Chapter Text
Oh.
Oh no.
Eleanora Hillrose.
A name Yumiella knew, belonging to a girl she should’ve recognized on sight. One of the very few NPCs that directly related to the Original Game Yumiella’s story. OG Yumiella had entered the Royal Academy utterly isolated and alone. Desperate for friendship, she’d become the number one underling of one Eleanora Hillrose and her gang of cronies.
Terrified of being ostracized from the group, OG Yumiella had taken on the dirty jobs Eleanora had wanted done. Said jobs basically consisted of bullying the Heroine of the game, the commoner Alicia Ehnleit, for the grand crime of getting close to Eleanora’s crush, Second Prince Edwin Valschein. And what had Eleanora done once OG Yumiella had inevitably gotten caught in her bullying? Had she shown her supposed friend the smallest bit of loyalty? Of course not. She’d turned her back on OG Yumiella and kicked her out from the group.
All of this contributed to the hatred and resentment that led OG Yumiella to becoming the Hidden Boss in the first place…
And now that same Eleanora was standing here before her, saying she was happy because Yumiella cared about her…
Was this all just some trick? Some elaborate manipulation?
That painful thing started constricting in her chest again.
But wait… that would make zero sense. It was nearly a year before the start of the Academy. Eleanora shouldn’t even know who Alicia was, let alone want to bully her. Though she may or may not already have a crush on Prince Edwin…
That thing in her chest clenched painfully, and the edges of her lips turned visibly down. Yumiella had no idea why.
As for manipulating her… Yumiella was here through absolute chance. An utter whim of boredom. There was no way Eleanora could’ve predicted her appearance here today. And her intruding on Yumiella’s boss fight just to trick her would be downright suicidal…
No, their meeting here today was a sheer coincidence. Eleanora didn’t even seem to know her name, if this “my hero” business was anything to go by. (Calling her that was still beyond absurd.) Besides, this wasn’t a video game, this was her real life. Yumiella really needed to keep reminding herself of that fact. Neither she nor Eleanora was obligated to follow the original plot of the game. Matter of fact, Yumiella was quite determined to do the exact opposite of that. Which was quite understandable really, given that the original game’s plot ended in her death.
Yumiella knew her logic was sound, yet that wasn’t truly the deciding factor for her. She thought back on Eleanora calling her gross healing magic wonderful, on her repeatedly asking after Yumiella’s welfare (and her giving her some truly epic potions on top of that), and found that she couldn’t think ill of Eleanora, in the end. Maybe she was being foolish. But even if she was, she was more than strong enough to handle anything that may come of it. She was level 82, after all.
Yumiella willed whatever was still twisting in her chest to loosen. Miraculously, it began to listen.
“And may I ask your name in turn, my hero? It would be an absolute privilege to know it.”
Eleanora was looking at her again with that soft, open smile on her lips. She truly had no idea who Yumiella was. That awful thing in her chest loosened further.
“My name is Yumiella Dolkness. It is nice to meet you.” She’d never be able to match her curtsy without looking silly, so instead Yumiella bowed again. Her eyes fixed on that smile. She really did like it.
She’d do quite a lot to make sure Eleanora could keep smiling like that…
Where had that strange thought come from? Yumiella immediately dismissed it as she straightened from her bow. Her gaze flicked from her lips back to Eleanora’s ruby eyes and then to her golden hair. Her hair really did look like it would have a wonderful texture. Yumiella sort of wanted to run her fingers through it to find out for sure…
“Yumiella… I’ve never heard that name before. It’s lovely. Now that we’ve been formally introduced, you simply must let me mend your clothes. A young lady should never have to suffer through such a disheveled appearance. Such a horror! I will not allow it!”
Yumiella didn’t have the foggiest idea what Eleanora was talking at her about this time. But the obvious choice to help her keep smiling would be to agree to whatever it was. So she did and gave a single nod.
Eleanora stepped even closer to her, and she reached a hand out towards Yumiella, then paused.
“I’m going to have to touch you. Is that alright?”
Yes, please.
Wait, what?! Where had that thought come from? What was wrong with Yumiella today?
She gave another silent nod.
Eleanora pressed her fingertips into some of the worst of the rents along her sleeve, right where the Timberwolf Rex had dealt its initial blow. Yumiella could feel the touch of each finger distinctly against her upper arm. The warmth of the contact seemed to spread far farther than the touch of her fingers could explain. How queer…
“Sparkling Presentation!”
