Some Like it Cold

Some Like it Cold

Translator: Remonwater

──It was a very slight omen for change.

[Rem: Good morning, Subaru-kun.]

[Subaru: Ahfu, good morning. .....Hey, Rem. It’s a bit cold today, don’t you think?]

[Rem: I think so. It might be a bit chilly this morning. As expected of Subaru-kun, such keen insight.]

[Subaru: Well anyone would at least recognize cold weather...]

Subaru hurriedly made the topic into a talk about the temperature with Rem, who he met at the corridor early in the morning in the Roswaal residence. It was still morning, but the air was a lot colder than before. Yesterday it was hot enough to bring out sweat, but there was quite the difference in temperature throughout the night.

Subaru closes the front of his uniform to combat that coldness, buttoning his shirt all the way up to its collar.

[Subaru: I don’t feel so concerned about my matter with the cold when I see your appearance, Rem. Do you not have any seasonal maid outfits? That outfit would be rough in this weather.]

[Rem: If we get fully into ice season, there are maid outfits for the cold season. The material is thick and there’s cotton stuffed in it, so it’s very warm.]

Rem responds like that while wearing her usual maid outfit with a smile. It had a design where her shoulders and legs were boldly exposed. The excessive skin shown that would normally be a joy to see was cold now.

By the way, ice season is a way to denote a season with cold weather that is similar to winter. On the contrary, it seemed that hot seasons were denoted as “fire seasons”, and that there were changes with how people referred the four seasons in this world.

[Subaru: However, shouldn’t you wear ice season clothes with this type of cold instead? If you have trouble proposing that change, then I’ll make the direct appeal to Ros-chi.]

[Rem: I’m happy about you worrying about me, but my sister and I are already used to it, so it’s fine. This is not something you need to bother Roswaal for.]

Rem shook her head firmly in response to Subaru’s concern. He couldn’t understand her once again, but he held back on voicing his opinion.

[Subaru: Well, if you say so, Rem.......by the way, where’s Nee-sama? Not with you this morning?]

[Rem: Nope. Nee-sama is sleeping in a bit, as it seems she doesn’t want to get out of bed with the morning being cold.]

[Subaru: Didn’t you just say you and Nee-sama were used to it!?]

Subaru imagines how Ram is being cozy in her bed by herself at this moment, and lets out a sigh as he feels an obligation to punish the older sister, who is spoiled with her younger sister’s mercy.

[Subaru: You don’t need this. It doesn’t matter if it’s cold or hot. I’m going to hammer the fact that there are no breaks for residential maids into Nee-sama’s head. Let’s go, Rem.]

[Rem: But Nee-sama is tired from her daily work, so sleeping in on the occasional cold day isn’t that.......]

[Subaru: Let’s go, Rem!]

[Rem: Yes, if Subaru-kun says so!]

Rem’s has a change in heart within an instant, and she casually follows Subaru from behind, who starts walking with his arms waving. And in the end, he got stuck with doing work for this day while receiving resentful complaints from Ram, who was dragged out from her futon, being blown on by the cold breeze as well.

2

──And then came the day after he experienced the coldness of Ram’s attitude and the cold wind.

[Subaru: Afu.......Not only am I sleepy, but it’s also the cold seas.......oh, what the, Beako?]

[Beatrice: Yuck, I suppose.]

When Subaru woke up and exited the corridor, he came across a rare sight of a young lady wearing a dress, walking in the empty corridor──he happened to meet Beatrice.

This was a girl with magnificent drills that greatly stood out, who didn’t turn around even though she was the second person to walk around in the mansion sneakily──the first person obviously being the head of the mansion.

[Subaru: What are you doing up this early in the morning? There’s no way you stayed up all night, right? If you do nothing but stay up late, you’ll stop getting taller, plus your eyes will go bad if you read in the dark.]

[Beatrice: That’s an unusual and nosy warning. My height and eyesight have nothing to do with.......I don’t have time to mess around with you in the first place, I suppose. Now, go get lost.]

[Subaru: Fine fine. Putting that aside, isn’t today really cold? Yesterday was kinda cold too, but today is even colde.......]

[Beatrice: You don’t get anything, I suppose! I told you I’m not going to play around with you!]

Subaru tries to compromise with the shouting girl, Beatrice, while shrugging his shoulders at the coldness that was more intense than yesterday. She gave him a nasty look, but Subaru did not pay attention to it, as he sniffs up mucus with his nose.

The reason for the tension in the atmosphere was because of the freezing cold wind that came blowing in every now and then. It even looked as if the leaves swaying with the wind, seen in the dim and cloudy view out the window, were in pain.

[Subaru: It’s easy to catch a cold when the seasons change, so be careful.]

