A few weeks ago

Capital of Sayitsi, Mosovo

As I wrapped my fur blanket around my body, I adjusted my sitting position on the snow to make myself as comfortable as possible. Unable to find a comfortable spot, I angrily elbowed my portable bed, Cass the cassowary, who was sitting behind me.

“Kreee!” It screamed as it tried to run away. I held onto its wing and slammed it back onto the snow. I quickly rammed my back against its feathery body and found a good spot to lay my back on.

“I’ll give you a treat if you manage to hold still like this until I say otherwise,” I told the monster.

Cass chirped excitedly, and remained as still as possible. I rubbed my free hand along the cup of coffee I was holding and looked at the crackling fire in front of me. Though it was night, I could still see some elves moving around inside the Kreylin to change their shifts. To the elves, enjoying such beautiful and listless night was a criminal offense. Despite the fact that the martial law was lifted a day or two ago, the elves still watched us with suspicious.

“Boss, pass me the firewood,” Maven directed. I lazily grabbed the nearest firewood and tossed it at her to which she promptly added onto the fire, reviving it a bit. The skies were clear and there were no snow falling in sight so the fire shone brightly in the middle of the citadel’s courtyard.

“Achoo!” Aera sneezed and she glumly rubbed her nose with a piece of handkerchief. The heroes were wrapped in their own blanket holding a cup of coffee or tea except Lard who was strangely comfortable just wearing his trench coat.

“You know what? This reminds me of a special holiday in my world! What’s the date today?” Lard suddenly asked me a question as I was about to doze off. Although Lard would openly say ‘my world’ from time to time, the heroes would pay no heed to it since they probably think Lard is crazy or delusional.

“Which calendar? There are a few calendars to pick from,” I replied.

“What? Shouldn’t there be just one calendar? You know…January, February…”

“What are you talking about? I don’t know any of those words. If you want to pick a date, you’ll have to pick a calendar.”

“…Then the human calendar!”

“There’s a few human calendars…” I sighed.

“Angolian calendar?” Lard asked. I turned to Kendra to leave the answer to her. She frowned at me for disturbing her peaceful night and replied, “6 days before New Cycle.”

“New Cycle? Like a New Year right? Oh whatever. That’s close enough! Let’s put the holiday spirits up! To start off, we should give presents to each other!” Lard pumped his fist into the air.

“We do give gifts during the days nearing New Cycle. In fact, I have one prepared for each of you,” I announced as I pulled a bag from under one of Cass’ wings.

“Ooooh! You’re like Santa!” Lard looked at me with enthusiasm.

“Yeah, yeah. First of all, my apprentice. Here’s a book that’ll interest you. Congratulations on surviving,” I addressed Kendra as I gave her a seemingly innocent book.

“’How to pet cats the proper way’? Why would I need such a-…BY THE ABYSS, THIS IS…THIS IS…” Kendra suddenly got up clutching the book. Her hands shook as she started reading through the contents. After a few minutes, she slowly lowered the book and looked at me with tears in her eyes.

I used a thumb to swipe across my face, looking smug and all while silently saying, ‘Heh. No need to thank me, kiddo.’

“As for you, here’s a hidden knife for you to play around. Congratulations on surviving.” I handed a small black blade to Blackhair.

“I suppose I could make use of Mr. Daggerless’ training with this…” Blackhair bowed his head while receiving my gift.

I turned to Aera and said, “Here’s a pair of metal bracers for you. It has ribbons. Congratulations on surviving.” I handed Aera her gift and she bowed respectfully.

“I-I don’t care whether or not it has ribbons but it looks cute so I’ll accept them. Hmpf.” Aera turned her head away while putting on the armguards.

I silently pushed some newly made leather gloves to the elf of the group, Arrowski. He silently nodded and went back to minding his own business.

“Lastly, you…I made you a guide. Congratulations on surviving.” I gave Lard a small wrapped box.

“Eheheh. Thank you, teacher. Ahh…the holiday spirit of family and being together is so good. By the way, why are you saying ‘Congratulations on surviving’?” Lard scratched his head and asked me.

“Wait, are we on the same page? Holiday spirit? Being together? No, no, no. The celebration of New Cycle is for congratulating children on surviving on this cruel world for a whole year. It’s a continent-wide tradition. After all, with all types of magical monsters, demons and undead just lurking everywhere…I think you get the point,” I explained to Lard. The rest of the heroes nodded and tiredly sighed at the outlook of this world.

“O..Oooh…oooh…” Lard’s voice slowly got softer as he went back to sitting next to the fire. He slowly unwrapped my gift and glanced at the booklet I gave him.

“How to get a girlfri-…Hey, wait a minute! I, Vakasa of the Darkness, do not need this!” Lard stood up and furiously threw the booklet into the snow.

“Are you sure? It’s guaranteed to get you one. Ask Daggerless. He can vouch for me.” I pointed at Daggerless with my thumb.

“Yeah, I got about ten girls in a week.” Daggerless shrugged and looked extremely smug.

“I-if you say so...I-I mean, oh yeah? I’ll try this in the Sorcerer City States to show you that this won’t work and that I, Vakasa of the Darkness, do not need your help in getting one!” Lard grabbed the book from the snow and sat down, silently reading the guide.

With the tranquility returning, only the crackling of the fire remained. I looked back up to the beautiful night, smiled to myself and thought, ‘Congratulations on surviving.’