RM Vol 3: For a World without Boundary – Special Chapter: Saint Nicoclaus

RM Vol 3: For a World without Boundary – Special Chapter: Saint Nicoclaus

Quite honestly, Nicolae wasn't expecting that the first thing she would hear when she woke up from an afternoon nap would be this.

"I am sorry, Nicolae, but may I trouble you to be a Santa for a night?" This was said by Yggdra while sitting by Nicolae's bedside with a thick tome in her hands.

"Eh... Excuse me?" Being a Shoggoth means that Nicolae is very used to seeing weird stuff all the time. Hell, she's the one making up weird stuff when she has unlimited free time and money as a daily allowance. But for the first time in a long while, Nicolae is confused.

"You heard me right." Yggdra nods while patting the tome she is resting on her lap. "Can you help me perform Santa's duty for this Christmas night? Currently, Saint Nicolas Cage is busy taking care of Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer. The latter has suddenly fallen ill and won't be making a recovery in time for Christmas gift delivery."

Nicolae can easily understand why Yggdra has come to her personally. Aside from Santa and Yggdra herself, she is probably the only one in this universe who can use temporal anomalies to deliver Christmas gifts on time. Nonetheless, this is the first time the Shoggoth is requested to take up the mantle of something like this, as such, Nicolae is having a rare moment of indecision, not knowing whether she can fill in the spot for the larger-than-life figure that is Saint Nicolas Cage.

Knowing the Shoggoth's hesitation at the daunting prospect of becoming a Santa for a day, Yggdra smiles reassuringly. "Don't worry your cute little head over it too much, my dear Nicolae. You're a Shoggoth who can do it all as long as you put your creative heart and soul into it. I can also see to it that you will be well compensated with cosmic cookies when you get back. Consider it your payment for a job well done."

Nicolae immediately perks up at the mention of cosmic cookies. If Yggdra is offering her those tasty treats as a reward, Nicolae can even wipe out a universe or two, much less deliver some wrapped packages for some kids out there.

"Deal!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------

And that's why she is now in the low orbit of Earth, dressing in a Santa dress with the accompanying hat and riding on a sleigh. The latter, instead of eight reindeer, is pulled by eight Takodachis wearing a Christmas hat. On the back of the sleigh lies a burly white sack, seemingly containing gifts inside, however, it's there mostly for appearance's sake. Rather, the true gift bearers have yet to show themselves.

Unbothered by the lack of oxygen, Nicolae chants innocently. "Hohoho! Happy Halloween!"

Her voice should have been carried down to the denizens below if not for her to step on the brake and reassess what she had just said. The sudden stoppage prompts the eight Takodachis that are in front of the sleigh to smack into each other.

"Wah!" Shouted the first Takodachi as it was smacked ahead of the formation, only for the reign to pull it back rolling in the air.

"Wah~!?" The second Takodachi was sandwiched by the others.

"Wah." While the third Takodachi that spoke out managed to dodge its brethren, avoiding the same fate.

A fourth Takodachi has just opened its mouth to say something when the fifth and sixth Takodachis slap it on its head, forbidding it from getting the word out.

Ignoring the commotion in front of her sleigh, Nicolae pulls out a parchment from nowhere in particular and reads the words that are written on it. "Oh, it should be Merry Christmas instead. I see, I see!"

Dematerializing the paper, Nicolae controls the sleigh and the Takodachis to continue flying. This time, she chants correctly. "Yohoho~! Merry Christmas, everybody~!"

HASHIRE SORI YO

KAZE NO YOU NI

TSUKIMIHARA WO

All of a sudden, the supposedly sickly man on the bed jumps down from it, shedding the blanket to reveal a still sprying man despite his apparent age. The Duke of Indochina himself, Joseph Fesch, is a man in his late fifties. A Caucasian man with a grey bushy beard and military-cut hair, the Duke actually has traces of Asian heritage in his blood. Inherited from his his mother before him who was part of the native populace of Indochina.

With strong steps unbefitting of the ailment-inflicted act he has been putting on for years, the Duke speaks with a measured tone, pointing a thumb at the door. "So how do we tell her?"

Audrey raises an eyebrow. "That her father has been putting on an act to host a succession game for the last few years?"

"Blunt, but what you said is also a way." Joseph commented, making Audrey shrug.

