The white snow softly blanketed the streets.
Since it wasn’t a large amount of snow, the areas with frequent foot traffic had quickly melted.
However, the streets where snow had fallen tended to be more dangerous. Professor Esther continuously urged the students, including Chloe, not to run. With less snow covering the ground, the melted snow could have frozen into slippery ice.
Laura and Elin followed her advice well, but Chloe and Sofia Sub-priest did not manage to keep to it. Following the laughter of the two and walking silently at the front was Professor Antorelli, and before long, he and the two girls found themselves on the grand avenue of the Holy Empire.
“Let’s help the less fortunate neighbors! The Lord commanded us…”
A priest shouted loudly in front of a donation box while shaking a bell. Behind him stood a large tree.
Adorned with all sorts of shiny decorations harmoniously on the fir tree, there was even a large golden star at the very top. This was indeed the famous street of the Holy Empire, a sight often seen in magazines.
“Wow….”
“It’s beautiful….”
Both Chloe and even Laura couldn’t help but admire the street that seemed to have sprung from a fairy tale.
It was quite different from the city. Here, it felt a bit warmer, and a cozy atmosphere pervaded the area. The students each felt a warm heart.
“Oh wow… there are so many people?”
After leaving the platform, Elin began to show interest, her eyes glimmering as they turned towards the tree. Chloe wrapped her arms around Elin’s and laughed playfully.
“Right? Isn’t it?”
“No, more than that… step back a bit.”
“But, Elin! Your expression has been oddly cheerful since earlier!”
“…R-Really? Hmm….”
“Why were you so expressionless? Could it be….”
Chloe unconsciously closed her mouth. Reflecting on her thoughts, she could only think of one reason why Elin might be so stiff.
‘Could it be that Professor Antorelli is also….’
Chloe glanced up at Professor Antorelli, who had stopped walking right in front of her. His expression was eerily indifferent and calm.
His dark eyes were capturing the tree before him, but for some reason, it seemed he wasn’t truly looking at it. Rather, it felt like he was gazing at something further away….
“Chloe. Why the sudden silence? You stopped mid-sentence….”
Elin asked with confusion, and Chloe jolted as if snapping out of a daze. She forced a smile, but this time it didn’t go as planned.
“Uh, yeah… it’s nothing.”
“Anyhow, to clarify…. I just felt a bit nauseous because of the train ride. It’s not that you’re bothering me or that I’m bored with this trip.”
It seemed Elin thought she had misunderstood since Chloe showed no reaction. Chloe had never even dreamed that Elin would think such a thing, so she stared blankly at her before tightly hugging Elin.
“Phew…! Elin! You’re so cute! You get nauseous when riding the train?”
“I-I can handle a bit of motion sickness! It’s just that it’s so bumpy!”
“Yeah! Exactly! You can handle motion sickness~!”
“Eek…!”
Elin’s face turned a deep red. It was hard to tell whether it was from embarrassment or frustration.
“Hey, you two, please don’t cause too much of a ruckus….”
Laura slowly approached the two. Professor Esther was with her.
“Right. Sorry!”
“Is it really okay? We’re out to have fun, so we shouldn’t act too stiff. Laura~.”
“If Professor Esther says so….”
Laura nodded, letting out a faint sigh as if she had no choice. Still, as she stole glances at the tree and peeked at the souvenir shops lining the street, it was clear she was just as much a girl caught up in excitement.
Chloe casually approached Laura. Laura flinched and stepped back slightly, but Chloe boldly took another step closer to her.
“Would you like to look around together?”
“Well, okay. Chloe.”
“Hehe… that works!”
Chloe grinned brightly and turned her gaze towards Professor Antorelli’s broad back, who was walking ahead.
“Professor Antorelli! You should come too….”
“Chloe student.”
However, Sofia Sub-priest standing next to him interjected.
“Just a moment, later.”
Unlike usual, he spoke with a stern face.
“…Yes.”
Chloe could only nod with a slightly dissatisfied expression.
– Please don’t wander around alone with the Head Priest. I have my own serious matters I need to discuss with him.
That must have been the agreement.
*
“Isn’t it strange?”
What was he about to say this time?
“Haha…. Don’t look at me like that. I’m not going to eat you.”
“……”
Regardless, Cesar’s behavior certainly seemed frivolous. His face, scarred from burns, appeared youthful and cheerful, just like when we first met.
“I’m still here because you want me to be. Well… if you want, I could change into another form?”
To be honest, I hoped he wouldn’t appear at all in any form.
I had no intention of becoming a lunatic who couldn’t discern reality from illusion by imagining a dead person’s ghost.
