落とし穴１２９堀：働く人のクリスマス予定 (Part1)
Pitfall 129: Working People’s Christmas Plans
Side: Kagura
"Haaah."
I blew into my cupped hands to warm them up.
"It’s gotten completely cold, hasn't it?"
"Yes. It is winter, after all."
Mikos and Solo replied to my observation.
"Indeed."
As I answered them and looked up, a heavy, gray sky stretched out above, only serving to make the cold feel even more biting.
Just as I was thinking that, a sudden, sharp gust of wind struck us.
"Ugh!? So cold!! Kagura, let’s stop by a café before we head home."
"…Agreed. Let’s warm up a bit before we go back."
"…Yes. Our work for the day is done, so let’s go."
I nodded at Mikos’s suggestion. Instead of heading straight to the house provided by Yuki, we made our way toward the Weed commercial district, and…
*Buzz, chatter…*
For some reason, despite the arrival of the year-end winter—a time that should normally be spent in a solemn, quiet manner—the Weed commercial district was bustling with a massive crowd.
"Well, I didn't think Weed’s life would be dictated by the severity of winter, but…"
"Seeing it in person is amazing, isn't it? Back at my place, a poor noble family like ours would spend the whole year scraping together stockpiles, just trying to survive the winter without starving or freezing to death."
"…I used to go into the winter forest to hunt small animals. Because there was no food."
"Usually, it’s a time when people are desperate to survive, just like you two. Even in my father’s duchy, there are always people who die from hunger or cold every single year."
My father tries his hardest every year to take measures to prevent such things, but nature is harsh, and things rarely go as planned.
I once had the reality of that shown to me alongside my older sister.
A mother who had frozen to death while holding her child, likely trying to protect them from the cold.
*"Listen, both of you. We must serve as good lords so that people like this don't appear. And you must never underestimate nature. Nature is both kind and cruel."*
I remember being taught that.
I cried my eyes out back then.
I remember accusing my father of being cold-hearted, asking why such unreasonable things were allowed to happen and why he hadn't saved them.
Winter is, by nature, a very difficult time to live through.
Yet, here in Weed, people were waiting for the new year with smiles on their faces.
They weren't just desperately waiting for winter to pass; they were smiling in anticipation of the new year.
"…It’s incredible."
"…Yeah. It really is."
"Yes. It is amazing."
While Mikos and I were once again made to realize the gap in our abilities as administrators and felt a bit dejected by our own powerlessness, Solo was purely praising Yuki for building a city where people could spend the winter without any trouble.
As we were thinking this, a group of children suddenly ran past us.
"The Christmas party is coming up soon, right? I have to buy something."
"But I don't have any money~"
"In that case, let’s go to the guild."
"I hope there’s some work."
The children ran off, shouting words I wasn't familiar with.
"What is Christmas?"
When I asked that, Mikos looked surprised…
"Eh? Kagura, you don't know about Christmas?"
"I’m asking because I don't know."
"Wow. You’re behind the times. Does Solo know?"
"Eh? Oh, yes. It’s the festival in Weed before the end of the year, right?"
"A festival before the end of the year?"
It seemed Solo knew about it, so Mikos’s comment about me being behind the times was apparently true.
"Yes. I believe the 24th and 25th of December are called Christmas Eve and Christmas. I don't know the details, but it seems they hold various parties on those days. Look, the poster at that shop."
Following Solo’s lead, I looked at the poster, which indeed read: *Let’s welcome this year’s Christmas with delicious cake and fine food.*
In the poster, there was a white-bearded old man in red clothes and something that looked like a deer.
"Hehe. Let Mikos-chan explain it to you in place of Solo. Christmas is one of the festivals from Earth, Yuki-sensei’s hometown, and it was originally a birthday celebration for a great person. Nowadays, serious churches use the day for prayers, but for ordinary people, it’s become a day to spend with family and lovers."
"Huh. Wait, that’s all just hearsay from Yuki, isn't it?"
"That’s right. I bumped into Yuki-sensei in the commercial district the other day and he explained it to me. And the person in the poster is called Santa-san, who gives Christmas presents to children who were good this year."
*Tch*, so Mikos had been meeting with Yuki on the sly.
"It wasn't so much 'bumping into him,' but Yuki-sensei was there to buy presents for the school children. For the Christmas preparations, apparently…"
"Ah, then the 'Christmas party' those children were talking about earlier is…"
"Probably an event held at the Weed school. Yuki-sensei is really acting as a teacher here, isn't he?"
"Though, Yuki-sensei and the others weren't at the Academy very often."
"That’s true, as Solo says, but the content of the classes was like night and day. It’s not that the Academy’s faculty were bad, but…"
It felt like comparing them was a mistake in itself.
Mikos and Solo seemed to share the same opinion, as they both nodded.
"Right? Taizou-sensei’s classes were always packed—standing room only, even—and the experiments were interesting, too."
"Indeed. I’m younger, so I couldn't participate and don't know the class content, but I’ve heard stories about Yuki-sensei and Taizou-sensei. Every time I learn something new since coming to Weed, I just think, 'Wow.'"
"That’s true. Wait, this isn't the time. We got sidetracked, but Yuki is preparing for Christmas, too."
"Ah, right. I mean, the one who proposed it was Yuki-sensei himself."
"Indeed."
That was when an idea struck me.
If it was a celebration that Yuki was going out of his way to organize…
"Then, shouldn't we participate in Christmas, too?"
That’s right. I thought we should participate as well.
However, for some reason, Mikos and Solo’s reactions were less than enthusiastic…
"Ah, I wonder? It doesn't seem like it’s mandatory, but I don't know if Mikos-chan and the others can participate. We haven't been going to school because of that recent commotion, after all."
"That’s true. And we have work to do…"
"That’s right."
We are technically enrolled in the Weed school, but the issue with the truant children that led to our enrollment was solved by Hairen-sama in the blink of an eye. Since then, we’ve been quite busy, and since we haven't been attending school, there’s no way I could ask to show up just for Christmas…
On top of that, there’s our work as diplomats. With intercontinental exchange beginning, we’re incredibly busy, and there’s no way we could get time off. The Princess wouldn't give us any time off, anyway…
" " "Sigh…" " "
A hopeless Christmas.
No, we are, after all, people from a foreign land.
We had nothing to do with such an event…
As we slumped over with a sigh…
"…What are you all hanging your heads for?"
Startled by the sudden voice, I looked up to see Enora and Princess Stasia standing there.
"Ah, no. It’s nothing, we were just feeling a bit down."