c40 (1/2)

18, Princess and Mizuwari (Second Half)

(Author’s note: I’ve finally updated There’s been probleer… I apologise)

I should’ve known since long ago

That, when it coe and technique

Which is why, I desired Shuri And I wanted his skill to make such delicacies, to be just mine

However, I know that I had ht of that

Shuri’s conceptions are ined

“Hey Wutin Are you ready?”

Before we enter into the conference room, we ask for a confirmation from Wutin

Carrying with us the most luxurious of fruit juices, Nounels, ere about to tackle awith Sounity

Originally, the reason we caetting an explanation regarding the reason why they had arrested a chef we had bestoith an engraved knife, ja

Naturally however, there is no e plan tothe chef we are friends with

“Yes Princess Here, as well”

Wutin nods and answered

Wutin is a member of my trusted spy unit, and our means of co our accouard

In addition, Wutin’s strength is the best within the unit The reason why she isn’t the captain of the unit is because Wutin cannot speak very well, ja

Ast the members of the spy unit, there are many who have special circumstances In Wutin’s case, her parents were abducted by soldiers right in front of her eyes, and she did not know of her whereabouts Furtherht her letters, and needless to say words

When we found her, she was already no different to a wild anih but, she couldn’t co, hunting, and even attacking people

At that time, she was captured by the captain of our spy unit and met us That was probably ere around five years old At that time, it seems we had said this, ja

『She’s like a dog』

No, it wasn’t like we thought of her like this due to our age In any case, Wutin looked like a lost dog to us

After that, we had looked over Wutin’s training, and we also studied together For some reason, we couldn’t abandon Wutin, noja

Anyhen Wutin grasped the hu maid There would be occasions when she would disappear for the sake of inforiven that she usually returns by the time we notice, it has never bothered us Even if we left her alone, due to her sharp instincts as a guard, she would come back immediately

For someone like us, Wutin is worthy of our trust

This ti

“Hmm, as I suspected huh”

When I saw that,

That is the knife I had bestowed to Shuri A sharp knife engraved with our Royal Family’s emblem

When I had heard he was arrested, I had taken notice of this Perhaps they did not realise this or even if they did notice, they had disposed of it i which is was but

“Where did you find it, Wutin?”

“The, storeroom”

The storeroom huh As expected, they had thrown it away huh

If this knife is to be known about later, it’ll become a definite problem if they didn’t deal with it

However, if this had been sold poorly it oods and, on the other hand there’s also the danger that if it’s throay, an orphan or vagrant ht pick it up

Which means, there is no possibility other than to seal the knife up in the castle somewhere

However, this is also a poor move in it’s oay

If it’s now, after the problem has been taken care of, it’s fine to merely return it back to Shuri There’s probably no need for it to collect dust like this

Truthfully however, this is also so we had predicted

Youwould end once the knife is returned back to Shuri, but it’s not

On the flip side, if we knew that if Shuri had been treating this knife preciously, ould probably say, 『Even amidst that etting the considerations about our country, you deserve praise』

And then ould probably circulate the inforer position than Sounity

Of course however, there is no e are ai for any effect to be had from mere words

If things go well and that creates a ripple between Shuri and Sounity, we ood if soh

“Princess I will, hold, this”

“Alright Wutin Nounels and the knife, let us corner them with these two items”

Our trickery against Ganglabe-dono’s trickery

Indeed, shouldn’t we test which one of us is superior

“Ohhh! It’s been a while Shuri!”

“Ah, yes It has been some time Princess Tebis”

And thus the conference started

On our side was Wutin and a few guards, on Ganglabe-dono’s side was all the cous and… Soe outfit

Who is it I wonder? Like a irl… do people like that exist?

