Nadeshiko’s voice cracked a little. “H-how did you know?”
“Because they asked me, too.”
“They asked Summer…?”
Nadeshiko looked at Sanekazura nervously. She’d thought this was classified information.
Sanekazura noticed her lady’s gaze and immediately approached her.
“What’s the matter, Lady Nadeshiko?”
“Umm, Ms. Sanekazura… Lady Ruri says they asked her about Kyokoku, too.”
“Oh…”
Sanekazura didn’t seem to have heard anything about that. She hurried to call Shirahagi, but he didn’t know, either.
“Wait, did they tell you earlier?”
Something was taking place behind the scenes.
“…Yes. Rindo turned them down…,” Nadeshiko said weakly. “Maybe they asked you because we refused…”
They had reached out to another season because of Autumn’s refusal. Ruri didn’t seem concerned as she said, “I see. Yeah, it’s a real headache, huh? We refused, too. I wonder if they’ll call another season next, then.”
“I don’t know… Ah, I’ll try asking Rindo. I’m sorry, Lady Ruri…”
“Huh? Why are you apologizing? Blame the people in Foreign Affairs or whatever it was in the Agency. It’s not your fault.”
“But…”
“They asked us because Renri and Raicho are good at Centrish. Renri used to be a doctor, so he’s smart. He’s good at reading, writing, conversation, the whole deal. Amazing, right? As for Raicho, he doesn’t tell me everything, but he was in a secret division of the Agency before marrying me, and he worked overseas. He said his grammar is awkward, but he can hold a simple conversation.”
Ruri seemed to think it was only natural they would ask them, but to Autumn, it still felt like they had kicked the issue over to Summer.
“Lady Nadeshiko,” Sanekazura whispered, “I’ll tell Lord Azami right away, and I’ll call Spring and Winter, too.”
Nadeshiko nodded with an awkward look on her face. Then she asked Ruri, “…Lady Ruri, did they ask you to meet the Lord Autumn in Kashu?”
“Yeah, a little boy. We asked them why not Summer, and they told us that they’re busy preparing to manifest the season. As if we’re not. What were they thinking? The Agency might not be a government office, but there’s some work that’s pretty similar. I said we could go after manifesting our season, but Ayame strongly refused. Did they tell you about the mutual aid system? Ayame already knew about it, so she said no right away. She didn’t want to let her little sister go.”
Her decisiveness was befitting of a former Guard.
“…I’m relieved to hear you turned them down, too.”
“Of course! You better not say yes!”
“Yes, I hope everyone else says no, too…”
The phone call with Ruri caused a small shock in Autumn.
Later, Rindo called Spring and Winter in the middle of his trip and confirmed that the Foreign Affairs representative had directly visited them.
According to his intel, everyone had already refused.
The Foreign Affairs representative approached Spring in the middle of their manifestation to explain the mutual aid system. When the insolent man mentioned Lady Spring as an example, the Guard of Spring Sakura Himedaka drew her sword on him.
The Guard of Winter Itecho Kangetsu brought documentation regarding the mutual aid system from the historical archives in the Town of Winter and explained in detail how foolish it would be to let history repeat itself.
One might feel for the Foreign Affairs representative under this dual attack.
As Rindo said, not many were in favor of an international exchange.
The consensus, even within Foreign Affairs, was against the restoration of the mutual aid system. They did not wish to meet with anyone from Kyokoku.
However, while the Four Seasons Agency was an independent organization, it collaborated with the Yamato government in various ways, and they couldn’t ignore a repeated request coming from Four Seasons agencies they had diplomatic relations with.
The division’s behavior spoke for their country, in a way. They couldn’t give off a bad impression to other countries.
The Agency’s Foreign Affairs Division had found itself between a rock and a hard place.
Now both the gods incarnate and Kyokoku were criticizing them. Eventually, Kyokoku grew impatient and proposed a visit to Yamato instead. If that happened, the security and reception costs would be astronomical. In the end, the Foreign Affairs ended up pleading to Rindo in tears.
“Please, this is hard for me, too.”
The newly appointed representative (the previous one was hospitalized for stress-related ulcers) sounded desperate.
“…”
Rindo had nearly gotten an ulcer himself when people started begging him directly at the Agency in Teishu.
If Kyokoku’s Agent of Autumn ended up coming to Yamato, then they would have to meet him for sure.
And Nadeshiko would be the one sent to meet him, as she belonged to the same season.
“At this rate, we’ll have to receive Kyokoku in Yamato…”
Autumn had no reason to rudely refuse a meeting at all. And if they did, the other Agents would simply be asked again.
“If Kyokoku comes, we would have a security advantage, but…”
They could keep a closer eye on their own Agent, but that was the only good point.
“…Their insurgents could follow them into our country.”
The representative’s words carried a heavy weight, sounding like a threat, though it wasn’t.
