TFR 101

Two Weapons [Part 1]

Martha turned out to be Maasa!

In the Kingdom, the commoner Martha has no surname.

"Um... About that symbol... Do you know about it?"

Seeing the three siblings staring at the symbol so intently, Martha worriedly asked.

"Martha, this is not a good luck charm symbol, but Imperial Japanese letters."

"Yeah, yeah, it's read as 'Ono Maasa' in Imperial Japanese."

To make Martha feel relief, George and William pointed at the kanji and taught her how it's read.

"Wai-Wait a minute, please!!! Even George-sama and William-sama can speak Imperial Japanese? Furthermore, Imperial Japanese letters that are said to be too complicated and impossible to decipher too???"

Joshua raised his voice in surprise.

" "Ah......" "

Even though they had limited it to only Emma until now with great pain, what were they doing... these brothers.

They even said it themselves that they could read the letters. Well, they could hear the words hand warmer and belly band, so they couldn't deceive others after all?

"... What could 'Ono Maasa' possibly mean?"

Martha timidly asked in this awkward atmosphere. Martha was also bewildered because she suddenly became the center of the problem without knowing anything.

"That is Martha's name written in Imperial Japanese letters. 'Ono' is your family name, that's why...... Hm?"

Eh... Come to think of it... Martha's grandfather is...?

"If I remember it correctly, Martha's whole family all work for and live with our Stuart family, right?"

"Yes, my husband is also a servant in Palace mansion. My father and mother died early, but we have always been taken care of by the Stuart family."

Martha's husband is a coachman, and his current work is to transport Palace silk from Palace to the royal capital. It's what they called long-distance truck drivers in their previous life.

Also, they knew that all the servants in Palace were family, but they completely forgot that Martha's grandfather was the gardener Imoko. He is a kind grandpa who often found rare insects and brought them to Emma.

When Emma thought about it now, it seemed that a noble son who knew a lot about plants said that Stuart's garden had many plants from the east...?

Imoko gave up going to the royal capital because of his old age, but he was still taking care of the garden in their Palace mansion.

"...Martha's grandfather ...is the gardener Grandpa Imoko, right?"

When Emma checked it with Martha just in case, Martha nodded. George and William seemed to have forgotten about it too as they suddenly raised their heads in surprise.

" "Then, it means that Grandpa Imoko is an Imperial Japanese person? ......eh? His surname... Ono and Imoko, so 'Ono Imoko'!?" "

(T/N: see note at the end of the chapter)

The name of a historical figure in their previous life floated into Emma's mind. As the era became much older than that of Takeda Shingen, the relation of their reincarnation with that smartphone game became more questionable.

"What is it about Imoko?"

Joshua couldn't keep up at all and got confused.

"If it's 'Ono Imoko', isn't he an envoy to the Tang dynasty of China!"

Even Wataru/George, who understood little about history, also knew.

Onii-chan... Ono Imoko is not an envoy to Tang but an envoy to the Sui dynasty, though. My big brother is slow as always...

(T/N: Onii-chan is what Minato calls Wataru. Emma usually calls George with onii-sama)

"Even from the name, there's a possibility that Grandpa Imoko is an Imperial Japanese, right."

It couldn't be helped that they didn't realize that Imoko is a Japanese name without the surname Ono. It's pronounced a little differently in the Kingdom language. There's also the name of someone in the past, Marco Polo, spelled as Maruko in Japanese.

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Translator’s note:

イモコ = Imoko (his name in the Kingdom language)

小野妹子 = Ono Imoko (in kanji--> Japanese/Imperial Japanese)

Ono Imoko was a Japanese politician and diplomat in the late 6th and early 7th century. He was one of the envoys to the Sui dynasty of China.