Chapter 4 - Super Beautiful Girl Appears! The Quiet Half-Sister Lulu!
"Edamame is so great."
Three years have passed since the experimental crop rotation farm was started. Afterwards, a large number of other farmers started planting beans too, and the fruits of their labor have reached me.
Thanks to my idea for using beans to recover the earth's nutrients, and my invention of the wheelbarrow, I've become famous to the people in town. They have titles for me like [Wisdom God's Daughter] and [Hidden Princess of Bounty].
Well, I can't go outside still, so that's just what I heard from Lili and Ben.
I still listen to my brother's classes, and I've lately been spending more time in the castle library and archive room.
Fame also came with its own pains--.
"You! Take the pattern paper out of your pocket immediately."
"A-Arisa-sama? What are you talking about?"
"If you give it back now, I'll let you off with only a dismissal."
For example, this dumb maid. The greedy nobles have been sending people like her to spy on me.
If they would be willing to implement my ideas, I would be fine sharing them. However, most of them are just in it for personal gain, so it is too risky to trust them.
I've started to miss that previous maid that always looked at me with the scornful glare. She was surprisingly decent, but she left after marrying her childhood friend. I remember being surprised at how handsome her husband was.
"I didn't do anything! Arisa-sama, how could you be so cruel?!"
The dumb maid tries to play the victim, and runs off down the corridor.
"*Sigh*... Why does everyone have to be so stupid."
I stick out my right hand, with my palm pointed directly at the back of the dumb maid.
As the magic energy gathers in my palm, I feel the blood drain from my face.
--[Shock Wave]
I cast the smell without chanting, and the dumb maid is knocked unconscious by the invisible blast.
"--Just punishment!"
She tumbles down and rolls on the ground a few times before stopping. I look down on her and pose victoriously.
The [Shock Wave] that I just used was a spell belonging to the school of the detested Psychic Magic.
I had planned to seal it away for good, but I eventually gave into my urge to learn magic.
Thanks to a feature of the Self Status skill, I can use the skill points I gain at level up to obtain any skill I want. That's how I ended up acquiring the Psychic Magic skill.
There's also a trick where you can use a spell without chanting if you've already cast it before, and the ability to reset all your obtained skills. I learned about these things when I met a certain hero.
"Arisa-sama! What in the world is going on!"
Lili comes up the corridor, and is shocked when she sees the maid lying unconsciously on the ground.
"I was just catching a thief."
"A-again?"
I walk up to the maid, and take back the sailor uniform pattern paper out of her pocket.
Jeez, what are they even going to do with this.
"Wouldn't it have been much easier to just steal the completed product?"
--Maybe not.
After all, the best part of cosplay is making your own outfit.
Buying a costume is okay, but a self-made costume has way more sentimental value, no matter how crappy it is.
"Please return to your room, Arisa-sama. I'll go get the guards."
"Okay."
The guards here should already know about my hair color, but Lili still wants to keep me from other people as much as possible.
As I was sketching a new outfit in my room, Lili comes back.
"I've left her punishment to the head maid."
"I see."
But, the head maid works for those greedy nobles too, so there's not much point.
"Ugh, my only choice is between spies and people who think I'm just a kid. What am I going to do?"
I wonder if the maid with the glare will ever come back.
"Hey, Lili. Can the next maid be someone who isn't a spy or underestimates me? Literally anyone else would work."
"That's..."
Lili makes a frown after hearing my request.
She probably won't be able to find a suitable replacement anytime soon.
If they meet those requirements, and are willing to do chores without complaining, then they don't need any special talents.
I guess hiring people is hard in this world too.
◆
"This girl is Lili's daughter?"
Lili brings in a girl named Lulu that looks around 9 years old.
I can't see her face since it's covered by her hair, but she must be a decent looker if she's Lili's daughter.
Either way--.
Sure she meets the requirements, but she's just a kid.
It might sound funny coming from someone even younger like me, but can this elementary school age kid really keep up? She's just a normal girl without any cheats or reincarnation memories.
"Lili, I'm not asking for someone to play with. I just want some maid or servant that is willing to handle random chores and deliver messages."
If I could be greedy, a scholar or a government official would be great. But that's asking for too much.
"She's a hard worker. She might not be very good at manual labor, but she's diligent enough to handle chores and messages."
Lili gives her stamp of approval, so I take another look at her daughter.
When our eyes meet, she trembles like a small animal and hides behind Lili.
"Introduce yourself to Arisa-sama."
"Y-yes. N-nice to meet you, Arisa-sama. I'm Lulu's daughter Lili."
