Fifty-ninth year before the Sinseki Era, the first year of the Hero party's departure.
Northern nations, Count Granat's Territory—
Ten days after Hero Himmel's party defeated the remnants of Aura the Guillotine, one of the Seven Sages of Destruction...
After multiple verifications confirming that Aura had indeed mysteriously disappeared completely—
And that the few remaining subordinates had also fled to the northern plateau,
At the request of all the people in Count Granat's Territory—
A grand farewell party was held for the hero party.
"Although this is only a small token compared to the great deeds you've accomplished,"
"Please accept this—"
"Because this represents not just my feelings, but the heartfelt gratitude of all the people of Count Granat's Territory."
"So heroes departing to defeat the Demon King, please enjoy everyone's hospitality to your heart's content today."
Recalling the words and actions of that broad-faced count from this morning,
Frieren, who had lived alone for a thousand years only to be swept away by Himmel, smiled slightly.
She held a drinking cup that was ridiculously large compared to her small frame,
Murmuring softly with slightly lowered eyes.
"It feels like I'm experiencing the emotions Flamme had back in the imperial capital..."
Sitting in the center of the bustling area—
The white-haired elf sipped her drink in small amounts, smiling quite smugly.
"Hmph—"
"If they knew what I'm doing now, surely they'd be proud of me too..."
Thinking about the expressions Agusheed and Flamme might show when they learned of her current situation,
The magic-loving little elf couldn't help but hum with satisfaction.
Then—
Her thoughts were gently interrupted by a pair of large hands reaching over.
"Children are prohibited from drinking alcohol. For you, fruit juice is more appropriate—"
The monk "mother" who forcibly replaced the alcohol in Frieren's hands with fruit juice put on a stern demeanor.
He patted the white-haired elf's head with his other free hand,
Then told her seriously with a grave expression:
"After all, I can't guarantee that a certain blue-haired pervert in our party won't do something inappropriate to you while you're drunk."
Looking at the fruit juice swirling in her hands—
The smile on the magic little elf's face didn't fade due to Heiter's unquestionable actions and tone.
Quite the opposite, as if remembering something because of this,
Frieren looked at her reflection in the fruit juice and began giggling foolishly in reminiscence.
Huh?
No signs of crying, and no protests like usual—
Instead, she's giggling to herself...
The alcoholic monk who had just switched the white-haired elf's alcohol for fruit juice looked at her strangely.
He pushed up his glasses, thinking about what exactly had gone wrong.
The result was obvious—he couldn't figure it out at all.
Unable to make heads or tails of it, Heiter could only attribute everything to—
The possibility that 'Frieren really does have some serious problem.'
"Clank—"
Along with the wooden drinking cup being snatched from his hands by another pair of large hands belonging to the hero,
Heiter helplessly turned his gaze to his side.
The blue-haired hero drained the seized drink in one gulp while—
Striking an extremely cool pose as he played with his beautiful hair.
"How rude, Heiter..."
"I heard everything just now..."
"An alcoholic monk who for once isn't drunk as a puddle actually called me a pervert to my face—"
"I absolutely cannot agree with that. Don't you think so, Eisen?"
Looking with disgust at Himmel, who had even aligned his drinking spot perfectly with Frieren's—
The dwarf Eisen walking over and the sighing monk Heiter spoke in unison with contempt:
"Definitely a pervert."
"I completely disagree with your view, because what you're doing right now is perverted behavior."
"I'm not a pervert!"
Slowly reaching out his hand, gently wiping away the remaining alcohol from Frieren's lips under her gaze,
Himmel counterattacked his two buddy teammates with a chuckle:
"I only had to do this to prevent Frieren from switching the drinks back when you weren't looking—"
Frieren looked puzzledly at Himmel, who was spouting nonsense.
"But I don't have 'magic that can switch the positions of fruit juice and alcohol,' Himmel."
"Whether you have it or not doesn't matter. What matters is that you might have it—"
"So I must make the safest choice."
A certain perverted blue-haired hero tilted his head and continued his nonsense with a smile.
"Yes, that's right, exactly like that."
