A Returner’s Magic Should Be Special

“What took you so long?”

As Desir opened the door of the party’s office, he was greeted by Romantica’s annoying cries.

Stepping into the office, Desir was surprised to see boxes stacked like small mountains in the center of the office.

“… What the hell are these?”

Desir had expected a few gifts. It had long been a custom for parents to send gifts to their children in the New Year. However, considering that there were six-party members, the number of gifts was too large.

“These gifts are from various places! Desir, you sure are famous!”

Freechel’s words were true. Of course, there had been gifts from the party members’ families, but there were also gifts from a wide variety of companies and notable people.

“I understand Prillecha, Magic Tower and the Eru Conglomerate… but Kire Trading Company? Where even is that?”

Amongst the places where the gifts came from, there were some places they didn’t have any direct relation with.

“During the attack in Prillecha, there were a lot of tourists there, so maybe it’s one of them?”

Desir nodded as Romantica’s suggestion seemed reasonable.

When Desir stopped Dadenewt from destroying Deltaheim, the capital of Prillecha, there had been tourists from all over the continent due to the Yellow Ocean Competition.

If someone did you a favor, it was only common courtesy to send a gift. And in this case, it wasn’t just a favor; Desir had saved their lives.

Nevertheless, it was the Western Kingdom Union that had sent the most gifts.

After he single-handedly neutralized the assault on Prillecha, Desir gained great renown not only in Prillecha but also from the kings of Adenia and Arunbeth. The luxurious gifts made it clear just how much favor they had for Desir.

“I was waiting for Desir to join us before opening them.”

“Yes. So sit down quickly. My hands are tingling and I can’t wait any longer to open these.”

“We have arranged them in order of distance from the Hebrion Academy. You can open them up in this order.”

They looked too excited.

As soon as Desir sat down, Romantica began to tear into the wrapping paper.

“Oh?! I told you to open them in order, Romantica!”

“I’ll start with the ones from my hometown!”

“Hmm? A gift to Romantica? Then I will open this.”

“No, wait! Pram, put that down right now!”

Hurly-burly.

The gifts that had been pain-stakingly arranged began to get randomly mixed up. The mountains of gifts soon collapsed and the room consequently started to look incredibly messy.

‘They are still kids after all.’

Desir shrugged and sat down next to Adjest who had been sitting quietly up until now.

“Good morning.”

“… Good morning.”

Yes, this was Adjest. Desir really liked the calmness that she exuded.

Meanwhile, the first gift was revealed. It was a gift from the King of Prillecha.

“What a nice badge. It seems the office looks empty, but this will be great to liven it up. ”

Freechel looked at the badge. Her eyes twinkled, indicating that she knew exactly what it stood for.

“The fact that the King gave the country’s badge to someone means that he absolutely trusts them! It’s a pledge that the King will assist you when you need it!”

“The gift from Arunbeth… It’s a ticket for the Lujean Theater! They are even royal seats that allow one to sit in the perfect position to see the stage!? Incredible! These are worth 200 gold on the scalping market right now!”

“This is sent by His Majesty the King of Adenia… It’s a rare santhruleaf herb. It has a very unique taste and aroma when brewed as a tea. People say it is impossible to get a hold of in winter, but he has sent this to us.”

As gifts from the kings of various countries, everything that they had received was difficult to obtain as an individual, and all were consequently precious.

It was finally time to open the gift sent from the Magic Tower.

There were two gifts from Zod. From the notes on the box, the gifts were for Takiran and Freechel.

Zod was one of the biggest supporters of the Desir party, and the support he had provided had been of great help to the Desir party thus far. As a result, the others weren’t very disappointed or dissatisfied, even though they didn’t receive a gift of their own this time.

“Oh! Oh!! Look at this, it’s a great sword.”

When the first box opened, a great sword that glowed brilliantly in the dark was revealed. It was a sword forged with black iron. Black iron was somewhat heavier than steel, but it was far harder than any regular alloy of steel. It was the preferred material of many swordsmen due to its combination of strength and weight.

In addition, shield magic was enchanted on to the sword which allowed it to simultaneously have a high offensive and defensive might, affording the wielder more options during battle.

When Takiran demonstrated the shield magic, the party members responded with amazed applause.

When the next box opening revealed a book.

The party was a bit embarrassed to see that gift was some old book.

