got an eyeful of this scene, and as a result, rumors began to spread that Lord Carne had actually gone and touched a young boy.

◆ ◆ ◆

At another noble’s house...

“Remember the youngest son of the Stewart family? William? Wasn’t he just the cutest? Why don’t we have my daughter marry him? She’s only three years younger than him, and they’re both children, so it wouldn’t be all that unusual, right?” A noblewoman with a young daughter asked. It was natural for a parent to want their sweet little daughter to find a fiancé quickly. Though the Stewart family was from the border, they were financially stable. What was more, the second-born prince Edward was clearly head over heels in love with Lady Emma. If her daughter were to be married to William, then that would potentially make them the royal family’s relatives. There was a hint of selfishness there, but she had casually dropped the subject on her maid.

“If I may, madam...I would not recommend having her marry Lord William.” The rumors from the castle had gone through the “maid network” all the way to this manor. While the maid hadn’t said what the problem was, if the maid was saying she should give up on such an eligible bachelor like that, the noblewoman knew something had to be up.

“Oh, really? Well, I guess we’ll have to keep looking, then.”

And so, Melsa’s dream of holding her grandbaby got a little bit farther away due to the maids’ unfettered loyalty to their masters.

Chapter 58: Departure

Summer vacation had begun, and so the day the Stewart family departed for the Eastern Empire arrived. The merchant ship Joshua had prepared for them was being loaded with massive numbers of boxes. The Rothschild Company, the Stewart family servants, sailors from other ships, fishermen, servants from the Simmons family, and more were bustling about on the Simmons region’s port (the largest in the kingdom).

“I was awfully worried hearing your first sea voyage would be to the Eastern Empire, Lady Emma! That’s just too far, isn’t it, Caitlyn?”

“I was also worried hearing your first sea voyage would be to the Eastern Empire, Lady Emma! It really is too far, Catherine!”

The Simmons twins, who were all too used to traveling by sea, fussed over Emma while masterfully directing their servants in various tasks.

“I appreciate your concern, Lady Catherine and Lady Caitlyn. And thank you so much for helping bring all of our things and dealing with the formalities!”

“You’re always helping us out, so it’s only natural, right, Caitlyn?”

“That’s right, Catherine! You’re always helping us out, so it’s only natural!”

The Stewart family would be traveling for around two months, so it was natural they’d have a lot of luggage. What was more, they had relief supplies for the Eastern Empire as well. In addition to the food, they were looking forward to future relief efforts and were bringing lumber, fabric for new clothes, enough medicine to open a pharmacy, and educational materials on learning the kingdom’s language (which was a lingua franca between the kingdom and the Western Empire) as well.

“I was surprised by how much luggage you were bringing, but I was also surprised by how many people are helping you too! Weren’t you, Caitlyn?”

“I was surprised by the luggage and by how many people are helping out as well, Catherine!”

Everyone had only just been made aware that, thanks to Melsa’s efforts, the Stewart family would be heading to the Eastern Empire as the foremost envoys. Francesca was excessively overprotective of Emma since the incident with Robert, so she was exceptionally worried. Marion had taken an interest in the sword techniques used by the samurai in the Eastern Empire, so she asked George to bring her back a sword, and Catherine and Caitlyn offered to take care of all the preparations for the trip. When word got out that the saint would be leaving the country, the number of people they’d hired to help with carrying luggage had been replaced with Emma’s believers wanting to help out of the goodness of their hearts.

“I was surprised too! Jacob the sailor, his little brother, and the others like the kids from the slums, and for some reason, the seamstresses and their husbands were coming to help too...”

The sailors and the fishermen were helping carry the luggage. The seamstresses, who should have been especially busy around this time, were helping polish up the ship. The seamstresses’ husbands were checking that all the luggage was accounted for. The children of the slums were looking after the cats and bugs that had secretly been brought onboard.

“It’s all because of your hard work each day, Lady Emma! Don’t you think, Caitlyn?”

“Why, Catherine, it certainly is because of Lady Emma’s hard work each day!”

Since the majority of the travel expenses were covered by the kingdom itself (in other words, paid for by taxes), they wanted to save wherever they could.

“Lady Emma! K-4 (read: four kitties) and U-150 (read: one hundred fifty amblypygids) have safely (read: without being spotted) been brought onboard.” Joshua, who had been giving orders to the Rothschild Company and the children of the slums, came with a status report and some cold drinks. “Here’s some chilled fruit-infused water. Please enjoy, you two.”

Unlike the killer summers in Japan, the summers in the kingdom were quite mild. Even so, the men helping bring all the luggage onboard were shirtless and covered in sweat.

“Oh, it’s so cool and delicious, Caitlyn!”

“It certainly is cool and delicious, Catherine!”

It was rare for anyone other than nobles to receive cold drinks during the summer in the kingdom.

“We’ve provided some to all the people helping as well. It was a gift from the Stewart family, as thanks,” Joshua replied to the twins with a smile.

“Goodness! You gave away such a valuable beverage for free? The Rothschild Company sure is magnanimous, don’t you think, Caitlyn?”

“Goodness! The Rothschild Company certainly is magnanimous to be giving away such a valuable beverage for free, Catherine!”

“I’m so glad to hear you like it. And what about you, Lady Emma? Do you like...it...too...? Huh?” Joshua’s desperate attempts to charm Emma were useless, as her gaze was firmly fixed on the men helping bring aboard the luggage.

“Jacob and his brother are so magnificent! Why, even among all these younger men, they’re able to keep up perfectly! And that physique certainly isn’t something one gets overnight either... They’re able to carry such heavy boxes like it’s no problem at all... Drool...”

“Sis...” William, who just happened to be passing by, sighed as he caught his sister old-man-watching.

“W-Well, I guess I’d better start helping out with the luggage myself!” Joshua, sensing what was up, gave a thumbs-up and started unbuttoning his shirt.

“Nonono, hold up, Joshua! Seriously, keep your shirt on! This is wrong, man! You have no idea what’s happening here!” William desperately tried to keep Joshua from stripping, but Joshua was determined to join in the fray to get within Emma’s view.

“He’s...quite a bit more built than I expected. Don’t you think, Caitlyn?”

“He...certainly is more built than I expected, Catherine.”

The twins picked up the shirt Joshua had thrown off, their faces slightly red.

Joshua was the son of the greatest merchant in the kingdom, he was more of a brainy type, and he had a more slender frame, yet he was surprisingly built. From the day he swore he’d protect Emma, he hadn’t missed a single day of training. In true Joshua fashion, he was determined enough to never skimp on hard work. Today, he was finally able to show Emma the fruits of his labor by enthusiastically offering to carry some of the boxes himself. It was all so that even for just one moment, he could catch Emma’s gaze.

“Oooh, this infused water is so cool and delicious!” Unfortunately for Joshua, Emma was now focused on the infused water he’d gotten her.

“Sis, what is with your timing?!”

“Hmm?”

“I feel bad for him, Caitlyn.”

“I feel bad for him too, Catherine.”

Several hours later...

“Thank you all so much for helping us, everyone! Now we’ll be able to depart as soon as Prince Tasuku arrives!”

Since everyone who came to help was working their butts off to do what they could for the saint herself, they managed to finish preparations far earlier than expected.

“Please, Lady Emma! Of course we would help you out!”

“I’d do anything for our beloved saint!”

“Please, promise us you’ll come back to us soon, O Consecrated One!”

“H-Hey, guys? I know I keep saying this, but I haven’t been consummated or anything, okay? I swear. And I’m not tainted either.”

“Goodness, and she’s so humble too!”

“There truly isn’t anyone more worthy of consecration anywhere in the whole kingdom!”

“Ha ha ha, you can say that again! Everyone knows about her hard work healing the sick!”

She had created a treatment center to cure the sailors, who had fallen deep into the pits of despair, back to full health. What was more, the center was right within the grounds of her own home. Most nobles were obsessed with appearances and felt too disgusted by commoners to even walk in the same district as them. She wouldn’t accept payment for the treatment, or the fancy food she served them, or the multiple bedsheets they’d used to keep things hygienic, or anything else.

On top of that, Emma herself took the initiative for it all. She had washed their old wounds, rubbed the salves on them, and wrapped their bandages herself. If they were having fever nightmares, they’d wake and find she was sitting by their bedside, holding their hands. She brought them food, and would even spoon-feed soup to those who were unable to sit up on their own. Nobles had always looked down on these sailors like they were lower than worms, yet Emma treated them from beginning to end with nary a sneer in sight. She treated them with the kindest, calmest smile the whole time. If she wasn’t a saint, then nobody could be.

The wives whose disease-ridden husbands were practically forced to go to the treatment center had been bracing themselves for it to be their final farewell. After all, when the nobles took their beautiful daughters away, they never returned. When the nobles took their stout sons, they returned covered in wounds that were too terrible to even gaze upon. Yet that wasn’t what happened this time at all. These husbands and fathers returned home on their own two legs, completely healed and wearing top-quality clothes. Their illness, which was so expensive to treat that even nobles struggled to pay for it, had been completely cured. Truly, if she wasn’t a saint, then nobody could be.

“O-Okay, but seriously, guys... I can handle the compliments, but the consummation stuff... It’s just too embarrassing...”

Yet every time someone called her a saint, she didn’t puff up with pride. Her face would go red and she’d tearily deny it.

“You mustn’t be so modest! I’ve never seen anyone more deserving of consecration than you!”

“Eeek! Please, anything but that!” Even if she did kind of deserve it (based on her misunderstanding of the word), Emma was deathly afraid of just how far these rumors had spread. She knew it was wrong to smile over these handsome old men withstanding their pain, or to take the opportunity to hold their hands while they slept and get a good look at their sleeping expression, or to really get too caught up in the moment and tell them to say “aaah” while she spoon-fed them and all! But that was no excuse for them to act like they’d consummated her and she was tainted! She was going to get yelled at by her mom if it ever reached her!

“Wow... Lady Emma, you’re incredible...” Prince Tasuku, who had just arrived at the Simmons region’s port. He’d heard plenty about Emma’s reputation at the castle. He’d heard from Prince Edward and the ninjas about her reputation at school and in the slums, and now he could see the way these burly sailors, fishermen, and their wives were reacting to her. Not one person had a single bad thing to say about her. He couldn’t believe so many people had good things to say. Yet it wasn’t long before Ito, Hara, Chijiwa, and Nakaura, who were in the Stewart family’s care, were singing her praises as well. When Hattori, the ninja, had reported on her, he’d had such a big grin on his face, it looked like he was talking about his first grandchild or something.

If all of their reports were to be believed, then Emma was constantly working for other people’s sake. While most noblewomen her age were busy talking about fashion or love or the like, she was helping with her family’s silk business, sewing, helping to revitalize the slums, educating the children, and on top of all that work, lending aid to the sick.

What was more, she was now volunteering to help with the Eastern Empire’s botanical crisis. The owatas had already grown to their final stage. The people of the Eastern Empire knew there was no hope. If they were thinking about what was best for Emma, they should have turned down the Stewart family’s request to come to the Eastern Empire. It was likely to be very dangerous. Yet Emma didn’t give up. Everywhere she went, she brought smiles to the people’s faces. Before they knew it, they were all saying Emma had saved them. The people of the Eastern Empire had quietly accepted their destruction. Prince Tasuku wanted to bless them with the saint’s presence.

He knew it was imposing far too much on a single girl. It was a terribly heavy fate to saddle her with. Yet as the imperial prince, this was all he could do for his people. He knew forcing this poor girl to go along with something for his own gain meant he would never be getting into heaven. But he knew that even if she were forced to do something for his own sake, she would still have a smile on her face. There was no doubt in his mind.

“Lady Emma, I think consecration would suit you quite nicely as well.”

“Eeek! Prince Tasuku, you can’t be serious!”

The one thing he could swear was that he would return this brave young girl to the kingdom safely. Even if the Eastern Empire was destroyed, he simply wouldn’t tolerate a saint like her to be destroyed along with it.

Chapter 59: Yoriko Cooking on the Sea

The Rothschild Company’s ship was making its voyage quite smoothly. There was a kitchen set up in the guest cabin. Melsa was teaching the Taros how to cook more things, Leonard and George were doing their usual training, and Emma and William were working on new monster karuta cards. Everyone kept themselves busy with their own things, and before they knew it, the Eastern Empire was only a day away.

“You all seem to be able to bake bread with no problems at all now.”

“Yes indeed! It’s all thanks to your instructions, Lady Melsa!” Mancio Ito responded with a smile as he took the bread out of the kiln. It was a slightly different shape from the bread they ate in the kingdom, but Melsa thought they could bake it in bulk and slice it to help the people of the Eastern Empire, who were suffering from food shortages. It sounded novel, but it was just regular old white bread.

Cooking wasn’t the only thing the Taros had picked up. They were mastering the kingdom’s language at a surprising speed. Seeing how they were all working so hard to help their country on the brink of ruin, the Stewarts (of course), and also the cooks and servants were happy to help however they could. Mancio had an interest in Melsa’s administrative business running her territory, Miguel was always chatting with Emma about bugs, Julião had taken a deep interest in the sweets at Joshua’s store, and Martinho was learning how to embroider from Leonard. All of them were learning more than just cooking.

“My little Taros, my last lesson is to teach you how to make a magic condiment.”

“A magic condiment?”

“We’re in your hands, Lady Melsa!”

“I wonder what kind of condiment it will be...”

“I can’t wait to find out!”

