The Christmas of the Shield Hero Part 3  

That night, in order to make all of the presents I found on the wish slips, I began to read up on the toys of this world.

Naofumi: “um… what? Stone Ore Sewing needle? What is that? The one who ordered it was… Imya huh.”

I thought that should be labeled as more of a tool to make clothes than a present to ask Santa for… but… I would have gotten it for her even if it was not a request to Santa.

Well as long as she personally wishes for it…

She sure is Dilligent. Though that is supposed to be a good point.

Naofumi: “Next is…”

By the way, Raphtalia is currently cleaning the room.

I wonder what Raphtalia would ask for if she knew that I was Santa.

Well that doesn’t matter. I should focus on the wishes of the Village.

「A steamy night with Naofumi」

The slip was shoved into the bottom of the pile of wishes I had collected.

Though a name wasn’t written, I had a general idea of the culprit.

Even though she cannot see, how did she write that?

No wait, Atlas being a spirit, the problem extends past not being able to see

Well it is also possible that Sadina let her use Ghost Writing

Naofumi: “Hm, next is… 「A night of carnal pleasures with Naofumi. 」”

With a snap, my motivation was destroyed.

Raphtalia: “Hey, Naofumi?”

These people… Every single time!

Don’t turn this holy night into an unholy one.

Oh well… next is

「Delicious food made by Niichan.」

It seems that this one is from Kiel.

That dog really is simple.

You eat it every day, don’t you? I don’t think Santa can do anything about your request.

Well, I would be more troubled if she wrote something like ‘I want to meet my dead parents’ or something like that…

For that, I don’t think I can do anything. She would have a better chance writing to Sadina.

That woman may be messed up, but she is quite knowledgeable in this field.

Well, as long as Kiel is happy with this, then I guess it’s fine.

The problem is food, huh. She didn’t write what she wanted to eat, so I should probably do some research.

“? What is this? 「Play with me」?”

This is quite vague.

What does this person mean by ‘play with me’?

What’s more, I do not recognize this name.

I can recognize the handwriting, but the name is completely different.

Could this also be… an instance of Ghost Writing?

Naofumi: “Raphtalia, do you know who this is?”

I’ll show there unknowns to Raphtalia.

Raphtalia is really skilled at remembering names.

Even I have yet to memorize Imya’s full name but she picked it up almost immediately.

Raphtalia: “Ah, these are from the monsters of the village. The writer is … Windea probably.”

Naofumi: “Ah, I see…”

I think I can put this one off for a while.

And wait, the Monsters also want Christmas presents?

It seems half of the monster requests involved playing, and the other half involved eating human food.

Well, I guess there’s no choice.

We can fulfill them the day after Christmas.

“I’m home~!”

The door to the house slammed open followed by an energetic voice.

In the doorway stood the idol of the world; the Hero of the Claw; the energetic Firo.

Well, she did return home by portal regularly.

Firo: “I’m home, master”

Naofumi: “Welcome Back”

Firo: “A lot of people handed me gifts saying they were Christmas Presents!”

Ah, so that’s why she arrived by carriage today instead of by portal.

A carriage fully loaded with presents was parked outside the house.

Since the end of the wave, Firo has been traveling the world with Melty as an international Idol.

Naofumi: “Where is Melty?”

Firo: “Um, she said she was returning to the castle.”

Naofumi: “I see…”

Well, I don’t really have any reason to give Melty a present.

she’s receiving gifts from all of the races of the world.

I mean, she is the Queen of the world.

Though I don’t know if she personally wished for that or not.

Firo: “And so, Firo heard some good information.”

Naofumi: “What did you hear?”

It’s probably nothing important

But saying such things to Firo is dangerous. I should hear her out before she goes on a rampage.

I have no idea what she will do if I keep silent.

Firo: “You know~ , this event called Christmas~, It’s apparently very fun!”

Naofumi: “Of course it is, so? Firo, are you doing a Christmas live event?”

Firo: “?… Melty said I would be free on Christmas, but that I had work on every other day.”

Naofumi: “Well, I guess that Makes sense.”

Firo: “And so, Melty’s mother said that if I didn’t stay here for Christmas, I would regret it.”

I have no Idea what she would regret… I don’t understand what the Queen is thinking.

Anyways, it seems that Firo will be in the village for Christmas.

It’s going to get noisy around here…

And that’s how I made some progress on preparing the Christmas presents.

Oh, we put the presents that Firo had accumulated in the Village storehouse.

From my quick analysis, it seems that there are some extremely fancy presents mixed in.

Just how popular is that bird anyways.

I wonder how much trouble would occur if the populace found out that she was not an Angel, but a Filo Rial monster.

“Firo-taaaaaaaan~”

…Twas a voice I did not want to hear.

Despite the cold, that person is still needlessly energetic.

Firo: “Ya!”

Firo escapes to her own room, and I can hear the sound of a lock clicking into place.

I deploy ‘Meteor Wall’ and make it so that no one can enter the house.

Motoyasu: “Fube~! This is father in law’s barrier! Fuoooooo! I, Motoyasu, will overcome all obstacles in the name of love!”

Sure enough, it’s Motoyasu and his three Filo Rials.

Since then, Motoyasu has become a prominent member of the Filo Rial community, and is currently advising a group of Filo Rials from Shield Freiden.

He also leads the group to Firo’s live concerts, forming a sort of cheering squad.

The three Filo Rial at his side are the highest Filo Rial among his Filo Rial. They sometimes act as Motoyasu’s support, and they to various chores. Moyoyasu seems to be on good terms with them.

The one who speaks the most is Green.

Well, they only really speak among themselves.

