CH980 Thera’s Perspective
by“Hey, how many more kids could your parents have before it started feeling weird?”
“Strange question,” Aso laughed as the two of them walked through town together. “Got an unexpected sibling on the way?”
“Ugh, my mother has made it pretty clear that she’s planning on more if things go well since there’s now a way to manage my charm issue, which wasn’t a big deal when I thought it might be one or two but I’m beginning to worry that she’s thinking double digits.”
“Some competition for the throne then,” the other girl laughed. “I hear that can get messy.”
“Elected matriarchy, I’m not taking over for her as things are and no other hypothetical children will either.”
“What, you can’t? Do succubi have some rule about letting the children of their previous queen have a shot?”
“Okay, no, the main requirement to run for the role is completing Anailia’s trial, so if I wanted to then I’m technically qualified, but I absolutely refuse to and frankly, I don’t think anyone would want me having that position anyway. Opinions about me in Stonewall aren’t exactly too different from opinions I’d get to hear whispered about me growing up.”
“Maybe you’ll need to compete for a different position then?” Aso teased. “Currently only one spirit princess, but if you get some siblings, you’ll be left competing over who gets to be spirit queen.”
“Spirit queen?” the spirits swarming her echoed, playing with the idea amongst themselves, with some sounding far too into it.
“Ignore her, please,” she addressed the surroundings before focusing more on Aso. “Please don’t give anyone any ideas. That’s an even faker position than spirit princess, and I do not want a new title coming along with it.”
“I personally think it would be fun, but okay. In that case, what’s actually on your mind?”
“What? Nothing, nothing, I… well, I guess I feel like I’ve hit a bit of a wall, but that’s a personal issue; it’s not a huge deal.”
The fact that she’d apparently given anything away couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassing, but it was the same thing that had been on her mind for ages by that point. She didn’t know what she could do to grow further beyond her limits. She didn’t know how to reach the third tier.
After all, she wasn’t Ben. She couldn’t make plans upon plans to optimize her existence and she didn’t have a mind that would let her cheat time itself; all she held was her accumulated knowledge, a few handy points in her status, and a time limit. Even if the odds were slim, there was hope she’d become a soul mage, but by that point, she didn’t know what else she might do to make it happen. It wasn’t even a matter of what she knew or not having the talent, it ultimately came down to not having the time to get there.
And I know that it’s the sort of thing that can come with a big enough achievement, but I have no clue what I could possibly achieve to make this happen, she sighed to herself. Add in the fact that I’m helping less at any hospital, and it feels like my odds are dropping.
The worst part was that it was never something she would have considered trying to achieve in the time they had left if the idea hadn’t been put in her head, but now that it was there, it felt inescapable. Everyone had to do their part for the survival of the planet, but it felt like she was on the edge of being able to do so much more, with only one big, impossible threshold holding her back from getting there.
With none of that being anything she wanted to make Aso aware of. The girl was her friend and Thera trusted her, but the town already knew she was a second tier, she didn’t want to deal with anyone having too good of an idea of just how far along the skill she was, even if the other healer tried to reassure.
“I think you’re worrying too much,” Aso told her. “Some things take time, right? Just because you might have slown down doesn’t mean you’re not going to get there. I mean, depending on what wall you think you’ve hit, it might be more shocking if you didn’t need a bit more time.”
“Well, that’s true enough,” she admitted. All things being relative, she really had only become a contender for her life magic recently in comparison to the length of time anyone might be before having any real hope of crossing that boundary. She knew her uncle had been at it for years, if not decades, and while Ben’s insane brain may not have been as long, his sacrilege had a good few years at that level along with plenty of failed attempts to awaken it behind it. Even with all of her mana and her magic authority, hoping that she’d be able to get there so soon was just unreasonable extra pressure to put on herself.
Maybe I’d be able to manage it if my brain was insane too, she sighed. Unfortunately, I’m just too well adjusted I guess.
A small joke to herself to lighten the mood that spawned an unexpected ideal, leaving her brow to crinkle in thought.
“Thera?”
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“Hmm? Oh, don’t worry, just had a small idea to try later, it’s not important. For now, want to grab lunch?”
It was a thought she needed to sit on for a bit, and lunch was the perfect time to decide if it was a completely outlandish one. She may not have been insane, but could she make herself even just a little bit, to try and raise her odds?
Walking into the shop, it wasn’t any of the numerous Bens or Mora working there who noticed her first but instead Delair, the girl looking the right way at the right time to give her a happy wave and call as she walked in.
“Hey Thera!”
“Hey Delair, hey Mora, you two having fun today?”
“Absolutely! We’re making a trebuchet!”
“A small one,” Ben clarified, as if the fact that the entire space of the shop wasn’t filled with a siege weapon wasn’t a clue enough. “Just something nice and reasonable to get the principles down.”
“But you promised if we do well enough then we could all make a full-sized one later.”
“… Alright, I did promise that, I was just hoping I’d get a different chance to bring it up with Thera later.”




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