Reincarnation into the Barrier Master

In a room of a guest house in Agartha, a woman was reading through a letter with a depressed expression on her face. She sighs deeply and carefully folds the letter back into its original state. Then she slowly got up and left the room with a quick pace.

"...... I see. I'm sorry to hear that. You can always come to Agartha. Is that okay, Rico?"

I look over at Riko, who is sitting next to me. She nodded vigorously and opened her mouth in a firm voice.

"I am sorry to hear that your family betrayed you. Please tell them to come here to Agartha.

Bowing her head deeply at these words was Rufana, the fourth princess of the kingdom of Sulphate.

The letter she had received was from her mother, Queen Sulphate. It told her that the house where she had been staying until recently had been attacked and many people had been killed. She had escaped from there with her life and was now staying in the country where her eldest sister, Memebourg, was married. Furthermore, it was written that he could not feel safe even there and that he would like to move to Agartha with Rufana if possible.

It has been about a year since the fall of the kingdom of Sulphate. Rufana herself had never expected to receive such a message from her mother. She had been disowned by her mother and had given up hope that she would ever see or hear from her again. Then, out of the blue, she received a letter from her mother: ....... It was understandable that she was perplexed.

Rufana, who had no aptitude for magic in the first place, was not loved by her mother and was rather treated coldly in the kingdom. Nevertheless, she was a serious person by nature and continued to respect her mother, and when the kingdom collapsed, she shed tears of joy when her mother and sisters were confirmed to be safe.

In the end, she and her sisters, along with a thousand or so retainers who had succeeded in escaping, went to her mother's family in the Zaifeek Empire. Rufana herself, thanks to the presence of Teshi of Posehay, was able to escape danger by transferring to Agartha, but when her mother learned of this, she was furious and declared that she was fleeing before the enemy, and insisted that she would never see her again. Rufana kept in touch with her mother on a regular basis after she was disowned, and kept updating her on what was happening in her life.

She is now treated as a foreign student by the Agartha King Linos, and is under his careful protection in the capital. There, she was greedily absorbing knowledge and preparing for the coming restoration of the Kingdom of Sulphate. Among them, May and Matkal, the wives of Rinos, quickly became good friends. Rufana had finally found her place and was enjoying her life. It was around this time that she received a letter from her mother.

Rufana was happy that her mother had asked for her help, but on the other hand, she felt a bit of loneliness. She knew her mother as a queen who reigned as an absolute monarch, a woman who was a symbol of a strong king leading her country with all kinds of high-ranking magic. For this reason, she had never once shown any sign of weakness, and even though she was her daughter, it was unimaginable for her to show any weakness to others.

However, from the contents of the letter, I could clearly read the mother's anxiety, impatience, and above all, her fear of death. Even though the thousand or so retainers who had fled the kingdom had been reduced to a few dozen by the attack, I did not expect my mother to send me such a weak letter. At first, she wondered if it was really written by her mother, but the handwriting was still her mother's, and she read through the letter with indescribable feelings.

She was quick to act upon her mother's request. She immediately contacted Rinos, reported what had happened, and asked for the mothers' protection. Both Rinos and Rico immediately gave their permission, and Rufana immediately sent a letter to the mother acknowledging the request.

Rinos had suggested that she and the Poseidonians could be transferred to Agartha with a few dozen people, but her mother's reply was a polite refusal. She said that they would go to Agartha by sea by their own power. Rufana was troubled by her mother's stubbornness and prayed for her mother's safe arrival at Agartha.

Three weeks after their departure from Memorboule, in the heat of summer, the Queen and her party finally arrived at the port city of Garbee. Rufana had been staying in Garbee for several days, waiting for her mother and sisters to arrive at the port. They were reunited for the first time in about a year and a half.

"Mother ......"

"Rufana ......"

Rufana gasped, wondering how a person could age so much after only a year and a half of not seeing each other. Her mother's dark hair, which had once been rich and beautiful, had turned completely white, and her face was now covered with the marks of her hardships. In particular, the few wrinkles between her eyebrows showed that she had always been wary of others. My mother's steps were heavy, and as soon as she stepped off the ship, she was immediately taken by the hand of Leal, a military officer who had served by her side for many years. The sight of her aged mother made Rufana's heart ache.

She immediately took her mother and her sisters to one of the houses in Garbee. She sat down on a chair. Then, as the sisters sat down in their chairs, Rufana also sat down in one of the chairs.

"Mother, ...... it has been a long time."

The queen nodded silently at her words. Real, who had been watching her, speaks up on behalf of his mother.

As you can see, the queen is exhausted. First of all, Rufana, I would like to congratulate you on your good health. I would also like to thank the King of Agartha for requesting the protection of the queen and the princess.

"Real, it's okay, it's okay. You should thank King Agartha, not me. You've ...... been through a lot too. And your sisters too ......."

She slowly looks around at her sisters. The two sisters look down at her, not making eye contact. This was not an unusual sight, as they too had been treating Rufana with indifference.

"...... Rufana."

Suddenly I hear my mother's voice. When I looked at her, she trembled with her hands and squeezed out a few words in a faltering voice.

"How is this ...... Agartha ......?"

"How ...... do you mean?"

"Will my life be spared?　Is King Agartha willing to protect me?"

Unable to grasp the meaning of her mother's words, Rufana looks at her sisters. They look at her with a look of disgust on their faces. Then the second sister slowly opens her mouth as if to admonish her.

"Mother, Agartha is the one country that has repelled the interference of the ...... Crimiana. It is allied with the neighboring empires of Heedata, Lamaron, and Niza, and is intermarried ...... with them."

That's not what I want to hear!

Suddenly my mother becomes furious. She looks like a different person from the exhausted old woman I saw earlier. This was not the mother Rufana had known. The transformation leaves her speechless.

"I ...... don't want to ...... feel like that anymore. ......"

Breathing on her shoulders, Mother slowly sits down in her chair. Then she continues to speak.

"The magic ...... doesn't work. ....... The magic I've spent my life honing ....... The wizards, the mages are dying, ...... helplessly, ...... dying ....... Pierced by that bow and arrow. ......"

"Mother!"

Suddenly the queen was interrupted. I hurriedly looked in the direction of the voice and saw my third sister staring at our queen mother with a tense expression on her face. Interrupting the queen was not something that was allowed when she was in the kingdom. Such behavior had never occurred to her, even though she was her blood daughter. But my sister continued to speak to my mother as if such things were an everyday occurrence.

"You say such things everywhere you go, which is why the nations that have helped us are so afraid of the Kingdom of Thana ...... that they will betray us in the end.

My mother's expression turned grim for a moment, and then she turned her head and looked down, shaking her head.

"Mother, Agartha, the King of Agartha will protect you and your sister. Let us go to the ...... capital first."

No one answered Rufana's words. A heavy silence enveloped the room. .......