Motion was the first thing Yumiella felt. Like a gust of wind coming from every direction all at once. Next, sparks in the air. They shimmered and shined in a kaleidoscope of colors that somehow reminded Yumiella distinctly of light refracting off a gemstone. Then it was over. Eleanora removed her hand and left behind a perfectly mended sleeve in her wake. Even the blood and dirt had vanished.
Eleanora continued this process, pressing her fingers into the worst of the damage to Yumiella’s clothes and repeating her spell. Each time, Yumiella felt her touch so acutely. The warmth it generated somehow continued to spread beyond where her fingers touched. It even lingered long after Eleanora withdrew her hand. Neither phenomenon fit into any logical framework of physiology that she’d ever been taught. By the time the last of her clothes had been repaired, warmth even kindled inside Yumiella’s chest once again.
“There, much better! I am so going to get you some new adventurer outfits. Something properly heroic. No, an entire new wardrobe!”
Yumiella had absolutely no idea what Eleanora was talking about. But never mind all of that. This had to be the most bizarre day of her life so far… Nothing made sense anymore.
Now in sparklingly clean and perfectly mended clothes, Yumiella forcibly turned her mind back to what was important. Such as the fact that that wasn’t a spell from the game! Which element did it use? How much mana did it cost? What was its area of effect? What was the spell’s specific effects and description? She needed the lore and she needed it now, dammit!
“What element of magic was that?” As she began her intended barrage of questions, Yumiella gestured with her hand. Said hand accidentally brushed against her hair. Ew, gross. Her hair still had terrible texture. Which wasn’t surprising considering that it was presumably caked in dirt, forest detritus and soaked in her own congealed blood. Forget the spell, Yumiella now had a bigger priority.
“It’s Wind magic. Sparkling Presentation! lets me clean and repair basically anything I touch.”
That was actually very interesting. It was very interesting a few seconds ago and it would become interesting again in the future. (Particularly the question of whether that spell had any combat applications, such as repairing equipment mid dungeon run?) Right this moment however, Yumiella wasn’t interested at all. She just wanted Eleanora to fix her hair. It didn’t really show cause of the dark color, but it was quite bad…
“Could you do my hair as well?” Oh. Oh wait. Politeness was a thing. She needed to be polite. “Please.”
Yumiella had plenty of mana potions if Eleanora was low on mana. Immediately rejecting the vile swamp water that was the High Mana Potion, she was ready to offer one of her newly acquired Full Mana Potions. Yumiella didn’t even think about how using a Full Mana Potion to restore Eleanora’s presumably low level mana pool was ridiculous levels of overkill. Subjecting her to that horrid taste was simply not to be countenanced. Neither option proved necessary, however.
“Oh! Of course I will! I’d be delighted to help you!”
Eleanora had stepped back after she’d finished with her clothes, but now she drew close again. She stepped to the side and a bit behind Yumiella, presumably so she could reach the thickest part of Yumiella’s hair. Her fingers pressed into Yumiella’s scalp and…
Wow. Why did that feel even better than all the other touches?
“Sparkling Presentation!”
Eleanora ran her fingers through Yumiella’s hair after her spell was cast, and that felt best of all. Eleanora soon withdrew, yet her cheeks were crimson again.
Oh. Oh no. Bleed?! No. Wait. That’s right. Blushing. She was blushing. Why was Eleanora blushing again? More importantly, why did Yumiella have the urge to ask her to run her hand through her hair once more? She didn’t know. She fought the urge down. She didn’t know why she did that either. What was wrong with her today?!
“Thank you.” Yumiella turned on her heel so she could meet Eleanora’s eyes. She ran her own fingers through her hair. Ah, the texture was perfect now. She still vaguely wished it was Eleanora’s fingers instead…
“You are most welcome my—Yumiella.” Eleanora’s face blushed an even deeper red. Then her gaze quickly shifted off Yumiella’s face to a point somewhere over her shoulder. “Oh. Those monsters that were chasing us finally caught up.” Her voice was at a perfectly even volume. He eyes turned back to Yumiella, and regarded her steadily.
What?
Yumiella turned around. There was, indeed, a horde of monsters emerging from the woods. Most seemed to be crossing the clearing toward her and Eleanora, with only a much smaller group continuing down the road toward the guards and carriage.
