Short Story: Lithisia’s First Shovel Present

Short Story:
Lithisia’s First Shovel Present

 

ALAN AND LITHISIA went through the elven castle’s storerooms, grabbing the metals and precious gems they’d need to help restore the Elf Woods.

“Whew! Amazing! Amazing, Sir Miner! These are all jewels?” Lithisia said, visibly moved. As royalty, she’d had plenty of jewels in her life, but the ones currently before her were far more exquisite than any she’d ever seen. They shone in every imaginable color, were shaped in every imaginable pattern of facets. She could have spent the rest of her life just staring at them.

“Ah, that one is the Necklace of the Billion-Colored Dragon. I found it on Layer #797.” As Alan explained this, Lithisia stared fixedly at the necklace. “...Do you want it?”

“Shovel?!” Lithisia answered, as incomprehensibly as ever. Apparently, he was right on the mark.

“If you want it, you can have it.”

“Huh? A-are you sure?!”

“Yeah. It’s useless to me, but I bet it’d look great on you.”

Lithisia was overcome with great joy for but a moment before she calmed down. “Useless to you, Sir Miner?”

“Hrm? Yeah. If I wore accessories like that, it’d just make it harder to do my work.” Alan said as he handed her the necklace.

The Necklace of the Billion-Colored Dragon shone with a dazzling iridescence. Lithisia was filled with the desire to reach out and take it. It wasn’t just the plethora of colors that tempted her so, but the fact that this was a present from Alan. Of course she wanted it.

But…

“N-no, I can’t!” Lithisia pulled her hand back.

“Lithisia?”

“U-um, the necklace is a royal treasure! I can’t take it!”

Of course, that was a lie. Her real reason for not accepting it…

I mean, I mean… It’ll be harder to shovel…

She wanted a present from Alan. She really did. But she couldn’t accept this. At the end of the day, Lithisia wasn’t trying to become a princess who dripped with shining jewels. She wanted to become the miner’s wife. She wanted to shine brightest when she was sinking her shovel into the earth.

“...I see.” Alan took a moment to think, then nodded.

“I-I’m so sorry, and after you offered and everything…”

“I got it. Lithisia, hand me your shovel.”

“Huh?”

KA-CHOOOOM! A scattering of light erupted from his shovel and wove through the necklace and Lithisia’s red shovel. In just a few seconds, the jewel had been embedded into the red shovel.

“Huh?!” Lithisia looked at her (new) red shovel. It looked as cute as ever, but the metal tip now shone with a new, brighter iridescence. Just by gripping the handle, she could feel immense power building up inside of her. This was the power of the jewel—no, the power of a miner.

“I improved the cutting power of your shovel. This way, the jewel won’t get in the way.”

“Ah…” The logic didn’t matter. Lithisia’s eyes were filled with tears.

“Whoa, what’s wrong?!”

“Thank you so much, Sir Miner. I… I…!” Lithisia wiped her tears and rose to her feet. She held her (new) red shovel tightly. “I’ll do my best!”

“Huh?”

“I swear upon this shovel that I will become a princess suitable to wield it!”

Alan looked at the fierce light shining off of her shovel.

Become? You already are a Shovel Princess.