The Yamatoans looked at Rindo on reflex. Rindo stared at Jude, feeling just as surprised.
So this combination was chosen to mitigate the language barrier between the Agents.
“They sure thought this through…,” Rosei muttered with disdain.
“Why did you choose Yamatoan?” Ruri asked Jude.
“I had a friend who was like a brother to me, and there was a time we spent all day watching Yamatoan movies. There was this one director I really liked, and I wanted to understand all the behind-the-scenes stories, too…”
Apparently, he was self-taught. Not something anyone could do.
“Wow… Everyone has such good reasons for learning other languages… I’m starting to feel bad for myself. Why can’t I speak Centrish…?”
“Lady Ruri, you’re so expressive that I think you could hold a conversation with gestures and just a few vocabulary words.”
“I have no talent…”
Jude was the center of attention as the one talking; meanwhile, Liam was looking at the ground and fidgeting.
“Lord Liam,” said Nadeshiko, who was somewhat hidden in her seat next to Rindo. He raised his head. “Lord Liam, do you like sweets…?”
Nadeshiko mustered all her courage, just as Liam had done.
“If so…then let’s eat together…”
She pointed at the snacks on the table and patted the open seat next to her. He didn’t need to understand the language to realize she’d asked him to sit there.
Rindo was conflicted, but he spoke to Liam, too.
“Lord Liam, Yamato understands your circumstances. We can’t accept your marriage proposal, but we welcome making new friends. Please take a seat.”
Liam felt nervous as Rindo, who had attacked him yesterday, spoke to him in gentle tones, but he sat down next to Nadeshiko.
“…”
Liam looked at the palm of his hand before looking at Nadeshiko’s eyes.
“Nadeshiko. I’m s-sowry.”
Yamatoan words were written with permanent marker on the palm of his hand. They were written in the alphabet and had an arrow next to them pointing at the translation.
Damn it.
This was sneaky, in Rindo’s opinion.
He wished Liam had something more unpleasant that Rindo could point out. Something that could serve as an excuse to push him away from Nadeshiko.
However, his immature wish was immediately shattered. Jude must have taught Liam the words at the last second. He could have used paper, but he must have wanted it somewhere he could check anywhere.
Of course a child would choose his hand.
“Everyone, Yamato, sor…ry.”
Everyone present, even Rosei, felt a little better at seeing the boy make an effort to speak even as his lips trembled.
Not even the King of Winter was cold enough to drive the kid away.
“Like Mr. Azami just said…,” Rosei said as softly as he could, remembering what Ruri told him the other day. “All of us understand your situation. Don’t worry about it. The adults made you say that, and they won’t even apologize. The Church told you to, right?”
Liam raised his head as he heard that.
“…But I decided to say it.”
His voice was as small as the chirping of a baby bird, as if he didn’t want to be overheard.
“You didn’t decide anything. You just went through with it. I know the Church is watching, so you don’t need to say anything that could get you in trouble, but don’t be afraid of us. I just want to ask you one thing. What’s Kashu’s Winter doing?”
Liam was taken aback by his question.
“I’ve never met our Lord Winter, so I wouldn’t know…”
Rosei remembered that Liam was still in the middle of his yearlong training.
“Right, you said you still hadn’t done the Season Descent.”
“Mm-hmm. And also, in Kyokoku… Err, at least in Kashu, the Agents aren’t all friends like in Yamato. Well, I guess I can’t say for sure… Maybe they’re just leaving me out of it…”
This was nothing surprising. The Yamatoan Agents had only connected due to insurgent attacks. There was no fundamental reason for the Four Seasons to be friends with each other.
“I mean, we only formed our alliance last year. But the thing is, when it comes to issues that involve two countries like this, Winter should handle it, not Autumn.”
Liam seemed to have relaxed somewhat, now that Rosei was speaking his language.
“You mean the marriage?”
“Yes. Did they not try to stop it? Or does nobody know except for Kashu’s Autumn?”