[Beatrice: Hmm. It’s pointless to worry that much about me. I’m not that weak enough to have you worry about me. Don’t get too full of yourself, I suppose.]

[Subaru: Worrying about you...or rather, taking care of you if you catch a cold sounds like a pain. I feel bad for Rem when I think about her not coming across your room easily and having the porridge she made become cold as a result. At least be admirable when you catch a cold. You sure aren’t a cute loli.]

[Beatrice: Why must you complain to me for the results of your hypothetical outcomes!?]

Beatrice was blamed with his imaginations, and she angrily resents him for it. She quickly puffs up her face, turns towards Subaru, and swipes her hand as if she was shooing away an insect.

[Beatrice: Anyways, I am very busy. You go ahead and burn yourself out with the things you need to do while you risk your life, not caring about whether it’s cold or not cold, I suppose.]

[Subaru: That’s bull. Saying you’re busy when you’re someone who just reads books in her room.......oh, that’s right.]

[Beatrice: ......I’m leaving now.]

[Subaru: You should help out with the work at the mansion sometimes too. You’ll shrug off the cold if you move your body, and there will be less worry about getting a cold from insufficient exercise. It’s killing two birds with one stone, yeah!]

Subaru makes this suggestion with a smile as he holds onto the shoulder of the girl who sought to turn his back on him, Beatrice. In response, Beatrice turns around with a displeased look and says

[Beatrice: ......Let go of me, I suppose. How many times do I have to tell you that I am busy? Don’t make me repeat myself.]

[Subaru: Okay okay, I get it I get it. I’ll talk to Roswaal so that you get the proper money for your portion of work, so help out with stuff such as weeding the garden like a kid.]

[Beatrice: Wh─wha!? I cannot believe you think that I am puffing up because of a reason like that! Also, listen to what I am saying, I suppose! Listen! Seriously, stop screwing around with me!]

Subaru picks up the girl with a reddening face, Beatrice, and took her away as he started to walk while she acts violently against him. She was resisting it, but today she surprisingly wasn’t using any magic to counterattack.

The insufficient part of her resistance was convenient for him, though that was a bit of a miracle.

[Subaru: Aaalright, time to run! Let’s knock out this coldness at full spirit!]

[Beatrice: Once I get down, the first thing I’ll knock out is you, I suppose!]

Subaru shouts at Beatrice, who erupts in anger, and cheerfully ran over to the mansion’s corridor.

The sound of Beatrice’s screechy, angry voice continued to be heard throughout the mansion throughout the rest of the day.

3

──And then came the day after he played with around with Beatrice.

[Roswaal: Ooooh, look what we have here. You’re up early, Subaru-kun.]

[Subaru: Oh...ohh.......it’s Ros-chi. Goo...good mor......good morning.......]

There was no day that resembled a day off for an employee’s work. Subaru met the head of the mansion early in the morning at the corridor──the chief of the Roswaal Mathers’ estate.

As always, his face was applied with clown makeup. This eccentric noble was doing his usual patrolling today as well.

His heterochromatic eyes──Subaru receives a look from his blue and yellow eyes. Once he exchanged morning greetings with him while shivering, his cracking head and cheeks stiffen, and he looked out the window.

Roswaal tilts his head curiously at Subaru’s appearance.

[Roswaal: Doesn’t look like you’re in a very good mood this morning, huuuh. What happened?]

[Subaru: Nothing happened. It’s just that it’s cold!]

Subaru listens to him say something undeniable and breathed out foggy breath as he talked big.

It was cold, too cold. Subaru tramples on the bed in this cold that was extreme enough to to freeze his own mucus.

[Subaru: No matter how you look at it, this weather is too abnormal! I thought that it was just my imagination up until yesterday...but clearly that’s not the case today! The windows are frozen, and my breath is pure white!]

Subaru pointed his fingers at the frozen window. He had countless blankets wrapped around his body. He had his steward clothes on top of his night jersey. It was a style that completely insulted the style of royalties. Even when he was wearing these clothes, the chills were eating away Subaru’s life through the openings of them.

[Subaru: The hell is up with this!? Does the change in season really come at us with such sudden force? The temperature has been going down 10 degrees each day these past 2 days! Even a bear would freeze to death from not being in time for hibernation being attacked by the cold with this kind of force!]

[Roswaal: My oh my, you are weeaak. Can you not do “that”? “By keeping myself up with my mind and body, just how much would the temperature go down, my presence of mind speaks”.....]

[Subaru: Don’t see myself being convinced with you wearing those fluffy clothes and fur, though.]

Roswaal talked about the force of will, but he appeared to be perfectly protected against the cold, so he wasn’t convincing. He wore layers of arctic clothes of thick fur, and they looked as if they would even allow him to bear the intense cold of snowy mountains.