“There’s a bit of a trick to making it, but it’s the kind of condiment that can work well with both Eastern Empire cuisine and kingdom cuisine.” Melsa gave a confident grin and began preparing the ingredients.

“What are you making today, mother?” The three siblings, lured by the scent of freshly baked bread, came into the kitchen.

“She said she’s gonna teach us how to make a magic condiment that goes well with both food from the Eastern Empire and the kingdom!” Julião responded, his eyes sparkling with excitement. Julião was the most enthralled with cooking out of all the Taros.

“A magic condiment?” William tilted his head. He’d never heard of anything like that before.

“I know you all love it. It’s something you can put on vegetables, meat, rice, and bread.”

When Emma saw the ingredients Melsa was gathering in the kitchen (eggs, vinegar, salt, and oil), she realized what it was. “Oh! It’s mayonnaise!”

“Mayo!” George and William responded in tandem.

The men of the Tanaka family were of the firm belief that mayonnaise and Worcestershire sauce went perfectly with everything. They cared more about the mayo and the sauce than the actual ingredients, which really was a huge insult to the chef.

“Mrowr?”

“Myah?”

“Mew mew mew?”

“Meow?”

The four kitties poked their heads in as well, drawn by George and William’s excitement over the mayonnaise.

“You four can have some with us too!” Emma said, as she joined the Taros in helping measure out the ingredients under Melsa’s command.

“Mroooowr!”

Miguel laughed enviously as he measured the salt. “It sure is amazing how you can understand their language. I’d love to try talking to bugs someday.”

“It’d be a shame to make a large amount and have it all messed up, so why don’t we all split up and make our own?”

“What are we going to make with this mayonnaise, anyway, mother?” George the mayonnaise lover asked restlessly. The rice, which they had very little left of, was cooking beyond the freshly baked bread, and it had not escaped his notice.

“Remember how Leonard caught that skipjack tuna the other day? The sashimi we made was so delicious, but the merchants and sailors wouldn’t touch it, so we’ve cooked the rest.” They’d had the Taros make the massive tuna into sashimi for them, but the kingdom-born Rothschild Company merchants and sailors were reluctant to eat something raw. Joshua had declared that if Emma said it was good then it had to be good, forced himself to try it, and seemed to like it quite a bit, but nobody was going to follow what that weirdo did.

“Skipjack tuna, mayonnaise, and bread... Oh! Are we making tuna sandwiches?” Emma surmised after looking at the ingredients.

“You use bluefin tuna for that, sis,” the mini-detective William calmly informed her.

“Wait, you use real tuna for those?!” George was shocked by William’s statement.

“Uh. What did you think you used for tuna sandwiches, George?”

“Uh... Well, they call it the poultry of the sea, so I thought it was chicken...”

“Do you think chickens live in the sea?” This wasn’t a lack of studying so much as it was a lack of common sense.

“By the way... You know canned tuna comes in bluefin and skipjack types, right, William?”

“Wait, really?”

Emma sighed. Her brothers’ cooking knowledge from their previous lives was seriously sad.

“What’s more, Prince Tasuku has given us this if we want it.” Melsa could tell what Emma was guessing and took out the ingredient she’d been hiding. It was a black sheet of something that the average person from the kingdom would likely not think was food.

“It’s nori!”

“Oh, s-so, rice, tuna, mayonnaise, and nori...and since we have vinegar...we’re making makizushi, right? Tuna and mayonnaise makizushi?”

It was the prime junk food of the sushi world. They loved a good tuna and mayonnaise rice ball, but they were more diehard makizushi junkies.

“Lady Melsa? How is Prince Tasuku? It seems like he hasn’t been eating much...” Martinho asked with worry. The Taros saw Prince Tasuku as someone like a god, so they felt unworthy of speaking to him.

Though he’d acted brave while he was in the kingdom, the closer they got to the Eastern Empire, the more Prince Tasuku felt the weight of worry closing in on him. He was holed up in his room, praying with all his heart. Both the Taros and the Stewarts felt their hearts ache with worry for him.

“Mayonnaise is quite nutritious, so I was thinking we’d let Prince Tasuku have this makizushi.” Melsa thought the greatest representative of Eastern and Western blended foods might help Prince Tasuku feel a little better.

“Okay, so...counting the remaining rice and nori...we’ve got one, two, three sheets. Prince Tasuku and the Taros will get to sample them for future reference...which means only one of us siblings will get to have one, right?”

“Wait, what?!” Nobody knew how the heck he came to that conclusion, but George had figured it out.

“To think the day would come again that we three would have to fight to the death...”

“A fight for a tuna and mayonnaise makizushi...”

Emma and William were not about to take George’s words lying down.

“Um, guys?! You really don’t need to fight over this!”

“We don’t have to have any!”

“P-Please don’t fight!”

“Let’s just talk it out like rational people!”

The Taros started to panic at the bloodlust in the air between the three siblings.

“L-Lady Melsa! What should we do?!”

“There’s no need to worry, Mancio. They’re just playing around. I’m sure they’re just bored because the trip has taken so long.” Melsa sighed with exasperation and called for Leonard. These “fights to the death” were a Tanaka family tradition.

“I see how it is. It’s been so long since they’ve had a death match. So how are we doing this, Melsa?”

Melsa would always decide the parameters of the death match. It was an old family rule. Letting them fight it out would just wind up wrecking the house, so Yoriko came up with challenges that the three could carry out, and let that determine the victor. Her assignments were things like whoever could find a four-leaf clover first, rock-paper-scissors, naming as many historical figures as one could, blindfolded cat identification by smell, and challenges of all other sorts.

“Well, I’m gonna be betting on Emma no matter what anyway.”

The parents bet on who they thought would win. It was, after all, just a way for the Tanakas to kill time.

“Today’s challenge is...a mayonnaise mixing challenge!”

“M-Mayonnaise mixing...”

The whole family loudly gulped.

“You take the mixture of egg yolks, salt, and vinegar, then add the oil a tiny bit at a time. The amount of oil, the timing one adds it, and the speed one mixes are where it gets tricky.”

“Well, Emma’s a great cook, so I’m keeping my bets on Emma.” After hearing what the challenge was going to be, Leonard thought he had it in the bag.

“I wouldn’t be so sure, dear. You need strength to cook well. What’s more, you have to mix with one hand and add the oil with another. Dexterity is the key to victory in this challenge. Have you forgotten that Emma is the clumsiest of our three darling children? I’m going to bet on George, as he is the strongest and most dexterous of the bunch.”

“Ha ha ha! But you know how bad George is with studying. He could very easily forget the steps and mess up. Betting on him could be a double-edged sword for you.”

The parents never let the kids know exactly what they were betting, saying it was a grown-up thing, but they always got seriously into it. Unfortunately, because they got so into it, it often wound up turning into a diss-fest of their kids.

“Y’know, even when we were fighting, I always wound up not caring by this point...”

“We’ve gotta stick together to pick ourselves up after this part...”

“They never wind up picking me either way...”

Whether it was intentional or they were just getting way too into the competition, both the fight and the death match that came from it was about eighty percent resolved by this point every time.

“Mroooowr?” Guan rubbed up against George, trying to see what all the excitement was about.

“Sorry, Guan. This is an extremely important match for me.”

“Myah?”

George said he’d play with Guan later and distanced himself.

“Myaaah?” Just like Guan, Liu came up to William.

“I’m sorry too, Liu. But this is a match I can’t afford to lose.”

“Meow?”

William said he’d give Liu some food later and distanced himself.

“Meeew?” And lastly, General Kongming rubbed up against Emma.

“Oh, you can’t get up on the counter, Kongming! Hmm? Oh, sure. You’re fine as long as you stay by my feet.”

“Mroowr!”

Emma let Kongming curl up around her feet in a bundle of purrs. Then Guan and Liu started rubbing up against her and purring as well.

“Heh, you think you’ve got this, don’t you, Emma?”

“I already know who’s winning now. The makizushi will be mine.” Seeing that Emma couldn’t move freely with all the cats around her, both George and William felt certain their victory was at hand.

“Are we all ready, then?” Melsa asked, placing the oil before the three siblings with a thunk.

“Wait... Huh? We’re using...all of this?”

“Y-You’re kidding... Say you’re joking, mother! There’s no way...”

George and William were quite shaken by the amount of oil.

“Mayonnaise has this much oil in it?!”

“I-It’s like...almost all oil...”

The amount of oil compared to the egg yolk, salt, and vinegar was far beyond what the two had imagined.

“You’ll be adding this entire cup while mixing. You have always used way too much mayonnaise, saying ridiculous things like how putting mayonnaise on vegetables would cancel out the calories or whatever...” Melsa had always wanted to show them the actual ingredients.

“No way...” Even Leonard, who was just sitting behind them, was shaken.

“Myah?” Zhang put his front paws on Leonard’s shoulders from behind and rested his chin on Leonard’s head to comfort him with fluffiness. Both Kazushi and Wataru had gotten a bit plump in their later years, after all.

George and William had both been rocked by how much oil was in the mayonnaise, and Emma’s movements were restricted by the kitties surrounding her. All the advantages they had had evened out, and there was no way to know who could win at that point.

“All right, for the last time. Are we all ready?”

“Y-Yeah...”

“Sure aaam!”

“Myaaaah!”

The kitties cheerfully answered alongside Emma.

“The siblings’ fight to the death over makizushi...begins now!” Once Melsa made the announcement, the three siblings all took the oil in their hands and began making the mayonnaise.

“Groooooooargh!” George started mixing with all his might.

“Wow! Lord George is mixing so fast, I can’t even see his arm move!”

“But look, Martinho...he forgot to put the oil in...”

“The oil goes in a little at a time... That’s the key,” William mumbled to himself as he carefully added some oil.

“Lord William’s really playing it safe with his mixing.”

“But Mancio...I feel like putting it in a single drop at a time is playing it too safe.”

“Myah myah myah! Mrooowr!”

“I’ll be done in a jiffy, Kongming! Let’s put some cucumber in the tuna mayo mix too!”

“Myaaah!”

Emma was happily chatting along with Kongming as she cooked.

“Goodness, what a perfect sight that is... What I wouldn’t give to marry her...”

“Whoa, Miguel! That is a major bomb to drop! But Lady Emma is doing quite well distributing the oil. But her mixing hand’s totally occupied by the cats...”

The Tanaka siblings had all been born under an unfortunate star, so everything they did was unfortunate by default.

“Time’s up!” The siblings’ hands all stopped at the sound of Melsa’s voice, and she began her judgment.

“George. I’ve never seen this much froth in an egg yolk mix before,” Melsa observed.

“That’s right. I did my very best!”

“But there doesn’t seem to be any oil at all in it either.”

“Wait. Shoot! I forgot!”

“William... You did better than George, but this is far from a complete mix.”

“You stopped us too soon, mother! I’d only gotten eighty-five drops of oil in!”

“Being careful isn’t a bad thing, but there is such a thing as being too careful, William.”

“R-Right...”

“And Emma... It looked like you weren’t mixing at all, but it’s...perfectly mixed. That’s mayonnaise right there.” Emma’s egg mix and the oil had been combined just enough, creating a perfectly emulsified mayonnaise.

“What?!”

“Looks like the winner is me!” Emma laughed, knowing the makizushi was now as good as hers.

“But that’s impossible! She wasn’t mixing it at all!”

“You had to have cheated somehow, sis!”

George and William called foul.

“We were watching the whole time. There’s no way anyone could have broken the rules!” Julião responded, and the other Taros nodded.

“So how did this happen...?”

“Mrooowr!”

“Oh! It was Kongming! Kongming must’ve used some kinda magic...!” George shouted as he saw Kongming rub up against Emma.

“No, the cats were just curling up around her and purring... Wait...purring...?” Leonard realized just what trickery had occurred. “You don’t think...the vibration of the purring made it through Emma and into the mayonnaise?!”

“What?!” George and William both shouted, unable to believe it.

“Heh heh heh! You made the cats cry, so now they’re making you cry! Your fates were sealed the moment you told Guan and Liu to back off!”

“Hnnnngh!” The brothers collapsed to the ground in despair.

“Um... What was the point of all this...?” Mancio, who was usually the picture of politeness, murmured with exasperation.

“I told you. It was all to kill time.” Melsa sighed, then urged the Taros to make their own mayonnaise as well.

◆ ◆ ◆

The closer they got to the Eastern Empire, the darker the imperial prince’s expression became, and the more time he spent holed up in his room. However, the three siblings practically forced him out of his solitude to invite him to a tuna and mayonnaise tasting party.

“Why don’t you try some tuna and mayonnaise makizushi, Prince Tasuku?” Emma suggested, practically seeing as his head was full of worry.

“Makizushi? I’ve never seen any fillings like this. And you say this is tuna and mayonnaise?” The imperial prince took a piece of the makizushi and brought it to his mouth. “Oh... It’s delicious!”

“I know, right?!” Emma said with a grin, as she ate her well-won makizushi prize. There wasn’t a man alive who disliked a good tuna and mayo combo (in her biased opinion), so of course the imperial prince liked it.

“This sauce you’ve mixed with the fish... It tastes like something from the kingdom, yet it goes so well with rice and nori.”

“It’s a condiment we call mayonnaise,” Melsa explained. “The children and the Taros made it.” She looked to the Taros, who all appeared very nervous to be in Tasuku’s presence.

“Ah, the little chefs. Excellent work. I hope you’ll help our countrymen feast upon this so-called ‘mayonnaise’ as well.”

“Y-Yes, Your Highness!”

