My Reincarnation as a Chicken

NANEK TOX DEN ANON YORUL POV

It wasn’t supposed to turn out this way.

Nothing was supposed to turn out this way at all. His plan looked so full-proof. He had even consorted his advisors and they agreed with him. The best for everyone would be if the princess got taken out of the picture.

However, what happened was way worse. He had gotten word that his sister had been kidnapped by bandits from the SharkFang crew. He could never acknowledge that band of misfits as an actual kingdom. They even had the audacity to publicly request a ransom for the princess. The prices valued depending on what exactly they wanted back.

1 million Atlantean silver for one hand. 2 million Atlantean silver for her neck. 5 million Atlantean silver for her tail. 10 million Atlantean silver for her head. The entirety of Atlantis for her body intact. Her life could not be assured in the last deal. Several times, it had been pounded into him how sly the Queen of the Bloody Sea was, but for her to be this smart was absurd.

They had publicly announced the first four requests to the people for them to lash out at the royals. The princess was the most loved member out of all the royal family members. Given how massive their family was, that was saying something. This was one of the reasons that she, a child from the fourth generation of children was actually the best candidate for inheriting the crown.

He wondered how the people would react to knowing that they’d have to sacrifice their lives to the people. He couldn’t reveal such a thing to them. They would riot against the royal family to come up with a better solution. In such a scenario, the only solution he could think about was a war, but that would only lead to casualties on his side, since according to the records of the past 20 years, Daxia has managed to defeat the Atlantean Kingdom by herself twice.

Two entire times, she found a way to overwhelm Atlantis.

A third disgrace was the worst thing imaginable. He couldn’t give her what she wanted, but not giving her what she wanted was also catastrophic.

In all honesty, the prince underestimated Daxia’s capabilities when he was informed that, Sundale, the Captain of the Royal Guard, had mobilised an elite group of soldiers for recovery. He was confident that Sundale would return the princess to Atlantis in one piece. Unfortunately, Sundale was only on the King’s side. He wouldn’t follow an order from any of the princes or princesses till the King permitted him to do so. As such, an order to dispose of the princess after informing the public of her recovery was virtually impossible.

Still, he could wait a bit to tell others to secretly take her out.

News came to him some days after Sundale went for the princess. It came from the worst source imaginable. Bastien of the Deep himself, with a very malicious tone. He delivered the corpse of the Sea Spirit and warned against any further plans of invasion. Fortunately, this wasn’t a public spectacle as it would ruin the festivities.

Now he was in a pickle. If he wasn’t able to come up with a solution before his father’s return, he would lose face and credibility. The others would rise up and he would end up as one of the servants in the royal family.

He couldn’t let that happen. He needed to find a way out of this situation.

Calmly, he scratched his chin in deep thought.

“Your highness.”

A voice came through. It belonged to his most trusted advisor and personal aid, his older sister Randy Mak Den Anon Yorul. She, unlike himself, was from the first generation. This meant she had a whole 3-year advantage against him, yet she was a mere maid, to him.

“What is it?”

“We have received news regarding your sister.”

At the mention of his sister, he could only feel his mood plummet even further below. Honestly, Daxia was way more trouble than any king had to deal with. Imagining his father organising two wars against her and ending up with headaches worse than his made him look at his father in a completely new light.

“What is it?”

Tiredly, he asked a question.

“The princess, her highness Elriek Sox Den Anon Yorul III, has returned from captivity.”

“W-What?!”

Very inelegantly, the prince yelped out the word with bulged eyes. The maid was completely unmoved and continued to speak.

“According to reports, she is being guarded closely by a rookie Royal Guard.”

“A rookie royal guard? Was he the one to acquire her?”

“Forgive me. I am uncertain of this.”

He turned around and looked at his desk, thinking up the possibilities.

‘It’s impossible for a rookie to have saved the princess himself. Maybe a team that none of us were aware of? Then did Sundale set this up without informing any of us to prevent an information leak? If he did, that would mean there’s an informant for Daxia amongst us. But that’s very impossible. This scenario is stupid. Why would there even be a rookie on this very delicate mission?’

“Oi, Randy. How sure are you that this rookie is actually one of ours?”

With an intimidating aura, he posed a question to her.

“The Royal Guards have confirmed that he is. According to them, his name is Osveta.”

“Osveta? Isn’t that the name of the genius Sundale is always talking about? That Osveta?”

Randy reflexively pushed up her glasses and responded expressionlessly.

“Affirmative.”

A chill ran down the prince’s spine and goosebumps formed on his body.

“If such a person is next to her… I guess I’ll have to find another way to go through with my plans. Back to the drawing board, Randy.”

***

Day 52

Surprisingly, when I slept, I got no interference this time. What I meant by that, was my tendency to have weird dreams or get sent to completely different spaces when I slept.

Either I had that weird scenario or the system master called my to her domain. Then there was the recent incident where I met Shiro again. It felt peaceful. Well, given the past couple of days, it was much appreciated.

After having slept and thinking over the issue entirely, I hadn’t come to a conclusion a yet. I was currently standing in front of Daxia’s home. Behind me, both her and Bastien were standing there. At the bottom of the base, several fishmen were preparing to leave. Since they had barely 3 days to intercept the enemy, they had to get a heavy start. Their opponents were already far ahead of them.

