The Empire’s Suffering 5
So, the negotiations with the empire… not only the demand for compensation and the confirmation of the fulfillment of the promise… I threw the whole thing at the higher-ups.
Yeah, I’m always providing various services, so I have to get them back at times like this.
“…Well, that’s one of the options you can take, and it’s not that bad as one of your strategies…
Unless we take into account what Mitsuha’s personal position will become…” (King)
The king is worried about me, but for me, the safety of Colette-chan, the children at the orphanage, and our fiefdom are more important than that.
It’s more about making it known to the people that if they mess with me, they will lose everything……
……Sabine-chan?
No, the princess was always protected by escorts, and if they attack the royal family, it’ll turn into war immediately.
Sabine-chan, you’re in a much safer position than me…
Anyway, I guess I’ll leave the empire alone for a while now.
The leaflet should have conveyed that I had decided to put the “seawater sprinkling” on hold. Moreover, I don’t think that the abdication of the emperor, the abolition of his direct descendants, his children and grandchildren, and the conflicts among the collateral descendants and higher nobles, etc., will be settled so easily.
Anyway, I’ll just take what I can get, then let them crush each other and wear each other out.
It’s not the country’s property, food, or the lives of its citizens that needed to be crushed, but only the accumulated wealth and the lives of the nobles responsible for the assassination…
“Then, I’ll leave the rest to you! I have to go to Colette-chan…” (Mitsuha)
“Hey wait! Don’t just shove everything down my throat and leave! You have more to explain!” (King)
Alright, escape!
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“…Well, something like that…” (Mitsuha)
“Such a demon!!” (Colette)
When I explained about the retaliation against the empire, Colette-chan was taken aback.
We’re on the sixth floor above the ground of an ordinary general hospital, not a secret one built deep underground and…… in one of the hospitals in England.
The basement was the morgue after all.
Now that the retaliation activities have come to a close, I’ll be with Colette-chan all day today.
Of course, Sabine-chan was also here.
How lonely and heartbreaking it was to be in a foreign country, injured and unable to move, with no family to accompany you……
Colette-chan wasn’t unwell, her surgery was successful, and she does not need to be in the intensive care unit (I C U) or high care unit (H C U). So she’s in a normal private room. As you can imagine, being alone in a large room was not a good idea……
Colette-chan can speak some English, but to talk to anyone other than Sabine-chan and me, she doesn’t have anything to talk about……
Colette-chan can’t speak about the other world, and she has no knowledge of this country.
And even if she invites the fellow hospitalized children with candy to talk to them out of boredom, there will definitely be “boys and girls secret agents” and the like in the mix…….
They may not mean any harm, but they were not the kind of people who would hesitate to gather information on such an amazing opportunity.
So, during the daytime, either Sabine-chan or I would be with her. We didn’t visit her at night, though.
Colette-chan has a loyalty of steel to me, but she’s not invulnerable to counterintelligence matters and the like.
If Sabine-chan was with her, I wouldn’t have to worry about that.
Of course, whenever I’m here, I send Sabine-chan back home. I can’t have her stationed here all the time.
Otherwise, I’ll be killed by the King’s family!
But that also means we’ll always be passing by each other, so Sabine-chan would try to resist…
Well, it’s not like I don’t know how she feels……
It would seem like it will be a few more days before Colette-chan can be discharged from the hospital……
So I’m making sure we’re getting the right amount of time for the three of us.
…Well, while Sabine-chan was here, I reported on what I did in the last few days and this was her evaluation.
No, I was properly showing up every day, okay? I just didn’t report every single thing that was going on in the Imperial Capital, which was going on under uncertain circumstances……
Now that that’s settled, I’m just trying to put it all together and explain it properly.
Of course, I have also reported this incident to Colette-chan’s parents.
I tried my best to apologize, explaining that it was not life-threatening and would not leave any permanent damage, but that it would leave a few scars and marks. Still, they said there’s no daughter in the countryside village who has no scars, if any they will be laughed at as a sign of a lazy person.
……No, their own daughter almost died, and they’re okay with that!
I thought they would be angry with me, but they just said, “It is natural for commoners to risk their lives to protect their employer, the head of an aristocratic family. And this time, Colette was not trying to protect her employer, [a nobleman], but her [precious friend named Mitsuha-chan]. Besides, Colette’s life has been saved by Mitsuha-chan, so I think it’s natural for her to use it to protect Mitsuha-chan”……
Was that really ok?!!
When I told them that, her father, Tobias-san, was smiling, but his eyes were not.
Well, of course.
I guess that means they cared, somewhat…….
Anyway, I properly apologized where I should apologize.
I apologized to the king, of course, for taking Sabine-chan away as an escort without prior arrangement.
……But that’s that and this is this, and it doesn’t give the King any special favor.
It was Sabine-chan who was cooperating with us, not the king. So, if he wanted me to give a reward, it would be for Sabine-chan, not the king.
And Sabine-chan would never receive any kind of “reward” for helping Colette-chan take care of her.
Colette-chan is Sabine-chan’s friend.
And Sabine-chan is not the kind of girl who demands a price for helping her friends.
So even if I try to give it to her, she will never accept it.
If I do that, she would probably tell me not to insult her, and I bet she would be very furious.
……And then she’ll ask for an [apology] and a [gift of apology].
The apology gift is not an issue because it has nothing to do with the long-term care reward.
……Yeah, Sabine-chan’s criteria are probably something like that.
“So, are you about to go now?” (Colette)
“Eh, what?” (Mitsuha)
Colette-chan suddenly said something.
“…I’ll be attending to myself. I told the nurse that I don’t need a [Complete nursing (かんぜんかんご)].
I’m a child and not a native English speaker. Besides, they give Mitsuha and Sabine-chan a free pass without any complaints about visiting hours or anything like that……” (Colette)
Oh, that’s probably a special directive from higher up in the country. I’m grateful, so I have no complaints.
“Also, Mitsuha must be very busy, with your territory and the new continent……
So, I don’t need you to follow me all the time. I pretend to be able to speak only a few words of English to avoid being asked many questions, but I can actually understand most of what they say, so there is no problem with them communicating with me. I just pretend I don’t understand things that are inconvenient for me, so I don’t have to worry about not being able to communicate with them.
Oh, bring a lot of books and [Blu-ray]!” (Colette)
“…………”
Sabine-chan calls the disks [de-bui-dee], but Colette-chan calls them [bururei].
After all, Colette-chan’s progress in studying was… I don’t really care about that!
No matter how relieved she was that her life was no longer in danger, there was no way she would not be discouraged by the thought of being a nine-year-old girl alone in a foreign country.
……Did Tobias-san’s I don’t care attitude rub off on Colette-chan?
“Oh, and a video game console, some snacks, and lots of fruit!” (Sabine)
Why were Sabine-chan’s eyes twinkling and making an additional order!
Well, she’s going to be here forever, isn’t she?……
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Author’s Note:
The 300th episode of [Working] is finally here! (^^)/
It’s been 5 years and 10 months, with a one-year break in between.
[Working] is my debut work on [Narou].
At the time of the completion of the first part, I thought that this work would sink into my memory without anyone knowing about it.
However, I was asked to do a comicalization of the work. A novel was published under a newly launched label, so I have been able to continue publishing volume after volume.
All of this is thanks to the readers who continue to read my novels and comics.
Thank you! (^^)/
Thank you for your continued support for my work, “Trilogy of Little Girls Who Look 12 to 13 Years Old”. (^^) /
ＦＵＮＡ
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