Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail
Hisui was on her way to Clover Town for the meeting to start her process on expanding Magnolia. With Erza and her team as the escorts, Hisui was running through her preparations for the meeting while trying to ignore the groaning from Natsu. The rattling created from the train made it hard for Hisui to keep her papers steady. For once, Hisui couldn't shut out the excess noise and gave a sympathetic look to the motion sick Natsu.
"I didn't think would be that bad."
"Hisui-sama, you don't need to worry," Erza started, "Natsu come over here." Natsu struggled even further to move away from his seat. "It can't be helped." Erza dragged Natsu next to her and delivered a blow to Natsu's stomach."
"Is he alright?"
"Better than to have him suffer throughout the trip."
"I suppose that's true. Does this happen all the time?"
"Basically." Lucy explained. "Or we can force Natsu to go to sleep, then move in on board. But, it's a lot of work to do that. So, Erza just knocks him out. Plus, it stops the vomiting."
"Surely, there is a better way?"
"There was. Wendy would cast a spell on Natsu to negate his motion sickness. However, he developed an immunity to it."
"That sounds tough…" Hisui looked at Natsu's softened expression. Compared to his agonizing screams, it was a huge improvement. With Natsu being in a more comfortable place, Hisui was able to concentrate on her papers once more.
Hisui and Karie arrived at the meeting room without any difficultly, for now, the room was absent of any other people. An oval table surrounded by chairs sat on a black carpet that sank at the two's footsteps. Cups filled with water were waiting for the others to arrive. The doors opened and a lady wearing a jacket and trousers walked in. Hisui smiled at seeing her few friends that she could without reserve.
"Marchioness Emily, it's good to see you again." Hisui greeted with a mischievous smile.
"Hisui, you know I hate that, friends shouldn't be so stiff with each other. And from the letters from Karie-chan, I know you feel the same."
"Alright, I'll drop it. But still, when was the last time I saw you wearing a dress?"
"I can't help it, I prefer trousers. Living in a land where horses are heavily integrated into our culture does that to you."
"But on the flip side, having an open field to run around in must be lovely."
"I won't deny that. Rudy and I are entering an obstacle course."
"I wish I have time to see that…being a mayor is tough work."
"Now you know how I feel. Don't worry, after a month when all your plans are going underway it'll get much better. Although, knowing you, you most likely forced yourself into the position you're in now." The red eyes of Emily shone concern.
"I've been taking care of myself."
"I disagree Hisui-sama," Karie spoke out. "you didn't sleep very well."
"That was one time!"
"Emily-sama, please look at this." Karie fished out a phot of Hisui's sleeping face complete with the terrible bags and dark eyes. Emily's tanned face blackened.
"Where did you get that!? You took a picture without my permission?"
"Please forgive me, I had to."
"Hisui!" Emily shouted, causing Hisui to flinch. "You should be glad that Karie-chan didn't report this to the king, you looked awful! How did you managed to do this!? Did you not sleep for a week? You need to—" The doors opening cut Emily off, a trembling man followed by a stoic one walked into the room—both wearing matching suits.
"Come one Weiss, you really need to get you act together, you're meeting the Princess along with other nobles." The stoic one said.
"But bro, you know I'm weak with these kinds of things."
"That's why we're here to—Hisui-sama, Emily-sama! Please forgive me for not noticing you earlier!"
"You are…" Emily looked to Hisui for guidance.
"Weiss and Dan, twins that look over two towns separated by a mountain. How is the tunnel progress?"
"Almost complete." Dan responded. "I think it'll take another month."
"That's plenty of time for you to ready for my plan. Assuming that you agree of course."
"Of course, we'll be taking this meeting into great consider—" Dan was shoved aside by a man with even features, red hair in a bowl-cut and brown eyes that made Hisui internally groan. For Karie, it was even worse, for those eyes held their focus on her and only her.
"Karie! My love, have you decided to be mine?" The man took Karie's hand and kissed it
"Howard-sama," Karie said coldly, "as an Earl, I believe that you should focus on our objective rather than to pick you women to accompany you to bed. Please take my humble suggestion into account." After finishing, Karie used serving snacks as a excuse to separate herself from the star-struck man.
"Ahh…" Howard relished Karie's word in euphoria. "You're as cold as ever…perfect, I love a good challenge."
"As Karie has said, we're here to discuss on the railroad. Earl Howard, please control yourself."
"As you wish Hisui-sama." The remaining people to enter the room didn't cause a ruckus, walking silently to their seats, leaving three of them empty. People of different colours sat around the oval table with a serious expression.
