As soon as those words left his mouth, Fern showed an expression of utter disbelief, reacting even more dramatically than Eisen.
"The great mage Flamme, that's the progenitor of human magic, right? Lord Ash, just what exactly are you—"
"Huh? I never told you? Actually, Flamme was my senior sister. In a sense she was also my master, but in terms of seniority she was my senior sister."
"I've never heard that before!"
This shocking secret was revealed so suddenly, and in a way she had never expected, that Fern's eyes went completely round. The way she looked at Ash was as if she were seeing something utterly inconceivable.
Her breathing grew rapid and shallow, her chest heaving as she waved her hands in the air. Then she suddenly slammed them onto the table, forcing out a low, forceful reprimand through clenched teeth.
"Just how much more haven't you told me? The things you didn't say last time, please explain everything, all at once, right now!"
"Actually, Frieren is my grand-niece. Did I mention that?"
"No! And just how old are you anyway? And so that's how you and Lady Frieren originally knew each other?"
"Actually, I'm not quite the same as Frieren..."
Faced with the girl's accusations, he was forced to trot out the same excuse he had once used on Frieren.
Fern listened with half-belief, half-doubt, but… she probably ended up believing the explanation about him being accidentally sealed.
The two people beside her reacted completely differently. Eisen was still frozen in shock, while Frieren looked utterly unconcerned, casually flipping through the book Ash had taken out.
Even though Ash casually tossing out the notebook of a long-lost acquaintance that Eisen and Heiter had searched for so long left him with countless things he wanted to complain about, once he noticed that Frieren had already started reading it, Eisen temporarily set aside his shock and asked, "Does it mention talking with the dead?"
"It does. It says that at the northern end of the continent, there is a place people call heaven, the land where souls rest, the place of soul-sleep," Frieren said as she flipped the pages, "It also says she spoke with comrades from the past."
"Is it real?"
"..Who knows. She was a pretty careless person," Frieren's expression was subtle.
Ash, meanwhile, while dodging Fern's accusations, casually added, "In reality, the more likely reason was to get Frieren to go defeat the Demon King. In the end, you all went there yourselves, so do you really still need to ask?"
"Well," Eisen was left speechless, and only after a long pause did he mutter, "I didn't really look carefully. It seemed like it was just the Demon King's castle… but maybe if you investigated thoroughly…"
"When Flamme wrote this book she was only in her thirties or forties. Before that she was probably in her twenties. She was nowhere near her peak as a mage. And even at her peak she couldn't beat the Demon King. How could she have carefully investigated the core of demon territory when she was young?"
"Maybe there was some special method?"
"Who knows. But more importantly, you want to talk with the dead?"
Ash didn't comment further on the speculation. With an ambiguous smile, he brushed the topic aside and looked curiously at the solitary dwarf.
"Actually, before you showed up, back when we first went adventuring together, Frieren always seemed a bit gloomy, like she had some lingering regret," Eisen hesitantly looked toward Frieren, who was holding the book, and sighed softly.
"We heard that one of her friends from a long time ago had died, so from then on, Heiter and I thought that if there was ever a chance. We wanted to give her an opportunity to say goodbye to her past friend. An elf's lifespan is far too long. Everyone else dies almost all of a sudden, right? Even if we couldn't use it this time, there might be a chance later."
"Is that so? But, how many times have I died, anyway?", Compared to their thoughtfulness, Ash couldn't help feeling depressed. Somehow, he seemed to have been treated as dead by Frieren more times than he could count.
Frieren had no intention of comforting him. She closed the book, looked up at him, and said bluntly,
"Honestly, watching you bounce back and forth between life and death like this, even I'm getting tired of it. Can't you hurry up and decide already?"
"Can you not be so unreasonable? Do you think I like being treated as someone who's about to die?"
"Stop arguing. Since the person in question isn't actually dead, let's just leave it," Thinking about the situation at the Demon King's castle, Eisen shook his head after hesitating, "Next time, if there really comes a time when you want to see the dead, you can try your luck then, so there won't be regrets."
"Compared to that, Eisen, I feel like there's something more dangerous in the north," As for the far-fetched idea of talking to the dead, Frieren frowned and spoke with barely concealed seriousness about what had been worrying her most lately: the Sage of Corruption and the possible mastermind behind it.
