“Wsvcxb…”, Hex’s voice quivered. “Yv’o rxxp os fspj…”.
“Hex”, the king slime rumbled. “Isq’bx z jcsov psm?”.
Hex nodded, overcome with emotion.
Meanwhile, Lucina paced around the table, deep in thought. “Ok. The king slime is probably heading for one of two places. Either here, or… Sugaria”. She marked out a place close by on the map.
“Sugaria?”, I asked. “What’s that place like? Why would a king slime head there?”.
Phoebe smiled. “It’s a city surrounded by quite a lot of land. The ground is made up of a bunch of tasty treats- ice cream, chocolate, and caramel- that are mined there and shipped around the whole world”.
“You think it’s just hungry?”, I was perplexed. Phoebe nodded.
“This is a problem…”, Lucina chewed her fingernails. “We need to defend this city. Still, we can’t just ignore the king slime… So we’ll have to split up”.
She looked up. “Ok. I’ll guard Mechadream. Phoebe and Count Boogula, you head to Sugaria”.
Phoebe shook her head. “Hex could come back any time to destroy our rockets. What happens if you have to fight him again all alone? Count Boogula should stay here too”.
“Phoebe… can you use holy magic?”, Lucina’s tone was soft, but the question caught Phoebe off guard. Her reaction was an answer itself.
Lucina looked down at the floor. “I’ve suspected it for a long time. But you’re amazing, to get to C-rank without any magic. You inspired me to become an adventurer. So…”.
“I’m just not enough, am I?”, Phoebe turned around and stormed out of the room. I floated back and forth, before deciding to follow her.
“Hey… are you ok?”. She was sitting outside, crying.
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“…It’s true, you know?”, she wiped her eyes and finally responded. “I could never use holy magic like my sister. That’s part of why I became an adventurer, you know…”.
“You wanted to have something special, too”, I realized. “For your sister to look up to you the same way you look up to her”.
“Well geez, when you put it that way, it sounds so selfish, doesn’t it?”, she sniffled, with a faint smile on her face. “But compared to you and Lucina, I’m just the useless tagalong here”.
“Really? I don’t see it that way”, I said. “Lucina wants us to fight the king slime. That itself shows she trusts me… but it also shows she trusts you too, Phoebe”.
“What? But I’m just weak. She’s expecting you to defeat the king slime, not me”.
“No. You’re not strong enough yet. But instead of sending you somewhere safe, she sent you towards the king slime… I think she wants you to grow stronger”.
Phoebe’s eyes widened. “…Does she still think… I could awaken holy magic…?”. She said it in a near whisper, a long dead hope given just the barest flicker of life.
I dared not say anything. After all, I knew nothing about that kind of magic. Still, the implication was unmistakable.
Phoebe suddenly stood up. “…Even if it’s impossible, I can’t just sit around at C-rank forever. Let’s go back inside. After all, the king slime could reappear at any moment”. I nodded.
She turned and smiled at me. “Count Boogula, you’re actually kind of wise, aren’t you?”.
I sucked in a breath. Phoebe, you’re a lot stronger than you think, I thought.
“One more thing…”, Lucina continued. “Our enemy Hex is powerful. We may have gotten lucky so far, but we’ll all need to prepare if we expect to win the next battle”. Phoebe nodded.
“I don’t know”, I argued. “The king slime seems more like final boss fight material to me”.
“Even though Hex improved on your signature spell?”, Phoebe said slyly.
I froze. “…Whatever could you mean? As if that hack could improve my spell”.
“Hmm… are you sure? I mean, his pocket dimension has beaten yours twice now. What if you actually copied some of his work by mistake? You can never be sure…”.
“You… you take that back!”, I stammered. “His knockoff spells… and bootleg magic… could never defeat the original! I’ll prove it to you!”.
Phoebe chuckled. Lucina tried and failed to suppress the smile on her face. I stared at them both in despair. This was serious!