[Subaru: At this rate the difference in protection against the cold is so great that it wouldn’t be unthinkable for it to be a reason for murder.....*sniffle*]

[Roswaal: Seeing you sniffle with a sinister look like that certainly indicates that you’re just about at your limits, huuuh. I overlooked the cold up until yesterday, but as expected, this is a bit...]

[Subaru: Judging from the way you’re talking about it, do you know why it’s this cold? If so, then let’s do something about it. If the source of this is some sort of mabeast like “Jack Frost”, then let’s exterminate it. Let’s do it ASAP too. Sensei, please *sniffle*]

Subaru instigates him to join in with his idea little by little, as Roswaal puts his hand on his chin. He was just about at his limit with his drooping mucus and his frozen train of thought. He was reaching the point where he’d be capable of causing a moral hazard by taking everyone else’s clothes off.

[Roswaal: Subaru-kun, are you peerhaaaps pretty bad with cold weather?]

[Subaru: I complain about winter being cold, summer being hot, spring making me sleepy, and about matsutake mushrooms being expensive in the fall. I’m the classic example of a weakling, *sniffle*.]

[Roswaal: Don’t know what matsutake mushrooms are, but I’m understanding that you are a young man with very short patience. If that’s so, then there’s nothing that can be done about it. We aren’t going to go complain.]

Roswaal waves his fur mantle and starts to walk as if to guide Subaru, who followed him. Subaru steps on the long fur carpet and squints to look out the clouded window.

[Roswaal: Interested in what’s out there?]

[Subaru: No, I’m not. I wasn’t raised in a snow country, so I’m not well informed on this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we were to have snow with it being just this cold. See, I’m worried about clearing the snow on the village’s fields, if we were to have snow that is.]

He’s been told that it’s almost time for the harvesting of the fields for the Alam village near the mansion.

Subaru, being someone who was intimate with the villagers, had made a promise with the children to help with the season’s harvest. Even without that promise, snow was not welcoming weather for it.

[Roswaal: Subaru-kun you.......get along particularly well with children, huuuh.]

[Subaru: Just a coincidence. Besides, I’m not fond of those selfish, rash creatures called kids. However, they hug me, so it can’t be helped......]

[Roswaal: Yes yes, that’s what’s commonly known as being “tsun tsun” back at Subaru-kun’s home town, riiiight.]

[Subaru: *sniffle*! Ahh, shit, my noseee! *sniffle**sniffle*! Oh shitt!]

Subaru uttered inconvenient words and sniffled to force a cover up. Roswaal overlooks that with suppressed laughter and traced the window with the finger of his held out hand.

[Roswaal: Well, have no worry; it is this cold, but it shouldn’t reach all the way to the village. Since after all, this chill is only around the area of the mansion.]

[Subaru: I can’t relax! What is up with that mysterious phenomenon? Do we just assume it’ll sort itself out!?]

[Roswaal: This cold won’t spread, since there are two girls who went around and dealt with it. I wonder if they did it sneakily before they got caught by you yesterday.]

[Subaru: .....Talking about Beatrice and such?]

Roswaal’s words cause him to remember Beatrice’s strange behavior from yesterday. He didn’t know what she was doing since early morning, but perhaps she was decreasing the amount of damage from the chill.

If that was the truth, the person she was helping would be──

[Roswaal: I don’t need to explain who is the source for this cold, do Iiii?]

Roswaal, who was guiding him, stopped walking at the same time Subaru arrived at an answer.

Subaru was very familiar with the the room of the Roswaal’s residence west wing’s top floor that was right before his eyes. This is because this was a place he’d visit once without fail during the day to see the room’s owner.

[Roswaal: Emilia-sama, sorry to intrude you this early in the morning. Can we come in for a biiiit?]

[Emilia: ──!? Roswaal!? Uhh, uhh, hey wait! Wait!]

When Roswaal called out at the door, they heard rushing sounds from the room as a voice responded to them.

It was a silver bell like voice that Subaru knew even beyond the door, but it caused him to show that he felt very conspicuous disturbance and uneasiness. He felt uncomfortable. He also felt uncomfortable about the owner of the room being up at this time.

They spent several weeks under the same roof. She wasn’t very good at waking up.

[Roswaal: Suuubaru-kun]

Roswaal calls Subaru’s name, who was knitting his eyebrows, and pointed at the room’s doorknob. Surely he wasn’t asking him to open the door, was he? Subaru reaches out for the doorknob while having doubt in his mind.

[Subaru: It’s cold! What is up with this thing!? Emilia-tan, can we come in!?]

[Emilia: Eh!? What, Subaru’s here too!?]

[Subaru: I am here, but you didn’t pay attention to what I said. You have something else to say, don’t you!?]

[Emilia: Something to say...something to say? ......Good morning?]

