Chapter 102

PROLOGUE “C-can I eat all of this, Mom…?” Dozens of large plates sat before Shiren. She was presently standing before the buffet in a very fancy hotel. “Of course. You can eat as much as you like, sweetie. We’re renting the top floor of this hotel to live in, after all. We get to eat here every day as part of the agreement. Building a house like a palace would be very expensive, and it would attract too much attention, wouldn’t it? And just thinking about the security gives me a headache. That’s why I thought we should make our home in a hotel for the time being. And besides,” Sairi added emphatically, “meals should be all-you-can-eat. That’s just fundamental.” “I’m impressed, Mom. You really understand cuisine. Food should be free. It shouldn’t be bound by the constraints of day-to-day life. We should eat what we want, however much we want—that is the true delight of mealtime.” “That’s my girl! You know your—” Shiren was loading her plate with food before Sairi had even finished speaking. “Salisbury steak, scrambled eggs, gratin, simmered chicken… Oh, my plate’s almost full. Time for a second one.” She began ferociously piling food onto her second plate, too. It was not long before she’d filled her plates; each one looked like she’d ordered an extra-large helping at a restaurant with unusually generous portions. “Three kinds of curry? That means I’ll have to split my rice into three. Can I eat this much? There are three kinds of soup, too. I think I can handle that. They offer a choice of rice or bread? Well, I’ll just have to eat both, then.” “Shiren, there is no rule stating you have to eat everything.” “Please—it’d be arrogant to simply pick one over the others. I could never do something so rude to the chef. Munch—I am going to—munch—eat everything, even if I explode.” It seemed mealtime came at a cost after all. Shiren started with a bite of the Salisbury steak. “Let’s pretend there’s someone here with—munch—seven children. Do you think they—munch—decide to simply not love one because they have so many? Munch—of course not. They would love all seven equally. It’s exactly the same as a buffet.” “You’ve matured since I last saw you, Shiren.” Though all this made little sense, Sairi was still moved. There was the faintest hint of tears in her eyes. “Then I shall join you,” she said, “and eat some of everything.” Sairi began piling food on her plate, following Shiren’s example. Her food was arranged much more neatly than Shiren’s, but that meant she was using a lot more plates. Sairi Fuyukura, as it happened, was just as much of a gourmand as her daughter. Within minutes, this mother and daughter’s plates had completely covered a table meant to seat eight. “Well, should we make a toast to the Holy Sacred Blood Empire? (Even though you’ve already started eating.)” “Yes, Mom.” Sairi lifted a glass of red wine, and Shiren a glass of tomato juice. Clink. A clear ringing sound echoed from their two glasses. “Oh, this is good! Delicious! Every single ingredient shines through, and none have been wasted! The seasoning is not competing with the food. Really, this is an excellent display of food-seasoning teamwork. Yes—yes! Cooking is not about the chef beating the ingredients into submission. No, a chef must meet the ingredients where they stand and guide them to greater heights. The chef here understands this!” Shiren was shoving food into her mouth with astonishing speed. At some point, a smear of ketchup had materialized at the corner of her mouth. “It sure seems that way,” Sairi replied. “I doubt there were any high-level chefs like this back in the old Empire.” “Is the ‘old Empire’ the Sacred Blood Empire in Akinomiya?” Shiren tilted her head at the unfamiliar phrase. She did not stop eating, however. “Yes. We are the new Empire, and that is the old Empire, though it isn’t as if the old Empire is gone. But for the time being, let us concentrate on our meal.” “You’re exactly right. They could never serve food with such refined flavors in the old Empire. There were many times I wanted to shout, Bring out the manager! But not even the castle had a manager, all because the Empire was trying to cut costs.” “I don’t think that part was about cutting costs. Castles just don’t typically have managers…” “There were top-rate chefs, but no one truly at the pinnacle of culinary ability. Such cuisine isn’t just about flavors; it’s about ideas.” The old Empire’s greatest weakness was its closed-off nature and stagnation (particularly of its cash flow). And when it had a population of less than fifty thousand, even its top chefs were bound to be less than astounding. The Holy Sacred Blood Empire, on the other hand, was more of an institution situated in Oshiro. There were essentially no hard borders, and the headquarters were located in