Mushoku Tensei — Chapter 104 - Operation 4 — Words Unspoken

Aisha Greyrat.

The woman sitting across from me might be even more terrifying than I'd guessed.

"Genius" doesn't quite cover it...

"Something wrong, Princess Ariel? You keep staring at me."

"Hmm? I was just thinking — Rudeus has such a young, lovely little sister, and he's willing to send you here as my guard. Generous of him."

"Right? I followed him specifically to be his guard, and he just keeps bossing me around instead..."

After a month together, I've figured out how to keep a conversation going with her.

Talk about Rudeus Greyrat. She always has more to say when the subject is him.

Not that my head was fully in the conversation right now. My brain had slipped into autopilot, circling through things that had nothing to do with anything.

Inside the floating fortress, Aisha and I sat facing each other in the courtyard. Luke stood off to the side. The atmosphere wasn't exactly warm, but it wasn't tense either.

Which reminded me, wasn't Aisha Greyrat here to help me become king? That was the whole point. And right now I was stuck.

Though, when I thought about it... she was a fighter. Not an advisor. This kind of question probably wasn't her territory.

"The elements of becoming a king"... was it?

Why did I want to become king? Because of the will of my fallen comrades.

Was that answer even right?

I looked at Aisha Greyrat across from me, perfectly at ease, perfectly unhurried, and spoke.

"Miss Aisha. Lord Perugius asked me what 'the elements of becoming a king' are. Do you know the answer?"

Aisha lifted her cup, took a small, unhurried sip of tea, and settled into a satisfied expression. She closed her eyes like she was actually thinking about it.

A few minutes passed.

"I don't know."

"Alright..."

"But what you're lacking right now is pretty obvious."

"Hmm?"

She set her cup back on the table and looked at me, the corner of her mouth curling up.

"You're not confident enough. Confidence is essential for a king. The reason you want to become one? That part doesn't really matter."

"Is that so?"

"That's how I see it. Does wanting to become king require some grand justification? Wanting boundless wealth, wanting absolute power — those are perfectly valid reasons. Any of them works."

I turned it over in my head. She wasn't wrong.

Becoming a king didn't require noble motives. Any commoner, given the chance, would want the same things.

So what exactly was a king...

"Princess Ariel, you know the story of Aldebaran?"

"Of course. It's the most classic drama."

"What did you think of him, as a king?"

"Powerful. Full of ambition. He fought, he won, he ruled. If a king can do those three things, that's already enough for me. He was qualified."

"Then why did his story end the way it did?"

Betrayed. Killed by the people around him.

"Because he took power that wasn't his to take."

I looked up after I said it. Aisha had her chin resting in one hand, watching me with that faint, teasing look.

It was a little unsettling.

She always seemed like she had everything exactly where she wanted it.

I was about to say something else when she spoke first.

"Princess Ariel. These past few months with you — I haven't minded them. I think of you as a friend."

"Mm."

"Like I said, the reason for becoming king doesn't matter. All you need is the confidence that you will. As for the reason itself... when the moment comes, just say what's actually in your heart."

"I understand."

"And about confidence..." She paused. "Since Perugius can hear everything said in this place... let me put it this way."

Aisha rose and moved beside me.

"Your friend, Aisha Greyrat, can promise you this: even if Perugius turns you down, I will still make you king. That is Aisha Greyrat's confidence. So speak your heart, boldly, without hesitation."

"That's... genuinely reassuring."

She still had that smile when she said it. Same as always. The kind that made it impossible to tell whether she was dead serious or having fun at your expense.

Honestly, I had no idea how deep that confidence of hers actually ran. But to say something like that out loud, without flinching...

"As long as you speak the reason in your heart, and you mean it, you'll succeed."

"I... understand."

➤ Next: Operation 5 — The Conversation