Well who cares It’s ood to chat with him for a little bit

“Good gracious, that recipe that you had provided us, that curry It’s still has so more and more producible, zo The current product is also delicious It’s terrific, no”

“Eh, yes Well,of the spices is a little bit difficult”

To Shuri it’s just a little bit, huh

“It’s not just a little bit right? The i at their heads, striving day and night to recreate your recipe”

That’s right, that recipe called Curry or so That in itself, is extreht that it was si

However, when they were about to start, they fell face first into a difficulty Which was the ratio of the compounded spices, ja

The chefs were at their wit’s end worrying If it’s done wrong, it beco…

The golden ratio which corance To find that ratio is as difficult as finding a single, tiny needle on this enorht about now, our chefs are definitely thinking that we are going to get that answer from Shuri

We don’t feel like asking Because if they aren’t able to find it by the to it, no

“I see Should I hand over some pre-mixed curry powder next time?”

“No no, it won’t do if we are not capable ofit ourselves in the end It will affect our honour as the Gourmet Major Power, Newbyst”

“Haa…”

Although Shuri sounds troubled as he replies, there is no e could take such a favour from him

I believe that eventually, our country’s chefs will catch up to Shuri as well

“Ah right, a dish that combines both Curry and Mapo Tofu is under development, jazo”

“Eh?”

Oh, Shuri is shocked by this We had coht that Shuri had this recipe in his repertoire as well so, this was a surprise

Yes, we had thought of this before Curry and Mapo Tofu Although their orientations are different, they are both h a bestowal of various flavours, they bring forth a mysterious taste

Mapo Tofu has a spiciness brought forth by a co forth by a combination of spices

Thinking that it’ll definitely create a wonderful dish then should the two of these tastes could be coave the order to the chefs to analyse and equally attempt to create a recipe for Curry and Mapo Tofu, noja

“It’s a dish that’s both hot and spicy Although it lance, no We were thinking, if you would create this supreme dish with us”

“That’s a Even for me”

“Don’t say that 『You can’t make it』 ok, Shuri? You are the creator of this dish The truth is that you have the recipe for this inside your head right?”

There’s no loss to investigating this Perhaps, just because he can’t ht be able to make it (TL: もしかしたら、作らないだけで作れる可能性もあるのじゃからな。)

“I seriously can’tbefore”

“Hmm But if I was to say ‘Make it’ then, wouldn’t you make it?”

“Well… I would need to trial and error it a bit though”

Fuuess that if it’s the creator of the recipe then as long as he trials and errors it, he can make it huh

We’ve heard soood

“That just fine Come with us”

“Princess Tebis I apologise for interrupting this pleasant conversation piece but, could you perhaps not do that”

Hou, we had wanted to try draw in Shuri using the flow of the conversation

Ganglabe-dono, has considerable skill in regards to seizing the flow of a conversation He had cut in with exceptional ti

Well alright We hadup to this point

“We have been rude, Ganglabe-dono We’re quite indebted to you for the battle the other day, no”

“This is merely another part of our job”

“At the very least, the truth is that it’s thanks to you overco that battle, that ere able to stave off that predica praise from his Majesty”

“That is reatest pleasure”

“If it were not for a fate like this, we probably would’ve hired you fellows already”

“That is, merely what could’ve been”

“Indeed, jano It is worthless It wouldn’t have happened even if we had asked of it”

H out and not even a blunder It’s hard to grasp the flow of the conversation

However, well, it is true that we had wanted to elabe’s Mercenary Corp In that case, this enor with Shuri

If so, it n supreme on this continent

Well, it really would be useless even if we had said it

“Other than that, Ganglabe-dono What sort of goal are you working towards?”

“…You mean?”

“You have went and ht now, your wealth and combat ability doesn’t lose to any other country, wouldn’t you agree?”

It’s not that ridiculous if you think about the recent wins in battle and the expansion of their corp

And, the excessive growth of thecountries negatively

The reason being that, such an enors to no one, is sirasp

A weapon that rasp it After all, if it is handed over to ene back at you

Ato neither countries, nor organisations Which is exactly why you hire theency

Yes, from a country’s point of view, a mercenary corp does not count towards combat power, they are merely an existence to achieve a balance with the enemy

In exchange for buying coe for them to stab you in the back at any time

Alabe-dono’s mercenary corp can be trusted is because based on their results, if you hire the their work until the very end

If it wasn’t for that, normal mercenary corps would be useless in wars At best they’ll just be left with the dirty jobs or guard requests

Alabe’s Mercenary Corp was able to obtain a country is, even ere cautious Only idiots thinking of peace all day and genuine idiots wouldn’t be worried

“You are thinking too ood fortune”

“Good fortune, nou We would iood fortune is not a talent li necessary for those living on the battlefield, right?”

