CH.252 Alice wakes up

CH.252 Alice wakes up

“By the way Lua,” I spoke up, as Lua and I were doing some basic magic practice in our room. “What reward did you get for the behemoth mission? You did get one at that time?” I asked, referring to the missions we both got to help to fulfill the prophecy regarding the behemoth at Alewatch. You know, the one that gave me the Chosen Evolution thing.

“Oh that... it was... I got a title.” Lua said.

“Is something wrong with it?” I asked, hearing the hesitation in Lua’s voice.

“No. ... well, it is a bit... I don’t like it.” She admitted.

“Oh. ... alright.” I said, and refocused on our training.

...

...

“Don’t you want to know what it is?” Lua asked.

“No. If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to.” I told her. “But if you are willing to share, I’ll listen.”

“... it... it’s the title Saint...” Lua said quietly.

“oh? Alright. And what is so... oh yeah. That.” I recalled why that title might be a little questionable for Lua to have. She does have the same name as the saint who was a member of the Hero’s party. “Does it at least have a helpful effect?” I asked.

“... in a way.” Lua said. “Because I have it, I can learn Holy Magic and it also increases the power of my Holy Magic.”

“That’s not too bad. We need to look at getting you a teacher for that. I wonder if any of my monsters can use Holy Magic? Maybe some of the fairies?”

“Yes... maybe.” Lua said. “... But Brian, if they can’t, what will we do? If I reveal myself as a saint and a system support holder, what will happen to me? Do you think the church will steal me or something?”

“Do you think they could? Honestly speaking. If the church really follows the Goddess, a system support holder should be able to command them, right? Add to that the title of saint and you should be fine, no matter what. What do you think will happen if the word gets out that the church kidnapped someone who is both a saint and a system support holder? Especially if the word comes from another system support holder.”

“... I ... I’m not sure.” Lua admitted. “I’d guess they’d lose a lot of the respect they have? But what if they claimed you were lying?”

“People would likely demand that they prove it. And for that, they’d have to allow you to speak. And at that point, I could do any number of things to bring out the truth.”

“... alright. I guess we could look for someone who can teach me.” Lua gave in.

After we had lunch, Lua and I headed outside the city walls with Paulina. As well as a few guards and an agriculturist. We were there to assess some of the damage caused yesterday, and how to best deal with it.

Originally it was only supposed to be Paulina and the agriculturist doing the assessment, but as this is partially my fault, I’ll offer my support as well.

The assessment was, well both good and bad. Some areas, like where the dragons had been sitting/laying were expected to recover, but the area right under where my Ultimate Dragon fought Agunan was completely dead. It had caught on fire and burned, so I guess that is to be expected.

“The ground itself is dead. Burned to the point it is useless.” The agriculturist said. “It will likely take some years before this is usable, unless multiple earth mages can replace the entire top soil. And even then, it would take a year to have it be usable again.”

... wow. I didn’t expect it to be that bad.

“Any other ways of doing it?” Paulina asked.

“There are, but it just won’t be worth it. At the end of the day, this is just a crop field. It isn’t worth it to use either multiple magic stones, or large quantities of healing potions to heal the land.”

“... will just some healing potions heal this land?” I asked.

“Don’t say just some.” The agriculturist cited me. “We would need hundreds of potions for an area this size.”

“Yeah, normally. But...” As I said that, I got a card out of the collection. “Paulina, may I?”

“Go for it.” She agreed.

“Rain of Mercy.” I activated the card.

Spoiler

[collapse]

When I activated this card, both after the sprite attack and the hydra fight, it did seem to have a healing effect on literally everything the rain hit, including the ground. So this should work.

The people around me looked at me in surprise as the healing rain began to fall. Hey. Don’t look at me like that. It doesn’t feel good.

“... Sir? Do you think you could also do that to the areas damaged by the dragons ... lounging? While not as bad as this, this would really help those areas as well.” The agriculturist asked.

... really? Is that how this is going to be? ... fine. Because it is my fault the dragons came, I’ll do it.

I ended up activating another seven copies of Rain of Mercy to take care of all of the damaged areas, but it did appear to be worth it. And the farmers would still have to replant the burned area at least. Hopefully the owner of that farm will get help from the others who also had their crops healed for free.

For the rest of the afternoon, I could just relax. Not really. I was actually having tea with a bunch of ladies. Both Lua and I were invited to a ‘tea-party’ hosted by the Sawyer sisters.

Honestly it was just them having me retell both the dragon fight as well as what happened in Alewatch. But I had a better idea, so with the help of Laura and Tahlia, I linked a few skills so that I could open my Dungeon Founder skill for them to see, and show everyone the dragon battle from my PoV, recorded by Tahlia. Makeshift movie theater is a go.

Agunan really liked re-seeing the fight, as he seemed to be gathering ways of beating my Ultimate Dragon next time. All I can say is good luck.

But before I could swap over to the end of the behemoth fight, one of the manor maids rushed in gave us a message.

“Miss Alice has woken up.” She told us.

Spoiler[collapse]

(... you know, you could have told me that earlier.)

(Do you think I knew?) Laura asked. (The System doesn’t know everything about your cards, and neither do I. This is the first time this has happened, so of course I couldn’t warn you. And as I said, that is just my theory.) Laura complained.

(Yeah. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t blame you.) I admitted. It was honestly just a reaction. Laura always knows so much that it almost feels like she can see the future. But in the end, she isn't all-powerful.

