kscans

Chapter 154 - The Arts Theater and the Little One, Part Two

"Hiiro!"

"Marrow!"

After seeing off the empty carriages, the Little One welcomed the invited guests, who had been guided to the state guest house, at the royal palace. Despite the entire royal family being assembled, Marrow lifted the Little One and spun her around.

"It’s been too long. Have you been well?"

"I’ve been great, nyo! You finished your work before coming, right, Marrow?"

".........."

The large dog, Marrow, subtly averted his gaze. The Little One stared at the beads of cold sweat on his temple with half-lidded eyes, then questioned Masahad, who stood by the door, with a glance. Masahad raised an eyebrow slightly and sighed.

"Honestly, he hasn’t even finished half of it. He’ll have to return to the country in about three days."

"That’s not fair, Ani-ue!"

"Call me ‘Your Majesty,’ you fool!"

Even as he was struck with a scepter, kakoon, Marrow clung to his brother, crying, "Ani-ueee."

"I did plan for a week... Is Marrow going to be forcibly deported by himself?"

The Little One tilted her head with a "uni?" and Masahad nodded with a grim face. Beside him, Marrow’s face was one of hopeless misery.

"Can’t be helped, can it, Marrow? If you don’t work, you can’t eat, nyo."

The Little One declared coolly.

Why food? a dumbfounded expression appeared on the faces of Masahad and the rest of the Donautil delegation, while the Frontier royal family nodded in understanding.

"He who does not work, neither shall he eat," was a phrase the Little One often used in the Frontier royal palace. To put this into practice, whenever a member of the royal family slacked off on their studies or work, Chihiro would trot over to the kitchens and issue instructions to mercilessly downgrade their meals or prohibit snacks, making them understand the meaning of her words.

"It’s my right, after all. If you have a complaint, I’ll just ban not only sweets, but also white sauce, fonds, and Japanese seasonings, all of them!"

All of those were things the Little One had conceived of and held the rights to. If they were forbidden from the things that had dramatically transformed their cuisine, all that would be left was salt and spices. Romel would cast a lukewarm gaze on the king and crown prince as they flusteredly rushed to finish their work. The palace staff would praise the Little One with tears in their eyes while applauding, for she made the royals work without question.

And so, the equation of delicious food equals appropriate labor was now firmly established in Frontier’s royal capital.

"Goodwill with other countries is part of the job, you know?"

"Well, I guess so? But you left work behind in your country, didn’t you? And not even half of it is done."

The Little One looked at the flustered Marrow with an exasperated expression.

Then came an unexpected lifeline. ...Or perhaps, the final blow.

"It is fine. I have brought it with me."

Masahad nonchalantly raised his right hand. There stood his retainers, holding stacks of documents with wry smiles.

"Huh?"

"Eh?"

Glancing at the two who let out dumbfounded sounds, Masahad crossed his arms and tilted his head.

"If you wish to stay in Frontier, you will handle your work concurrently, Marrow. Otherwise, you’ll be forcibly deported along with these documents."

He had been outplayed.

Leading a stunned Marrow, the Donautil party finished their greetings and headed to the inn prepared for them.

"So strong, lol."

"Yeah, he’s a king, alright."

As the twins giggled, the royal family continued their welcome, watching them with fond smiles.

"We are truly grateful to have received this invitation."

"Welcome. Please, relax and enjoy your stay."

Before them stood Crown Prince Marcello, flanked by Prince Ismail and Prince Pacesta.

"It has been a while. Still causing trouble as usual, are you not?"

With a mischievous glint in his gentle eyes, Crown Prince Marcello patted the Little One’s head.

"Causing trouble... Fun is justice, you know, Your Highness?"

As the Little One let herself be petted, Prince Ismail shyly spoke up.

"It has been some time. We did not see each other much at the academy, but you have created something truly wonderful. I am looking forward to seeing the play."

He had a charming, gentle smile.

The two of them were finishing their studies at the Frontier Noble Academy this term, so they had volunteered to be the official guests from Flowers as their final duty. They had also participated in the recent public opening and, having been exposed to an unknown culture, were eagerly awaiting the opening of the Arts Theater.

"Thank you so much for your help before. I have been troubled that I was unable to properly thank you... On this occasion, please accept this."

Blushing shyly, Pacesta handed her a palm-sized doll made of ceramic. The doll, holding a flower as tall as itself, looked like a lovely fairy, and its smooth texture was pleasant to the touch.

"Oh, how lovely. Thank you very much, Pacesta-sama."

The Little One accepted it with a joyful look. Spurred on by her innocent smile, a blush spread across Pacesta’s cheeks.

"No...! Um, this is a music box. If you turn the screw here..."

Pacesta hurriedly turned the screw hidden at the bottom of the doll’s base with a kiri kiri sound. The doll began to move, keta keta, spinning on its base while waving the flower. The Little One placed it on a table and watched it with eyes full of admiration.

