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I did not teleport Taiga and I back to the Resort. While the girls had suggested this, it was simply too risky, the chances of someone accidentally catching a glimpse of us using Magecraft without our notice were just too high. I wasn't willing to use [Blink] when I could cover the distance from where we were to the Resort in record time and with relative ease.

Thankfully, none of the girls tried to protest my decision, seeming to have realized this as well, not even the older woman on my back.

In the end, it took us about twenty minutes to return, and while the girls were fine, Taiga and I were shivering in our boots due to the snows that had slipped and melted inside our clothes when we fell–

We're cold and wet, and not in a good way. Even a High Human could feel the terrible cold and the biting winds, which were easy to ignore once you got used to it,

But with how absolutely soaked we were, it was practically a miracle I had not gotten the short end of a stick and contracted the dreaded hypothermia, let alone the young Martial Artist who was hugging my torso like a newborn koala. In all fairness, we had Gil-chan to thank for this, seeing as the Queen of Heroes had continuously supplied us with enough alcohols to open up a shop- alcohols which Taiga and I chugged like there's no tomorrow until we reached our destination.

"Excuse me, Miss?" I called out to the nurse, who looked at us in shock, clearly not expecting someone to visit so early. "Is the Infirmary open? My… Sister here needs medical attention ASAP, she got into a little of an accident while skiing, I think she sprained her ankle."

"Alright." To her credits, the nurse took a mere second to recover. "Put her here, I'll exam her injury."

"You don't seem that surprised?" Shiro voiced carelessly her thoughts, and the response was hilarious. "Well, it is a Skiing Resort, Miss. People doing dumb stuffs and getting seriously injured in the process are… Depressingly common. Although, I'll give it to y'all, this is the first time someone has gotten injured this early into the day."

Her tone might be professional, but her voice would indicate she's done with this shit, and I couldn't blame her. To quote Einstein 'There are only two things infinite in this World: The Universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the Universe'. As someone who regularly had to deal with the fallouts of the latter, it must be quite exhausting for her. "We'll leave her in your care then."

The instance those words left my mouth, Taiga shot to her feet… "You can't leave– Argh–!"

And immediately regretted the decision as words turned to scream.

Palming my face, I was barely able to hold in a chuckle at her predicament and expression- an expression I had only seen in drawings and nowhere else, while Sakura and Shiro plopped the flailing woman on the bed in a sitting position and asked worriedly. "Taiga-nee, are you alright?"

"N- No." She moaned in pain, clutching her injured leg. The pathetic display aside, at least she was honest. I had expected her to brave through the pain like usual, acting as though it was no big deal when it obviously was. It's then that I heard a familiar click, the sound which would be transmitted directly into my head whenever somebody was contacting my Gem. "Can you guys handle the situation here? I have to check on something."

I purposefully stressed in hope they would realize what it meant, and they all did, except Taiga. "Eh! You're leaving me?! Leo, you heartless monster! How can you bear to leave your beautiful and helpless nee-chan in this den of evils?!"

"It's an Infirmary, Taiga–" I rolled my eyes. "– Not a Supervillain Lair."

The Tigress lurched forth, hands clutching my jacket, screaming dramatically. "Is there really a difference?!"

… Fair enough. Glancing at the girls, I wordlessly asked for help and Sakura, the Elven Goddess that she was, decided to have mercy on my Soul. "That's quite enough, Taiga-nee-san. Let Leo-senpai leave for a minute, okay? I'm sure he will be back before you know it so–"

Her words were polite and softly-spoken, her tone and voice both were barely louder than a breeze, yet the malevolent Aura radiating off her smaller stature was so intense, it seemed to darken the brightly-lit Infirmary. The fact that her grip, which rested upon Taiga's shoulder appeared to increase in intensity, to the point her knuckle was practically bulging with veins might have added to the effect too.

"– Don't bother him anymore, okay?" That's phrased as a question, but it certainly wasn't one, not from my perspective at least. "B- But I–"

"Taiga-nee…" Sakura repeated in a singsong voice which sounded unnaturally authoritative for someone her size. "Be good and we can go for ice-cream later."

