Chapter 46
46 TransactionWhen Mitsuha arrived at the Boses residence in the capital, the servants had already lined up in a row for welcoming. Usually, they would need to prepare in a hurry when the carriage arrives; with a few people lined up in front of the door and the others back-breakingly getting the tea, footbath, and the bath for removing the sweat and dirt ready. This was unavoidable because the estimated arrival time can vary around several days, It’s difficult to prepare in advance before they arrive.
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It appears that the orphan boy did a good job. He is probably bouncing around. (弾んで貰えたことであろう。)
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The butler Rufus takes the front of the row at the same time Mitsuha and Sabine arrive at the Boses residence. All the Boses residence’s servants know Sabine as well. Rufus had all the servants go to Mitsuha’s store to memorize Sabine’s face because she is frequently with Mitsuha and it would be a major incident if they were by some chance rude.
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The Earl’s group arrived shortly thereafter. Having changed her position from the safest seat in the middle to the side when they arrived at the capital, Beatrice who’s the first to comes down from the Earl’s family carriage was surprised to notice Sabine next to Mitsuha when she was about to jump at her.
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“H… huh?”
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“Long time no see Beatrice-chan”
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Sabine greet Beatrice with a smile while clinging to Mitsuha’s arm.
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“Gununu……”
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And Beatrice groaned with a regretful face for some reason.
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Mitsuha smiles wryly.
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“Oh my, what are you doing I wonder…”
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“Here comes Iris-sama!”
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“Huh…”
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Mitsuha turns blue, her heart’s voice unexpectedly leaked out of her mouth from
Iris-sama’s words that sounded like something she heard once before.
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And, Iris-sama puffs her cheeks at being treated like the last boss.
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Sabine, Beatrice and the men breathe out a sigh while seeing off Mitsuha who was grabbed and pulled by the nape of her neck.
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“” “Haa~……” “”
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“So, why did you depart early alone without contacting us?”
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Iris-sama was furious.
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She thought that they would be finally traveling together with Mitsuha so she was especially sour.
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“N, no that, that was right when the work had reached a point where I can take a break…”
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“Then, you could have come to our place in that case!”
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(N, no! I need a reason……)
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Mitsuha hurried.
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(Because there was a way to move quickly…, a car? A bicycle… it’s no good, even if that could be a reason for a leaving late, it won’t be a reason for leaving early…)
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Waaaa, and then, while Mitsuha was filled with impatience and anxiety, a lifeboat was tossed in from an unexpected direction.
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“Oh, that’s because I asked her”
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“”Huh?””
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Iris-sama and Earl were surprised at Sabine-chan’s words.
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Mitsuha almost raised her voice too but managed to suppress it somehow.
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“It’s because I have been sending letters to “come to capital as soon as possible”, and with fairly strong words…”
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If the princess says so, they can’t be angry anymore. Because that’ll be blaming her for obeying the princess’s request after all.
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In addition, the fact that the two people welcomed them together increased the credibility.
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Reluctantly, Iris-sama gives up any further pursuit.
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When Mitsuha looks at Sabine-chan with grat.i.tude thinking “I’m saved”, a wicked smile appeared on that face.
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(Oh shooooot!!!)
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Weakness was seized!
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Mitsuha was shocked.
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Probably, she realizes that there is a reason it can’t be honestly told.
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And the bright Sabine-chan probably read from the Earl’s att.i.tude that “the Earl knows the reason”.
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Sabine-chan never touches on the secrets Mitsuha really needs to protect. However, she does think that it’s okay to know if “someone else knows”. Or rather, maybe she can’t forgive “other people knowing something about Mitsuha that she doesn’t know.”
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In other words, what that would mean is…… that her pursuit will not stop until Mitsuha speaks her secret.
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Speak it or present something else as a bargaining chip…
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Either way, it’ll be a transaction where a big loss was certain.
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“……so, you will tell me right, Mitsuhneesama”
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“Uu…”
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As expected, she’s pursuing it.
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“Um, please ask for something else…”
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“Then, the right to use the store as much as I please”
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“P, please spare me from that……”
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That’s right, that thing I was thinking about, what about that? And that.
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“Sabine-chan, actually, I have something nice for you but what do you think?”
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“It’s no good unless it’s something that’ll convince me?”
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“That’s fine! Now, choose the one you like from between these two.
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First. A vehicle that doesn’t take up much s.p.a.ce and has the maintenance fees covered, fine even on a narrow road and faster than a carriage with Sabine-chan by herself.
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The other is a magical tool that’ll let me talk to
talk to Sabine-chan in the capital even when I am in my Viscounty. Now, which do you like better? ”
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“Huh……”
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Sabine-chan hardens out of surprise.
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And an escort guard pretending to be casual in the corner of a shop hardens in fear.
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That’s natural, the escorts will it many times worse if Sabine-chan obtains mobility that’ll let her to rush down narrow roads faster than a horse-drawn carriage.
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“U, um, is both no good…”
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……It came out, the uncle’s killer upturned eyes!
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But that doesn’t work against me!
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“No! Only one or the other”
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Sabine-chan, who was ~uu~ groaning for a while eventually chose the second “magical tool to talk to Mitsuha in the Viscounty”. That one was more convenient for Mitsuha too. It was one of the safety measures she was thinking about preparing and she couldn’t come up with a suitable person to entrust it with other then Sabine-chan, so she got a pretty good excuse.
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In the back, the escort seemed to be relieved bottom of their heart.
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No, I’m sorry I made you worry.
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The next day, I checked Sabine-chan’s room and its surroundings in the royal palace and I teleported to j.a.pan after I got the king’s permission to install the equipment. And first I went to the solar power supplier.
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Since this is the third time after the store in the capital and the Viscount residence, the talk proceeds smoothly and I made an immediate decision to buy a power generation unit and power storage device. This time it was a very small and simple thing.
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And next, to Akihabara.
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It has now become an otaku town butotaku town but some remnants of the past still remain.
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The shop she went to was an amateur radio specialty store.
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Actually, Mitsuha earned s amateur radio qualification when she was a middle school student due to her father’s influence. The qualification was meant for the socializing with her father, or rather making her family happy, but she has roughly mastered everything.
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Presently where everyone who would have flowed towards amateur radios in the old days goes to computers, the amateur radio industry has completely become a sunset industry. However, the elderly maniacs are still alive and new equipment is being developed.
(google: sunset industry means an old and declining industry.)
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Walking into the store, Mitsuha was like an adult buying a large number of collectible items aimed at children. (店に入ったミツハは、大人買いをした。)
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No, in this industry, even an adult wouldn’t buy much.
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In any case, she bought 3 of the latest HF-band and VHF-band fixed-mounted radios and VHF handheld radios. The antenna will be a ground plane covering 8 bands from 3.5 MHz to 430 MHz.
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Various other things were brought like 3 antennas, a coaxial cable, and a connector. Tools are unnecessary because they are at home.
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No, science has made progress. In the old equipment that father had, the HF radio goes up to 28 MHz; and 50 MHz, 144 MHz and 430 MHz each had dedicated devices, the ground plane antenna only works for 144 MHz and higher, so you even needed to set up a stupidly large 21 MHz antenna, a 3.5 MHz, or a 7 MHz horizontal half-wavelength dipole…. And yet, with 2 transceivers you can get full coverage of 430 MHz and the lower bands and you only need a small ground plane antenna…