Japan. But that also put them in contact with the whole rest of the world. “This is part of your education, Shiren.” “Education? Sorry, I break out in a rash when I hear words related to school…” “I think that’s a rather excessive reaction… Besides, this is not that kind of education.” “What do you mean, then?” “You are the emperor of the Holy Sacred Blood Empire. We cannot allow our ruler to have cheap taste. You’ve only eaten commoner food thus far, haven’t you?” “Yes… My meals were always simple… After all, our finances were pretty tight…” Though Shiren received money through a pension system, Ouka was stingy, and so the amount was pretty small. “But even the cheapest snacks have their own unique charm. There is a kind of happiness that can only be attained from the taste of cheap—” “I am fully aware, Shiren. I once took a trip specifically to eat a potato chip only available in one area of the country. I didn’t even have a chair to sit down in, and I had to eat standing up.” Sairi pouted. Clearly, she was not interested in hearing things she already knew. This mother and daughter really got serious when it came to food. “But,” continued Sairi, “there are also flavors you cannot taste without paying lots of money. An emperor must become familiar with those, too.” “I see. I want to taste all the flavors of the world.” Shiren apparently found that statement much more impressive than it was, as she was full of pride. “From now on, you must spoil yourself and find your dignity as emperor.” “Is this heaven?” “No. This is the new Empire—the Holy Sacred Blood Empire.” Once Sairi had finished swallowing her food, she continued, “I believe Ouka went through something very similar after becoming emperor.” “Come to think of it, I’m sure she had a personal chef…” “One of my objectives is to provide you with an environment equal to that of the other emperor. On that point, I will accept no compromises.” “Why?” Sairi gazed lovingly at Shiren, ketchup smear and all. “Both you and Ouka have royal blood. But because I’m your mother, you’ve been given the short end of the stick all your life. One sister should not receive better treatment than the other simply because of the circumstances of their births.” “Oh…” Shiren had finally begun to understand Sairi’s kindness. “That is why I will give you everything Ouka has. I created the Holy Sacred Blood Empire so that you could be emperor, too.” “But I’m nowhere near as capable as Big Sis… I couldn’t…” Shiren’s new status still hadn’t sunk in, and she was well aware of her sister’s abilities and all her hard work. Ouka had gone through many trials in order to fulfill the role of emperor. Even after her father died, she never once complained as she rebuilt the organization that would eventually become a nation. It was her right to wield power as emperor. Shiren had never once thought Ouka was treated favorably because of her birth, and though Shiren sometimes complained about her misfortunes, she had never once been upset that she wasn’t emperor herself. “You can do this, Shiren.” Sairi smiled at her daughter. “I’ll support you as archbishop. I won’t ask you to run the whole institution at your age.” “My average test score is five percent.” “That’s…that’s pretty bad.” Sairi was now fully aware of her daughter’s lack of intelligence. “All right… I’ll find you a top-class tutor.” “Is there anything I can just put on while I sleep that will make my scores skyrocket?” “No cheating. You will study.” Shiren’s scheme to take it easy had been immediately foiled. “But we can still manage. This new empire will bring happiness to all the Sacred Blooded around the world. I’m sure of it.” Sairi gave an easy smile. Sairi, for her part, must have planned everything with the utmost care. “All right. I’ll do it!” Shiren knocked back the tomato juice in her cup in one go, as though steeling her resolve. Drops of tomato juice joined the ketchup on her lips. From now on, she was going to do what she needed to under Sairi’s guidance. She had been ready for this the moment she chose to come to Japan with her mother. All she needed to think about now was acting as the emperor of the Holy Sacred Blood Empire. She might not be full of confidence, but she didn’t think it was impossible, either. She had Sairi with her, after all. She could do this. She knew she could. Still, she felt like something was missing. She had all the food from the buffet laid out before her, and she would soon start her new, luxurious life living out of a fancy hotel room, but…there was something lacking. I’m not going to think about it. Shiren pushed away those thoughts. She had a feeling the more she dwelled on it, the worse the feeling would get. The news was a constant stream of reports on the Holy Sacred Blood Empire. Ryouta could absorb only a few facts in