“We’re not worthy of such praise! Oh, thank you!”

“We’re ready to do everything we can for our country!”

“Please, eat as much as you like!”

The Taros all responded, overwhelmed by the compliments given to them by the divine.

“This sandwich Lady Emma made is so delicious!” Joshua said, stuffing his face happily with a tuna and mayonnaise sandwich.

“You know we helped with that too, right, Joshua?” William said, unable to tear his eyes from the makizushi as he ate his sandwich. It was delicious, yet stained with the taste of defeat.

“Guan...you big traitor...” George moaned as he watched Emma give some of her makizushi to the kitties.

“Myaaah!” General Kongming was delighted to receive one with her beloved cucumber in it as well.

The tuna and mayonnaise was a hit among the Rothschild Company and sailors from the kingdom, so Joshua made a mental note to add it to his café’s menu.

“I never knew...Melsa was this good of a cook...” Oliver mumbled as he ate his sandwich, shocked to his core once more.

“Melsa. I won the bet, you know,” Leonard whispered in Melsa’s ear.

“I know.”

“Heh heh. I’m not letting you sleep a wink tonight.”

Oliver, who was sitting near them, just happened to overhear the two and practically threw up in his mouth.

This was how the Tanaka family had always killed time when boredom struck.

Side Story 4: Tragedy in Pallas, the Borderland

Several months had already passed since the Stewart family had left for the capital. The Pallas region was peaceful even without its count. The servants of their manor couldn’t hide their shock at how nothing happened each day. Simply put, there were no incidents. No bugs coming out of the laundry, no hyperrealistic sketches of bugs piling up on the desks, no sudden introductions of giant cats or bugs, no young girls running out into town in the middle of the night, no forcing them to attend royal tea parties...

None of them could have imagined such peaceful days were in store for them.

While Leonard was in the capital, his little brother, Arven Stewart, was filling in as the head of house. He was fulfilling his duties perfectly every single day, and (obviously) no problems were occurring there either. Though the lack of incidents did make them miss the family some, they did their best to enjoy these miraculously peaceful days to the fullest.

Until the day that letter arrived.

Crash!

It had come in the early afternoon on a day when summer was beginning to show itself and the sound of a teacup shattering broke the silence in the Pallas manor. Black tea sank into the carpet in Arven’s study. The very same man who had, to this point, handled everything diligently and caused no issues. Yet Arven was so shaken by the contents of the letter that he couldn’t be bothered with such a trivial mess. He didn’t clean up the shards of the broken teacup. Instead, he reread the letter clutched in his hands so he didn’t miss a single word, unable to believe what it said.

“No... This can’t be true...”

The servants, who’d come running to see what the commotion was when they heard the teacup breaking, swallowed nervously. “Wh-What’s happened, Lord Arven?!”

He’d gone completely pale and his hands were shaking, and it seemed he was gritting his teeth as hard as he could to keep from screaming. “I need you...to call every member of our family...in the Pallas region...” Arven ordered the servants, who were frantically cleaning up the teacup shards, as though he were making the hardest decision of his life.

“Pardon? The entire family?”

“It’s of utmost importance. Please call everyone as quickly as you possibly can.”

Because the royal family had forced Pallas to take on the two fallen, adjacent regions seven years ago, their land running along the border of the barrier was extremely long and narrow. It was an exceptionally difficult thing to gather all the family given that they were peppered all across the massive territory they managed, and they were all responsible for monster hunting, so the family hardly ever ordered something like this.

Arven wore a look of utter despair as he told the servants what the letter said.

“I...suppose we have no choice. We will handle it at once.” This wasn’t just an emergency. This was on the level of a calamity. The servants bowed and rushed out of the study to contact every family member in every part of the land at once.

“Ugh... How can this be...?!” Arven, the only one left behind, staggered back into his chair lifelessly. He desperately tried to find a solution, but nothing came to mind.

◆ ◆ ◆

Three days later...

Representatives of the extended Stewart family from all across the Pallas region gathered in the manor. Because they were such proficient monster fighters, they were all intimidating men. Extremely intimidating. Ridiculously intimidating. Freakishly intimidating. Having all of them gathered in the manor’s parlor honestly made it look like a fearsome battle between absolute beasts was about to break out.

“I apologize for the sudden summoning.” Arven, the least beefy of the men, greeted the rest with a dark expression. He had always been quite popular with the ladies ever since his school days, with his rather androgynous and attractive features, but when he was among his family members, he looked more like one of those intellectual gangster types.

“Cut to the chase, Arven. You’re a smart man. You’ve gotta have a good reason for bringing us all together.” An aging man with purple eyes, who was even more intimidating than the rest, urged Arven in a threatening tone to get to the point already. Nobody cared about beating around the bush with niceties.

“I understand you might want me to, Uncle Gane, but...what I’m about to say is going to come as a major shock to you all,” Arven explained, worried that his uncle’s heart might not be able to take it. Gane was the younger brother of Leonard and Arven’s father. He currently oversaw the land that used to be known as the Passott region.

“Hah! The hell are you worrying about me for, Arven? My heart’s still hale and whole and you know it!” Gane thumped his chest with his fist. He really did look like a gorilla when he did that.

“Now, now, let’s calm ourselves, uncle. You don’t wanna scare the servants, do you?” Arven’s cousin Guillermo, who had been sitting next to Gane, tried to calm him. He turned to face the servants and gave them a handsome grin. Some of the new servants who’d started after Leonard and Melsa’s departure were unused to this kind of sight, and were recoiling and trembling with tears in their eyes. Unfortunately, Guillermo also had the family’s characteristically intimidating face, so his smile did little to assuage their fears and instead had them trembling even more.

“Arven, we’re not some poor saps who need you to go easy on us. We can tell this is serious just by looking at you. But we Stewarts have gotten through even the toughest of problems. We’ll be fine. Just talk to us.” Gane’s younger brother, and Guillermo’s father, Zack, calmly pressed Arven to continue. He and Guillermo were currently in charge of the former Lengrend region. In a family of total gorillas, Zack was comparatively calm and understood Arven well.

“Uncle Zack... Yeah, you’re right. I get it. I may have been underestimating all of you. The thing is...” Arven pulled a letter from his breast pocket. The letter, which had been wrinkled from him gripping it so tightly as he read it over and over, hoping he’d misread something, was from Leonard in the capital. The fact that Arven’s expression was so grim over something like that had the whole family feeling nervous about what horrendously shocking thing could be revealed in it. “My older brother, Leonard, told me in this letter...that even though school is out for summer break...they likely will not be coming back to Pallas for it.”

“What?!”

Slam!

The whole family stood in shock.

“N-Now, hold up! You say ‘they,’ but surely it means just Leonard, right?!” Arven’s cousin, who had been calmly helping soothe Gane up until then, asked a very prudent question as sweat poured down his face.

“No... The letter specified that none of them would be coming home. Which means...Emma won’t come home either.”

“Emma won’t be coming home?!”

The family couldn’t accept the fact that Emma wouldn’t be coming back, and they all parroted it back to Arven as though they couldn’t believe their ears. In fact, they didn’t want to believe their ears.

“That’s right. Emma won’t be coming home.” Arven had read the letter over and over again, but the words never changed. Emma would not be coming back to Pallas during the summer break.

“But that can’t be! It just can’t! We won’t...get to see...our little Emma?!” Zack, who had just told them it would be okay and they could handle anything, fell to his knees. He looked like he’d aged significantly from the man he’d been five seconds ago.

“Nngh... Aagh...! My heart! M-My heart! It feels like my heart is tearing in two!” Uncle Gane, who had just seconds prior bragged that his heart was still whole and hale, screamed and clutched at his chest.

They wouldn’t be able to see Emma. Even just the thought of such a thing was enough to crush them, and they wailed in despair. It was because the entire Stewart family adored Emma. The extended Stewart family had all had nothing but boys, so when a girl was suddenly born, she became their one single treasure. She was the one thing that could heal the hearts of these men, who were busy day in and day out with work and hunting monsters.

Essentially, it wasn’t just because her memories of her past life had been awakened; old men had been fawning over her since the moment she was born.

“Emma has a message for all of us too. She says, ‘I’m so sorry. I know I said I’d be back in the summer, but I don’t think that’s going to happen now.’” Arven read aloud, doing everything he could to endure the pain in his own heart as he did.

“It just can’t be... Do you have any idea how much I’d been looking forward to her summer vacation for all these months...?!”

“Why?! What in the world happened in the capital?!”

“Don’t tell me...she’s been wooed by some strange man now that she’s socializing more?!”

Slam!

“Guillermo, there are some things you just can’t say.” Gane, who had been breathing heavily and clutching at his chest, slammed his fist onto the desk before him, caving it in.

“Exactly! Besides, Emma promised her Unkie Zack that she was going to marry him, so there’s no way...”

“Like hell she is! Emma said she was going to marry her Unkie Gane!”

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous! Emma said she was going to marry Unkie Guillermo!”

The group simply couldn’t accept the harsh truth about Emma, and the air grew tense as the muscleheads tipped toward an explosive battle.

“Now, now, let’s all calm down.” Arven, who tended to play the mediator in these situations, clapped his hands together to help the gorilla-men cool their heads. He was the only one in the family who had graduated from university, so they all gave him their attention. They anticipated that perhaps he had come up with a plan that they hadn’t thought of yet to bring Emma home. “It’s a waste of time to fight over this, everyone. After all, Emma said she was going to marry her Unkie Arv—”

“Oh, screw you! That’s it! Let’s take this outside!”

“You think you can screw with us, Arven?! You’re in for an ass-kicking!”

“Unkie Arven, my ass! You’re just a conniving bastard!”

This family reunion had devolved into a bunch of old ruffians about to throw down.

“Eeek! U-Um, sh-shouldn’t we try to stop them?” One of the teary-eyed newer servants asked their superiors as the scene before them turned utterly ruthless.

“It’s quite fine. We knew this would happen the moment we heard Lady Emma wasn’t coming home,” one of the senior maids replied.

“You knew this would happen?!” the newer servant asked, unable to believe the hellish sight before them.

“If they don’t let off some steam over the fact that they can’t see Emma, they won’t be able to go on. Please, watch over them with as much pity—I mean, empathy as you can.”

“But that’s impossible... What are you doing there, anyway?” The newbie couldn’t understand how anyone could be empathetic to this pack of wild, rampaging gorillas. What was more, their superiors had all started calmly jotting something down.

“Oh, this? We’re making a record of everything so we can be properly compensated for the property damage when it’s all said and done. Lord Gane...we put an iron plate in that desk before you got here and you still smashed it in...” The superiors kept documenting with very serious expressions. It was important to make sure to always get payment for whatever the wild men broke.

“Wait. Huh? But isn’t this the richest family in all the kingdom?” The newbies looked at their superiors wondering how it was that they could be so stingy.

“It’s very important that we stay diligent about this.” The superiors knew all too well what it had been like when the Stewart family was poor. The oldest of the servants could never forget how Leonard’s habit of just brushing off the damage every time something like this happened was like pouring salt on their already impoverished wounds. “Besides, even without compensation, this house can withstand another hour of these men going crazy.”

If these were normal people going crazy, they wouldn’t have been able to open holes in brick walls or smash marble floors into powder.

“Yeah, no, I don’t think we’re even going to have a house if we don’t do something about them!”

The senior servants stopped writing and gave the newbies a look as if to ask them if they were out of their minds. “All right, then, who do you suggest gets in the middle of this insanity?” The newbies all shook their heads. None of them were about to intervene. They would’ve died a hundred times over again even trying to. “Naturally. No normal person could deescalate something like this.”

“Then what can we...” The newbies all clung to the faintest hope that they could at least sleep with a roof over their head that night.

“Any second now...” The senior servants murmured.

Just then, the door to the parlor opened.

“Y-You can’t come in here! It’s too dangerous!” The newbies turned at the same time as their seniors and shouted in surprise. Several women were primed to enter the scene of carnage.

“Ah. You must be new here, then?” The white-haired woman at the front asked the newbie who spoke up with a discerning glint in her eye.

“Huh? Ah, yes I am.”

“Hee hee. Well, not to worry. I’m sorry for all this. We’ll be bringing them home right away.” The woman smiled, then walked toward Gane, who was still continuing his violent assault.

“Grooooagh! Why?! Why is Emma...?!”

“Gane?”

“Aaaaaah... Aaah... Ah?” The woman hadn’t even raised her voice, and Arven’s Uncle Gane flinched.

“How long are you planning on throwing this tantrum, Gane?”

“A-Abigail?! I...er... It’s not...”

“We’re going home.”

“Y-Yes, ma’am.”

It only took a split second. Gane, who had been punching holes into the brick wall just moments prior, was immediately pacified by the white-haired woman he called Abigail.

“Owowowowow!”

“Dearest, how many times do I have to tell you, knock it off with the marble?! This is coming out of your booze funds, and I mean it!”

“N-No! Carolina, you can’t be serious! Do you have any idea how much I’d been looking forward to a little nightcap after work?! Owowowowow! C-Carolina! My ear! Quit pulling on my ear! You’re gonna rip it clean off! Ow!” Arven’s cousin, Guillermo, who had been pounding the marble floor into dust, was being led away by the ear by a red-haired woman.

“Oh, don’t you ‘little nightcap’ me! You empty a whole wine cask every damn night!”

“But you drink half of— Ow! I’m sorry! Please, my ear! Agh, stop!” Guillermo had been neutralized by the woman named Carolina too.