As Rindo had told Nadeshiko, the Agents’ natural enemies, the insurgents, were much more violent in Kyokoku. They couldn’t deny the possibility that a dangerous terrorist could seize this chance to get into Yamato. If that were to happen, then Yamato’s people would be the ones who suffered.
“…What if they launch a large-scale terrorist attack?”
“We can’t be sure that they won’t harm the commonfolk, either. You know that Kyokoku switches Agents quickly. Kashu’s previous Autumn didn’t last five years. They have problems much worse than ours.”
It was a cruel reality to be discussed so casually. A new Agent was born as soon as the other died, and the successor was chosen supernaturally. Rindo didn’t know how old the Agent of Autumn had been, but if they didn’t last five years, they were most likely in their teens or twenties.
Unless they suffered from a grave illness, homicide was the most likely cause.
“If that happened, Kyokoku wouldn’t be the only ones bearing the blame. People would go after the Towns, the Agency, and the host Autumn.”
If things go wrong, we’d be seen as bearers of bad luck, the way Lady Ruri and Lady Ayame are.
It was a complicated issue. Either brave the terrorists of Kyokoku while protecting Nadeshiko, or let Kyokoku come here, which meant they would have to protect the people of Yamato, Nadeshiko, and Kyokoku’s Agent. Either way was tough.
The young Guard was distressed.
If they had to deal with this either way, then he wanted as much authority as possible and all the resources he could get to protect Nadeshiko.
“Okay. I’ll have to get my lady’s permission first, but we’ll go to Kyokoku.”
In the end, he chose to travel, which would allow him to make as many requests as possible to ensure security.
Agent of Autumn Nadeshiko Iwaizuki could not refuse her retainer’s decision when he was trying to protect Yamato itself.
Autumn was set to travel to Kyokoku, and preparations were quickly made.
First, they needed transportation overseas.
Civil aircraft was out of the question. The Agency’s private jet was being used by Spring to manifest the season. Plus, it was meant for domestic travel, so they needed an aircraft meant for longer flights.
Kyokoku provided the necessary jet. The aircraft was huge for just Autumn, but it also gave them more options and opened up the possibility of more reinforcements.
Among the candidates was Nadeshiko’s guard dog.
At first, they planned to leave Hanakiri in the Town, concerned that the flight might be too stressful, but once Agents of Summer Ruri Hazakura and Ayame Hazakura heard about it, they suggested Nadeshiko take him.
Creatures trained and raised by the goddesses incarnate since birth were extraordinary animals, even when they no longer lived with Summer. Dogs could also enter places humans cannot. Hanakiri would be a great retainer on the trip.
Nadeshiko considered him family, but he had been raised as a guard.
The sisters insisted that she let him do his job.
The Agents of Summer, holders of Life Operation, were as strict as they were kind to the creatures.
They had the power to command other lives and make them attack enemies, so their suggestion carried weight.
Animals trained to fight by gods incarnate are not just pets, they insisted.
The team was coming together.
The plan was to stay four days. The first day was for arriving in Kyokoku, and the second one was for meeting and exchange. They planned for more than enough days for the scheduled meetings at the behest of Kyokoku, which meant they could cut the trip short if need be. Autumn prepared for around a whole month and decided to depart on April 5.
The team was thus:
Agent of Autumn Nadeshiko Iwaizuki.
Guard of Autumn Rindo Azami.
Escorts of the Town of Autumn, Koyoi Shirahagi, plus five more.
Head maid of the housekeeping chamberlains of the Town of Autumn, Miyabi Sanekazura.
Five members of the Autumn Branch of the Security Department of the Maintenance Division of the Four Seasons Agency. And guard dog Hanakiri.
To protect Yamato’s Autumn, National Security had also sent a team of special agents—a squad of VIP bodyguards led by the former escort of Archer of Twilight Kaguya Fugeki, Tsukihi Aragami.
This team was composed of eight members, including Tsukihi, and impromptu helpers hurried to them on the day of departure as well.
“I’ve come here to atone for pretending to be you, Mr. Azami. Work me like a dog.”
Newly appointed Guard of Summer and husband to Ruri Hazakura, Raicho Kimikage—now Raicho Hazakura had come, as well as his newly formed team of five escorts from the Town of Summer.
“I’m here to assist you in the name of Summer! Whoa, Gloomy Blizzardman really came…”
One of the twin Agents of Summer, Ruri Hazakura.
“Shut up, Little Hazakura. This should’ve been my job to begin with, as the forefather of the seasons.”
Agent of Winter Rosei Kantsubaki, who had made himself known as an insurgent hunter after winter last year.
“…Azami, you can consider us your subordinates here.”
The oldest Guard in Yamato and workaholic Itecho Kangetsu, who was leading a team of six Winter escorts.
And so, a total of thirty-seven people and one dog departed for Kyokoku.