Freechel, on the other hand, treated it as if it was some kind of valuable treasure.

In response to the puzzled reaction of the party members, Freechel passionately explained what exactly this gift entailed. So passionate in fact that spit flew from her mouth, spraying the room

“This is a rare old book that went out of print a long time ago! Most of them are now lost, so you can just imagine how expensive this would be to obtain these days! And he didn’t just send a copy, this is an original… ”

Both of the newer party members seemed to love the gifts that Zod had sent.

‘He must feel the results of our cooperation have been fruitful.’

With those two gifts as the highlight, the unboxing continued. The gifts unveiled were varied and each time a box was opened, a round of applause as well as exclamation or laughing could be heard leaking out of the party room.

It was as this kind of atmosphere continued that Adjest also picked up one of the boxes from a pile in front of her before opening it.

There was a muffler in the box. It was made out of a luxurious wool and the embroidery of blue thread intertwined with red thread intimating that it was a muffler filled with heavy feelings from the sender.

Adjest gazed at the tip of the muffler.

D.A.

It was the initials of Desir Arman.

Adjest picked up the muffler and looked at Desir as if she was possessed.

Desir smiled, fully immersed in the infectious happiness of the other party members, before suddenly turning to match the gaze that was avidly boring a hole into the side of his head.

Adjest was at a distance of less than half a meter. It was close enough to let him feel her warmth.

“… ”

For a moment, Desir’s breath stopped.

Before Desir regained his wits to ask ‘why’, Adjest moved.

For a while, Desir felt dizzy from the soft scent that lingered in the space around him. Desir’s reaction was so delayed that the back of Adjest’s hand caressed his cheek without any resistance.

“Adjest?”

Awakened Desir leaned back, but Adjest pulled the muffler and dragged him back towards her.

“Wait.”

One.

Two.

Desir said nothing until the muffler was fully wrapped around his neck.

As the muffler was finally wrapped around Desir’s neck, their eyes met.

Her golden eyes shook like a wave breaking against a shore.

Adjest hurriedly lifted her hand from the muffler, shrinking back as if a child touching a toy that they have been told should not be touched.

“… ”

In the party office which had been raucous just moments before, there was now only silence. It was as if the prior noise had been a lie.

No one dared open their mouth to break this awkward tension. The office which had never been quiet, was finally soundless for the first time.

“Your name was on it.”

Adjest attempted to excuse her behaviour after the awkward silence had truly become unbearable.

No one else spoke up though.

The awkward silence began afresh.

The door opened. Desir thanked God for the distraction.

“… What’s going on? It’s exceptionally quiet in here today.”

It was Professor Bridgette. She looked around with a relaxed smile like always.

While looking around the office, it was apparent to everyone that she was happy seeing Des1r.

“That muffler goes really well with you. It was worth all of the hard work.”

“Is this… a muffler that you knitted, professor?”

“Yes. I knitted it. Do you like it?”

“Yeah. I like it. Thank you very much, Professor.”

Bridgette looked delighted at the gratitude expressed for her gift.

“I was going to give one to each of you, but due to my inexperience in knitting, I ended up taking too much time to make just one of them.”

“Don’t mind it, thank you, professor. What brings you here? Do you have something to tell us? Don’t you?”

Romantica desperately blathered, attempting to forcibly change the topic of discussion.

“I think I came in at a fairly appropriate time. Right, Miss Romanica. I am here to share the good news with all of you.”

Professor Bridgette stiffened slightly before speaking in a slightly less casual tone.

“As you all know, January 4th is the day when Emperor Ruspena Hebrion founded the Hebrion Empire.”

It also happened to be the day that the largest festival normally takes place in the Hebrion Empire.

“Normally, we would hold a festival each year at the Hebrion Academy, but for a number of reasons, that won’t be happening this year.”

“Yeah? How is this good news?”

“Rather, I just became very depressed, Professor.”

Bridgette laughed at the response from the students.

“Instead, on this day, we decided to relax the school regulations and allow students to go out into the city and enjoy the festival.”

Romantica immediately intensely focussed all of her attention on Prof. Bridgette.

“Really? Are you serious, Professor?”

“Of course, I hope you spend a wonderful time out there.”

—-

This chapter was fully sponsored by Csabin.

ED2: Purplemen101

TLC: N/A

QC: Dr. Lock