In the Magic City of Shari'a, a blizzard descends.
And within such a blizzard, were the shadows of two persons.
「Reindeer #3, I will now explain our mission.」
「Onii-chan, I'm cold... and sleepy...」
Dressed in a luxurous Red coat and hat, and donning a white beard attached to his face and a large white sack slung over his shoulder was none other than Rudeus. With him nearby was Aisha in what was a costume tailored from the furs of some local demons carefully crafted by hand into a peculiar form.
A section of her costume's mask was opened, and atop her head was the part of the chimera monster that most resembled a goat, with a pair of [Great Anger Horn] attached to above it on either side.
There is no mistake that any child that looks upon it will surely become faint of heart.
「The main objective of our mission tonight,... is to deliver the Christmas Present to Lucy!」
You see, the origin of this story begins about one month ago.
It began with Lucy who often pestered Rudeus to tell her a bedtime story, so he began to tell her the tale of Santa Claus.
On Midnight, December 25th.
At the homes of all the good boys and girls, Santa Claus will appear, and give them a present for behaving.
Lucy, of course being so young, completely believed such a story.
Because of this, she began actively helping around the house, all the while beaming "Santa is Coming!" for a whole month.
A good child should get a present, right?
However, it is important to not leave them disillusioned as well.
The present must not be seen as coming from me, but in rather, from "Santa" himself!
「Next, We must also not be discovered by Eris as well.」
「Why is that?」
「That is... because Eris... also... somehow... believes...」
Even this Eris who isn't particularly childish anymore had also believed the story.
Despite even from a month ago, her continually saying 「It's just a story made up by Rudeus, anyways...」 she too has been helping around the house a bit more enthusiastically than usual.
A good child should get a present... right?
Furthermore, even though she is an adult, there's no reason why a good adult shouldn't have to be disillusioned as well.
Even though it's generally accepted that Adults don't necessarily receive presents from Santa.
「Futhermore, If it too can be helped, we must also not be discovered by Norn!」
「Why is that?」
「Because Norn is of a pure heart and could easily believe in such a thing as well.」
「No Onii-chan, No matter how you try and mince words about Ane-san, she is a fool.」
Though Aisha said that with pity in her voice, what if Norn also believed?
Though, Norn was not behaving in any way especially good, that girl also wasn't really misbehaving either....
Ah well, it's good enough as it is!
「The plan is easy! First, we will enter through the back yard from near where my bedroom is, then we will climb to the rooftop. Once there, we will climb down into the house from the chimney into the fireplace, and quietly put a present by one of Lucy's pillows while she's asleep in Sylphy's room.」
「Why exactly are you coming from the fireplace? Wouldn't it be easier to just enter from the back door like normal? I mean, we have the key to the back door you know?」
「That's because Santa is supposed to enter from the fireplace! We can't just bypass that part of the story, you know...」
「Hmm, First time I'm ever hearing any of this...」
Huh? Didn't you hear me tell you this stuff already?
Oh well.
「Now, The arrangements I made with Reindeer #1 aka "Sylphy," will be to temporarily extinguish the fire, thereby allowing us to enter the house through the fireplace. And the arrangements I made with Reindeer #2 aka "Roxy," will be to cover any gaps in home security we have to bypass, by keeping Eris distracted.」
「That's pretty vague... And what exactly should I be doing during all of this?」
「You are my support.」
「...I see.」
Aisha rubbed her tired eyes, despite also adding in a yawn to the mix.
Meh, will this become a problematic thing?
The decrease in motivation this reindeer is displaying is remarkable.
「I beg of you. I really want this to succeed, I'll make it up to you in any way.」
「Hmm~ Then, I want to sleep with Onii-chan.」
「Done.」
「Yosh!~ Let's get going!」
After that, Aisha did a double cheek slap and immediately psyched herself up.
It's Mission Start!
---
We reached the rooftop without incident.
And we enter into the chimney hurriedly.
Just as planned, Sylphy had put out the fire in advance.
When I stop to think about it, I could have just put the fire out with my own magic instead... ah well!
「Ah」
While I was descending down the rope in the chimney, I heard a voice from above.
「What's the matter?」
「Ah, I seem to be getting stuck on the corners here」
「...Are you kidding me.」
The [Great Anger Horn] was crafted in a similar shape to that of a real reindeer's horns.
In other words, they're huge.
Our home's chimney hole is made a bit wide.
However, it is also rather narrow.
It's for this reason that Aisha is now getting stuck.
「Can't be helped then, Reindeer #3 can just wait there for me on standby until I get back.」
「I don't wanna! It's freezing.」
「If you can complain that much it's fine, Just pass me the present.」
「Ah, your coat. Make sure it's alright.」
「Right.」