Artoria ga Kill
Our MC was stuffed into Artoria; however, instead of going to the Fate world, our MC slipped into Akame ga Kill. Well, should we call it Artoria ga Kill? This is her story, after all—the story of her awesomeness.
Chapter 1: My Romance Comedy Goes Wrong
Looking at the stray dogs or, to be precise, the beggars and homeless people on the street capital in front of her very eyes, Aria let out a gleeful cackle (internally, of course). From the perspective of an outsider, she was smiling sweetly at them and offering them bread; her guard behind her provided them with mineral water and clothing at the same time.
Aria was an attractive young girl with fair skin and soft features on her face that made her appear like an innocent girl from the perspective of outsiders. She had blonde hair and sky blue eyes that made others believe she was an angel descended to give them salvation. She wore a white, long-sleeved shirt with a light blue ribbon on her neck. Above her shirt, she wore a sleeveless, light blue dress with a black bodice and white frills. Aria also wore a pair of white boots.
She was escorted by her two guards who wore Imperial Armor and smiled sweetly at the homeless people who bowed their heads in gratitude to her.
"What should we do next, Young Lady?" one of Aria's guards inquired for the next instruction, after they'd doled out food and clothes to many homeless people.
"Is this question really necessary, Fury? Of course, we pick that girl up as our next victim." She let out a giggle with an innocent expression on her face and pointed her finger at Artoria, who was sleeping on the street with a dirty mattress and hugging her blanket tightly. "So, please, hurry up and wake her, so I can have my own fun later."
"Yes, young lady," the two guards chorused as they quickened their pace towards Artoria's location.
"Girl!"
"Hey, girl, wake up!" A guard with a shaved head nudged the young girl's shoulder and barked at the heavy sleeper.
"Who are you?" Artoria cracked open one eye and squinted at him warily.
After seeing the charming young girl smiling at her innocently, she frowned inwardly.
She knew who this girl was; it should be Aria from Akame ga Kill, the one who liked kidnapping and torturing the homeless for her own amusement.
Normally speaking, if this were a normal yuri story, this development would be about her getting isekai'd into another world, encountering difficulties, then meeting a young noble lady, being helped by her, and then becoming her handmaiden. She would secretly protect her young lady while hiding her true strength and identity, their relationship developing with misunderstandings, comedic moments, and romance, thus achieving a happy ending between the young lady and her handmaiden.
Unfortunately, reality is full of shit. Such a development only happens in stories.
Although she was unhappy to be ruthlessly slap by reality and meet such a psychopathic girl as soon as she was thrust into this world, however, she quickly masked her expression with ignorance and looked at them with feigned confusion.
"Girl, you look pretty. Why don't you apply for a job as our young lady's maid? It's a shame for a pretty girl like you to be homeless without a future." A guard named Fury said with a grin on his face.
The bald guard just looked at this unlucky girl with pity mixed with a gleeful expression, but he quickly hid it for fear of ruining the young lady's fun.
If not for the fact she watched the Akame ga Kill anime, she would have thought they were decent people among the corrupt nobles in the capital.
Although she was disdainful inside, she still smirked at the offer.
"Is that true? Will I no longer endure hunger if I work for the young lady?" She asked with the enthusiasm of a country bumpkin.
Her acting skill was so great that the guards looked at each other and grinned.
"Of course. How about it, young lady?"
"She is indeed very suitable to become my maid. So, what is your name and why is a pretty girl like you sleeping on the street?" Aria asked with concern, masking her true intentions well.
Everyone on the street could see she appeared to be a good girl, very enthusiastic about helping those in need.
"Artoria. I have recently arrived in the capital and wanted to make a name for myself," Artoria answered.
If not for some random omnipotent being suddenly stuffing her here, who would want to come to this shithole place?
Without money, identity, or anything of worth in her name, she could only sleep on the street.
Even though she was strong, it didn't mean she liked robbing others or attracting unwanted attention before she grasped the information of this world.
Luckily, she met this girl and knew she was in Akame ga Kill.
"Will you accept my offer, Artoria?" Aria smiled sweetly.
"Thank you, young lady." She then held Aria's hands enthusiastically. Her innocent facade almost cracked as a forceful smile formed on her face.
How dare this country bumpkin hold her hand?
The rage Aria felt was so suffocating that she wanted to kill the girl right here and now, but she held back and offered her an angelic smile.
"Uhm... Let's meet my parents then. Let me introduce you to them." By then, she had an excuse to release her enthusiastic hand, and they were escorted by the guards into the carriage.
...
Inside the mansion
"Don't hold back, girl, you will become our family in the future." A middle-aged, portly man with a white mustache, clad in formal light brown attire, boomed with a touch too much enthusiasm.
He was Aria's father from Akame ga Kill.
Artoria sniffed the food and detected there were no drugs, at least not yet. Perhaps they would do it tomorrow.
She picked their offerings of food without hesitation.
When they saw how much the girl ate, Aria's father's expression almost distorted in anger.
How dare this country bumpkin treat his dining table like this?
He said one thing but thought another; when he said no holding back and she really didn't hold back, he was mad.
The hypocrisy was at its finest.
Artoria was disdainful inside but kept wiping the food clean off the table.
She decided to check their warehouse. If they were really kidnapping other innocent people for their own self-gratification, she would kill them without hesitation. If it was just limited to the anime, she would just silently leave after this.
"Ahem, do you like the food, Artoria? My daughter seems to like you a lot and wants you to become her handmaiden." a smooth, practiced voice cut through her thoughts. It was Aria's mother, a vision of elegance with her perfectly coiffed blonde hair and glittering jewelry.
"Mother, you don't need to embarrass Artoria; she should make her own decision." Aria smiled sweetly.
"I would like to, but can I have more food, please?" Artoria asked with an innocent look in her eyes.
"Of course, my dear." Aria's mother smiled gently, but inwardly she was displeased at wasting their luxurious food on a country bumpkin and thinking about what torture she should give her tomorrow.
She would make sure this girl regretted wasting their food.
Despite her wicked thinking, the smile never left her face.
She clapped her hands, and more food was served on the plate.
Artoria wiped it clean over and over again, demanding more and more food until midnight, as cold sweat formed on their faces.
This girl is a monster!
...
Over the following weeks scouts were sent out to try to make contact with local Mopan and Chʼol communities, including Chok Ajaw, AjMay, IxBʼol and Manche without success – most of the natives had fled, leaving the forest deserted. At San Pedro Mártir he received news of AjChan's embassy to Mérida in December 1695 and the formal surrender of the Itza to Spanish authority.[219] Unable to reconcile the news with the loss of his men at Lake Petén Itzá, and with appalling conditions in San Pedro Mártir, Amésqueta abandoned the unfinished fort.[221] Friar Cano recommended to the new Guatemalan president that the Chʼol be moved to Verapaz where they could be properly administered. As a result of the failed expedition, Cano's recommendation was accepted, the fort was dismantled and any Maya that could be captured across a wide swathe of southern Petén was forcibly relocated to Belén near Rabinal in Verapaz. This way this relocation was conducted was brutal and ruthless and was condemned by several high-ranking colonial officials, including oidor José de Escals and even by Amésqueta.[222]
Fall of Nojpetén[edit]
Lake Petén Itza at the time of the conquest
The Itzas' continued resistance had become a major embarrassment for the Spanish colonial authorities, and soldiers were despatched from Campeche to take Nojpetén once and for all.[184] The final assault was made possible by the gradual opening of the road from Mérida to Petén;[223] by December 1696 this road had reached the lake shore although it was unfinished and still almost impassable in places.[224] By this time the deep divisions between the political leaders of the Itza were such that a unified defence of the Itza kingdom had become impossible.[225]
Final preparations[edit]
In late December 1696 the Chakʼan Itza attacked the large Kejache mission town of Pakʼekʼem; they abducted almost all the inhabitants and burned the church. The demoralised Spanish garrison at Chuntuki buried their weapons and ammunition and retreated five leagues (approximately 13 miles or 21 km) back towards Campeche.[226] From late December 1696 to the middle of January 1697 Ursúa sent parties of soldiers and workmen along the road towards the lake; the first group was commanded by Pedro de Zubiaur and had instructions to begin building a galeota, a large oar-powered warship.[227] This group was followed by reinforcements bringing supplies, including light and heavy weapons, gunpowder and food. On 23 January Ursúa left Campeche with more soldiers and muleteers, bringing the total number of soldiers arriving as reinforcements to 130.[228] The Spanish fortified their positions at Chʼichʼ and deployed heavy artillery for its defence.[229]
Martín de Ursúa y Arizmendi arrived on the western shore of lake Petén Itzá with his soldiers on 26 February 1697, and once there built the heavily armed galeota attack boat, which was assembled at Chʼichʼ over a space of 12 days in early March.[230] The galeota had a keel of 30 cubits or 14.4 metres (47 ft); it had 12 oars on each side and a rudder with an iron screw. The galeota carried 114 men and at least five artillery pieces, including a pieza (light cannon) and four pedreros (mortars).[40] The piragua longboat used to cross the San Pedro River was also transported to the lake to be used in the attack on the Itza capital; this boat had 6 oars and a rudder.[231]