I had Akkun start coming up with a portal to Kawaii while I was talking to the duo.

‘Thank you for that talk, Bastien.’

I bowed my head, grateful for him allowing me to reflect on my issue, but I would still be thinking about it till I found what I believed to be the true answer.

“Good. While you’re in the city, be careful. There’ll be kids looking to play with a weird creature like you. Trust me when I say they’re menacing.”

He mused about something.

‘Wait… have you been to Atlantis before?’

“Oi, Hinotori. If the princess keeps acting like a twit, beat the crap out of her for me, you hear?”

Daxia requested something absurd from me again. Honestly, these overpowered types were a pain in the ass. I laughed nervously then replied.

‘I-I’ll try.’

‘T-Tori. The p-portal’s ready.’

Akkun notified me. Behind me, the blue mass had been formed. The reason it took longer than usual was due to the fact that every city in Atlantis had a massive dome preventing any form of unauthorised teleportation in and out of the city. There were specific ley lines one had to use to move between cities quickly. I, an illegal entrant, had to go through this long process of creating a hole in the dome to allow myself a ticket into the city from this place. The only issue was that I would be noticed doing so, which was why I was going straight to Kawaii who was most likely next to the princess.

Although, for some reason she hadn’t responded to the message I sent to her a while ago.

As I stepped through, Bastien’s words hit me again.

‘A weird creature like me, huh? Well, everyone says I’m ugly. What about my human form then?’

I entered the portal and activated my transformation. When I walked out through the portal, the clothes I had Sylvie make for me ripped to shreds.

‘Ah… what happened to my clothes?!’

<<The pressure destroyed them>>

‘Pressure?! I-Is that how it is? I thought it’d only squeeze down on metal, not tear apart my clothes.’

<<Results of high-speed travel, pressure and sudden increase in body size>>

‘Oi, oi… are you saying I’ve grown fat?’

I noticed that one very odd statement by the agent. It didn’t respond to my question, but I wasn’t feeling like letting this go. After a bit of shouting at the agent waiting for an answer, I got none and heaved a frustrated sigh.

‘What do you mean high speed travel?’

<<The teleportation into the immediate location of the servant Kawaii was a failure. Instead, you were teleported right at the edge of the dome from the inside. From there, you were projected into the projected location of the servant Kawaii using the skill [Vector Control] at a speed barely noticeable by the surrounding folk.>>

The agent explained to me.

‘E-Eh? So… you’re telling me that I moved from the dome into this place faster than I myself could tell?’

<<Yes. That is what I am saying.>>

Behind me, I saw that there was an open window. I moved towards it then looked out. I was at one of the highest possible points around, overlooking a massive beautiful city. Several homes made out of what looked like sea shells in all different colours. Several mermen swam about joyfully and there were all manners of activities going on. From children playing to men setting up the city for a sort of festival? I could see guards patrolling around this place, same for the whaledogs that they kept with them to probably sniff out odd things.

I was amazed and stunned by the beautiful sights. The city was lit up by certain creatures called Lantern jugs. While looking out, I completely disregarded my immediate environment till the agent alerted me.

<<The targets, Elriek Sox Den Anon Yorul III and Kawaii are approaching this room. Although, there is an extra member present with them, as well as an issue with the servant Kawaii>>

‘Huh? An issue with Kawaii?’

The extra member was probably some guard or a dismissible presence if the agent chose not to name them, so hearing an issue with Kawaii was more my concern. Then again, my [Superior Survival Instincts] were starting to go wild, telling me something strong was coming. Something on the same level as Bastien. Maybe higher.

<<It might be best to show it to you>>

The agent, rather than explaining as it loved to best, decided to show me exactly what was wrong with Kawaii.

[Item Name – Kawaii’s Slime Core

[Item Type – Non-Consumable

[Item Description – The core of the slime Kawaii, a member of Hyakkiyago’s familia, that is only revealed once Kawaii has been defeated. This core is of high value and possesses various uses above that of regular slime cores. However, if it remains unused for a set amount of time, the slime Kawaii will appear once again]

[Time Limit – 1 hour remaining

[Item Value – 1000 gold coins, 200 store points

I felt something in me snap. Why was Kawaii appearing as a core? It was only revealed after she had been defeated? Then the princess caused Kawaii’s loss? She was playing me and Kawaii this entire time? The princess couldn’t dream of beating Kawaii in a million years though. Then, it was the extra member present.

‘Defeat? My Kawaii?!’

‘How dare they?’

‘End it all?’

While my anger was slowly reaching its peak, [Evolver] activated and I calmed down by a tiny bit. I thought a bit more over the issue and no matter how many times I thought about it, the princess was in the wrong here.

‘I’ll kill her.’

[You have acquired the skill [Aura Burst]]

[You have acquired the skill [Killing Intent]]

Just as I made a vow to do that, my rage reached the peak [Evolver] would allow it to without erasing the emotion.

[Intimidating Aura], [Terror], [Devil Miasma], [Black Miasma] and my newly skills [Aura Burst] and [Killing Intent] activated subconsciously, creating a sort of disturbance in the room as the doors burst open.

The one to come before me was the extra member that was working with the princess. Judging from his skills, surely, he was the one to do that to Kawaii.

“Princess! Go and inform more guards to come help!”

He roared as he charged at me with his sword.

‘I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you all!’