Business Trip [Part 3]
“Ah! Pick me! I want to go to Imperial Japan!”
Emma’s right hand shot up and she stood up, offering herself as a candidate.
“You have school, don’t you?”
At Melsa’s implied ‘No’, Emma lowered her hand dejectedly.
“Meow, meow…… (It’s okay……)”
Koumei-san comforted Emma by patting her back with her front leg.
“Then I will go. Both George and William also have school, after all.”
Leonard was excited about travelling by sea.
Since Palace was landlocked, there were few opportunities to travel on boats.
“You have to train the hunters the day after tomorrow, right?” Melsa reminded Leonard of his schedule.
In the royal capital, once a week, Leonard trained young men who wanted to be hunters. Because it’s a dangerous occupation, hunters enjoyed good salaries.
Especially so for Palace hunters, who could get nearly double the amount compared to other borderland territories. After they had received sufficient training in the royal capital, Leonard would send these young men to Palace.
The demanding hunting business had a high turnover rate. For every 100 people who went into it, less than 10 would remain, so securing hunting talents was also an important job for borderland lords.
Until now, Arban had simply scouted and sent recruits from among the royal capital’s universities. But since Leonard had the time, he provided training, and through that process selected promising hunters to be dispatched. He had succeeded in reducing the transportation costs this way.
“Ah, George…… Could you train them in my place?”
‘I completely forgot,’ Leonard held his head and asked George to be his substitute.
“George has school, remember? Also, if those trainees fail to keep up with George, who is younger than them, they might lose the confidence to become hunters, you know?”
Even for the strongest men, becoming a hunter meant stepping into a harsh world.
That said, George, who has been hunting since he was a child, was an exception.
“So, who will go to Imperial Japan?”
William tilted his head as if to say ‘Who else is there?’ .
“I will go!”
Melsa put a hand to her chest and took a step forward.
” ” ” “Eh!?” ” ” “
“I was originally aspiring to be a diplomat, and I have done the necessary studies. Moreover, the foods from the Kingdom that we sent as aid must be unfamiliar to Imperial Japan. They would need someone to teach them how to cook it, right?”
Certainly, the family hadn’t thought of that.
Different countries did have different foodstuffs. Melsa was good at cooking in their past life, so it… made sense for her to go?
“No, you can’t. Melsa, you’ll be going to a country where no Kingdom person has set foot in even once, what if something bad happened? Just thinking that you might get hurt makes me anxious!” Leonard objected.
“It’s alright. I will have Emma lend Violet to me.”
‘Right?’ Melsa looked at Emma and smiled.
“I know that you are smarter and more capable than anyone else! Even so, I want to be the one to protect you when you’re in danger! Besides, parting with you, my love… will make me feel so lonely, you know?”
“…………darling……”
As their parents stared into each other’s eyes, the three siblings looked on with the same expression that Tibetan foxes have.
[T/N 1: An expression used when unable to stop someone else from doing something unnecessarily dramatic. See picture of Tibetan fox)
“………………”
“………………”
“………………”
Too sweeeeeeetttttttt!
“Ugh… uh, uhhh…….. That sort of talk! Haven’t I said it before to only do it when you’re alone!?”
George complained.
“Father is really devoted to Mother, isn’t he?”
Unlike him, Emma cupped her cheeks with her hands, feeling very touched.
“Don’t you see? There’s still us children watching here, see? I wish they’d consider our mental state too……” William sighed as he thought ‘would it hurt them to do that….’.
His parents’ flirting was the number one image he never wished to see.
Nevertheless, this scene was often seen in the Stuart family.
The three siblings, who had gotten better at imitating the Tibetan fox over the years, now wished to transform fully into one.
In the end, Ninja Momochi, who understood the situation, reported the details of tomorrow’s ship charter to the Imperial Prince, and it was decided that 5 ninjas would accompany Melsa as her bodyguards. Only then, did Leonard reluctantly agree.
♠♠♠
Author’s words: This is Leonard, who says ‘I love you’ to his wife every day.