"Thank You all for coming, I'm sure you know that we're here to talk about my plans to expand the current railroad system. Currently, only mayor cities and towns with notable achievements are connected to the railroad system, leaving the lesser towns and cities behind to a slower method of travel from place to place.
"If we can expand the railroad system, Fiore can prosper more than before; delivering goods will become easier; transportation will become more convenient." Hisui pulled out a stack of papers and have Karie hand them around the table. "This is what I have in mind, the red dots on the map are where I believe that new railroad station can benefit the most from. While I can't cover every single town, I made that all cities are now linked as well as including more towns than there was before. The towns that doesn't have access to a station are close to towns with a station, so the people living there can still benefit from this."
"But Hisui-sama," A bearded man spoke out, "a project on this scale is going to require a vast amount of resources, where are we going to get the funds required? The kingdom doesn't have enough money to support this idea."
"You're correct, the kingdom can't sustain a project such as this. However, if everyone here is willing to invest more money, we can make it happen. That's why we're here to discuss which town or city isn't joining in this plan."
"Princess, if I may," A woman wearing a suit started. "as you know, my town is known for their nature parks, if we're to introduce something like a train station, I'm afraid that the wildlife there might not be able to adjust to the add noise. And worse comes to worst, the chances of an animal being killed by the train exists. While, it's make it easier to get to my town, bringing potential damage to a core industry of mine is not worth the risk. Which is why I'm not supporting this project."
"I agree with you on the sound and danger aspects, however, if implemented properly, won't you say that adding a train station is a worthwhile investment? For instance, you can effortlessly cut off the sound using a barrier or use a silent model of a train. And proper barricading can prevent animals from getting in the tracks. While I admit that that your station will be more expensive to construct, therefore I want to point out my next topic of discussion. Getting a grant from the kingdom."
"You just went through that the kingdom can't support the project and most of it is coming from the towns and cities involved…"
"We can't have the kingdom's full support however, we can ask for support in unique situations like yours. Since the train in your town is costlier, with justified reason, we can ask the kingdom to cover for those stations and nothing else."
"Then some places won't have to pay for a thing!" A wave of protest came out, disrupting the order of the meeting.
"I contemplated on the matter." Hisui's words restored the room's control. "Those places will simply have to pay for the other stations, the amount they're paying will be the same as us, only that the fees will be divided equally between all the other stations. Which is why I hope that everyone here that has special circumstances and is willing to back the project can tell me of their situation and Karie will noted them down.
"Once the project is going underway, I'll send a letter to father. If I must, I'll visit him myself, explaining why certain places will need a grant compared to the others. Of course, we will need his approval of the project before any of this can happen, I'll handle all that. I just need everyone here to give me your consent on whether you're collaborating or not."
The meeting continued as it is, the majority stayed silent while the vocal minority spoke their opinions. Like a conductor, Hisui controlled the meeting from beginning to end, addressing the concerns of the leaders and bringing solutions to solve them. Some had vindicated reasons for not joining in Hisui's plan but, those were few in numbers. Before long, Hisui possesses a river of advocates while bearing a puddle of opposition. Seeing the people that Hisui will see in another week get funnelled out of the room, she and Karie started cleaning up.
"Hisui, do you need any help with the project?" Emily handed Hisui an empty cup.
"I'm fine, I don't want to disturb you from practising."
"Karie, make sure she doesn't get too reckless."
"I'll do my best."
"You two have no trust in me…"
"Of course we don't." "Why should we?"
Despite Hisui's reassuring, she left the building giving a new goal for Karie. There, Hisui found Natsu staring at the clouds, hands cushioning his head. His eyes weren't looking at anything in particular, brows furrowed slightly.
"Natsu-san, what are you doing?"
"You're back…" Natsu got up and dusted himself. "I was thinking about stuff."
"I see. Where are the others?"
"They went to buy something."
"Then you're free?"
"Yeah…why?"
"We want to give thanks for what you've done for the both of us."
"Don't sweat the small stuff, I only followed my gut."
"Unfortunately, we can't, it's not like us to leave a deed unrewarded. If you can't accept something more extravagant, at least take this." Hisui presented a bracelet that Karie took out. It was made of a band of silver metal sporting a simple design with no gems, only a carving of a dragon.
"What's this?"
"A bracelet. Although, with your magic, it might as well be a decoration for your house. That doesn't mean it will melt, it can withstand flames, I'm just not sure how hot yours can go."
"Thanks, I'll keep it around my house."
"That's fine by us."
