To all the riajuu, and to the villagers of loneliness village too, to everyone.
Merry Christmas!
People dressed in colorful costumes, mysterious creatures(mascots), shrieks that contained joy and excitement, sound effects and music that were resounding here and there.
That place, which looked unreal and extraordinary, was a certain famous theme park.
The season was winter. Furthermore, today was the day when the end of the year would soon arrive――it was Christmas.
It was natural that there were more lovers than usual, but there were also people who came with their family or fellow friends. They all came in droves to enjoy, to their heart’s content, this theme park that had been remodeled for only a limited time, dyed in the color of Christmas.
The theme park, which had amassed such a number of visitors that it made the face of the management to burst out in a chuckle, was visited by a group that was a little special. It was a group that consisted of one man and eight beautiful girls and women. On the shoulder of that man was a little girl with sparkling bright eyes. It went without saying that this group was Hajime and the wives (Yue, Shia, Tio, Kaori, Shizuku, Remia, Aiko, and Liliana). Shuu and Sumire had work. It also went without saying that the two of them were shedding tears because they couldn’t come.
By the way, in the current time, Liliana was still unable to separate herself from the kingdom, so normally she was staying in the kingdom. However, in this long-awaited holy night, it would be too cruel to leave Liliana alone, so Hajime opened a gate and kidnapped Liliana who was in the middle of work.
For the moment, by using the system to convert electricity into magic power (Hajime had built a personal geothermal electric power generator deep underground so he could convert magic power as he pleased), the number of times they could freely come and go between Tortus and earth had increased, so there was no particular problem with doing this.
「Papa, papa! There, let’s go there nano! That one with shark-san going haup!」(TN: Seems Myuu is referring to a shark opening its jaw and then swallowing in a flash.)
「Yes yes. Even though it’s cold here, but you intentionally chose water attraction huh. Is this because of Myuu’s race trait?」
Myuu was given a ride on Hajime’s shoulder, her legs were swinging back and forth while she was squealing merrily. Her head was covered with a fluffy Santa hat, and her appearance was that of a mini skirt Santa costume. Her legs were wrapped with white stockings, and her boots were white with a pompon attached, each time her legs moved they would flutter around.
With emerald blonde hair that flowed down from the Santa hat, her well ordered gentle features that were inherited from her mother, her innocent merriness, and her fawning over her papa with all her might made this little girl stand out despite all the onee-chan surrounding the papa. The gazes of the people in the surrounding were unconsciously pulled toward her, and when they caught sight of her they wouldn’t be able to help themselves from loosening up their expression warmly.
Just as Santa Myuu wished for, papa Hajime was heading toward the aquatic attraction where they would have an adventure on a river, where a giant shark was lurking.
While waiting, the other visitors kept stealing glances toward the beautiful appearance of Yue and the others……however, there was no such thing happening. Due to an artifact that obstructed people’s recognizance, the surrounding wasn’t paying any attention to Yue and the others.
In exchange, it was Yue and the others whose gazes were wandering around restlessly. Especially Liliana whose familiarity with this world was still faint. She seemed to be receiving culture shocks from various things, and from behind the eyeglass of the recognizance obstruction, her gaze, that was possibly sparkling even brighter than Myuu’s, was running through the area.
They had entered the theme park in the morning, and by now the sun had gone down considerably, but Liliana’s excitement hadn’t settled down yet.
「……Really, Hajime-san’s world is just like a jack-in-the-box. They are building a facility like this only for the sake of amusement. The scale of this is just like a small city, you know? The sightseeing ward at Furen is also something, but this place is on a different level. No, should I perhaps call this as the difference in passion and seriousness toward amusement? Even though this is a large scale facility, I can see their fixation even on the minor details. It has surpassed the rationality as a mere business, and I can feel the zeal of the people affecting the construction. I wonder about how much they spent in building this. And the profit? The number of visitors per year? The development in the future? The owner of this facility is a common merchant……no, the owner is a corporation, isn’t it? If this can be managed by the country instead……. No, if the substantial aspect is left to Furen while the country becomes the contract partner……」
It seemed that Liliana was getting excited at a point that was slightly off. Even though she had arrived here in this rare chance to the world of dreams, furthermore, it was on the holy night, this princess of another world seemed to be curious about the selling point of the theme park instead. And what was mysterious from this was that the sparkling eyes of a dreaming maiden now strangely looked like the fiercely glaring eyes of someone aiming for money.