[Subaru: How polite of you to greet.......wait no! Ahh, dammit, I’m opening the door!]

The doorknob he felt was so chilled to the point that he thought that he was feeling ice. It was highly likely that there would be an even more intense chill within the room, considering how cold the doorknob was.

[Subaru: I’m coming in! If you are in the middle of changing your clothes, then thanks!]

[Emilia: Not “sorry”!?]

Subaru opens the door to the room, having both his concern and secret intentions come out at the same time. The door had a resistant that made a sound, which sounded as if it was coming off from the floor, and once that happened, the blocked cold wind came overflowing from the room.

[Subaru: No wayy! It’s coldd!! Whatt is the meaning of this!?]

Subaru shrieks at the cold wave that was beyond his expectations and looks inside the room with an astonished look in his eyes. Upon looking inside, he saw Emilia against the bed with both hands held out as she stood still.

Her face quickly blushes, and while she used the bed to hide that from Subaru he says

[Subaru: Emilia-tan, just what is......]

[Emilia: Yo─you can’t just do that! For you to enter without getting permission from the owner of the room first, that’s just rude......yes that’s reeaally rude, right? See, um, hey, do it again!]

[Subaru: And that’s what Emilia-tan says, but what does the owner of the mansion have to say about it?]

[Roswaal: I grant you permission to enteeer.]

[Emilia: Roswaal!]

Subaru pushes aside Emilia’s request with sophistry and stepped into the room.

The source of the cold wave was without a doubt the inside of this room. It’s identity was made clear from Roswaal’s evidence, Beatrice’s actions, and from Emilia’s childlike attitude of trying to cover up the mischief.

[Subaru: Where is Puck, the source of all this? I have a bone to pick with him, as someone who is a representative for those sensitive to cold.]

[Emilia: The source? What do you mean by source? He didn’t do any...er weelll, that’s not really right, but I don’t know.]

[Puck: ──It’s fine, Lia. No matter what you do, it seems this is about the limit for hiding it, soo.]

She was bad at realizing it was time to give up and acted flustered, but what helped Emilia out of the situation, someone who couldn’t make tricky lies, was the resignation of none other than the perpetrator of the riot himself.

In response to that voice, Emilia ruffles her eyebrows, turns around at the bed, and puts her hands on her waist.

[Emilia: Jeez, Puck you idiot! I was so close to fooling them too.......]

[Puck: Eh, it would’ve been impossible even after 100 years.]

[Emilia: Eh!?]

Putting aside Emilia, who was unironically surprised, Subaru takes a peek at the bed behind her. The spirit who was behind the case for the cold wave was circling around on top of the blanket.

[Subaru: You really do seem like a cat when you do that.]

[Puck: Mmm, sorry for causing trouble.]

The grey furball moves himself around in response to being called out to, and his black, round eyes look at Subaru. The kitten that was small enough to hold on one’s hand, Puck, shrugs his shoulders, gives a wry smile at Emilia, and says

[Puck: Don’t get mad at Lia and Betty, okay? You two, think of this as something I did for myself.]

And that is how he covered up for his beloved daughter and younger sister with care.

4

[Subaru: “Demonic” commencing period?]

Subaru puzzles over the unfamiliar word with a frown on his face.

He was at the Roswaal’s residence’s dining room, and all of them were gathered together. Everyone was surrounding Puck, who was on top of the table, including Ram, who was bad at getting up, and Beatrice, who tried to run away.

There was another source for the cold wave that was had these past few days, not just Puck. Just what had they found out here? What popped up into the conversation as an additional source was the start of the “Demonic commencing period”, some particular vocabulary.

[Subaru: What is the demonic commencing period? It’s not just a mating season?]

[Puck: I’m not an animal, and I don’t have something like a mating season. That’s rude.]

[Subaru: That comment worries me from all angles.]

Subaru turns to his surroundings with a bewildered face in response to Puck, who was washing his face with an exposed appearance of a cat. Once he did this, the person who raised her hand at his glance with a “yes” was Rem.

Rem was in a maid outfit for ice season, which she hadn’t used until yesterday. There was a lot less exposure in this outfit, but even then, looking at the legs exposed with the short skirt made him feel chilly. It was common for him to not understand the mentality of a girl wearing a skirt in winter, even when he crossed to this world.

[Rem: The demonic commencing period is a phenomenon that happens periodically just for the existences that have strong magical power. Each of their od for the strength of their magical power──the od influences the attributes of the magical stones, so it’s really limiting.]

[Subaru: Is od once again something that is different from mana and gate?]

Subaru did not have an occasion come to mind. He tilts his head and the head of the young people group looks away in response. When he sought to follow his eyes, he saw Rem and Ram running around the front garden in a hurry. They were engaged in managing the snow festival, and the ice season maid appearance’s freshness looked as cute as ever.

