Reincarnated With A Glitched System: Why Is My MP Not Running Out?

-----

Aquarina, Justicio, Silvia, and even Pyuku felt surprised when they saw how Agua's mother truly was with her daughter… It was a bit overwhelming, but at the same time they could understand if she was a bit overprotective, seeing how she was her only daughter, and also the Priestess of the Oasis and all.

"Well, what's done is done, let's thank the Oasis Spirit you're safe, Agua," said her mother. "My precious daughter… Please never step into danger ever again, I am very worried and-"

"T-That's enough mom…" Agua slowly pulled back from her mother, feeling a bit frustrated. "I-I am not a child anymore, you know?"

Agua suddenly felt too frustrated and decided to talk a bit more, she knew that if she let her mother act like this in front of her friends, they might think it would be hopeless to bring her along.

And she really wanted to go with them…

"A-Agua?!" Her mother was shocked her daughter talked back to her with such a tone, when she had been always so well mannered. "You… Why are you speaking with your mother with such a tone of voice?"

"A-Ah! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to… to be rude," Agua apologized. "I just… I-I'm growing up mother, and… Um, well, I don't… really… like… how you're so overprotective of me. I-It feels… um, how do I say it? Aah… Suffocating?"

"S-Suffocating? But I care about you…" her mother muttered. "You're my precious daughter, the only one I have… After your father died, you've been the only person I've dedicated all my time and effort… Of course I worry."

"I know… And I really am grateful for that, mother. A-And I love you too…" Agua nodded. "B-But I made friends here as well, that adventure, it opened my eyes… a bit."

"Friends?" her mother asked. "So you've become friends with the heroine and her friends? So soon? Friendship cannot be born so easily, my daughter… I don't want to offend the heroine at all but… It just not possible."

"But it is," Aquarina sighed, crossing her arms. "Agua's our friend."

"Yeah!" Silvia nodded.

"It might have been a bit too quick, but yeah, these girls get attached pretty fast," Justicio said.

"I'm sorry… I didn't really intend to get involved into this but… I consider Agua a friend too," Pyuku agreed.

"…"

Agua's mother remained silent for a moment, thinking about many things.

"Is that so…"

She seemed to suddenly grow sad, her often calm face changing, shocking Agua.

"M-Mom?"

Her mother seemed to be thinking many things, through her long, very long life worth of memories.

From the moment her daughter was born, that little and beautiful treasure she had taken care of and loved since the day she saw her.

About the promise she made to her husband that she would take care of her and love her twice as much, for the two of them.

And about how much she feared death, and the dangers of this world after her husband's death by the hands of a very dangerous monster that roamed the desert at night.

How she grew slightly paranoid, deciding to never let her daughter out of the Jungle or the Oasis territory, fearing the outside world every day…

Yet, deep down, she always had this fear, that one day, her daughter would simply grow up enough that ultimately, she would lose any control over her.

That her daughter would decide her own fate, and end up leaving her, walking away into the dangerous world outside.

She went as far as tying her to a responsibility as the new Priestess of the Oasis after she asked the Oasis Spirit to bless her.

It was just to protect her…

"I always feared a day like this would come…" her mother muttered, as she started crying.

"Mom? D-Don't cry!" Agua ran towards her mother, feeling terrible. "I-I'm sorry! I-I was joking! Please don't cry… I will not leave your side! I-I'm so sorry!"

"No, it's not that…" her mother muttered. "I just don't have any power over you anymore, dear. You are indeed not a child anymore… I've been convincing myself I could tie you to a responsibility as a priestess, that you would remain at my side… But ultimately, this… it all depended on your choice. At the end, I cannot really force you."

"Mom…" Agua looked at her mother, as she started crying as well.

"The world outside… is a dangerous place, Agua," her mother smiled lightly, while crying. "The world outside is what took away your father from us… And I've feared it since that happened."

"My father…?" Agua muttered, remembering the few memories she had of her father. "He was…?"

When she was only a little one year old baby, crawling around the village, and her father would chase her around.

She would giggle cutely, as she escaped her father, the two would play catch like this all the time, sometimes, Agua would hide and get her parents really worried, she had quite the mischievous nature when she was a toddler.

"Yes… I never told you because I didn't want to make you resent the outside world, I didn't want you to seek revenge against some monster…" her mother sighed. "Your father… didn't pass away due to a sickness, but… I just… I'm sorry for lying to you, Agua… I did everything I did to protect you because I love you."

"Mom…" Agua kept crying, as she hugged her mother. "I'm sorry too… I-I didn't really think things through that much, but… I was really happy that they considered me friends. It was different than the people here, they… they treated me more casually, it felt closer… warmer. They weren't treating me as a priestess, but just another person, a person they grew closer to, someone they relied on, an equal… it felt nice."

"So that's… how it is…" her mother nodded. "I never thought that you had such a problem before… Perhaps the title I imposed upon you might have ended only making things worse for you, without even realizing… I'm sorry…"

-----