Holy Shit, it's like watching a professional dog-trainer taming a wild animal, it was beautiful! "O- Okay."

I threw the younger Tohsaka an impressed look, before giving her the thumbs-up. "That's impressive, I'm not gonna lie. Well, if you girls don't mind, I have a call to take. Stay safe and sound, I'll be right back."

After one last wave, I quickly made for the exit. Alice had been trying to reach me for the last hour now, whatever she wanted to inform me, it must be important for her to be so persistent. Obviously, I didn't take the call in spots people might overhear or stumble upon me talking to a magical Gem, instead I teleported back to the clearing where Taiga had gotten injured in to answer the call.

"This is Leonis speaking, what's the matter?"

" – Milord, there are information regarding Lord Malcolm I wish to report." Immediately, my disinterest was forgotten, and the joy of the Holiday was thrown to the side in favor of more serious and noteworthy things. "Alice, you know I dislike these games. Don't keep me waiting now, go on."

" – Well, I wasn't able to find anything… It's almost like his House sprouted from the ground up all of a sudden." Wasn't surprising. If anything, I'd say it's expected, given the talk I had with Malcolm. His entire Lineage was likely planted in the Clock Tower by the Wandering Sea to spy on them. In fact, I was certain the other Factions– The Aristocrats and the Democrats had a few of those as well. Still, if she hadn't found anything, "Then why are you calling, exactly?"

" – I couldn't anything, true. But somebody has contacted me, a First-Gen currently serving under Lord Malcolm to be precise." My mind- my thoughts instantly wandered back to the maid who stood on the sideline the day I met Malcolm, almost like an unconscious and instinctual reaction. " – And before you ask, she has shown sincerity through her actions, which is why I believe she can be trusted."

"And those actions are…?"

Alice chuckled menacingly. " – My Liege, did you know there are ways to circumvent the Geas? Miss Illaoi's way to do it is quite clever, and all she wants in return is for you to take her under your wings."

Hearing that, my interest was peaked and I asked curiously. "Oh? And how did she work it out? I was under the presumption those Slave-Contracts are- were foolproof."

The chuckle changed to laughter as she spoke. " – The Miss invented a language of her own, arranged the words into columns and rows of alphabets and numbers, my Liege. Every time she wants to inform me of something, she will write the codified content into her diary and… Conveniently forget where she leaves it–"

"And since the Geas does not consider the act of writing her diary, nor forgetting where it was an act of treason..." I interrupted, shocked at the woman's resourcefulness. Holy Shit were those some big-brain thinking indeed. If she's writing her diary without any thought of betrayal towards her Lord, a circumstance which could be easily arranged with self-hypnotization, then created sets of false memories explaining why she had to leave the diary there,

It would not- could not be considered a traitorous act! It's straight up fucking genius! "Goddamn, she's smart… So, what do you have for me?"

" – Even with her help, there isn't much. Malcolm Nancy of House Nancy, he's awarded the Medal of Honor for his contributions to the Tower, which to this day, is the only public event he ever participated in. What's more interesting are his businesses in Old London." Old London? What's that? It seemed I still hadn't learnt to keep my mouth close, because Alice quickly answered. " – We call it Old London, but it's basically the Crown Estate, a walled-off section of the City."

"So we're attacking his finances then? That's good."

" – From what Illaoi has told me, Lord Malcolm Nancy owns several plots of Land in the Crown Estate. How he's able to do this is beyond me, but I believe a little Spells and Runes in the right places, and we can really inconvenience him." Obviously, as a Lord, Malcolm would have other streams of revenue constantly filling his pockets, but destroying these properties would affect his reputation– (If he had any)– And draw attentions to his lands.

Honestly, if not for Alice advising me, I'd have killed the motherfucker and got this over with, unfortunately being Lorelei's disciple came with both benefits and downsides, one of which was being unreasonably high-profile. Every move, every action of mine was scrutinized, and news of me abusing my authority would become widespread real quick if I was careless.

