The man spoke with a cheerful smile.
“I’m Kikka Azami, and I will be your interpreter. Summer, Autumn, Winter—each of you will be attended by a member of the Liaison Department of the Four Seasons Agency’s Foreign Affairs Division. Please let them know if you need anything.”
Kikka Azami had a sweet-sounding name, but he looked like a pro wrestler. Where Rindo appeared calm and gallant, his father was wild. Given his son’s age, he had to be in his forties or fifties.
All the Yamatoans present were astonished by the sudden appearance of Rindo’s father.
“I hope my boy isn’t causing you any trouble.”
His “boy” clenched his fists in an attempt to hold in a desire to scream. This was a diplomatic meeting. He couldn’t let personal emotions take over, no matter how shocked he was.
The Kyokoku side watched in silence; did they know about Rindo’s relationship with the interpreter beforehand? Perhaps they were giving the family time to greet each other first.
“Shirahagi, did you know?”
“No. I didn’t know anyone from Liaison would be here. Much less Lord Azami’s father.”
Sanekazura and Shirahagi stared at their clearly agitated boss. The Liaison’s job was to communicate and negotiate with outside parties. They were far from the Town’s escorts’ wheelhouse.
What is going on here? Nobody told me about this.
Rindo was equally startled. This job was stressful enough, and now they’d sent yet another threat? More than anything in the world, Rindo Azami hated to look clumsy.
As he’d grown, he had recently begun to understand that panicking about such a thing was ridiculous, but he still didn’t like it and tried hard to avoid it. He would never want to fumble in front of Nadeshiko, in particular. He had to stay a prince in her eyes. So he feigned calm and asked quietly:
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Kikka responded with a big smile. “It was a surprise!”
I want to punch him.
Kikka knew exactly how to anger his son.
If they had been alone, Rindo would have already unleashed his Yamatoan jujitsu and thrown him into the wall.
What is wrong with the Agency? Why didn’t they tell me, either?
For the same reason they’d contacted Autumn first, they must’ve reached out to the Azami family and asked Kikka at the same time.
They probably didn’t tell Rindo directly because they’d assumed family members would tell each other.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t very close with his father.
“…Rindo’s father?” Nadeshiko murmured. She was surprised by Kikka’s presence, too.
The older man looked at Nadeshiko.
His jokey attitude disappeared as he knelt down and spoke in a quiet baritone. “My Autumn. It is an honor to meet you. I am Rindo’s father. As a member of the Town of Autumn’s Azami family, I am humbled to be in your presence.”
“H-hello.”
“I’d heard that you were as gentle as a flower, and that certainly seems to be the case. I would love to have some time to chat with you… But we will have to leave that for another day. And of course, I would love to talk with all of you, Lord and Lady Agents.”
He glanced at the other gods incarnate before throwing a perfect wink at Nadeshiko.
“Yes…” Nadeshiko blinked a couple of times before mumbling a bashful response.
The aura around this adult seemed to make her nervous, although not in the way her feelings for Rindo did. It was easy to see where Rindo got his lady-killer presence from.
The Guard pulled Nadeshiko toward him protectively.
“Stop it, you shameless scumbag.”
Rindo insulted his father quickly but kept his voice down, and Kikka merely smiled at his son’s reaction. Nadeshiko struggled against Rindo’s chest.
“Rindo, I want to greet your father.”
“No.”
“But I have to thank him for all the help you’ve given me…”
Rindo shook his head, still hugging Nadeshiko.
“Nadeshiko, we need to greet the people from Kyokoku first… Ms. Sanekazura, Shirahagi, you should sit down.”
He pulled Nadeshiko by the hand toward the table.
While Rindo’s personal feelings couldn’t be denied, he was right in that Kyokoku had to be addressed first.
As instructed, everyone sat down in the seat marked by their name tag.
The Liaison members from Summer, Autumn, and Winter, as well as the Special Agents, sat by each member of the group.
It was unfortunate that Rindo’d had a surprise encounter with a relative, but his father’s consideration was appreciated. There were quite a few people present, and some of them would be seated far away. They needed this many interpreters so everyone could keep up with the discussion. Kyokoku had just as many interpreters on their side, too.
“Now then, we’ll begin by introducing the visitors from Yamato.”
Kikka, as the lead interpreter, was the only one to remain standing.
As soon as he began speaking, the Liaison members began translating to Yamatoan.
“I’ll introduce Yamato’s Lord Agents and Guards first. Agent of Winter, Lord Rosei Kantsubaki, and his Guard, Lord Itecho Kangetsu.”
They nodded at the Kyokoku side as he called their names.
“Agent of Summer, Lady Ruri Hazakura, and her Guard and husband, Lord Raicho Hazakura.”
The still silent Agent of Kyokoku seemed quite calm for his age.
“And Agent of Autumn, Lady Nadeshiko Iwaizuki, and her Guard, Rindo Azami.”
The boy Agent stared at Nadeshiko as her name was called.
Of course, she returned his gaze. After a moment of eye contact, she smiled timidly.
Kyokoku’s Agent of Autumn immediately looked away. He seemed both shy and dismissive. Nadeshiko looked down sadly, and Rindo felt a surge of indignation.
“These are our visitors from Yamato. Bodyguards are also accompanying them on this trip.”
As Kikka finished the first round of introductions, the escorts stood up and bowed.
“Now then, let’s introduce the Lord Agent and Guard of Kyokoku.” Kikka switched from fluent Centrish to Yamatoan. “Kashu’s Agent of Autumn, Lord Liam, and his Guard, Lord Jude.”
Liam was the boy Agent, naturally, and Jude was the blond, blue-eyed man next to him.
There were other Kyokoku escorts present, but only those two were mentioned by name.
“Everyone here in Kyokoku is using a fake name for confidentiality, but please feel free to use the names I’ve just shared with you.”
The Yamatoans were shocked to hear that.
Gods incarnate were already supposed to be anonymous; to use a fake name meant that the veil of secrecy extended to even the relevant parties. Everyone’s confusion was clear in their faces, so Kikka added:
“Unlike in Yamato, Kyokoku’s descendant supervision system is not perfect. As the land was split throughout history, the clans were scattered, and the organization crumbled. They rebuilt the network, but many members fell through the cracks. In fact, the current Agent of Autumn, Lord Liam, was taken in after a report from his hometown. In order to protect his family from the insurgents, he discarded his previous identity and became Liam.”