At the Mercy of the Stuart Family [Part 1]
“Emmaaa! What are you doing? We’re heading back soon.“
George called Emma, who was still rummaging around the landing point of Over‘s seeds, to come over.
“What are you holding… Wait, Nee-sama?! Aren’t you all dirty?!“
Emma, who was already covered in dirt in the first place, was splattered by another wave of dirt when she and Koumei dug up the debris of the seeds’ membrane.
“We have already retrieved all the seeds, so just leave it…” said George as he walked towards Emma. He then brushed the dirt off his younger sister’s head and clothes once more while looking at Fukushima and other samurais. They were currently explaining to his father, Leonard, that they couldn’t take the family any further than this now that Over had begun launching its seeds.
“What are you saying?!!! Nii-sama, there’s no such thing as being indifferent when doing research, okay? Such oversight is what exactly keeps us away from great discoveries!“
“No… but still…” Now isn’t the time for that. Fukushima and his men seem very adamant about having us return. We can’t defeat Over if we can’t even reach it. George thought with a complicated look on his face.
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“We will not allow it. Please return to your country immediately.“
“As I said, we must go to the actual site to defeat Over… okay?“
“No, Count. You don’t understand what a terrifying monster Over is. It isn’t a place you should go while bringing women and children along with the mood to sightsee!“
“But frankly speaking, we can’t communicate in detail with the cats if Emma’s not here, you see? Same goes with the insects… okay?“
“Insects? What exactly are you talking about?! The family’s safety is our…“
Fukushima was dead set on having the family return, and it was difficult to persuade him to change his stance.
“Fukushima-sama? Sorry to have kept you waiting. Shall we depart now?“
Emma suddenly popped out from behind Leonard’s back. She had somehow become even dirtier than when Fukushima had seen her earlier.
“My apologies. I cannot allow you to proceed any further than this.” Fukushima repeated what he had said many times over.
“But Fukushima-sama? Over has launched its seeds. It doesn’t necessarily mean that we will not get hit on our way back from here, does it?“
“Which is why you must return to the Kingdom as soon as possible!“
“I have read the information on Over that Imperial Japan gave to Mother, and it was written there that the stem that grew the biggest in the shortest time would launch its seeds first. It is estimated that the seeds that will fly in the next few hours to the next few days will all have long flight distances. Conversely, isn’t being near Over safer instead?”
“Huh?“
“Over will launch its seeds for about a month. First, the tall and strong stems among the cluster of Over will send their seeds flying towards the periphery of the new propagation area. After that, the seeds that can only fly short to medium distances are launched to fill up the center, and thus, that’s how a new colony is made, correct?“
“R-Right…“
“In other words, the roads we need to take to return have all turned into the estimated landing points of Over‘s seeds. In that case, it will be safer for us to continue to proceed towards Over.“
Fukushima’s POV
While still hiding behind her tall father, the little girl talked about Over‘s analysis carefreely with a smile. It was as if she was only talking about the pattern on the clothes she wore today.
Impossible… I was utterly confused.
“Does this mean you have read all those documents?“
It wasn’t just Over. Every record about monsters was full of bloody, cruel, and dreadful descriptions. It was by any means not something that children should read.
Moreover, Imperial Japan had devoted all of its efforts to compile the materials on Over, and the data gathered turned out to be enormous in quantity. We made inquiries to the remaining survivors of the citizens who lived near the propagation area, the samurais who went for rescue, the researchers, and basically collected every single piece of information we could.
“Yes, I have more or less looked over them.“
“You have more or less looked over… all that amount…?“
“Yes. I took Monster Science as an elective at the Kingdom’s academy. Those documents have turned out to be very helpful for my studies.“
There must have only been despair in the faces of the researchers when they read the outrageous amount of materials. But how was this little girl before me still smiling after reading that?
“…Nee-sama only looked over them briefly, but I was the one who verified, classified, and summarized all the important points, okay? It was super hard, alright?!“
William-kun chimed in with a fed-up look.
Summarize those documents? THAT amount of documents???
Even though he had read all of the information thoroughly enough to make a summary, there wasn’t any sign of despair on his face.
“But if what you say is true, isn’t it still impossible for us to return even if we go near Over?”
For a moment, I had finally come to understand what Lady Emma was talking about. But then I realized that Over would have already started growing thickly by the time we headed back. And as such, it would no longer be a place humans could pass through.
“Ah, so you’ve noticed? To tell you the truth, we’re already blocked in every direction, aren’t we~“
Now, the choices were either to be crushed by the falling seeds or be killed by the rampant Over.