“Jude…”
Liam called his Guard, who was talking with Ruri.
Jude got the gist of the conversation and replied, “To be honest, there are two factions within Kyokoku’s Agents: the conformists and the separatists.”
Jude felt that it would be best to explain the rest in Yamatoan and switched languages.
“The conformists welcome the ways of the Church of the Living Gods and the Four Seasons Tower. Some of them would prefer not to conform, but they have some other reason why they do anyway. The separatists are those who show clear animosity to the higher-ups. It’s all about how people feel toward the bigwigs.” Jude lowered his eyes. “Kashu’s Spring, Summer, and Winter are likely conformists…which means they probably won’t do anything to help. Even if they did know about Liam’s situation…”
Jude reached for Liam’s head and patted it.
“I wish I could make some allies for him, but I’m the illegitimate son of a Church official and have no backing of my own. I’ve had no choice but to obey ever since I was a kid…”
“I see… You haven’t had it easy, either.”
Jude had his own share of hardships.
“…By the way, what do you know about the Agents of Spring, Summer, and Winter?”
“They’re all women.”
“Oh, even Winter?”
“Yes. What else…? Spring is thirteen, I believe. She’s shy and doesn’t speak to anyone other than her retainer. She must be busy right about now due to the manifestation of spring.”
Jude tried to remember what she knew.
“Summer should be between eighteen or twenty. She’s the oldest in Kashu, and the one who’s been serving the longest. She has a real presence, thanks to all her experience.”
“Wow!” Ruri exclaimed.
“Winter is twelve and a newcomer… And she’s…quite energetic…”
Rosei furrowed his brow. “What do you mean?”
“Well… She’s like a blizzard in human form…”
“…Winter’s the only one you don’t really know much about?”
“Only that she’s very fierce… I heard that Yamato’s Lord Winter is known as an insurgent hunter. Kashu’s Lady Winter is also extremely passionate, and even during her seasons of rest, she cooperates with national defense agencies to exterminate insurgents.”
“Wow, she’s like a girl Rosei!” Ruri said merrily.
Everyone tried to picture a female Rosei who was energetic and fierce, but nobody could. Yamato’s King of Winter was far from “energetic.”
Rosei looked at Ruri with a frown, but he wasn’t angry.
“Little Hazakura.”
“That’s Ruri to you.”
“…You better not say that to her if you ever get to meet her.”
“Why?”
“What woman is happy to be compared to a man? I guess some might be, but just…don’t.”
Ruri looked at him, impressed. “…Wow, you do have some tact sometimes.”
“Unlike you…”
“It was a compliment. Winter’s people are surprisingly nice to girls. Lord Itecho, too!”
“Thank you, Lady Ruri.” Itecho smiled softly.
“You didn’t know? There are few women in Winter to begin with. So they’re treated with great respect,” Rosei pointed out.
“Whoa, seriously?”
Jude supplemented Rosei’s explanation. “That seems to be the case within communities that produce Agents of Winter all over the world. Which is why it’s unusual for Kashu’s Agent to be a woman. Among the original gods of the Four Seasons… Spring was female, and Winter was male. Hence, their descendants naturally follow the pattern… Or so people say.”
“Wow! That’s fun! It’s like we’re re-creating the myths. What about Summer and Autumn, then?”
“They tend to be depicted as the same gender. Either both male or both female.”
Ruri and Nadeshiko looked at each other and smiled.
“It’s just popular belief, all right?” Rosei insisted they not take it seriously, and Ruri laughed.
“I know! But it’s so interesting. In artwork, the gods of the Four Seasons don’t have a set appearance, do they? I’ve seen paintings where they’re all girls. Including the one in my parents’ house…”
“That just depends on the artist’s sensibilities.”
“So the creator of our painting wanted all of them to be girls?”
“They took significant artistic liberties, but yes. Anyone in the know would make Winter a man.”
“So that was just what the artist liked… Wow. Thinking about it that way, it’s such a self-indulgent painting…”