He silently reached out and pushed Fern, who was still sunk in grief, over in front of the dazed Frieren.
Seeing Frieren's blank expression, Fern could not help showing a shocked look herself.
"Lady Frieren doesn't know? Because of monsters on the Northern Lands, rogue soldiers, roaming bandits, and demons who can appear at any time, many places are restricting travel. And then..."
As for those rogue soldiers, although they were once soldiers, in reality, things like killing, arson, and robbery were as routine to them as daily meals, and often they were even more dangerous than demons.
Because demons and monsters only kill people. If you cannot beat them, you either get eaten or get killed. But rogue soldiers and bandits... for w0men, even death is a luxury.
It was precisely because those areas were so chaotic that many regions of various countries required that even adventurers must be at least first class mages to pass through, which was also considered to be for the safety of travelers.
But just after finishing what she had heard in the previous city, Fern stared at Frieren suspiciously and asked, "Lady Frieren, you don't even know any of this?"
"Not at all. And what is a first class mage?", Frieren listened with a completely confused face.
"That is a mage qualification recognized by the Continental Magic Association. You don't even know that, could it be that you are an unregistered black market mage?"
"Don't say it like I am some unlicensed doctor. It is because... the teams managing mages change all the time, and I can never keep up with the exams."
"But that already existed half a century ago," Facing Frieren, who was getting sulky in return, Fern pulled a piece of paper out of her bag and showed it directly to her, "Look, this is my third class mage certification that I passed in the Holy Capital."
"Half a century? That is not long ago, right? Back when I set out with Heiter and the others, it was still something else. And...", Feeling like she was the only one who had fallen behind the times, Frieren turned her head to Ash and pointed at him, "Ash definitely doesn't know either."
"Don't point at people casually. That is rude," He raised his hand and slapped her finger away.
"See! He feels guilty. So he also..."
"No, actually, I do know."
Rather than knowing or not knowing, when Serie was not around, Ash was basically regarded by everyone as the head of the Northern Division. Facing this elf girl who was seeking companionship, his expression became rather subtle.
This made Frieren immediately feel a sense of betrayal.
"Why? Why do you know?"
"Because I used to live in the northern nations, in the largest magic city. The Magic Association's only branch is also over there."
"Then are you a first class mage?"
"No, I never took the certification."
His unconscious answer made Frieren instantly smile. She happily looked at Fern.
"See! Fern! This guy is useless too!"
"Why are you proud at a time like this? Isn't this troublesome?", Fern could not relate at all. She let out a helpless long sigh, "There is no choice. Let's go to the magic city first and take the exam."
"Actually, you can hire one if you pay...", Ash did not really want to go and raised his hand to give another option.
But before he could finish, Fern did not even think and said, "No! That is a waste of money."
"Then I can ask someone I know."
"Going to ask others means owing favors! It is better to take the exam yourself! Yes, that is settled! Lord Ash! Okay?"
"Uh, o-okay..."
Her past life made Fern almost treat the magic city as her second hometown, so she was inexplicably stubborn about going there.
Even Frieren noticed this. She smiled and patted Ash on the shoulder, making him hesitate and then choose to compromise.
After all, back then it was him who had more or less forcibly dragged Fern away from the magic city, so he should at least compensate her with a return visit.
Thus, the three changed their route and headed for the magic city.
———
Led by the excited Fern, the three maintained high spirits and happily stepped into the Northern Lands. And then... As expected, the initial excitement of Frieren and Fern was quickly extinguished by the sudden blizzard.
"It is not even winter yet, and it is already snowing heavily... and we are lost," Frieren, who had long wrapped a scarf around herself, stood there covered in snow, completely disheveled. She just stared at the white wind and snow ahead and muttered, "This is why I hate the north."
"Rather than complaining, what should we do now?", Fern shrank her body and could not help looking at Ash, who looked calm and did not even need a scarf. Worried, she asked, "Lord Ash, aren't you cold?"
"I am, after all, a warrior, and a slightly capable one. You can handle this level of cold with your coats. If I could not handle it, that would be bad, right?"
"Looks like you really have become like Eisen."
"But I have never tried poison arrows that can put a dragon to sleep."
Traveling light, and even wearing only a thin windbreaker, Ash looked relaxed in the sudden blizzard, as if he were walking in a drizzle.
Seeing this, Frieren could not help feeling a bit jealous. After thinking for a moment, she could not help pointing at the ground.
"Crouch down."
"Why?"
"Since you are not cold and can move easily, carry me on your back. You can also block some of the wind and snow in front," Even though she was asking for help, Frieren said her request without any politeness, expressionless.
"You are really lazy."
"We are companions, right?"
"You emphasize that at a time like this?", Ash could not help shaking his head, "Honestly, I kind of regret knowing you."
"We already know each other. Saying that now has no meaning. And I am freezing to death. Also, if you upset Fern in the future, I will not just watch like before. Is that okay?"
"Deal!"
After a brief negotiation, Ash readily reached an agreement with Frieren. He silently turned around, crouched down, and let the elf lie on his back.
Throughout the whole process, Fern did not say a word. She just stared silently at the two, with a hint of annoyance on her face.
'If I had known I could do this, I would have let Lord Ash carry me too. Lady Frieren is so sly!', Fern stared silently at Frieren, so unwilling that she could not help stamping her feet on the snow behind them.
This made Frieren, who was being stared at and could not stand it, subconsciously turn her head back.
"What is wrong? Fern, are you also very cold?"
"Yes! I am also very cold!"
"Then let's take turns?"
"Is that okay?"
"Of course."
"Sorry, Lady Frieren," Hearing this, Fern immediately rushed forward, grabbed her hand, and showed a guilty expression, "I doubted you again."
