Princess Arisa's Isekai Struggle - Chapter 6
Chapter 6 - The Kuvork Kingdom's New Dawn
"Arisa-sama, good news! Everything has been set up perfectly."
Only three days after Nisnark's dramatic exit, he returns to my room.
I was a bit ticked looking at his self-satisifed smile. Well, more importantly--.
"What do you mean by set up? Could you explain from the beginning?"
"My apologies."
Nisnark says that and then asks for the room to be cleared.
"Everyone here is trustworthy. They wouldn't leak any secrets."
The only other people in the room are Lili and Lulu.
"This is a bit of a delicate matter concerning the entire royal family, so..."
"Arisa-sama, I will stand down."
The tactful Lulu leaves to a different room.
Lili still has to remain because it would be improper to leave a princess like me alone with a man that isn't her fiance.
"I talked directly to His Majesty."
That's certainly very proactive of you.
But--.
"I believe I said to resolve it peacefully?"
"Yes, that's why I suggested a meeting. His Majesty and the first queen have agreed to a secret meeting with you."
--You have some guts to do something like that in an absolute monarchy like this country.
If you fumbled the negotiations on such a sensitive family matter, you might have been headed straight for the gallows. Even if you're the son of a minister.
"You didn't tell him about the agricultural reforms?"
"Correct, but His Majesty is likely to be aware already."
Well, that's probably true.
"Got it, then where and when will the meeting occur?"
"The meeting will be here in your room. The time will be some time in the middle of night within the next three days."
According to him, they can't set a fixed time or day, or it might leak out to other parties such as the second queen.
Since this country is so old-fashioned, there are apparently a lot of factions that aren't a fan of my purple hair.
"That's fine, tell Father and Mother that I'm waiting."
"Understood."
Nisnark nods and turns to exit the room.
"--One more thing."
He turns to me and opens his mouth again.
"I've heard some people with connections to the neighboring countries have been seen probing your trial farm. I doubt they will do anything too obvious, but please be careful around people you don't know."
He apparently heard that from a friend who calls themselves the hermit.
That guy sounds incredibly suspicious, but Nisnark assures me that the hermit is trustworthy.
"Right, thanks for the warning. I'll be careful."
It must be the same spy that Ben told me about before.
I'll warn Lulu and the castle guards about the spies too.
◆
"--Arisa."
I wake up to someone softly cradling my body.
As I see a beautiful woman with her back to the darkness, I reflexively put myself on guard for a moment. I don't think anyone can blame me for that.
"Mother?"
Still half-asleep, I call out to the woman as my [Status Check] skill tells me her identity.
So young! She's only in her 30s.
"Ah, Arisa."
"Mother...!"
I am enveloped in her warm body and the gentle smell of perfume.
So today was the day of the meeting.
"--Father."
While still hugging Mother, I reach out a hand to Father.
He understands my intention and slowly walks closer to us. He softly touches my hand and then hugs the both of us.
This just kinda feels... happy.
I had thought it would feel more like meeting two strangers, but it looks like our bonds were stronger than I had imagined. How weird.
"Arisa. If you need to blame someone, blame me rather than Melissa."
Father says he will take on my hatred in place of Mother.
"Why? I don't hate either of you. Is there some reason?"
"...Arisa, you are truly wise."
Father gets surprised by my words, then lovingly pats my head.
"It must be this cursed color, my purple hair is the reason?"
"--That's right."
Father gives me a painful nod.
Then he continues his words as he strokes my hair.
"There are those who want to get rid of you, just because you are a bad omen. Even though it is nothing but unfounded superstition."
He goes on to explain that he set up a barrier around my building that prevents anyone with intention to harm me from entering. He created it using the power of the king, the City Core.
It would be later that I found out how much mana the barrier required.
"--This can't be."
"What's wrong, Father?"
Father suddenly makes a grim expression as he raises his voice in surprise.
"Someone has forced their way through the barrier."
Without chanting, I hurriedly activate the Psychic Magic I had set up to detect intruders.
Three people are coming in from the first floor, and another three have climbed the rain gutters and entered this floor through a window.
I was worried about Lulu and Lili, but the ones on the first floor have already passed by their room and started climbing the stairs.
"Dear."
"Don't worry. As the king of Kuvork, I have absolute power in my own castle."
Mother seems worried, but Father calms her down with a handsome smile.
"I, the king of Kuvork, asks of thee. Spirit of Kuvork, grant me the sacred treasure."
Father chants those words towards an empty space, then a blue sparkling object appears before him. It looked like a strange crystalline pattern at first, but it quickly changes shape into a royal scepter.
"--Father, they're coming!"
I tell Father about the people I detected via Psychic Magic.
