549—Extra: Christmas

I was relaxing and lounging in my room when Soto jumped in.

“Dad, we’re in trouble! It’s a big deal! Big news!”

“Eh? What’s wrong, Soto?”

“It’s Christmas, Christmas!”

“Ooh, it’s winter already, isn’t it?”

Indeed, it would be Christmas time if I had been in Japan.

But where on earth did she learn about Christmas?

“I heard it from Wataru!”

“I’m sure it’s not the same as the one you’re talking about… By the way, what did he say about Christmas?”

“I heard that in Japan, people celebrate the birthdays of great figures from other religions on that day! To be honest, I thought it was a very strange thing to do.”

Yeah, well, if you put it that way, I guess that’s true. It’s like us celebrating the birthday of the sixth core, the Great Demon King of the Demon Kingdom, without any reason at all.”

But what’s the big news, and what’s so important about it?

“And speaking of it, what’s the big deal about Christmas?”

Soto looks up at me with a “jeez” look.

I mean, I really don’t know the answer to that question.

“Is it about the Christmas tree?”

“Bzzt! But that was close! What I mean is the creature that appears on Christmas day!”

“What creature? Is that a reindeer?

“Almost there!”

“Donkt tell me… Santa?”

“Yes! The creature who gives presents to good children who offer him a sock… the Santa Claus!”

“Wait a minute, you refer to Santa Claus as a [creature]; did Wataru say that?”

If so, I’m afraid I will have to go and punch him in the face and ask him what he’s teaching my daughter.

“No, I heard this part from Niku-chan.”

“Oh, yeah, I think I taught her something like that once, as a joke.”

At that time, I was trying to get her socks by telling her that story. And I do get a lot of it, but that’s it! I meant nothing bad by it.

But then Rokuko found out about it, and Christmas was banned after that year!

“So first thing first, I want to capture the real Santa Claus and pretend to be him!”

“Wait, wait, wait!”

I immediately tried to stop Soto. I have to explain about the present; in Santa’s case, you’re the giver, not the receiver.

Because I’m sure she aimed to be the one who got offered the socks by pretending to be him, and yeah, this solidified it; she’s really my child.

“…… Soto. You’re on the good child side, so you should be the one to receive the gift.”

“How dare you say that, Dad! I don’t think I’m a good child at all, and I should win what I want by myself! Rather, I must do this for the socks of Gollen Village!”

“I’ll ask Santa to give Soto a present from me too, so please don’t do that.”

“? You can negotiate with Santa?”

“I can… and he’s not going to take your socks. I’m going to ask Santa Claus to come this year. But I’ll have to talk to Rokuko!”

And so, for the first time in several years, Christmas was to be celebrated.

＊ ＊ ＊

This also means I’m going to have a Christmas party for the first time in a while.

Since it’s been a while since we had a Christmas party, we succeeded in getting everyone to tell us what they wanted in the form of a “letter to Santa Claus.”

“nee, Kehma, “Is it okay for us to look at the letter to Santa?”

“In Japan, the parents act as Santa Claus, we didn’t really leave it to some supernatural being, and we are not on my Earth to begin with.”

“That’s true.”

“So let’s open the letter and see what they want.”

First of all, Niku. She is a dog-eared slave girl who is the strongest force in this Gollen village, my pillow, maid, and master of Soto. So many titles. I’m sure she’s had a hard time with so many jobs at once.

“Boots with a knife.”

“Why did she write that in her letter to Santa when she could just tell Kehma and he would make it for her?”

“…Well, Niku is aware that I am Santa, she captured me last time.”

“I wonder if she was too shy to ask directly.”

“She might be being considerate too.”

Next. Ichika. She is the one with the most common sense in our dungeon, but she is also a useless human being who fell into slavery because of her eating and gambling habits. But its still true that she is the one with the most common sense.

“Ichika is going to ask for a curry bun, am I right?”

“Oi, oi, that’s… still… you’re right…”

“But it’s not hygienic to put curry rolls in socks, is it?”

“I’m just glad she didn’t ask for a slot machine; that thing is a pain in the ass to make.”

