A Silent Night

Sharin’s bombshell proclamation.

With that pronouncement, the party venue, which had been so warm just moments before, fell utterly silent.

“…Magic Fox, what are you doing, deciding things on your own?”

Seron pierced the silence with a sharp response.

Despite Seron’s sharp tone, Sharin rested her face on the table, completely nonchalant.

Then, with a languid smile, she parted her lips.

“Isn’t it ‘first come, first served’ when asking for a date?”

“Ah.”

Sharin casually spoke the word ‘date’ without a hint of hesitation.

Seron, a bit intimidated by her unabashed and confident demeanor, recoiled slightly.

Then, Isabel chided Sharin this time.

“Rin, that person is a Teaching Assistant. That’s why he organized this party.”

As Isabel said, my status is that of a Teaching Assistant.

It was because of this status that they prepared this party for me.

But Sharin didn’t care.

“If we just change it to ‘one of the students,’ nobody would know.”

I was the one who had already recklessly abused the bandages of concealment.

I had nothing to say on that matter.

Sharin stood up from her seat and scurried towards me, *dododo*.

Then she wrapped her arms around my arm.

“Husband will go with me, yes?”

“I can’t allow that.”

Instead of my answer, a voice came from elsewhere.

Sharin turned her gaze, and there sat Iris, arms crossed, in a chair.

She fixed me with a slightly skewed look.

“Bikeman needs to help me to sleep at night.”

Iris, even on Christmas, was brimming with the thought of using me as a comfort doll.

Iris’s red eyes gleamed ominously.

“Ahem.”

Eve seemed weak to such talk and swallowed a dry cough.

Sharin narrowed her eyes.

As if everyone here was the enemy.

“You, tell Rin to stop it. You indulge her so much, she throws even bigger tantrums.”

Even if I told her to stop, was Sharin the kind of girl to listen?

“And, a-also, if you’re going, it’d be better to go with me. It’s a day blessed by the Goddess, after all.”

In reality, Isabel herself seemed the least inclined to stop anything.

“Why butt in! If you’re going, go with me!”

Seron cut to the chase, simply resorting to shouting.

It was utter chaos.

I looked down at Sharin, who had created this mess.

Then, clutching my arm tightly, Sharin whispered slyly.

“Husband, the statistics for babies being conceived on Christmas are high, apparently.”

Where does she keep learning this stuff?

I raised my other hand and flicked Sharin’s forehead.

Sharin clutched her forehead, looking crestfallen.

“Everyone, stop it. I’m not going to any party.”

“Then, you’ll sleep with me?”

Iris made a sneaky appeal.

“It’s a party you went to the trouble of preparing. There’s no need to go anywhere else, we can celebrate Christmas here and then go home.”

Having prepared the party here for everyone, it meant he had no intetion of going to another party.

In that case, we could just celebrate Christmas here together.

Then Hania, who had been the quietest among them, opened her mouth.

“Wow, what trash talk. So you’re saying you’re going to enjoy a Christmas party with everyone here?”

Oh, is that how it comes across.

*Scrape-*

“I apologize. I was a bit late because of training.”

Just then, Aisha, wearing a scarf, appeared.

Her nose was slightly red as she tilted her head, assessing the situation.

“Bikeman is so lucky. There’s one more person. Strangely, there are only women here.”

Hania pointed out my blind spot with a laugh.

Unintentional as it was, she was right; everyone whose identity I’d revealed was a woman.

Even if *Blazing Butterfly* was a harem-esque game, Lukas certainly had male companions like Ban and Card.

Plenty of guys in martial arts activities too.

But Ban still didn’t know who I was, and Card and Grantoni had left the academy.

My social circle, already narrow, had shrunk to this.

“…Was I always this awful?”

The kind of trash who only made friends with girls.

“Um, senior, I don’t really get it, but… hang in there!”

Only Aisha, still clueless about the situation, offered me comfort.

*

The party atmosphere quickly returned.

Being treated like garbage was nothing new; I was used to it by now.

So I enjoyed the party with everyone.

With the upcoming Winter Maze War and scenarios in mind, this was our last respite.

Gotta enjoy it while you can.

In the Empire, you’re basically an adult once you turn fifteen.

Even if adults still see you as a kid, legally, you can drink.

Perhaps because of that, everyone eagerly drank the several bottles of wine that Hania had specially procured.

One thing I learned from this was that Eve had a remarkably low tolerance.

“…I want to make more friends too.”

Eve sniffled quietly amidst a pile of cushions she’d arranged for herself to rest.

I should help Eve find some more friends next time.

Aisha, on the other hand, didn’t get drunk at all.

“Liquor is commonplace in the North. No one from the Bizbell family can’t hold their liquor.”

With the Bizbell blood flowing through her veins, Aisha was invincible against alcohol.

So she drank the prepared wine like it was juice, showing no signs of intoxication.

The party grew livelier.

Thanks to the alcohol, the atmosphere was more relaxed than usual.

Even Iris, who usually didn’t socialize much with others, had quite a few conversations today.

It seemed her social network was expanding a bit after making her first friend.

I felt a little proud about that.

Having drunk quite a bit myself, my face was already flushed.

The relaxed feeling was pretty nice.

“I’m going to get some air.”

To clear my head a little, I got up from my seat.

Then I left the classroom and went to the first floor for a breath of fresh air.