Murdering some unnamed, unimportant Enforcer was one thing- it's frowned upon but was still something money could fix. Killing a Lord of the Tower however… It would bring a lot of unnecessary heats on me when I wasn't ready yet. "Oooh-GOOooDs! It hurts, she's trying to kill me! Shiro, Sakura, Leo, HELP!"

The corners of my lips twitched in annoyance as I facepalmed. " – Am- Am I calling at a bad time, my Liege?"

"You indeed are…" I sighed, feeling sweats pouring down like forehead. "I'm gonna have to call you back later."

" – My Liege, wait I still have things to report–"

"You can tell me later, I'm on a vacation at the moment." I cut off before she could finish and walked inside the Infirmary. "Well, time to face the music."

If you couldn't tell, the music here was the desperate howls of Taiga, which appeared to be a mixture of a cat's yowl, heavy metal and the dying screams of a man and a woman being torn apart and butchered simultaneously. "So… How's she doing?"

"Please, hold her down!" I gazed at the nurse, shrugged and advanced towards the struggling Taiga. "Leo-chan, save nee-chan, rescue me from these foul beasts!"

When she saw me say nothing, her expression dramatically changed and her complexion paled. "No- No! You betrayer, you can't do this to me!"

I pressed her to the beg and said with a sadistic smirk. Obviously, I didn't want to really harm the Tigress, but hurting her for her own sake? I'd call it fair game. "Sshhh… It's alright. The more you struggle, the worse it will hurt. Just let go–"

"NOOOOOO!"

· A Fight Worthy of an Ode Later –

"Senpai…" Shiro echoed amidst Taiga's sobbing. "Why didn't we use Avalon? I can understand your Potions not working correctly, but the Everdistant Paradise should work, right?"

"Probably…" I smirked. "But we wouldn't have been able to see Taiga in distress now, would we?"

Staring at the shell-shocked expression the amber-eyed Heroine wore, I laughed. "I'm just kidding, it wouldn't have worked. Remember how hard you have to pray to heal Sakura? Avalon is a semi-sentient Noble Phantasm, I doubt it will agree to heal what's essentially a flesh-wound which would recover fully under normal circumstances."

"I see…" Shiro muttered. "I'll talk to Avalon. Maybe she will listen to me?"

Doubtful, but no need to discourage her. Gently, I patted her soft, fluffy hair. "You do that. Now c'mon, let's go back to our rooms and get a nap in. I'm tired."

"Okay, Leo-senpai." Shiro said lowly, though I had a feeling she wasn't really listening, already deep in thoughts. I shook, ruffling her hair up to wake her from the daze. There was nothing more heartwarming than Shiro's angered yelps- it's like watching a golden-retriever trying to be mad at you and failing miserably. "Alright, alright! I give, you can stop hitting me now."

Not that her hits hurt in any way... It's almost like being struck by pillows. 'He-He! It tickles.'

—— [Fate: DML] ——

The foods here were surprisingly good, enough to give Shiro, Sakura and Rin– Our most well-versed members in cooking, inspirations. Truth be told, it did taste delicious, but I didn't notice anything special, maybe it's something only a select few could understand? Who knew? All I cared about was lunch was fucking awesome, and suspiciously filling for how much they fed us.

Probably put chemicals in the foods, but who didn't, right?

A quick nap for me, I woke up alone in my room. A sweep with Spatial-Awareness notified me of Shiro's location. Apparently, while I was sleeping, she had gone over to Taiga and Gil to help the Tigress. It's not unexpected, what's surprising was the fact the Resort still stood even after Gil and Shiro had prolonged contact, which was good news.

That meant they could coo-exist without attempting to murder one another or bring about the destruction of the World. Hopefully, it wouldn't change any time soon, at least not until I knew I could safely stop the two should they come to blows. "It's already December 24th, huh?"

