BXBX NOVEL Chapter 939 - 939 Chapter 939 Are They Worth It?
Sue rolled over slowly, letting her boobs shift noticeably before properly finishing the turn to face Kat properly. “Isn’t it a bit late to ask that now? I mean, we went over it before with Ludas, and you’ve already brought everything… I don’t see what having second thoughts about it now would help,”
Kat shrugged and let out a sigh, “It’s… it’s different I guess. I actually have money now. I can get Sylvie something substantial for her birthday and… and I think I picked well… but I don’t want her to think I just threw money at the problem. Clash of Gods was expensive after all but I don’t regret it… but I also don’t know what I’d say if she asked me how much everything cost…”
Sue nodded in understanding and said, “At the very least the chess set was a great idea. Wonderful use of magically inert gemstones, it looks stunning because the work on it IS stunning. I’d guess it’s someone’s final carving assignment. Or well, probably the prototype they made to later enchant. Whoever made that is going places someday soon, assuming it was made recently. So that at least you can say was a bargain and worth at least ten times what you paid for it…
“The others… well… I’m not sure what to say. Clash of Gods… it’s in a weird place. It’s popular yes, and it’s not odd to know someone in your family tree that owns a copy with all the addons and a massive room to house it all. People go HARD on that game. If you take into account just how expensive it all is, it’s unbelievably popular. Clash of Gods is an OLD game and it’s stood the test of time as one of the greats.
“I don’t know all that much about it myself. I’ve heard stories of course, of games that go on for months of intense back and forth struggle between the two players. I’ve heard of grand games involving whole families using multiple expansions that last YEARS. That being said… it IS expensive. So it’s rare that people our age get into it. It’s a massive investment and for most demons, demons that can’t make it to Rank. 3. Before Twenty.” Sue bit out with fake venom. The fact she was wiggling her shoulders killed the effect, “It’s not a bad purchase… just…
“Hmm… I don’t really know how to impress upon you the cultural significance of the game. It’s both fringe and yet oddly mainstream. Hmm… ok I know. It’s the board game that all the big companies want to emulate, held together by a small passionate team that somehow hasn’t lost touch with anyone. It’s expensive, and most can’t afford to buy their own set, but it’s something anyone into board games wishes they owned a copy.
“This is not the sort of thing you casually hand over to a child. That being said… from what you’ve told me of Sylvie it’s exactly the kind of game she’d love. She’d be the type of demon to save up for a decade or longer to get her own copy. In this case though… she doesn’t know how expensive it is. Just that it’s a complicated board game she got for her birthday and I have no idea how that will affect her enjoyment. She won’t know of the prestige. The days of playing with aunts and uncles and fighting for a chance at the table.”
Kat let her fingers slowly run over the fluffy seating she was using as she pondered Sue’s words. *Hmm… I can see what Sue means. It’s probably a bit much… but if you ignore the cost and the cultural context it might be perfect. Good thing Sylvie knows nothing of the price of demonic culture.* “What about Down with the Demon King?” asked Kat.
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Sue shrugged, “I can’t really say. I’ve actually played DDK, and I understand why it’s so popular. It’s funny most of the time with a bit of a serious ending. A think kids are a bit too interesting in playing the Demon King roll despite how difficult and unappealing they tried to make it. I think the theming is really weird considering we are all demons. I’m not sure.
“I think it’s a good way to make friends… if she’s willing to try. I just don’t know that the game is interesting enough to push her in that direction. From what I know of her, she’d rather struggle with the Demon King role against people. Not the standard kid ‘I wanna be the powerful guy’ but in the ‘I want to play the more difficult version of the game’. Personally, I worry what would happen if she plays against people as the Demon King and WINS.”
Sue sighed, making sure of course to flex her chest as she did so, “I think that if DDK gets any proper use it’ll be because you or your guardians force the issue. Is it a bad gift? No of course not… and it IS a gift FOR her but not for her if that make sense?”
Lily nodded, “I think I get it. The game is a good way to help her make friends… but what it does even better is provide us with a chance to force her to play a game with kids to make friends. It’ll work more as a vessel for making those friends then one of proper enjoyment for her,”
Sue nodded, “Exactly. She probably won’t appreciate DDK as a game, and probably won’t appreciate forming a friend group necessary to play it… maybe later in life? I dunno. That sort of thing really isn’t expertise. I’m used to working with adults and playing to their fetishes. Trying to work out what a small child that can’t be called normal is far beyond my wheelhouse. I’m basically treating her like a younger, smarter version of Kat.”
Lily opened her mouth to say something against that before closing it and looking at Kat suspiciously. “What?” asked Kat confused, “I don’t really think Sylvie is much like me at all…”
Lily pulled out her hand and starting ticking off fingers as she said, “Responsible, no real friends during childhood, smarter then average-”
“I’m not sure that last one is applicable…” mumbled Kat somewhat embarrassed. Lily raised an eyebrow and made a ‘go on’ gesture. “Well… honestly Sylvie is probably smarter then I am NOW let alone when she was my age and I don’t really get good grades at school,”
“Kat you got mostly A’s all throughout high school without trying…” retorted Lily.
Kat shrugged, “I don’t really think I’m all that impressive compared to you and Sylvie. At least not in the intellect department,”
“Ah” said Sue, causing the other two to turn around. “I think I see the problem. Kat is friends with the smartest person in her school, you Lily, and the older sister figure to perhaps the smartest child in the state so it’s skewed her perspective,”
Lily nodded, “I think so at least. Kat’s no idiot. Though… I’ll also admit school isn’t too hard and is really a horrible measure of intelligence,”
Kat shook her head, “Look can we just not go into this? I don’t really care how smart I am compared to everyone else. I’m happy with my intelligence and I can overclock my brain to ridiculous degrees. With that alongside my now perfect memory, school would be a joke. It hardly measures me real intelligence so can we just… not worry about it?”
“Wow. Sometimes I forget how bullshit your powers are Kat,” said Sue.
“What do you mean?” asked Kat with a frown.
Sue rolled her eyes, “The perfect memory might be a side effect of your True Sight. I didn’t think about it before… but that’s my guess. You also have great regeneration, and that was all stuff you got at Rank 1,”
“Right…” Kat sad slowly looking between Lily and Sue’s nodding, “can we go back to the gifts?”
“Kat, you’re worrying over nothing,” said Sue. “You spent hours going over options with Ludas while I followed along. I lost count of the number of games you rejected. I think that you get plenty of points just for the amount of effort you put in to finding something that Sylvie will like. The fact that I think you succeeded in that is almost irrelevant,”
“Yeah Kat,” said Lily, “I think we did well. I mostly let you run this show because you know Sylvie best, but I’m happy to put my name on this project. Well, no I feel a little guilty I didn’t do much more than provide you with confirmation you’d made a good choice, but really that’s all I think you needed. These are GREAT GIFTS KAT. Just… just try and stop worrying about it Kat. You’ll know you’ve made the right choice when Sylvie rips open the paper in a few days,”