“You are not wrong in that aspect but, I think that to get to all this, there is no way other than hard work”

“Good fortune which works out soood fortune That is called planning, Ganglabe-dono Now then, we shall repeat our question

Ganglabe-dono What action will you take from here on? What are your aims as you take those actions?”

I look Ganglabe-dono right in the eyes and said

This is so with his wealth and colabe-dono take frooal will he start to ained authority?

However, Ganglabe-dono didn’t try to say anything, holding a dumbfounded look on his face

Closing his eyes, with a serious face plastered on

Nor Royalty, ould be able to verbally abuse the that

Because we knew that Ganglabe-dono is lost in his thoughts, ja

Whether to speak of his goals or not And, if that goal is pure, noble and wonderful then, he probably cannot speak of it to soree

Although it oal, could also have the possibility of enveloping the entire continent depending on the circumstance

“It looks good on you”

“You’reme blush”

Even as we say that, Shuri, who is behind Ganglabe-dono is having a fun and pleasant chat with the strange person next to him, who looked neither male nor female

“You over there, what are you talking about?”

“S-sorry”

As expected, even we are unable turn a blind eye to this After scolding hihtly aardly

“Well whatever Shuri is as carefree as ever, jano You haven’t changed since the first time we met you”

“Is that so?”

Ahh, he certainly hasn’t changed

You’re completely unshakeable, no matter where you are, no matter who is in front of you

You are like a river, quietly flowing No matter what adversity or difficulties you face, you continue to flow on like that of a seable course of events

Which is probably exactly how you continue to survive, even now

“However, Shuri You’ve faced ed even within th of sorts”

It’s a little aard trying to set a trap for someone like Shuri but, it can’t be helped

“R-really? Living in a jail was a little harsh though”

“Ohh, that’s right indeed The reason that we’ve co your circumstances in jail, no”

Alright, it seeet into the main probleed into where we are the ones to ask the questions

We had wanted to hold this conversation frolabe-dono is clever If we had come about it badly, ould probably have received a severe retaliation

Apologies Shuri but, allow us to attack from your mistake

Ganglabe-dono is also looking as if he had bitten a bitter bug so, it seems he has noticed that it’s become bad, jano

“So? What is the us-dono The cook that our country is on friendly ter unjust treatment and locked in a prison What could you possiblyme until just now?”

“That was, unavoidable at the ti practically the time it would take for Princess Tebis to colabe Mercenary Corps as well as Sounity to be late

However, in considerations with the time that it would take for Princess Tebis to coe, on the contrary, that Princess would actually be this quick though?”

“Is that, suggesting that we had so to do with this incident?”

“No, I did notlike that However, would it be alright if you were to explain that?”

“We are the ones asking questions here Don’t you think that answering a question with a question is not otiation?”

We consider retaliating by asking questions in return

“So? What excuse do you have?”

“…That is aPrincess Tebis We were also victims, in the very center of this incident Our contacts outside were foolish, so it took all our efforts just to lay out an information network to our members”

“In that case, it means that Sounity should be held responsible, jana We suppose that’s true, given that the origin of this incident is due to the fight between the people of Sounity, nou

So? Gingus-dono How do you plan to explain this?”