I whispered, feeling affected by the festive atmosphere. Even from here, in my soundproof room, I could hear noises of people laughing, celebrating a terrific year and overall just having a fun time. With a wave, I telekinetically turned the lock, shutting everyone out and opened a portal to my Workshop. Immediately, beautifully-wrapped packages fell out, the red being Rin's gift,

Violet for Sakura,

Reddish orange for Shiro,

Gold for Gil and– "Oh-Shit… I didn't buy Taiga anything!"

My hands instantly reached to clutch my head as I felt a gigantic headache coming. "Goddamnit, I totally forgot about her!"

In my defense, and hear me out, I hadn't planned on inviting her. Hell, I hadn't planned the trip at all! It just appeared in my head, and I thought 'Why the fuck not?'. "Shit… Shit! Fuck me sideway! How did I forget?! How could I?! She's going to put my head on a spike!"

' Aren't you exaggerating a bit?' Angra asked, moaning sleepily.

'Me, exaggerated? Have you met Taiga?! Girl's fucking crazy!' I shouted in desperation. ' Fair enough… But if that's the case, should you really be talking to me? Shouldn't you hurry and find a proper gift?'

'Dammit!' Loath as I was to admit it, the Daemon was right. I was Leonis Magnum! I could still salvage this somehow. With that thought in mind, I immediately teleported to my hideout, before making another [Blink] to my Workshop in London, certain there were enough raw materials in my Workshop to make her a last minute gift.

'Okay… I've made Shiro a pair of falchions, similar to Archer's, perhaps a katana would suffice? Taiga is a swordswoman after all.'

' Won't the gifts overlap?'

'Do you have a better idea?' I asked with a grimace.

' I- I don't?'

'Then shut up and let me work.'

—— [Fate: DML] ——

In the end, I was barely able to finish Taiga's gift, though by the time I got back, it's already close to 6PM. "Did- Haaaaa… Haaaa… Did I make it?"

I asked no one in particular, but was answered by an upset-looking Shiro, the amber-eyed Heroine was dressed in a warm sweater of the same color her usual fit- that hideous white and blue t-shirt. Her pants were brown with no true eyes-drawing characteristics, and she looked pissed. "Make what? Where were you, Leo-senpai? We even thought something happened to you, though that damned Goldie doesn't seem too concerned."

… 'Did Shiro just curse? I didn't hear that incorrectly, did I?'

' Either you and I both have shitty hearing, or she really did curse.' Angra said sarcastically. "Sorry, sorry. I was- Uhmmm… I was busy. But I'm okay, everything is okay. More than okay in fact, I feel phenomenal, so you don't have to worry."

Once again, I resorted to patting her head to placate the smol Heroine, which worked like a charm. Even though she would protest and give me the meanest glares– (Meanest for Shiro, maybe)– I had never seen her struggle or shy away against my touches, so… That sounded way worse than I thought. I meant my head-pats, just to clarify for the perverts who might have purposefully misunderstood. "It's almost time for dinner, where is everyone?"

"Well, everyone wants to eat Sakura's and my cooking, so Rin and Sakura are out buying ingredients, nee-san is chilling in with Goldie in their shared room–" Aw… She's even using that word! Also, good for Taiga. Never thought she had it in her with how much excess energy she had. "– And I'm here to invite you to Rin's and Sakura's. We'll be having dinner there."

I tilted my head in confusion. "Why don't we just eat the Resort's stuffs? It's Christmas, and we're on a vacation… You girls shouldn't have to work."

"It's alright, Leo-senpai." Shiro smiled brilliantly, "Sakura and I enjoy cooking, it's peaceful. A- And…"

Her voice lower and lower until it was no longer possible to hear with normal hearing. If I hadn't had Super-Senses, I'd have missed it entirely. "This- Uhmmm- This is the first time we have celebrated Christmas with this many people, it almost feels like a family."

She whispered longingly, and for a moment I was awestruck by the sheer curtness she exuded. "I- I really want to cook for you guys, maybe not that Goldie, but if you think it's too much of a hassle, we can–"

Forcefully, I drew her into a bear-hug. "Nah, I love your cooking. I just don't want to bother you on a Christmas night, but if that's what you and everyone want, who am I to object?"