Under the night sky, I could see the brightly lit auditorium.

They must be having their own Christmas party over there, just like us.

“You.”

Just standing there, gazing at the auditorium, Isabel approached.

It seemed she’d followed me when I left.

Isabel’s face was flushed, evidence that she’d had her share of drinks.

She came to stand beside me and let out a light, breathy sigh.

Then, she covered her mouth and giggled softly.

“What’s so funny?”

“Just… remembering that time during the summer.”

Summer. We definitely watched the sea together back then, too.

The difference was that I was Vikamon now, and today, I’d had a drink as well.

“Already, the year is almost done.”

Isabel’s eyes, a little unfocused, lifted to the night sky.

This year had been quite tumultuous for Isabel.

Starting with Lukas’s death, nearly pushing her to the brink of suicide.

All the way to recovering and finally awakening the Wings of the Goddess.

Isabel’s hardships and trials were laid bare in that single year.

“You’ve worked hard.”

When I praised her efforts, her eyes widened in surprise.

Then, she looked at me and smiled gently.

“Who are you to say that?”

“Anyone can say that.”

“I suppose so.”

Isabel took a small step closer to me.

Then, she hesitated for a moment, a little awkward, before resting her head lightly on my shoulder.

The distinctive citrus scent of Isabel, like tangerine, lingered at the tip of my nose.

Her cheeks, already flushed with a slight intoxication, seemed even redder tonight.

“And here you were, taking someone’s lips so casually.”

“Hehehe… but embarrassment is still embarrassment. I wish I could be as assertive as Sharin or Seron.”

Isabel confessed her feelings for me.

It seemed the reason she hadn’t been more forward than the others was due to shyness.

‘Though, I get the feeling she is the most jealous out of all of them.’

Sometimes, when I looked into Isabel’s eyes, they were often frightening.

“…What about you? How are you feeling these days?”

Vanishing emotions.

Her mention of them caused my gaze to lock onto Isabel.

“Isabel, what do you see?”

Recently, I’d felt subtle reactions from other people’s gazes.

The expression of someone looking at a person who has deviated from what is normal.

I am clearly drifting further and further away from normalcy.

“…Honestly, I think it’s dangerous. It feels like the standards you were maintaining have disappeared.”

Isabel bit her lip and looked at me.

As she said, the very notion of a boundary, of a line, was dissolving within me.

Emotions, though capable of amplifying a person, were also a force of suppression.

And for me, that suppression was slowly fading.

“Yet, your eyes are the same. The very same eyes you had when you first saw me. Because you are you.”

Isabelle’s eyes, like a sun, gazed upon me.

Isabelle was a sunflower.

But having bloomed, she had become a sun capable of shining on her own.

Reflected in Isabelle’s eyes, I looked tarnished.

Her solar light couldn’t quite penetrate my own pupils.

“Can I ask just one thing of you?”

“Hoping for an early Christmas gift, are we?”

“Indeed. I am greedy, after all.”

Isabelle carefully smoothed down my collar.

“Could you perhaps only use the Shroud Bandages when entering the Demon Realm from now on?”

*Only* use them when entering the Demon Realm.

Hearing those words, my gaze fell upon the Shroud Bandages.

I had been using them constantly, even in daily life.

Having worn them ever since Hanon, I hadn’t felt the need to remove them.

The emotion already lost, anyway.

The thought that removing them would be meaningless, as long as I had to keep using the Shroud Bandages.

Above all, there was the scar, and the lingering residue of the Ancient Dragon.

To conceal it, I’d need another disguise.

But at least that wouldn’t erase my emotions, would it?

“Now, you can stay at Jerion Academy as yourself, can’t you?”

Hearing her words, I opened my mouth to object, but stopped.

*Why am I about to object to this?*

Isabelle’s suggestion was sound.

It was *I* who asked others to help me regain my emotions.

Yet, I hadn’t exactly put in the effort to reclaim them.

The excuses that rose in my mind slowly subsided.

The scar on my body, the Demon Realm…

In the end, it was all just a string of excuses.

Ah, I see.

I finally understood the true purpose of the Shroud Bandages.

“…”

After a moment of silence, I turned to Isabelle.

“Isabelle.”

Hearing my voice, Isabelle’s eyes widened slowly.

I didn’t know how my face appeared in her eyes.

Her pupils trembled wildly, then she embraced me tightly.

Her body vibrated with a nervous energy.

Yet, my own feelings remained stubbornly still, showing no sign of stirring.

“I’m sorry, I kept trying to be mindful. I guess I’m more broken than I thought.”

The Shroud’s Binding was a curse.

A cruel curse that ultimately prevented you from undoing it yourself.

“It’s alright!”

Isabelle exclaimed, her voice sharp with conviction.

“I’ll, I’ll get you back. There’s nothing wrong with you. I’ll make you right again, I swear!”

Isabelle’s voice was laced with desperation as she squeezed me with all her might.

Doing her best to let her own emotions reach me.

“Just like you saved me, I’ll save you. So…”

Isabelle displayed the only emotion I knew with every fiber of her being.

She offered a bright smile despite the tears welling in her eyes.

“Let’s reclaim it. Let’s reclaim everything.”

In the quiet night.

Isabelle made that promise to me.

From that day forward, I resolved to unravel the Shroud’s Binding in my daily life.

Because that was my promise to Isabelle.