"Can't help it, who told handsome me to unconsciously think of my teammates..."
"I'm such a sinfully deep man—"
Eisen responded by heavily stepping on Himmel's foot.
And Heiter was even more direct—
He maintained his contemptuous expression while continuously muttering the word 'pervert.'
Undoubtedly, the hero party's chase and scuffle began again.
Frieren swayed in her chair, rocking back and forth in the relaxed and pleasant atmosphere.
She routinely observed the bickering and roughhousing of the three people who were constantly chasing around her as their center.
Always like this...
The white-haired elf swayed her little feet and smiled slightly at Himmel, who currently had his back to her.
Sometimes—
I can relive the feeling of when Agusheed and Flamme were still around by being with them...
The farce didn't last long.
The three people who maintained improper chasing and scuffling, looking nothing like the heroes who had saved the local area, quickly returned to normal.
The four sat around a small round table, quietly watching the farewell party on their last night before departure come to an end.
When the excitement and crowds dispersed together, the hero party finally turned their attention back.
After exchanging smiles in unison—
They leaned on the table and began discussing their upcoming itinerary.
"I remember... if we keep going, we'll reach the Village of Swords next, right—"
"Himmel, are you going to try pulling out that legendary Hero's Sword?"
This was Heiter's inquiry.
But looking at his calm face, it seemed he already knew the answer even without a response.
"Of course—"
"After all, it won't do for the legendary Hero's Sword to remain without an owner..."
With undeniable confidence, Himmel softly responded with the answer he had given Heiter since childhood.
Frieren, watching the atmosphere gradually become subtle, slowly spread out the map.
She inappropriately delivered a blow to the optimistic Heiter and Himmel:
"The prerequisite for drawing the Hero's Sword is that we can safely reach the Village of Swords."
The magic little elf, who was extremely familiar with geographical locations due to Flamme's influence, continued explaining:
"The Village of Swords is located in the Schwer Mountains—"
"Setting aside that we'll encounter almost no human habitation along this route,"
"Just the difficulty of crossing the snow mountain midway is enough to make one despair..."
"Unless we wait here for another month, braving the last snowfall to charge through the snow mountain isn't a wise decision."
But clearly—
Her well-intentioned reminder was useless.
The dumb hero and alcoholic monk shouted 'charge through' as if they weren't afraid of death at all.
This mindless appearance made Eisen and Frieren exchange speechless glances,
Then each sighed silently.
"Jokes aside, it really is a dangerous journey..."
Eisen's expression was completely different from the two fools over there.
He stroked his beard and looked at the party's only mage, saying seriously in a grave voice:
"If only you could find a way for all of us to fly over, Frieren."
—That's impossible.
The white-haired elf, who was a master of flight magic, thought so.
Even with her superior skills in Flight Magic, she couldn't take three people and cross the snow mountain in a blizzard simultaneously.
She was about to speak to dispel Eisen's unrealistic idea—
But the familiar aura she suddenly sensed made her eyes widen and freeze in place.
Because her reaction was too obvious, the three easily noticed Frieren's abnormality.
Himmel frowned and reached out toward the stunned white-haired elf.
He was just about to ask what happened—
But Frieren's sudden action of grabbing his hand made him freeze in place too.
"Eisen is right, we just need to be able to fly over—"
The white-haired elf looked up, showing an unprecedented excited smile.
She lowered her head in some kind of joy the three couldn't understand, then slowly spoke:
"Himmel, Heiter, Eisen..."
"Want to stay at my 'father's' place for a while and catch a ride?"
Catch a ride...
Father?!
There was no time to think about what Frieren meant by 'catch a ride' and 'stay.'
Himmel, who was already frozen in place—
Instantly fainted upon hearing Frieren say she wanted to take him to meet her 'father.'
Meeting the parents...
Me?!
Thud—
Himmel very consciously ignored Heiter and Eisen—
And fell straight onto Frieren's lap in indescribably happy excitement.
"What a sinfully deep woman..."
Heiter, knowing why Himmel had suddenly collapsed, pushed up his glasses and muttered softly as if no one was around.
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Powerstones?
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