She blushed and shivered in my embrace, before weaving under my arms to escape, pouting. "D- Don't do that all of a sudden, I'm not a child!"

"Of course, you aren't." Stricken by the overwhelming cuteness, I readily agreed. Though whether those words were sincere was debatable. "Mou… You're so annoying, Leo-senpai."

I clutched my chest, pretending to be hurt and said with a monotone voice. "You're probably right."

Shiro snorted, pulling me by the hand. "Let's not keep them waiting, senpai. Sakura and Rin must be back by now."

We left our room and made for the Tohsaka siblings'. Opening the door, I was struck by an oddly heavy sensation. It didn't hurt, it also was not the usual forlorn feeling I'd experience every once in a while, it was… "Took you long enough, idiot. I thought you just upped and left us here."

"Leo-senpai, please take a seat, nee-san and I will set the table."

"How's business, Little Lion?"

"You heartless Demon! What are you doing here?!"

It was peace. I smiled, then choked as a single tear slid down my face. "Leo-senpai, what's wrong?!"

Shiro asked, and by the look of it, the other girls were also worried about my reaction. "Is- Is it because I called you a heartless Demon? I was just joking, don't cry!"

"No, no. It's not that." I laughed to clear the air, wiping the lone tear away with my sleeve. "I just, I've never experienced this I guess? Even before my… Amnesia, I don't think I've ever celebrated anything with my friends or family. I was always alone on holidays and seeing you guys here gives me this feeling like–"

Oh-Gods, was I oversharing? I was oversharing, wasn't I? ' You are a little bit…'

The Daemon's voice echoed inside my head. ' But who gives a fuck? Man or woman, you're still a person with feelings, it's not healthy to always keep it all bottled up.'

I smiled at that. 'Thank you, Angra. I'd give you a gift, but I don't know what Spirits even need so… Merry Christmas.'

' … Merry Christmas, Leonis.'

Sensing my emotions had stabilized, I gave them a half-hearted, "Never mind that, it's nothing. I'm just overly emotional for no reason."

I doubted they would believe that, judging from the looks they gave me. None of them tried to dig deeper, which I was genuinely thankful for, but the knowing smiles were too much and I was forced to flee to the toilet. ' Aw, what's the matter? Is the big bad Leonis embarrassed?'

I rolled my eyes. 'Don't push it, asshole.'

With a wave of my hands, a portal tore itself into existence, spilling the gifts I had melodiously prepared. "Now I just have to give these to them… No pressure."

A gifts-giving and cooking compilation later, we were now waiting for the foods to cool. "It'll probably take a while, how about we open the gifts first?"

Their gazes all turned to my empty hands. "Leo-senpai, you don't have a gift…"

"I'll be fine." I swiftly waved off their concerns. "As long as you guys like the gifts, it's enough for m–"

"Don't be ridiculous, Little Lion." The Golden Queen cut in with a huff as she summoned a golden-portal and pulled out a wrapped-package. "I dislike that you've been relying on me emotionally more and more, and I do believe you could have done more, done better in the time you've had–"

What's this? Was she roasting me on Christmas Night? "– That said, you're mine. It will not do for people to think I don't care for my subjects, even if I think celebrating the birth of a Demigod is unnecessary, so take it."

I caught the package with ease, chuckling. "Gil-chan, that's not why most people celebrate Christmas. It's a holiday that's supposed to represent joy, forgiveness and love. I'm pretty sure only a desperate and zealous few actually celebrate today for Christ."

Gil blew at her bang, not saying anything, but she seemed to agree with me. "Now that that's settled–"

Taiga clapped. "– Who wants to go first?"

We all looked at her expectantly. "Yes!"

The Tigress would have jumped and danced in excitement, were it not for her bandaged ankle. Like a wild animal or an excited child, she tore at the wrap I had so carefully prepared, eyes shinning brightly as she set sight on the shine of a tang. "This is–"

A blueish katana was revealed, its hilt wrapped in fully black cloth. The entire thing was held in place by two jeweled, metallic pins. "Do you like it? I call her Dawnbringer. Every time she clashes with something, she'll absorb portion of the impact to either release a powerful wave of kinetic Energy, or create a barrier that will cover you from head to toes. The tang will not lose its mass, but she does require you to sharpen the edges so take care of her."

