Chapter 42

"You're back? What did you say? Did you accept it? Why?" Nash questioned Jaxael continuously.

"No, I didn't. I've already stated that I'm not interested in taking part in that ceremony."

Nash touched his shoulder and nodded. "That's great. Here."

She returned the shadow cat to him, and it vanished when Jaxael touched it.

Their training begins with Thed, their senior knight, supervising them. Due to the cold weather, their training hours were cut by 8 hours. They went through a rigorous training session, similar to the one they had last week.

The tough training continues every training day, and it's only a few days till white day, or Christmas on Earth.

"It's freezing!" Nash hugged herself as they walked through the market, looking for ingredients for the forthcoming White Day.

"Nash!" Idris called in the distance. "Hurry! There's some sweet things here!"

'Sweet things?!'

Nash ran towards Idris, passing the other members, forgetting the freezing cold weather.

"I told you not to run!" Yjhan scolded, but Nash didn't listen. Nash arrived safe where Idris was.

"Look, do you understand what this is?" Idris motions to a stall. It's a thin chocolate-covered cookie stick.

'It's like a pepero.'

"Ohh... you look good together... Are you perhaps a couple?" The vendor asked. Nash and Idris exchanged a friendly smile.

"Yes, we are!" They both said this while intertwining their arms to appear more like a pair.

"If you're a couple, if you buy three boxes of these chocolate sticks, you'll get one more box of this," the vendor explained.

"We'll take it," They both said in sync.

They bumped their fists as they walked towards the other members. "Nice"

They were laughing at each other when they noticed someone staring at them. The two come to a halt when they know who it is.

'Shit', they both thought.

"We're not here to buy sweets; we're here to buy ingredients!" Yjhan struck the two of them in the head.

"Aww!" Nash moaned. Yjhan merely stared at her. She smiled as she squeezed her lips together thinly.

"Tsk. let's go"

They scour the market stalls for low-cost but high-quality ingredients. They already had a lot of money despite only having a few missions because of how vital their missions are, such as when they went to find Serio.

After an hour, they return to their inn to keep the ingredients they purchased.

"I have a question," Nash said, as she organized the fruits on the table. "The year is ending yet there's no hunting competition, why is that?"

"What do you mean? It's already done," Aeries said.

"HAA?! When?! How come I wasn't informed?"

"It happened when we were looking for the healer. The hunting competition was held while we were in the middle of our journey."

"Eh?! Tsk. And I'm sitting here waiting for it." She let out a sigh. "I was hoping to witness a large forest animal..."

"Take a look at yourself," Kane added. Nash was ready to toss the apple she was holding when she noticed Yjhan looking at her. She gives an embarrassed smile and arranges it with the other fruits.

Nash saw Kane smirking.

'Tsk.'

...

24th of December, White Day Eve

"Aren't we supposed to celebrate tomorrow? Tomorrow is the White Day, not today," said Kane.

They are currently preparing food for tonight's dinner.

"We'll go to the temple tomorrow morning, then to the town festival," Nash stated while cooking.

"You are simply doing what you want."

"Then don't come," Nash said, glaring at him.

"Sure,"

"Visit at the temple was required since all squads will be there, and the higher ups will point out where the squads should be stationed during the ceremony," Yjhan explained.

"Tsk." Kane mumbled.

"Here, Nash," Aeries said, holding out the carrots he had chopped.

"Thank yo—"

[badump]

Nash collapsed to the ground, clutching her chest. Despite her pain, she never uttered a single groan.

"What's the matter?" Aidan assisted Nash in standing up.

"Thank you—ough!" She coughed blood.

"What the hell, Raum!?"

"I felt movements."

"I told you before I stop doing this!"

"Oppss... sorry."

"What's 'oppss sorry!?'?! Tsk. We'll talk later."

Nash wiped the blood with her hand and washed it. "HAHAHA! Sorry sorry! That usually happens."

"Usually?" Idris asked. "Is it common for you to cough up blood?"

Yjhan looked at Nash. 'They never said anything about her coughing blood. Don't they know this happens or not? Should I report this?'

"Just put the carrot in. When the carrot is tender, it's done. I'll be back," Nash went to her room.

The other members exchanged glances.

"Does she suffer from a disease?" Aeries asked.

"Did you beat her up, Kane?" Idris said.

"Why would I do that!?" Kane countered.

"Just kidding HAHAHAHA"

...

Nash coughed up blood as a result of the shock delivered by Raum. Nash's magic powers are locked up, thus the shock causes them to activate. It's like being tied to a rough and tight rope; the more you move, the more pain you feel, just like Nash did; the more shock Raum gave, the more pain Nash felt inside because of her locked abilities, which are supposed to receive the shock in order for it to have no side effects like blood coughing.

"Where?"

"I'm not sure. It's weak, maybe it's far from here."

"I see... they won't do anything now. Maybe they're just preparing."

'But why are they moving?', Nash thought to herself.

...

Nash returned to the kitchen as if nothing had happened. The others did not ask and simply went about their business.

"It's ready!" Nash exclaimed.

There are three dishes in front of them, each with a different meat, such as beef, chicken, or pork. There is also a tiny cake and the chocolate that Idris and Nash purchased the other day.

It was already 11 p.m. when they began eating the dinner they had made.

The day concludes with them joyfully eating.

...

Nash remained up at 2 a.m., thinking about the creature's activity earlier.

"Argh... I can't sleep!"

Nash grabbed her cloak and put on something warm to keep warm as she exited the inn.

Because of the bright moon, the sky is not as dark.

She built a snowman outside by herself.

''Maybe creating a snowman will help me fall asleep after I've satisfied this yearning of mine.'

When she was almost finished, a boulder dropped right on top of the snowman she was constructing.

"What the!?"

When she looked up, she noticed Kane staring out the window with a blank expression.

"What the hell!?" she said loudly enough for Kane to hear.

"You're too noisy," Kane said.

"I didn't even make a single sound!"

"You just did."

"It's almost finished! Why do you have to throw the rock exactly on my snowman?"

"I didn't throw it. It just fell."

"What the hell? There's clearly a distance from where his window is to my place," she whispered. She had a displaced face as she glanced at the snowman. She sighed and smashed it to pieces.

"Eh? Why did you destroy it? It was all good," Kane said, grinning.

"Tsk." She rolled her eyes before returning to their inn and retiring to her room to sleep.

...

December 25, 8am

"Let's go now or we'll be late," Yjhan said, waiting at the door.

They started to walk to the temple. It is not far from their inn and will only take about 30 minutes by walking.

"We've arrived," Yjhan said, as they stood in front of the temple.