Section 7: Let's Make a Giant Christmas Cake!

They're ready!

Annnd done!

...

...Oh no! They're all done!

Like the sandman says, what happens twice will happen thrice! The Demon God Pillar's in the details, you know!

I should have timed it so they'd be ready right when the party was about to start...

I can't believe I keep forgetting to do that! Oh gosh, oh gosh, oh gosh...

We still have ingredients left over, so maybe I should just make another batch?

Then again, I was really hoping to have you be the first to taste them, Master...

But I can't have you do that before the party even begins!

(Still flustered)

Master's right, Martha. There's nothing to worry about.

Remember, we can use magecraft to keep them fairly hot and fresh.

Exactly. A little magecraft should be all we need here.

？！

I'll cast a spell to keep them fresh out of the oven, and I'll have some Casters with time on their hands keep the spell going.

Hmm, my nose is suddenly quite itchy, for some reason.

I see. Do you need to sneeze or something?

Hahaha, perhaps someone is gossiping about me. Or, it could just be an ordinary cold.

How unusual for a Heroic Spirit to catch a cold. But if you have, I have some medicine that should perk you right u

Or, should it be necessary, I could operate. It's no trouble.

We'll need to disinfect first. Here, right this way.

Hmm. I hate to speculate, but...could this be because you all have issues with my strategic choices?

Okay, we've got stollen, salad, eggs Benedict, cream stew, roast turkey, and roast chicken.

That takes care of just about every course for this party but one.

Like I said before, there's one more essential dish for this Christmas dinner:

A special dessert!

I'm talking about

Oh my, Master, you look positively thrilled. Hehehe.

I see. Okay, I got it!

？！

I take it we're all in agreement then?

I'm going to make a Christmas cake for dessert! So this will be our last ingredient-hunting trip!

Please lend me your strength one last time!

Heh heh heh♪

I know we already have stollen, but if we're gonna make a cake too, it oughta be huge and spectacular!

Which is why we Heroic Spirits of the kitchen staff are setting out on our final trip to procure ingredients.

I wonder what the next place we search will be like. Will it be indoors? Outdoors?

It could also be the same place we went for the stollen ingredients.

Oh, right. We do need some of the same ingredients for that, don't we?

We already used the eggs and milk we had in the kitchen to make the stollen...

But fortunately, we've still got plenty of high-quality eggs and milk left over from our other ingredient hunts.

So we may not end up going to a new area at all, huh. I suppose if anyone would know, it'd be Her Majesty.

Indeed.

...But first, we have to deal with those frozen enemies again. Let's get them!

？！

I'm ready! Let's get cooking!

And we're through!

You know, I'm getting used to this crazy cold. Any other beasties out there who want my toe beans to shred them into shaved ice?

Are your toe beans okay? They're not frostbitten, are they?

Whoa, watch it! Never just touch a cat's toe beans willy-nilly, unless you've got a death wish!

Huh!?

Easy there, Cat. I guess this cold must still have you worked up.

Senpai!

I finished my analysis! I'm sorry it took me so long to find some answers, everyone.

It's very faint, but I managed to detect a Holy Grail signal coming from the basement storehouse!

That's right!

Yes, exactly.

？！

I haven't worked out the details yet, but I think I have the gist of it.

A Holy Grail in underground storage somehow combined with the basement storehouse after Scáthach-Skadi's runes powered it up.

...Makes sense to me. I could see that happening.

If a Holy Grail was activated, then it would also explain why we've been seeing these frozen enemies down here.

Exactly. My apologies. I was careless.

？！

No, those are creatures I designed automatically using my runes. Apart from the Sphinxes, anyway.

However, I only animated them to make transporting ingredients more convenient. They were never meant to fight you...

I see. True, it would have been very convenient if the ingredients had come to us on their own.

Instead, you were forced to defend yourselves from their assault, thanks to the Holy Grail's mischief.

I am so sorry things turned out this way. This is wholly inexcusable.

...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

Oh, Skadi...

...Thank you...

That's very kind, Master. Just what I would expect from you. I'm so proud.

？！

Oh, right. Remember how the boss of each area seemed to correspond to the guides?

You think the Holy Grail had something to do with that, too?

Probably.

Though it seemed like it couldn't do anything in the winter palace of the pharaohs.

A Holy Grail...

It seems like a lot of the Holy Grails Chaldea's collected are fairly, um...troublesome, aren't they?

I'm not sure what else there is to say...

Hmm, hmm. I see...

... ...

All right, I understand what's going on now. It sounds like these Holy Grail things are dangerous.

This one twisted Scáthach-Skadi's good intentions into something nefarious, and created all those enemies to attack us.

That makes me kind of mad. Now that I know there's something dangerous out there, I have to do something about it.

？！

？！

True, this is all a little off.

She'd never say anything like that in her original Spirit Origin.

There are a number of explanations for how the Holy Grails came about, but in the legend of King Arthur...

...it's said to be an omnipotent wish granter that caught the blood of the Messiah.

Omnipotent...wish granter?

The Messiah?

Ah...

？！

Martha!

I-I'm okay. I just lost my balance for a moment. Really, I'm fine...

Although, that was strange... It felt like some old memories came flooding back, just for a moment.

Holy Grail... Holy Grail...

The Holy Grail. A blessed, divine chalice.

It's...valuable. Precious.

Special. Not to be left lying around on its own.

