178. Confusion 3
I entered the audience chamber, walked towards the throne with my head hanging down, and knelt before the throne.
“Raise your face” (the King)
Then, after permission is granted, I can look up and see the king"s face for the first time.
And…
"Eh?" (Mitsuha)
There is a familiar face.
"Count… Wonrade…?" (Mitsuha)
And, to me who was completely flabbergasted…
"Hn? Do you know that man? That man is of a royal descent but has abdicated his royal status. I heard that he resembles me a little…" (the King)
Ah, they"re relatives, I see. So that"s why they"re very similar… which reminds me, the hairstyle and the shape of the mustache are slightly different.
Or rather, he has royal blood huh, that DQN father… That"s why the other n.o.bles couldn"t get in their way even though they did whatever they wanted…. And marquis Mitch.e.l.l, too, couldn"t oppose them. Well, I guess there"s room for excuses.
"Viscount Yamano, I heard that you sell your country"s goods in our country, which country do you belong?" (the King)
Uwaah, it came! Well, I saw it coming miles away. Without even waiting my self-introduction huh…
…well, I guess he called me to this audience to inquire about that matter.
"Yes, my homeland is [Nihon]…" (Mitsuha)
"Nihon? I"ve never heard of it…" (the King)
Well, you won"t ask if you already know.
"Perhaps it is known with a different name around here… Even within our neighboring countries, it is also known as Nippon, j.a.pan, Yāpan, Zipang and various other names… Even more, there"s a certain country that is called by various names such as Eikoku, England, Great Britain, United kingdom…" (Mitsuha)
Actually, I think there"s the name of a const.i.tuent country, but it jumbled up because of the translation, well whatever. It"s nothing more than a deception speech anyway.
"U-umu, certainly there are quite a few of such customs in our country too…" (the King)
Yeah, I think there are many more examples of such customs.
"And I answered since you Majesty asked, but originally, it is not yet time to announce my homeland since I have been instructed to act with my own personal wisdom without revealing the name of our country… therefore, I would like to ask so that the names I revealed just now are to be kept within only those who are present in this chamber right now… " (Mitsuha)
Naturally, they should"ve already investigated the fact that I don"t want to reveal my home country, and it should"ve been clear from my att.i.tude now.
The name Nihon is also listed on the import doc.u.ments, so they"ve probably already confirmed that much, and they might think it"s a fictional country. This is a sophistry explanation that [It is called by various names depending on the country] in case it becomes a story of formal diplomacy later.
And there"s no way a moron who can"t read the air, like bringing up a map here, could be the King…
"Oi, someone, bring a map!" (the King) (Note: sigh, he"s a lost cause)
…Oi oi oi oi!!
The ones who seems to be the Prime Minister has pulled a wry face, but the other, the one of the even lower position flew out of the audience chamber to score some brownie points.
Oooii…
Sigh…
I see…
So that"s their real intention…
Pushing through by force for their own benefit without any concern for the other party, I see…
I guess the King of this country is aggressive after all.
I got used to see the king of our country, his personality is kinda solid and dignified… or not, as far as I see him being swung around by Sabine-chan…
Well, surely, there are also arrogant uncles like the King of the second country we visited during the expedition…
Anyway, I"m not going to become a yes-man. If I were to obey obediently here, requests will be escalated one after another.
And in the first place, even if you bring the map here, it"ll be useless. Not to mention j.a.pan, of course, even our country hasn"t been recorded on their map. On the other hand, if I carelessly point on a random place, it"ll be exposed with just one question to the experts, it wouldn"t make any sense.
So…
"I"ve brought the map!" (the subordinate)
It"s frightfully too fast. Maybe, they had prepared it in advance…
"Umu, whatever, just bring it here!" (the King)
Normally, an attendant would receive it before they pa.s.sed it to the king.
Yet that words were almost as good as him telling the man to [Approach him]. Which means, that he [Trusted] that man. For a mere subordinate, that would be a terrific honor.
"Viscount Yamano, you can come here" (the King)
Yeah, well, I can"t point it from where I stand right now.
…but.
I feel bad for the one who have brought the map but…
"That is not necessary" (Mitsuha)
"…eh?" (the King)
The person who"ve brought the map stopped in his track.
Prime minister-san who put a startled face.
…And the King wo put a blank face.
"Earlier, I conveyed that I was being careful not to be rude to the Kings of other nations, and that I couldn"t give the details regarding my country yet according to the instruction of my country, but I still dared to reveal only the country name in honor of your Majesty. Being required to tell more would lead me to betray my country, and I could be punished for breach of confidence, but nevertheless, I decided that fulfilling your curiosity has priority over that, and I told you what asked, right?" (Mitsuha)
"Then, rather than betraying my homeland, I would choose to withdraw right away, of course. Then, I will leave this country as soon as possible, no matter where my homeland is, we have nothing to do with this country anymore…" (Mitsuha)
"Eh?" (the King)
Naturally.
Even though I said it"s no good.
Moreover, I said that it is a direct instruction from my country.
I guess he is still the relative of that DQN family after all.
"According to the action guideline, if the other party were to ignore our policy and forced me to follow their demands, I have to leave the country immediately and relocate our base to another country, so it is not under my sole discretion. Well then, I"ll excuse myself." (Mitsuha)
… Sorry, Rephilia. The matter about moving abroad became faster than I thought…
And just as I try to leave the audience quickly…
"Wait!" (the King)
I can hear something from behind, but it doesn"t matter.
There"s no reason why I have to obey such uncle"s order since I"m not from this country. Even though [I"ve kindly come here], but they force something unacceptable to me, of course I"ll leave. I"m not a slave to that uncle anyway, and I didn"t owe him anything either.
Alright, first is to withdraw all the money from the bank…
"I said wait! Hey, stop that girl!" (the King)
A guard blocked me with his spear…
"You, what"s your name?" (Mitsuha)
"Eh?" (the Guard)
The guard was startled when I asked his name.
"I will include your name in the declaration of war since you"ve performed an action that equivalent to declaring war on our country. Do you want everyone to know that your action caused a war, and it is his Majesty and your responsibility that many people died?" (Mitsuha)
"Hiiee!!" (the Guard)
The guard become pale and stepped backward. …where"s your gut, guard-san.
The whole room is quiet. n.o.body moves nor speaks.
That was a natural consequence of trying to unfairly restrain the n.o.bles of other countries to spit out the secrets of the country.
Did they underestimate me because I"m a little girl?