“Lord Zack... I see how it is. You have such rage within you because I am inadequate. If only you had just told me you were so hurt... It saddens me so...”

“S-S-Serena! You haven’t done anything wrong! Oh, please don’t cry! Serena! You know I can’t handle it when you cry!” Arven’s uncle Zack wibbled pathetically before the sophisticated woman, who was wiping her tears with a handkerchief.

The fearsome battle, which had been bound to keep going until the manor itself was no more, had ended in the blink of an eye.

“Just...who are these women?”

“They’re from the Stewart family women’s association. As you can see, the men in this family are all terribly submiss—I mean, in love with their wives.”

“The Stewart family what?”

“These women are all brave enough to come to the borderlands, where monsters regularly appear, all by themselves. They’re also known as beast tamers.”

“Beast tamers?”

“All we have to do now is leave it to them!” The senior servants placed their hands on the newbies’ shoulders.

“R-Right. We should get to cleaning, then?” While the house had been saved from total destruction, it was still a sight of utter carnage.

“No, no. There’s something we have to do first.”

“Hmm?”

“We have to console Lord Arven.”

“Huh? Oh! Right!”

Arven had been left standing all by his lonesome. The newbies and the senior servants all approached the poor, unmarried substitute landowner and gave him hugs so he wouldn’t feel so lonely.

What was more, this horrible bloodshed happened again once rumors came that the Stewart family would be going to the Eastern Empire.

Chapter 60: Fukushima’s Grief

The friends that Fukushima had trained alongside were taken from him. And then again, very suddenly one day, a friend who had gained a very special power was taken from him. His teacher and his pupils were taken from him.

Why was I the only one left alive? What did it matter that I was the vanguard? I couldn’t do anything.

That scene of despair spread before him once more. The owatas all creaked as their stems bent back. Their targets were already decided, and it was only a matter of time before they fired.

“Lord Fukushima. Our magic slates tell us that Prince Tasuku will be returning tomorrow,” Ishida, the administrator of the shogun’s house, reported.

A magic slate was a slate that had been imbued with a lesser form of mending magic and split in half. If one side of it became damaged, the mending magic would activate to fix it. In the process, the damages would glow, and the other half would give off a faint glow in turn. Carving words into one side to “damage it” would share information far faster than any letter on an arrow possibly could. While it wouldn’t work if one half of the slate got too far from its mate, it still had a range of about a day’s travel by boat.

“Are we really sure it’s best for the prince to return?” They’d sent the prince to the kingdom in the hopes that he would live, even if he were the only survivor. That was what the emperor and the shogun had intended when they allowed him to leave, and the prince was smart enough to know that was their plan. Therefore, he had come back to the kingdom so he could be there with his empire and his countrymen until the very end.

“I can’t say for certain. Also, one Melsa Stewart is on the same boat with her family.”

“What? She was...serious about that?”

Melsa Stewart was a woman who had come by as an interpreter when the kingdom provided relief for the food shortage the Eastern Empire had been facing. They were all surprised by how much more of a diplomat she seemed than the man who was calling himself one. She was a genius who was able to cook unbelievably delicious food, had been able to determine that the Eastern Empire was facing destruction in an instant, and was perfectly able to master the Eastern imperial language, which nobody in the world had been able to do. When she’d left the Eastern Empire, she said she’d come up with a plan to deal with the owata threat and be back around summer, but nobody had believed her.

Dealing with owatas wasn’t something one could dream up a plan for. It wasn’t like the people in the Eastern Empire had simply been twiddling their thumbs as the owatas spread across the land. Unlike the kingdom that had dried up its supply of magic stones and hadn’t had a mage for decades, the Eastern Empire had had it all when the owata threat began. They’d had magic stones, a mage, and countless exceptional warriors. They’d been making great progress researching how to best use the most plentiful magic stone veins, and one of the greatest minds of the century, Gennai Hiraga, had commanded a great number of machines that had already discovered countless magic stones. It was, in fact, one of the greatest periods of growth they’d had in history. Yet they were now willing to accept the owatas’ spread and wait for destruction.

Melsa Stewart might have been a genius, but a woman from the kingdom with no magic stones or mage, couldn’t possibly be of use to them.

They didn’t want to give their people false hope again. They’d come up with so many plans. They’d given them so much hope. And every time, that hope was betrayed.

They were all tired. They’d all given up. And finally, they’d all come to accept their imminent destruction. All they wanted was to spend their remaining time in peace. They didn’t have the strength to repeat the cycle of hope and despair again. They were simply too tired.

“Lord Fukushima?”

“Our empire is too dangerous. We don’t know when the owatas will fire their seeds next. Once Lady Melsa arrives, you must tell her to leave.” If anything were to happen to someone from the kingdom, the Eastern Empire would not be able to repent nor compensate them for it. After all, there simply wouldn’t be an Eastern Empire at that point.

With a heavy sigh and an even heavier gait, Fukushima began making the preparations to receive the boat that would be arriving from the kingdom the next day.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Just what...in the world...are you thinking, Lady Melsa?” Fukushima was completely frozen solid with disbelief when the family arrived the next day in the Eastern Empire. Melsa told them that the family she’d married into was a family of monster hunters. Her husband, Count Leonard Stewart, was buff enough that even the warrior of the East had to take his hat off to him. Yet the next man, who she introduced as her eldest son, was a boy not even of age yet. “How could you have brought your children to such a dangerous place?” Fukushima felt rage boiling inside of him—this wasn’t a family vacation.

“George hunts monsters in the kingdom as well. You don’t have to worry about him dragging you down.” Melsa’s response was completely missing the point. Was she really planning on letting her son, who was capable of hunting the kingdom’s monsters, be exposed to such dangers right before her eyes? And dragging them down? Was she really having him tag along to defeat the owatas? Or rather, were they seriously planning on trying to take the owatas out in the first place?! Monster extermination was a warrior’s job in the Eastern Empire, and that wasn’t a job just anyone could take on. One had to undergo harsh training and have great skill to boot. If Melsa were telling the truth and he really was capable enough to fight monsters at his age, then that was all the more reason for her to have left him in the kingdom. It was a waste of a valuable life.

“Mother? Is something wrong?”

“Hmm? It’s all right, William. No need to worry.”

Soon after, another child suddenly appeared from behind her.

A child.

“Lord Fukushima, this is my second son, William.” Melsa signaled to her son, and the child gave a bow of his head.

“L-L-L-Lady Melsa! How could you bring such a young child?!” Fukushima was terrified by her lack of concern for his well-being. He was far too young. While her eldest, George, was certainly still a child, it was clear that he was well-built. But this child...he was just an adowable widdle baby!

“William is a very bright young boy. He has a tremendous amount of knowledge when it comes to monsters, so I’m sure he’ll be of use to us here.”

Certainly, there were child prodigies out there, but if he were one such prodigy, that was all the more reason for him to not come to the Eastern Empire of all places. Fukushima had no idea where to start rebuking her. No, it would be more important to simply turn them back to the kingdom right then.

“Wow, mother! That town over there is all red! It’s just like you and Prince Tasuku said! It’s red from the iron oxide, right?” Another child came rushing out after. It was a young girl. A. Young. Girl. There wasn’t a trace of Melsa’s firm nobility in this girl, who was gushing about the town she could see from the harbor. No, she was so slender, it looked like she’d break with a single touch. She had pale skin and such soft, gentle features. Yet that gentle face was marred with a painful-looking scar.

This child was very clearly too weak for this! She looked like a sheltered girl who’d been treated like a princess her entire life. Just...what?! What?! What?!

There isn’t a lick of survival instinct in this entire family!

“Calm yourself, Emma! All that ruckus is unsightly.”

Lady Melsa, there are much bigger fish to fry here! That isn’t what you should be upset about! You should’ve stopped her long, long before she even got here! Fukushima thought.

“Oh, I’m so very sorry. This is my eldest daughter, Emma Stewart.”

Fukushima was so shaken by the whole situation that he couldn’t find words. Emma immediately raised the hem of her skirt slightly and bowed her head at Melsa’s introduction. Her greeting was spot-on. After all, the Etiquette Demon Hilda’s lessons (or obsessions, really) had been firmly drilled into her.

Fukushima was gobsmacked by the perfect greeting. After all, most women and children would recoil in fear, unable to speak before a hardened warrior like him. Yet this girl showed no sign of hesitation, and smiled at him instead.

“I am Masanori Fukushima, vassal of the shogun Toyotomi.” He was so overwhelmed by how cute she was, he blurted out an introduction.

“Oh my! Lord Masanori Fukushima, you say?!” Emma, the history nut in her past life, was the only one to respond to Fukushima’s name.

“Ahem.” Ishida cleared his throat in a very obvious way as a way to tell him to pull himself together. Fukushima had made such a stink about how he would send them home the moment they arrived at the port, yet he’d gotten completely sidetracked by them at the first introduction.

“Ah, er... Lady Melsa, you have brought two very young children here. There isn’t a single safe place here in the Eastern Empire. While I appreciate your concern, we really must ask you to return to the kingdom.” The plant monster owatas that had infested the Eastern Empire could start firing their seeds at any time. It was significantly more dangerous than when Melsa had visited a few months prior. Fukushima tried to convince them with his sternest expression that this was not a country one could simply visit to see the sights.

“I understand very well that we’re running short on time. That’s why we’d like to go to the owatas’ breeding grounds as soon as we can.”

Fukushima’s attempt to talk them out of it fell on deaf ears. They were completely dead set on going to the owatas’ breeding grounds.

The Stewarts knew all too well how terrifying monsters were, given that they ruled along the border of the kingdom. However, as former common Japanese people, they could not possibly give up on rice.

“What?! Do you hear yourself right now?! Or do you not hear me saying how dangerous it is?!” Fukushima was flabbergasted at the ridiculous response Melsa gave him.

Ishida cleared his throat loudly, unable to let one particular detail pass. There was something far more prevalent to take notice of before they got into the subject of owatas. “I noticed that your whole family seems to be able to speak our language.”

Fukushima had let it go completely unnoticed, but the entire conversation had been in the Eastern Empire’s language from start to finish. Their language had been too difficult for anyone from any country to pick up, so they were never able to establish communications outside. They’d tried so hard to request help with their food shortage...

“Ah! It was so fluent, I hadn’t even noticed!” Fukushima hadn’t realized because the Stewarts had kept him well and truly distracted with their shenanigans since the moment he met them.

“The whole Stewart family can speak the Eastern Empire’s language! We studied a whole lot!” The whole family had agreed at their last family meeting that their story would be that they all studied very hard and that was how they’d learned to speak it. William really didn’t think people would buy it, but he responded to Ishida with a smile nonetheless. They figured if the youngest, William, were to answer, then people were less likely to press them for more info anyway.

Fukushima couldn’t catch himself before he blurted out, “Adorable...” at William’s smile (which he’d used to fool them). William was the pristine type of pretty boy one barely ever saw in the Eastern Empire, which placed so much emphasis on fighting prowess.

“Ahem.”

“Ah, er... Well, I’m sorry to do this after you went through the trouble of studying our language, but I must reiterate that this country is still far too dangerous. You should go back to your land.” It was so bizarre. The boy’s smile was just so charming. Fukushima knew that if one could become a total native speaker in the Eastern Empire’s language by just “studying a whole lot,” that they wouldn’t have struggled for as long as they had, yet William’s smile wiped out all reason.

“You have nothing to worry about, Lord Fukushima. We haven’t simply been resting on our laurels these past few months, and we work as monster hunters in the kingdom. We’re well aware of the danger. With all that in mind, we’re saying that we’ve come up with a plan and would like to go to the owatas’ breeding grounds.” Leonard patted William’s head and helped argue their side.

“Yeah, father’s right! I know William and I look super young, but we were born on the border! We know how scary monsters can be! That’s why we can’t just sit back and watch while the Eastern Empire is destroyed!” Because if it is, we won’t get to eat any more rice, and that’s just completely unacceptable! Emma added, omitting her real thoughts.

“Why are you trying so hard for a country you’ve never even communicated with before? You have to be willing to put your whole lives on the line to go directly to the owatas’ breeding grounds...” It didn’t seem like anything Fukushima said would convince them. The Stewarts were willing to put all of their lives on the line, even those of the women and children. But that was even more reason he couldn’t let them go. “No. You need to go home.”

He was never going to allow it. They were already in the kingdom’s debt for helping them with their food shortage. To repay that by sending some of their finest to their certain deaths was something no warrior could abide.

“But Lord Fukushima!”

It didn’t matter how sweetly they tried to plead with him. This was one thing he couldn’t budge on.

“Then I’ll give them permission to.” The family were distraught as Fukushima stubbornly refused to let them through when Prince Tasuku disembarked from the boat alongside the Taros and the ninjas.

“P-Prince Tasuku!” Fukushima and Ishida both frantically lowered their heads.

“The Stewarts are famous for protecting their kingdom at the borders. Naturally, we’ll provide them with as much protection as we can. None of them will die. I’ll be sure they all get home safely.”

“But something could happen any second now!” Even with the prince, a figure akin to a god, siding with them, Fukushima still couldn’t easily accept such a thing.

“I understand that you may be worried for the siblings because they’re children. However, you mustn’t judge a book by its cover. Just last year, they faced slimes that appeared in a localized barrier crisis. Not only did they survive, but they even defeated them.”