After Hajime returned to earth, it could be imagined just how hard Liliana. who was left behind, was working, so if it was asked if this couldn’t be helped then perhaps it really couldn’t be helped……but perhaps she had been neglected a bit too much. Hajime, Yue, and the others were sending lukewarm gazes mixed with pity toward Liliana.
While that happened, the turn for Hajime and the others had arrived. They boarded the boat that had drifted in in front of their eyes. The boat had a roof attached and could be boarded by around twenty people, with a vertical bench set up at the center so that the occupants could sit while facing the outside.
Myuu sat down on Hajime’s lap like it was only natural and was staring at the route looking thrilled.
Before long the boat slowly advanced. At the same time, an onee-san, looking like an adventurer with a rifle in one hand, was talking with a lot of realism about just how dangerous this adventure would be and how brutal the existence that was lurking at the bottom of the water was.
Just as could be expected from a worker at a large-scale theme park, her talking skill was first class. The adults were enjoying the atmosphere like an adult, and the children were looking at the water looking scared while their hand grasped their parents’ hand tightly.
「Papa.」
「Hm? What is it Myuu?」
Hajime tilted his head at the call of Myuu above his lap who was looking up over her shoulder at Hajime while he was fixing the position of her Santa hat that had shifted. Myuu was asking her papa cheerfully.
「If the shark-san attacks, that onee-san will be the one who defeats it nano?」
「Yeah, I guess. She will shot it with that rifle to protect us.」
「Hm~mm」
When Myuu heard what Hajime said, she began to stare fixedly at the onee-san. The onee-san smiled pleasantly toward the gaze of the cute Santa-san, and she waved her hand a bit. As expected from an onee-san of a theme park. Her zero yen smile was also super first class.
But, if it was a normal child they would be a bit embarrassed before hiding in the shadow of their parent, or they would smile back normally, but in this scene Myuu’s reaction was……
「Fuh」
For some reason, Myuu sighed a little while she shrugged as though to say「Yare yare daze」. A crack entered the onee-san’s super smile! A cramp entered papa Hajime’s expression! (TN: Yare yare daze, I think in English it’s something like ‘oh dear, good grief’)
Using the indispensable technique for a theme park worker, the “Instant Switch”, the Onee-san immediately fixed her smiling face, but Hajime’s expression was still cramped while tapping Myuu’s head. And then, when he asked the reason of Myuu’s attitude just now, she answered「Because, that onee-san looks weak」. It appeared that just now was Myuu’s way of wanting to say「Don’t force yourself okay」.
While that was happening, an event began in the attraction. On the water’s surface, there was a fin that was beginning to appear. The onee-san then shot a warning shot with her rifle. It was a fake rifle without any bullets, but a water splash occurred with matching timing. From the viewpoint of the children, it looked like the onee-san was shooting her rifle and drove away something. In fact, the little kids were raising voices of joy.
However, the boat suddenly shook as though something had pushed it up from below, and wreckages of seriously damaged ships from shark attacks were beginning to appear. The expression of the children began to show nervousness and fear once more. And those feelings reached the peak when a giant shark with its giant jaw opened wide leaped out from the water’s surface.
‘waa―’ ‘kyaa―’ Amidst those resounding excited voices, the onee-san drove away the giant shark with her rifle. However, the shaking boat caused her to slip and fall down. It appeared that her ankle got twisted (of course it was the setting), then saying that she couldn’t shoot the rifle like this, she called to the crowd ‘someone work with me!’. Naturally, the one who would cooperate would be the little kids.
「Go on, Myuu. You too go there.」
「Yes nano.」
A group of little kids fired the rifle given to them by the onee-san looking nervous, or possibly excited. Myuu also joined into that group.