From 28 February onwards the Spanish expedition was repeatedly approached by hostile Itzas, who sometimes shot arrows in the direction of the intruders but inflicted no casualties.[232] At the same time, small groups of curious Itzas mingled freely with the Spanish and received trinkets from them such as belts, necklaces and earrings.[229]
Assault on Nojpetén[edit]
On 10 March, Itza and Yalain emissaries arrived at Chʼichʼ to negotiate with Ursúa. First came AjChan who had already met him in Mérida; he was followed by Chamach Xulu, the ruler of the Yalain.[233] Kan Ekʼ then sent a canoe with a white flag raised bearing emissaries, including the Itza high priest, who offered peaceful surrender. Ursúa received the embassy in peace and invited Kan Ekʼ to visit his encampment three days later. On the appointed day Kan Ekʼ failed to arrive; instead Maya warriors massed both along the shore and in canoes upon the lake.[234]
Ursúa decided that any further attempts at peaceful incorporation of the Itza into the Spanish Empire were pointless, and a waterbourne assault was launched upon Kan Ek's capital on the morning of 13 March.[235] The encampment at Chʼichʼ was left defended by 25 Spanish soldiers, three Maya musketeers and several artillery pieces.[236] Ursúa boarded the galeota with 108 soldiers, two secular priests, five personal servants, the baptised Itza emissary AjChan and his brother-in-law and an Itza prisoner from Nojpetén. The attack boat was rowed east from Chʼichʼ towards the Itza capital; halfway across the lake it encountered a large fleet of canoes spread in an arc across the approach to Nojpetén, covering about 600 metres (2,000 ft) from one shore to another – Ursúa simply gave the order to row through them. A large number of defenders had gathered along the shore of Nojpetén and on the roofs of the city. As the galeota approached, more canoes put out from the shore and the Spanish were surrounded.[237] Once they had surrounded the galeota, Itza archers began to shoot at the invaders. Ursúa gave orders to his men not to fire but arrows wounded several soldiers; one of the wounded soldiers discharged his musket and at that point the officers lost control of their men. The defending Itza soon fled from the withering Spanish gunfire.[238]
The city fell after a brief but bloody battle in which many Itza warriors died; the Spanish suffered only minor casualties. The Spanish bombardment caused heavy loss of life on the island;[239] the surviving Itza abandoned their capital and swam across to the mainland with many dying in the water.[240] After the battle the surviving defenders melted away into the forests, leaving the Spanish to occupy an abandoned Maya town.[184] Martín de Ursúa planted his standard upon the highest point of the island and renamed Nojpetén as Nuestra Señora de los Remedios y San Pablo, Laguna del Itza ("Our Lady of Remedy and Saint Paul, Lake of the Itza").[241] The Itza nobility fled, dispersing to Maya settlements throughout Petén; in response the Spanish scoured the region with search parties.[242] Kan Ekʼ was soon captured with help from the Yalain Maya ruler Chamach Xulu;[243] The Kowoj king (Aj Kowoj) was also soon captured, together with other Maya nobles and their families.[239] With the defeat of the Itza, the last independent and unconquered native kingdom in the Americas fell to the European colonisers.[86]
Aftermath[edit]
Martín de Ursúa had little interest in administering the newly conquered territory and delegated its control to military officers who he did very little to support, either militarily or financially.[244] With Nojpetén safely in the hands of the Spanish, Ursúa returned to Mérida, leaving Kan Ekʼ and other high-ranking members of his family as prisoners of the Spanish garrison at Nuestra Señora de los Remedios y San Pablo, isolated among the hostile Itza and Kowoj who still dominated the mainland. The garrison was reinforced in 1699 by a military expedition from Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala, accompanied by mixed-race ladino civilians who came to found their own town around the military camp. The settlers brought disease with them, which killed many soldiers and colonists and swept through the indigenous population. The Guatemalans stayed just three months before returning to Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala, taking the captive Itza king with them, together with his son and two of his cousins. The cousins died on the long journey to Santiago; Ajaw Kan Ekʼ and his son spent the rest of their lives under house arrest in the colonial capital.[239]
When the Spanish conquered the Petén lakes in 1697, the Yalain were initially cooperative and assisted in the capture of the king of the Itza. At this time Yalain was ruled by Chamach Xulu. The Yalain leadership encouraged Christian conversion as a means of maintaining peace with the occupying Spanish forces. As time went on, Yalain cooperation with the Spanish appears to have decreased.[243] Soon after the conquest, the Yalain fled their settlements to avoid foraging Spanish parties that were abducting Maya women for "service" at their barracks. At this time, such was the hostility that was felt towards the occupying forces that the inhabitants of the Yalain settlements preferred to burn their fields and break all their pottery rather than leave anything for the Spanish.[245] The Yalain capital is recorded as having been burned in 1698.[246]
Final years of conquest[edit]
Spanish colonial church in DoloresCastillo de Arismendi, built in Nuestra Señora de los Remedios (modern Flores)
In the late 17th century, the small population of Chʼol Maya in southern Petén and Belize was forcibly removed to Alta Verapaz, where the people were absorbed into the Qʼeqchiʼ population.[84] After the conquest, the colonial administration of Petén was divided between the ecclesiastical authorities in Yucatán and secular administration as part of the Captaincy General of Guatemala. There was never a strong Spanish presence in the area, which remained remote, although the Spanish built a fortress-prison, the Castillo de Arismendi; it was finished in 1700.[247]
The distance from Nuestra Señora de los Remedios y San Pablo (formerly Nojpetén) to Mérida, combined with the difficult terrain and the hostility of the natives led to the road from Yucatán falling into a state of disrepair.[223] In 1701 Ursúa y Arezmendi realised that the road was in such a poor state that the Spanish garrison could not be supplied from Yucatán. He wrote to the King of Spain, requesting that Petén be transferred from the jurisdiction of Yucatán to the Audiencia Real of Guatemala.[248] In 1703 Ursúa's petition was granted, with the condition that the ecclesiastical authority over Petén would pass to the Dominican Order.[249]
Between 1703 and 1753, reducciones were established at San José and San Andrés on Lake Petén Itzá, Santa Ana just south of the lake, and at San Luis, Santo Toribio and Dolores in the south (not to be confused with Dolores del Lakandon).[250] Each of these mission towns had its own minister who answered to the vicario general with the Spanish garrison at Nuestra Señora de los Remedios y San Pablo.[249] In the first decades of the 18th century, churches were built in five colonial towns: Dolores, Remedios, San Andrés, San José and Santo Toribio.[251] The church in Dolores was built in 1708; the construction was probably overseen by Juan Antonio Ruiz y Bustamante.[252] In 1699 there were nine priests in Petén but thereafter there was usually a shortage of clergy in colonial Petén. In spite of the objections of the Dominicans who had been working in southern Petén, the Franciscans continued to provide clergy from Yucatán, and it was the Franciscans who oversaw the spiritual welfare of Petén during the colonial period.[253]
AjTut was one of the lords of the northern Chakʼan Itza province of the conquered Itza kingdom; friar Avendaño had met him during his expedition to Nojpetén. After the conquest he relocated from the north shore of Lake Petén Itzá to Mompana, a region lying between Lake Yaxha and the Classic period ruins of Tikal. For some years after the conquest he established the Mompana region as a refuge from the Spanish and engaged in internecine war against the surviving Kowoj to the south.[254]
Reductions around Lake Petén Itzá[edit]
At the time of the fall of Nojpetén, there are estimated to have been 60,000 Maya living around Lake Petén Itzá, including a large number of refugees from other areas. It is estimated that 88% of them died during the first ten years of colonial rule owing to a combination of disease and war.[35] Although disease was responsible for the majority of deaths, Spanish expeditions and internecine warfare between indigenous groups also played their part.[36]
Catholic priests from Yucatán founded several mission towns around Lake Petén Itzá in 1702–1703.[239] The first towns to be concentrated into colonial reducciones were Ixtutz, which became the new town of San José, and neighbouring San Andrés, both on the north shore of Lake Petén Itzá.[255] They were first subjugated by one of Ursúa's officers, Cristobal de Sologaistoa, before being passed into the care of the Dominican friars for the Christian conversion of the inhabitants.[249] Surviving Itza and Kowoj were resettled in the new colonial towns by a mixture of persuasion and force. Kowoj and Itza leaders in these mission towns rebelled against their Spanish overlords in 1704 and almost retook Nojpetén,[256] but although well-planned, the rebellion was quickly crushed. Its leaders were executed, and most of the mission towns were abandoned; by 1708 only about 6,000 Maya remained in central Petén.[239] The reductions failed in large part because the missionaries charged with converting the inhabitants could not speak the Itza language.[249]
Legacy of the conquest[edit]
Martín de Ursúa used his conquest of the Itza as a stepping stone to achieving the coveted post of Governor-General of the Philippines, which he took up in 1709.[257] European-introduced diseases devastated the native population of Petén, with the effects of disease compounded by the psychological impact of defeat. The population around Lake Petén Itzá numbered between 20,000 and 40,000 in 1697. By 1714, a census recorded just over 3,000 individuals in Spanish Petén, including non-Indians. This number would not have included the so-called "wild" Maya living in the forest far from Spanish administration and control. By 1700 the new colonial capital of Petén was mainly inhabited by colonists, soldiers and convicts.[258] During the second half of the 18th century, adult male Indians were heavily taxed, often being forced into debt peonage. Western Petén and neighbouring Chiapas remained sparsely populated, and the Maya inhabitants avoided contact with the Spanish.[259]