[Young man: Just from seeing that appearance, you feel moved. Isn’t that so, Subaru-sama?]

[Subaru: ......Ahh, that might be true. If it really is okay to, then I’m glad.]

The group members give deep nods in response to the satisfied leader’s words. If that was their way of showing a consensus, then Subaru understood that it was a firm handshake between him and the leader.

Subaru makes sure of their spirit, and once again returns to the meeting place for the snow festival. As one expected, Subaru also didn’t know much about the snow, but if he went around and gave advice moderately──

[Child: Ah, it’s Subaru!] [Child: There he is, it’s Subaru!] [Child: Have a taste of white terrawr!]

[Subaru: Ohh, you guys sure are lively even when it’s cold!]

The people who met Subaru, who returned to the meeting place, were kids simply bursting with high spirits. They made steam come out from their hot bodies and were running around enthusiastically, oh so enthusiastically.

[Child: Wahahaaa, snowww!] [Child: Jyahahaaa, snowww!] [Child: Bahahaa, snowww!]

They slip on the snow, sprawl on it, and then rolled around. These kids were fully enjoying the snowscape. They transformed into captives of the snow, but Subaru did not laugh, as he remembers their childish minds. He simply gave a deep nod.

[Subaru: But someday you’ll realize it. You’ll realize the truth that you guys were the ones playing in the snow and......]

[Petra: Ah, looks like Subaru doesn’t have anything to dooo. Hey, hey look! I made this with snow!]

The girl that stepped up to Subaru, who was showing shallowness while being pretentious, simply chops away his current state. This was the beautiful girl of the village whose future they were looking most forward to, Petra.

Petra had a rabbit made of snow placed on her hand.

[Subaru: Ohhh, it’s a snow rabbit! They make mountain hares here too!?]

[Petra: Ehehehh, cute, isn’t it? Did it come out well?]

[Subaru: It did it did! Alright alright, then I have something even more wonderful arranged. Watch this.]

[Petra: ──?]

Subaru finds leaves and pebbles in a place nearby as Petra tilts her head. When he put it on the mountain hare she made, just like that, the arrangements for its eyes and ears were done.

Petra sees this and her expression quickly becomes bright.

[Petra: Wow, amazing! Subaru that’s amazing! It became a rabbit! A rabbit!]

[Subaru: Heheeem. Right? If you get that happy, then my spirits will rise too! Alrightt, then let’s make it more powerful! Let’s not only put on eyes and ears, but a tail and wings too. Also, a missile, a function for transformation assembly, a cockpit, and a caterpillar too......]

[Petra: Ah, hey wait, wait.......]

The mountain hare was being remodeled within Subaru’s hand, as he did not hear Petra’s voice, who was trying to stop him. After a few minutes, it lost its initial look, and transformed only into a simple weapon to hurt people. He completed the “Aviation assault model great fire power war weapon Y U K I – U S A G I”.

He also hurt the innocent girl’s mood a lot, though that was natural.

[Subaru: Yeahhh, a woman’s heart is as fickle as autumn weather......a girl’s mood is hard to understand. *spit*]

Subaru spits out the snowball that hit his face, and saw Petra off, who became more distant. It seemed that the tickling boy heart could not match the little girl’s tastes.

[Subaru: I guess Petra is more of a real robot type of girl, rather than a super robot type of girl.]

[Child: Hmmm, I feel like you’re wrong either way.]

[Subaru: Nah, it’s too early to come to conclusions. Next time I’ll attack with the real robot route.]

The future where he’d once again get hit with a snowball by Petra is decided, and then Subaru looks around the exhibition hall with the snow sculptures that were starting to be finished. He saw many poor quality works, considering how it was their first time making snow sculptures, but even then, they were artistic masterpieces created through everyone combining their efforts. It was difficult to put a specific label on it.

[Subaru: But wouldn’t it be a shame to lean towards a realistic motif? Perhaps it’s because there’s no concept of characters. There’s a lot of castles and animals........oh, this looks pretty good!]

[Child: Ohh, thank you, Subaru-sama. This is my Wolgarm masterpiece!]

[Subaru: It’s like you’re implying I’ll forget about the incident after they pass just because of the cold! I’m not laughing!]

It was a snow sculpture of the mabeasts that caused an unprecedented dilemma where they were chased away from the mansion and village just a few days ago. The source for his goosebumps wasn’t just the cold, as the fear and the tension from the incident were still fresh in his mind.

[Subaru: I do like the stress on impact, and I want to evaluate your efforts. However, you did not show enough consideration for the judge’s mental trauma. Thus, I give this seven points! I look forward to your next piece of work!]