She's so nervous that she doesn't seem to realize her mistake, or how badly she is stuttering.
Is she really going to be okay?
--Hmm?
Something catches my eye, so I slowly walk up to Lulu, and swipe away the hair covering her face.
"Kya!"
Lulu makes a cute scream and quickly turns her face away.
I only saw it for an instant, but her face is more well-proportioned than any child idol that I've ever seen.
If she's already like this at age 9, then it's scary to think of what she will look like in five years. There would be no supermodels or idols that stand a chance against her.
Also, her face is different from the mostly Northern European-style looks of this country's people. Her features more closely resemble those of a modern Japanese person.
"Tch, damn normies--."
I get a little peeved, so I turn my back to Lulu.
"--You people are born winners and always get everything on a silver platter."
I'd say I look pretty good in this life, but I'm still no match for her.
I've already started making scented soap and skin lotion, but I wonder if I need to try making something else too.
"Arisa-sama, I know Lulu's figure may not be very attractive, but she is a good girl that is mature for her age. Please do not hate her."
"--What."
I glance back between Lili and Lulu, not understanding what I was just told.
"Not very attractive?"
Lili doesn't seem like the type to do a humble brag, and Lulu is still keeping her face covered with her hair.
"What are you talking about, Lili? If this beauty isn't attractive, then no one in this country is."
Lili looks back at me with 'I have no idea what you are talking about' written all over her face.
After a bit of conversation, I manage to clear up the misunderstanding with Lili. I learned that Lulu is considered ugly to the people here.
How pitiful. If she was born in Japan, she would be dominating the scene as an idol right now.
"Lulu, you'll be doing chores for me from now on."
I felt a bit of sympathy for her, so I decided to take her on as a maid.
"Isn't that great, Lulu?"
"T-thank you very much, Arisa-sama. I promise to work as hard as possible."
Lulu was frozen stiff, but responded after Lili prompted her. She repeatedly makes small bows to me.
"[Lulu, your skirt is up.]"
"Um? Arisa-sama?"
"It's nothing."
Lulu gives me a confused look, but I just shake my head and end the conversation.
I've never seen the people of this country bow like that, so I had suspected her of being a reincarnated Japanese person. But that must not be the case if she can't understand Japanese.
◆
"Arisa-sama, Ben the gardener is here."
"Bring him in."
"Understood."
I only hired her out of sympathy, but Lulu ended up being fairly useful.
She didn't have any particular skills, but she's always trying her best.
Although she sometimes acts as if she's a timid dog that has never gone outdoors before.
After a while, Lulu leads Ben into my room.
"Arisa-sama, here is the prototype of the pipe that you ordered."
Ben hands me the metal pipe that was created at the blacksmith workshop of his second cousin.
"That was pretty fast."
"Yes, it's just a thin sheet of metal rolled into a cylinder and held in place with a rivet. It's simple to make since we don't have to smelt anything."
They already have rivets here for making platemail, so we made use of those.
"It might be able to carry water for a bit, but it'll start leaking eventually. Is that really okay, Arisa-sama?"
"That's fine, I was going to use them as a speaking tube."
Ben tilts his head at me.
I thought they would have had speaking tubes because of how simple they are, but I guess not.
"We lay down these pipes to connect each room, then we can use them to transfer our voices in between rooms."
I show them in practice by rolling up a sheet of paper and speaking through it.
"I see..."
It looks like he understands how it works now, but not what I'm going to use it for.
Since there's no convenient magic or tool for communication, it would be nice to just use it as an internal telephone.
"Let's set it up in my building."
After selling some stuff to a Saga Empire merchant, I obtained a bit of money that I can use for personal purposes.
I was going to sell the ideas for various games, but a lot of heroes and reincarnated Japanese must have had the same idea. Games like shogi, mahjong, sugoroku, reversi, and chess already existed.
Instead, I ended up making a gamebook. This allows the reader to choose their own adventure by skipping around the book based on their decisions.
The subject of the book was the extremely popular first hero of the Saga Empire, so that probably helped.
The merchant dropped a decent chunk of cash on me, thinking that the book would be a hit to the commoners as well as the nobles. Well, books are just expensive in general too. Thanks to them, I can continue for quite a bit without worrying about my budget.
◆
"--I see how it is."
I press my ear up against the recently placed speaking tubes.
"Did you see the cursed princess's new attendant?"
"Yeah, yeah, what's up with that unsightly hag?"
"Watch out, the hag is going to get mad."
Lulu has been acting strange for a while, so I designated the maid's breakroom as the target for the speaking tube experiment.