San José, on the northwest shore of lake Petén Itzá, is the home of the last surviving speakers of the Itza language. The surname Kowoj still survives, but the Kowoj and Itza have fully merged and no longer exist as separate ethnicities. In modern times there is a history of conflict between San José (the former Itza town of Chakokʼot) and neighbouring San Andrés (the former Kowoj-allied town of Chakʼan), and this mutual hostility probably represents ancient hostility between the Itza and the Kowoj.[260]
Historical sources[edit]
Title page of Historia de la Conquista de la Provincia de el Itza produced in 1701, four years after the fall of Nojpetén, by the relator of the Council of the Indies
Hernán Cortés described his expedition to Honduras in the fifth letter of his Cartas de Relación,[261] in which he details his crossing of what is now Guatemala's Petén Department. Bernal Díaz del Castillo accompanied Cortés on the expedition to Honduras.[262] He wrote a lengthy account of the conquest of Mexico and neighbouring regions, the Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España ("True History of the Conquest of New Spain").[263] His account was finished around 1568, some 40 years after the campaigns it describes;[264] it includes his own description of the expedition.[262] In 1688 colonial historian Diego López de Cogolludo detailed the expeditions of the Spanish missionaries Bartolomé de Fuensalida and Juan de Orbita in 1618 and 1619 in his Los trés siglos de la dominación española en Yucatán o sea historia de esta provincia ("The three centuries of Spanish domination in Yucatán, or the history of this province"); he based it upon Fuensalida's report, which is now lost.[265]
Franciscan friar Andrés Avendaño y Loyola recorded his own account of his late 17th century journeys to Nojpetén, written in 1696 and entitled Relación de las entradas que hize a la conversión de los gentiles Ytzaex ("Account of the expeditions that I made to convert the Itza heathens").[266] When the Spanish finally conquered Petén in 1697 they produced a vast quantity of documentation.[87] Juan de Villagutierre Soto-Mayor was a Spanish colonial official who first held the post of relator of the Royal Chancery of Valladolid and later as that of the Council of the Indies. As such he had access to the large amount of colonial documents stored in the General Archive of the Indies. From these he produced his Historia de la Conquista de la Provincia de el Itza, reduccion, y progressos de la de el Lacandon, y otras naciones de indios barbaros, de la mediacion de el Reyno de Guatimala, a las provincias del Yucatan en la América Septentrional ("History of the Conquest of the Province of the Itza, reduction, and advances in that of the Lakandon, and other nations of barbarous indians, and the intervention of the Kingdom of Guatemala, and the provinces of Yucatan in Northern America"). This was first published in Madrid in 1701 and detailed the history of Petén from 1525 through to 1699.[267]
...
Chapter 1: My Romance Comedy Goes Wrong
Looking at the stray dogs or, to be precise, the beggars and homeless people on the street capital in front of her very eyes, Aria let out a gleeful cackle (internally, of course). From the perspective of an outsider, she was smiling sweetly at them and offering them bread; her guard behind her provided them with mineral water and clothing at the same time.
Aria was an attractive young girl with fair skin and soft features on her face that made her appear like an innocent girl from the perspective of outsiders. She had blonde hair and sky blue eyes that made others believe she was an angel descended to give them salvation. She wore a white, long-sleeved shirt with a light blue ribbon on her neck. Above her shirt, she wore a sleeveless, light blue dress with a black bodice and white frills. Aria also wore a pair of white boots.
She was escorted by her two guards who wore Imperial Armor and smiled sweetly at the homeless people who bowed their heads in gratitude to her.
"What should we do next, Young Lady?" one of Aria's guards inquired for the next instruction, after they'd doled out food and clothes to many homeless people.
"Is this question really necessary, Fury? Of course, we pick that girl up as our next victim." She let out a giggle with an innocent expression on her face and pointed her finger at Artoria, who was sleeping on the street with a dirty mattress and hugging her blanket tightly. "So, please, hurry up and wake her, so I can have my own fun later."
"Yes, young lady," the two guards chorused as they quickened their pace towards Artoria's location.
"Girl!"
"Hey, girl, wake up!" A guard with a shaved head nudged the young girl's shoulder and barked at the heavy sleeper.
"Who are you?" Artoria cracked open one eye and squinted at him warily.
After seeing the charming young girl smiling at her innocently, she frowned inwardly.
She knew who this girl was; it should be Aria from Akame ga Kill, the one who liked kidnapping and torturing the homeless for her own amusement.
Normally speaking, if this were a normal yuri story, this development would be about her getting isekai'd into another world, encountering difficulties, then meeting a young noble lady, being helped by her, and then becoming her handmaiden. She would secretly protect her young lady while hiding her true strength and identity, their relationship developing with misunderstandings, comedic moments, and romance, thus achieving a happy ending between the young lady and her handmaiden.
Unfortunately, reality is full of shit. Such a development only happens in stories.
Although she was unhappy to be ruthlessly slap by reality and meet such a psychopathic girl as soon as she was thrust into this world, however, she quickly masked her expression with ignorance and looked at them with feigned confusion.
"Girl, you look pretty. Why don't you apply for a job as our young lady's maid? It's a shame for a pretty girl like you to be homeless without a future." A guard named Fury said with a grin on his face.
The bald guard just looked at this unlucky girl with pity mixed with a gleeful expression, but he quickly hid it for fear of ruining the young lady's fun.
If not for the fact she watched the Akame ga Kill anime, she would have thought they were decent people among the corrupt nobles in the capital.
Although she was disdainful inside, she still smirked at the offer.
"Is that true? Will I no longer endure hunger if I work for the young lady?" She asked with the enthusiasm of a country bumpkin.
Her acting skill was so great that the guards looked at each other and grinned.
"Of course. How about it, young lady?"
"She is indeed very suitable to become my maid. So, what is your name and why is a pretty girl like you sleeping on the street?" Aria asked with concern, masking her true intentions well.
Everyone on the street could see she appeared to be a good girl, very enthusiastic about helping those in need.
"Artoria. I have recently arrived in the capital and wanted to make a name for myself," Artoria answered.
If not for some random omnipotent being suddenly stuffing her here, who would want to come to this shithole place?
Without money, identity, or anything of worth in her name, she could only sleep on the street.
Even though she was strong, it didn't mean she liked robbing others or attracting unwanted attention before she grasped the information of this world.
Luckily, she met this girl and knew she was in Akame ga Kill.
"Will you accept my offer, Artoria?" Aria smiled sweetly.
"Thank you, young lady." She then held Aria's hands enthusiastically. Her innocent facade almost cracked as a forceful smile formed on her face.
How dare this country bumpkin hold her hand?
The rage Aria felt was so suffocating that she wanted to kill the girl right here and now, but she held back and offered her an angelic smile.
"Uhm... Let's meet my parents then. Let me introduce you to them." By then, she had an excuse to release her enthusiastic hand, and they were escorted by the guards into the carriage.
...
Inside the mansion
"Don't hold back, girl, you will become our family in the future." A middle-aged, portly man with a white mustache, clad in formal light brown attire, boomed with a touch too much enthusiasm.
He was Aria's father from Akame ga Kill.
Artoria sniffed the food and detected there were no drugs, at least not yet. Perhaps they would do it tomorrow.
She picked their offerings of food without hesitation.
When they saw how much the girl ate, Aria's father's expression almost distorted in anger.
How dare this country bumpkin treat his dining table like this?
He said one thing but thought another; when he said no holding back and she really didn't hold back, he was mad.
The hypocrisy was at its finest.
Artoria was disdainful inside but kept wiping the food clean off the table.
She decided to check their warehouse. If they were really kidnapping other innocent people for their own self-gratification, she would kill them without hesitation. If it was just limited to the anime, she would just silently leave after this.
"Ahem, do you like the food, Artoria? My daughter seems to like you a lot and wants you to become her handmaiden." a smooth, practiced voice cut through her thoughts. It was Aria's mother, a vision of elegance with her perfectly coiffed blonde hair and glittering jewelry.
"Mother, you don't need to embarrass Artoria; she should make her own decision." Aria smiled sweetly.
"I would like to, but can I have more food, please?" Artoria asked with an innocent look in her eyes.
"Of course, my dear." Aria's mother smiled gently, but inwardly she was displeased at wasting their luxurious food on a country bumpkin and thinking about what torture she should give her tomorrow.
She would make sure this girl regretted wasting their food.
Despite her wicked thinking, the smile never left her face.
She clapped her hands, and more food was served on the plate.
Artoria wiped it clean over and over again, demanding more and more food until midnight, as cold sweat formed on their faces.
This girl is a monster!
...