“Your evaluation is rather harsh…. I wouldn’t want you to consider me a burdensome presence.”
No matter what Cesar rambled on about, I walked silently. Aside from disliking the illusion of Cesar, I knew I had to move forward.
I walked and walked and walked. I lost track of how long it had been.
“……?”
Suddenly, I found it difficult to realize where I stood. Only then did I glance around.
A glaringly bright tree that made me feel blind, souvenir shops lined along the street, the sweet aroma coming from a bakery somewhere, and the distant sound of sacred bells…
It was clear that this was one of the most famous spots in the Holy Empire, a location bustling with tourists. A place filled with people.
And, obviously, there were indeed many people. Tourists, citizens of the Holy Empire, young and old, crowded together. The scene reminded me of the academy festival from a few months ago.
Yet even with so many people around, I felt no changes whatsoever.
In other words, I didn’t fall into a panic state as before. It happened so abruptly and at a moment I hadn’t anticipated.
It was slightly bewildering. What was going on?
“Ah…. This might be quite severe….”
Cesar prattled on about something, but I was half-listening, unable to comprehend the incomprehensible change that had halted my thoughts.
“Do I really need to understand this?”
“What do you….”
“You don’t need to understand. Just accept it. After all, you said it yourself, right?”
‘Now, I want to move forward.’
“This is just what you wanted, isn’t it? You come to crowded places and find it hard to breathe, and old, bad memories resurface…. That pathetic panic disorder has disappeared, hasn’t it?”
Cesar was right. However, this felt… somewhat wrong.
“More importantly, you haven’t forgotten, right? The reason you came to the Holy Empire.”
I involuntarily trembled. I found myself turning my head, unintentionally directed toward the fictional entity created by my imagination.
“…What? Were you also unaware?”
“What are….”
“The second reason you came here. Not from the guilt of your past, but from the memories of witnessing misfortune. You came to confront that second form, didn’t you?”
My breaths were quickening. Honestly, it was nearly unbearable.
It wasn’t because there were too many people. Nor was it because the sounds echoing all around me were overwhelmingly loud.
The issue was this.
The reason why my breath quickened, why my head spun, and why my fingertips felt numb… was not due to those two factors.
It was because, for another reason, my body was reacting defensively.
Something unknown to me—no, something I had tried to forget—awakened the involuntary reflex within me, instilling fear, anxiety, and terror.
“It seems it’s still not the right time.”
Cesar shook his head and slowly turned away. I found myself staring only at the back of his head.
“It may not be the right time now, but we’ll be here for a week, right? There’s still plenty of time ahead.”
“……”
“Ah, damn it…. Unfortunately, this too stems from your thoughts. Trying to comfort yourself by saying there’s still plenty of time.”
I couldn’t reply.
Cesar waved his hand lightly behind him as he walked off, leaving me standing there, lost in thought.
“Then, I’ll see you next time. We’ll probably meet again soon.”
I blinked once. Cesar’s figure had completely vanished.
The cold winter wind whipped across my forehead, now drenched with cold sweat. My sweat quickly transformed into a freezing chill, resulting in a pounding headache.
But I didn’t show it. I couldn’t.
In the direction Cesar had vanished, there were faces that looked all too familiar.
“No, what sort of thought is this old man having? I genuinely can’t understand it.”
A woman with black hair, dressed in priestly robes that matched her sharp features, approached.
“Don’t grumble so much, Camilla Priest. This is also an act of practicing a life of sharing and giving, so why must you be so stingy?”
“What’s so generous about making snow creatures on the street and handing them out!!”
“Please… keep your voice down.”
“Why!!”
“Because it looks weak….”
“Gaaaah—!!”
A familiar middle-aged man in priestly robes was gently chiding Camilla with a calm tone.
Camilla Priest and Priest Peter. The two, who seemed to be bickering still, were creating snow creatures with a pair of tongs and handing them out to passersby in the flower bed set in the center of the street.
“Oh? Those two….”
As I stared blankly at them, Sofia Sub-priest, who had approached my side, seemed to have caught sight of the antics in the distance.
“Damn it! I can’t do this anymore, so go find someone else!”
“Camilla Priest, please don’t… huh?”
“…What are you suddenly talking about? What are you looking at… oh?”
And finally, having noticed our gaze, the two turned their attention toward us.
“…Head Priest?”
“Antorelli… Head Priest?”
Soon, both of them were looking at me with strangely joyful expressions.
I managed to return their smiles.
‘I should smile.’
Let’s do it. It’s Christmas.
Bring in the box, tie the strings, knot them up…
I should present them with a joyful moment.
