The Riddle Of Magic

Chapter 35: Balm of Regret

Of course, Alastor's expectations had to be denied - because that was his lot, it seemed. It had been three days, and the deer demon didn't know why he'd expected anything different from his darling demon belle regarding her resolve to not quit her lessons.

Charlie's will was something he always adored - though to be fair, he would find it much more charming if he wasn't certain she was dooming herself for her efforts.

They had come up with something of a routine now, and it was curious how things had become slightly back on track, and yet as far from normal as they'd ever been.

They would greet each other in the mornings as he met her in the office. She had been starting her days earlier and working later, eager to distract herself from thinking about her failed relationship. He would ask after her evening, and she would ask after his, and then he would propose if she had reconsidered her decision to withdraw from the game. Each day he asked her, in as friendly and non-threatening a way as he could, which led to her very clearly, very slowly, very patiently telling him that she had no intention of quitting, and then would change the subject and they would go about their day.

Why she wasn't getting increasingly irritated with him, Alastor wasn't precisely certain. Perhaps because it had almost become a morning tradition at this point? Regardless of the reason, he was glad for the lack of conflict between them, though his left hand was desperately sore at this point, and he was getting more and more fatigued for his efforts.

His shadow warned him against more runic magic for the time being, if he insisted on this foolish endeavor. It was likely to snap at any moment, and he would be lucky if there wasn't blowback from all the held arcane energy rushing to right itself.

No adjustments to the shields around the facility.

No Summoning anything to himself.

No fixing issues around the Hotel with Reversal, or any other patching rune.

And certainly no Phasing.

His afterlife had suddenly grown rather boring!

Since he had to restrict himself from magic, Alastor used the time to wander around the facility in a more mundane fashion, and found himself catching up on things that he had missed.

On Tuesday, he'd run into Niffty while he had been mulling outside in the garden. If she wasn't in the basement laboratory, she was out here, tending to the flowers as well as the newly added section that she'd built herself, with fruits and herbs for helping some of Baxter's research. It was a little haphazard, but the tiny demoness was very proud of her efforts, and he congratulated her on a job well done.

She'd believed she was now very, very close to getting the scientist to leave the premises with her. The little maid was determined to make certain that their outing was treated as an actual date, and not the scientist going out under the assumption that they were merely running errands.

As for what they intended to do together, Niffty wasn't certain yet. He'd advised her that Charlie might have some ideas for something easy they could try as a couple, but the ladybug wasn't keen on asking the princess for relationship advice, since she was still freshly grieving her own breakup.

They'd heard the whole thing, apparently, or at least most of it. She had coaxed Baxter out of his lab to breathe after one of his experiments had completely failed. While they were sitting outside, looking over the new sprouts, they'd heard the screaming from the open window of the penthouse. They understood that Charlie and Vagatha were broken up, but not the specifics of the reason. The fish demon couldn't care less regarding the residents' romance status, and Niffty had a feeling that Alastor was involved somehow, but was too deferential to confront him about it.