The Appearance of a Demon [Part 1]
White rice,
monster meat dishes seasoned with soy sauce or miso,
hot spring.
“Imperial Japan… is paradise… I might want to immigrate here now…” muttered Emma with an onigiri in one hand.
“That might be good too.”
Upon hearing Leonard’s reply to Emma’s mutter, the whole family nodded and responded with “True…”
“Emma-sama, I’ve poured you tea.”
Joshua handed Emma a cup of tea gently.
At first, Joshua was surprised when he saw that the tea here was green, different from the Kingdom’s black tea, but when he saw Emma enjoy drinking it, he immediately bought the tea leaves and learned how to brew them.
“Thank you, Joshua. The tea Joshua brews is always so delicious! I wonder what makes it different?”
With an onigiri in her right hand and an Imperial Japanese-style teacup in her left, Emma laughed blissfully.
Rice, which she had craved so much that it entered her dreams, became available after she came to Imperial Japan. Although it wasn’t to the point of all-you-can-eat, she could still have it at least once a day.
“I’m glad that you like it, Emma-sama! In fact, I’ll brew it for you every day.”
The reason why Joshua’s tea was so delicious was because he used the highest quality leaves he could find in the food-strapped Imperial Japan, brewed it according to the ultimate manual, and served it precisely when the tea cooled to Emma’s favorite temperature.
For the sake of seeing Emma’s smile, he wouldn’t even cut corners when brewing tea.
And he kept all his efforts low-key.
Until one day, she realized she couldn’t live without Joshua. No, even if she did, Joshua would continue to spoil her even more.
“Fufufu. Geez, Joshua, you like to say the most amusing things.”
However, the intention behind his attitude and words— although painfully obvious to onlookers—sadly did not get through to Emma.
Emma, alias Tanaka Minato, who lived her previous life firmly without getting married until she died at the age of 35, had a formidable defense.
“Emma-sama… angel…”
And seeing Emma smile just for once after all his many efforts would give Joshua more joy than he could ever ask for.
“Don’t relax—!”
Oliver, who traveled with them to Imperial Japan as a diplomat, suddenly shouted.
One month had already passed since they defeated Over. Even though they could have returned to the Kingdom a month ago because they had achieved their goal, the family was still staying in Imperial Japan leisurely.
“…Ah, Oliver. You were here?”
Melsa tilted her head. With how she looked now, she might as well say, ‘I didn’t realize you came with us too.’
“I have been here this whole time, alright?! Just how long do you think it has been since Over was defeated?! Even if we return to the Kingdom right now, the social season will already be over!!!”
Oliver had been hopeful that he could have still made it to this year’s social season because the family had defeated Over swiftly. Now that his hope couldn’t come true, he was very irritated.
This period when the Empire’s envoys and merchants came to the Kingdom was the perfect occasion for the Kingdom’s nobles to establish a connection with the Empire. If they succeeded in their interactions with the Imperial people, they might be able to obtain cotton at a lower price than the market price. Later, the Kingdom would buy the cotton they had acquired.
Because they could earn some extra cash this way, even countryside feudal lords would participate in an attempt to alleviate their difficult financial situation. That was why the royal capital’s population during the social season would increase to the point you’d say, “Look! The people are like garbage.”
[T/N: 人がゴミのようだ “The people are like garbage” is a line from the movie “Castle in the Sky” but recently popularized again by the anime SPY X FAMILY (clip)]
