Chapter 112

EPISODE 4 LET’S ALL GO HOME TO THE EMPIRE! The entire party was brought to their table and took their seats. Those from the old Empire sat by the window, and those from the Holy Sacred Blood Empire sat opposite them. Ouka sat in the middle, with Alfoncina to her right and Ryouta to her left. Kokoko sat to the right of Alfoncina, and Sasara sat to the left of Ryouta. Due to space limitations, Tamaki was seated at a separate table some distance away. On the opposite side, Emperor Shiren sat in the middle, with Archbishop Sairi and a male executive from the organization to her right and left. A few in attendance were wearing clothes that looked a lot like Kiyomizu’s, so some of them were likely from the order of the Virginal Father. “To my right is Archbishop New Progenitor Alfoncina, and to my left is Bishop Kyousuke Tamura.” “This is Alfoncina the Thirteenth on my right, and my minion, Ryouta Sarano, on my left.” Both sides began to courteously introduce their attendees. Sairi, or New Progenitor Alfoncina, wore a mostly white dress like her daughter. Since she was the archbishop, Ryouta had thought she might wear something weird like a modified priestess outfit, but that turned out not to be the case. Apparently, that attire was an old Empire original. She hardly seemed like Shiren’s mother—she looked young and not at all like a powerful swordsman. Objectively, this looked like nothing more than a social gathering, but Ryouta was still on edge. Why are Shiren and Ouka so formal with each other…? It’s making me really uncomfortable… Neither of them seemed to be playing around—they were both acting like rulers. The mood was making it impossible to relax. “The purpose of this meeting is to forge a friendly relationship with our neighboring nation, the old Empire.” Shiren began her opening statements as representative of the new Empire. “Everyone, I would like for you to think about the syllables that make up the word tomato. To. Ma. To. Whether you recite them forward or backward, they still sound like tomato. Life is very much the same. You may think it has come to an end, when in fact you have come across a new beginning. At the same time, a beginning signals the end of something else. What I mean to say is that, um… Uh, tomatoes are… Tomatoes are great.” Her attempt to say something clever ended in failure. Looks aside, it seems like she’s still the same Shiren… “All right, everyone. I propose a toast to the prosperity of tomatoes!” “Shouldn’t you toast to the prosperity of your country instead?!” Ryouta couldn’t help but interject. Regardless, the toast went on as normal. “Our first dish is soup. It will be a soup with shark fin and bird’s nest—” He had expected nothing less of a meal held between the leaders of two countries. They were apparently getting some seriously high-class soup. “—with tomato.” “Could you not put tomatoes in with such fancy ingredients?!” “Watch your table manners, Ryouta,” Ouka warned him politely. It seemed like interjections were not going to be tolerated here. “S-sorry… Damn, things are so different from usual, it’s wearing on me…” Ryouta had begun to stand out in a bad way. “Both of our respective nations have quite a lot of problems, don’t they? Your Holy Majesty, is there any policy you believe needs to be implemented right away?” “Yes. Within the next six months, I plan on having the number of tomatoes used in chain burger joints doubled. Ultimately, I would like to increase the amount fivefold in five years’ time.” “Wow, what a pointless policy! And don’t you think increasing the amount of tomato by five times would ruin the burger’s balance?!”