“Anyway, let’s eat!“
No use crying over spilt milk. Emma ladled the soup and put it in front of the ninja with a smile. Being unused, the room didn’t contain tables or chairs, so she could be forgiven for putting it on the floor, although it’s a little bad-mannered.
She did lay out the placemats she made in embroidery class, at least. She had gotten carried away and made about 150 of them. Even after they were given to the noble sons in return for their gifts of sweets, there were still many left, which the thoughtful Martha had brought to the room.
“Emma-sama?”
Emma’s hands hadn’t stopped even after she finished distributing the soup to the 19 people.
She was set on having the soup herself too.
“Do nii-sama and William want to eat some too?”
“Well, I do feel hungry…”
“…looking at it makes you want to eat, doesn’t it.”
What with all the hubbub that had gone on since the morning, George and William just sat quietly next to the ninjas and also waited for the soup.
The ninja sitting next to them flinched and shivered, but they disregarded it.
“What about Joshua?”
“I-I will eat!”
Joshua replied spiritedly, but with some restraint, then sat next to the ninja vigorously.
“Emma-sama is… serving… the soup… for me…! Just like a married couple! Newly-weds! God… I can’t, thank you… enough…!”
What came in front of the murmuring Joshua first was not Emma’s soup but the bread from Martha (which was also distributed to the ninjas). Verily, the look in Martha’s eyes conveyed that she was looking at a pitiful person.
The ninja sitting next to the murmuring Joshua was also looking skeptically at him. Some things can still be conveyed without language.
“Well then, everyone. Let’s eat!“
The ninjas who had just woken up were staring uneasily at Emma, who clapped her hands cheerfully.
“Le-Leader, just what kind of situation is this?“
“What is happening right now?“
Even Hattori, who had been conscious this whole time and been conversing with Emma directly, didn’t understand the situation. There’s nothing he could do about his subordinates’ anxiety.
This was their first proper meal since they left Imperial Japan. What if it was poison? What if there was a truth serum inside?
“We didn’t put in any poison or the like, you know?“
Emma remarked, as if she had seen through the ninjas, then brought the soup to her mouth before anyone else did.
“Umm~! Delicious~”
Not satisfied with one spoonful, Emma kept delivering soup to her mouth while her other hand rested on her cheek with a contented smile that stretched from ear to ear on her face.
“We should eat too…”
In front of Emma’s smile that could ease all ill will[1], Hattori, who had resolved himself, lifted the plate.
[T/N 1: 毒気を抜かれる in the raw text, which is wordplay that could mean to neutralize all toxicity or to make one dumbfounded]
“L-Leaderrrr!“
If they had wanted to kill us, then we would’ve already been killed by those giant cats and spider.
Even though they said that they wanted information, if I were to think about it calmly, they already know of the existence of ninjas, a fact that is concealed even within Imperial Japan, an isolated country. What’s more, they know my name. From the outset, we never stood a chance against them.
Even if this yellow liquid were poison, we have no other choice but to eat it.
Mimicking the girl before him, the ninja used the spoon-like thing to bring the yellow liquid to his mouth.
“Uhhh!!!“
The subordinate ninjas tensed up after seeing their leader’s body twitching. Was it poison, after all?