Over the following weeks scouts were sent out to try to make contact with local Mopan and Chʼol communities, including Chok Ajaw, AjMay, IxBʼol and Manche without success – most of the natives had fled, leaving the forest deserted. At San Pedro Mártir he received news of AjChan's embassy to Mérida in December 1695 and the formal surrender of the Itza to Spanish authority.[219] Unable to reconcile the news with the loss of his men at Lake Petén Itzá, and with appalling conditions in San Pedro Mártir, Amésqueta abandoned the unfinished fort.[221] Friar Cano recommended to the new Guatemalan president that the Chʼol be moved to Verapaz where they could be properly administered. As a result of the failed expedition, Cano's recommendation was accepted, the fort was dismantled and any Maya that could be captured across a wide swathe of southern Petén was forcibly relocated to Belén near Rabinal in Verapaz. This way this relocation was conducted was brutal and ruthless and was condemned by several high-ranking colonial officials, including oidor José de Escals and even by Amésqueta.[222]
Fall of Nojpetén[edit]
Lake Petén Itza at the time of the conquest
The Itzas' continued resistance had become a major embarrassment for the Spanish colonial authorities, and soldiers were despatched from Campeche to take Nojpetén once and for all.[184] The final assault was made possible by the gradual opening of the road from Mérida to Petén;[223] by December 1696 this road had reached the lake shore although it was unfinished and still almost impassable in places.[224] By this time the deep divisions between the political leaders of the Itza were such that a unified defence of the Itza kingdom had become impossible.[225]
Final preparations[edit]
In late December 1696 the Chakʼan Itza attacked the large Kejache mission town of Pakʼekʼem; they abducted almost all the inhabitants and burned the church. The demoralised Spanish garrison at Chuntuki buried their weapons and ammunition and retreated five leagues (approximately 13 miles or 21 km) back towards Campeche.[226] From late December 1696 to the middle of January 1697 Ursúa sent parties of soldiers and workmen along the road towards the lake; the first group was commanded by Pedro de Zubiaur and had instructions to begin building a galeota, a large oar-powered warship.[227] This group was followed by reinforcements bringing supplies, including light and heavy weapons, gunpowder and food. On 23 January Ursúa left Campeche with more soldiers and muleteers, bringing the total number of soldiers arriving as reinforcements to 130.[228] The Spanish fortified their positions at Chʼichʼ and deployed heavy artillery for its defence.[229]
Martín de Ursúa y Arizmendi arrived on the western shore of lake Petén Itzá with his soldiers on 26 February 1697, and once there built the heavily armed galeota attack boat, which was assembled at Chʼichʼ over a space of 12 days in early March.[230] The galeota had a keel of 30 cubits or 14.4 metres (47 ft); it had 12 oars on each side and a rudder with an iron screw. The galeota carried 114 men and at least five artillery pieces, including a pieza (light cannon) and four pedreros (mortars).[40] The piragua longboat used to cross the San Pedro River was also transported to the lake to be used in the attack on the Itza capital; this boat had 6 oars and a rudder.[231]
From 28 February onwards the Spanish expedition was repeatedly approached by hostile Itzas, who sometimes shot arrows in the direction of the intruders but inflicted no casualties.[232] At the same time, small groups of curious Itzas mingled freely with the Spanish and received trinkets from them such as belts, necklaces and earrings.[229]
Assault on Nojpetén[edit]
On 10 March, Itza and Yalain emissaries arrived at Chʼichʼ to negotiate with Ursúa. First came AjChan who had already met him in Mérida; he was followed by Chamach Xulu, the ruler of the Yalain.[233] Kan Ekʼ then sent a canoe with a white flag raised bearing emissaries, including the Itza high priest, who offered peaceful surrender. Ursúa received the embassy in peace and invited Kan Ekʼ to visit his encampment three days later. On the appointed day Kan Ekʼ failed to arrive; instead Maya warriors massed both along the shore and in canoes upon the lake.[234]
Ursúa decided that any further attempts at peaceful incorporation of the Itza into the Spanish Empire were pointless, and a waterbourne assault was launched upon Kan Ek's capital on the morning of 13 March.[235] The encampment at Chʼichʼ was left defended by 25 Spanish soldiers, three Maya musketeers and several artillery pieces.[236] Ursúa boarded the galeota with 108 soldiers, two secular priests, five personal servants, the baptised Itza emissary AjChan and his brother-in-law and an Itza prisoner from Nojpetén. The attack boat was rowed east from Chʼichʼ towards the Itza capital; halfway across the lake it encountered a large fleet of canoes spread in an arc across the approach to Nojpetén, covering about 600 metres (2,000 ft) from one shore to another – Ursúa simply gave the order to row through them. A large number of defenders had gathered along the shore of Nojpetén and on the roofs of the city. As the galeota approached, more canoes put out from the shore and the Spanish were surrounded.[237] Once they had surrounded the galeota, Itza archers began to shoot at the invaders. Ursúa gave orders to his men not to fire but arrows wounded several soldiers; one of the wounded soldiers discharged his musket and at that point the officers lost control of their men. The defending Itza soon fled from the withering Spanish gunfire.[238]
The city fell after a brief but bloody battle in which many Itza warriors died; the Spanish suffered only minor casualties. The Spanish bombardment caused heavy loss of life on the island;[239] the surviving Itza abandoned their capital and swam across to the mainland with many dying in the water.[240] After the battle the surviving defenders melted away into the forests, leaving the Spanish to occupy an abandoned Maya town.[184] Martín de Ursúa planted his standard upon the highest point of the island and renamed Nojpetén as Nuestra Señora de los Remedios y San Pablo, Laguna del Itza ("Our Lady of Remedy and Saint Paul, Lake of the Itza").[241] The Itza nobility fled, dispersing to Maya settlements throughout Petén; in response the Spanish scoured the region with search parties.[242] Kan Ekʼ was soon captured with help from the Yalain Maya ruler Chamach Xulu;[243] The Kowoj king (Aj Kowoj) was also soon captured, together with other Maya nobles and their families.[239] With the defeat of the Itza, the last independent and unconquered native kingdom in the Americas fell to the European colonisers.[86]
Aftermath[edit]
Martín de Ursúa had little interest in administering the newly conquered territory and delegated its control to military officers who he did very little to support, either militarily or financially.[244] With Nojpetén safely in the hands of the Spanish, Ursúa returned to Mérida, leaving Kan Ekʼ and other high-ranking members of his family as prisoners of the Spanish garrison at Nuestra Señora de los Remedios y San Pablo, isolated among the hostile Itza and Kowoj who still dominated the mainland. The garrison was reinforced in 1699 by a military expedition from Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala, accompanied by mixed-race ladino civilians who came to found their own town around the military camp. The settlers brought disease with them, which killed many soldiers and colonists and swept through the indigenous population. The Guatemalans stayed just three months before returning to Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala, taking the captive Itza king with them, together with his son and two of his cousins. The cousins died on the long journey to Santiago; Ajaw Kan Ekʼ and his son spent the rest of their lives under house arrest in the colonial capital.[239]
When the Spanish conquered the Petén lakes in 1697, the Yalain were initially cooperative and assisted in the capture of the king of the Itza. At this time Yalain was ruled by Chamach Xulu. The Yalain leadership encouraged Christian conversion as a means of maintaining peace with the occupying Spanish forces. As time went on, Yalain cooperation with the Spanish appears to have decreased.[243] Soon after the conquest, the Yalain fled their settlements to avoid foraging Spanish parties that were abducting Maya women for "service" at their barracks. At this time, such was the hostility that was felt towards the occupying forces that the inhabitants of the Yalain settlements preferred to burn their fields and break all their pottery rather than leave anything for the Spanish.[245] The Yalain capital is recorded as having been burned in 1698.[246]
Final years of conquest[edit]
Spanish colonial church in DoloresCastillo de Arismendi, built in Nuestra Señora de los Remedios (modern Flores)
In the late 17th century, the small population of Chʼol Maya in southern Petén and Belize was forcibly removed to Alta Verapaz, where the people were absorbed into the Qʼeqchiʼ population.[84] After the conquest, the colonial administration of Petén was divided between the ecclesiastical authorities in Yucatán and secular administration as part of the Captaincy General of Guatemala. There was never a strong Spanish presence in the area, which remained remote, although the Spanish built a fortress-prison, the Castillo de Arismendi; it was finished in 1700.[247]
The distance from Nuestra Señora de los Remedios y San Pablo (formerly Nojpetén) to Mérida, combined with the difficult terrain and the hostility of the natives led to the road from Yucatán falling into a state of disrepair.[223] In 1701 Ursúa y Arezmendi realised that the road was in such a poor state that the Spanish garrison could not be supplied from Yucatán. He wrote to the King of Spain, requesting that Petén be transferred from the jurisdiction of Yucatán to the Audiencia Real of Guatemala.[248] In 1703 Ursúa's petition was granted, with the condition that the ecclesiastical authority over Petén would pass to the Dominican Order.[249]
Between 1703 and 1753, reducciones were established at San José and San Andrés on Lake Petén Itzá, Santa Ana just south of the lake, and at San Luis, Santo Toribio and Dolores in the south (not to be confused with Dolores del Lakandon).[250] Each of these mission towns had its own minister who answered to the vicario general with the Spanish garrison at Nuestra Señora de los Remedios y San Pablo.[249] In the first decades of the 18th century, churches were built in five colonial towns: Dolores, Remedios, San Andrés, San José and Santo Toribio.[251] The church in Dolores was built in 1708; the construction was probably overseen by Juan Antonio Ruiz y Bustamante.[252] In 1699 there were nine priests in Petén but thereafter there was usually a shortage of clergy in colonial Petén. In spite of the objections of the Dominicans who had been working in southern Petén, the Franciscans continued to provide clergy from Yucatán, and it was the Franciscans who oversaw the spiritual welfare of Petén during the colonial period.[253]
