Chapter 24: Christmas Activities (Edited)

After returning to the castle and having breakfast, Bell and Shanna went to their respective dormitories to open their Christmas presents.

Standing in front of the pile of gifts, Bell didn't have to count to know that there were a total of 9, as he had 9 family members.

Yes, so far, Bell hadn't made any friends. After all, Bell's mental age exceeded 40 years, and although he could act accordingly when necessary, he couldn't really imagine making friends with a group of 10-year-old kids.

Looking at the gifts in front of him, Bell already felt extremely satisfied. He didn't feel that there were too few gifts; rather, he felt there were too many.

'Oh my, could anyone really think that receiving 18 gifts a year is little? (He also receives 9 gifts on his birthday),' thought Bell.

Keep in mind that in his previous life, he never received as many gifts in a year as he did in this life.

So, Bell didn't mind at all the fact that he had no friends; having his sister was enough.

If he had to regret something, it would be that, apparently under his influence, Shanna also had few friends, only about 2 or 3 girls, to be precise.

Remembering a few years ago, after a party, Bell asked Shanna.

"Shanna, why don't you make more friends? Some of the young wizards you met at the party today seemed very nice."

"I don't like them," Shanna said, pouting.

"Why? Did they do something to make you feel uncomfortable? Tell your brother, and your brother will take care of them."

(艹A艹)

'How dare they make my Shanna unhappy? They're asking for it!'

"I don't like how they talk. All they say is how amazing they are, or how incredible the things they've done are, or the valuable things they've received from their parents," Shanna said with disdain. "Of course, they're all incompetent. My brother is so amazing, I've never heard him boast about how good he is, hum!"

'Very happy!'

(≧≦)ゞ

'Wait a minute!'

Cough, cough "Shanna."

Bell had a guilty look on his face.

"Where did you learn the word 'incompetent'?"

Little Shanna tilted her head, looking at her brother with a strange expression.

"Wasn't it your brother who taught it to me?"

When reading the Daily Prophet, Bell used to pronounce the word 'incompetent.' Once, Shanna was curious and asked her brother what "incompetent" meant, and he explained it to her.

'Incompetent originally refers to a very weak chick, but here it refers to someone as weak as a chick.'

Shanna thought the word sounded cool, so she had been using it frequently to show off to her friends since then.

'Exactly!'

Cough, cough Well, Bell admitted it. The reason Shanna had so few friends was his fault.

His more than 30 years of past life had deeply ingrained in Bell the characteristic of being reserved and discreet. Undoubtedly, Shanna, who had always been with Bell, had also been deeply influenced by his personality. So, when it came to those rowdy kids, Shanna found them repulsive.

No wonder Bell always felt like he didn't fit in well with the people around him. The reason was that British customs were different from those before reincarnation. Yes, it was definitely because of that, not because Bell was introverted or something. Definitely not!

...

Bell picked up a gift, opened it, and tossed it aside. Then he took another gift, opened it, and tossed it aside.

"Not this one... not this one... Ha! It's this one!"

Bell carefully pulled out a picture from one of the gift boxes.

The background of the picture seemed to be a castle. A blonde girl with blue eyes and a handsome dark-haired boy with black eyes were happily playing in the castle garden.

Don't ask why Bell could see so much in a doodle. Clearly, what was drawn here is Bell and Shanna, what else could it be?

At that moment, the door to Bell's room opened discreetly, and Shanna's half head peeked in.

"Brother, did you see the Christmas gift I gave you?" Shanna asked cautiously.

"I saw it, Shanna, the drawings are really great! I love it!" Bell held the painting with enthusiasm.

"I'll ask Lym to frame the picture and hang it in the room. That way, every time I wake up, I can see this painting."

"Hehehe."

The little girl was extremely happy and pushed open the door, running into her brother's arms.

"I love the gift my brother gave me too, see? I put it on!"

Bell had given Shanna a pure white scarf that had a Permanent Temperature Enchantment. Even in the middle of summer, she wouldn't feel hot wearing it; instead, it would keep her cool. The scarf had a snowflake pattern, Shanna's favorite, and looked adorable when she wore it.

Shanna really loved the scarf, partly because it was a gift from her brother, and no matter what it was, she would like it. On the other hand, she liked the color white and snowflakes.

"Brother, can we play a snowball fight later?"

Shanna looked at Bell with pleading eyes. The last time they played a snowball war, they accidentally damaged the beautiful garden, so their mother didn't allow them to play in the garden again.

"Sure! Then let's go to the mountain for a snow battle," Bell suggested.

He also remembered how his mother reacted when she got angry, so he decided to change the location for the game.

"Can I really go to the mountain? Can I explore there?" Shanna asked excitedly.

She had wanted to explore the big mountain near their home for a long time, but her brother had never wanted to take her, arguing that she was still too small. She didn't expect her brother to suggest taking her to the mountain today—it was a wonderful surprise!

"Of course! But only if you go with me, Shanna, you can't venture there alone," he warned.

In fact, with Shanna's current power, she could move freely around the nearby mountains without any problems, as there were no dangerous magical creatures in that area. Any wild beast that could pose a threat had ended up in the Bell family's stomach years ago. Therefore, all other beasts had learned to avoid the area after detecting Bell's characteristic scent from a distance of two miles.

Due to Bell's constant presence with Shanna, the beasts could also easily identify Bell's presence in Shanna's scent. In summary, Shanna wasn't in any danger from any perspective. However, Bell still worried, but there wasn't much he could do about it.

"All right, let's go then!" Shanna jumped up and grabbed Bell's hand as they ran toward the exit.

That day, the mountain echoed with the thunderous sound of fun, and many animals that were in hibernation woke up.

Some of the animals came out of their burrows to see what was happening, while others tried to hide as deeply as possible, hoping that whatever was going on wouldn't affect them.

In short, the mountain animals still didn't know that their peaceful days were about to end. This was because a worshiper of their sister was about to leave the house, and freed from her constraints, the destructive talent of a young girl would be fully revealed.