「……Uu~n, how unexpected desu. If it’s Myuu-chan, she should know already about more thanthe real thing, doesn’t she?」
Shia tilted her head even while pleasantly watching Myuu who was making merry at the imitation shark. Myuu was different from normal children because she knew about real monsters of the sea and also about the struggle for life. Yet Myuu’s figure, which was seriously looking excited with this regardless of all that, was a bit strange.
「Fufu. Of course Myuu understands what is going on. But, the strange amusement of a dangerous experience with guaranteed safety caused Myuu to feel that it’s something unusual and interesting instead.」
「……Nn. Recently she’s been getting engrossed in battle games, this is a little bit troubling.」
「There is also our training, and there art also her staying up late at night.」
「Lack of sleep for young children will cause a bad influence on their growth. Hajime-kun, it’s not good unless you firmly warn her, you know?」
Papa Hajime was smiling wryly toward Aiko’s warning while he nodded. That was also something that Hajime was worrying about recently.
「Ah, it’s Myuu-chan’s turn now.」
「Leave the camera to me. Myuu-chan fighting a giant shark, I’ll catch it in the picture perfectly.」
Hearing what Kaori pointed out, Shizuku readied a single-lens reflex camera. The target of that lens was the figure of Myuu who was having a rifle handed to her right now.
Normally the onee-san would gently teach the kid the way of holding the rifle and also help prop up the kid. Then by aiming at the timing when the shark jumped out, she would say「It’s now! Fire!」where sparks would scatter from the shark’s body and mouth, giving a show as though the shark had been shot.
But, the small Santa who received the rifle was a super little girl that had become thoroughly familiar with gunpowder smoke, sparks, and firearms in another world. Furthermore, right now she was a trained little girl that had been forged by her all cheat onee-san and her demon king papa.
Therefore, the moment Myuu received the rifle, she twirled it with a familiar motion and shouldered it on her shoulder before turning her gaze to the water surface. The hands of the onee-san that were going to support the little child were wandering about in the air. That figure which was shouldering a long rifle was strangely looking appropriate on the miniskirt Santa little girl, which caused the eyes of the visitors to blink. Shizuku released the camera shutter. Consecutively.
「Err, I wonder, what is your name young miss~?」
With a professional spirit, the onee-san asked her name.
「It’s Myuu. I am six years old. A woman of the sea.」
「……S, so it’s Myuu-chan! Yoosh, Myuu-chan, if we advance just a little bit more we should be able to escape, so let’s do our best and drive away the scary shark, okay?」
Onee-san is a pro! No matter what kind of tricky customer she faced she wouldn’t waver!
She wouldn’t waver, but Myuu, who heard onee-san’s words of「drive away」, sent a glance at the onee-san as a fearless smile floated on her lips……
「Drive it away nano? That’s also not bad but……no one will mind even if I do the shark in right?」
「No, that will be troubling.」
Onee-san plainly replied!
But, in the next moment, the giant shark jumped out all of a sudden while raising water with it. Myuu instantly readied her rifle. She placed the stock part on her shoulder, her left hand supported the barrel, and her sight lined up with the rear sight. She really looked the part.
The eyes of the onee-san were starting to get far away. The children were going ‘waa’ raising voices of admiration. The adults were directing complicated gazes at Hajime and the others who were Myuu’s guardian.
On that boat which was gradually turning chaotic, the small Santa’s lovely speech resounded.
「I’ll blow off your head nano!」
The sound effect of *dopan* resounded and sparks scattered inside the mouth of the giant shark. The giant shark vanished into the water. Light was also vanishing from the onee-san’s eyes. The voice of the adults cheering the children was already disappearing.
Amidst all that, Myuu, who twirled the rifle with an experienced gesture as expected before resting it on her shoulder, a beat later made a resolute thumbs up with「Myu!」. (TN: Here she is not saying her own name, it was more like a peculiar voice that Myuu sometimes makes.)
On the boat, where various things had vanished, relentless sounds of shutter clicks were resounding.
「Oh, it’s starting nano!」
The sun had already completely sunk, however, the dazzling light of the theme park that was spreading, as though to exterminate the darkness of night, was illuminating Myuu who was in a good mood. On Hajime’s shoulder, Myuu was pointing at the lead group of the parade.
