The moment Emma mentioned katsuobushi, the cats that had been dozing off quietly started meowing.
âKatsuobushi! It definitely exists! I wanna eat it! I want to eat katsuobushi! âŠâŠwas what they said.â
Emma interpreted it for them, but the family members each thought, âI kinda got what the cats were saying just nowâŠâŠâ
âChou-chan wants to eat katsuobushi?â
âMeow~!â
âKan-chan wants to eat katsuobushi?â
âMeow!â
âRyuu-chan wants to eat katsuobushi?â
âMeow!â
âKoumei-san wants-âŠâ
âMeow~ meow!â
The cats started acting spoiled with sparkling eyes.
They even let the family pet their stomach obediently which they usually never allowed⊠Katsuobushi⊠are amazing.
âUm⊠but, can they transport katsuobushi properly? Just the rice already makes me worryâŠâ
The exchange condition for the food aid was rice.
The ship leaving tomorrow would carry the urgent food aid from the Stuart family, which was not related to the diplomatic relations with the Kingdom. The one who would be going to Imperial Japan was an excellent merchant from the Rothschild Company, who had already been told the characteristics of rice and asked to bring it back, even if only a little.
âAccording to the ninjas, their country has a small supply of rice in reserve, and if itâs impossible, I think we can get the seedlings or seeds to grow them, but⊠that merchant in charge wonât be able to communicate it, I guess?â
Joshua had chosen the most competent person in the company for them, but the language barrier was too high.
âMeow~!â
Koumei-san, who suddenly left the room just when Emma thought she wanted to act affectionately, came back with a ninja in his mouth.
â??????â
The ninja looked like he didnât know what was going on, but no one could go against Koumei-san.
âHuh? Isnât this Momochi-san?â
Koumei brought the ninja, who had gone back immediately to Stuartâs house for his turn to take a break after somehow managing to explain the situation to the Imperial Prince.
âWilliam-donoâŠâŠ What exactly is going on?â
The ninja, Momochi, who was holding bread in his right hand and a potato salad bowl in his left, desperately protecting them even as he was abducted by Koumei-san, asked William an explanation.
âMeow~!â
âMeow meow!â
âMeow~?â
âMeow meow?â
The cats gathered around Momochi.
Ninja Momochi trembled at the sight of the huge cats.
âW-Wh-What is it? Eh? Eh? Eh?â
The ninja slowly shrunk away from the cats and hit the wall.
He had nowhere to go. On his back was a wall. On his front, left, and right were cats. Thereâs no escape.
This is not a kabe-don. This is a kabe-meow.
[T/N 1: ćŁăăł kabe-don and ćŁă«ăă kabe-meow]
âThey are asking you, âAre there bonito flakes in Imperial Japan?ââ
Emma squeezed through the gaps of the kabe-meow and interpreted when she reached Momochi.
If you took it at face value, they were just cats who were begging cutely to eat katsuobushi. But from Momochiâs point of view, it felt threatening because of the catsâ size.
âI-If itâs katsuobushi, there should still be more in stock than rice! The cause of our food shortage is that the crops⊠d-didnât grow, soâŠâŠâ
In that instant, Momochi made an âOh shoot!â expression.
They had heard that the food shortages were because of the bad weather, but it seems there were other reasons.
âWell then, I have to contact the Rothschild Company to bring some katsuobushi back tooâŠâ
William called a mansion servant and requested a messenger to go to Joshua.
â â â
âEh? Kachuomushi?â
âItâs katsuobushi.â
âKaruomushi?â
âKatsuobushiâŠâŠâ
âKuruoshii?â
This doesnât work at allâŠ
Rice is the staple food of Imperial Japan, but katsuobushi is hard to explain.
ââŠâŠwonât it be faster if one of us goes to Imperial Japan instead?â
Even if they handed an order form in Imperial Japanese to the Rothschilds, they would never know if the real thing was correct if they were not a Tanaka.
Katsuobushi doesnât look like food at first glance, after allâŠ