AjTut was one of the lords of the northern Chakʼan Itza province of the conquered Itza kingdom; friar Avendaño had met him during his expedition to Nojpetén. After the conquest he relocated from the north shore of Lake Petén Itzá to Mompana, a region lying between Lake Yaxha and the Classic period ruins of Tikal. For some years after the conquest he established the Mompana region as a refuge from the Spanish and engaged in internecine war against the surviving Kowoj to the south.[254]
Reductions around Lake Petén Itzá[edit]
At the time of the fall of Nojpetén, there are estimated to have been 60,000 Maya living around Lake Petén Itzá, including a large number of refugees from other areas. It is estimated that 88% of them died during the first ten years of colonial rule owing to a combination of disease and war.[35] Although disease was responsible for the majority of deaths, Spanish expeditions and internecine warfare between indigenous groups also played their part.[36]
Catholic priests from Yucatán founded several mission towns around Lake Petén Itzá in 1702–1703.[239] The first towns to be concentrated into colonial reducciones were Ixtutz, which became the new town of San José, and neighbouring San Andrés, both on the north shore of Lake Petén Itzá.[255] They were first subjugated by one of Ursúa's officers, Cristobal de Sologaistoa, before being passed into the care of the Dominican friars for the Christian conversion of the inhabitants.[249] Surviving Itza and Kowoj were resettled in the new colonial towns by a mixture of persuasion and force. Kowoj and Itza leaders in these mission towns rebelled against their Spanish overlords in 1704 and almost retook Nojpetén,[256] but although well-planned, the rebellion was quickly crushed. Its leaders were executed, and most of the mission towns were abandoned; by 1708 only about 6,000 Maya remained in central Petén.[239] The reductions failed in large part because the missionaries charged with converting the inhabitants could not speak the Itza language.[249]
Legacy of the conquest[edit]
Martín de Ursúa used his conquest of the Itza as a stepping stone to achieving the coveted post of Governor-General of the Philippines, which he took up in 1709.[257] European-introduced diseases devastated the native population of Petén, with the effects of disease compounded by the psychological impact of defeat. The population around Lake Petén Itzá numbered between 20,000 and 40,000 in 1697. By 1714, a census recorded just over 3,000 individuals in Spanish Petén, including non-Indians. This number would not have included the so-called "wild" Maya living in the forest far from Spanish administration and control. By 1700 the new colonial capital of Petén was mainly inhabited by colonists, soldiers and convicts.[258] During the second half of the 18th century, adult male Indians were heavily taxed, often being forced into debt peonage. Western Petén and neighbouring Chiapas remained sparsely populated, and the Maya inhabitants avoided contact with the Spanish.[259]
San José, on the northwest shore of lake Petén Itzá, is the home of the last surviving speakers of the Itza language. The surname Kowoj still survives, but the Kowoj and Itza have fully merged and no longer exist as separate ethnicities. In modern times there is a history of conflict between San José (the former Itza town of Chakokʼot) and neighbouring San Andrés (the former Kowoj-allied town of Chakʼan), and this mutual hostility probably represents ancient hostility between the Itza and the Kowoj.[260]
Historical sources[edit]
Title page of Historia de la Conquista de la Provincia de el Itza produced in 1701, four years after the fall of Nojpetén, by the relator of the Council of the Indies
Hernán Cortés described his expedition to Honduras in the fifth letter of his Cartas de Relación,[261] in which he details his crossing of what is now Guatemala's Petén Department. Bernal Díaz del Castillo accompanied Cortés on the expedition to Honduras.[262] He wrote a lengthy account of the conquest of Mexico and neighbouring regions, the Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España ("True History of the Conquest of New Spain").[263] His account was finished around 1568, some 40 years after the campaigns it describes;[264] it includes his own description of the expedition.[262] In 1688 colonial historian Diego López de Cogolludo detailed the expeditions of the Spanish missionaries Bartolomé de Fuensalida and Juan de Orbita in 1618 and 1619 in his Los trés siglos de la dominación española en Yucatán o sea historia de esta provincia ("The three centuries of Spanish domination in Yucatán, or the history of this province"); he based it upon Fuensalida's report, which is now lost.[265]
Franciscan friar Andrés Avendaño y Loyola recorded his own account of his late 17th century journeys to Nojpetén, written in 1696 and entitled Relación de las entradas que hize a la conversión de los gentiles Ytzaex ("Account of the expeditions that I made to convert the Itza heathens").[266] When the Spanish finally conquered Petén in 1697 they produced a vast quantity of documentation.[87] Juan de Villagutierre Soto-Mayor was a Spanish colonial official who first held the post of relator of the Royal Chancery of Valladolid and later as that of the Council of the Indies. As such he had access to the large amount of colonial documents stored in the General Archive of the Indies. From these he produced his Historia de la Conquista de la Provincia de el Itza, reduccion, y progressos de la de el Lacandon, y otras naciones de indios barbaros, de la mediacion de el Reyno de Guatimala, a las provincias del Yucatan en la América Septentrional ("History of the Conquest of the Province of the Itza, reduction, and advances in that of the Lakandon, and other nations of barbarous indians, and the intervention of the Kingdom of Guatemala, and the provinces of Yucatan in Northern America"). This was first published in Madrid in 1701 and detailed the history of Petén from 1525 through to 1699.[267]
...
At the time of the fall of Nojpetén, there are estimated to have been 60,000 Maya living around Lake Petén Itzá, including a large number of refugees from other areas. It is estimated that 88% of them died during the first ten years of colonial rule owing to a combination of disease and war.[35] Although disease was responsible for the majority of deaths, Spanish expeditions and internecine warfare between indigenous groups also played their part.[36]
Catholic priests from Yucatán founded several mission towns around Lake Petén Itzá in 1702–1703.[239] The first towns to be concentrated into colonial reducciones were Ixtutz, which became the new town of San José, and neighbouring San Andrés, both on the north shore of Lake Petén Itzá.[255] They were first subjugated by one of Ursúa's officers, Cristobal de Sologaistoa, before being passed into the care of the Dominican friars for the Christian conversion of the inhabitants.[249] Surviving Itza and Kowoj were resettled in the new colonial towns by a mixture of persuasion and force. Kowoj and Itza leaders in these mission towns rebelled against their Spanish overlords in 1704 and almost retook Nojpetén,[256] but although well-planned, the rebellion was quickly crushed. Its leaders were executed, and most of the mission towns were abandoned; by 1708 only about 6,000 Maya remained in central Petén.[239] The reductions failed in large part because the missionaries charged with converting the inhabitants could not speak the Itza language.[249]
Legacy of the conquest[edit]
Martín de Ursúa used his conquest of the Itza as a stepping stone to achieving the coveted post of Governor-General of the Philippines, which he took up in 1709.[257] European-introduced diseases devastated the native population of Petén, with the effects of disease compounded by the psychological impact of defeat. The population around Lake Petén Itzá numbered between 20,000 and 40,000 in 1697. By 1714, a census recorded just over 3,000 individuals in Spanish Petén, including non-Indians. This number would not have included the so-called "wild" Maya living in the forest far from Spanish administration and control. By 1700 the new colonial capital of Petén was mainly inhabited by colonists, soldiers and convicts.[258] During the second half of the 18th century, adult male Indians were heavily taxed, often being forced into debt peonage. Western Petén and neighbouring Chiapas remained sparsely populated, and the Maya inhabitants avoided contact with the Spanish.[259]
San José, on the northwest shore of lake Petén Itzá, is the home of the last surviving speakers of the Itza language. The surname Kowoj still survives, but the Kowoj and Itza have fully merged and no longer exist as separate ethnicities. In modern times there is a history of conflict between San José (the former Itza town of Chakokʼot) and neighbouring San Andrés (the former Kowoj-allied town of Chakʼan), and this mutual hostility probably represents ancient hostility between the Itza and the Kowoj.[260]
Historical sources[edit]
Title page of Historia de la Conquista de la Provincia de el Itza produced in 1701, four years after the fall of Nojpetén, by the relator of the Council of the Indies
Hernán Cortés described his expedition to Honduras in the fifth letter of his Cartas de Relación,[261] in which he details his crossing of what is now Guatemala's Petén Department. Bernal Díaz del Castillo accompanied Cortés on the expedition to Honduras.[262] He wrote a lengthy account of the conquest of Mexico and neighbouring regions, the Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España ("True History of the Conquest of New Spain").[263] His account was finished around 1568, some 40 years after the campaigns it describes;[264] it includes his own description of the expedition.[262] In 1688 colonial historian Diego López de Cogolludo detailed the expeditions of the Spanish missionaries Bartolomé de Fuensalida and Juan de Orbita in 1618 and 1619 in his Los trés siglos de la dominación española en Yucatán o sea historia de esta provincia ("The three centuries of Spanish domination in Yucatán, or the history of this province"); he based it upon Fuensalida's report, which is now lost.[265]
Franciscan friar Andrés Avendaño y Loyola recorded his own account of his late 17th century journeys to Nojpetén, written in 1696 and entitled Relación de las entradas que hize a la conversión de los gentiles Ytzaex ("Account of the expeditions that I made to convert the Itza heathens").[266] When the Spanish finally conquered Petén in 1697 they produced a vast quantity of documentation.[87] Juan de Villagutierre Soto-Mayor was a Spanish colonial official who first held the post of relator of the Royal Chancery of Valladolid and later as that of the Council of the Indies. As such he had access to the large amount of colonial documents stored in the General Archive of the Indies. From these he produced his Historia de la Conquista de la Provincia de el Itza, reduccion, y progressos de la de el Lacandon, y otras naciones de indios barbaros, de la mediacion de el Reyno de Guatimala, a las provincias del Yucatan en la América Septentrional ("History of the Conquest of the Province of the Itza, reduction, and advances in that of the Lakandon, and other nations of barbarous indians, and the intervention of the Kingdom of Guatemala, and the provinces of Yucatan in Northern America"). This was first published in Madrid in 1701 and detailed the history of Petén from 1525 through to 1699.[267]
...