A night parade was starting in the theme park. Tonight was also Christmas, so the parade was showier and more extravagant than usual. The people who were gathering on the streets were also crowding around until the place was jam-packed.
Hajime’s group were watching the parade that earned a full score in its entertainment, but after a while, suddenly Hajime lowered Myuu down from his shoulder. And then, Hajime put the puzzled Myuu on Tio’s shoulder. If it was Tio, whose height was only a bit shorter than Hajime, then Myuu would still be able to watch the parade.
Hajime exchanged a look with Yue and the others. For the sake of this day, he had prepared this and that and made arrangements with the others beforehand. Due to that, Hajime intended to go away from this spot.
「Myuu. Papa will go away for a bit to do some errands. I’ll come back soon, so wait for a bit here.」
「……Yes nano.」
Hajime felt like something was pulling him back looking at Myuu who made a bit of a lonely expression, but he somehow shook it off. Today was the first grand Christmas event for Myuu. They didn’t make it in time for the previous Christmas because they had only made it back to earth and there was no time, so they only did something like a small party for the family. That was why, no matter what papa Hajime wanted to do that for the sake of his beloved daughter.
Hajime slipped into the crowd of people and vanished. Myuu stared at his figure as he left but was urged by Yue and the others until her gaze returned to the parade. A joyful smile immediately returned to her face, but as expected, when her beloved papa wasn’t with her she seemed unable to go all out enjoying the event.
But, that gloominess too was immediately cleared up.
*shan shan shan shan* Clear bell sounds could be heard. Everyone seemed to think that it was a sound from the parade, but that sound was getting larger which caused the people to go「Hmm?」while tilting their head. Yes, the sound of the bells that were growing increasingly audible was coming from up above.
As though they were guided by an unknown source the people began to look above, and over there was,
「Ah, that’s Santa-san-」
A boy somewhere pointed while raising his voice. Following where the boy pointed the people looked up, and they raised their voices with「Eh, lies, it’s flying!?」, or「Re, reindeer? The real thing!?」「Ama~zing!!」and so on.
Yes, at where the boy was pointing, there was the appearance of reindeer pulling a sleigh that Santa Claus was riding, gliding through the sky.
The normally impossible supernatural phenomenon was something that should make anyone scream, but this place was a country of dreamers. A fantasy world decorated with the unreal and extraordinary. Therefore, everyone was thinking that it was the theme park’s production, their shock was gradually turning into cheers. The staff, whom were doing the parade, were looking up open-mouthed, but the people who were looking up were to busy to notice that.
Before long, Santa Claus, who was riding through the starry sky of the holy night, was swiveling down as though going down through a spiraling staircase that was drawn midair. And then, the sleigh slowly approached the crowd.
The approaching sleigh made the crowd part naturally. The destination of that sleigh was a small Santa-san.
「Merry Christmas, my small compatriot young lady.」
The Santa Claus who got down from the sleigh had a face that was difficult to understand with his white beard and round glasses. He then kneeled in front of Myuu who was put down from Tio’s shoulder.
In response, Myuu blinked her eyes and responded.
「Papa, what are you doing nano?」
「…………………It’s not papa. It’s Santa.」
「Eh, but……」
「It’s Santa.」
「Pa――」
「It’s Saaan, taaa-」
「Ah, yes.」
Myuu nodded repeatedly at the Santa that felt a little desperate. She was an obedient and good child.
Santa nodded in satisfaction at Myuu while ignoring to the utmost Yue and the others whose shoulders were shaking. He then put the large white bag that was piled on the sleigh in front of Myuu.
「Now then, for you who have been a really good kid through this year, here is this present from Santa.」
「Present?」
To Myuu who tilted her head, Santa took out a box that was inlaid with sparkling stones that looked like lovely pink colored gems from his bag. That box was a feminine box that could be presented as a treasure box by itself.
The people who were surrounding them and watching over the development began thinking that this must be an event of the theme park were also going「Ooo」with warm expressions. A voice of a girl somewhere begging to her father「I want that」could be heard.
Amidst all that, Myuu who was receiving the lovely box asked pa――Santa if it was okay to open it with her gaze. Santa nodded.