“What?! Slimes?! The same that we have here?!” Even coming from Prince Tasuku, neither Fukushima nor Ishida could believe their ears. Slimes were some of the most powerful and horrific creatures out there, rendering the warriors of the East unable to use their swords. There shouldn’t have been any other way to handle them than to push them outside the barrier with a shield.

“You mean...it’s possible to defeat a slime? But that’s just...ridiculous...!” If a slime chose you as its target, all you could do was give up. They’d lost so many warriors that way. If this really was true, it wasn’t just the warriors who would have been dying to learn about it. Everyone who fought monsters in every country all around the world would have been desperate to know. How could they have defeated something so powerful? So horrible? So ferocious?!

Knowledge on how to defeat monsters would be extremely profitable. How much would it cost to learn such a thing? Ishida, who managed such affairs, went pale just imagining it. These were slimes. Creatures whose appearance signaled the downfall of countries. That knowledge wouldn’t have been cheap. The Stewarts wouldn’t possibly just tell them...

“Oh, slimes? Yeah, you just dump a bunch of salt on them. It’s the same way you kill a slug!”

“What.”

“I bet you could do it with sugar or wheat flour too, but we haven’t tested that just yet...”

“What?”

“I’d like to cut ’em into three so we could do a comparative study, but they hardly ever show up, so we can’t. Anyway, you should just stick with salt for now!”

And that was that. They got the intel like it was nothing.

“What?!”

Was it really okay for them to just blurt it out like that? And was it really as easy as killing a slug?! Emma had just told them everything in an instant, but Fukushima and Ishida were so shocked, all they could muster out was “What?”

But there was another person there who was even more shocked than all the others.

“Y-You’re kidding me! You’re saying we could’ve maybe used sugar or wheat flour on them, sis?! Do you have any idea how hard I had to hunt for salt back then?! I could’ve found the sugar way faster!” William, who had been in charge of procuring the salt back during the slime incident, was beside himself.

“A-Ahem. Lady Emma, are you sure you should be telling us such vital information so easily?” The abacus in Ishida’s brain was clacking away, trying to calculate just how much the information he just happened to hear would be worth.

“I’m telling you because it’s vital information! It’s important for us all to share what we know about monsters, right? It’d be silly to be stingy about something life-threatening like that!” While Ishida had been worried about the financial cost of knowledge, the young girl gave a completely selfless answer. She tilted her head to the side, as if she couldn’t understand why he’d ask her such a thing. Why, she really must have been...

“Are you...a saint?” Both Fukushima and Ishida asked in tandem. There really was a wide-open world out there. They were both struck by the oddest sensation as this pure girl spoke that she could save them from the threat of owatas and the destruction of their country.

“What?! No, no! There’s no taint here!” The girl frantically began denying the men’s words, but her “modesty” made them feel it even more. She was a saint. In fact, she was an angel.

“When are you going to just admit it, Lady Emma?”

“P-Prince Tasuku?! What are you saying?!”

“Everyone believes you to be holy in the kingdom too, don’t they?”

“I-I keep telling them to stop talking about this hole business at home too...”

“I understand, but anyone would wish to venerate your purity and chastity...”

“Eeeek! Why are you talking about my chastity now?!”

How could this be?! How am I already being treated like a floozy the second I arrive?! I mean, I know I thought Lord Fukushima was a hottie who probably used to be a troublemaker when he was little but totally chilled out, and that Lord Ishida was one of those brainy hunks who’d always been supporting his troublemaker friend since they were younger and all! And I know I was secretly all giddy about that, but that was it! Why is it that every single person I meet thinks about me getting consummated or tainted or something when I’m just an innocent little girl! I should sue them all for sexual harassment!

Of course, Emma thought all this, but she wasn’t a little girl (at least, mentally), and nobody was actually saying anything sexual to her in the slightest. She’d just been unilaterally misunderstanding everything Prince Tasuku was saying and getting herself worked up over it. Her behavior brought the Stewart family, Prince Tasuku, the Taros, the ninjas, Fukushima, and Ishida to laughter.

Emma’s pleading with them was drowned out by said laughter, and the sound of their mirth (unintentionally) reached the ears of the Eastern Empire’s people, who had long since forgotten what joy felt like. It helped them remember that even if their country were to be destroyed, they didn’t have to spend the rest of their time miserably, and the corners of their mouths lifted in smiles of their own. Those smiles then spread bit by bit from the citizens who had evacuated to the harbor to the people inside the Eastern Empire itself, as though naturally contagious.

Chapter 61: The First Shot

“Let’s rest here for a spell.” Fukushima knocked on the door to the Stewarts’ carriage. Despite all his protestations, Fukushima did eventually decide to lead the Stewarts to the owatas’ breeding grounds on Prince Tasuku’s orders.

Prince Tasuku had split off from the group to report back to the capital along with the Taros and a boy they said was a merchant. The giant black merchant ships from the kingdom carried far larger quantities of food than what Melsa had brought, and for some reason, the young boy merchant was taking control of unloading it all, giving orders with utmost precision. He seemed to know what was inside every single one of the innumerable boxes, and seeing him able to allocate where it was all meant to go in the storage sheds at unbelievable speed was the cherry on top. He just looked like an ordinary boy with freckles, but clearly Melsa wasn’t the only person in the kingdom who was exceptionally skilled.

“Lady Emma, we’ll catch up to you in no time at all. So please, please swear you won’t do anything dangerous, okay?” He seemed to be cautioning the Stewart family girl, but it was in the kingdom’s language, so Fukushima couldn’t understand it. That probably was for the best.

The Stewarts were the family the empire was already deeply indebted to, so was it right for Fukushima to send them—women and children included—to the owatas? And in the most dangerous place of all: the owatas’ breeding ground. Only the bare minimum remained in the area—the warriors responsible for guarding it. The civilians had all evacuated as far to the shoreline as they possibly could, and the port was half full of huts crowded together.

No matter what they did, they couldn’t kill the owatas. Did Prince Tasuku really believe that this single family could stop these monsters that the whole country had come together to fight and lose against? The Stewarts certainly looked serious about it.

The samurai had a concept of favor and service. However wide the world might have been, Fukushima thought there was nobody out there more willing to put their lives on the line for their masters than the samurai of the Eastern Empire. Yet even the smallest children of the Stewart family, from the kingdom, were proactively trying to defeat the fearsome owatas. What in the world could be motivating them so? Why were they going to such great lengths for a foreign land?

The problem was that owatas weren’t the type of monsters that could be defeated through sheer determination. Those children were likely to burst into tears the moment they saw the owatas, and no parent could ignore their distraught children.

Fukushima’s duty was to get the family to the owatas’ breeding ground as quickly as he could, make them understand the futility of it all as quickly as he could, then send them back to the kingdom as quickly as he could.

But perhaps...

In a one in a million chance...

By some kind of miracle...

Fukushima’s mind raced with the idea that since Melsa had returned, perhaps there might actually be some way that the emperor, the shogun, the Empire, and even Fukushima himself could be saved.

It was truly pathetic of him. How easily human beings forget. The moment he laid eyes on the scene of the owatas all bending back at once, he was made painfully aware of just how foolish it was to hope. The size of the owatas at full maturity. The danger of how far back they were bent. The massive, weighty leaves and seed pods that were enough to bend the rock-hard stems. The hope Fukushima had felt had been proven to be nothing more than a silly fantasy in the blink of an eye.

This was what despair looked like. This was truly hell. This moment, this place, was nothing but a pit of despair. There was no room for hope. Not in a one in a million chance. There was nothing to be found here.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Hnnnnnngh!” The family all came out of the (quite unusual for the Eastern Empire) windowless, boxlike carriage and stretched. It was understandable, considering they’d been traveling nonstop for several hours. Considering their destination was that hellish owata breeding ground, and even the samurai set to trade shifts guarding the place were trembling, it was only natural that such young children might be stiff with fear.

“I slept sooooo well!”

“Boy, that catbu—I mean, cat carriage is the comfiest place to sleep ever!” The carriage they’d used to transport the cats from Pallas to the kingdom was being used as the family’s personal carriage in the Eastern Empire. Naturally, the cats were also inside. As they were rocked by the carriage, the three siblings and the cats had been lulled into sleepytimes. It was through Joshua’s painstaking efforts and financial support that the cat carriage had been customized to Kongming and the three kitties’ liking.

“Huh? Where’s father?”

While the three siblings and Melsa had come out of the carriage one right after the other, Leonard still hadn’t. Emma peeked into the narrow entrance to the cat carriage and found Leonard crushed beneath the pile of four kitties.

“Hrrk...why is it that...Zhang always wants...to sleep on top of me?” Zhang was purring and grooming himself atop Leonard, while the man was desperately trying to crawl out from under him.

“Myah!”

“Zhang says it’s because your tummy’s his favorite spot ever!”

“Oh...well, I guess...this is my fate, then...”

“Yep, guess so!”

While Leonard acted like it was a terrible imposition, he was grinning ear to ear with joy. Emma agreed as she helped him out of the pile. After all, the whole family put the cats before anything and everything. Once Leonard had finally been released from his cat prison, he exited the carriage and surveyed his surroundings—which looked like a dried-out rice field.

“You all stay in here for a bit longer, okay, kitties?” Emma said when she noticed Fukushima coming, and gently closed the door. Samurai always had katanas at their side, so it would be dangerous if they suddenly saw massive kitties and panicked. Thus, Joshua warned them to really think about timing when introducing the cats.

“This area is already within the projected firing range of the owatas. Please do not stray too far from here. We are here to guard you,” Fukushima said to the head of the family, Leonard. There was a very real possibility that one of the seeds could come crashing onto their heads any moment.

“There’s no rice in these fields, is there?” Leonard murmured, his eyes still on their surroundings.

The fact that Leonard mentioned rice when he saw this utter wasteland meant he knew exactly what this place had been used for. Fukushima once again was shocked by their information-gathering prowess. The Eastern Empire was the only country whose staple diet included rice. There used to be another country greater than even the Western Empire known as the Middle Kingdom, but it had become infested with monsters and fallen to ruin. Though the exact location of the Middle Kingdom had been lost over the years, there were records in the Eastern Empire that stated that its people had also eaten rice. Those two countries were the only places capable of growing rice, as it couldn’t survive in other environments.

The Eastern Empire had apparently been quite close to the Middle Kingdom before it isolated itself. It had a great influence on the Eastern Empire’s culture, writing system, and schools of thought. The Eastern Empire, Middle Kingdom, and the Western Empire were said to be the oldest countries within the barrier, but the Middle Kingdom had been destroyed, and the Eastern Empire had refused all outside interference for hundreds of years after.

So, how was it that a mere count from the kingdom would have any idea about the staple diet of such remote places? While the government-managed library of the Western Empire might have had extremely old texts that might have mentioned the word rice once or twice, Fukushima didn’t have the slightest clue how the Stewarts, who were citizens of the kingdom, had managed to learn about it. The location of the Eastern Empire wasn’t even marked on any maps.

“All the people who had been living here have been evacuated. After all, this area is within range of the owata seeds’ trajectory. Even if we were to plow the fields or plant the rice, it’s doubtful we could harvest it, as nothing but owatas can grow in places an owata seed has landed.”

Owata seeds could travel unimaginable distances and destroy houses and fields, leaving not a trace behind. The leaves and the pod that covered the seeds grew heavier and heavier by the day to help bend back the stiff stalk. When the time came and the stalk had bent as far back as it could, the leaves would fall all at once, sending the pods into the air over a wide area. A pod heavy enough to bend that stalk had the destructive force of a bomb. As the pod buried itself deep in the ground, the shock of the landing would signal it to burst open in the ground, spreading seeds...and the owatas were in the final stages as they spoke. There was a very real possibility that the pods could fall on their heads at any given moment.

“Um... Y’know, I’ve been wondering...” The youngest, Little Willie—er, William timidly and politely put his hand in the air. “I’ve noticed there are some words that seem to coincidentally have similar pronunciations and meanings in the kingdom’s language and the Eastern imperial language, like owata...”

The Eastern Empire called these botanical beasts owatas, and the kingdom’s language did as well. Similarly, Japanese used the same words for ‘consecration’ and ‘saint’ as in the kingdom’s language. While it wasn’t the exact same pronunciation, it was similar enough that it seemed too close to be mere coincidence. The Stewarts hadn’t realized it since they’d been exclusively speaking in the kingdom’s language for so long, but the whole consecration versus consummation similarity existed in both languages, which was why Emma was still somehow mistaking the two words even in the empire. William wondered just how much of the kingdom’s language the people of the Eastern Empire might have absorbed.

Fukushima paused with a “hmm” at William’s question. Melsa was right. He was more than just an adorable face—the child really was quite smart. “That’s because those words are rooted in the old language of the Middle Kingdom, William. It was destroyed many, many years ago, but it was said to be a very large country. You know how the kingdom’s language is rooted in the Western Empire’s language? Well, in ancient times, the Western Empire, Middle Kingdom, and the Eastern Empire used to work together to defeat monsters. Since the Middle Kingdom led the fray when it came to monsters, religion, and the like, many words simply stayed as is from its language.” Fukushima remembered Prince Tasuku telling him this when he first started studying the kingdom’s language. While it was mostly people from the Eastern Empire who thought the pronunciation was similar, words that were more familiar in the Eastern Empire were difficult for the people of the kingdom to understand, but there were some (like Prince Tasuku’s name) that seemed to be easy enough for them, so perhaps those were words with the same origins.

“Wow! I had no idea... I wonder why I didn’t realize it until just now? You sure know your stuff, Lord Fukushima!” William responded, his eyes twinkling.

