Santa Lily's Gift

"…Is this a dream?"

Yena couldn't believe her own eyes.

Why, of all things, was Lily standing in front of her dressed as Santa, with Leo dressed as Rudolph?

Admittedly, Leo had gone all in—brown Rudolph pajamas, complete with the reindeer nose—while Lily was simply in her usual clothes with a red robe whose hem faded into white. A completely different vibe from the fluttering white saint's garb she normally wore.

Santa Lily gave a playful smile and shook her head.

"It's an event for the little ones who've been working so hard. Surprised?"

"Extremely surprised. Very surprised."

"……"

Thump.

Yena's legs gave out beneath her and she sank right where she stood, head hanging low.

Sniffle.

"What's this? Yena, are you crying?"

"…No."

"You are, you so are. Why are you crying?"

Rudolph Leo spun in a circle around them asking that, then promptly reached over and patted Yena's back.

"Don't cry. If you cry, no present for you."

"…Kgh."

Sniffle, sniffle, sniffle…

"Cry and then laugh, and your tail fur will—"

"Agh! What am I supposed to do about that!"

Bawwwl! Yena short-circuited and leapt up from her seat.

In front of her, Leo stood hugging an armful of gift boxes, watching her with bright, sparkling eyes.

"Argh! This goddamn Hidden Dungeon just won't end, I've been stuck in here for two whole months now and my HP has only dropped 15%, and unless I use my ultimate nothing even scratches it! I'm seriously about to lose my mind, I swearrrr!!"

"…Hmm."

"Hmm?"

"I haven't taken a single break. I'm grinding over ten hours a day, and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lately, since I'm doomed if I can't clear it before the Great Cataclysm, I've been going eighteen hours and—nngh… ugh… hnnn…"

WAAAAAAHH…!

Yena burst into loud, sobbing wails.

It wasn't even the delicate sniffle of someone holding back tears—she was bawling full-on, and Leo tilted her head in confusion while I quietly checked Yena's chat window.

"Snnnfff…"

"By the way, this…"

"Yes…?"

"This would rake in the views if I uploaded it to NewTube."

"Hey!!"

Killing intent flickered in Yena's reddened eyes while the chat window flooded with endless LMAO.

I gave a small laugh and shook my head.

"Just kidding. You've obviously been working hard, so it must be exhausting. Right, Leo?"

"It's a drop in the bucket compared to the Empire quests~"

"……"

"Come on, come sit down and rest a bit. Every once in a while, you need days like this."

I conjured up a comfortable sofa, a deep red carpet, and something like a campfire in the middle, then settled onto the couch and patted the seat beside me.

Yena shuffled over in her slumped, deflated state and sank down next to me.

Boing! On my other side, Rudolph Leo plopped down and dropped something into the fire at the center.

Since it was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠magical flame, the something roasted in seconds, and Leo stretched out her arm, holding it right up to Yena's mouth.

"…What is it."

Yena's reply came out a little brusque.

But Leo just beamed, all innocence, and pressed it closer still.

"Eat it!"

"……"

Yena shot her a faintly resentful look, then finally took a bite of the thing.

Her eyes went round as saucers.

A moment later, she took another bite. And another. Before anyone noticed, her cheeks had puffed up like a hamster's.

Hee hee. Leo giggled and collected the finished stick.

"Good, right? It's a marshmallow that Arne loves, mixed with Lily's secret sauce."

"…It is pretty good."

Gulp.

By then Yena had swallowed the marshmallow whole and was glancing back and forth between the fire and Leo.

Leo giggled and tossed a few more marshmallows into the flames.

How long did we sit there eating in silence? By the end, Yena was holding ten sticks in her hands.

"…Ahem! Ahem!"

"Feeling a little better now?"

"…I-I wasn't angry."

"You were earlier, though?"

"That was just… frustration at myself… um… something like…"

Yena turned her face away in what looked like embarrassment.

Her cheeks were burning red—whether from the firelight or from actual embarrassment, who could tell.

Watching her, I popped a roasted marshmallow into my own mouth and smiled.

Pop.

I dropped a fresh marshmallow into the fire.

"Don't worry too much. It's coming along."

"…This is 'coming along'?"

"Did you really think a few sparring sessions would let you take down an enemy on the level of a high-tier World Boss? Without any special handicaps, at that?"

Unlike the many raids built with power limits or mechanics that let you deal effective damage to the boss, this was a pure, unadulterated one-on-one duel.

