TFR 418

Joshua's Blunder [Part 2]

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-A short while ago-

"We've arrived! Thanks for your hard work, Koumei-san!"

"Meooow!"

After stretching her body, Emma hopped out of the carriage in high spirits and trotted toward Koumei.

"Woah—! Amazing!"

After Emma, Huey, a ninja boy from the slums, poked his head out of the carriage and exclaimed in surprise as he rubbed his eyes. The carriage that departed last night was passing through the gate of Stuart Mansion in the Royal Capital the following morning.

"Huh? 'Lil Lady Emma?"

Evan, the gatekeeper, jogged over to greet Emma while rubbing his sleepy eyes.

"I thought you were planning to stay there for another few days?"

The gatekeeper looked just as surprised as Huey by the unexpected return of his master and his whole family.

"Yo, Evan. I was worried after hearing some pretty unsettling info, but... um, yeah, it seems like everything's good?"

"Huh? Y-Yes. There isn't any problem in particular..."

After Huey, Leonard got out of the carriage and waved hello to Evan. He smiled, relieved to see that the mansion was still just as it was before they went to the extracurricular lesson.

However, Evan felt an unspeakable rush of anxiety when he heard Leonard's comment.

"T-Thank god... the Royal Capital's safe!"

"Agree."

After Leonard, William and George got off the carriage one after another.

"It's good that nothing happened."

When Melsa last peeked out of the carriage, Leonard swiftly stepped beside her to escort her in a practiced manner.

The family departed from the Barony of Skyte last night after they finished detaining the Imperial Army in one way or another. The Lord of Skyte kindly stopped them from leaving in a hurry, noting that traveling at night was dangerous. They smiled back and assured him it would be fine because cats can see well in the dark. Because the family was worried about the Royal Capital, Koumei volunteered to pull the carriage instead of a horse.

"Violet, too, thank you for your hard work!"

rustle rustle!

The spider moved from Koumei's head to Emma's shoulder and jumped up and down cheerfully as if to say, "It's my pleasure!"

No matter how fast one went, it would take at least four days on horseback from the Barony of Skyte to the Royal Capital. But thanks to the teamwork of Koumei and Violet, the family returned to the Royal Capital while sleeping soundly in the fluffy cat carriage.

"lick lick Oomeooow~"

After Evan took off the harness that had been tied to Koumei’s body to pull the carriage, Koumei happily ran around for the first time in a long while. She then washed her face with a contented expression, showing just how much fun she had.

"Huh?! Emma-sama?"

Then, Joshua came running over, his eyes wide with surprise. Joshua entrusted Joanna and her subordinates to the tailless whip scorpions and made a short trip home to handle the company's business, which had been delayed because of the disruption, before returning to Stuart Mansion.

"Oh, Joshua. Morning!"

"Sigh..."

Facing Emma's waving hand, Joshua collapsed to his knees as if he had stumbled over his feet, and his whole body, from the knees up, lost strength.

"Joshua?"

"What's wrong?"

"Are you okay?!"

The three siblings were worried when they saw Joshua fall and quickly reached out their hands to help.

"I'm truly relieved to see that you're safe!"

Among the three outstretched hands, Joshua held Emma's hand without a moment's hesitation, a deep sigh of relief escaping him.

Joshua knew in his mind that Emma would be safe in the extracurricular lesson because her family, Koumei, and Violet also went together with her. But he still couldn't hide his joy when he saw Emma standing right in front of him.

"Fufufu, I'm home!"

Emma squeezed Joshua's hand back tightly and smiled sweetly.

'It's truly great that the Royal Capital, our mansion, and Joshua are safe, isn't it~' thought Emma.

"Y-Yesh! Welcome home... Thank youuu..."

thud...

"Woah—! Joshua!"

"Joshua!"

However, Emma's smile, set against the morning sun, seemed like too much of a reward—or maybe too intense of a stimulus—for Joshua, who had been working non-stop without a blink of sleep. It impacted his soul enough that he collapsed to the ground again.