He’s so cute... Er. I mean, maybe this won’t be so bad after all.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Lord Fukushima. I have some friends I’d like to introduce you to. They’ll be helping us exterminate the owatas.” While taking a break with a light meal, Fukushima was considering how best to get the family to give up on going to the owatas’ breeding grounds when Melsa spoke up.

“Some...friends, you say?” More importantly, did Melsa just say she was going to exterminate the owatas?

“Yes. However, I need you to promise me that you’ll keep them a secret.” It was a bit of a contradiction to say she would introduce them to him while simultaneously asking him to keep them secret, but the intense aura surrounding her as she said ‘keep it a secret’ was practically audible, so all he could do was ask a second question.

“A...secret, you say?”

“Yes. The kingdom cannot find out about our friends.” Melsa continued. Especially not those bugs of ours...

Had they brought knights serving the royal family with them without permission? Fukushima glanced at the other numerous carriages that were traveling alongside the family’s carriage. They were much larger than the carriages from the Eastern Empire. As the family noticed Fukushima’s gaze, they all glared at him with the same intense pressure around them as Melsa had.

“Lord Fukushima. These friends are very valuable treasures. I would like you to keep them a secret from the kingdom...and if you could, keep them as much of a secret from the people of the Eastern Empire as you possibly can,” Emma pleaded.

Treasures? Then perhaps they’d brought some kind of holy swords passed down through the kingdom? I recall Ishida, sword nerd that he is, telling me about how the Western Empire had some kind of sword stuck in a stone that none could remove... But wait, if these are friends, then they must be alive, right?

Emma’s desperation as she pleaded was enough to make even the samurai who had tagged along as guards feel nervous. All they could tell was that the family had brought something unthinkable from the kingdom without permission. Now, it wouldn’t just be the family they had to return unharmed, but this mysterious (possibly national treasure) thing as well. They really were dead set on killing the owatas. Even if they all knew it would be for nothing, there wasn’t a warrior in all of the Eastern Empire who could dampen their spirits.

“We promise.” All the samurai behind Fukushima nodded as well. Besides all that...they were honestly pretty curious about what it was going to be.

“You swear?” George added to the pressure, with the stern face he inherited from both of his parents.

“A warrior never goes back on his word.”

At this, Emma beamed a smile that looked like a flower blossoming in the light, and she called to the carriage she’d ridden in.

“General Kongming! Liu! Guan! Zhang! You can come out now!”

“Meoooow!”

“Myah!”

“Mrowr!”

“Mew?”

They heard what sounded like cats responding to Emma.

“Um...cats?”

“Huh? Cats?”

“Those were definitely meows, right?”

The samurai behind Fukushima responded to the sound of the cats. In the Eastern Empire, cats were seen as good luck. It was because of this that even commoners were well acquainted with cat-shaped ornaments or cat print kimono, even though the creatures themselves were quite rare.

“I understand now. Cats are quite valuable, so they would be nervous to let any leave the kingdom.” It would make sense not to bring any pet cats along if they didn’t want to invite the kingdom’s ire, but cats were very cute. However, it was a mystery why they would need to be introduced as part of the “owata extermination.”

They could understand feeling like cats were “treasures” too, especially if they were so friendly that they’d respond to their owner’s voice like that. Just as Fukushima and the guards started to breathe sighs of relief, the whole group stiffened with fear when they saw the size of the front paw poking out of the carriage.

Uh. That’s freaking huge? Those paw pads are enormous!

Just as the samurai had all suspected upon seeing the paw, the creature slunk out of the carriage with catlike grace...but it was several times bigger than they could have possibly imagined.

“Myaaaah!” The cat had black, white, and brown fur—in other words, it was a calico. It approached Emma soundlessly, then bumped its head against her shoulder lovingly.

“Eeek!”

“Mrah?”

One of the samurai screamed in fear that the beast might eat Emma, and (as though it were answering to the scream), another calico emerged from the carriage.

“What?!”

“There’s two of these giants?!”

The second calico rubbed up against William. It was many times larger than the boy.

“Myah!”

“Mrooowr!”

Then a black cat and a white cat approached George and the Stewart parents one by one.

“Lord Fukushima, these are our cats. The two calicos are General Kongming and Liu. The black one is Guan, and the white one is Zhang.” Emma grinned, wholly satisfied. Each of the catlike giants responded as though they were greeting the samurai.

“Myah!”

“Mrowr!”

“Mew mew!”

“Myaaah!”

Fukushima and the other samurai were shocked and took a step away from the happy family and cats(?). They’d all reached for their swords without thinking, in preparation to strike.

“These are...cats?”

“They sure are!” Emma responded with a grin as she stroked the calico’s head.

They did meow like cats. And they did love on their people like cats. And they did have the same fur patterns and paw pads as cats. But Fukushima had to say it. As a man who had so often stared death right in the face, he had to say it.

“But...aren’t they a little...huge?”

Fukushima had his pride as a warrior. He’d trained body and mind so that nothing could faze him. He couldn’t so easily accept that the giant beasts before him were cats. They certainly looked like them, but their size was nothing like the cats Fukushima knew. The kitties he knew were itty bitty enough to take widdle kitty naps on his lap. So could there really be a cat larger than a tiger out there? Even by just eyeballing it, they were larger than the tiger Fukushima’s colleague Kato had bragged about slaying long ago.

“Are cats smaller here in the Eastern Empire?” Melsa looked at Fukushima with the same intimidating look.

Was he to take it that this was...normal for cats in the kingdom? But that would be impossible...right? Had cats around the world all grown to such massive sizes while the Eastern Empire was isolated? That couldn’t have been...could it? When Fukushima glanced back at the other samurai behind him, he could tell he wasn’t the only one shocked by the prospect. The Stewarts were clearly the odd ones in this situation. Just what were these cats...?

“W-Well, I’ve never seen a cat of this size bef—” Just as Fukushima was about to protest that this maybe stretched the limits of what a cat could be, he was interrupted by a dull, faraway boom followed by the sound of something springing up.

Fukushima and the samurai all turned toward the owata breeding grounds, praying they’d misheard. Unfortunately, their prayers went unanswered. The Stewarts all looked up in the sky to see what was making the loud whooshing sound when the whole earth began to shake with a tremendous boom.

“Whoa!”

“The ground’s shaking!”

“Myah myah?”

“Look out!”

The whole group fell to the ground, unable to stay standing. The thing Fukushima had most feared was happening. The leaves on one of the owatas had fallen, and it had fired its pod. Luckily, it landed several kilometers away from them, but the shock wave from it was still tremendous. Even the hardened warriors went pale at the thought that their hell had begun anew.

“Is it over? Are we all okay? Is anybody hurt?” As Fukushima raised his head, having covered it for protection, he saw the catlike creatures all covering their owners.

How very loyal of them...

“What the heck! Owatas are so scary! What was with that shock wave?!” William shouted as one of the cats helped him up. He’d read countless books about owatas and learned everything he thought there was to know about their ecology, but seeing how destructive they were before his very eyes had him trembling with fear.

“Guess I’ve still got some latent earthquake trauma...” Emma said as she dusted off her clothes and tried to calm herself. She had immediately started clinging to one of the cats’ necks when it happened. She looked in the direction that the owatas’ first launch had landed.

Fukushima watched over the poor children. However much they claimed to be afraid, they had experienced an owata seed landing this close and hadn’t started screaming or crying at all. However brave they might have been, it was hardly a childlike reaction.

“Well, I think I’m gonna go take a look!” Once he’d made sure his little brother and sister were unharmed, George effortlessly hopped on the back of the black cat (or the thing that looked like a black cat) and stated he was heading to the seed’s location.

Wait, have cats always been rideable? No, this is just one more check in the ‘not cat’ box.

“Wait, George! I wanna come too!”

“Me too!”

William and Emma both hopped on the backs of their respective calico-looking things and chased after him. They’d been quite shaken by the impact of the seed, but they got back up like it was nothing.

And again, are cats rideable?

“Wait, you three! It’s too danger— Wow, those cats are fast.” He didn’t even have the time to stop them. The cats took off and in an instant, they were too far away to even see.

Have cats always been faster than horses? Yeah. No. Those are definitely not cats.

“Ugh, honestly... There they go, taking off on their own again. I suppose I should go after them.” Lastly, Melsa also hopped onto the back of the white catlike thing and chased after them, after which only Count Stewart and the samurai were left behind.

There was a brief, awkward silence, until the count timidly spoke up. “You all...mind if I go too?”

For better or for worse, the majority of the family they were all trying to protect had headed out already, so it would be best for them to head out with the count as well.

“Someone fetch the count a horse,” Fukushima ordered the other samurai, who had taken longer than the family to pull themselves together. He didn’t know just how far the cats could carry a person, but the seed had landed several kilometers away.

“Oh, no need to worry. I don’t need a horse or anything. I’ll just run, so you all can take your time catching up.” Saying this, the count removed the headdress from the horse (or...actually, it might have been a donkey?) that was pulling his carriage.

“Eeek!”

“Holy...!”

The samurai who saw the thing on top of the donkey’s head screamed. It was a purple spider—and it was enormous. Big enough to make even a warrior scream.

“Think you can help me out again, Violet?” The count asked the giant spider, and it raised one of its legs.

Is he out of his mind?

“All right! I’ll see you there!” The spider crawled up the count’s arm and sat atop his head, and the count waved to the samurai.

He can’t seriously be planning on running? It’d be way faster for him to take a hors—

Nyoom!

The count with the spider on his head disappeared. He was so fast, even the warriors, with their meticulously honed eyesight, could not follow him. He simply, with no exaggeration, vanished before their eyes.

“What in the world?!”

“Wh-Wh-What just happened, Lord Fukushima?! What are these people?!”

The samurai kept asking Fukushima what just happened, but he had no idea how to answer. In fact, he wished someone would tell him. There was only one thing Fukushima could say.

“A warrior never goes back on his word. Nobody speaks a word of this.” That was that. They would fulfill the oath they swore. He ordered a few men to stay behind and guard the carriages, then got on his horse to follow the family, though he couldn’t help but wonder if he could even catch up to them by horse.

“Er... L-Lord Fukushima?” Just as Fukushima took the reins in his hands to leave, one of the samurai who had been ordered to watch over the carriages steeled his nerves enough to call out to him.

“What is it?” The samurai all looked quite pale.

“Er... It’s just... We keep hearing this creepy skittering sound inside the Stewart family’s carriages... What in the world are they keeping in there?” They were reluctant to stop Fukushima, but after seeing those catlike creatures and that spider, the samurai really couldn’t go without asking. They’d been hearing skittering sounds the entire time they were traveling. After taking one look at the carriages he’d ordered the samurai to watch after, Fukushima decided to follow his gut. It would be for the best not to look inside those carriages—his base instincts were screaming at him not to.

“Leave them be.”

“B-But Lord Fukushima!”

“We let the sleeping dogs...or whatever is in there lie. Just keep a reasonable distance from them until I get back.” Fukushima said. Then, leaving the pale samurai guards behind, he took off after the Stewarts.

Chapter 62: Owata Seeds

“Wow. It’s really down in there.” George, who had arrived riding on Guan, was peering into the hole that had likely been formed by the seed’s impact.

“It’s so much more impressive than I imagined. It’s like a meteor came crashing down or something,” William said, breaking into a cold sweat, thinking that if it had come down onto their heads, there would’ve been nowhere to run. Fukushima said it would have taken several more hours of rocking in the carriage to reach the owata breeding ground, yet the pod had still flown so close to them.

“All righty, I’m gonna get down in there! You wanna help me out, Kongming?”

“Myah myah!”

Emma couldn’t fight her curiosity and was about to have Kongming jump down to the bottom of the crater.

“Whoa, sis, wait!”

“Emma, you can’t! It’s dangerous! Wait! Wait, dammit!”

However, Emma wasn’t one to calmly wait when told. Once she was interested in something, nothing could stop her from getting to the bottom of it... Literally, in this case. Naturally, George and William were well aware of that and chased after Emma and Kongming. After all, it was still a monster they were dealing with, even if it was plantlike. It wouldn’t be unusual for danger to be lurking.

“Is the ground in here hot, Kongming?”

“Myah myah!”

“No? So even though it leaves a crater like a meteor, it’s not hot like one.”

“Mrowr!”

There was one large hole where the owata pod had landed. The crater it had formed when it fell was twenty meters in diameter and two meters deep. Most frightful of all was the knowledge that there wasn’t just one owata. The owatas were growing en masse. This one seed meant that soon dozens, hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands could come raining down. It was certainly destructive enough to destroy an entire country.

“The ground here is so dry and cracked, but it was still able to cave it all in like this... I bet it could even turn bedrock to dust!” Not just bedrock. Carriages, houses, and everything else the empire had built. Once Emma reached the center of the crater, she hopped off Kongming, and her brothers finally caught up to her.

“Ugh, sis! How many times do we have to tell you to check if it’s safe first?!”

“Whoa! Look at that! Emma, William! Get out of there! Run!”

The ground in the center of the crater at Emma’s feet was rising and swelling.

“Agh! What the heck?! Something’s coming up from below!”

“Get out of there, you idiot! Kongming, help!”

“Myah!”

Emma nearly lost her balance and fell, but Kongming gently pulled her back by her collar just as something burst out of the ground. The force of it sprayed dirt out even beyond the circumference of the crater.

“Eeek!”

“Waaagh!”

“Aagh!”