"Angela is smart beyond her age, albeit still naive in the way of the world. But that can be rectified, no, it must be rectified." Audrey said. "At the matter stands, she is sincerely hoping that these vials she brought can bring you back. It will be crushing to her if this turns out to be a hoax but from what I can see outwardly, they seem legit. Though I advise waiting for Bishop Hoang to arrive and cast an inspection spell to identify any harmful elements, just in case."

By this time, Joseph had already picked up the note Audrey put away earlier. He then reads the shortened version of the note aloud. "Three vials, rejuvenating effects, increasing lifespan, curing mental and physical ailments... Panacea, the brew of Gods. Stamped with the seal that only three persons in the world can have. The seal of the Belkan royalty."

Audrey raises her fingers up at the last sentence. "So this house has sired two sons and a daughter. My eldest son is smitten with the communist idealogy and is a close friend of Nguyễn Ái Quốc. My second son, however, is even worse by the fact that he is madly in love with a known Japanese influential in Indochina. That leaves Camelia's treasure, Angela, the youngest in the house, and somehow has the mind rivaling that of my sons. She has yet to see the world but still manages to make contact with Belka through unknown means. Though I would still like to investigate this matter more before jumping to a final conclusion."

"That will be the smarter choice." Joseph said while looking at Audrey. "But just from an ideological standpoint alone, the most suitable heir of this house would be Angela. She will make for a loyal aide to the Princess's throne, not to mention being a smart one. Passing the ducal title to any of our sons means that Indochina will either be thrust into a communist revolt or be seized by the Japanese. No offense, by the way."

Audrey shakes her head calmly. "None taken. Somewhere along the line, I must have failed in their education."

"The responsibility lies in us both, my dear Audrey. But we can still salvage the situation by teaching little Angela the truth, and nothing but the truth. She is smart, in a few years' time, she will be leaving her older brothers in the dust. But until then..."

"The ruse must go on." Audrey nodded. "I will be bringing her in for a private talk with us later."

"Perhaps tonight will be a suitable time. Our sons should be committed to their outside taskings." Joseph strokes his beard. "I wonder, if I leave the coffee industry in her hands, won't it be a good test of her mettle? It will surely allow her to build a power base of her own."

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Moving away from the Indo in Indochina, inside a reclusive martial sect that is based on a forestry hill on the outskirts of Shanghai, a young girl with average height can be seen meditating beneath a matured Dawn Redwood. She has blueish-purple hair that is tied up in a ponytail, pale skin, and blue eyes. After a martial arts training session, this girl is now training her mental faculty like any good martial artist will do. That is until she is rudely interrupted by an object falling through the branches of the Redwood before bonking her audibly on her head.

"Ouch!" The girl's eyes are shocked open as she raises her hand to nurse the bump on her hair. Consciously, she looks around and spots the thing that has rudely interrupted her meditating session, not seeing a Takodachi who is now flying away with a smug face. The object is a scroll, an old way of passing down information, but is still being used sometimes in her sect.

Picking up the unknown scroll, the girl thinks that someone has misplaced it on the tree, though that would have been very careless of them. That said, she figures that the scroll itself doesn't even belong to her sect, the obvious signs being the material difference. The paper scroll in her hand seems to be of a higher quality than the ones stored in the library. Not to mention the fact that the girl is feeling a strange sense of compulsion, denouncing that the scroll is made just for her alone.

Cautiously, the girl unfurls the scroll. Surprisingly, the pearly white paper scroll shows no pictures or writings. That is until the girl experiences a splitting headache before she comes to see a slideshow of countless drawings, depicting various martial art stances and abilities being used running across the scroll's page. Her eyes struggle to make sense of the information rush but strangely enough, the girl can understand everything being shown heart in her mind. Slowly, she loses herself in a trance, not noticing that the scroll has evaporated after it stops showing her pictures and descriptions.

Her reverie is broken when a voice calls out to her from the building that served at the junior disciples' dormitory. "Fu Hua! It's time for dinner!"

Fu Hua snaps back to reality, turning around to see her closest friends waving at her from the garden patio. "Sushang! Lixue! Xuanyan! You're not gonna believe this!"

The girl, now identified as Fu Hua, rushes to join her fellow martial sisters, excitingly telling them of her recent epiphany. Unknowingly, this holiest of nights will shape their future into something much grander than any of them have ever dreamt of.