Even Leo or Sword God couldn't so much as ruffle a single hair on Myoshin's head—so how was Yena ever supposed to beat her?

"It'll be hard, no question. But there is a path. It might seem meaningless right now, but one day it will absolutely pay off."

"…So does that mean I still can't leave even after the Great Cataclysm?"

"Not at all. You'll have your moment to shine too, Yena."

Shaking my head, I glanced over at Leo.

Leo, cheeks stuffed full of marshmallows like a squirrel, blinked her eyes wide open and thrust out the gift box she hadn't given her yet.

"Unboxing time!"

"What is it?"

"Open it and find out."

Yena looked back and forth between me and Leo, then opened the box.

Inside lay a heptagonal jewel radiating some kind of peculiar power.

"This is…"

"You may not be fully convinced yet, Yena, but the technique itself is complete. What matters now is the vessel to hold it."

Just like Leo's nymphification, or Candy Star's magical-girl transformation.

Yena, too, would need a resistance strong enough ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to withstand a technique capable of flattening a swarm of souls.

And the one person who could best supply that resistance was sitting right over there.

Myoshin was staring straight at me.

More precisely, at the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thing she had handed me.

When she'd offered it to me with her proposal, I'd hesitated for a moment—but it was reasonable enough, and in the end it was something Yena would earn the right to anyway. This really was the best way forward.

Yena lifted the heptagonal jewel with its intricate structure.

A faint pattern was etched into its interior.

Dim as it was, the design looked unmistakably like a cat.

One look was enough to feel a mystical power welling up from the gem on its own.

"It's a jewel? What am I supposed to use it for?"

"If you use it, you'll be able to clear it within the time you have left."

"What? But you said I couldn't just brute-force a clear, didn't you?"

"I did."

After all, Yena's real goal wasn't to gain raw power by clearing the quest—it was the smooth, stable use of her 'Roar'.

But there was no more time to waste.

Myoshin had said this path satisfied her direction best too—mine, Yena's, and her own.

'Yena is a gifted child. If she accepts this now, she can more than reach the realm she's aiming for.'

"It's not some earth-shattering power. Call it something that sharpens your senses and perception, I suppose. The boost to raw combat strength is fairly minor."

"…? Then why—"

"But like I said, Yena, you're already finished—your technique, I mean. All that's left is to fully lock in that finished sensation."

Once she grasped that feeling, Yena could ascend to the realm within six days and clear the quest.

Jewel clenched in her hand, Yena nodded with a strange, uneasy look on her face.

"Uh… I don't really get it, but since you're giving it to me, Lily, I'll gratefully accept it!"

"Clear it and come show yourself looking amazing. I'm counting on it."

"Yes! Should I use it right now?"

Maybe her mood had lifted, because Yena thrust her fist up with the jewel—and something pink began to stir inside it.

I waved my hand and cut off that flow.

"Not now. Try it later, when you're alone."

"Why?"

"It takes a while for the power to soak in. Probably about ten hours, most of it asleep—and it'd be a shame to end the broadcast right now, wouldn't it?"

"Hmm… I guess that's true."

Nodding, Yena tucked the jewel away against her chest.

Everything was going according to plan.

After that, the three of us sat around the campfire and ran our Christmas broadcast.

It would have been nice to include Myoshin in the conversation, but she was a being bound to the System—she couldn't speak at length with anyone not directly tied to this place.

Not that I could send Leo away either.

Yena had apparently gotten tipsy off the alcohol she'd pulled out in abundance, and giggled as she swayed her head.

Yena of DeoEn was a superhuman, so alcohol couldn't actually intoxicate her—but tipsiness was a 'status ailment', one that scrambled the mind.

If you deliberately allowed status ailments to take hold, getting drunk was entirely possible.

"Fufufu… Just you wait till this Hidden's done… Then shall the one and only TrueAwakenedMythicTranscendentYena descend upon this laaaand…"

"Wow. Can't wait."

"…What's with that tone?"

"I really, genuinely can't wait."

Is it only me, then?

I turned my head to look at Leo.

At some point Leo had started hiccupping, and was gazing at Yena with a flushed face.

She seemed to have caught a buzz, but perhaps because she'd never been quite right in the head to begin with, her expression actually looked more lucid than usual.

She shook her head side to side.

"Fighdin'…"

"Yes?"

"No, nothin'… hee hee. Just rootin' for ya."

"?"