Extra: That Christmas Thing

Soto suddenly burst in as I was lying around leisurely in my room.

"Papa, it's a big deal! An emergency! Big news!"

"Hmm? What's going on, Soto?"

"It's Christmas, Christmas!"

"… Oh yeah, it's already winter huh."

Indeed, if we were still in Japan, it would be the Christmas season.

… I wonder where she learned about Christmas?

"Wataru told me about it!"

"That guy, huh… so what did he tell you about Christmas?"

"He said it's an event in Japan where they celebrate the birthday of a great person from another religion by crossing over to the next day! I thought it was quite strange!"

Well yeah, when you put it that way, it did sound strange. It'd be like us suddenly celebrating the birthday of the Demon King as far as this world was concerned.

But where's the big news and the emergency in that?

"And when you think about Christmas, you think of…?"

Soto stared at me with an upward glance.

How could I know the right answer when she asks me like that.

"A Christmas tree, maybe?"

"Hmm! Close! You know, it's a living thing!"

"A living thing? … Reindeer?"

"A little further back!"

"… Santa?"

"That's right! Santa Claus, the creature that gives presents when good children offer their socks!"

"Hold on, it's one thing to describe Santa as a [Creature] but did Wataru really say that???"

If that's the case, I wouldn't mind confronting him about what he's teaching my daughter.

"No, I heard about it from Niku Onee-chan."

"Ugh! Ah, yeah, I think I might have jokingly told her something like that before."

I remembered trying to collect socks as a joke back then.

Looking back, I was quite… well, that!

Thanks to being glared at by Rokuko, Christmas had been abolished from that year on!

"So I was thinking of being Santa Claus. First, I'll capture the real Santa Claus, then I'll replace him!"

"Wait, wait, wait."

I stopped Soto right there… she wanted to be on the giving side, not the receiving side?

Well, she probably wanted to be the one being offered socks, knowing her… yup, she's definitely my child.

"… Soto. You're one of the good kids, so you should just quietly receive the presents."

"What kind of weak-willed talk is that, Papa!? I don't think I'm a good kid at all and I should earn what I want by my own efforts! I should stand up to protect the socks of Golen instead!"

"I'll ask Santa to give Soto a present too, so please, could you just behave!?"

"Huh? Can you negotiate with Santa Claus?"

"… I can, he won't take socks away this time. Yeah. Then let's have Santa come this year. I'll have to tell Rokuko too!"

And so, Christmas was held this year for the first time in several years.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

Since it's been a while since we had Christmas, I managed to get everyone to tell me what they wanted in the form of "letters to Santa."

"Hey, Kehma. Is it okay for us to read letters addressed to Santa?"

"Well, parents act as Santa in Japan. We can't just leave it all to a great person from another religion. This isn't even Earth in the first place."

"That's true."

So, let's open the letters and see what everyone wants.

First wa Niku. The strongest fighter in Golen, a dog-eared slave girl who was also my pillow, a maid, and Soto's master… Yeah. She's got a lot of titles. She must have a tough time.

"Boots with concealed knives, huh? Hidden weapons. I'll use a slightly better material for them."

"If Kehma makes it, it'll be good. I wonder why she wrote it in a letter to Santa when you'd usually make it for her if she asked?"

"… Well, Niku knows I have a connection with Santa. I got caught last time."

"Come to think of it, that's true. Maybe she was being considerate."

Next was Ichika. She was the common sense of our dungeon, a foodie, and a gambling addict who fell into slavery due to her bad habits. Even so, she was still our common sense.

"Ichika probably wants curry bread…"

"Hey now. I mean, you're not wrong, but like…"

"It's not hygienic to put curry bread in socks though, right?"

"I'll put a curry bread exchange ticket in instead. I'm glad she didn't ask for a slot machine, those are a pain to make."

"Isn't it because she knows she'd have to provide the copper coins for the slot machine?"

It was a plausible explanation.

Now, let's see what the three monster girl executives want.

Vampire Rei, who was also a saintess of Beddhist, head maid Kinue, who was in charge of cooking at the inn's dining hall, and the Apprentice Witch Nerune, a magic tool researcher.

So, what do these three want…?

"Rei wants delicious blood, Kinue wants a place to clean. Nerune seems to want a high-level magic scroll."

"Nerune's is the most expensive. She doesn't hold back when she really wants something… As for the blood, I'll use DP to get some transfusion packs. I don't know if it's tasty, but it's probably not a good idea to keep it in a sock due to preservation issues, so I'll make it an exchange ticket as well."

"What about Kinue's request for a place to clean?"

"… Maybe I'll make a small shrine or something, like an altar for Beddhist."

"It's fine to have multiple altars for Beddhism. In fact, if we make one in each room, wouldn't that grant our part of the wish as well?"

And in Rokuko's hands were letters from Kinue's subordinates, the three Silky sisters.

"Hanna, Nakoru, and Pio. All of them wrote that they want unrestricted work (housework) without Kinue's interference."

"Is Kinue really taking away that much work…?"

"As Kinue's skills as a Silky have improved, so has her work efficiency and quality."

Meaning that she was taking away their work as a result… If one person handled too much work, there wouldn't be any replacements when they needed a break, so if something happened, it'd become a big problem.

Considering that, it might be a good idea to increase the number of small shrines that don't require constant cleaning. After all, there are no gods in Beddhism who'd would get angry if the shrines were treated poorly.

"This one's an exchange ticket too… none of the presents fit in socks, huh?"

"That's right, maybe except for Nerune's scroll? Let's splurge on it."

"Hopefully it won't overlap with Wataru's present."

"… Let's decide which one to choose after looking at Wataru's present."

It was finally time for Soto's letter.

"I'm a little scared to open it."

"Just open it already, she's our daughter. It's probably something like Succyuma-chan's socks."

"That's what I'm afraid of… uh?"

[Dear Santa, please give me all the stuffed socks! If you don't…]

Hmm, she's quite greedy! What's that [If you don't] supposed to mean? Don't try to intimidate me.

"What do we do with this?"

"Ordinary socks probably wouldn't be good enough. We should try to satisfy her with some rare socks that have a special feeling."

"Hmm, Kinue's socks… maybe?"

"Those would have a strong family feel, but we'd need Kinue's cooperation to get them, which is a problem. I'd rather get something from outside Golen."

Even if she said that, there's no other place in Golen where we could get socks.

"Should we ask Narikin and Rokufa to get some from the Holy Kingdom?"

"… No, let's ask Ten-san instead. If it's the socks of that Silky from Haku-san's [White Secret] management, it might feel relatively rare."

"I see. If I also ask my sister, it should be foolproof. How about a Four Heavenly Monarchs sock assortment?"

"That'd be amazingly luxurious for a Christmas present."

I'd actually want it for myse—… no, never mind.

That was everything, at any rate. There were some other letters from the church's novice sister Michiru and the daughter of the Tsuia territory's lord, Maiodoru, but I discreetly forwarded those to their respective guardians, so they'd take care of them.

… Huh?

"Rokuko, why is there a letter from you too?"

"Isn't it obvious? I want a present from you too."

"Well, you're the reason I can even arrange the presents, so that's fine. So, what is it…?"

The letter simply read:

[To Kehma. Can I have a kiss?]

"…"

"Wow, Kehma's face is bright red. So, my present?"

"… On Christmas, yeah."

"Hmm… I'm looking forward to it, okay?"

And so, everyone received their presents on Christmas and was delighted.

… That included Rokuko.