CH396

That’s the eight hundredth job crystal, and with that, I’m finally done.

Not only had he made an outrageous number of job crystals in the days since he’d been asked, he’d completed an uncountable number of enchantments for armours and weapons, to the point that he wouldn’t be shocked if he was close to leveling his skill again. It had certainly had an effect on his job level, the sheer volume of enchanting he’d been forcing himself to do each day giving him a mountain of experience, even if he wasn’t enjoying the many other aspects of crafting, nor indulging in anything that would go towards the sacrilege part of his job.

<And all it took was working yourself into the ground. Fifteen-hour days of constant work, your blood could probably qualify as a weaker version of the potions you’d been downing just to keep going.>

Hey now, don’t act like it didn’t work out for you at all. You’ve gotten a lot of prayers.

<Yes, thousands at the expense of your health. I appreciate it, but you are not coming to my realm tonight. Tomorrow’s the day, I’m not having you dying from overwork.>

That’s fair enough, I’m pretty sure I’m too exhausted for any of the usual nightmares anyway so some proper sleep feels like it would do me some good. But for now, time to enjoy the good bits of mortal life.

He left the job crystals he’d made with the employee Iberu had stationed with him as he made his way back to the embassy. It was late afternoon, not quite yet evening, as well as the earliest he’d been done in days, but there was a reason for that as he went to wash up and change before heading to the gate, making his way to Anailia.

Unlike craftsman’s tower, the homeland of the succubi was mostly the same. No armies were there to help considering that Abrus was able to deal with the first wave by himself, meaning that there was no need for anyone to evacuate. There was of course the same feeling of gloom and doom that engulfed the world as a whole, but there were still people out living their lives instead of streets filled with people prepared to lay their own down, giving the place a marginally better feeling as he made his way to the queen’s home, off to enjoy what had the potential to be his last meal with Thera and her family.

He was let through the front entrance, the guards recognizing him from his previous visits as he stood briefly at the front door, slapping his face to try and get rid of some of the exhaustion that clung to him before putting on the best smile he could as if it was a mask to wear as he made his way to the dining room, finding everyone else already there and in their own conversations.

“Ah, took you long enough boy,” His teacher called out. “I was telling you, you shoulda stopped with that yesterday, you’ve done more than enough as is.”

“Probably, but I still have plenty more in me, you know?” He said back confidently, feeling tired enough to collapse as he took a seat beside Thera as she leaned over, giving him a kiss on the cheek and drawing a few cheers from the others there while he could only look back in surprise.

“Uh…”

“I already told my parents about us,” She said shyly. “Just trying to let them get used to knowing.”

“And I’m still hurt to be the last to know,” Pelenia pouted. “I want compensation! Name my first grandchild after me, I deserve it.”

Thera shot her mother a dirty look as Pelenia returned it with a confused one, quickly changing to understanding as a grin formed on her face from the silent exchange.

“Of course, who knows when I’ll need to worry about that,” The queen laughed. “So many steps one can take to put that sort of thing off after all.”

“Ahem, so I see we’re missing a couple?” Ben said, trying to change the topic to keep Pelenia from antagonizing her daughter too much. “Where are Karly and Glob off to?”

The table was filled with Lux and her family, along with Thera, Pelenia, Abrus, Sonya, and Falk, but he’d been expecting the other summoned to be there as well, along with the great spirit Funa. It wasn’t like the table felt empty without them, but he had been hoping to see them, just in case it was going to be the last time.

“Oh, they’re both meeting with old friends right now,” Abrus explained. “And Funa’s standing by her gate.”

“Ah, fair enough.”

They all had people to see, it made sense they’d want to one more time. It wasn’t like he didn’t either really, but both Will and Steph were kept busy by their nations and Amy, Jake, and Yuzu were likely indulging in their time together on the final day.

But we aren’t thinking about it.

All of them tried to avoid touching on what was so clearly at the front of their minds as the meal eventually came out, instead talking about nothing. None of them wanted to focus on the unavoidable, so instead they simply spoke about life.

Ben told them all about a few of his more interesting projects that didn’t weigh so heavily on his mind as Thera talked about the friendships she’d been growing and developing in the past year, giving her parents no end of joy to hear about their daughter connecting with other people.

Pelenia teased her sister, ever so gently implying that something should happen with Falk as Sonya in return mercilessly silenced her, and both Lux and Writ were happy to gush about Seren’s growth, the toddler joining the conversation to the small extent he could, and managing to be the only one who didn’t have to fake things, genuinely enjoying the attention he received without having to consider the what the future held.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

For just a moment, Ben was able to enjoy it all, just indulging in the company of people he loved without the thought of their demise filling his head as the hours passed in peace until they eventually had to bring things to an end.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay?” Pelenia asked as he and Thera prepared to head back. “It’s not like we don’t have the space. Your room is always going to be open Thera.”

“Thanks mom, but I think it will be a bit easier if we’re already there in the morning. Besides, I think I need the walk back.”

“Oh well, if you’re sure.”

Reaching out, Pelenia pulled her daughter into a tight hug, her face slipping when Thera couldn’t see it but eventually making herself let go before moving to hug Ben as well.

“Now, you make sure you take extra good care of my daughter, understood?”

“Yes ma’am, don’t worry. I’m pretty sure I act like a bad luck magnet so as long as I’m close by anything that would be going to her should end up hitting me instead.”

“…You know, that’s not actually reassuring. Thera, take care of Ben. I like the boy that broke down your walls too much to want to have to talk to Karly about human funeral customs.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve been working so hard on my life magic specifically to get better at putting him back together.”

“Also not reassuring. Alright, both of you have a good night. Maybe even a very good night,” Pelenia told them, giving a final wink before going back in and leaving the two of them to walk back to the gate.

He could see Thera blushing, both of them having picked up on the implication as they went back and tried to ignore it, instead wanting to squeeze just a little more joy out of the night that they could.