Motoyasu is struggling to overcome the Meteor wall I had conjured, The three Filo Rials adapt fighting stances, but continue to watch in silence.

It seems that these three have gotten used to dealing with Motoyasu.

The three unleash a large-scale attack that probably would have killed me at one point at the wall and Motoyasu.

However, Motoyasu’s toughness is not to be underestimated.

Just give up, Motoyasu. Firo hates you on a primal level.

A little while after that…

Fohl: “Ah… It’s cold.”

Foul, who is in his true form, is shivering under a blanket in my house.

Fohl: “Aniki, have you seen Atlas?”

Naofumi: “Atlas is currently resting inside the shield. Do you need something?”

Hearing my words, Atlas comes out of the shield and materializes in a half-transparent state.

Atlas: “Did you call for me, Naofumi?”

Naofumi: “Ah, your brother came to look for you.”

Atlas: “Ara, Fohl, it’s been a while”

Fohl: “It’s been a while, Atlas”

Naofumi: “…Didn’t you two meet just yesterday?”

Fohl has currently made training the people of the village his life’s work.

For now, he is trying to pound the basics of martial arts into the new slaves, and the villagers who wish to get stronger.

Deep in the mountains is a dragon disguised as an old woman who runs a Dojo. Fohl has made it his job to train people enough that they will be able to survive the old woman’s training.

Excluding me, it seems that he has become the second most trusted person in the village after Sadina.

Even though he is rotten, he is the hero of the fist.

By the way, it seems that the opponent he has the most trouble with is Kiel, as he is generally put off by her sparkling eyes.

Atlas: “You seem energetic, as always brother.”

Fohl: “Really? I feel as If I could die at any second”

Raphtalia: “Did you catch a cold or something?”

Seeing Fohl’s light equipment, Raphtalia asks with a worried expression.

Fohl: “no… anyways, it’s way too cold… That’s strange, when I was looking over Atlas, the cold seemed like nothing to me… Ow…”

Fohl accidentally bites his tongue.

I go over and apply light healing magic while checking to see if he has a cold.

But there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong.

Naofumi: “Fohl, do you possibly hate the cold?”

Fohl: “That can’t be… ah… It’s cold.”

Naofumi: “Raphtalia, warm up the room. Firo!”

Raphtalia: “I understand, I’ll add more wood to the fire.”

Firo: “Yes?”

Naofumi: “Go warm up Fohl in your Filo Rial form.”

Firo: “Understood.”

Firo changes to her Filo Rial form, and envelops Fohl in her feathers.

It looks warm.

Foul: “Ah… It’s warm. Thank You (said in english), Aniki… everyone”

Naofumi: “No… Your cold resistance is way too low.”

Foul, who looks like he will, fall asleep at any moment, thanks me, but I don’t know what to think of this.

You’re becoming a stereotypical cold hater.

Do you plan to hibernate or something?

Sadina: “It sure has become cold, hasn’t it? What’s up?”

Sadina appears wearing nothing but a loincloth.

Are you, conversely, extremely resistant to the cold?

Atlas: “Ah, Sadina. Fohl did say it was getting cold. You people lack willpower.”

Sadina: “Ara-? Has this person lost his mind”

Fohl: “I’m more sane than you.”

Well, Atlas is a spirit, and Sadina seems to have an abundant layer of whale fat.

Sadina even looks prepared to take a dive in the ocean.

Just how strong to cold can you be?

Sadina: “It’s warm under the sea. Will you come with me Fohl?”

Atlas: “That sounds like a wonderful idea.”

Naofumi: “Do you plan on killing Fohl? You too Atlas, don’t escalate it anymore.”

Atlas: “Even if you tell me that, I’ve never been vulnerable to the cold.”

Naofumi: “?”

Atlas: “Fohl has always been weak to it, however, I’ve never been bothered by cold weather.”

Even though you were weak bodied, you were strong against the cold, huh?

Now that I think about it, the Slave crest wasn’t particularly effective on her either.

She was tough in some strange ways.

But I still don’t think she should be trying to make Foul her compatriot.

Rafu: “Rafu~”

??: “Ah, Rafu, how are you feeling”

Rafu: “Rafu”

Rafu had become the hero of the Fleet (as in ships). He works as Sadina’s support.

This helps as Sadina’s job is supposed to be salvaging. She has good compatibility with Rafu, who has many strange and useful ships.

Rafu pulls a golden chalice out of his tail and shows it to us.

It seems like it will sell for quite a bit.

Atlas: “You pulled up something nice today”

Rafu: “Rafu~!”

Atlas: “I see… Well isn’t that nice?”

Atlas praises and pats Rafu’s head, and then goes to check on Fohl.

“Oh right, Fohl. You still haven’t written your wish down yet.”

I take out a wish slip and hand it to Fohl.

He was originally from a warrior house. He probably knows already

Naofumi: “Oh right, what do you want as a Christmas Present”

Fohl: “Ah, the one in charge of presents until now has been me, so…”

Fohl stares at Atlas and yawns. He reaches his hands towards her.

But without a sound, his outstretched arms simply pass through her.

And Fohl continues to stare with downtrodden eyes.

His melancholy is clearly visible on his face.

Atlas: “Naofumi, have you finished researching what the kids of the village want?”

Naofumi: “Pretty much…”

Atlas: “I wonder if Santa will give sister anything this year.”

Naofumi: “Get out, Get out!”

Please be a little more considerate of Fohl.

As Fohl found it way too cold that day, he spent the day cooped up in my house.

Is this person supposed to be a bear? Is what I wanted to retort.

Just how much can he hate the cold?

And so, time passed.