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The following is a fan-based

FICTION

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Chapter 20: Happy (Butchering) Birthday!

Babysitting in a place where prostitution is normalize sure sounds like a very awkward mission, but I have to say that, despite my own worries, little princess Ariel was a cutie.

Cute and clingy once she got accustomed to people, the little blonde with pretty blue eyes and a lovely light-pink dress sounded like a really amusing reason to spend time in such a place. Not a winning reason, but enough to make the party's stay somewhat feasible. The girl was instantly hooked at the unusual composition of the party, lingering on a few members for a couple of reasons.

Despite Zenith's motherly hopes to be the favorite one, she was defeated by a single detail: kids favored those with the most unusual appearance. And while for a moment Ariel looked ready to be kept by Elinalise, she was completely surprised by Ghislaine. The sight of a beastwoman was no novelty, but the dark skin and the white hair combination sure was an unusual view as far as I could see, with the rest of the women there being fair-skinned in that regard. But what really got Ariel's attention was Ghislaine's attire. Normally I would be distressed when a child would look into this sort of stuff and have them as reason to ask questions to someone, but I knew I had to make an exception for a few reasons.

Not only was the child accustomed to some of these situations, but there was a high chance she had seen even worse from what one of the maids guarding her told us. Lilia was the head of the group, the red-haired and blue-eyed young woman was quite strict and yet permissive towards her ward. Protective fit well with the unusual mix of emotions in that regard, yet there seemed to be more than just that. I didn't have enough to make any assumption, the young woman quite reserved and dutifully working as a maid rather than what I would define an 'independent individual'.

Even as we remained mostly in Ariel's room, the smell of the activities unfolding in the distance reached, with the small window in the room meant to offer the young royal a hint of fresh air doing little to lessen the unpleasant factor of such a situation. It was also quite cramped despite how big the room was for a young child, but the maid-guards and the princess didn't seem to mind- the latter was actually elated to make so many 'new friends'. And she seemed to have a thing for unusual stories that did not necessarily involve knights and princesses, calling those 'boring and repetitive'. Which was surprising considering she was a young child.

So, I decided to 'offer my services through some unusual stories'. I sat down with her by the bed, a behavior almost admonished by a maid but allowed by Lilia as the princess had been the one asking me to do that. I didn't have to think too much on what stories to provide as I relied on a few renown series from back home to help me with that. Considering her age, I had also to be mindful of which stories to bring up and which not to.

"And so Pinocchio ended up living as a real boy and being together with his Papa."

"But... but then what happened to the Cat and the Fox?" Ariel asked with an adorable squeaky voice. "Shouldn't they be punished for lying to the people?"

"They should, yes," I hummed, seeing how distressed she was by this. "But this isn't their story."

"So... were they punished?"

"Quite definitely. After all, good liars they may have been, but they couldn't hold onto that lie forever."

The child frowned. "Why not?"

"Well, there are lies that can last forever when they are self-contained. Like, there was one time I managed to steal two cookies under my mother's nose, and never told her about it."

"You did?"

I nodded. "But such a lie was a small one. It was a risky one, but it wasn't one that mattered in the long-run."

"And since theirs hurt so many people and mattered a lot... they ended up found out and punished?" Ariel pressed, giddily listening to my replies.

"That's correct. Can you tell me why?"

"Because lying is wrong."

My smile got a bit forced as I heard that response. I could say 'yes', and roll with it, but I felt like that wasn't an option for the girl to keep, child or not. Not in this sort of environment.

"That's what many would tell you, but I think you and I know that's not the point. Can you tell me what you really think it's the reason?"

The little princess looked surprised at that rebuttal, and I saw Lilia tense a bit while most of the group looked confused by what I was referring to. Ghislaine wasn't, same for Elinalise, Murasaki and Geese. Roxy had a mixed reaction to that, but said or did nothing to make a stand within that dual response.

"Because they weren't good at lying."

I nodded. "And?"

"And their lie was too big to keep up with," Ariel continued. "The bigger the lie... the easier it is for it to be discovered?"

My smile gained width. "Right. Then, knowing that, what else do you think Pinocchio's story teaches us?"

The girl kicked her feet, looking at her nice and precious shoes before giving me a look once she was done thinking. "The more you lie, the easier it is for others to know you lie?"

"That's correct. And how would you fix that?"

She patted her lap with both hands. "You also tell the truth because the truth is important too."

"I'm impressed you know this much from so little, young lady," I praised the girl, with Ariel preening under the compliment as I reached for a head pat. The gesture was met with mixed reactions by the maids, but most were pleased due to their princess' happiness at it.

I still could feel Zenith's uneasy look at the fact I just discussed the importance of truth and lies to a young girl, but the woman preferred to keep that future discussion postponed to after this event was dealt with. After about an hour of entertaining the princess, it was finally time to deal with the feast itself.

The room that was picked was by far the cleanest and the one with close to no stench. A limited selection of nobles was there, all with their guards and their own spawns as I could tell some wanted to befriend the princess, while others wanted to create a situation where they could arrange a marriage.