Taiga was silent for a while, which honestly worried me a bit. "Do you not like it? I just thought since you're gonna get involved with the Supernatural soon, you might need a weapon–"

"Like it?" She interrupted. "I LOVE IT!"

I could have sworn I saw her try and jump on me, but the chabudai and her injured ankle prevented anything of sort from happening. "I've decided, I'll marry both you and Shiro-chan! One can take care of my foods, the other can protect me for the rest of my life!"

She pumped her fists up excitedly, to which I responded with a snicker as I chugged down my coca. "Alright, Shiro and I will give your proposal some thoughts."

But she didn't seem to hear me, instead opting to hug Dawnbringer close to her chest.

"Be careful, it's quite sharp, don't cut yourself Taiga-nee." I reminded.

"I'll go next!" Affected by the festive atmosphere, Shiro also shouted and made to unwrap her gift. Only, unlike Taiga, she's extremely careful about, almost like a robot. The falchions didn't have the cool look of Archer's, but there was beauty in its simplicity. "These are–"

"I know you like to use two blades, so I forged a pair. The darker-colored falchion is Eclipse, the brighter one is Illumine. No matter where you are in the World, or how far you fling them, they will always return to you." Yup, remember the Enforcer with a boomerang? I inspected the weapons and took the Runes from his Mystic Code. I scratched the back of my head. "Unlike Dawnbringer, they do not have any cool functions, but they're pretty much unbreakable, and don't require maintenance often."

Shiro rose to her feet, hands gripping the falchions and swung. "They're amazing, Leo-senpai! Thank you!"

I glanced at the Tohsaka siblings and Gil next. "Now, who's next?"

Sakura turned to Rin and said with a gentle smile gracing her lips. "Let's do this together, nee-san."

"Um!" Rin nodded as both girls began to peal the wraps off their gifts. For Sakura, I had made a bracelet, while Rin got a huge stack of papers. "Sakura, I haven't named the bracelet yet, I want you to do it. I know you don't like fighting, and after what happened to you, I doubt you will want to continue practice Magecraft, so I made a purely defensive Mystic Code. It's created based on the Power of a pretty cool guy–"

Usefully, my mind instantly presented me with images of a smirking Gojo Satoru. "I used my own Blood to create her, she projects an invisible forcefield of Space around you, as long as you have the Mana, and your foes don't have a Noble Phantasm and Spatial Spells, she should be able to block every attack and since she operates by constantly expanding the Space between you and the attack, even if she fails, the attack's potency will be reduced substantially."

Then, I turned to Rin. "Rin-sensei, I know of the financial troubles caused by Kotomine, which is why I've made you a bank account with five-hundred thousands USD. Aside from that, I've also given you shares of the Companies I'm investing in. I know it's not as thoughtful as Shiro's, Taiga's or Sakura's gifts, but I thought you might enjoy creating your own Mystic Code more…"

I sat right next to Rin and Shiro, so when the tsundere's arms extended towards my neck, I was honestly expecting her to beat me up and complain, saying something along the line of, 'Do you think I'm that materialistic?!'

But no… She hugged me. Due to the difference in heights, I was forced to lower myself, thought that didn't take away from the feelings we were experiencing, not one bit. She pushed her face into the crook of my neck and repeated like a woman possessed. "Thankyou. Thankyouthankyouthankyou! You don't know how much this will help, our inheritance has been in the dirt recently, I don't even have the money to pay for Magecraft anymore!"

I tried to pull away, (un)fortunately the tsundere's grip was tight, thus I shifted in place to get comfortable and glanced at Sakura eagerly. The younger Tohsaka was still touching her bracelet- it's made from magically treated-silver, and as long as a powerful Mystic Code, or a Noble Phantasm didn't hit it point blank, it should hold up decently.