The moment he draws his sword, three people kick down the door of my room.
"■ [Punishment]."
Lightning extends out from the scepter, illuminating the dark room. The thundering sound rings in my ears, and two of the men have been burnt to a crisp.
--Dad is so strong!
"Why... is the king with the cursed princess?"
The remaining black-clothed man draws his blade, and mutters that as he rushes toward us.
My [Status Check] skill tells me that the man is level 23, so he should be weaker than Father, who is level 31.
It looks like this should be fine without me providing much Psychic Magic support.
"You dare to point your blade at the king!"
Father's sword shatters the man's blade in one swing, and severs his arm in the next.
Wow, so grotesque.
"If you state your employer, I'll end your suffering quickly."
"---."
Father gives the black-clothed man his ultimatum.
In response, the man says something that was too weak to be heard.
As the focus of the entire room was drawn to the man--.
"Fools."
--A burst of white light fills the room.
My eyes!! My eyeeees!
As I get blinded by the sudden flash of light, I hear the sound of someone breaking the wall behind me.
Crap, it must be the guys who came up the stairs.
"Even if I can't see..."
I can just detect your location using my Psychic Magic.
--Shock Wave.
I stick my right hand out and launch an invisible blast.
Unlike the time with the maid, I'm not holding back now. I'm using all I've got.
"Urgh!"
"Argh!"
I hear the sounds of two of the men getting hit and falling to the ground with a thud.
Heh, how do you like Arisa-chan's true power!
"--Nuaa!"
Someone grabs me from behind and stuffs me into some sort of large sack.
"Arisa!!"
"Arisa!"
I hear Father and Mother's panicked voices.
"Let go of me!"
"Settle down brat!"
I try to flail around, but it's no use.
The sack gets slammed against a wall and the wind is knocked out of me.
"■■■ [Erase Bad Status]."
I hear Father's voice behind me, but it keeps getting further away. I get a feeling of weightlessness as the man carrying me drops down from the building.
So their real objective must have been kidnapping me rather than eliminating me.
◆
"Phew, looks like I lost them. Now I just need to wait for the bird-kin to come pick me up."
The man whispers to himself as he drops the sack to the ground.
My magic shows that we are currently the only two in the area.
At this rate, I'll get taken away to some unknown country.
--Can I really let that happen?
I shouldn't even need to ask.
Of course not.
I take a deep breath in, and slowly exhale.
I focus all of my power into the tiny spark that lies deep within my heart.
--[Never Give Up]
The unique skill that symbolizes the will to rebel against an undefeatable opponent.
Since I am only level 7, this will be necessary for taking out someone who is more than three times my level.
A faint purple light leaks from my body, and I feel powerful enough to face any foe.
I was worried that the man may have seen the light coming out of the sack, but he makes no reaction.
I keep myself calm and continue on to activate my second unique skill.
--[Over Boost]
The purple light bursts outward and envelops me like a raging blaze. An uncontrollable heat surges throughout my petite body.
"What? That light is--."
He noticed me.
But, it's already too late.
"Uooryaa!"
I stick out my right hand and launch an invisible blast through the sack.
"Gwoooo!"
Boosted to the utmost limit by my two unique skills, my [Shock Wave] shreds the man's consciousness.
"He might have died to that if he was just a little bit weaker."
I whisper that to myself as I slowly crawl out of the sack.
As a side effect from using my [Over Boost] unique skill, I barely have the energy left to stand.
I feel as though the wind could knock me over.
It looks like I was taken to one of the outer walls of the castle.
"--What an idiot. You just had to let your guard down."
A shiver gets sent down my spine as I hear that voice behind me.
It takes all my effort to turn my exhausted body to face the speaker.
"--Black clothes..."
The man in front of me was the tall and thin spy with disproportionate arms that showed up in the second prince's parade.
He's carrying a large knife, and I feel a bit of trauma from remembering the stalker incident in my previous life.
"What business does someone from Yowork want with me?"
"I have no business with you."
The black-clothed man gives me an unexpected answer.
"They told us to capture you, but I have no intention of doing that. Bringing back a cursed girl that only brings disaster? That's just plain madness. I'll be ending this here."
Ugh, he's one of the guys that believes in the superstitions.
--This is pretty bad.
I had just made up with my parents and the reforms were picking up speed. Everything was going my way. Is it really going to end here?
I don't have any MP left for Psychic Magic.
My legs are still numb from exhaustion, so I can't run away.
--I'm screwed.
"Die!"
I shut my eyes as the blade closes in on me.
My ears hear the sound of flesh being cut, and a warm liquid covers my body.
I had so much more to live for.
All I wanted was to play around with Japanese shota.
"--I want a do over!"
