BXBX NOVEL Chapter 101
In the Kingdom, as a commoner, Martha has no surname.
“Um… About that symbol… Do you know about it?”, asked Martha worriedly, seeing how intently the three siblings were staring at the symbol.
“Martha, this is not a good luck charm symbol, but Imperial Japanese writing.”
“That’s right, it’s read as ‘Ono Maasa’ in Imperial Japanese.”
To reassure Martha, George and William pointed at the characters and taught her to pronounce them.
“Wai-Wait a minute, please!!! Even George-sama and William-sama can speak Imperial Japanese? Not to mention, even understanding Imperial Japanese writing which is said to be too complicated to decipher???” exclaimed Joshua in surprise.
” “Ah……” “
Even though they had taken great pains so far to avoid revealing that Emma was not the only one with this ability, these brothers… they’ve done it now.
They even said that they could read the characters. Well, they couldn’t hide being able to understand the words kairo and haramaki anyway.
“… What could ‘Onono Maasa’ possibly mean?”
Martha timidly asked in this awkward atmosphere. Martha was also bewildered at suddenly being placed at the heart of the problem without any prior knowledge.
“That is your name written in Imperial Japanese letters, Martha. ‘Onono’ is your family name, you see…… Hm?”
Eh… Come to think of it… Martha’s grandfather is…?
“If I recall correctly, Martha’s whole family all work for and live with our Stuart family, right?”
“Yes, my husband is also a servant in the Palace mansion. My father and mother died relatively young, but we have always been taken care of by the Stuart family.”
Martha’s husband was a coachman, whose current assignment was to transport Palacian silk from Palace to the royal capital. He would have been called a long-distance truck driver in the other world.
Also, while all the servants in Palace were recognized as family, they had completely forgotten that Martha’s grandfather was the gardener, Imoko. He is a kind old man who often found rare insects and brought them to Emma.
Come to think about it, wasn’t there a son of a noble at the tea party, an expert on plants, who made a comment like ‘the Stuarts’ garden had many plants from the East’…?
Imoko had decided against going to the royal capital because of his old age, but he was still taking care of the garden at the Palace mansion.
“…Martha’s grandfather …is the gardener Old Man Imoko, right?”
Just in case, Emma asked Martha for confirmation, and she nodded. George and William both seemed to have forgotten about that fact, as they suddenly looked up in surprise.
” “Then, it means that Old Man Imoko is an Imperial Japanese person? ……eh? His surname… Ono and Imoko, so ‘Onono Imoko’!?” “[1]
[T/N 1: Ono no 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.]
The name of a historical figure in their previous life surfaced in Emma’s mind. As they were from an era much older than that of Takeda Shingen, the connection that this world had with that smartphone game became more tenuous.
“What about Imoko?”
Joshua couldn’t keep up at all and got confused.
“If it’s ‘Onono Imoko’, isn’t he that envoy to the Tang dynasty of China?!”
Even Wataru, a.k.a. George, who understood little about history, knew that.
Onii-chan… Onono Imoko was not an envoy to Tang but an envoy to the Sui dynasty. My big brother is slow as always…
“Even from the name, one could have suspected that Old Man Imoko was an Imperial Japanese, huh.”
Without the surname Onono, it was understandable that they didn’t realize Imoko was a Japanese name. It’s pronounced a little differently in the Kingdom language, and besides, it’s the name of someone from long ago. It’s also like if Marco Polo went only by Marco.