“Maybe it’s because she knows that even if she gets one, she still needs to prepare the copper coins themselves.”

“It’s possible.”

Next are the executives; let’s see what the three demons want.

The vampire Rei, who is also an ordained Beddhist saint, Kinue, the chief maid in charge of cooking in the inn’s cafeteria, and Nerune, a witch apprentice who is a researcher of magical tools

Now let’s see, what do these three want…?

“Rei’s wish was delicious blood; Kinue’s is a place to clean up. Nerune wants a scroll of advanced magic.”

“Nerune’s gift is the most expensive. Don’t she know how to hold back ?…I could buy blood with DP, and I’ll give her a pack for transfusion.I don’t know if it tastes good or not, but keeping it in a sock is not going to preserve it very well, so that’s another cost to think about.”

“What about a place to clean for Kinue?”

“We could make a new shrine, something like a Beddhist altar.”

“Since having multiple altars wasn’t a problem for the Beddhist religion, rather, if we made one in each room, wouldn’t that fulfill her requests?”

Rokuko now has a letter from Kinue’s subordinates, the Silkies.

“This is from Hannah, Nicolle, and Pio. It says they want to do all the work (housework), and they can do it without Kinue’s interference.”

“Kinue, did you really steal your subordinates’ work…?”

“I’m sure since her skills as a silkie are improving, the efficiency and quality of Kinue’s work are also improving.”

But in exchange, she is taking that much work away from the Silkies trio. I don’t want one person to be in charge of too many jobs because if one person handles too many jobs, there won’t be enough people to replace them when they are away, and they won’t be able to take time off. In any case, if something goes wrong, there will be a big hole left in their place.

Considering that, is it possible to have more shrines that need to be cleaned every now and then without hindrance? In Beddhist, there is no God who becomes enraged when a believer treats things roughly.

“I will be using a voucher for this too. Their request is something that I cannot put into a sock.”

“But I think Nerune’s scroll could, and since this is special, I will splurge a little.”

“Let’s just hope it won’t be the same as Wataru’s present for her.”

“You’re right, I’ll decide which one to get after I see Wataru’s.”

Now, finally, Soto’s letter.

“I’m a little afraid to open it.”

“Open it quickly; she’s our daughter. Maybe she wants the world best socks or something.”

“That’s what I am afraid of… Uh?”

[Dear Santa, please give me all the socks you’ve been hoarding! I want all of it! Or else…]

What greed! But what does “or else” mean?

“What should we do about this?”

“Ordinary socks won’t do, that’s for sure. Let’s convince her with a rare and special sock.”

“Perhaps Kinue’s socks…”

“They feel too personal, and the problem is that we need Kinue’s help to get them. I’d like to get them outside of Gollen village, but I don’t know where else to get them.”

“I’ll ask Narikin and Rokufa to get them in the Holy Kingdom.”

“I’ll ask Ten, “Mr. Tentacle,” to get them for me. I’m sure he’ll be able to find a pair of socks from Haku since he is the caretaker of the White Beach, and let’s get some from the Silkies too.”

“I see. I’ll ask Haku-nee-sama to do the same, or maybe she could also throw an assortment of Four Heavenly Kings socks?”

“That’s too extravagant for a Christmas present.”

Rather, I wanted tha… No, never mind.

Anyway, that’s all for now. There were also letters from Miquel, a novice sister at the church, and Mai Odore, the daughter of the Tzia ruler, but I quietly forwarded them to their respective guardians, so let them handle it.

…m?

“Rokuko. Why are your letters here too?”

“Because I want a present from Kehma, too.”

“Well… It’s fine since we’re preparing the gift, but why so roundabout?”

Her letter was written in a concise manner.

The letter was simply: “Dear Kehma. Do you want to kiss me?”

“……”

“Kehma, your face is bright red… So, could you give me that for Christmas?

“oh, right, FOR Christmas! okay.”

“n? Did you almost deliver the gift right away?”

Thus, they each received a gift for Christmas, and each was happy, including… Rokuko.