Chapter 1: My Romance Comedy Goes Wrong
Looking at the stray dogs or, to be precise, the beggars and homeless people on the street capital in front of her very eyes, Aria let out a gleeful cackle (internally, of course). From the perspective of an outsider, she was smiling sweetly at them and offering them bread; her guard behind her provided them with mineral water and clothing at the same time.
Aria was an attractive young girl with fair skin and soft features on her face that made her appear like an innocent girl from the perspective of outsiders. She had blonde hair and sky blue eyes that made others believe she was an angel descended to give them salvation. She wore a white, long-sleeved shirt with a light blue ribbon on her neck. Above her shirt, she wore a sleeveless, light blue dress with a black bodice and white frills. Aria also wore a pair of white boots.
She was escorted by her two guards who wore Imperial Armor and smiled sweetly at the homeless people who bowed their heads in gratitude to her.
"What should we do next, Young Lady?" one of Aria's guards inquired for the next instruction, after they'd doled out food and clothes to many homeless people.
"Is this question really necessary, Fury? Of course, we pick that girl up as our next victim." She let out a giggle with an innocent expression on her face and pointed her finger at Artoria, who was sleeping on the street with a dirty mattress and hugging her blanket tightly. "So, please, hurry up and wake her, so I can have my own fun later."
"Yes, young lady," the two guards chorused as they quickened their pace towards Artoria's location.
"Girl!"
"Hey, girl, wake up!" A guard with a shaved head nudged the young girl's shoulder and barked at the heavy sleeper.
"Who are you?" Artoria cracked open one eye and squinted at him warily.
After seeing the charming young girl smiling at her innocently, she frowned inwardly.
She knew who this girl was; it should be Aria from Akame ga Kill, the one who liked kidnapping and torturing the homeless for her own amusement.
Normally speaking, if this were a normal yuri story, this development would be about her getting isekai'd into another world, encountering difficulties, then meeting a young noble lady, being helped by her, and then becoming her handmaiden. She would secretly protect her young lady while hiding her true strength and identity, their relationship developing with misunderstandings, comedic moments, and romance, thus achieving a happy ending between the young lady and her handmaiden.
Unfortunately, reality is full of shit. Such a development only happens in stories.
Although she was unhappy to be ruthlessly slap by reality and meet such a psychopathic girl as soon as she was thrust into this world, however, she quickly masked her expression with ignorance and looked at them with feigned confusion.
"Girl, you look pretty. Why don't you apply for a job as our young lady's maid? It's a shame for a pretty girl like you to be homeless without a future." A guard named Fury said with a grin on his face.
The bald guard just looked at this unlucky girl with pity mixed with a gleeful expression, but he quickly hid it for fear of ruining the young lady's fun.
If not for the fact she watched the Akame ga Kill anime, she would have thought they were decent people among the corrupt nobles in the capital.
Although she was disdainful inside, she still smirked at the offer.
"Is that true? Will I no longer endure hunger if I work for the young lady?" She asked with the enthusiasm of a country bumpkin.
Her acting skill was so great that the guards looked at each other and grinned.
"Of course. How about it, young lady?"
"She is indeed very suitable to become my maid. So, what is your name and why is a pretty girl like you sleeping on the street?" Aria asked with concern, masking her true intentions well.
Everyone on the street could see she appeared to be a good girl, very enthusiastic about helping those in need.
"Artoria. I have recently arrived in the capital and wanted to make a name for myself," Artoria answered.
If not for some random omnipotent being suddenly stuffing her here, who would want to come to this shithole place?
Without money, identity, or anything of worth in her name, she could only sleep on the street.
Even though she was strong, it didn't mean she liked robbing others or attracting unwanted attention before she grasped the information of this world.
Luckily, she met this girl and knew she was in Akame ga Kill.
"Will you accept my offer, Artoria?" Aria smiled sweetly.
"Thank you, young lady." She then held Aria's hands enthusiastically. Her innocent facade almost cracked as a forceful smile formed on her face.
How dare this country bumpkin hold her hand?
The rage Aria felt was so suffocating that she wanted to kill the girl right here and now, but she held back and offered her an angelic smile.
"Uhm... Let's meet my parents then. Let me introduce you to them." By then, she had an excuse to release her enthusiastic hand, and they were escorted by the guards into the carriage.
...
Artoria ga Kill
Our MC was stuffed into Artoria; however, instead of going to the Fate world, our MC slipped into Akame ga Kill. Well, should we call it Artoria ga Kill? This is her story, after all—the story of her awesomeness.
Chapter 1: My Romance Comedy Goes Wrong
Looking at the stray dogs or, to be precise, the beggars and homeless people on the street capital in front of her very eyes, Aria let out a gleeful cackle (internally, of course). From the perspective of an outsider, she was smiling sweetly at them and offering them bread; her guard behind her provided them with mineral water and clothing at the same time.
Aria was an attractive young girl with fair skin and soft features on her face that made her appear like an innocent girl from the perspective of outsiders. She had blonde hair and sky blue eyes that made others believe she was an angel descended to give them salvation. She wore a white, long-sleeved shirt with a light blue ribbon on her neck. Above her shirt, she wore a sleeveless, light blue dress with a black bodice and white frills. Aria also wore a pair of white boots.
She was escorted by her two guards who wore Imperial Armor and smiled sweetly at the homeless people who bowed their heads in gratitude to her.
"What should we do next, Young Lady?" one of Aria's guards inquired for the next instruction, after they'd doled out food and clothes to many homeless people.
"Is this question really necessary, Fury? Of course, we pick that girl up as our next victim." She let out a giggle with an innocent expression on her face and pointed her finger at Artoria, who was sleeping on the street with a dirty mattress and hugging her blanket tightly. "So, please, hurry up and wake her, so I can have my own fun later."
"Yes, young lady," the two guards chorused as they quickened their pace towards Artoria's location.
"Girl!"
"Hey, girl, wake up!" A guard with a shaved head nudged the young girl's shoulder and barked at the heavy sleeper.
"Who are you?" Artoria cracked open one eye and squinted at him warily.
After seeing the charming young girl smiling at her innocently, she frowned inwardly.
She knew who this girl was; it should be Aria from Akame ga Kill, the one who liked kidnapping and torturing the homeless for her own amusement.
Normally speaking, if this were a normal yuri story, this development would be about her getting isekai'd into another world, encountering difficulties, then meeting a young noble lady, being helped by her, and then becoming her handmaiden. She would secretly protect her young lady while hiding her true strength and identity, their relationship developing with misunderstandings, comedic moments, and romance, thus achieving a happy ending between the young lady and her handmaiden.
Unfortunately, reality is full of shit. Such a development only happens in stories.
Although she was unhappy to be ruthlessly slap by reality and meet such a psychopathic girl as soon as she was thrust into this world, however, she quickly masked her expression with ignorance and looked at them with feigned confusion.
"Girl, you look pretty. Why don't you apply for a job as our young lady's maid? It's a shame for a pretty girl like you to be homeless without a future." A guard named Fury said with a grin on his face.
The bald guard just looked at this unlucky girl with pity mixed with a gleeful expression, but he quickly hid it for fear of ruining the young lady's fun.
If not for the fact she watched the Akame ga Kill anime, she would have thought they were decent people among the corrupt nobles in the capital.
Although she was disdainful inside, she still smirked at the offer.
"Is that true? Will I no longer endure hunger if I work for the young lady?" She asked with the enthusiasm of a country bumpkin.
Her acting skill was so great that the guards looked at each other and grinned.
