Dinner With Family by Hiroyuki Morioka (best novels for teenagers TXT) 📕

“They’re still young.”

“And they get that big?”

“How big do you mean?”

“They were the size of humans.”

“Oh, those must’ve been tigers or lions or some such. These are house cats. They only get around this big,” he said, showing them a picture of himself with Dyaho. He hadn’t brought Dyaho with him; there were too many crevices for him to hide in at this base. It’d be a pain to try to find him if he ran away.

“Can I get this picture off you?”

“Of course.”

“We can’t take the cats, though,” said Till. “You may have forgotten, being off-world for so long, but we can’t take in anything that could upset the ecosystem.”

“I didn’t forget, I just thought that old law might’ve changed.”

“I’m afraid not.”

“That sucks.”

Lina was absorbing the photo while, right beside her, Lafier was trying Melohn Oh Shoo with a stiff and solemn expression.

“How do you say, ‘it’s delicious’ in your home language?” she whispered.

“You don’t have to force yourself. I know it’s not to your taste.”

“That’s not true. Just tell me.”

Jint told her.

The time they spent together was lovely, but it had to come to an end.

“Be safe, you two,” said Jint.

“We will. I’m sorry for everything, Jint. Glad we could meet again,” said Till, who hugged him.

“Took the words right out of my mouth,” said Jint.

Lina couldn’t bring herself to say goodbye; she just put Jint’s hand against her cheek and sobbed. It was when she turned to Lafier that words finally came. “I implore you, Your Highness, take good care of him.”

“Stop it, Lina.” Jint was red in the face. “I’m not a kid.”

“I don’t think you are,” said Lina.

“But...”

“How do I say, ‘leave him to me’?” asked Lafier.

Jint gave her a long stretch of words.

“That many words for ‘leave him to me’?” Though suspicious, she repeated the sentence.

Jint smiled. He hadn’t lied to her; Till and Lina most likely received what she wanted to convey loud and clear. He just couched it in a Martinese-language expression. Lafier’s phrasing was too blunt to be taken as anything but perfunctory by a Martinese speaker.

The direct translation was as follows: I will be his soil to stand on, and I shall make him my soil to stand on.

Chapter 10: Abdardaünsec (Re-Formation)

From the Hyde Portal, supply ship after supply ship emerged into 3-space. The flotilla had finally made it to its destination, materials from faraway Lacmhacarh in tow.

Jint was staring absently at the wallpaper of the office inside the Baucbiruch. Guess it’s time to bid this room goodbye.

The Baucbiruch was currently the manor of the House of Hyde in both name and substance. He’d never planned to sit at this desk forever, of course, but he hadn’t expected to part with the ship in such short order, either. Life was such a series of surprises.

His wristgear rang.

“Lonh-Dreur,” said Sehrnye. “Mr. Swohsh has arrived.”

“Thank you. Please send him my way. Also, please tell Mr. Samson to come here, too.”

“Very well, sir.”

This would be the last time Sehrnye would act as his secretary, too. The employees and materials Sehrnye’s company needed were here now. She could go do her real job. Though to his surprise, he did feel she made for a pretty good secretary.

The door opened, and an old man came in. A tall old man. He was Swohsh, the magistrate of the Hyde Countdom, as selected by the landworld administration of Martinh.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” said Jint, standing up and offering a hand, as was the Martinese custom.

“This isn’t our first meeting, Lonh-Dreur.” Swohsh gripped Jint’s hand in his own leather glove-like hand. “I’ve bumped into you a number of times when Your Excellency was a lad. I owed your father a lot.”

“Oh, I see.” Now that he mentioned it, Jint did have a feeling he’d met the man before. “Our lives have taken various strange turns to get to this point, but thank you, and I look forward to working with you.”

They exchanged a handful of pleasantries, but the entire time Jint was doing his best not to let the pain in his hand show on his face.

Then Samson came in. Jint introduced the two to each other. Surprisingly, Swohsh greeted him in Baronh (albeit heavily accented Baronh).

The Hyde Count’s Manor was floating 0.8 light-seconds from Martinh’s sky. Consequently, if the accord went into effect, he would be obligated to distance himself.

The way Jint remembered it, Parliament was sure to work slowly, yet the representatives had ratified the agreement with alarming speed. Had politics changed while he was away, or was this a special exception?

Jint could only stay here for another twenty hours. And he could only stay within the Hyde Countdom for another two hundred and sixty hours. After which he’d have no choice but to hand the management of the countdom to Samson and Swohsh. Their cooperation was essential. Jint was their Lord on paper, but for all intents and purposes he was an outsider.

Once the two were finished with their rote salutations, Jint decided to make himself useful by offering his hospitality. He brought them tea and chairs.

“I have a personal request of you...” said Swohsh, reluctant to bring this up.

“What is it?” said Jint.

“This means I’m going to have to live here, right?”

“Not necessarily. While I think it would be more convenient on a practicality level, I don’t mind if you work in Crandon City if that’s what you want to do.”

“No, I understand the benefits of working at the manor. May I use this room?”

“Yes,” Jint nodded. “If that’s what you want, Mr. Swohsh.”

“Thank you very much. I’ll keep it tidy.”

Jint smiled wordlessly. There was an almost zero percent chance Jint would ever use this room again, so he didn’t particularly care how tidy Swohsh kept it, but he understood this was a thoughtful gesture. It did warm his heart.

To tell the truth, Jint didn’t expect much out of whichever magistrate the Martinese decided on. He’d steeled himself to be viewed as “the