“T-that is…”

Gingus-dono is hesitating to speak but, this also can’t be helped If you look at it frous-dono’s self destruction is actually the cause of everything

In the first place, the cause of the incident is due to Gingus-dono’s set up of trying to h that and having stopped it, ja

If Gingus-dono explains it like that then, it will end with “It’s your fault Take responsibility”

And if our inforus-dono has extraordinary talent regarding military affairs, he is not quite there with domestic affairs

He isn’t very skilled at things like this, diplootiations You could even say these are his weaknesses

“I, I…”

“Apologies Princess Tebis Gingus had been used and thus does not seeuilt, I shall explain it in his stead”

Ganglabe-dono cuts into the conversation, helping out the panicking Gingus-dono

Hus-dono does have a look couilt He wouldn’t be able to explain things properly like this

Here, we could probably reject hius-dono” but, it would be troubling for us too should Gingus-dono blow up annoyingly

“Firstly however…”

Fro in detail

Well, it’s just adding onto the scope of e already know, ja

However, the real identity of the strange, neither itimate child ere infor beyond expectations, wa

“So that’s how it is, nou That was misfortunate”

“…”

“…So? Ganglabe-dono How do you plan on cleaning up after this matter?”

“A eanisation of the army”

“Is that all? Wutin, bring that over”

“Yes, your highness”

We signal over to Wutin and she takes out the knife from her bosom

The one we had bestowed upon Shuri, the e knife

Actually, looking at this carefully, it looks like it’s been quite used and even the handle was kept well, we think he likes it

Although it had been chucked inside the storeroo dust ever since

“Ah! My knife!”

Surprised, Shuri pointed at it

Ganglabe-dono was left with an unpleasant expression at this as well

Of course it would To ignore the knife that was engraved with our crest, furthermore, the person himself had admitted it

As his superior, there is likely no disgrace greater than this

“I see, this was, as expected, the knife that I had gave to Shuri Well, well, isn’t this interesting, nou”

Now then, from here on is our time for offence

The ards to the cook that we are inti that, the lack of report from after the event, as well as, the sloppy treatraved with the crest of the royal family

Will you accept these actions as insults towards Newbyst, and negotiate?

Or will you co betrayed our Shuri’s trust?

Now then, our gaze spontaneously sharpens

We’ve forced Shuri into a bit of a tight squeeze but, we’ll ignore that for now, ja

“So, Ganglabe? We have had this, engraved with the emblem of the Royal Faht out from within the storeroom, noja?”

“That is-”

“Ahh, I understand When you had been seized, it had been taken away, are we correct? However, now that so this left in the storeroo

Don’t you agree?”

Guh, labe-dono

As expected, when it coood solution, jano

Now then, hoill you counter?

However, here, so unexpected happened

“Excuse me!”

All of a sudden, Shuri says and interrupts the negotiation

His ti was impeccable and, even his words had no fault

Obviously, even we had to stop

“Apologies Princess Tebis Sincerely sorry for interrupting your conversation like this

However, would you please hear me out”

Shuri has so to say? How rare, this person who see apart fro he wants to say such that he would stick his mouth into this conference?

“…No worries, say it”

Our interests swell slightly A little interruption couldn’t hurt

“I think that the drinks on the tables, have co out some new drinks, won’t you take a break?”

“Hmm, drinks? Indeed, they have becootiations

However, there will be no need for a break”

I see, this approach is just like Shuri Was this also learnt frolabe-dono?

Indeed, if a break was taken here then Ganglabe-dono’s head could cool down properly, and ht be able to take up a countermeasure, no

But, we are not so kind as to let that happen so easily

Sending a signal to Wutin as behind us, she brought out the Nounels, that had been prepared

Truthfully, this could have been ahad ended or, we had thought that ould try to bring it out as an eht that it would be just the right shi+eld to deal with Shuri’s attack

You never knohat’s going to happen in this world, truly These words probably aren’t words that a young girl, who is just a little older than 10 should say, nou…

“We had thought this ht happen and, have already prepared a drink Furtherhest possible quality taken from our country The brand is Nounels It’s such a rare opportunity, let us all take a drink”

Nounels Hearing this word, the other side looked as if they couldn’t hold in their surprise, ja

Well, that’s only natural Nounels is, a saintly tree that only exists within our country’s Holy Forest It is said that there was once a God who took shelter under this tree, and at that ti fro

