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I shall keep myself brief, for Mr. Rangifer and I are pressed for time
and have many deliveries scheduled for today.
What? Who are you? What is the meaning of this?
Mister Montgomery, as the proprietor of the Stonebridge Orphanage,
it is your moral and societal duty to feed, clothe and shelter those less fortunate than yourself, is it not?
And yet for the past week orphans have starved in the cold. You would appear to have gone astray.
The times are tough; our pantries are empty! There's no coal for the fires!
Mr. Montgomery, do you know how charcoal is produced?
First, suitable lumber is felled, milled, and stacked, piece by piece, around a chimney and buried deep in dirt and straw.
Burning fuel is poured down the chimney, and the logs burn.
Over five long days, at 716 degrees Fahrenheit,
the logs burn and burn and burn until only ash and charcoal remain.
Scorched lifeless charcoal destined for only one thing.
More fuel for the fire.
Who are you?
I'm just a man, like you.
But unlike you, my charity is not a facade.
I am here to shelter the cold, feed the hungry, protect the meek, and straighten the crooked.
To warn, punish, and forgive.
I'm Nikolai Klaus. No more, no less.
See to it those children are fed, Mr. Montgomery.
And have a very merry Christmas.