With this troubling news brought up once again, the atmosphere inside the cave grew heavy.
After a long silence, Eisen finally spoke.
"In the end, you still need to go north. Even if it's not for that illusory land of souls."
"Yeah, it really is necessary to investigate the north."
"But going deep into demon territory is extremely dangerous. If possible, it would be better to let the two major northern nations handle the investigation," Stroking his thick beard, Eisen gave the most prudent advice.
"That emperor is hard to judge, but the Kingdom of Oisast has produced three generations of renowned wise kings. They'll surely listen to the advice of someone who once saved the world."
"The kings of the Kingdom of Oisast? Yeah, they really are impressive," Just mentioning those three generations of rulers made even Frieren praise them.
"How did they educate them? Three generations, all kings of unparalleled caliber. To have a country continuously reform its policies, grow steadily without pause for nearly a hundred years, and thoroughly carry out the will of their ancestors, I'd really like to see it someday."
Kings who didn't indulge in pleasure and were diligent in governance were not unheard of, but rulers who could fully implement their policies and raise national strength at the fastest pace on a global scale were figures renowned even in history.
For one country to produce three such far-sighted and capable rulers in a row was something even Frieren, after living so long, had never seen.
And although this praise was technically about himself, hearing it framed as "good education" made Ash feel inexplicably uncomfortable. He lowered his head and rubbed his aching temples.
Seeing this, Fern couldn't help but ask curiously, "Lord Ash, do you not like that king?"
"Is it dislike or not? It's not really dislike…"
Since he was actually the one behind it all, what could he even say?
At that moment, Eisen suddenly looked at Ash with a serious expression.
"Ash, if you don't have anything urgent, how about acting as their warrior escort? You'd just need to meet the rulers of the Kingdom of Oisast and the Empire. Going as far as the imperial capital should be enough, right? That shouldn't take too long."
"The imperial capital?"
Eisen's words made him fall into thought.
Under normal circumstances, going to the imperial capital and meeting the emperor, who historically stayed deeply secluded and worked hard to avoid assassination, was extremely difficult. But following Frieren might actually be a good opportunity.
If his current self could bypass layers of guards and reach the imperial palace directly, dealing with the emperor wouldn't be a problem at all. The real problem would be how to avoid dragging Frieren and Fern into it.
But that was something he could think through slowly along the way. In any case, he could decide what to do once they reached the capital.
On the long, narrow supercontinent that was wider in the north and narrower in the south, the northern region was almost larger than the central and southern regions combined. Still, the time needed just to reach the southern edge of the north was not something he couldn't accept.
After all, where they were now was practically the edge of the central region, already close to the north. And from time to time, it really wasn't bad to spend more time with Fern.
So after a long period of thought, he finally arrived at his answer. Smiling at the three who were watching him intently, he slammed the table with a look of righteous resolve.
"Of course I can. One of you is a child I watched grow up, and one of you is my old friend. There's no way I could refuse."
"Thank you for your kindness, but…", Seeing his serious expression, Fern narrowed her eyes slightly, "Lord Ash, you thought about this for a long time, didn't you? What exactly were you thinking about? Can you tell me?"
"Uh… apples?"
"So in your heart, we're not even as important as apples?"
"Ah, no, that's not what I meant…"
"Mm~"
Only then did he realize he'd said the wrong thing and chosen the wrong excuse, but before he could correct himself, Fern was already staring at him, cheeks puffed out in dissatisfaction.
This made him look toward Frieren for help, but... Frieren did not disappoint him at all at a moment like this. She simply lowered her head to read her book, completely avoiding eye contact, clearly afraid he might drag her into it.
As for Eisen…
"You two really have a good relationship."
He merely sighed with that one comment and quietly drank his tea, clearly not intending to intervene either.
And so, the time that followed was just as unbearable as one might imagine.
———
Evening—
Since Eisen's cave had never really been designed with visitors in mind, let alone overnight guests, the three of them naturally had no choice but to leave.
"But you two really have changed. You said you didn't plan to get deeply involved with others, and now you've taken in a disciple and raised a child."
Eisen, seeing them off as they exited the cave, looked at Ash and Frieren with a deeply emotional expression.
"Is that so?", Frieren herself didn't feel much awareness of change. She just tilted her head in confusion.