It is a fruit juice with no additives added, having its fruit taken fro all of the skin and seeds, we are left with just the flavours of the fruit sealed inside

And although there are no faults with the flavour, along with the splendid fragrance and beautiful hue, it has become a phantasmic drink due to its lack of availability

That is the Nounels our country produces

“Now then, drink up It’s a luxury even for our country, ja”

Distributing the glasses, and pouring the Nounels to everyone as if sharing it around

We too take a sip, savouring it within our mouth

A wondrous taste as always

The wild taste of the fruit, sweetness, fragrance… Each of thehest quality

The grade of Nounels, is determined by the overall wonderfulness of the taste The wildness, the sweetness, the fragrance After all that has been ranked, the ones which are offered to royalty are limited to those that have splendid hue and smell

The one we had brought here was a product not inferior to those offered to royalty

Everyone here had become a captive to it’s smell

“This is a, su…!”

“This is , this thing”

“Tis also a first for I So this is Nounels…”

Even Ganglabe’s subordinates couldn’t conceal the brilliance of Nounels

Every singleof it’s delicious taste

“How is it? Delicious? Now then, there is no need for a break”

There’s probably no need for a break after having tasted a delicacy such as this

Best of all, being able to casually take out such an extravagance, is also a otiation will probably advance smoothly

Thinking back, the carelessness we est blunder we had made

“Ah, please wait a moment”

Right before ere about to resuotiations, Shuri put in the clincher

“What is it, Shuri?”

“Just, could I borrow that bottle for a little bit?”

The Nounels?

What for? Was there a problem with the taste?

No, that’s impossible There shouldn’t have been a problem with the Nounels that we had tasted just now It was a delicacy even we approve of

Speaking of which, Shuri had only been looking at the glass and looked as if he discovered so

We had no idea what thatthat only Shuri could see?

Our curiosity wells up

“Fine Have at it”

We gave our per cautious We wonder what Shuri had noticed and was trying to do? What could he possibly think of this perfect drink

Wutin approaches Shuri and handed over the Nounels bottle

“One thing That is, precious Do not, break it”

Naturally it seeet to warn him

That Nounels is a product of utet your hands on just any day

“No, I won’t break it”

After rebutting her with a feords Shuri takes a sniff

He quietly takes a whiff as if he was trying to taste it and then nods as if he had ascertained so

“I get it now”

“I see, I see Not just your tongue, but even your nose understands that it’s soreat huh”

So not only is Shuri’s tongue and cooking skill excellent but also his sense of smell is excellent as well

Fufu, if that’s how it is then he should understand itwithout fault, a top quality product that we have approved of

“Indeed, I do understand that this is of top quality However, ah, please prepare soh for everyone Also Ahrius-san If I may have your cooperation”

Shuri says that and then rushes out of the roo

Ahrius too hurriedly follows behind hi the room

What? What is he trying to do?

“Your, highness”

Wutin was also trying to run after them I see, after all if we’re careless then ouldn’t be able to do anything except watch as they run away, stealing the Nounels with them

However we stopped her with a wave of our hand

“No Stay here Wutin”

“How…ever”

“If you were to leave, who do you think will guard us, noja In addition, Shuri is not such a fool as to run and steal the drink Most likely, he is probably trying to do so with the Nounels”

However, even we don’t know What is he trying tothat Nounels?

Using it to cook? No, we can’t even i with such a strong and peculiar taste, and such wildness?

Could he co a new dish? No, it ht now Would Shuri do so as inappropriate as that?

Maybe he wascandy? It is true that I’ve heard that Shuri had previously made soht now is just completely out of place He wouldn’tti it

Then what?

“Princess Tebis It appears that our cook is, atte How about it? Wouldn’t you like to see how the greatest drink of your country will become, under his hands?”

Before I realised it, Ganglabe-dono was proposing such a matter

With a smile as if he had just narrowly escaped death, no less

da him time!

“There is no need for that We can hold a discussion even when the cook is cooking”

“However We had borrowed a souvenir belonging to you Letting you wait during the break of the negotiation, isn’t that a bit rude?”