"Karieee!" A handsome man sneaked behind Karie and play with her hair. "Now that the bothersome meeting in done, shall we catch-up on the times we've been away from each other?"
"I'm afraid I can't abandon my role as Hisui-sama's servant."
"Then how about I hire you, how about it? I can pay you more than what she is. I'll even give you the privilege of exploring my bedroom. All you need is to quit being Hisui-sama's maid and become mine."
"Howard-sama, I already said that I'm dedicated to Hisui-sama and I don't plan on leaving her anytime soon."
"Who is this creep? Hisui, you're friends with this tomato?" Hisui involuntarily giggled at Natsu's remarks while Howard got red in the cheeks.
"How…how…dare you…" Howard growled. "what ranking are you!? I don't recall seeing a noble like you! Moreover, to call Hisui-sama so casually, you must be an upstart. And yet, you're so insolent to me…me! An Earl! Tell me! What hierarchy rank are you!?" Natsu placed his hands around his head.
"Hisui, he seems to be an idiot too, he can't even tell I'm ordinary person. Or is he so blind that he can't see my guild mark? Even if I was a noble, I wouldn't dress like a clown." Natsu's remark on Howard's gaudy clothes that flared out with frills at the end of the sleeves and trouser turned Hisui's light giggle to leaked laughter that was quickly suppressed. Even the professional Karie stifled a chuckle.
"A lowlife!? Do you even know who you're insulting? And to do it front of the Princess, you best hope that you have an early death. You've made an enemy with someone you shouldn't have! Enjoy your last days of your guild you miscreant! I'll be tearing it down soon!" Natsu's grin disappeared and his fangs were shown.
"You're really an idiot." Natsu picked Howard by the collar. "Just try to make a move on Fairy Tail, and it'll be your biggest mistake of your life!"
"Natsu-san, I think that's enough, please release him, don't worry about your guild, it's under my jurisdiction and it's a centre piece of Magnolia. I won't let Fairy Tail dissolve just because of Earl Howard's influence."
"Fine." Howard slumped to the floor like a doll without support.
"Hi—Hisui-sama…why are you defending that man?"
"In a way, I'm stopping him from burning you to cinders. But yes, I am defending him. I don't think it's wrong to help a friend in need."
"Friend? But…but...he could be using you Hisui-sama! He's untrustworthy!"
"Perhaps if that wasn't coming from someone that has no respect for people's decisions and for women in general, I would be paying attention to your advice. However, this isn't the case." Hisui's bone-chilling stare seemed to rip into Howard's mind. "You also belittle my ability to discern people."
"You're siding with him a—and not m—me?"
"Of course. Unlike you, Natsu-san has helped me plenty while you…only caused me inconveniences."
"You won't hear the last of this! I'll have you regret this!"
"Shall I take that as a threat? Actually, it doesn't matter. You won't be able to garner any support, seeing how the title 'Obscene Earl' is circulating. However, that doesn't matter if I take you down right now. Your father and I exchanged some interesting words last I visited his household. I'm sure you know the contents of our discussion. Your younger brother would love to take that title away from you." Howard now resemble a corpse hearing Hisui's words. "If you leave us alone, you can continue along with your…peculiar lifestyle."
"I'll do it! Ju—just don't tell father!"
"Then please return to your estate." Seeing Howard's escaping figure, Natsu whistled.
"You can be pretty scary at times."
"I try not to show that side of me to people, I'm sorry that you had to see that."
"Don't be, you helped protect Fairy Tail, I should be thanking you. Besides, you looked cool back then." Hisui was surprised at first. Then, her lips curled to a smile.
"Thank You."
Thanks for reading! It's really strange to be commenting on a chapter I've long written—I'm writing chapter 11 for crying out loud! Mainly because I forgotten the things I wanted to say here. However, I have noticed a strange trend, I've only been writing about men being corrupted as all hell, not a single girl. Granted, I have no idea how girls think—being a guy and everything. However, I do want to do something about this, maybe in the later chapters.
Anyway, I found something interesting I want to share with you guys, while I was looking at the story stats, I found out that Germany has the third most views contributing to the whole view count, then I looked at my story about Juvia, not as much contribution(But I still appreciate every last one of you guys). I'm not trying to be a dick by saying what country is better, it's just an interesting stat that I want to share.
One last thing before I go, do you thing I'm doing a good job at balancing the serious stuff from the goofy stuff? Then there's the relationship building with Natsu, I'm doing a terrible job on this department, I'll try to improve that.
Until then, I hope you enjoyed, have a nice day!