When Subaru criticized the snow wolgarm, the male creator gave a bitter smile, as he said “8th in points, huh”. Seeing that interaction, Puck tickles the back of Subaru’s neck with his tail.

[Subaru: Afun, what is it?]

[Puck: It’s about your grading of this snow festival, but who are you doing this with?]

[Subaru: Me, Roswaal, and the village’s chief as a masked judge are participating in the grading. If the judge’s face comes to light, people might try to buy their rank through bribing him, after all. I have an attitude of being determined to deny that type of dirty manipulation of ranks in this festival for the competition of art.]

[Puck: Seeing how you’re doing all that, I’m wondering if there are people who want the wonderful gift.]

[Subaru: It sure is a possibility. The present is a wonderful gift that is a one of a kind in this world.]

Whether it had a money type of value or not, the only thing rare about it was the handwriting. When Puck found out about how the wonderful gift would come from his pocket, he makes a surprised face with an “Oh, really?”.

[Puck: It’s not Subaru’s concern, and yet you were really generous with this.]

[Subaru: Aren’t Emilia-tan and you the ones who are worried? Cooperation is something you’d do. Usually.]

The labor wasn’t that big of a deal. Subaru was enjoying the festival in itself. He did not even hesitant on making such promises for cooperation. When it came to debt, Subaru was the one who had far more.

[Puck: Hmmm.......I do feel a lot of “that” about that side of you, Subaru.]

[Subaru: You are being too vague, so I don’t get what you’re saying. I can’t understand if you simply put it as “that”.....]

Subaru reacts to Puck’s voice, who let out a chuckle, and then he suddenly stopped walking. When he did, the young ladies working at the front are noticed by Subaru, and then they happily clap their hands.

[Rem: Ah, Subaru-kun! Please take a look. It’s a sister collaboration snow sculpture made by Nee-sama and I!]

[Subaru: So Rem and Nee-sama aren’t helping, but participating instead. That’s surprising.]

The cheerful girl Rem points at their work that was directly nearby. To the side of the snow sculpture, there was Ram, who was wearing thicker clothes than the rest. She had her arms folded, looked at Subaru, and snorted her nose.

[Ram: Oh, Barusu. Looks like you were called over by our artistry and arrived defenselessly.]

[Subaru: Putting how you make it sound as if I’m willingly walking into disaster aside, I did come to see you guys. Why is Ram participating in this extremely cold festival? You even looked like you didn’t want to help.]

[Ram: I have permission from Roswaal-sama. Do you perhaps highly prefer Rem and the others to play outside of the mansion in the snow while only I act lazy in the bed?]

[Subaru: You are being unnecessarily aggressive, but you’re saying that you don’t like being left out, right?]

When Subaru becomes dejected from Ram’s perverseness, Rem gently stepped in front of her. Then she holds onto her sister’s hand, whose nose was red from the coldness, and says

[Rem: I forcefully invited Nee-sama. Nee-sama says that playing in the snow is childish, but I really want to play with Nee-sama......]

[Subaru: Do you not feel guilty for making your sister say this much, Nee-sama?]

[Ram: I’m superior for feeling Rem’s love strongly. Be jealous.]

It was difficult to talk down a person started to have a defiant attitude. Subaru quickly gives up on breaking through farfetched arguments, and then looks at the sisters’ snow sculpture collaboration. The snow sculpture had a white cloth covering all of it and was the size of a life size human. Speaking of Rem’s skillfulness, it had quite the sense of an artistic masterpiece.

[Subaru: Rem and Ram, this is a masterpiece created through the concentration of your guys’ power, skill, and sisterly love.]

[Rem: Yes, I think Nee-sama’s instructions helped with my ineptness, and then this is perhaps the best result.]

[Subaru: Didn’t you just look at Nee-sama? The truth has come out! ........so, what is the name of this work?]

[Rem: Yes. The name is “The wonderful Subaru-sama statue”!]

[Subaru: I can see the end result just from the name!!]

Rem neglects Subaru’s shouting and removes the cloth that covered the snow sculpture. Once she did this, the exposed snow sculpture represented a single man. You could see how particular the details were in this gem.

They were fanatical about the details; the small parts were fairly polished. The results of this snow sculpture simply had the potential to overpower the other works. It was just that, if he had to point out just one fault about the snow sculpture, then it would be that it didn’t nail down a certain motif.

[Rem: Nee-sama wanted to make Roswaal-sama, while I wanted to make Subaru-kun, so our opinions differed.]

[Ram: It’s the conclusion that resulted from finding a meeting ground.]

[Subaru: It seems like you conceded, but you didn’t!]

The sisters talking about their secret story causes Subaru to have trouble evaluating the snow sculpture before him. It was beautiful how they dealt with a single work as sisters, but to think that those efforts resulted in a blasphemous type of snow sculpture...