"Oh, how amazing! I saw an automated harp when I visited Flowers before, but there was nothing this small."

The doll danced to a simple but cute melody. As the Little One bobbed her head to the unfamiliar tune, Pacesta watched her with a look of happiness.

"This is from me. Thank you for helping my brother, Haya-sama."

As Chihaya glared at the happy Pacesta, Prince Ismail offered him a peculiar object.

"What is this?"

"It is called a slingshot, a newly developed simple throwing toy. You load a pellet like this and enjoy hitting targets."

At those words, the Little One whipped her head around.

Seeing the girl staring intently at Ismail and the others, Crown Prince Marcello gave a wry smile.

"It is a toy you devised some time ago. Do you not remember saying it would be nice to have something like this? It seems Ismail overheard you. ...He was completely absorbed in his research."

Previously, when Crown Prince Marcello visited Frontier for the New Year’s banquet, the Little One had picked up a Y-shaped branch, strung a cord on it, and explained what kind of thing it was, saying she wanted one. It seemed Ismail had overheard that conversation and become interested. The idea had been dropped because she wasn't sure if rubber or a substitute for it existed, but it appeared this person had not given up.

"This cord is made of a special woven material that gives it high elasticity. See, no matter how much you stretch it, it returns to its original form. Using this... you launch a pellet like this."

Chihaya nodded at Ismail’s cheerful explanation and tried a dry fire himself. The strength was sufficient. It seemed they used rounded wood or pumice for pellets, but if one were to use iron or lead, could it not become a weapon? Though Ismail had developed it as a toy, Chihaya was already thinking in his head about how to convert it into a weapon. It was lightweight, easy to carry, and didn’t take up much space. A perfect portable throwing weapon.

The Little One knew exactly what Chihaya, a faint smile on his lips, was thinking.

We’re siblings, after all... Yup.

Remembering how she had thought the same thing and consulted Crown Prince Marcello before, the Little One couldn’t help but let a dry smile grace her lips.

"This could be useful. If we use a heavy pellet... and maybe add a sharp spike, we could increase its lethality."

Her big brother whispered to her.

Lethality... You’re all about killing, aren’t you, Onii-sama.

As she saw off the Flowers delegation, the Little One’s smile remained fixed in place. Crown Prince Marcello gazed at Fatima with a look of longing.

Ah, I’m glad they seem to be on good terms.

Forcibly shifting her thoughts to something heartwarming, the Little One and the others went to welcome their final guests.

"Thank you for the invitation."

Before the King of Castrato could even finish his deep bow, Louis Charles burst forward.

"I missed you, my briiiide!!"

As Charles tried to leap at the Little One, Augfel caught him in a headlock and silently dragged him away.

"My briiiide! Ahhh!"

"Calm down, Brother! We are on official duty!"

Casting a lukewarm glance at the wailing Charles, the Little One looked up at the new King of Castrato.

"I can imagine what you’re going through."

"Thank you. But he is my dear younger brother, nonetheless."

The two exchanged glances and chuckled.

"What has happened since then? Has the noble district been rebuilt?"

The King of Castrato nodded with a serious expression and explained the details since that incident. Fortunately, there had been few casualties, and the fire had been contained to a minimum.

"That is all thanks to the mononoke who cooperated in the rescue and firefighting efforts. We are truly grateful."

Furthermore, it seemed the Jaizary and Duke Halbay families had cooperated to support the reconstruction, fronting the funds. Castrato, having been constantly at war due to the foolish actions of the former king, had no surplus savings.

"In other words, Castrato now has a personal debt."

"That is correct. It is a shameful thing to admit, but we intend to repay it from now on."

It seemed the dukes had said it was aid, not a loan, but leaving such a large debt unsettled could become a source of trouble later if an unscrupulous person were to appear.

It was best not to carry over unnecessary seeds of conflict.

The two nodded at each other in silence, while the Frontier contingent watched them curiously. With Charles still in a headlock, screaming for his bride, the Castrato delegation was also guided to their inn.

"Well, tomorrow is going to be busy!"

"First is a tour of the capital, right? The orphanage, the academy, and... a visit to the Castle of Sweets?"

"We can’t skip that! We have to help them understand Frontier, even if just a little!"

She had adjusted the schedules and sent the mononoke carriages so that each country would arrive at the same time, but that had ended in failure. In that case, the Little One was fired up to provide the utmost hospitality to those who had come. What the palace did not yet know was that just as that was over and she was feeling a great sense of accomplishment, new guests would arrive by mononoke carriage.

"How did. It come to this?"

Uttering her usual phrase, the Little One of the present did not yet know of the near future where she would be welcoming people from the Sucaraba Kingdom, the Claudia Kingdom, and the Torzebisont Kingdom.♪