"Germany is so cold!"
"Master, are you really okay wearing so little?"
The girl draped in a gray robe exhaled a puff of white mist, sniffled, then glanced worriedly at the man standing in front of her.
Lord El-Melloi II—or rather, Waver Velvet was his real name.
He wore a thin down jacket, a cigarette freshly removed from his lips pinched between his gloved fingers. Though he too exhaled white vapor, it was clearly not the same kind as the gray-clad girl's.
"It's fine, Gray."
"Are you nervous?"
Lord El-Melloi II smiled as he glanced at his disciple.
"Ah, yes."
Gray froze for a moment, then lowered her head and hid her face beneath her hood.
"Because... he's a Knight of the Round Table."
"And he's completely different from Add..."
As she spoke, she lifted the cage hidden beneath her robe. Inside the cage was a cube?
"What do you mean by that, Gray?! Even if that's Uncle Anno, you can't talk about me like that—Aaaah!"
The cube called Add seemed to be protesting, but Gray ignored him. After giving the cage a shake, she hid it away again.
"Relax. At the very least, that knight isn't some terrifying brute. Come with me."
Lord El-Melloi II gently patted Gray's shoulder, easing the girl's tension before walking toward the distance.
A car was waiting for him at the airport to take him to their agreed meeting place.
After patting her chest where she stood and breathing out another puff of white mist, Gray jogged after her master, leaving a short trail of footprints in the snow.
"...Mr. Anno, I truly never expected to see you again."
Lord El-Melloi II looked at Anno standing across from him, his eyes filled with complicated emotions. Still, he extended his hand, clasped Anno's, and gave