December 24th, 7:30 AM —
The morning sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling window, spilling across the large bed.
Accompanied by a melodious alarm ringtone, Raizel sat up, pressing a hand to his forehead.
After squinting for a moment with slightly bloodshot eyes, his gaze was inevitably drawn to the snow outside the window.
"It's snowing." Raizel shielded his eyes, observing the scene beyond the glass.
The eastern forest under the blue sky and white clouds was draped in silver, exceptionally enchanting.
A familiar sight, seemingly unchanged day after day, leaped into view.
Raizel had initially planted four red maple trees, followed by a few more later.
Now, the leaves of the maples had nearly all fallen, their bare branches covered with a thick layer of accumulated snow.
"Not making breakfast today—I'll go mooch a meal at the guild," he decided.
It was Christmas Eve, and he wasn't sure if the usual street breakfast vendors would even be open.
After sitting on the edge of the bed for a while, admiring the scenery, Raizel leisurely slipped on his slippers and went to wash up. He put on the new clothes Ultear had dragged him out to have custom-made.
Initially, Raizel hadn't been too confident about this outfit, but now he trusted Ultear's taste.
Under the gray suit jacket was a black base with a white patterned cardigan as an undershirt, allowing for both warmth and style.
The pants were slightly flared, accentuating his height.
Magnolia's economy had been improving steadily in recent years, partly due to the heavy influx of visitors brought by the Fiore Garden Square.
This year, the festive atmosphere in the city was particularly strong, with various snowmen piled up along the cobblestone streets.
On his way, Raizel had already seen numerous snowmen shaped like Happy.
Some seemed to be attempts at sculpting guild members, but unfortunately, Raizel couldn't recognize who they were supposed to be at all.
Except for one he could identify—Wendy.
Because this particular snowman had curved, withered branches fashioned into her signature twin tails... with a lumpy snow-cat sitting beside it.
As for the face, though... it was hard to describe.
The guild had already started selling Christmas-themed version plush dolls of its members in the gift shop.
It had to be said, when it came to making money, Makarov was a genius!
Most of the dolls were of the female members, with several highly popular mages selling extremely well.
Few tourists were interested in the male plush dolls, except for one—Gray's stock was nearly cleared out by Juvia.
According to Lucy, Juvia's dorm room was so crammed with all sorts of Gray merchandise that there was hardly any space left to live in.
Lucy said that the last time she visited Juvia's place, there was no place to step and she had no idea how Juvia managed to sleep in there.
Before even entering the guild hall, Raizel caught a whiff of a delicious aroma.
"Good morning."
"No need to guess—I knew it was you," Mira smiled.
As soon as he pushed open the main door, he saw Mira bustling about in the kitchen.
"Want some?" Mira asked, noticing Raizel staring eagerly at the stove.
"Of course. I didn't eat anything at home just so I could come mooch a meal here." Raizel grinned shamelessly.
"I don't see you this lazy usually."
"It's Christmas, isn't it? It's fine to be lazy," Raizel said, yawning.
"Delicious!" The steaming vegetable and lean meat porridge warmed his stomach, making him feel much more awake.
Receiving his praise, Mira smiled, her eyes curving like crescent moons.
"You're all up so early?" Ur's voice came from behind Raizel.
It was just past eight o'clock.
Ur had just returned from the grocery market, planning to come early to prepare food for the members.
"Used to waking up early," Raizel and Mira answered in unison.
"Have something to eat first before working, Ur. I've already prepared everything." Mira served Ur a bowl and placed it at the counter.
"Alright. They won't be coming that early anyway," Ur sighed, shaking her head helplessly.
Right now, a bunch of the girls in the dormitory were fast asleep.
Last night, many of them were playing their new card game, staying up almost all night.
Their card game wasn't perfected yet, but it had become much more interesting with the new rules.
The most addicted player was Mavis, mainly because she kept winning. Simply put, she had everyone under her thumb, reading the members' psychology like an open book. Mavis could even calculate the various draw probabilities in her head.
Plus, she didn't need to sleep at all, implementing the "exhaust the mortals" tactic—while others grew sleepier and made mistakes, she remained as energetic as ever.
Fortunately, Ur eventually stepped in to stop them, otherwise, they'd probably all have dark circles under their eyes today!
Gray, Freed, and Laxus arrived one after another, and Loke specially crossed over from the Celestial Spirit World to join the festivities.
"You're actually this early? Unbelievable," Raizel teased the newcomer.
Several people sweeping snow at the main entrance paused when they saw Gildarts walking unsteadily toward the guild, yawning with heavy, sleepy eyes.
Gildarts maintained that same appearance no matter the season, always wearing his heavy traveling cloak.
"I'm hungry..." Gildarts grinned, rubbing his stomach as he walked in.
"Typical you. Both Mira and Ur have prepared breakfast. Go on in," Raizel pointed toward the kitchen.
"Right away! I'll come help clean after I eat!"
"No need! You'll just cause damage if you help!" Raizel warned.
He didn't want to see the new brooms getting crushed to dust.
However, Gildarts didn't even hear Raizel's response.
Upon hearing there was breakfast, Gildarts charged in like an unbridled wild horse, sitting at the counter with lightning speed.
"So fast!" Gray and Loke's jaws dropped in astonishment.
"Breakfast! Breakfast!" Natsu and Happy quickly greeted everyone before rushing into the guild, sitting beside Gildarts and starting to devour their food.
The area around the guild in 'Gildarts Mode' was quite easy to sweep and soon Raizel and the others finished cleaning the front steps.
Meanwhile, Gildarts and Natsu's eating marathon hadn't ended yet.
The two had started a fierce eating contest, consuming porridge like a wind sweeping away clouds.
Fortunately, Mira and Ur had prepared enough—Mira had used an extra-large clay pot for cooking.
Only with her culinary skills could she properly handle such a massive batch.
"Lucy and the others are coming," Happy's ears twitched.
Raizel heard them too.
Their voices arrived before they did, and he could faintly make out that they were still aggressively debating last night's card game.
"We brought some breakfast," Ultear, Erza, and Kagura walked in, carrying several paper bags.
"Coffee?" Raizel caught the rich scent.
"Yes, we just had some bread and coffee at a cafe, so we brought some along," Ultear nodded.
They weren't planning to have a proper meal at noon and would wait until the evening feast to eat heavily.
Raizel helped them arrange the coffee cups and pastries on the counter.
Each cup had a label indicating the ingredient ratios, and Raizel picked one with extra milk.
"What's the plan for later?" Ultear asked Raizel, sipping her dark roast.
The Christmas party preparations had always been Raizel's responsibility.
After taking a sip of his coffee, Raizel set his cup down.
"Hmm... Let's buy the fresh ingredients and party supplies first. The guild also needs some more decorations hung up."
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