Sadly, I couldn't fit other Enchantments on it- Enchantments like [Unbreakable, just Gojo's [Infinity] had required three different Runic Matrixes to make, any more and the entire thing would fall apart at the slightest touch. "Le- Leo-senpai… I don't know what to say. I- I just–"

"It's alright." I smiled at her. "Rin's family is my family as well, you don't have to say anything."

"Thank you." She bowed. "I've been rude to you–"

"That's enough." I silently conveyed to her through my eyes that I didn't want our conversation a few nights back to be revealed and unsurprisingly, she nodded, not bothering to protest at all. "Now, there's only you left, Gil-chan."

Unlike the girls, the resurrected Heroic Spirit's gift was quite the headache to design, but I thought I did a decent job. Gil opened the package to find three figurines made entirely our of golds. One of me, one of Gil and the other of a certain Mud-Man who had claimed the position of Gilgamesh's only friend. Sadly, I had to design these based on their FGO counterparts since I hadn't met Enkidu yet.

I could have made Gil's and my figurines more realistic, but then Enkidu's wouldn't fit in well. "Try to inject a little Mana into them."

I told her, and seeing no reason to object, Gil pushed Mana into the figurines who upon which immediately started to move and walk around like actual people. Enkidu's waved at her and summoned the 'Chains of Heaven', Gil's conjured ripples that looked exactly like the real article's Gate of Babylon, while mine swung his toothpick swords around excitedly.

"They're not truly alive, thus they can not speak. The weapons they wield are also mere illusions, but if you ever feel lonely in this changed World, I hope you can convey your feelings to them. Perhaps it will help?"

The Golden Queen turned away, as though unwilling to admit the gift was a good one, though judging from how gentle she was with the animated figurines as she picked them up, I'd say it's a job well-done. "How useless…"

She said, and I could almost feel Shiro glaring at her by my side. A firm hand on her thigh stopped her from doing anything rash and gave Gil the chance to finish her sentence. "But I don't dislike it. You did a good job, Little Lion. Now–"

She leaned forth, her stunning features covered by a layer of steam wafting off the foods, yet I could distinctively see an uncharacteristically soft smile on that perfect face. "It's your turn."

I looked at my gift, and made to unwrap it when I felt a psychic connection hitting me with the same force of an eighteen-wheeler going down a hill without break. " – Master, Creator! There's a plot against you!"

'What's wrong?' Answering Zolgen's call, I nearly cursed at it. Even in Death- Or Demonhood I supposed, the bastard was still a pain in my arse. I waited for him to explain, and the moment he did, all that feelings of joy, the festive atmosphere and the warmth burning in my chest cooled. My complexion paled, my features twisted with madness and a growl escaped my throat. " WHAT?!"

" – They're planning to stage a protest outside your shops and steal everything, Master!"

"Fine." The rage didn't disappear, but a long, deep breath was more than enough to change it from a raging inferno into a cold, dark abyss. I glanced the girls, who looked at me in confusion. "Unfortunately… Something has happened, people are just begging me to put their heads on spikes, I'll have to leave to deal with that. Please, don't let me ruin tonight for you guys, I'll be back as soon as possible."

I didn't give them an exact time, knowing Shiro and Rin, they'd probably starve themselves until I returned or some bullshits like that. "Leo-senpai, do you need help?"

"No." I replied coldly. "It's merely a bunch of insects desperate for my attention, and I must admit, they have gotten exactly what they want."

I paused, giving them a defeated look. "I'm really sorry for this, tonight was supposed to–"

"Go, Little Lion." The one to cut in was Gil. "If it's important, go. Teach those filthy mongrels a lesson, we're not going anywhere."

"Yeah, beat them up!" Taiga quipped in excitedly, which prompted Rin, Shiro and Sakura to also cheer me up. The sight warmed my heart and made the unyielding rage subside just a little… Unfortunately for whoever staged this charade, it's not enough for me to even contemplate sparring their pathetic life. "I'll be back soon."

With those words, I teleported away, dragged to work on a Christmas Night. "I'm gonna have their heads!"