Chapter 211

The First Seed [Part 1]

Fukushima's POV

"Let's take a short rest here."

I knocked on the Stuart family's carriage and asked them to stop here for a while.

I had somehow been cajoled into leading them to the colony of Overs. Imperial Prince Tasuku would be accompanied by the Tarous and the boy who was said to be a merchant, and we parted ways on the road leading to the Imperial Residence.

The Kingdom's massive black ship was loaded with food aid in large quantities.

Seeming as if he had a complete grasp of the content of each cargo, the merchant boy led his workers to unload the freight with brisk instructions. After the unloading was done, he started arranging the distribution to the warehouse with the Tarous.

Whether it was Melsa-dono or him, I was deeply impressed by how capable the Kingdom people were.

"Emma-sama, I will catch up to you right away, so please, please don't do anything dangerous, okay?"

The boy spoke to the Stuart girl very carefully and tenderly, but I didn't understand his words.

The one who suggested heading for the colony of Overs immediately after arriving in Imperial Japan was the Stuart family themselves. There was only the minimum number of humans around the propagation place now, leaving only the samurais on guard. The people had all evacuated to the seaward end of Imperial Japan, and even the port had half of its area crowded with refugee shelters.

In the face of the family's enthusiasm, I could only reluctantly agree to their request in hopes that they could go there and return before the seeds flew.

They insisted on defeating Over even after I exhausted my words to dissuade them. And all that time, the look in their eyes was sincere. 'Just why would you go so far for Imperial Japan?' Rather than gratitude, I felt more like I was looking at people who came from a strange, different world.

"Favor and service"

[T/N: The concept of a mutually beneficial relationship between a samurai and his master. Favor is the benefit the samurai receives from his master, and service is the benefit the master receives from the samurai.]

Although the world was vast, I thought there wasn't anyone who would work as hard as a samurai, who regarded the missions from his lord as his life and death. And yet, here before my eyes were the Kingdom's Stuart family, who, even including the little children, were eager to defeat Over. Just what could have driven them to do this?

That said, they were still, after all, children. I was sure they would start crying from fear when they saw Over. And no parent would leave their crying children alone.

My mission was to guide them to the colony of Over as fast as I could and have them return to the Kingdom as soon as possible.

'...

If...

by some chance...

by some miracle...'

After Melsa-dono went back to the Kingdom, the Emperor, the Shogun, and even I, once thought there was still hope for our country.

How pathetic.

Humans are forgetful beings.

The moment I saw Over's stems starting to bending over all at once, I realized just how impossible it was for us to fight our fate yet again.

The size of a full-grown Over, the danger of its supple body, and the leaves and seeds that were heavy enough to make the hard stems bend.

Isn't this a place of despair? Isn't this hell?

Right now, a place of despair and hell is this place.

There is no more room for hope, miraculous chance, and extraordinary occurrences here.

♠♠♠

"Uuughh..."

Among the other Imperial Japanese-style carriages, some carriages were shaped like a box without windows, which looked very unusual by our standards. The Stuart family came out from one of those peculiar carriages and stretched their bodies.

We had traveled the road for several hours non stop because we were in a hurry, so it was understandable if the family felt lethargic.

Our destination, too, was the hellish propagation place of Over. Even the samurais were trembling when they headed there for their guard duty shift, so I guessed it couldn't be helped that small children would also tense up.