kscans

Chapter 143 - O-saki and the Emissary

"Do you understand?! If something happens, you are to report it properly! Especially you members of the knight order!"

The Little One’s squad hung their heads before a floating water mirror. Reflected in it was Romel, who was giving them a severe lecture.

Well, I didn’t think it would turn out like that. I really didn’t.

This was a border town in the Torzebisont Kingdom.

Afterwards, unable to discuss the events at the Table of the Gods with those around them, the twins communicated only through eye contact.

They exchanged a quick glance, nodded slightly to each other, and struck up an innocuous conversation with Olga.

"To think you’re one of us. Do you have your memories?"

"I do. But I’m happy with my life here, so I don’t really care."

The giant rabbit was still dancing, yoicho yoicho. Following its lead, the young rabbits danced as well. She didn’t know how or why she was reincarnated as a Lord, but if she was happy, it was a trivial matter.

"Singing, dancing, and eating delicious food. You have to enjoy life, you know."

Oh my, what’s with this one? I feel like we could get along like family!

Dancing along with them, the Little One placed her hands on her cheeks and couldn’t help but blush. Seeing this, Olga-sama’s whiskers twitched in a grin.

"You’ve fallen for me, haven’t you?"

"No, definitely not."

The Little One shot back a sharp retort, her fingertips perfectly aligned. The rabbit-sama rolled on the ground, roaring with laughter.

"Ahahaha, this is it, this is it! I love it, that kind of banter!"

This person is definitely Japanese on the inside. And a slightly older model, at that.

The question she had about Cesare, the reincarnation that didn’t align with Earth’s timeline, was cleared up when she learned the Higher Beings could manipulate time. Apparently, because a golden magic crystal existed underground here, this forest was spared from magic depletion and remained rich, so she wanted for nothing.

"Mmm, other than that, well… I guess I’d like to have a human-style meal once in a while," she muttered.

Her quiet words struck a chord in the Little One’s heart. A pity she couldn’t dismiss as someone else’s problem welled up from the pit of her stomach. She heard that Olga’s basic diet consisted of fruits and nuts. She could use magic to sauté wild grasses, but it seemed it didn’t suit a Japanese palate. "It’s a struggle to catch fish or birds. And I can’t make anything worth the labor. Even when I shake down the adventurers who occasionally come by, all I get is preserved food like dried meat."

Did she just casually confess to mugging people?

The Little One gave a wry smile.

Olga possessed earth and a slight bit of flame affinity. She had apparently tried to make a fish preserve by manipulating the earth at the bottom of the water to catch fish, but the lake she stirred up remained murky for a long time, and she ended up having to drink muddy water for a while.

"I’d rather give up on fish than drink such earthy water."

The giant rabbit-sama drooped and liquefied, sticking to the ground. Seeing the languidly writhing rabbit, the knight order felt a strange sense of kinship.

She’s similar… to the Little One.

This has happened before.

Dorfen, lightly dredging up his memories, pictured his princess and his eyes widened.

That’s right, Sakura-sama.

Ten years ago, with the Little One and the soaring Sakura, the knight order of that time had cried out that it was as if there were two Little Ones. And Dorfen felt a cold sweat on his temple.

"Could it be, this one as well…?"

The Little One grinned with a wicked smile. Dorfen, who knew much about reincarnation and the blunders of the gods, understood without needing to hear the rest and dramatically covered his eyes with one hand. Paying him no mind, the Little One called out to the liquefying Olga.

"Then I’ll treat you to a meal. Come on."

With eyes shining brightly, Olga and her entourage of young rabbit-samas followed the Little One back to the monster carriage.

"Aaaah! What is this!"

Olga danced with wild joy, don don pafu pafu.

The table before her was laden with dishes and desserts. While it was a normal meal in Frontier, this spread had surprised people in other countries as well with its lavishness. For Olga, who lived deep in the forest and whose only way to obtain civilized food was occasionally mugging adventurers, it was a dream-like feast.

"A Lord of the Forest? Will sweets be alright?"

Adonis and Zack, who were far too accustomed to monsters, knew that other Lords had a sweet tooth. Monsters, who primarily live on magic, also eat normal food to build their bodies, and it was a well-known fact that they were fond of sweets. The monster squad they led was always eyeing the honey cubes packed in the Little One’s bag with avarice.

"Nah, Olga wants to eat a proper meal. So, more food please."

Imitating the Little One who raised her right hand with a chatto, Olga and the young rabbits all raised their right hands in unison.

…What is this adorable scene?

The rabbit-samas had round eyes and long, twitching ears, piko piko. Only Olga was pure white with red eyes. The others were young black, brown, and spotted rabbits. Their eyes were all black.

Desperately trying to keep his face from collapsing into a massive grin, Adonis began preparing a meal for the new guests.

"Would you prefer something vegetable-based?"

Olga vehemently rejected Adonis’s question. The Lords’ Kin were omnivores.

"Nooo, I want to eat a hearty meat dish! I’d be happy with fish too!"

