CH 118

Because It’s Important [Part 2]



Still in Imperial Prince Tasuku POV



With just a few words from the Count to his eldest son, everything was settled in ten minutes.



“George, could you ask Joshua to supply food aid to Imperial Japan?”



Just these few words.



Who is this ‘Joshua’?



Ten minutes later, on the paper that George brought was written…



Wheat…600 tons



Soybean…70 tons



Dried meat…50 tons



Dry fruits…15 tons



etc.



…a reply that said he would take care of the food supply with an amount that our country would need several days to prepare.



Count Stuart read it out for me politely in Imperial Japanese and said, with a smile, that if we needed anything else, he would help prepare those too.



That was more than half the amount of food Imperial Japan had wanted in exchange for magic stones. Just who exactly was this Count, who could prepare all that in a short ten minutes?



“Joshua said that if you give him another week, he could gather ten times this amount. But Emma said that it’s better to deliver the food as fast as we can, so with the ship leaving tomorrow morning, this is all he can prepare.”



The eldest son, George, uttered unbelievable words to the Count as he was reading the note.



“Tomorrow… morning!!?”



They arranged the food supply in ten minutes and will send out the boat tomorrow morning?



I can’t make sense of this. Is this kind of thing even possible!!?



Also, who is Joshua?



“Ah, we’re sorry, we can’t gather enough wheat if the boat departs this evening… Nevertheless, Joshua informed us that he will be using a boat with the latest equipment, so it is estimated to arrive in Imperial Japan three or four days later.”



“Three or four days later!!???”



“Ah, is that too slow?”



George was worriedly trying to read my expression.



Imperial Japan is far from the Kingdom.



Even the Imperial family’s high-speed boat I boarded had taken a week to reach here. 



It’s hard to believe that their boat, loaded with such a large amount of food, would arrive in three or four days.



“No, it’s just that when I travelled here, it took a week. I never thought that the food would arrive that quickly…”



“No worries. Joshua’s ship is equipped with the latest equipment and all the sailors are well-experienced.”



Count Stuart promised me that “There’s no mistake. It will definitely arrive in three or four days.”



But who is Joshua?



I don’t get why they are being so generous.



Did they obtain the information about magic stones?



No, it’s impossible for it to have come from the ninjas. They are superior ninjas. Imperial Japan’s elite among the elites. 



In short, is it safe to assume that this is their apology for the death of nineteen ninjas?



The ninjas gave their lives to save our country… is that how it is…



…They were all… excellent ninjas.



Even though I came here to the Kingdom thinking I could do something before the citizens starved, before a sacrifice was made…



In the end, I failed.



Nineteen valuable ninjas had become a sacrifice.



Three or four days later, the food supply would reach Imperial Japan.



And then, by holding myself and the supplies hostage, our country’s magic stones would be robbed to guarantee my safety.



Count Stuart…… what a very, very fearsome man.



When I glimpsed at the Count, he was lightly wiping his mouth.



Maybe he was thinking about the sweet juice of all the labor he would get to enjoy for free from now on.



This failure of mine… Will my citizens, will my beloved citizens… ever forgive it?



Leaving Count Stuart’s mansion, my feet could only move slowly, as if every step led me to a dark and heavy future, as if I was walking on a thorny path.



♠♠♠



…………………………..



Before me were the ninjas I was supposed to have lost.



The nineteen ninjas’ faces somehow looked livelier and more lustrous than when I saw them in the morning.



“How– are you alive?”



It was so important that I asked it twice.



♠♠♠



Author’s words: At the end of the memo that George brought……

Tofu in miso soup is feasible!!



………!



……………Darling, darling— your drool!



Leonard softly wiped his mouth.