Chise and Elias are in the middle of shearing Wooly Bugs, magical creatures who eat cold from the air and grow wool with magical properties. Chise becomes distracted and is attacked. As Chise recovers, she and Elias open themselves up to each other more.

With Chise being transformed into a fox, she takes off running into the woods. Elias chases after her. Later, Chise is visited by the Leanan sídhe, who is attached to Joel, claiming that Joel will not wake up.

Christmas is coming up. Alice invites Chise out to London, where they hang out together and go gift shopping for Renfred and Elias.

Stella, a young girl Chise encountered while Christmas shopping, finds that her brother, Ethan, has gone missing and her parents have forgotten he exists.

Cartaphilus and Chise argue over their respective approaches to dealing with their own suffering, beating each other up brutally in the process.