Chapter 158

Imperial Japan [Part 3]

A ninja moved silently towards the highest floor of the Edo Castle's main building.

"Good job on returning, Momochi. The aid came faster than expected. Have you succeeded?"

The Shogun praised the ninja for his efforts as he watched the relief supplies being brought to the imperial residence one after another.

"Shogun, I don't know how I should say this... Simply put, the Kingdom is not like what we imagined. I have to say that we have lost completely in terms of military might."

The Shogun, the one who had sent Imperial Japan's most elite ninjas on this mission, raised his eyebrow.

"What? Did our ninjas... lose?"

"It was a complete defeat. Military might, intellect, national resources... I can't find anything in our country that can contend with the Kingdom."

Momochi had always been proud of his ability as a ninja. Even so, he still had to admit that he and his peers weren't even a match for the cats of a count's family, let alone the Royal Family.

Moreover, Imperial Japanese, a language that no country in this world could understand, had been perfectly mastered by that girl.

And that family...

More than anything, he was most impressed by their capability to arrange that large amount of food in just a few minutes. He took that as proof of that country's strength in terms of resources.

Momochi believed that they must have understood the domestic food inventory well in order to be able to make such a quick decision of sending out a ship full of food the next day after knowing about Imperial Japan's crisis. They even skipped many official procedures and permits.

"I wonder if seeking aid from the Kingdom was the right decision. We need to treat them with courtesy. We must not act like we are superior because we have magic stones."

Every country started to realize that magic stones were limited.

Among those, only Imperial Japan had been blessed with a large amount of magic stones every year, and they had kept that fact well hidden.

An official from Balitu had told them that as long as they were willing to part with their magic stones, any country would bow down to Imperial Japan. However, even that one count family had four cats. If there were still a lot more of such cats in the Kingdom, they could get rid of monsters even without reinforcing the barrier.

Considering all this, Momochi was afraid that the one who would come out at a disadvantage was not the Kingdom people, but the Imperial Japanese citizens.

"To think that the Kingdom people are that outstanding..."

The Kingdom had the second-largest land after the Empire, and in proportion to that, many areas with monster appearances.

With the idea that the Kingdom was desperate for magic stones, Imperial Japan had tried to build diplomatic relations with it by hinting that they could give some in exchange. But perhaps, it had been very rude of them to do so.

It seemed that the information from Balitu, an ally they had reached a mutual understanding with, was not completely perfect.

"Your Imperial Majesty, we must acquire the Kingdom as our ally. With its fighting power and knowledge, it might be able to save Imperial Japan from perish."

"Momochi, you haven't given up on Imperial Japan, right?"

The Emperor, who had a tense face, let out a sigh. He remembered the face of his son, Tasuku, who had desperately persuaded him to allow him to seek help from the Kingdom, hoping that, at the very least, he could save the citizens from starvation.

"If it's them... then I'm sure..."

Ninja Momochi gave the Emperor and the Shogun undue expectation and great hope. Seeing that his two leaders looked very pale and seemed like they could faint anytime soon, he inferred that the situation in the country hadn't improved since he had left, but was instead steadily worsening towards destruction. That was why he needed to show them his faith.

Imperial Japanese people, who couldn't communicate in other languages, didn't agree to migrate to another place, and had resolved to perish together with their motherland.

The Emperor and the Shogun could only prepare the food for that brief period before Imperial Japan's extinction.

Ninja Momochi put his hope into words.

He believed in the family and the cats he saw in House Stuart.

An extremely frightening, strange pressure would make an undesirable visit to the Kingdom and the Stuart family.