Then, I told everyone Laura’s theory. Even if I told it as my own, because the doctor was in the room.

Christina looked... taken back by the news, while Alice and Lua both seemed happy. Jenna was happy either way because Alice was safe and the doctor didn’t seem to fully understand everything.

“Alice, my dear.” Christina said. “If you are going to stay like that, will you at least show us your status?”

Alice turned to me, as if asking if I thought it was a good idea, so I spoke up.

“I think the doctor and Jenna should leave the room first.” I said, as I traded the useless card in my hand for a different one.

Alice agreed with me and we ‘kicked’ the intruders out. Then I summoned Cosmo Queen to put up a barrier so no one else could overhear this. I know there are people right behind that wall and door, with their ears against said things.

“... whenever you are ready.” I told Alice, after the barrier was up.

“Alright. Status Open.” Alice said, and her status popped up for us to see.

Name: Alice Mana WatchmanRace: Magical Girl ?Level: 77HP: 1460Mana: 3700Strength: 828Defense: 1128Magic: 2836 Skills: Magical Girl (unique-racial) LV.1 Card Summoner LV.3 (extra)Magician’s Power LV.5 (extra) Multicasting LV.4 (extra)Mana Flight LV.5 (extra)Telekinesis LV.2 (extra)Giant Slayer LV.1 (extra) Dark Magic LV.9Mana Control LV.10Magic Boost LV.7Quick Cast LV.8Instant Cast LV.1 Fast Mana Recovery LV.10Magic resistance LV.4Staff Technique LV.3 One with two SoulsOne who defeated the Impossible

... wow. I knew about the second name and System Support thanks to Aulis, but still. She is so strong. She is basically as strong as Lua. She also has a bunch of new skills. As well as two titles. I think some of her skills come from Dark Magician Girl, like Instant Cast, Staff Technique and Telekinesis, but I’m not sure about Magic Resistance. Giant Slayer comes from her ‘One who defeated the Impossible’ title, according to Laura. It boosts her stats when fighting anything larger than twice her size. And Magical Girl has to be something new. It is also a unique-racial skill, so ... I’m not actually completely sure what that means. I’d guess that means that Alice is the first magical girl there has ever been, maybe?

Well, at least she is fine. That is all that really matters.

Alice was still to be in bed rest for the rest of this day, and she was going to have another check-up tomorrow. And if that came out alright, she’d be free to go.

For me, well, nothing much happened. We had a small dinner party with the entire Sawyer family, but other than that, the evening was quite normal.

... well, about as normal as it could be, with Alice spamming system messages to me.

Yes. She now has a system support, and Laura linked herself with it, as did Mia, so Alice could now instant message me whenever she wanted. Tomorrow, I’ll bring her to the factory.

Perhaps because of Alice constantly messaging me, I also ended up... well...

“Brian.” Christina spoke to me, as I was already dealing with the messages coming from Alice. “You will take responsibility for Alice, won’t you? You know, you did permanently alter her body, so you’ll have to.”

“Yeah, yeah. Of course I will.” I said back, not really realizing what Christina just requested.

Only as I realized that everyone was now looking at me did I realize what I just agreed to.

... well, I guess I ... FUCK! Lua. This isn’t my fault.

“... I mean, at least as long as Lua isn’t opposed to it.” I quickly added. “If she says no, then I cannot do it.”

I do like Alice. I know I do. Even if I never really saw her in that way, because she is just a bit too young. You know, 18+ and all of that. Alice isn’t 18, so on earth, I’d go to jail if I... yeah. You get it.

But her fusion with Mana did quickly alter her body to be more ‘adult like’. No, I’m not just talking about her breast size. If that was a problem, I wouldn’t be with Lua.

... I’m just digging myself into a hole.

“... I think it should be fine.” Lua said. “I’m sure you have enough love for the both of us.”

“... I didn’t expect that... I love you.” I almost instinctively said that last part.

“... Why, thank you.” Lua said, a small blush appearing on her face.

We might have gotten some looks from the others, but I don’t really care.

Before going to bed, I, with Lua, visited Alice one more time for today.

This time, it was just the three of us in the room.

“... Alice.”

“Yes?”

“... I’m sorry for what happened. Because of me, you are like that.” I began.

“But I wanted this.”

“I know. But still. Alice. ... Do you think you can forgive me for what I did, if I promise to take care of you, for the rest of your life?” As I asked that, I took out a bracelet I made a while ago from my storage. “Will you allow me to court you, with marriage in mind?” I asked, in a very noble style. It felt cringy as anything, but I still did it, because etiquette and all of that.

“Yes!” Alice called out as she snatched the bracelet from my hand and slid it onto her left hand. “I’m not giving it back this time.”

“... you don’t have to. It is now yours.” I said. “But you will have to share me with Lua. Lua, your hand, please.” I requested as I took the second bracelet out of my storage.

I originally made them thinking they would just be cool magic boosting items. Specifically for dark magic. But then ... well you know what happened, so I took them back. But now, I can once again hand them out, even if only one goes to the person they were originally made for.

“I want you two to wear these as a sign that I want you.” I told the two girls. “But I want to make a promise. One day, when I’m better at magic, I’ll make you both new ones. Ones that I make all on my own, with no help from any of my monsters, or anyone else. When that happens, let’s get officially married.”

““Yes.”” The girls agreed.