"Of course. How about it, young lady?"
"She is indeed very suitable to become my maid. So, what is your name and why is a pretty girl like you sleeping on the street?" Aria asked with concern, masking her true intentions well.
Everyone on the street could see she appeared to be a good girl, very enthusiastic about helping those in need.
"Artoria. I have recently arrived in the capital and wanted to make a name for myself," Artoria answered.
If not for some random omnipotent being suddenly stuffing her here, who would want to come to this shithole place?
Without money, identity, or anything of worth in her name, she could only sleep on the street.
Even though she was strong, it didn't mean she liked robbing others or attracting unwanted attention before she grasped the information of this world.
Luckily, she met this girl and knew she was in Akame ga Kill.
"Will you accept my offer, Artoria?" Aria smiled sweetly.
"Thank you, young lady." She then held Aria's hands enthusiastically. Her innocent facade almost cracked as a forceful smile formed on her face.
How dare this country bumpkin hold her hand?
The rage Aria felt was so suffocating that she wanted to kill the girl right here and now, but she held back and offered her an angelic smile.
"Uhm... Let's meet my parents then. Let me introduce you to them." By then, she had an excuse to release her enthusiastic hand, and they were escorted by the guards into the carriage.
...
Inside the mansion
"Don't hold back, girl, you will become our family in the future." A middle-aged, portly man with a white mustache, clad in formal light brown attire, boomed with a touch too much enthusiasm.
He was Aria's father from Akame ga Kill.
Artoria sniffed the food and detected there were no drugs, at least not yet. Perhaps they would do it tomorrow.
She picked their offerings of food without hesitation.
When they saw how much the girl ate, Aria's father's expression almost distorted in anger.
How dare this country bumpkin treat his dining table like this?
He said one thing but thought another; when he said no holding back and she really didn't hold back, he was mad.
The hypocrisy was at its finest.
Artoria was disdainful inside but kept wiping the food clean off the table.
She decided to check their warehouse. If they were really kidnapping other innocent people for their own self-gratification, she would kill them without hesitation. If it was just limited to the anime, she would just silently leave after this.
"Ahem, do you like the food, Artoria? My daughter seems to like you a lot and wants you to become her handmaiden." a smooth, practiced voice cut through her thoughts. It was Aria's mother, a vision of elegance with her perfectly coiffed blonde hair and glittering jewelry.
"Mother, you don't need to embarrass Artoria; she should make her own decision." Aria smiled sweetly.
"I would like to, but can I have more food, please?" Artoria asked with an innocent look in her eyes.
"Of course, my dear." Aria's mother smiled gently, but inwardly she was displeased at wasting their luxurious food on a country bumpkin and thinking about what torture she should give her tomorrow.
She would make sure this girl regretted wasting their food.
Despite her wicked thinking, the smile never left her face.
She clapped her hands, and more food was served on the plate.
Artoria wiped it clean over and over again, demanding more and more food until midnight, as cold sweat formed on their faces.
This girl is a monster!
...
Over the following weeks scouts were sent out to try to make contact with local Mopan and Chʼol communities, including Chok Ajaw, AjMay, IxBʼol and Manche without success – most of the natives had fled, leaving the forest deserted. At San Pedro Mártir he received news of AjChan's embassy to Mérida in December 1695 and the formal surrender of the Itza to Spanish authority.[219] Unable to reconcile the news with the loss of his men at Lake Petén Itzá, and with appalling conditions in San Pedro Mártir, Amésqueta abandoned the unfinished fort.[221] Friar Cano recommended to the new Guatemalan president that the Chʼol be moved to Verapaz where they could be properly administered. As a result of the failed expedition, Cano's recommendation was accepted, the fort was dismantled and any Maya that could be captured across a wide swathe of southern Petén was forcibly relocated to Belén near Rabinal in Verapaz. This way this relocation was conducted was brutal and ruthless and was condemned by several high-ranking colonial officials, including oidor José de Escals and even by Amésqueta.[222]
Fall of Nojpetén[edit]
Lake Petén Itza at the time of the conquest
The Itzas' continued resistance had become a major embarrassment for the Spanish colonial authorities, and soldiers were despatched from Campeche to take Nojpetén once and for all.[184] The final assault was made possible by the gradual opening of the road from Mérida to Petén;[223] by December 1696 this road had reached the lake shore although it was unfinished and still almost impassable in places.[224] By this time the deep divisions between the political leaders of the Itza were such that a unified defence of the Itza kingdom had become impossible.[225]
Final preparations[edit]
In late December 1696 the Chakʼan Itza attacked the large Kejache mission town of Pakʼekʼem; they abducted almost all the inhabitants and burned the church. The demoralised Spanish garrison at Chuntuki buried their weapons and ammunition and retreated five leagues (approximately 13 miles or 21 km) back towards Campeche.[226] From late December 1696 to the middle of January 1697 Ursúa sent parties of soldiers and workmen along the road towards the lake; the first group was commanded by Pedro de Zubiaur and had instructions to begin building a galeota, a large oar-powered warship.[227] This group was followed by reinforcements bringing supplies, including light and heavy weapons, gunpowder and food. On 23 January Ursúa left Campeche with more soldiers and muleteers, bringing the total number of soldiers arriving as reinforcements to 130.[228] The Spanish fortified their positions at Chʼichʼ and deployed heavy artillery for its defence.[229]
Martín de Ursúa y Arizmendi arrived on the western shore of lake Petén Itzá with his soldiers on 26 February 1697, and once there built the heavily armed galeota attack boat, which was assembled at Chʼichʼ over a space of 12 days in early March.[230] The galeota had a keel of 30 cubits or 14.4 metres (47 ft); it had 12 oars on each side and a rudder with an iron screw. The galeota carried 114 men and at least five artillery pieces, including a pieza (light cannon) and four pedreros (mortars).[40] The piragua longboat used to cross the San Pedro River was also transported to the lake to be used in the attack on the Itza capital; this boat had 6 oars and a rudder.[231]
From 28 February onwards the Spanish expedition was repeatedly approached by hostile Itzas, who sometimes shot arrows in the direction of the intruders but inflicted no casualties.[232] At the same time, small groups of curious Itzas mingled freely with the Spanish and received trinkets from them such as belts, necklaces and earrings.[229]
Assault on Nojpetén[edit]
On 10 March, Itza and Yalain emissaries arrived at Chʼichʼ to negotiate with Ursúa. First came AjChan who had already met him in Mérida; he was followed by Chamach Xulu, the ruler of the Yalain.[233] Kan Ekʼ then sent a canoe with a white flag raised bearing emissaries, including the Itza high priest, who offered peaceful surrender. Ursúa received the embassy in peace and invited Kan Ekʼ to visit his encampment three days later. On the appointed day Kan Ekʼ failed to arrive; instead Maya warriors massed both along the shore and in canoes upon the lake.[234]
Ursúa decided that any further attempts at peaceful incorporation of the Itza into the Spanish Empire were pointless, and a waterbourne assault was launched upon Kan Ek's capital on the morning of 13 March.[235] The encampment at Chʼichʼ was left defended by 25 Spanish soldiers, three Maya musketeers and several artillery pieces.[236] Ursúa boarded the galeota with 108 soldiers, two secular priests, five personal servants, the baptised Itza emissary AjChan and his brother-in-law and an Itza prisoner from Nojpetén. The attack boat was rowed east from Chʼichʼ towards the Itza capital; halfway across the lake it encountered a large fleet of canoes spread in an arc across the approach to Nojpetén, covering about 600 metres (2,000 ft) from one shore to another – Ursúa simply gave the order to row through them. A large number of defenders had gathered along the shore of Nojpetén and on the roofs of the city. As the galeota approached, more canoes put out from the shore and the Spanish were surrounded.[237] Once they had surrounded the galeota, Itza archers began to shoot at the invaders. Ursúa gave orders to his men not to fire but arrows wounded several soldiers; one of the wounded soldiers discharged his musket and at that point the officers lost control of their men. The defending Itza soon fled from the withering Spanish gunfire.[238]
The city fell after a brief but bloody battle in which many Itza warriors died; the Spanish suffered only minor casualties. The Spanish bombardment caused heavy loss of life on the island;[239] the surviving Itza abandoned their capital and swam across to the mainland with many dying in the water.[240] After the battle the surviving defenders melted away into the forests, leaving the Spanish to occupy an abandoned Maya town.[184] Martín de Ursúa planted his standard upon the highest point of the island and renamed Nojpetén as Nuestra Señora de los Remedios y San Pablo, Laguna del Itza ("Our Lady of Remedy and Saint Paul, Lake of the Itza").[241] The Itza nobility fled, dispersing to Maya settlements throughout Petén; in response the Spanish scoured the region with search parties.[242] Kan Ekʼ was soon captured with help from the Yalain Maya ruler Chamach Xulu;[243] The Kowoj king (Aj Kowoj) was also soon captured, together with other Maya nobles and their families.[239] With the defeat of the Itza, the last independent and unconquered native kingdom in the Americas fell to the European colonisers.[86]
Aftermath[edit]