The “Wonderful Subaru-sama Statue” collaboration work looked like it was copying Roswaal at one glance, but you could also feel indications of Subaru’s looks on it. It had a model that drove his way of seeing things mad when trying to put it into words.

[Roswaal: Oh, what do we have hereee? Being gathered around a place like this, what are you all.......oh, this is......]

Roswaal, who was going around the exhibition hall and grading works, meets up with Subaru and the others, who were in front of the Subaru-sama statue. He comes face to face with their snow sculpture, and then Roswaal shows a stiffened expression that was seldom seen. He loses the appearance of a smile from his mouth, is unable to make a comment, and looks around restlessly.

[Ram: Ah, Roswaal-sama.....you’ve seen something embarrassing. However, take a good look please.]

[Rem: It is a collaboration between Nee-sama and I. The whole body is there, but please evaluate it without favoritism.]

Ram and Rem see that the marker was present, and then they sought for evaluation. Ram having an overflowing amount of self confidence was the usual, but Rem also had some self confidence, who was someone that spoke humbly.

You could see that they had expectations for a high score for their snow sculpture, but──

[Roswaal: Alright, sorry to break it to you, but it gets 5 points.]

[Ram: And thennn?]

[Subaru: That’s final! It is what you see! You’re praying for a rise from this!]

[Ram: I can’t believe this.......]

Ram looked at Roswaal with astonishment, but he shook his head and raised his right hand. He had four fingers raised, giving them even less points than the amount Subaru gave.

Incidentally, each judge had 10 points, so a perfect score would be a total of 30 points.

[Roswaal: The results weren’t bad, thouuugh. It kinda feels like these results are giving me the chills.]

[Ram: The concept shouldn’t have been wrong......just as I thought, Barusu was obstructive.]

[Rem: This can’t be right! Nee-sama and I negotiated our ideal visions, so it’s odd to be unsuccessful. Surely this is just because the times still haven’t caught up.]

Ram and Rem heard Roswaal’s brief review, and then the sisters rushed into discussing about it. However, if those were the things they reflected on, then it felt like their next work they’d finish would be indescribable again.

[Subaru: Or maybe it’s because we could only feel weird about them as people who have been used as the theme.........]

[Emilia: Ah! Subaru, I found you! Beatrice and I also snuck into the competition. If you’d like, come see the snow sculpture......oh, wow. What is this? This snow sculpture gives off a preeetty weird feeling.]

[Subaru: Rightttt, I couldn’t be righttt.]

Emilia casually came by and also showed a strong reaction against the “Wonderful Subaru-sama Statue”.

This meant that mankind hadn’t arrived at the time where they’d catch up with that sense yet.

Anyhow, the first snow festival went on like that──and Petra was decided to be the winner. The winning work was the “Aviation assault model great fire power war weapon Y U K I – U S A G I”, which earned a total of 28 points.

It was a victory obtained by her in a way that was cunning with determination.

6

[Emilia: I think it’s weird how I received 9 points even when I tried that hard........]

[Puck: The event might’ve been a bit of a tough one for you and Betty. Look, how should I put it.......it’s because your guys’ snow sculpture didn’t really have much artistic impression.]

Emilia and Puck exchange words at the front garden after the snow festival and the cleaning.

Emilia looked displeased as she stood in front of the Puck snow sculpture she made, pouting with her face. Next to it, there was Beatrice’s Puck sculpture that she made. They received 9 and 7 points, respectively──ever since the results of that grading, she wanted to guess the meaning of how she apparently left out details in regards to the portrayal.

Perhaps one should say that mankind wasn’t quite at the stage where they would be able to evaluate the avant garde snow sculpture.

[Emilia: But Subaru really only said weird things. He is well informed, huh. It shouldn’t have been possible to have a festival using snow, being near the great Elior forest, after all.]

[Puck: It was a festival that was possible because it was an area where snow is rarely seen. If we lived in an area where we had no room to enjoy snow, then he wouldn’t have come up with this festival.]

[Emilia: That’s right, I suppose.......Yeah, maybe.]

Emilia gives a deep nod at Puck’s words while looking around at the remaining snow sculptures in this exhibition hall at night. Thanks to Subaru’s idea of having a snow festival as a solution for Puck’s demonic commencing period, his od was in a stable condition. The intense chills these past few days would also completely settle down tomorrow.

[Emilia: But if that’s the case, then surely these snow sculptures will melt tomorrow too, huh. There’s so many of them too. It’s reeaally a shame.]

[Puck: That’s how snow works after all. It’s form does not last forever. That’s all. That’s all there is to it.]

Puck’s words cause Emilia to feel subtle uncomfort and didn’t point out anything. She just stops walking in the middle of looking around at the snow sculptures and looked up at the sky with shining stars.

