The New Year’s party wound down on a peaceful note. Those with lingering work to attend to returned to their respective homes, while the others stayed the night on Hourai Island.
Those staying over included Saki, Goose, Vivienne, Hanna, Sion, and Marikka. Since this was practically a second home for Mine—she even had her own room—she wasn't counted among the overnight guests.
Milowina eventually took her leave, looking somewhat reluctant to go.
"Hmm, I see. That makes sense."
"So many things have happened..."
Goose and Vivienne were busy grilling Laozi, Laojun’s mobile terminal, for a detailed account of recent events. They dug deep into every point that piqued their interest.
Saki, meanwhile, had already fallen fast asleep. Between her accumulated exhaustion and the alcohol, she had been easily overwhelmed.
Hanna, Sion, and Marikka were playing karuta with Jin. Elsa was the one reading the cards.
"Dumplings over flowers!"
"Got it!"
Surprisingly, Marikka proved to be quite skilled. Hanna came in second. Jin wasn't really trying his hardest, but Sion turned out to be unexpectedly weak at the game.
"Even a dog, if it walks, will hit a pole!"
"...Got it!"
"In travel, a companion; in life, kindness!"
"Got it!"
"Raise your hand and cross the crosswalk!"
"Got it!...Um, what's a 'crosswalk'?"
Jin had originally wanted to make a Hyakunin Isshu set, but since he didn't remember all one hundred poems, he had settled for making a standard karuta set instead. It was a bit of a mishmash, including cards from proverb karuta and even traffic safety karuta, but everyone took it in good fun.
When 11:00 PM rolled around, Hanna started yawning. Since she looked so tired, they decided to call it a night. By Kaina Village time, it was already past 9:30 PM. Given that Hanna usually went to bed at 9:00 PM, it was only natural she was exhausted.
"Alright, let's head to bed."
"Okay..."
Just because it was New Year's didn't mean they should stay up indefinitely—that was a bit of a lecture Jin remembered receiving from the Orphanage Director back at the facility.
"What about you two, Sion and Marikka?"
"Hmm, I'd like to take a bath."
"O-Oh, me too."
"Be my guest."
The hot spring was free-flowing and available twenty-four hours a day. Elsa went along to join them.
Jin went to check on the passed-out Saki.
"Ugh... my head hurts, Jin..."
"I suppose it can't be helped."
Jin asked Reiko to cast Detox on Saki. Detox was a form of Healing magic developed by the healer Sally, specifically designed to remove toxins. By quickly breaking down and erasing substances like acetaldehyde produced by the decomposition of alcohol, it was effective at speeding up recovery from a hangover.
Combined with a bit of water to drink, the magic helped Saki pull herself together.
"Ah, I feel much better now."
"Glad to hear it."
Looking over at Goose and Vivienne, Jin saw they were still talking to Laozi. Since they weren't children, he figured they would turn in whenever they got tired. He left the rest to the Golem Maids and decided to head to bed.
"...Saki?"
However, instead of going to sleep, Saki got up and joined Goose and the others in their conversation.
"Well, whatever."
Thinking that Saki likely had a lot on her mind as well, Jin headed back to his own house. Elsa was already out of the bath and was drying her wet hair.
"Where are Sion and Marikka?"
"They're already finished. They went to the guest rooms in the laboratory."
"I see....Today was fun."
When Jin said that, Elsa nodded.
"Yes. It was very fun."
It wasn't quite "leisure in the midst of a storm," but after wearing his nerves thin day and night over the matter of Hale, this kind of relaxation was an honest blessing.
"Things will probably get busy again starting tomorrow, though."
"Yes. You can leave the support to me."
"I'm counting on you."
And so, Jin and Elsa settled down for a restful night.
The morning of January 2nd.
When Jin woke up, it seemed Elsa had risen a bit earlier; he could hear the sound of her washing her face in the washroom.
"Morning."
Jin changed his clothes and headed over.
"Good morning."
He entered the washroom just as Elsa was finishing up.
"I wonder how everyone else is doing?"
Once Jin finished his morning routine, he and Elsa walked over to the laboratory together.
"Onii-chan, good morning!"
"Morning, Jin!"
"Good morning, Jin-sama."
Hanna, Sion, and Marikka were already awake and had seemingly already washed up. The rest of the group—Saki, Goose, and Vivienne—seemed to still be asleep.
"Well, that's fine. Let's have some zoni ahead of them."
"What's 'zoni'?" Sion asked, looking puzzled.
"Oh, it's coming right now, just wait."
Hanna had eaten it last year, and since he knew Sion and Marikka weren't picky eaters, Jin figured they would have no problem with it.
Soon, Perido 3 arrived carrying the zoni.
"This is zoni?"
"That's right. In the world I came from, it's something we often eat during the New Year."
"Is this... what you called 'mochi'?"
"Exactly. You eat it in a broth made specifically for the dish."
"I see..."
Using her chopsticks skillfully, Sion brought a piece of mochi to her mouth.
"Ah, it'sh hot."
It was quite hot.
"Haha, be careful."
Jin was sensitive to hot food, so he was always particularly cautious whenever he ate mochi.
"...But it's delicious."
"It really is delicious!"
While the diet in the demon territory was becoming more diverse, there were still many areas that needed improvement. Currently, Jin—or rather, Hourai Island—was trading food for furs and cubic zirconia. Jin hoped that this year, official friendly relations with the demon race could be established at the World Conference.