"Huh? Are you two secretly eating sweets without me?", Frieren slowly widened her eyes. After several days, she once again calmly showed an expression as if she had been betrayed. Even the hands holding Ash's neck tightened unconsciously.
"I have not eaten sweets for half a month... Fern, that is so mean. Ash too, we agreed we were friends."
"No, I do not know anything. What are you talking about?"
Suddenly having his neck tightened, Ash felt the resentment behind him. His head was full of question marks, and his face screamed innocence.
"Really not? Then why? Fern?"
"Don't mind it."
Not only did Ash suffer an unjust disaster, Frieren also felt like she was being isolated alone. Yet Fern only stiffly turned her face away.
Still, in her heart, she could not help feeling deeply guilty, as if she had unintentionally caused a rift between the two.
Of course, at this moment she could not help but doubt whether their long friendship was really as fragile as paper.
———
After Ash carried Frieren for a distance, Frieren came down from his back with some reluctance, switching to Fern, who carefully lay on it.
When Fern, with barely concealed excitement, gently hugged his neck, she whispered softly, "Um... Lord Ash, am I very heavy?"
"Hm. What if I say you are heavy?"
"Then I can only kill you, and then kill myself."
He only asked casually, yet Fern tightened her arms around his neck. Even her voice became colder and sharper than the plateau blizzard, like the eternal permafrost of the Demon King's castle.
This made Ash's expression freeze as well. He forced a smile and joked, "I am just saying, using such a cold tone to say something so scary... even as a joke, it is kind of frightening."
"What are you saying? I am quite serious," Fern's face showed an excessive seriousness unlike her usual self.
"So it IS serious."
"And then? Lord Ash, what is your answer?"
"O-of course you are light. You are much lighter than Frieren!"
Under the girl's overly heavy, straight to mutual destruction statement, Ash could only pat his conscience on the chest and tell a lie against his conscience.
Hearing this, Frieren could not help complaining, "No, how can you lie with your eyes open? No matter what, just from body size, Fern cannot be lighter than me."
"Lady Frieren!"
"Hm? I just feel... somehow... ah, forget it!"
Frieren did not want Fern to be deceived. Facing the girl's overly stern gaze, she looked a bit confused and hesitated before choosing to give up exposing the clumsy lie.
She really could not understand why such a clever child like Fern would fall for such an obvious lie.
"Could it be she caught a cold and has a fever from the freezing? The northern weather really is dangerous. We should find a place to rest later and check Fern's body temperature."
Watching the two who had unknowingly walked ahead, Frieren hurried to catch up, genuinely worried whether Fern had developed a fever from the cold... or even fainted from it.
Frieren was genuinely worried about Fern's physical condition.
But due to differences in race, Fern could not understand her concern at all. She also did not plan to care about that Frieren who both took care of her and needed to be taken care of, completely like an old mother and eldest daughter, because Frieren had just said something that made her unhappy.
So she happily hugged Ash like this and enjoyed the warmth in the wind and snow.
In contrast, Ash's state of mind was in a completely different situation.
'This is bad. I cannot feel my heartbeat at all. Is the gap between people really this big?', The solid, heavy, and extremely oppressive soft sensation behind him made him feel a mood he could not describe, with an inexplicable subtlety.
Although he tried hard not to pay attention to it, that wonderful oppressive feeling was so strong that it was impossible not to notice. Because he could feel it so clearly, a strange sense of guilt gradually arose in his heart.
When he fell silent in the wind and snow, Fern noticed it. She subconsciously lowered her head and worriedly asked, "Lord Ash? Could it be... I really am too heavy?"
"No, that is not it."
"Really?"
"I was just thinking, you just said you would always stand on my side, but then suddenly you said you wanted to die together with me... sigh, as an old father, I am very sad."
He could not say what he truly cared about, so he could only put on a worried look and sigh at the wind and snow ahead.
This immediately made Fern look embarrassed. Lying on his back, she muttered softly, "That, that was just... a joke!"
"You mean the part about standing on my side?"
"No! I mean the part about dying together!"
"It really did not sound like a joke."
"Because... I really would get angry!"
Fern hugged his neck tightly and muttered by his ear like she was sulking, emphasizing her feelings.
'But, why do girls care so much about weight?', He had never really understood it, from before until now.
The only thing he could be sure of was probably that a girl's mood was indeed more changeable than the weather. He subconsciously looked up at the sky and let out a long sigh in his heart.
———
In that vast land ravaged by endless wind and snow, snowflakes poured down like feathers from the sky, dense and urgent, almost blocking all sight. The entire world was dyed in a thick layer of silver white.
The wind, like a wild beast, roared through every inch of space, trying to devour all warmth. It also caused the purple long hair of the girl behind Ash to fly past him with the wind, bringing a scent that he could not tell if it was shampoo or perfume.
It did not really resemble either. Instead, it was closer to a sweet, tempting scent mixed with hormones, making his just settled emotions gain even more trouble.
He even could not figure out why, even though he was already a demon, he could still sense that kind of hormonal presence.
'No, animals can also sense this kind of aura from humans. The difference between species might not be that big of a problem. It is just that different creatures should be affected differently by each other's hormones,' But all of this could be set aside for now.....
'So big! Fern is so big! No, no, I must block these thoughts and think of something else. Am I a pervert? The one behind me is Fern! I watched her grow up! She is a human who could die at any moment!', He agonized and condemned himself alone.
Meanwhile, Fern not only hugged him tightly with both hands, she also unconsciously leaned her head lightly against his shoulder, enjoying the warmth in the wind and snow. At the same time, she quietly paid attention to the changes in his expression and curiously asked,."Lord Ash... what is wrong again? Are you worried about getting lost?"
"Ah, yes, that is it!"
"You are lying to me again?", His subconscious affirmation made
Fern narrow her eyes suspiciously.
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