What even was today?
Much more importantly, how did (presumably) low level Eleanora notice a host of approaching monsters before Yumiella did? She’d nearly let herself get ambushed! By field monsters! While being level 82!
What the actual fuck was wrong with her today?!
“Dark Bind.”
There were dozens of monsters, but not more than a hundred, at her rough count. Nothing she couldn’t handle. Yumiella had taken on larger Monster Waves than this when she’d blown her Monster Summoning Flute in rapid succession. She made sure to bind each monster multiple times, taking special care to drag the few airborne monsters in the horde to the ground. Her mana had just been topped off, so that was a nonissue.
Yumiella could hear the whinnying of the horses, and the guard’s shouts. They began to move closer together, likely into some formation or another. It was odd, those NPC’s had been utterly still and silent during her talk with Eleanora. It reminded her of how characters outside of it just froze while an in-game cutscene played. She’d honestly almost forgotten their presence altogether. They were the picture of frantic and noisy movement now though. Still…
“Eleanora?” Yumiella had never said her name out loud before. Something odd happened in her chest at the sound of it. Something she’d never quite felt before. And considering all the strange things going on with her heart today, that was really saying something.
“Yes, Yumiella?” Her tone was just the same as the last time she’d spoken.
“You said this horde of monsters chased you into my boss arena?”
“Yes? I was just heading to the country house when those monsters appeared out of nowhere. The guard captain was shouting for everyone to retreat. And the next thing I knew you and that great beast were there.”
“And how many guards do you have with you precisely?” Yumiella’s voice was always flat, so it couldn’t really get any flatter. That didn’t stop her from trying, though. She failed, but the effort still counted for something.
“Daddy always insists on me traveling with at least three full squads, so twelve.”
“Hmm.” Yumiella’s next breath puffed out harder. Just a tad.
Twelve guards. Twelve professional guards. Versus a horde of (at most) a hundred monsters. Yumiella could identify each individual species at a glance. Wait. She used her shadow hands to lift up a Griffon that had been crossing the field toward them. Then, she twisted it around so she could see its pinion feathers clearly.
(The monster let out a loud squawk in protest. Yumiella cast another Dark Bind to seal its beak shut before any sonic based attacks emerged. Now that she thought of it… She took another look across the horde and similarly sealed shut the mouths of any other monsters capable of vocal based attacks. Clearly these so-called guards needed full newb squishy levels of protection.)
Yumiella’s eyes cast back to the imprisoned Griffon. She studied the color pattern of its now clearly visible flight feathers carefully. Just as she’d thought, clearly a regular Griffon. Not an Arch Griffon. Nor even an Elder Arch Griffon. A perfectly ordinary Griffon. A monster that maxed out at level 35.
Yumiella could almost forgive the mistake. The game devs of Light Magic and the Hero committed the most common sin of lazy (or budget conscious) game devs everywhere: reusing monster models. All three Griffon species did indeed share the exact same model. The only difference was recolored wing feathers (plus different move sets and level ranges, of course). Yumiella’s breath pushed out through barely parted lips. What most game devs considered proper enemy variety was nothing short of shameful.
Still, the recoloring was very easy to spot, even if you could only see the underwing from the Griffon mid flight. Yumiella was just being extra careful by checking the outside of the wings. But apparently these supposedly professional guards weren’t even competent enough for basic levels of monster identification.
Level 35. At maximum. Yumiella scanned the monster horde again. None would exceed level 35, and very few would match it. Most would be a fair few levels below that, even all the way down to a minimum of level 20. To call it a pack of mid game monsters would be to give it more credit than it likely deserved.
Yet these so-called guards had fled from them. They were only outnumbered by less than ten to one! Did they have no crowd control abilities at all?! Could they really not handle the lower range of mid game monsters?! They were supposed to be professionals! They were adults, besides. What, did they level up less than once a year?! This was their job! What in the world were they doing with their time?!
“Eleanora?” Her heart lurched again. Yumiella did not turn around to face her companion, though she had the irrational urge to.
“Yes, Yumiella?” Yet again, Eleanora’s voice maintained the same even tone.
“Your guards are dangerous levels of incompetent.”
She cast Shadow Lance. The entire monster horde vanished in a flash.