Those words leak out of my mouth, and I realize that I am still alive.
"Huh?"
Did I get some sort of time-reset power or something?
--Nope.
I open my eyes to see the man in front of me. He's lying in a pool of his own blood and cut cleanly in half.
"Hmph, you're still alive?"
From the other side of the corpse, a different black-cloaked figure starts walking towards me.
Really? More of you?
What is with this all-you-can-eat buffet of creeps? I'm full already, so please leave me alone.
I recognize this guy too. The small cloaked guy from the second prince's parade.
I use my [Status Check] skill again, but I still can't see their level or name.
The guy who tried to kill me was disobeying orders, so the cloaked guy must have executed him for that.
With my last remaining energy, I point one arm at the cloaked guy.
"Get out of here if you don't want to die. I'll let you live just this once."
This is a complete bluff, since I still have no MP.
"You've got guts to put on a brave face in such a pitiful condition. What an interesting little girl."
"--Arisa-sama!"
From behind the cloak guy, Nisnark shouts while running in with a group of guards.
"It looks like my reinforcements have arrived. Now the tables have turned."
"Heh."
Their only response to my words was a short laugh.
Do they really have some way to defeat these numbers?
"--Hermit-sama!"
--Eh?
"You're late Nisnark. The princess would already be a corpse if not for me."
"My apologies, Hermit-sama. Arisa-sama, are you okay?"
"Yes, thank you for coming Nisnark."
I give my thanks to Nisnark, then face up at the black cloaked hermit.
"Sorry, I was mistaken. Thank you for--"
"I don't need your thanks. Nisnark, I leave the rest to you."
The hermit interrupts my words and jumps straight down from the castle walls.
This hermit guy seems really powerful.
"What kind of person is the hermit?"
"Hermit-sama is a labyrinth researcher. They came here to investigate the Withered Labyrinth under the castle."
Huh, I didn't know about that.
So there's a labyrinth under the castle.
If they're only here because of the labyrinth, then it makes sense why such a strong person is in a poor country like this.
"Hermit-sama was the one that noticed these men's suspicious movements and informed me about them."
I see, so that's why you were able to find me faster than Father.
"Arisa!"
"Father!"
I share a long hug with Father after he catches up. He takes me back to my room, then Mother cries all over me.
After everyone settles down a bit, we finally manage to talk about the reforms.
"Are you really okay giving Alyus all the credit?"
"Yes, I think that is what's best for the country."
If I take credit, the second prince's faction may try to push me into a political marriage with him to gain my support. Apparently it's okay for half-siblings to marry in this country. To prevent that, it's best to just give all the credit to First Prince Alyus.
"I would like to continue working with Nisnark and Ben though..."
"Yes, of course. Ben is the gardener, correct? He'll be looked down on as a commoner, so I'll give him an honorary nobility title."
"Father, I love you!"
I hug Father for his nice idea.
Ben had been working so hard in the background, so he really deserved a reward.
"Arisa, let me make this promise."
Father looks me right in the eyes.
"I promise you will be able to live in the main castle by the time you are an adult."
"I'll look forward to it."
I have some fond memories of this building, but I want to live with my family too.
◆
"Arisa-sama! I've secured the budget!"
"All right! Great job Nisnark!"
Ever since that meeting with Father last month, our reforms have really started picking up speed.
We now have the budget to spread crop rotation and composting to all the farms in the country.
"Arisa-sama, the snacks are ready. Baked sweets and honey."
"Next we need to spread beekeeping everywhere too."
"What is this beekeeping?"
The sharp Nisnark quickly bites onto the word that he has never heard before.
"I'll tell you about it after teatime. Let's eat up before it gets cold, or Lili's efforts will go to waste."
I bite into the honey-covered cookie.
--Still delicious.
I ignore Nisnark's impatient stare as I look at the lovely spring sun shining through the window.
I walk over to the window and survey the sight before me.
"Lulu--"
I turn to face my half-sister.
"--This country is about to change."
A country with no hunger.
That is merely the first step.
What I really want is--
A country without sexual discrimination.
A country where people can get an education.
A country with hope for the future.
--And.
A country where sisters don't have to hide their relationship just because of a stupid class hierarchy.
"Yes, Arisa-sama will change it."
"Wrong, Lulu. We will change it."
I took these things for granted in my past life, but I'll make sure to get them again.
"Yes, Arisa-sama."
I raise my fist as I make that declaration, and Lulu nods while giving me a big smile.
"Good answer!"
I start to get infected by her contagious smile.
"Lulu."
I reach out my hand towards Lulu and she grabs it.
This where our story begins.
I don't know what lies in store for us, but I can handle it as long as she is with me.
Let's do our best, Lulu-oneesama.
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