The ones talking are the maids that were recently sent in from the main castle to help out Lili.
"Hah, she ran away."
"Well she can't run away from being ugly."
It looks like Lulu was being bullied for the past few days.
I guess I'll have to clean up this trash first.
"But isn't that Lili-san's daughter?"
"Don't worry about it, she's too busy handling the cursed princess and the king."
"Eh? So it is really is true that she's one of the king's mistresses?"
As I was thinking about how to get my revenge, some surprising information pops into my ears.
"If it wasn't true, then how would a commoner like Lili be able to wet nurse the cursed princess?"
"Now that you mention it, that makes sense."
"So the ugly hag is actually the cursed princess's sister?"
I hear the sound of a tray and cup shattering against the ground behind me.
That sound must have reached the maids too, since I hear the footsteps of them quickly running out of the room.
I close the lid on the speaking tube and turn around.
Lili is standing there, deathly still with a pale face.
"So the rumors were true then?"
"I have no excuses."
With the face of a repenting sinner, Lili falls postrate before me.
"Raise your head, Lili. And don't try to quit or anything. Of course, Lulu can stay too."
I can imagine seeing her resignation on the table tomorrow morning, so I quickly block that path off.
"Do you know the names of the three maids that were talking earlier?"
"Yes."
I listen to their names, and sure enough, they matched the people who were working for the greedy nobles.
No wonder they knew so much about these rumors.
I send Lili back and invite Lulu into the room to drink some tea with me. She looked very depressed when she entered.
"--Have a bite to eat."
Because you just feel even more down when you're hungry.
"It's... good."
"You don't need to hold back, put on some more honey."
As if I was a big sister doting on her little sister, I offer her more of the honey snacks. Well, she's actually the big sister, but whatever.
After she finishes eating a bit, I look her in the eyes and tell her a certain fairy tale.
"Once upon a time, there was a family of ducks living on the lake--."
At the start of the 'The Ugly Duckling', Lulu listened with a painful expression. After hearing the last scene, when the duckling became a swan, she finally smiled a little.
"Do you get it now? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. By the time you're an adult, you'll meet someone that finds you the most beautiful. To be honest, I already think you're the most beautiful though."
She didn't believe that last part, but I get the feeling that she opened up a bit more to me that day.
That same day, in the afternoon--.
"Arisa, give me some honey."
The Fifth Prince Eluus comes over to play. His face is much more chubby than when I first met him.
That must be one of the negative side effects of improving this country's food supplies.
"Eluus-niisama, can you listen to a request from your cute little sister?"
I hug his arm while asking him that, and he nods with his face completely red.
Guhehehe, these innocent little shota are as lovely as ever.
"--That's enough."
Called over by Eluus, the Third Prince Citam listens to the maids trash talking me and Lulu, holding back his rage.
I place the cap back on the speaking tube and face Citam.
"Those maids were sent in by the nobles backing you, Citam-niisama."
"Got it, I'll have them executed for disrespecting royalty."
"--Whoa!"
I accidentally shouted that out.
Geez, there's other ways of solving things than just chopping off their heads.
I can understand why he was so angry though. The conversation we overheard this time was much worse than before.
"Maybe we can do something a little more peaceful? We can say that Citam-niisama uncovered it before anything bad happened, so there was no need for further punishment. We can just send those rude maids back and replace them with more well-mannered maids."
"Arisa, you're too naive--. No, too kind."
He pats me on the head.
It looks like he was about to lecture me before he remembered how old I was.
"Leave the handling of these idiots to me. I'm expecting a lot of honey for this."
"Yes, of course!"
He looks a lot more mature than before, but I guess he's still young enough to be persuaded by sweets.
He quickly followed up on his words. By the next morning, the maids in questions were all gone.
"Um, Arisa-sama."
Lulu comes up to me after finding out that the maids bullying her were gone.
It looks like the replacement maids actually went and apologized to her for their predecessor's actions.
"Thank you for doing this for someone like me."
"You don't need to demean yourself like that."
Lulu tries to prostrate herself before me, but I stop her.
"And it's completely natural for me to protect my family, right?"
After hearing that, Lulu keeps repeatedly thanking me with the tears flowing freely out of her eyes.
Are you really that happy?
"But, how did you find out that they were bullying me?"
"Heheh, there's nothing that can escape my ears."
I confidently show off the speaker tube to Lulu.
"Arisa-sama, you're amazing!"
The excited Lulu shows me her sincere, wholehearted smile for the first time.
Wow, a beauty smiling like that is pretty intense.
I'm scared I might end up falling to the yuri side if I'm not careful.
Chapter 5
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