When the lid was opened……
「Ah」
Myuu unintentionally raised her voice, but that expression which looked perplexed became colored with joy right away. That smile was like a flower bud that bloomed all at once, it was such a full and beautiful smile like a blooming flower.
The present that was inserted into that box was surely a girly present, something like a children’s accessory or a good of some cartoon character. Everyone was thinking along those lines.
But, what was taken out by Myuu was……
「It’s Donner and Schlag nanooo-!!!!」
A pair of handguns…….
People falling down were heard here and there, one after another. There was no doubt that they were people from Osaka (TN: Seems like the custom of falling on their butt from shock came from Osaka). Other people also made tsukkomis from their mouth. However, Myuu herself was swinging around the two handguns going「Finally, Myuu could have this nano!」while expressing great happiness.
The figure of a little girl Santa dancing boisterously from receiving as present during the holy night, a pair of handguns that she seemed to have been begging for previously, could be seen there.
「Young lady, those aren’t Donner-Schlag. They are “Donneer-Schlaag”.」
「Donneer-Schlaag?」
「Yes, Donneer-Schlaag.」
After Santa corrected Myuu like that, he further fished into his white present bag with rummaging sounds.
「Also this, “Pikko Piko Hammeeer”」
「Pikko Piko Hammeeer!!!」
「”This is Weapon Desu”.」
「This is Weapon De~su!」
「We also cannot forget this one, “Muuramasa” and――」
「Muuramasa!!」
「”Kotetsuu”.」
「Kotetsuuuuu!!」
Myuu’s tension was breaking through the heavens (TN: Reference to Gurren Lagann)! She hopped up and down and swung around the weapons she received heartily!
From there Myuu received even more presents. One was a gun belt and another was a present that was named as Yue-oneechan’s love. Myuu then said「Pa――Santa-san! Thank you nano! I, I, I love you nano!!」and leaped into Santa’s chest.
After that, at the other side of the crowd of the dumbfounded people, figures that seemed to be the security staff appeared. Santa, who confirmed the appearance of those staff, immediately boarded his sleigh, and then he snapped the reins and returned to the sky once more. In the middle this everyone was having a question of「Just how in the world it is flying?」while Santa then made his next move so that Myuu and others wouldn’t be bothered by the security.
「Merry Christmas.」
Saying such thing, a lot of parachutes were dropped from the sleigh. The absurd amount of parachutes that were raining down from the sky were all attached with Christmas presents. Obviously, there were presents consisting of toys or stuffed animals, and even some accessories or game systems. Every kind of present was raining down from the sky.
When the bewildered people heard an awfully clear voice that said「They are meager presents from the park. Please help yourself to it.」, they raised a joyful voice of「Waa!!」and rushed toward the parachutes. Because the people were pushing and jostling against each other, Yue nonchalantly supported them with magic so that no accident would happen.
By the way, the number of presents was obviously too many to be loaded on the sleigh, but everyone ignored that in their excitement. They were presents from Santa who was riding on a sleigh driven by lovely reindeer. The atmosphere of the place might’ve caused their mind to feel ‘who cares about the trivial things’.
Although, if they knew that those reindeer were actually mechanical Grim Reapers that were fully loaded with weaponry inside……surely they would panic without a doubt. In this world, there were some things that were better to not know.
The next day, it went without saying that the unprecedented theme park was grandly reported in the news. It also went without saying that the sophisticated production and the generous treat of presents raised the selling point of the park while the higher-ups were searching ‘just who was that Santa!’ with bloodshot eyes.
The really happy expression of the small princess of the Nagumo family also naturally made everyone in the family to writhe from her cuteness. However, her figure that was sleeping together with handguns and a war hammer, whip, and kodachi, while rubbing her cheek on them was……
He was the one who gave her those presents, but now papa Hajime was having a complicated worry of「Is this really fine, for my daughter?」.
AN: Thank you very much for reading this every time.
Thank you very much too for the thoughts, opinions, and reports about misspelling and omitted words.
Even though today is Christmas, Shirakome that is a villager of loneliness village suddenly got an idea and wrote this.
If you like, please read it together with a Christmas cake by yourself.
Shirakome had chocolate cake.