Chapter 1038: The Samurai Princess of Cherry Blossoms ①

It’s a sunny afternoon, and I’m walking through the streets of Yggfresis with a notepad in hand. My purpose this time was to greet and thank Blossom-san, the Cherry Blossom Princess, one of the Seven Princesses, the World King’s executive subordinates, and the last one I had yet to greet.

And now, I was walking to Blossom-san’s home with the map drawn in my notepad.

The reason why I was doing this was that a few days ago, I received a call from Lillywood-san about a convenient day for Blossom-san, and she asked me to come to her house.

It seems that Blossom-san is a Cherry Blossom Spirit born from Lillywood-san’s creation of a flower from another world…… the Cherry Blossoms from the world I was in, and I don’t know if that has anything to do with it, but she has an extraordinary interest with my world….. or more specifically, in Japanese culture.

According to Lillywood-san, she has spent a lot of time and effort to build a Japanese-style house and is living in it, and she probably wants me, an authentic otherworlder, to see it.

I myself was quite interested in Blossom-san’s Japanese-style house, and since I’m the one who was going to thank her anyway, I agreed that it was only natural that I should be the one to visit her, so here I am, walking towards her home.

From what I see in the notepad, I should arrive soon…… It was erected in a slightly elevated area, and Lillywood-san said I’d know the place when I get close…… I guess she’s talking about that huh?

There was a large house in the distance, and though it may not quite be a hill, it was erected in an area a little higher than the rest. It was really a horizontally-oriented house made of pure Japanese-style tiles.

The image of the building is similar to that of a samurai residence…… but I kinda have this strangely uncomfortable feeling about the golden shachihoko on the roof.

The fence around the house looks like it’s merged with the castle…… To be honest though, it really does look like a Japanese castle. No, well, I don’t know what the difference is between a samurai residence and a Japanese castle, so I guess I’ll just leave it at that.

(T/N: Shachihoko are animals in Japanese folklore with the head of a tiger and the body of a carp. It was often depicted in roof ornaments and found atop castles, tower gates and samurai homes.)

At any rate, I decided to approach the gate…… but doesn’t this place have a doorbell or something like that? Perhaps, was that “clapper” hanging in front of the gate actually used as doorbells? That clapper is obviously in a position you wouldn’t naturally find in, and that’s the only thing I can see here……

No, but ringing that clapper in front of this big residence, can it be heard inside? Well, I suppose I’ll try ringing it once.

Holding the clapper in my hand, I rang it, and the gate slowly opened with a heavy sound.

[I welcome you! Miyama-dono!]

[……Whooaaahhh!?]

I turned my gaze in surprise when I heard a loud voice coming from the open gate, and there I found a woman of about 160cm tall with slightly bluish black hair in a ponytail, and a cherry blossom branch as a hairpin.

She wore a cherry blossom-colored outer jacket that resembles a kimono, carrying an odachi on her back that must have been over 2 meters long. Her slender body, tall height, and dignified atmosphere gave her the aura of a female warrior.

[Oops, my bad. I’m sorry to have startled you. When I thought I’d be meeting Miyama-dono, I was unable to sit still and perhaps because I had been waiting for you since “5:00 in the morning”, I became a bit impatient.]

[N- No…… I’m sorry for shouting too loudly. It’s nice to meet you, I’m Miyama Kaito.]

[My name is Blossom. I’m in your care.]

……Did I just mishear things? Did she really just say that she’s been in front of the gate since 5 in the morning? It’s currently 1:00 in the afternoon though……

[I’m also in your care. Errr, Blossom-san? Our appointment was…… at 2 in the afternoon, right?]

[Yes, that’s correct?]

[Errr……. and you’ve been waiting here since 5:00 am?]

[Yes! I couldn’t wait! However, since I had invited you to come and visit me, I wasn’t about to change my plans, so I held my ground and waited!]

[……I- Is that so?]

[Oops, we can’t just stand around here talking now, can we!? Now, now, Miyama-dono, this way please! I’ll lead you to the room overlooking the garden, so please take a look at my prized garden!!!]

[Ah, yes.]

She’s very pushy…… Even though I didn’t say much, the conversation kept moving forward at a tremendous momentum. I see, I now understand why Rosemary-san took a lot of time getting used to her. She’s clearly the type of person that Rosemary-san wouldn’t be good at.

[Good gracious, I’m really glad that a genuine otherworlder, Miyama-dono, would be able to see my garden. Ahh, Miyama-dono, are you okay with green tea? Just in case, I have bought all kinds of beverages I can think of, you know?]

[……I’m fine with green tea.]

[Would you like some sweet teacakes? We have rice crackers and the like, but if you have a preference, feel free to let me know!]

[Errr, let’s see. I guess I’ll go with the sweet one then……]

[I understand! I was able to stock up on some good wagashi this time. It seemed like she was quite particular with the water ratio and……]

(T/N: wagashi are traditional japanese confectioneries served with green tea)

It seemed like she was a very vigorous person, brimming with great amounts of excitement. However, because she’s consistently trying to entertain me as much as she could, I guess she really was a good person just as Camellia-san described her.

Serious-senpai : [There surprisingly aren’t any other characters that are as forceful and drag you really hard just like her huh?]

? ? ? : [Megiddo-san is just like her though. Well, Kaito-san hasn’t seen her true form, so it’s highly likely that he doesn’t see Megiddo-san as a girl……]