The starry sky spreads all over up high, looking down at the snow sculptures in the air free of the cold.

[Puck: It’s too bad Lia, Beatrice, and the children of the mansion weren’t able to win.]

[Emilia: That girl’s mountain hare was well done, so it can’t be helped. Roswaal and the old man gave high praise for it. .......though it was weird how Subaru was quiet about it considering how he was in high spirits.]

[Puck: I have no comment for that. However, I wonder if she liked the wonderful gift.]

[Emilia: I wonder too. It was Subaru’s hometown’s......what was it called...corn potage? Something like that.]

The prize for winning the snow festival was a mysterious item that he had. It had never before seen letters and drawings lined up on it. The bag that had a strange feeling──it seemed that there was food inside, but it was a little weird.

Incidentally, at the same time Petra was eating the “Corn Potage Snack” at the village and was being taken aback by the deliciousness of it, but that was another story.

[Emilia: Maybe it would’ve been a good idea to consult Subaru from the beginning. If we did, it would’ve been settled without fretting about time like that.]

[Puck: That’s trueee. However, you can’t grow up as a child who leaves anything and everything up to someone. Even if you can’t manage it, try your best until you know it, okay?]

[Emilia: Yes~ I understand.]

Emilias giggles as Puck caresses his whiskers, letting out a “Good”. After that, they had a short moment of silence, then Emilia suddenly begins to speak.

[Emilia: Hey, do you remember what Subaru said at the end of the festival?]

[Puck: ──When it becomes the demonic commencing period next year, let’s have a snow festival again. I usually don’t like festivals, but if it’s that child, then they do feel like a party.]

[Emilia: I reaally feel a little “that”........about that side of Subaru.]

[Puck: Yeah. I also feel “that” about it.]

If Subaru was here for this situation, he might’ve made a pout at being left behind by the two who were having a vague conversation. It was a conversation that could only be followed if he had known them for a long time and had a family like relationship.

[Emilia: Next year, huh. .........I’m not sure what the future has in store. I wonder what will happen.]

[Puck: It’ll be what Emilia wishes for. I think that would be nice if it turned out like that. Not considering if we’ll be able to do something like what Subaru said at that time, that is.]

[Emilia: Are you against snow festivals, Puck?]

[Puck: I’m not. I also had fun, and you looked like you were having fun too, after all. .......However, I don’t know if Subaru will be happy or not when I stay by your side until next year.]

[──]

Emilia held her breath quietly in response to Puck’s words.

She was in a serious situation and couldn’t make any rash judgements. Even the environment surrounding her would have sudden changes after a year.

Her heart was to blame for having Subaru──for dragging that kind boy into that vortex.

[Puck: His stomach’s wounds, the wounds caused by the mabeasts biting him──that child’s remaining scars are the result of Lia’s actions. I know you haven’t forgotten about it, but you need to keep that in mind.]

[Emilia: ──Yeah.]

Puck had an easygoing voice, and yet he was never just soft with his words when talking with Emilia.

Emilia nods, and Puck washes his own face in silence. After that, he gazes at the snow sculptures around Emilia and says

[Puck: But it would be nice if we have it again next year. Have a snow festival, I mean.]

[──]

[Puck: Being able to do it next year would mean me having too much mana to the point of having a demonic commending period, and nobody other than Subaru would be able to lead a festival.]

If they could have a snow festival next year too, then that would mean Emilia would spend another year safely and that Natsuki Subaru would stay at the mansion too.

[Emilia: Ye─yeah. ──Yeah, I think that’d be nice too.]

Emilia gives many nods at Puck’s unexpected words and a smile comes on her face. In response to Puck’s beloved daughter’s smile, he flips his whiskers in a seemingly satisfied manner and──he keeps the dangerous unease in his chest to himself.

Would they be able to have another snow festival next year? Would they protect the conditions needed from now for the year?

Would Emilia’s safety, Subaru’s safety──and on top of them, Puck’s own safety, and the other determining factors──

There were many big changes that came about in these several months. From now on, just how much of that──

[Emilia: Puck, what’s wrong?]

Emilia tilted her head at Puck’s look, who kept silent. In response to her, Puck immediately makes his ears stand with his usual manner and

[Puck: Mmm, it’s nothing. I was just thinking about how it will become hot as usual starting tomorrow.]

[Emilia: Ah, come to think of it, that is true. Subaru and Ram might start throwing complaints at each other again.]

Emilia worries about the next day as a matter of course without paying attention to Puck’s fear.

Puck responds to his honest, straightforward beloved daughter’s emotions by continuing to swing his tail while keeping his mouth shut.

──While the silence is kept to indicate something would happen in the year for next year’s snow festival.