The giant rabbit-sama stomped on the ground, dadadadaddan. Her eyes spoke volumes, and with her excessive body language, no words were needed. With flared nostrils and a shaking head, Olga conveyed her desire. Adonis nodded rapidly and pulled out several large whole chickens from their food supply, swiftly butchering them. The rabbits watched this, fuoooo, surrounding Adonis. Exposed to multiple gazes of envy, Adonis broke out in a cold sweat.

"…Give me a break."

Zack noticed Adonis’s pleading gaze and threw him a lifeline.

"Here… eat this until the meal is ready."

He spread out a large mat and set down several kinds of baked goods. Various cookies, Madeleines, Pound Cakes, and Gaufrettes. A dazzling array of confectionery that had evolved over the past decade was laid out.

"Oh myyy!"

The rabbits rushed forward, dodododo, with the Little One following them. They each picked up a sweet and began to eat with abandon.

"Delicious! This is it, this is it! What a nostalgic taste!"

Olga-sama stuffed one sweet after another into her mouth, mofu mofu mofu mofu, and shed tears of emotion. The young rabbits’ eyes widened as they nibbled on the sweets, poli poli poli. The rabbit group looked like a procession of hungry ghosts, and even the monster squad and the Little One’s squad were taken aback.

"…Ah. Really, just for this, I feel like I could serve you. Thank you."

Large teardrops fell from Olga’s eyes, but she continued to stuff her face with sweets. Despite having trouble breathing through her tears and runny nose, she showed considerable grit.

"I know how you feel, nyo. I was in despair too when I found out there was no sugar."

Has it already been over ten years since then? Time flies.

"But you still made it, didn’t you? You searched and gathered?"

"Giving up is something you do after you die. I started with honey and came this far over more than ten years, nyo."

"A light novel staple, isn’t it?"

"No doubt about it. But there’s a big difference between reading it and doing it. Honey was one thing, but if it weren’t for the gods’ blunder, I might still be searching for sugar even now."

A past life where every misfortune turned into a blessing.

As they were blooming with conversation about their memories, Adonis, whose preparations were finally complete, brought over the food with a beaming smile.

"It’s ready. Eat your fill!"

The large plates set down with a don don held butchered chicken cooked teriyaki style. The savory, appetizing aroma wafted through the air. The chicken was glazed with a glistening, glossy sauce and sprinkled with white sesame seeds. Around it, green beans and carrots were arranged colorfully, and a separate dish of mayonnaise was provided to be used as desired.

"Te-ri-ya-ki?! No way! A goddess has descended!"

The giant rabbit-sama shrieked.

Seeing her, the Little One superimposed her past self and gave a wry smile.

Is this how I looked to others back then? Learn from the behavior of others. The people of old said some good things.

She let out a dry laugh, hahaha, and the next day, after promising to deliver food to Olga, the Little One and her group headed for the Kingdom of Torzebisont.

And so we return to the beginning.

"Even if Chiihiro didn’t know, the rest of you should have understood, shouldn’t you? The meaning of the new King of Castrato’s words! You will properly explain it to Chiihiro and have her contact us!"

"We have no excuse."

Dorfen and the rest of the Little One’s squad bowed their heads deeply. They had realized it at the time, but they had been so caught up in one thing after another that they had completely forgotten. They had no words to offer in return. The words the new King of Castrato had sent them off with at the end.

Castrato will follow the will of Frontier.

The Little One had not understood that these words were an acceptance of becoming a semi-vassal state to Frontier. She had thought they were just a promise to listen to Frontier from now on, a friendly gesture.

"…Honestly, I thought we’d be lucky to get a non-aggression or peace treaty. Really, you just go careening off on a tangent from our expectations. …I hate to say it, but… you did well. Thank you."

Being smiled at with a grimace like he’d just swallowed a bitter pill is scary.

Even though I’m being praised, it doesn’t feel like I’m being praised.

As she thought this, the Little One voiced something that had caught her interest.

"This isn’t a water mirror, is it? What is it?"

Romel’s face floated in the air. What was reflecting it was not a water surface like the one she had seen in Frontier before. It was a mirror-like surface floating in the air, created by the two Frontier spies who had appeared as soon as they crossed the border of the Torzebisont Kingdom. It had been a surprise, but the Little One was very interested in this mysterious magic. Hearing her innocent question, Romel gave a dark smirk.

"An improved version of the water mirror, I suppose. It takes a little effort, but it’s a composite of water and wind magic."

She heard that they created a mirror surface with water magic mist and transmitted sound with wind magic’s wind-sending. Originally, there was a method of using mist as a mirror surface to convey a scene, but it had the drawback of not being able to transmit sound. A water mirror, being a water surface, transmits sound by vibrating it. However, its drawback is that it can only connect fixed coordinates. They had apparently devised a method to compensate for the mist mirror’s drawback of not being able to transmit sound due to the lack of a vibrating water surface by using wind-sending.

"With this, as long as we have a water and wind user, we can make contact anywhere. Right, Chiihiro?"

The Prince Regent looked pleased with himself. The two covert arts users smiled wryly, as if they had no choice.

Oh, wow… They’ve invented something incredible.

Silence fell over the Little One’s unit.

The journey ahead. The Little One couldn’t help but collapse at the thought of a future where everything would be reported, contacted, and she would be struck by a lightning storm of real-time lectures.