Now, there's a Holy Grail causing mischief down in the basement. Is it real...?

Is it truly a genuine Holy Grail?

No, I don't know if it's real or not, but if it's causing all this trouble...

...then we've got to do something about it! We have to!

But, what should we do? What CAN we do!?

Easy there, Martha. Just take it nice and easy.

It looks like you remember the Holy Grail is special, even if your memories are still fuzzy.

Even in this form, she's still a shadow of Saint Marthaor rather, her Heroic Spirit. So it's no surprise, seeing her get worked up over something related to the Messiah.

At this point, I think the ingredients can wait. Let's start by finding the Holy Grail at the root of this problem.

There have been a lot of cases of Holy Grails used as magical energy resources going haywire over the smallest things.

So now that we know one is involved, we have to do something to stop it. Otherwise, the situation could get even worse!

？！

Command Room, can you tell us where it is?

Yes! It's approximately fifty meters northeast of your current position!

Yeah!

O-okay!

？！

I'm detecting the Holy Grail! There's a high-density magical energy reading right in front of you!

In front of us, huh. Then that's gotta be it.

Is that...really it?

Holy Demon God Pillar, Red Guy!

And not just any Demon God Pillar! Do you smell that? That's the sweet scent of sponge cake with strawberry icing!

And that must mean...

It's a cake!

？！

This magical energy is crazy. It almost feels like it's preparing for war. That thing'll attack as soon as we get close.

... ...

This is...

...perfect!

Hm? Was that an odd thing to say?

Yes?

？！

I get it! It's literally serving itself up on a silver platter!

You think? This abomination hardly looks like a cake to me...

Listen! This is just a hunch, but...

I'm pretty sure this thing will turn into ingredients once we defeat it too!

At least, I think. What about you guys!?

...Interesting.

It IS a Demon God Pillar made of cake. I could see it being of the same nature as the other ingredient enemies.

It does depend on just how effective Scáthach-Skadi's runes were...

...but I can't deny that it's possible this thing may drop ingredients if we destroy it, just like the other enemies.

Speaking for myself, I'm happy to destroy it anyway!

Nice to see you getting fired up, Emiyan! That's our Santam for you!

No comment!

Of course I'm happy to follow the holy maiden's hunch. Besides, we have to stop this foul creature before it can further misuse the Holy Grail anyway!

？！

Come on, everyone! Let's get the last ingredients we need AND resolve this situation all at once!

Oh yes, as large and powerful as it is...

...I couldn't ask for a worthier opponent!

？！

I mean... Let's all do our best, everyone!

Ahaha, now that's the Martha I know!

O-okay then, I'm going to cook as hard as I possibly can!

Tarasque!

(Wooo! Woooooo!)

Here I go!

You did it! The Giant Demon God Pillar Cake is about to disappear!

The basement storehouse is back to its original size! All the extra space created by the Holy Grail and Primordial Runes has gone away!

And not only that, you're not in the same place anymore.

You're still in the basement, but you're no longer in the basement storehouse.

Ah! It's the Holy Grail! The Holy Grail's about to appear!

That's...the Holy Grail...?

Yes, but only as a mass of magical energy. It's not the chalice that once caught the blood of the Messiah.

Oh...I see.

Still, I'm glad we stopped it before it could cause any more mischief. What a relief!

Never mind that! Check it out! A Holy Grail! AND ingredients!

It's a Christmas miracle, woof! We got two for the price of one!

Yes! We sure did!

？！

Thank you all so much again, everyone!

Especially you, Master. I can't thank you enough for all your help.

It certainly wasn't easy, and I saw firsthand how hard you all had to worked to make this happen.

But despite all that, I have to admit...

...this was so much fun!

And that takes care of the Christmas cake!

And of course, we don't just have this one.

There are countless others still in the kitchen, so everyone can have as much as they like.

Ahh, this is great! Terrific, woof! At last, Operation Christmas Feast is complete!

That's right. So now, it's finally time for the Christmas party.

We've got a good number of folks here now, so we just have to announce that the party's begun.

And I think we all know who the star of the show was this time.

Agreed!

？！

Here's the mic. An opportunity like this only comes once a year, so make the most of it, chirp!

Huh? A mic? O-okay.

Eep. I-I... Um...

H-hi, everyone. I'm Martha, and I'm this year's Santa Claus.

Scáthach-Skadi came up with the nickname "Santa Martha."

I'm sure I'm not like most of the other Santas you're all familiar with, so I'm sorry if I'm not what you were hoping for.

For this year's Christmas, I focused on doing what I do best.

And the result is this very special Christmas party!

I worked with Master and all the kitchen Servants to gather ingredients...

...and put my heart and soul into making a yummy meal!

So I hope you'll all eat lots and lots, have loads of fun...

...and go home feeling refreshed and rejuvenated!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

You okay? You were really spacing out.

No, no. I'm fine. Now, where was I...? Oh, yes.

Master. Master?

？！

Time to dig in! The party's officially started!

Just taste testing wasn't nearly enough, right? Here. I served this bowl of stew just for you.

Hehe, I just heated it up, so it's still piping hot. Be careful not to burn yourself.

I hope you're hungry, because I want you to eat lots of everything!

The stollen... The salad...

The eggs Benedict... The cream stew...

And of course, the chicken and turkey, then the Christmas cake for dessert.

This is my gift to you. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas.

Ahem. All right then, once more:

Merry Christmas!