Martín de Ursúa had little interest in administering the newly conquered territory and delegated its control to military officers who he did very little to support, either militarily or financially.[244] With Nojpetén safely in the hands of the Spanish, Ursúa returned to Mérida, leaving Kan Ekʼ and other high-ranking members of his family as prisoners of the Spanish garrison at Nuestra Señora de los Remedios y San Pablo, isolated among the hostile Itza and Kowoj who still dominated the mainland. The garrison was reinforced in 1699 by a military expedition from Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala, accompanied by mixed-race ladino civilians who came to found their own town around the military camp. The settlers brought disease with them, which killed many soldiers and colonists and swept through the indigenous population. The Guatemalans stayed just three months before returning to Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala, taking the captive Itza king with them, together with his son and two of his cousins. The cousins died on the long journey to Santiago; Ajaw Kan Ekʼ and his son spent the rest of their lives under house arrest in the colonial capital.[239]
When the Spanish conquered the Petén lakes in 1697, the Yalain were initially cooperative and assisted in the capture of the king of the Itza. At this time Yalain was ruled by Chamach Xulu. The Yalain leadership encouraged Christian conversion as a means of maintaining peace with the occupying Spanish forces. As time went on, Yalain cooperation with the Spanish appears to have decreased.[243] Soon after the conquest, the Yalain fled their settlements to avoid foraging Spanish parties that were abducting Maya women for "service" at their barracks. At this time, such was the hostility that was felt towards the occupying forces that the inhabitants of the Yalain settlements preferred to burn their fields and break all their pottery rather than leave anything for the Spanish.[245] The Yalain capital is recorded as having been burned in 1698.[246]
Final years of conquest[edit]
Spanish colonial church in DoloresCastillo de Arismendi, built in Nuestra Señora de los Remedios (modern Flores)
In the late 17th century, the small population of Chʼol Maya in southern Petén and Belize was forcibly removed to Alta Verapaz, where the people were absorbed into the Qʼeqchiʼ population.[84] After the conquest, the colonial administration of Petén was divided between the ecclesiastical authorities in Yucatán and secular administration as part of the Captaincy General of Guatemala. There was never a strong Spanish presence in the area, which remained remote, although the Spanish built a fortress-prison, the Castillo de Arismendi; it was finished in 1700.[247]
The distance from Nuestra Señora de los Remedios y San Pablo (formerly Nojpetén) to Mérida, combined with the difficult terrain and the hostility of the natives led to the road from Yucatán falling into a state of disrepair.[223] In 1701 Ursúa y Arezmendi realised that the road was in such a poor state that the Spanish garrison could not be supplied from Yucatán. He wrote to the King of Spain, requesting that Petén be transferred from the jurisdiction of Yucatán to the Audiencia Real of Guatemala.[248] In 1703 Ursúa's petition was granted, with the condition that the ecclesiastical authority over Petén would pass to the Dominican Order.[249]
...
"I would like to, but can I have more food, please?" Artoria asked with an innocent look in her eyes.
"Of course, my dear." Aria's mother smiled gently, but inwardly she was displeased at wasting their luxurious food on a country bumpkin and thinking about what torture she should give her tomorrow.
She would make sure this girl regretted wasting their food.
Despite her wicked thinking, the smile never left her face.
She clapped her hands, and more food was served on the plate.
Artoria wiped it clean over and over again, demanding more and more food until midnight, as cold sweat formed on their faces.
This girl is a monster!
...
Chapter 1: My Romance Comedy Goes Wrong
Looking at the stray dogs or, to be precise, the beggars and homeless people on the street capital in front of her very eyes, Aria let out a gleeful cackle (internally, of course). From the perspective of an outsider, she was smiling sweetly at them and offering them bread; her guard behind her provided them with mineral water and clothing at the same time.
Aria was an attractive young girl with fair skin and soft features on her face that made her appear like an innocent girl from the perspective of outsiders. She had blonde hair and sky blue eyes that made others believe she was an angel descended to give them salvation. She wore a white, long-sleeved shirt with a light blue ribbon on her neck. Above her shirt, she wore a sleeveless, light blue dress with a black bodice and white frills. Aria also wore a pair of white boots.
She was escorted by her two guards who wore Imperial Armor and smiled sweetly at the homeless people who bowed their heads in gratitude to her.
"What should we do next, Young Lady?" one of Aria's guards inquired for the next instruction, after they'd doled out food and clothes to many homeless people.
"Is this question really necessary, Fury? Of course, we pick that girl up as our next victim." She let out a giggle with an innocent expression on her face and pointed her finger at Artoria, who was sleeping on the street with a dirty mattress and hugging her blanket tightly. "So, please, hurry up and wake her, so I can have my own fun later."
"Yes, young lady," the two guards chorused as they quickened their pace towards Artoria's location.
"Girl!"
"Hey, girl, wake up!" A guard with a shaved head nudged the young girl's shoulder and barked at the heavy sleeper.
"Who are you?" Artoria cracked open one eye and squinted at him warily.
After seeing the charming young girl smiling at her innocently, she frowned inwardly.
She knew who this girl was; it should be Aria from Akame ga Kill, the one who liked kidnapping and torturing the homeless for her own amusement.
Normally speaking, if this were a normal yuri story, this development would be about her getting isekai'd into another world, encountering difficulties, then meeting a young noble lady, being helped by her, and then becoming her handmaiden. She would secretly protect her young lady while hiding her true strength and identity, their relationship developing with misunderstandings, comedic moments, and romance, thus achieving a happy ending between the young lady and her handmaiden.
Unfortunately, reality is full of shit. Such a development only happens in stories.
Although she was unhappy to be ruthlessly slap by reality and meet such a psychopathic girl as soon as she was thrust into this world, however, she quickly masked her expression with ignorance and looked at them with feigned confusion.
"Girl, you look pretty. Why don't you apply for a job as our young lady's maid? It's a shame for a pretty girl like you to be homeless without a future." A guard named Fury said with a grin on his face.
The bald guard just looked at this unlucky girl with pity mixed with a gleeful expression, but he quickly hid it for fear of ruining the young lady's fun.
If not for the fact she watched the Akame ga Kill anime, she would have thought they were decent people among the corrupt nobles in the capital.
Although she was disdainful inside, she still smirked at the offer.
"Is that true? Will I no longer endure hunger if I work for the young lady?" She asked with the enthusiasm of a country bumpkin.
Her acting skill was so great that the guards looked at each other and grinned.
"Of course. How about it, young lady?"
"She is indeed very suitable to become my maid. So, what is your name and why is a pretty girl like you sleeping on the street?" Aria asked with concern, masking her true intentions well.
Everyone on the street could see she appeared to be a good girl, very enthusiastic about helping those in need.
"Artoria. I have recently arrived in the capital and wanted to make a name for myself," Artoria answered.
If not for some random omnipotent being suddenly stuffing her here, who would want to come to this shithole place?
Without money, identity, or anything of worth in her name, she could only sleep on the street.
Even though she was strong, it didn't mean she liked robbing others or attracting unwanted attention before she grasped the information of this world.
Luckily, she met this girl and knew she was in Akame ga Kill.
"Will you accept my offer, Artoria?" Aria smiled sweetly.
"Thank you, young lady." She then held Aria's hands enthusiastically. Her innocent facade almost cracked as a forceful smile formed on her face.
How dare this country bumpkin hold her hand?
The rage Aria felt was so suffocating that she wanted to kill the girl right here and now, but she held back and offered her an angelic smile.
"Uhm... Let's meet my parents then. Let me introduce you to them." By then, she had an excuse to release her enthusiastic hand, and they were escorted by the guards into the carriage.
...
Artoria ga Kill
Our MC was stuffed into Artoria; however, instead of going to the Fate world, our MC slipped into Akame ga Kill. Well, should we call it Artoria ga Kill? This is her story, after all—the story of her awesomeness.
Chapter 1: My Romance Comedy Goes Wrong
Looking at the stray dogs or, to be precise, the beggars and homeless people on the street capital in front of her very eyes, Aria let out a gleeful cackle (internally, of course). From the perspective of an outsider, she was smiling sweetly at them and offering them bread; her guard behind her provided them with mineral water and clothing at the same time.
Aria was an attractive young girl with fair skin and soft features on her face that made her appear like an innocent girl from the perspective of outsiders. She had blonde hair and sky blue eyes that made others believe she was an angel descended to give them salvation. She wore a white, long-sleeved shirt with a light blue ribbon on her neck. Above her shirt, she wore a sleeveless, light blue dress with a black bodice and white frills. Aria also wore a pair of white boots.
She was escorted by her two guards who wore Imperial Armor and smiled sweetly at the homeless people who bowed their heads in gratitude to her.
"What should we do next, Young Lady?" one of Aria's guards inquired for the next instruction, after they'd doled out food and clothes to many homeless people.
"Is this question really necessary, Fury? Of course, we pick that girl up as our next victim." She let out a giggle with an innocent expression on her face and pointed her finger at Artoria, who was sleeping on the street with a dirty mattress and hugging her blanket tightly. "So, please, hurry up and wake her, so I can have my own fun later."
"Yes, young lady," the two guards chorused as they quickened their pace towards Artoria's location.