“Do I just inherently draw in crazy people? Dealing with Roan before and now this, what the hell.”

“Don’t forget Ben,” Aso chimed in.

“Ben’s not… Well, even if he is crazy, it’s a different sort of crazy. Gods above, I’m really not in the mood to put up with this.”

“Um, so if it wasn’t this that has you looking so bad Thera, wanna tell us what the matter is?” Sachel asked. “I wouldn’t mind being an ear.”

She really wanted to help if she could too. Aside from the deep gratitude she felt for Thera helping her achieve her lifelong dream of awakening to proper plant magic, she also wanted to prove herself as a friend in general. While they had their history, Sachel had been putting in the work to make up for it and it was something Thera saw enough that she gave in and told the two about what had happened, letting them try to support her when she was so obviously not feeling great.

“I’m sure you just need another level or two,” Aso said encouragingly. “With all of your mana, I’m sure we could get you there in a couple months if we try! We could even go out today if you want.”

“I have nothing planned with my usual party,” Sachel added. “It sounds fun, why not?”

“Thanks guys but I really don’t have it in me today,” She told them, still trying to smile to show that she at least appreciated the effort.

“Well, do you at least want some company?” Sachel asked her. “I have nothing going on right now.”

“Me neither, plus this is my first time here, don’t kick us out yet.”

Do I want some company?

A part of her wanted to say no, to keep stewing in her misery, but she couldn’t deny that having them there was helping to raise her mood just a little. Aside from the news they’d brought with them, it felt genuinely nice to just sit and talk. It had the air of normality that she was so afraid of losing.

But if I am going to lose it, shouldn’t I at least enjoy it while I can?

“Sure, having some company might be nice," She told them. “In that case, want to play some games or something to pass the time?”

“Sure, but do you have anything other than lowmage?” Aso asked. “I freaking suck at it. Or my dad’s too good. Either way, I never win.”

“Other games? Yeah. plenty.”

She looked in the corner where everything Ben had made them to play over the years was stored up, both traditional games from his world along with magic ones placed on enchanted slabs of diamond. All of it was novel though and she couldn’t help but be just a little interested in the reactions they’d bring.

It wasn’t surprising they went over so well as a few hours passed. The ones from his original world had a novelty to them and the enchanted ones were just different from anything else that could be found in town, leaving the two enthralled while her aunt got them some snacks before quietly digging into a book to the side, enjoying getting to see her niece being part of a happy environment.

“These are so cool,” Aso told her between rounds as she fiddled with a crystal tablet. “You’ve been holding out Thera, why have you never had me over when you have stuff like this to play with? Where can I buy one? Wait, dumb question. Do I need to put in a custom order or does Ben just have these ready to go at your uncle's place?”

“You’d probably have to put in a custom order. I don’t think he’s actually too worried about selling them since he’s mostly just using them as a form of practice for his work.”

“What about the cards?” Sachel asked after enjoying a few of the different games there were to play with them. “I could see these being nice to bring along for any longer trip to pass some time.”

“Probably also a custom order, I don’t think he has anything like this premade in my uncle's store since it’s not really blacksmithy,” She explained. “If you guys want, we could go check with him?”

She said she’d go visit today anyway so there was no reason not to, and after some time had passed her mood had improved enough that she wanted to go out to get some air anyway, but the two with her looked less sure.

“You sure Thera?” Aso asked. “We might run into that guy if we head out.”

“Pff, I’m not going to stay inside just to avoid him. If we see him I’ll turn him down so I can get it over with.”

“Well, if you’re sure…”

“I am, come on, I told Ben I’d visit anyway.”

With the decision made the three of them got up to leave and Sonya moved to join them in the end, still worried enough that she didn’t want to leave Thera and had her choice validated only a couple minutes into their walk as a man approached them, holding forth a bouquet of flowers.

“So I guess he’s been hanging around the area,” Sonya said, sounding severely unimpressed. “I must not have been firm enough.”