The three siblings, who were still inside, were covered in dirt, and the dust cloud blocked their vision. Once the dust had settled to some degree, they finally spoke.

“Ptooh! Is everyone okay?”

“Pbbbth! I-I think so...”

“Pbbbth! Ptooh! Bleh! There’s so much dirt in my mouth... What was that just now?”

George, Emma, and William all checked to make sure they were safe as they tried to get all of the dirt off of their heads.

“I think that was the pod exploding. I remember reading that the pods would burst from the force of the landing. I just didn’t think there would be this much time in between...” William answered.

“It was so powerful too! Books really can’t do it justice!” Emma laughed, clearly enjoying herself.

“Emma, I am begging you to take things slow for once...”

“I guess Joshua didn’t warn you hard enough...”

“Huh?”

Emma was confused why her brothers were hanging their heads in exasperation, but her mother Melsa arrived in the nick of time to scold her.

“Emma, you know that was dangerous! What would you have done if you got any more scars on your beautiful face?”

“Mother, it’s fine! I’m totally unharmed!”

“That is not what I’m worried about now! I’m telling you to stop getting yourself into danger!”

“Rrgh... Sorry, mother... I swear I’ll be more careful next time.”

“Do you have any idea how many times you’ve said that over this past year and a half? Why can’t you stay true to your word?” Melsa sighed, massaging her temples.

“Now now, Melsa. She’s safe now, so that’s what matters, right?” Leonard, who arrived after Melsa with Violet atop his head, lifted Emma in his arms. “My daughter’s a little cutie even when she’s covered in dirt!”

“Dear.”

“And you’re a little cutie even when you’re mad, Melsa!”

“Oh, you...”

It was the same pattern as always: Emma got in trouble, Leonard covered for her, and Melsa got lavished with praise. But this time, it was the dust making George and William throw up in their mouths rather than the cheesiness.

◆ ◆ ◆

“I-Is everyone all right?!” Fukushima and the members of the guard dismounted their horses and began running into the crater, their faces pale. Why are the Stewarts all inside the crater?! Normal people wouldn’t do that! It’s a monster-made hole! Anyone would know it’s dangerous!

“Yeah, we’re just like...really dirty.”

The siblings were covered head to toe in dirt. They wore fine clothing, as one might expect of a noble family from the kingdom, made from a high-quality silk the likes of which the Eastern Empire had never seen before. Sad as it was, with all that dirt covering them, the delicate fabric was likely ruined. They were laughing and saying they’d gotten caught in the blast when the pod burst, but once again, Fukushima had to question why they were in the hole in the first place.

“If the pod has burst, then that means the seeds are already buried. It’ll be difficult to find them. This land is owata territory now. It’s too dangerous for us to be here. We should leave.” Owatas grew very quickly. Once the seeds started to sprout, they’d start absorbing nutrients en masse—and humans standing on the earth above them were no exception to what they considered “nutrients.” Fukushima was trying to hurry the family, who were all surrounding Emma and excitedly talking about something.

“So sis, you think there’s a reason it formed this crater?”

“Yeah! I mean, when it’s concave like this, it means water will pool in, right? They’re gonna make water their top priority if they wanna get as big as the ones we saw in the books in half a year.”

“But why do you think the pods need to burst, Emma? I feel like it’d be a lot safer for the seeds to grow inside the pods...” As they spoke, the pod and the seeds were all buried deep in the crater beneath them. George tilted his head, thinking it would be a lot easier for the seeds to bud while protected by the pod.

“Hmm... Well, if there’s a lot of seeds inside one pod, then they may have to be separated out to keep from having to fight over nutrients? Oh, and maybe they can’t grow without the oxygen in the soil?” It was well-known that plant monsters needed plenty of nutrients in order to grow. Emma was hypothesizing that the force of the pod bursting aerated the dirt, allowing more oxygen into the soil.

“Oh, I see! So it’s like the owatas are making and tilling their own fields. Gosh, you came up with a theory so fast! You really are such a little genius, Emma!” Leonard cried.

“Don’t lay on the praises too thick, dear. You know she’ll let it get to her head.”

“Oh! Then perhaps another reason it crashes down with enough force to make a crater is to create more nutrients out of the previous inhabitants! Monsters, animals, plants, and people included!”

“Excellent thinking, William. I’m so glad I raised you so well this time around.”

William wilted under his mother’s backhanded compliment. “Could you not make it sound like I turned out badly last time...?”

“He’s right, Melsa. You couldn’t have known he’d turn into such a bum...”

“Father...”

What is with this family? As Fukushima rushed to them to ask them to leave the hole, he was stunned by the conversation he overheard. It sounded like they’d gotten further in their theories than even the Eastern Empire’s researchers, who had been studying the owatas as hard as they could. How had they come to such conclusions after only observing the aftermath of a single seed being fired? Just what was this family?!

More importantly, they needed to evacuate. Getting the family back to the kingdom safely was the one thing Fukushima had to do, no matter what.

“Pardon the intrusion, but it’s dangerous to be here if the seeds are taking root. We should retreat.” It would be safest to get far, far away.

“Oh, Lord Fukushima! If you mean these seeds, we already have them,” George said and raised his hand. He was holding an owata seed, which was wrapped in a thin, white, hairlike substance.

“What?”

“It’s about the size of a baseball, huh? Man, that takes me back.” George had played baseball in his former life, so he started posing like he was about to pitch it.

“Wow, George! You look so cool! Go number eight! C’mon, left field! Tanaka!”

“Wait, I thought George was seven?”

“Eight was his number in the batting order.”

“Then how come his jersey number wasn’t eight too?”

“Because the jersey number denotes his position, sis...”

“Uh...why?”

While the siblings were excitedly talking about baseball from their previous lives, Fukushima was once again shocked by George, who made it look like he was going to throw the owata seed. “How is he able to carry the owata seed like it’s nothing...?” Fukushima wondered if it might have been a dud. “G-George? Do you mind if I hold that for a moment?”

Owata seeds were far heavier than their appearance and size would suggest. Even the strongest warriors would struggle to lift one over their head like that.

“Oh, sure. Just be careful, Lord Fukushima. It’s a bit heavy,” George said, then tossed it over to Fukushima one-handed.

“Hrrrgh!” Fukushima had braced himself to catch the seed with both hands, and still nearly fell forward with the weight of it. It was sheer willpower that kept him standing. This seed was definitely not defective. It was just as heavy as the seeds he knew, that the strongest men struggled to even carry a single one of.

They rode on cats. They put spiders on their heads and ran faster than horses. They carried ridiculously heavy owata seeds like they were nothing. There was something wrong with this family—seriously wrong.

“Oh jeez! You okay there, Lord Fukushima? Here, I’ll take it from you.” Seeing the cold sweat rising on Fukushima’s brow, George gave him a gentle smile and took the seed from Fukushima...with one hand.

“Nngh... Terribly sorry about that, George.” Fukushima never imagined he’d see the day where he’d be outdone by a young boy like this.

“I wouldn’t be too hard on yourself, Lord Fukushima. My brother was a gorilla in a past life.”

“Totally! There was a gorilla somewhere in there, so he’s super strong now!”

William and Emma both tried to comfort Fukushima. He had no idea what a gorilla was, but their kindness still struck true.

But still, George had an owata seed...

Wait.

Huh?

How did George even get that seed in the first place? Had he managed to dig it out of the crater? In this short amount of time? The force of the pod bursting would send the seeds all over the surrounding soil, so it was impossible to find them. If they could have been able to find the seeds so easily before they’d even managed to bud, they could have stalled the spread right at the start. Even though the seeds were about the size of a fist, they’d never been able to find them all before budding. They didn’t know where they were, and trying to throw as many men at the problem without any direction did nothing to help. Trying to dig up seeds under those conditions was emotionally taxing, and morale just kept dropping as time went on. Even if they were able to find one, their weight made it extremely difficult to carry them.

So how did George have one?

“George. How did you manage to dig that seed up?” Fukushima knew he needed to get everyone out of the area as soon as possible, but he had to ask.

“Oh, this? Why, do you want one?” When the boy noticed Fukushima looking at the seed, the count, who was carrying something wrapped in cloth over his shoulders, placed it on the ground. It seemed light when he was carrying it, but it sunk into the ground when he let it fall. Fukushima had a terrible feeling about this.

“Here. You can take whichever one you like.” The count unfolded the cloth to reveal four owata seeds. Combining that with the one George was carrying...

“What?! Y-You found five?! Five whole owata seeds?!” What was more, the count was carrying four of them over his shoulder? And wait, just how strong was that cloth?! How could it handle carrying owata seeds without tearing?! It wasn’t even stretching! What was that cloth?!

Fukushima wasn’t the only one who was shocked. The samurai, who were looking on from a distance, were astonished as well.

“Huh?! How can he carry owata seeds so easily? And...four of them?!”

“I mean, we gotta know how he found them in the first place!”

“I know those cats were fast, but we still caught up to them on horseback. It was only thirty minutes between them getting here and us getting here, right?”

“I don’t get it... I’m begging for some kind of explanation here...”

When the first owata in the Eastern Empire fired its seeds, the samurai had pulled all their forces together to find the seeds before they took root, but had only been able to find two. It was only a few hours later that the seeds would start absorbing nutrients to grow. All the samurai had fallen from exhaustion after digging for so long, and they’d had no choice but to give up the hunt. Yet this family had already managed to find five of them in mere minutes.

Something was going on here.

“Myah myah!”

Fukushima finally snapped out of his stupor as he tried to figure out what he should ask them to explain first when he heard the sound of the black cat meowing from a bit farther off. He still wasn’t sure about whether to call them cats or not, but...

“Oh, did you find one, Guan?”

“Mrowr mrowr!”

Emma asked the black cat, and the cat responded.

Please, for the love of all that is holy, stop being incomprehensible for just two seconds! Fukushima practically pleaded with them in his mind. He directed his gaze to the black cat to see it pawing at the ground with its front paws.

“What...?”

Don’t tell me the cat has to do its business at a time like this...

“These cats were the ones who found the seeds, Lord Fukushima. According to them, owatas are monsters, so even their seeds give off a bit of magic. They can sense that magic with their little noses and whiskers!” Emma explained, noticing Fukushima’s confusion.

Wow. Those cat...things sure are convenient. Can I really call them cats? And wait, “according to them”? Does that mean she’s...talking to them?

Wha...

Huh?

Huh?!

Unfortunately, Emma’s explanation was just adding more questions to the mountain he already had.

“Oh, then I’ll let him have Violet real quick.” William turned around to run off toward the black cat to reveal the massive spider stuck on his back.

“Eeeek!” Fukushima and the other samurai balked. It was that purple spider the count had put on his head when he’d disappeared.

“We’re counting on you two, Guan and Violet!”

“Mrowr!”

The samurai had no idea what William was thinking, but he put the giant spider on the black cat’s head.

“Myamyamyamyamyamyah!”

The giant cat with the giant spider on its head started digging with tremendous ferocity. Its front paws were moving so fast, the samurai couldn’t see them moving at all, yet there was absolutely a pile of dirt building up behind the cat.

“What?!”

“Mrowr!”

It dug a hole deep enough that the massive cat was completely hidden from view until it poked its head back out...and in its mouth was a sixth seed. It was just...digging up treasures? Like the cat version of The Old Man Who Made Flowers Bloom? Fukushima and the samurai kept rubbing their eyes over and over, unable to believe what they were seeing. Yet no matter how much they rubbed, the seed the cat dug up was still there...and they had no idea where to even start anymore.

Chapter 63: Social Season in the Kingdom

Social season was in full swing in the kingdom, and all the noblewomen were excitedly trying to find their one and onlys—though they tried not to show it on their faces. Instead, they showed their enthusiasm with extravagant dresses, perfumes of the highest quality, and accessories adorned with large jewels, all of which made the lavish and opulent ballrooms more radiant than ever. Emma’s friends from Embroidery had attended several evening parties themselves, but (perhaps due to a certain someone’s influence), they were preoccupied with other things. Even when boys did come to talk to them, they’d be turned down instantly, and nothing would come of it. Yet despite this, it appeared that the number of boys coming to talk to them kept increasing.

“Lady Francesca’s dress certainly looks lovely on her, doesn’t it, Caitlyn?”

“Lady Francesca’s dress certainly does look lovely on her, Catherine!”

The dress Francesca had worn to this massive party at the castle was a soft ashy beige with fine, subtle lace patterns that enhanced Francesca’s feminine appearance.

“Thank you both, Lady Catherine and Lady Caitlyn. Your dresses are awfully beautiful as well.” The twins were wearing matching striped dresses that alternated between bright emerald green and a lovely light blue in colors reminiscent of the ocean.

“You all look so adorable. And just look around you—the boys are all nervous just gazing upon you.” After taking drinks from the servants, Marion distributed them with a hammy wink.

“Thank you very much! And Lady Marion looks quite fetching herself, doesn’t she, Catherine?”

“Lady Marion certainly does look quite fetching herself, Caitlyn!”

Marion was wearing a deep wine-red dress that looked positively stunning on her.

“Hee hee hee!”

The four looked at each other and laughed.

“Lady Emma really is amazing. I don’t think anyone realizes that these are simply revamped dresses!” Francesca looked down at her dress, which had been skillfully dyed to that ashy beige color.

“This dress sure reminds me of the eastern ocean! What about you, Caitlyn?”

“This dress certainly reminds me of the eastern ocean too, Catherine!”

The twins started giggling about the myriad colors of the ocean without a care in the world.

