Reincarnated in a Shounen Manga - Chapter 208: Dreams of Times Long Past

“My descendants, whatever happens, never open the barrier,” said the man. “The demons banded together, and after the war, they started eating each other and going mad. This place is no longer something humans can live in! I’m sorry I-”

His words rang out in Wisteria’s head, and she felt her body was pulsing.

She sprang up from her bed, fully awake, and looked around, trying to shake off the lingering effects of a vivid dream.

What was that dream? It felt so realistic.

Placing a hand on her chest, she calmed her heaving breaths. Reminding herself that it was just a dream, she reassured herself that there was nothing to worry about. After all, she thought, she was getting too old to be scared by nightmares.

Yet, it was also the first day of her reign as queen. The idea of being a queen still felt foreign to her. However, she brushed aside any concerns and turned her attention to rewinding the anime on her TV, deciding to watch it again.

As for the kingdom, she entrusted everything to Kon. He seemed like a competent individual who could handle the responsibilities. Moreover, she believed he might even relish his newfound power.

Thoughts of Kon and the possibility that he used her to gain control of the Sun Kingdom stirred a bitter feeling in Wisteria’s stomach. Still, she swallowed those emotions and shook her head, unwilling to let them ruin the positive situation she found herself in. Sometimes ignorance truly was bliss. She preferred to think that Kon cared about her, even if only to some extent, and that she wasn’t merely a tool he exploited to achieve his goals.

Nevertheless, she would forgive him to some degree. After all, his life was on a time limit, and she empathized with his perspective. If she complained now, it would be rather ironic on her part.

As the sun rose and fell again, servants entered her chambers, bringing in food that had already been poison-tested, allowing Wisteria to live out her dream of being a wealthy shut-in.

Wisteria would never admit it out loud, but Kon’s insults held some truth. She was a chunni weeb shut-in princess.

Before she could delve deeper into her thoughts, the door swung open, and Kon entered without announcing himself. Wisteria noticed a few of the royal guards in the hallway frowning at his behavior, but there was little they could do against him. Besides, Wisteria didn’t mind. After all, when her own siblings wanted her dead, Kon came to her aid, not those useless royal guards.

“I will need to immobilize Sun Country’s fleet to search for a small fishing boat,” he stated.

Waving him off dismissively, Wisteria replied, “Yeah, yeah, whatever. I already told you that you have executive power here. Go ahead, take over the country, and stop interrupting my anime time.”

“You’ve been zoned out for over ten hours-”

“And I plan to continue for a couple dozen more,” she interjected.

Kon sighed, likely fatigued from his ruler duties. Wisteria concealed her smile behind a bag of chips.

“Well, I need you to show your face around sometimes too,” he clarified, “just so people don’t think I have you hostage or under some kind of human control ability.”

Wisteria sighed and whined. “Do I have to?”

“Yes,” he answered, his desolate eyes revealing no emotion. Not that she was good at picking up on those things. Despite Wisteria’s royal status and pretense of knowing what she was doing, deep down, she had no idea.

Sometimes, she wondered if others truly knew what they were doing or if they, like her, were simply putting up a facade.

“Okay, I will do it for you,” she sighed and flopped onto her bed.

Wisteria groaned as she undressed, leaving only her lingerie. Then she reluctantly changed into something much more uncomfortable—a fancy dress adorned with so many jewels that it felt like she was carrying an extra 20kg.

This was such a pain, and she locked eyes with Kon, who had been watching her the whole time.

“You know, normally someone would have the common sense and decency to turn around when a maiden is undressing,” she tried to tease him, but Kon’s stony face betrayed no emotion.

Ouch, okay, maybe she wasn’t as charming as she thought she was, Which was a big blow to her self-esteem.

She’d survive, though. Besides, she didn’t even like Kon. Her taste in men was the 2D kind that didn’t exist.

…

A week passed in the blink of an eye, and Wisteria couldn’t say her schedule had changed much since becoming queen. However, she still experienced those strange dreams every now and then.

The armada of ships had already gathered, searching for whatever Kon had requested. From what Wisteria heard, some countries misunderstood her actions and thought she was mobilizing an army. There were concerns about an impending war.

Yet, Wisteria wasn’t worried. Kon reassured her that nothing would happen, and she believed him. After all, Kon wielded such power that he could single-handedly prevent wars.

Such power… she wished she could possess it herself. Then she wouldn’t have to rely on someone else to safeguard her life.

Wisteria felt a pulse on her chest and smiled, momentarily breathless before her breathing returned to normal.

She wasn’t a fool; she knew that whatever was affecting her had to be a secret the royal family had hidden.

It was something she hadn’t even told Kon about. No, this would be her own little secret, and she was determined to master this power on her own.

Wait… That was kind of reckless?

***

I settled into a chair in a simple office, the kind I preferred. If someone were to walk in, they would mistake it for the workspace of a humble steward or minor servant. The scent of damp wood enveloped the room, making me feel strangely at home.

Was this some sort of Stockholm Syndrome where I actually missed my old soul-sucking office job?

Before I could dwell on that thought, the door to my office creaked open, and Miku entered. She gave me a puzzled look for a moment before speaking, “The fishing boat you requested has been located, and as per your instructions, it remains untouched. We’ve kept a watchful eye on it.”

An inexplicable sense of joy surged through me. I had to restrain myself from jumping up and down with excitement. This was exactly what I had been waiting for.

Normally it would be impossible to locate the fishing vessels, assuming they would wash ashore in a distant village over a month later. But having a literal armada of ships looking for it made things much easier and increased my chances of survival quite a lot!

“Get in touch with the Kuro Clan Head and have him meet me at the shore. We’ll embark on the sea together,” I instructed, attempting to put on a friendly smile.

…

In the end, the Kuro Clan Head decided not to accompany me on my boat. That was understandable; he probably feared I would use my powers to kill him while we were out at sea. Which I considered depending on the circumstances. In the water, I had an absolute advantage in any fight.

My ship was relatively small, like a modern one-bedroom boat. With only me in here, I didn’t need sailors to guide me through the waters. Carpy easily filled a position like that.

Nevertheless, we rendezvoused by boat, with him on a raft, observing my modest vessel in the distance. I peered down at him and didn’t require Carpy to inform me that the raft was some kind of magical item, designed to safeguard him in case I attempted anything foolish.

“So, what do you think?” I asked, gesturing towards the fishing boat approximately ten meters away.

The vessel was cloaked in moss, displaying signs of rust. Seals adorned the hull, warding off weak water demons.

However, what captured our attention the most were the two figures standing on the boat’s edge, waving at us. They possessed hollow sockets where their eyes should have been and greeted us with smiles, tears of blood streaming down their faces.

“Do you expect me to believe this is evidence of Avalon Island’s existence?” queried the Kuro Clan Head. He was standing on a wooden raft that exuded a strange energy.

I shrugged. “You could approach them cautiously. Who knows, something remarkable might occur.”

If he approached them recklessly, he would meet his demise, and truth be told, that’s what I secretly hoped for. With the war against Shuten Doji concluded, these murder hobo exorcists had considerably diminished in value.

“Happy Time~,” one of the fishermen exclaimed, waving.

“Happy Time~,” echoed a mysterious voice in my ear.

I disregarded it and returned the wave, shouting, “Happy time, you bastards.”

Then there were more creepy sounds, and it felt like I was surrounded by invisible people speaking next to my ear. Even though I knew no one was there. There were more whispers ringing around, and it almost made me feel like I was going mad.

Yep, this was the madness of Avalon Island. The worst part of this was that those two fishermen were fully conscious during the whole thing.