The Villainess Wants To Be A Sidekick

Chapter 9: Lumins, You’re Too Nice

Witnessing my favorite character in action was so cool that I nearly lost my mind from the excitement.

Of course, I was half-joking and half-serious about losing my mind. Honestly, at that moment I only managed to stare blankly at Lumins in return for his saving me before I suddenly became dizzy and lost consciousness.

I’m not sure what kind of silly remarks I would have made if I were still lucid, so I reasoned it was probably better for me to faint right now.

Previously, in the game, I had seen him freeze the entire lake, but the live, 4D experience was so different from watching the magic unfold on a small smartphone screen.

Phew… Wasn’t it so ridiculous how our god emperor king general munchkin sorcerer Lumins was actually a sunfish¹? Our Lumins was simply too powerful, and the developers were probably too scared that he would have collapsed the balance of the game when compared to the other characters. Turning him into a sunfish² was just a cheap gimmick on the developers’ part.

But anyway, that’s enough about my praise for Lumins.

When I slowly opened my eyes again, I vaguely recognized the shape of someone sitting next to my bed. I couldn’t yet figure out what was going on because my head was still spinning, so I subconsciously started muttering the first thing that came to mind.

“Water…”

I heard what sounded like a man rising from his seat before going to pour some water from a nearby pitcher into a glass. He then strode to the side of the bed I was laying on and slipped his arm under my back, gently lifting me up. A dense haze still covered my consciousness and I reflexively opened my mouth when the cold rim touched my lips. The water slowly flowed from the glass to my mouth and down my parched throat, relieving me of my thirst.

Gradually, my vision returned to normal, and the fog cleared from my mind. I looked over to see who had so graciously given me a drink of water.

“Are you feeling better now, Lady Senephin?”

“――!! ――!!!!! ――!! ――??? ――!!!!!”

If I had to plot the range of expressions flashing across my face on a line graph, there would have been a lack of margins. All kinds of emotions such as astonishment, admiration, confusion, joy, fear, denial, and suffering washed over me in overwhelming tides.

The fact that Lumins Hardelf himself had helped me drink water…

“Lu, Lu, Sir Lumins?” I stuttered incredulously.

“Yes,” he met my astonishment with a gentle smile. “I’m glad you came to your senses. It was really dangerous earlier.”

He proceeded to explain the state I had been in after I fainted and what treatments I had been given.

I was so distracted that I forgot to ask what else had happened in the meantime, but I guess my condition had been worse than I thought. My body had probably been unfortunately exposed too long to the poison of the lake. The poison itself made one feel as if they were dry even though they were still submerged in its cold waters. According to Lumins, I had been asleep for more than ten hours since the last time I was conscious, and it was almost evening by the time I opened my eyes.

No, even if I wasn’t unconscious…

“Why, why, why would Sir Lumins be in my room…?”

“I’m also a medical advisor at the Magic Research Institute, so I’m here to check on your condition. Please lie down again. You haven’t fully recovered your strength yet, so it’s important that you continue to rest well for a while.”

The Magic Research Institute’s Medical Advisor… That’s right, our versatile Lumins’ character arc included that kind of setup.

Perhaps it was because of his background, but he tended to act more like a healer than an offense-oriented sorcerer. The developers had probably deliberately given him a support role so as to not steal the spotlight away from Velkina who, as the main heroine, was also an attacker-type sorcerer. But focusing on the developers’ decisions was not the important issue at hand right now.

That’s right—I needed to find out what happened to Velkina.

“Is Lady Velkina okay? She fell into the lake with me…”

“She is fine. Perhaps it’s because she didn’t get exposed to the poison for too long, or there’s a difference in her magical resistance.”

True. It was all thanks to her 100% built-in talent: her magical resistance. I should just resign myself to accepting whatever talent this body of mine has.

“I was busy tending to Lady Senephin in her weakened state because it’s my responsibility. Velkina only had a little poison in her body, so I told her to rest and sent her out of this room a little while ago. She’ll be happy to know that you’re awake. I’ll call her.”

“Oh, oh my, it’s okay. My eyes are open, and I’m wide awake now! Please don’t worry about me and go check up on Lady Velkina! She really needs your help more than me!”

The nursing event in the game was really important for their relationship development. As soon as the other party’s warmth seeps through the main character’s weakened body and mind…☆!

… And I just managed to ruin such an important event for them all because my magical resistance was too weak.

“If I do that, then she’ll get mad at me. Don’t think too much and just lie down. I’ll call Velkina for you.”

I can’t help it when Lumins says it like that. I lowered myself back onto the bed and pulled the blanket back over my body. In the meantime, he seemed to be contacting Velkina through a portable crystal ball. After a short pause, I heard Velkina’s voice, which sounded so thrilled after to hear that I had finally woken up. She excitedly told Lumins she would come by soon.

Lumins ended the call and once again silence filled the room. He sat back down on the chair next to my bedside, as if it had been his place all along, and proceeded to browse the books he had brought with him.

Our Lumins looked so intelligent and beautiful while reading, and my heart thumped loudly at the sight. Yet, at the same time, I felt like my head was going to burst because the tension in the atmosphere was so awkward right now. I was literally in my room with Lumins right next to me. Was this really happening?!

If I had been alone, I would have rolled around on the bed recalling his awesome performance at the lake. Since the man himself was in front of me, however, I was having trouble secretly reliving those moments.

At that moment, I realized that I had forgotten one very important thing: I hadn’t even thanked him for helping me yet…!

Before I looked too ungrateful, I quickly turned to Lumins to extend my thanks for his kindness.

“I couldn’t express my gratitude before,” I hurriedly said. “Thank you for saving me and nursing me, Sir Lumins.”

Lumins took his eyes off the book he had been reading for a moment and regarded me with a soft expression. Why was he looking at me like that? Had I done something wrong? A long pause passed between us and I tried to think about what to say next, but then he answered me calmly.

“No, of course. It’s my job as a fellow sorcerer.”

He was so sweet even while facing the woman who had been harassing his friend until recently.

“I was not expecting it,” I continued. “Honestly, I had been on the verge of losing hope. I thought it would have been impossible to save me by the time Lady Velkina fetched help because the distance between the lake and the Magic Research Institute is far. But, Sir Lumins came earlier than I expected anyone to arrive.”

“Oh, actually, I went to look for Velkina this morning because I had some matter to discuss with her.”

Huh. That was an event I had never seen described in the game. If that was the case, then I wish Velkina never went for a walk.

“But someone told me they saw Lady Senephin and Velkina heading to the lake. I was going to find you both because I recalled that the lake is a dangerous place. On my way to search for you two, I ran into Velkina, and as soon as I heard the whole story, I went immediately to the Lake of Silence.”

So that’s why Lumins arrived earlier than I expected. It was fate.

“Also, Velkina said Lady Senephin apologized for what happened before and even risked her life to save Velkina.”

“Ack, yes. It’s embarrassing to hear it from another person. I’ve committed so many wrongs against Lady Velkina, so it was to be expected for me to…”

Although the only event I experienced in real-time was the slap event, which didn’t actually occur, I knew Senephin had been acting like a typical villain in accordance with the game’s intended plot before I arrived. Way before the slap event, she would have already been arguing about everything Velkina did and made her add “Miss” to her name before addressing her. And there were so many other instances of bullying I had yet to describe.

“Then why did you apologize for it?”

“Pardon…?”

***