Thera didn’t react to her aunt's words, she was too busy looking at the guy walking towards them. His body was covered in blue marks, almost looking like tattoos that were enhanced by piercing silver eyes.

This is the asshole who got me the saintess title.

It felt weird to be annoyed about. By all accounts, it was an excellent one, but it carried a certain level of expectations with it that she simply didn’t want to have to deal with. Still, she decided she would be as polite as she could manage. She wouldn’t hold it against him since it was genuinely handy and she would deal with his crush maturely so she could get on with her day and life.

“Beautiful saintess, you wouldn’t believe how hard it was to find you,” He told her, exuding confidence as he held forth his flowers. “You may not remember me, but you saved my life so let me devote it to you. When I first opened my eyes and saw your golden visage I knew I wanted to take your heart as much as I want to give you my own.”

Bit of a corny speel. She thought, not taking the flowers but becoming more aware of them now that he was so close. And why did he just have fresh flowers ready to go? Has he just been buying a bunch hoping he’d run into me?

The thought made her want to grimace but she did her best to keep her face neutral before she spoke.

“I appreciate the sentiment but I heal plenty of people and am in a committed relationship. Thank you, but I can’t respond to your feelings.”

She felt the eyes of random people on the street watching the exchange and it made her regret leaving at all. No doubt plenty of them were thinking she’d gone and charmed another just like Roan and though that wasn’t the case, they didn’t know that so it was all but certain the rumour was going to spread.

That is, if it didn’t already spread everywhere. He’s been here for how long telling random people he’s in love with me? I’m so not in the mood.

Still, she’d thought she’d done a good job letting him down. She was polite but firm, the message was clear enough for any idiot to understand. Or at least she’d hoped.

“I assure you, I’m far more determined than whoever you think you love,” He said boldly, reaching a hand to her and making her take a step back as everyone else with her moved.

They’d been on their guard when he’d walked over but let Thera handle it right until he didn’t accept her answer. When he reached towards her, roots burst forth from the cobblestone streets, wrapping and trapping him in the same moment her aunt got his hand in her own, crushing the bones in it as she squeezed thanks to just how high all of her attributes were. Aso wasn’t as quick to attack given her magical options, but she did keep a fireball hanging in the air, the threat clear.

Just as suddenly as they’d struck, the various passersby were suddenly a lot more concerned about looking anywhere else. Sonya was a beloved member of the community and both she and Sachel had come back to town as awakened skill holders. Add in that Aso was the clinic head's daughter and everyone who saw anything decided that whoever the man was that had been going around looking for Thera, it was a him problem.

Thera, in no way having expected to see such a quick and violent reaction, ended up being the one who had to try to calm things down while the man insisted on trying to keep up his confident look despite the pain.

“Okay, everyone, calm down a bit. You, no touching me. Aunty, can you heal him quick please and then we can get this over with? Now, whoever you are-”

“Sweet Thera, you’ll find my name is-”

“Don’t care. Listen, I get it, I’m sure you think of yourself as a romantic guy, but there’s no such thing as love at first sight. I love my boyfriend. Our relationship is something that’s been built up with care and time and withstood plenty of struggle. There’s nobody I trust more. You won’t be able to get in the way of that so please just leave, I can’t give you what you want.”

She was aiming to be more firm than polite now, but it seemed that the man before her was insistent on not getting it.

“Even the strongest fortress can fall,” He told her confidently, looking cocky as if he hadn’t just had his hand broken moments before. “I’ve heard plenty, I’m sure your smith is more than impressive, but a fine woman like you needs someone who can protect her with the state of the world what it is. I’ll prove to you I can be the man to do it and you’ll never be disappointed.”

Okay, I hate him.

She could feel the others by her side ready to beat him up some more, but she didn’t want to have to deal with that. She wanted to be able to go on with her day as fast as possible and hopefully never see him again.