“This dress used to be black, so I’m amazed we managed to get such a beautiful red out of it.”

Exactly as they said, the dresses the girls were all wearing were the very same ones that Emma had gifted them. During Embroidery one day, the four of them had bemoaned the fact that no matter how much you might have liked a dress, you couldn’t wear the same one twice. After school, Emma had introduced them to a tailor she knew. It was a tiny little shop tucked in the back of the Shopping District run by a handsome shopkeeper and his very skilled seamstress wife, with little kids from the slums happily helping out.

“We’ll just change the appearance ever so slightly to an ashy beige, Lady Francesca. For the twins, we’ll switch the order of your stripes and do emerald green and light blue. For Lady Marion, we’ll just dye it wine red and move the flower embellishment from your shoulder to your back. Those are Lady Emma’s orders.” The tailor said that as long as it didn’t rain, the dresses would be done by the next evening...and so it was done at an extraordinary speed. Apparently, the embellishment adjustments had been done by the tailor, while the dyeing had been done in the slums.

“Now, while we don’t officially do any dyeworks, if you tell us you need it done, we can handle it any time,” the tailor had continued, making it clear that they’d be willing to go the extra mile for friends of Lady Emma. The couple had smiled and added that the children would likely be happy to help as well.

“Lady Emma really is just full of surprises,” Marion gave a dry chuckle as she sipped from her glass. “I was shocked to hear she’d be spending her summer vacation in the Eastern Empire...” Emma was going alongside Prince Tasuku to study abroad in the Eastern Empire for the summer. She always did the most unimaginable things as though they were nothing.

“Lady Emma’s always been a bit weird, Caitlyn.”

“Why yes, Lady Emma has always been a bit weird, Catherine.”

“Why, you two! That’s not true at all! Or...well, maybe it’s a little true.”

“That’s for sure.”

“Hee hee.”

The four girls, who were wearing what were certainly the most beautiful dresses at the ball, all shared a gentle laugh. These girls were clearly different from the others, who were exhausted from getting their dresses ready and dealing with the pressure of attending a party alongside so many important people from various countries, and the boys from within and without the kingdom were watching them from a distance.

“All right, ladies, enough with the chitchat. The music’s starting up now.” Arthur took his little sister’s hand. Since Marion wasn’t engaged, her older brother was playing the role of her escort. Seeing the two tall siblings dancing together was quite eye-catching.

“Lady Francesca, may I have this dance?” Prince Edward asked.

“Y-Your Highness?!”

“Emma told me you’re quite adept at dancing. While she may be too frail to dance herself, she did say she’d love to see you and I dancing someday. Why don’t we practice until...until she returns safely.”

“Lady Emma said such a thing?! She remembered something I only mentioned in passing during our first class together... Your Highness, I do accept! We should do everything we can to make her proud!” Francesca gently placed her hand atop the prince’s. While the prince usually wore such an aloof expression, it softened ever so slightly whenever he talked about Emma.

“Let’s dance too, Caitlyn!”

“Yeah, let’s dance too, Catherine!”

The twins took each other’s hands and followed after the Bell siblings, the prince, and Francesca. All the important guests who had been invited from other countries couldn’t help but gasp in admiration at the spectacular dancing of the kingdom’s young lords and ladies, yet three pairs stood out among the throng.

There was a tall pair whose dance was perfectly in sync. Their star quality practically outshone everyone around them, and the girl’s deep, wine-red dress complemented her toned body beautifully.

Then there was the second-born prince of the kingdom and the young lady he was dancing with. They matched the rhythm perfectly and could pull off even the toughest of moves without error. It was the kind of skilled dancing that was a rare sight. The girl’s delicate and flowy, ashy beige dress never got in the way, but billowed out gently around them.

And finally, there was the two dark-skinned, silver-haired twins’ dance. They were spinning and laughing with all their hearts. The unusual striped emerald green and light blue dresses made it seem almost like the guests were gazing upon two fish dancing at the bottom of the sea. To be quite frank, it was simply an honor to see the girls whooping it up.

“It’s like they’re flaunting their skill here in the kingdom,” one of the guests whispered.

A country was the sum of its people.

The tall duo had such star quality that could easily be used to their advantage once they took jobs that could steer the nation.

The second-born prince and his match were stunningly skilled, and the dances performed during social functions were basic etiquette. A country with the ability to raise children with such sophistication must have been doing so for some time now.

As for the two adorable girls dancing together...the gorgeous dresses they wore certainly showed off what was so great about the country of Pallas silk. While the quality went without saying, everyone had to wonder just how the fabric had been dyed. The delicate color usage and the exquisite shading were amazing, and the designs themselves were innovative enough to still stand out above it all.

All present were forced to reassess their opinion of the kingdom being nothing more than a country of silks and farms. People, etiquette, skills, beautiful girls—the kingdom really had everything a country needed.

But above all else...

The guests discreetly glanced up at the throne, which was a bit higher than the rest of them. The queen and the king’s concubine alternated attending consecutive parties. Today, it was the king’s concubine, Rose Alicia Royale, who sat next to the king. She wore a lemon-yellow dress adorned with beadwork that wrapped around her like ivy. Just as everyone silently agreed the dress was cute, she turned to talk to one of her maids, revealing a bold design that showed off her gorgeous back. There was hardly any fabric—only the most delicate of beads woven together to barely cover the skin beneath. It was so bewitching that it stole the words from the guests’ lips.

Who the hell said the king’s concubine in this country was trashy?! Who was it who said the king’s concubine was a disgraceful woman who just threw her money around?!

Every time the king would whisper something in her ear, the concubine would blush and laugh. There didn’t seem to be a shred of malice in her. She had a smile as pure as a young girl’s and the most voluptuous body the world had ever seen. In fact, every man, woman, and child alive should have cried out, “She’s true perfection!”

A concubine’s beauty was a demonstration of the king’s power. If a king could land a goddess like that, then he had to be impressive.

The kingdom was truly a power to be feared. The day the Western Empire could be overthrown as the strongest nation might have been approaching. In fact, the guests had heard some fishy rumors about the Western Empire, which had made its fortune in cotton, requiring large swaths of land. The nobles considered that it was time they rethought where to focus their diplomatic efforts.

Without any of them realizing it, Emma’s friends dancing in the dresses she’d made, and Emma’s favorite person, Rose, blushing in the dress she’d made, had sent the kingdom’s status among the other nations skyrocketing.

Chapter 64: At the Stewarts’ Mercy

“Emma, what are you doing back there? We’ve gotta get back now!” George beckoned to his sister, who was still digging around the area where the owata pod had fallen.

“What’s that in your hand, si— Oh jeez, you’re covered in mud!” She was already rather dirty from the explosion, but Emma had apparently been digging with Kongming to find the remains of the pod.

“We already got all the seeds. We don’t really need the pod too...” George said as he dusted his sister off again and looked over at his parents and Fukushima. Fukushima was still desperately trying to convince them that it was too dangerous to keep going now that the owatas were firing their seeds.

“Are you kidding, George? When it comes to science, every last bit is necessary! You’ll never make any great discoveries with oversights like that!”

“But...I mean...”

Now wasn’t exactly the time for it. Fukushima seemed dead set in his ways, and if the Stewart family didn’t make it to the owatas themselves, there was no way for them to actually defeat the monsters. And if they didn’t defeat the owatas, then they’d never eat rice again.

“No, I can’t allow it. You’re going back to the kingdom at once.” Fukushima shook his head.

“But Lord Fukushima, we have to go to the owatas if we’re ever going to defeat them. You understand, right?” Leonard pleaded his case, but Fukushima was having none of it.

“No! You don’t understand just how dangerous owatas are. You can’t just bring these women and children with you like it’s some kind of sightseeing tour!”

“Okay, but I can’t just leave my family behind either...”

“And that’s why I’m saying that you should all go back to the kingdom!”

Fukushima, who only wanted to return the family he was indebted to safely to their homeland, and Leonard, who had to defeat the owata threat so he could secure rice for his family forevermore, had both drawn lines in the sand that neither was willing to cross as they argued their points over and over.

“Lord Fukushima? We should hurry and get moving!” Emma, who really never could read the room, called out. She’d finished her work, so she figured it was time to go.

“As I have been saying, Lady Emma, I apologize, but I simply cannot permit you to continue on this trek!” Fukushima repeated the same line he’d been spouting over and over. Did this family just have no fear?

“But Lord Fukushima, the owatas have already started firing their seeds, right? Well, then there’s a possibility we would be in the line of fire whether we keep moving toward them or turn back.”

“Which is why I’ve been saying you should go home as soon as possible!” Fukushima interjected, clearly fed up with the whole situation.

“You know, I read the research the Eastern Empire provided us about owatas before, and it said that the ones that got biggest the fastest would be the ones that fired their seeds first, and that the distance they fired them depended on the size of the owata. So in that case, wouldn’t it actually be safer to be closer to them right now?”

“What?”

“It usually takes about a month to launch one of the pods with all the seeds in it. So it follows that the tallest of the owatas with the longest range will set the outer perimeter of their new breeding ground with their seeds, with the owatas unable to launch more than medium and short-range seeds following later.”

“O-Okay...”

“In other words, any of the roads we would be taking to turn back would likely be within firing range of the current owatas. So actually, it would be safer for us to get closer to the owatas right now,” Emma explained from behind her towering father. She was talking about her learnings and what she’d even theorized about owatas with all the gravity one might have when talking about the pattern of kimono they were wearing. Fukushima was completely flabbergasted. She was...completely right.

“Are you saying that you read all of that?” Everything written about monsters was dripping in blood, utterly bleak and devoid of hope, and owatas were no exception. They were not things that a young girl should have been reading in their entirety.

“Sure did! Every last bit!”

“There was so much, though...”

Emma had said she’d read every last bit, but what the Eastern Empire had provided Melsa was the collective efforts of the entire Eastern Empire. It was so extensive it would make one’s head spin. It had information from surviving civilians, from the scenes themselves, the samurai who were tasked with helping, all that the scientists in the Eastern Empire had studied—every last bit of information, even that which hadn’t been carefully scrutinized.

“Yup! I’m taking the Monster Studies elective at school in the capital, so it was really helpful!” Emma grinned.

How the hell can she smile about having read such grisly research? Fukushima thought, actually being frightened by the girl’s smile. No matter where you looked, it was just despair on every page.

“Yeah, but Emma just read it. I was the one who wound up verifying all the information, categorizing it, and summarizing all the important bits. That was really hard work, you know,” William cut in with a look of irritation on his face.

He...summarized all of that?! But he’s even younger than Lady Emma!

Fukushima had almost accepted what Emma had piled onto him without getting a word in edgewise. However... “If what you’re saying is correct, doesn’t that mean there’s no way home even if I do take you to the owatas?”

If they went with Emma’s plan, they’d be heading back after the pods had fallen. All the roads would be in shambles, making it impossible to travel by horse, let alone by carriage. And if they attempted to walk, they would be devoured by the growing owatas without mercy. It would no longer be a place anyone could travel.

“Oh, you noticed? We’re kinda already trapped as is!” They’d either be killed by the falling pods or killed by the seeds devouring them for sustenance.

“Then we should make a break for it and retreat!”

“What do you think this is, Lord Fukushima?” Emma held up a muddy, rodlike object.

Fukushima was thinking that it hardly looked clean enough for a girl of her status to be carrying, but he brought his face closer to it to get a better look.

“I’m not sure.”

“It’s an animal’s bone. I found it just under the pod, and plenty of blood and flesh with it.”

“And what does this signify?”

“What it means is that it takes a massive amount of energy for an owata to sprout, and living beings are a great source of nutrients. So what if the owatas aimed at places where living beings might be? Why, if we hadn’t stopped the carriages for a break, it could’ve been us caught under that pod!” Emma speculated a most hair-raising possibility with a gentle smile and a giggle.

Fukushima was at a loss for words at the mere thought.

“What the heck, Emma! Seriously, why would you think of something so freaky?!”

“Wait, sis... Huh?! We were riding on cat-back! If the owata had fired while we were running... Oh jeez, I’ve got goose bumps!”

“Well, it was just the first one... But yeah. I guess we got pretty lucky, huh? Hee hee.”

“Agh, sis! You’re freaking me out!”

What in the world is with this girl’s imagination?! She’s just firing off theory after theory!

Fukushima was in utter disbelief, but he still stood strong. “I’m...sure it’s just coincidence. I’ve never heard of such a thing...”

“No no, it was in document number 25,600 in the section ‘Civilian Proposals,’ part seventy-nine where they said they saw the seeds landing directly on merchants’ carriages, and in the same section in part 453 where it was said that it looked like the seed shifted its trajectory toward a herd of deer in midair,” William said, reciting parts from the documents he’d received entirely from memory.

“Wha— You’ve memorized all of that, William?” Emma wasn’t the only one who was baffling Fukushima. William had such an adorable face, and yet...was he some kind of monster?

“Man, if I had that kind of memory...” George mumbled with a thousand-yard stare. Then passing Monster Studies would be a walk in the park...

“To summarize, if moving in and of itself is dangerous, then the shorter distance would be the safest, right, Lord Fukushima? And from where we are now, it’s a shorter distance between us and the owatas’ breeding ground, right?” Melsa, who had seen the grounds once before, suggested that Fukushima should just give in and start moving already.

“Huh?”

“Shall we be off, Lord Fukushima?” Melsa asked as she hopped aboard the white cat and started off toward where the carriages had stopped. “Zhang, we’ll be going back slowly. No running, all right?”