Ironic considering that we were around and keeping anyone, children or not, away from Ariel's proximity. The party was... a party. And many stared down at us. Everyone in the group was already made aware of this, and I had made an effort to talk with the few individuals that would take it the worst. We couldn't eat, thus we ate before starting the party, and we had to keep away from discussing with people. No one was to interrupt our duties.

My party did that job flawlessly and even Murasaki was in his best behavior as he lazily looked around, keeping watch for any surprises approaching the perimeter. No one was really trying to do much with our group, but a few men were caught ogling at Elinalise and Ghislaine. Who really had a bit of an issue came to be with the group of maids since a few nobles started to get handy.

The response to that? Interrupt those activities before they escalate. Not only would that be a poor development to a five years-old princess's birthday party, but it also lessened the protection net the guards were trying to keep up. Lilia wasn't spared from this too, but she held the most dignified look as she endured some of that unwarranted touching.

Once again, I disrupted the attempt by reminding the noble guy doing this that we were trying to keep up with his highness' order to not have anyone ruin the disposition of this party. A few were keen to accept it, others looked as if I had kicked their puppies multiple times. Hours went by and I really felt the drain on my sanity as Ariel herself looked barely pleased with how unfun the whole thing was.

Eventually the cake came, then the gifts, and then it was time to wrap things up and stay the night so that no one tried anything fun. We were escorting the princess to her chamber, from where a mixed group of maids and members of the party would go through turns to guard the girl's room and door.

And right as we turned the corner, we found the big issue that the king had been worrying about... except it was bigger than I could have predicted. It was literally a small army of cloaked thugs. Quite surprising for a band of assassins, but it was clear the large majority of the group was made by fodders.

Despite the numerical disadvantage, we had the edge from the very beginning, but we had to struggle a bit to not be overwhelmed by their sheer numbers. The maids all added to the defense, showing how their abilities with their weapons of choice were impeccably good for someone that was meant to also be maid-courtesans on the side.

It was right as I was swinging around that I noticed one was hard-pressing Lilia's position while Ariel stood right behind her. I didn't notice one slipping this close, so, as I was done cleaving a small group of those, I turned around and rushed to aid the redhead. She managed to put up a decent defense, but the woman wasn't experienced enough in holding a defensive posture for long and, at a certain point, her blade was deflected and that left her open for a hit.

Or would have been the case had I not jumped in and blocked the blade. The attacker recoiled, surprised at my intervention, but swiftly trying to attack me so he could go back to attacking his target. A silly attempt considering my combat style favored attritional defense and he was throwing everything he got. His blade was soon struck out of his hand and the assassin was struck in the throat, killing him instantly as his throat turned into a blood fountain.

The massacre lasted very little, and, by the end of that event, little Ariel had her eyes still closed as she had been told to do so. She heard the butchering, but didn't seem much fazed by it. At the end of that messy clash, right as we brought her back to her room, the girl had asked a simple question which ultimately reminded the rest of the group and I that this little girl was going to have a few troubles growing up without a guide to keep an eye on her mind's developments.

"Did they all die? You took no prisoners?"

Yep, this one could become a ferocious tyrant in a cute woman's body. Very... dreadful as a potential future.

Still, that was the end of it. No one else tried to attack us in an effort to get to the princess. Not a smooth job in its entirety, but no one was hurt by this situation. Except Lilia as she was actually fired instead of being promoted. It seems that among those killed was some noble's son that had been known to annoy Lilia with his advances.

The guy's father got pissed and whined at the king for retribution. Hence why Lilia was yeeted by the maid-guards We learned of this when we heard that she was staying at the local inn, and that she had an encounter with Paul. I didn't connect dots when I heard Paul approached her with the friend he had tried to find, but the way I was told this scene was quite sketchy.

Paul tried to set himself as a childhood friend... while Lilia looked absolutely unwilling to be around him. At first she was, but then she pushed him away when he tried to be touchy. From what Elinalise could tell from that sight, the woman was hurting and her endurance for this sort of attempt was thin enough to let her snap at the briefest touch.

It was an understandable response, but it sure opened me to a situation to keep an eye on. I was tempted to offer her a place to stay, but the house was full and I wasn't going to leave someone to sleep in the living room with that sort of mindset. Ultimately Zenith resolved to just keep an eye on her now that she was vulnerable while we thought of a solution.

This, I was unaware, would end up opening not a few curious situations for me and the rest of the party to deal with...

AN

The injustice towards Lilia will create a bit of a conundrum for the royal family. Especially since Ariel really appreciated her and she is going to have the chance to make her voice heard back to her father.

Oh boy, things are about to get cray-cray.

Speaking of cray-cray, I have two new story concepts in my Snippet Archive in QQ. One is a Pokemon Fire Red Team Rocket Edition SI where the MC is a member of Team Rocket, Red is a mystery, Blue is a good boy, and Oak is a bit of a nastier man tha none could expect; Second story it's a cultured account of a Hilichurl SI surviving, head patting chibis, plotting seductions with women and avoiding getting dominated by dangerous aggro-tomboy hilichurls. Of course, Max0r damaged my brain to the point this story came to be.

P.S. I now have a discord server! Discord .gg/ceBMM2Zz6c

REVIEW Q&A!

Drcaus: No reincarnated people.