So she didn’t answer his comment. Instead, she looked around to find exactly what she’d been hoping would be nearby. A spirit.

“Aunty, do me a favour and keep him here for a minute,” She asked as she walked over to it, seeing its affinity matched what she was looking for as she spoke to the earth spirit in front of her.

“Hello, sorry, do you think I could ask you for a little help?”

“Princess, of course! What can I do?”

Ever since she’d started sharing her mana with them, Thera had been noticing more and more spirits filling the town she called home. She’d always assumed that they were spending time there so she could do just that too, or else thought her presence made the area a central hub of sorts, a convenient meeting place for them since so many were going to be around, but that train of thought was completely wrong. They had decided to be there for the exact reason she’d just requested, to give their princess help if she needed it.

Thera, knowing none of that, went on with her request.

“There’s a guy in town bothering me, I was hoping you could help me get rid of him.”

As soon as she’d say it, not just she but everyone in town felt a change. A prickly feeling of mana across their skins as the sky lit up in Thera’s eyes with hundreds of spirits of all affinities swarming the area, giving her far more than she’d bargained for with the favour she planned on asking.

The sky was filled with the sounds of their rage, calls for blood from whoever dared give their princess issues.

“Tell us who it is and we’ll handle them.”

Okay, I’m not looking to see someone die today.

“Please, everyone, calm down,” She said, nearly frantic from how much she wasn’t expecting the reaction she’d gotten. “I’m not looking for anything violent, I was just hoping a few earth spirits would drop him off in whatever mortal settlement is farthest from me. Or at least the farthest you can get to in a single day, please. I’ll make it up to you all later.”

“Nothing to make up, princess. Who is it?”

She still felt a level of emotion coming from them that didn’t necessarily feel safe but decided to trust they’d listen to her and not do anything rash. Or maybe she just didn’t want to have to deal with this a second longer. Either way, she pointed to the man being held back from bothering her by her aunt and watched as he and the others got a massive surprise as the ground sprung up around him, all but entombing him except for his head before it rose up in the sky and in an instant blasted away, plenty of the spirits going with it as they picked their destination.

…Yeah, this is fine.

She thanked the ones still there again before going back to her aunt and friends, seeing pure shock on the latter’s faces.

“Did you just throw him into space?” Aso asked, looking back into the sky with him already gone from her sight. “So I guess we all take a vow of silence and never talk about this again, huh? Still, this is def the sort of thing that builds lifelong bonds. Very exciting.”

“I didn’t just murder him,” Thera said defensively, a little taken aback with how into it Aso seemed considering the state she’d been in after killing her first demon. “I just asked the spirits to help. They’ll drop him in some distant village and out of my hair and hopefully he gets the message from there.”

It was extreme but she wasn’t going to keep dealing with that. She just hoped that it was a clear enough signal of rejection and that however long his trek home took was enough to make him reconsider coming back to bother her in the future.

Amongst the clouds, a crowd of spirits were doing their all, exerting levels of effort they typically never would for the sake of the one they loved so dearly.

“Is the bother alright?” One of the earth spirits asked a life, wanting to follow the request of their princess to perfection. “She said nothing violent.”

“He will live,” It responded back confidently, not too concerned about the man already being unconscious so soon into their journey. ‘As long as we return him to his initial state when we drop him off, there’s no problem!”

“Agreed!”

“Agreed!”

“Agreed!”

The cheer went up amongst the rest so the one who questioned it decided it was fine as they continued on their way, taking a slightly liberal interpretation of Thera’s words. She’d asked that he be dropped at the farthest mortal settlement from her they could find, they just chose to interpret it as the one that would take the longest for him to get back to should he try, which in essence meant finding the furthest one from any gate, and as much as the network had expanded, there were still plenty of remote regions in the world where people made their homes.

If the earth spirit could have smiled, it would have, filled with satisfaction as it anticipated a job well done.