"The one percent of the journey you talked about didn't change you in the end. You were still stubbornly unwilling to interact with people or take on disciples. So why did you take one in now?"
"I was just tricked by Ash and Heiter, those two despicable guys."
"Lady Frieren…"
"But even if I was tricked, since it was Fern, I don't have any complaints."
As Fern's expression dimmed slightly, Frieren smiled and reached out to gently pat her head.
This made Fern smile too, and she carefully glanced in Ash's direction, clearly caring about his answer.
Even Eisen couldn't help feeling curious, "Your reason… was it just because she's the descendant of a friend?"
"No… to be honest, I don't really know what kind of feelings I had when I accepted that I'd have to raise a child," Ash looked troubled and couldn't help muttering softly, "There should've been more important things. I shouldn't have let myself be delayed by this. But… in the end, I just couldn't abandon Fern. Yeah, that's probably it."
"You're thinking about planting apples again?", Fern was already harboring complaints now, and genuinely looked a bit hurt.
"How could that be? Apples could never be more important than you, Fern."
"Then what is?"
"..You'll find out in the future."
"Why won't you say it again? You're clearly deceiving—"
"It's not deception, it's just… well, if, Fern…", As the girl was about to get angry, he smiled, "I'm just saying if I were to become a bad person, or we ended up as enemies or something, you don't need to worry about anything. Just follow your own heart."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Mm~ men sometimes have thoughts about wanting to become the Demon King, that kind of feeling? Or wanting to conquer the world? Or, in some sense, standing on the opposite side of humanity?"
He spoke vaguely, unable to explain things clearly. This made the corner of Fern's mouth curl into a helpless yet gentle smile as she sighed softly.
"Lord Ash, you're already an adult. Why do you still have such wild, unrealistic ideas?"
"I'm just saying if. If that time really came, would you stand on my side? Or would you choose to subjugate—"
"Is that even a question?", Fern answered without the slightest hesitation, as if it were obvious, "No matter what, of course I'd stand on Lord Ash's side."
"This… should I say I'm a bit surprised, or something else…"
"Why would that be surprising? Even if Lord Ash sometimes messes around, you're absolutely not a bad person. If something special really happened, there must be a reason you had no choice but to act. In any case, the first thing to do would definitely be to find a way to help you. That's what I think."
This trust was pure and unwavering. It came not only from her understanding of Ash's character, but also from a deep, indescribable emotional bond.
Fern couldn't even imagine a scenario where she would stand opposed to Ash. The very idea that he might not fully trust her made her feel a little unhappy instead.
And this unconditional trust from the girl made Ash unable to hold back. He suddenly pulled her into a hug, deeply moved, and vigorously rubbed her head.
"Even though you're strict sometimes~ Fern, you really are a good kid~ I finally managed to raise a good kid~"
"W-what is this? All of a sudden," The unexpected hug caught Fern off guard. Her cheeks flushed slightly, her face tinged with embarrassment.
Still, she didn't struggle. She just shifted a little, clearly not quite used to it.
"You suddenly brought up such a weird topic, and in the end you just wanted an excuse to hug Fern, didn't you? After being ignored for half the day, did you turn into a lonely, clingy baby?"
After watching the two of them for a while, Frieren unexpectedly came to a strange and rather sharp conclusion.
Hearing this, Eisen opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it again after a long pause, shutting his eyes.
Though he could see Ash's sincerity to some extent, he chose to trust his former companion and gave up on saying more to the oblivious Frieren.
Of course, Frieren's emotional intelligence might be terrible, but she wasn't stupid. She simply trusted Ash, trusted the friend she'd known since village days, and didn't believe he would ever do something truly heinous.
If anything, Ash's strange jokes had always been plentiful. There was no need to take them seriously, at least in Frieren's view.
And after this brief interlude, the three of them cheerfully set off on their journey again. Worth mentioning was that Fern was unexpectedly in a very good mood, walking ahead with her arms held out parallel to the ground, hands tilted upward, waddling like a penguin.
———
After a simple farewell, the group temporarily left the area under Eisen's watchful gaze.
Ash and Frieren watched Fern sway happily ahead like a penguin, and couldn't help but exchange smiles.
"If only Fern's mood could always be like this."
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