his morning grogginess. It called itself an empire, but it was not independent. Essentially, it was an organization created by those who felt alienated by the Sacred Blood Empire in Akinomiya. Shiren was the emperor, and Sairi was the archbishop. It was regrettable that the new Empire was calling our country the old Empire, but since it makes the two easier to distinguish, we’ll be using these terms, too~. (On this point, Ryouta was reminded how lax this country always was.) That was all. The rest was too complicated to understand from breaking news reports. “This is crazy…,” Ryouta commented in a daze. He had just woken up and was sitting on his hospital bed when he heard the news. The shock was so great that his mind had yet to catch up. “Indeed. This is quite the situation.” “Yeah. I had no idea something like this would happen while I was sleeping. I was hoping it was some kind of April Fools’ joke, but it’s the wrong time of year.” “Lady Ouka will certainly become very busy, and I plan to mass-produce stuffed dolls in her likeness to soothe her. They will all be handmade, but if I up my pace, I should be able to make three in a day.” “I think that’s three too many to be making in a day— Huh?” Sasara was standing by Ryouta’s bed. She was covered in wounds, supporting herself with a crutch. “I’d not imagined I would wake up first. I was more gravely injured than you were.” “Are you okay, Sasara?” “I would not need a crutch if I were okay. I am…supposed to rest for a while…” “I’m sorry… I didn’t turn out to be any help at all…” Ryouta had been completely out of his element in the fight between Sairi and Sasara. In fact, he’d probably made things worse by distracting Sasara. “I will pummel you if you continue to give meaningless apologies.” Sasara glared at him. “We both did our best. So what if we ended up losing? Or do you mean to say you were going easy on her?” “Of course not!” “Then isn’t that good enough?” Sasara smiled. Her expression was so calm, it was hard to believe she was injured. “Thanks, Sasara…” “There is no need for you to thank me in this situation. I will be returning to my bed.” There was an open bed across the passageway from Ryouta’s. “Wait, are you sleeping over there…?” “We were both emergency cases, so we got crammed in together. I was worried you might not wake up, but you seem to be conscious now.” “You’ve been thinking about me this whole time…? Thank you…” “I—I told you, I have done nothing to earn your thanks!” Sasara’s face immediately flushed. She whispered, “After all, I doubt there will be any more time for me in the spotlight…” She sounded lonely. “Well, I’ll be returning to my bed… It is quite painful to keep standing… Ah—” Sasara lurched to the side. It seemed she’d lost her balance. She toppled over and landed right on top of Ryouta, followed by the sound of her crutch clattering to the floor. “Hey! Are you okay?!” “I am, yes, but…I cannot stand without my crutch…” “So you can’t move…” Inevitably, Ryouta had caught Sasara in a kind of embrace, and their bodies were now pressed up against each other. Sasara’s face was buried in Ryouta’s chest. “It seems you don’t have much strength, either, Ryouta Fuyukura.” “I hate to admit it, but I did just wake up…” Ryouta was in no state to even help Sasara back up at the moment. “I should press the button to call a nurse… I think it was on the wall…” He pressed the button. “We will be making a stop shortly. Thank you for riding with us today.” “Why is this a bus button?! I wasn’t looking before, but this is obviously a bus button!” “It seems to be a construction error. They are rather similar, so perhaps the builder mixed them up.” “How do you mix those up?! No one mixes those up; they don’t look alike at all! Nurse-call buttons are big so that sick or injured people can easily press them! Bus buttons are small so you don’t hit them accidentally!” “I have no need for such detailed criticism, thank you.” “I guess living in this country has made me more nitpicky… That said, even this bus button should be connected to the nurse’s office if they’ve got it installed in the hospital, right?” “Hello, how can I help you?” A staticky voice could be heard from the interphone on the button. “See? It was the nurse-call button. Uh, hello! I’m a patient here in room… Uhh… What’s our room number…?” The number 13 hung over the entrance. “…Could you please come to room 13? Sheesh, what an unlucky number to put in a hospital.” “What? I’m sorry, but this is the office overseeing bus operations.” “Did they seriously hook this up to the bus system?!” This was a pretty huge construction error. “I suppose we have no choice but to wait in this position…,” Sasara murmured, still lying on top of Ryouta. “A nurse will surely pass by sooner or later. Look, there’s a timetable on the wall.”