No longer paying attention to the white-haired elf's muttered grumbling in his arms,
After catching up with his daughter, Agusheed focused his gaze on the three members of the hero party.
Lightly snapping his fingers—
Three transparent chairs created by Air Shaping Magic materialized out of thin air in front of Agusheed.
Turning Frieren in his arms around again,
Taking up the comb to continue brushing her hair, the strongest Grand Demon nodded slightly.
"Sit."
Agusheed requested gently yet unquestionably.
Without forced politeness, nor the awkward courtesy that comes from being too distant,
In front of Frieren, this elder who says one thing but means another—
The three chose to obediently listen.
Relying on intuition, they slowly sat down in the chairs one by one,
The three maintained their composure and straightened their backs,
But their gazes toward Agusheed still unconsciously carried some nervousness.
"Regarding the purpose of your visit, Frieren already told me about it last night."
Choosing not to make things difficult for these children, Agusheed calmly got straight to the point.
"As Frieren's friends, I don't mind you staying here temporarily."
"Of course, I have no negative opinions about your journey either..."
The first half of Agusheed's words made the three breathe a sigh of relief.
But the next moment, this strongest Grand Demon's turn brought their hearts back to their throats.
"However—"
"I also learned from her the reason you embarked on this journey."
Agusheed calmly smoothed down a strand of white hair that had popped up on the magic little elf's head.
He raised his eyes, looking at the three young people across from him.
"You want to defeat the Demon King, don't you?"
In fact, regarding such a fantastical and overambitious idea,
Agusheed's attitude had always been dismissive.
Subjugating the Demon King—
With just these few children in front of him plus Frieren?
Hehe...
In this situation, there was no need to even discuss so-called 'confidence.'
Because if they really faced the Demon King, they would undoubtedly be instantly killed.
If this were a joke, Agusheed would probably indeed laugh it off.
But what was before him now was reality.
So his attitude was very serious, and his tone carried obvious gravity.
Even more so, if Himmel's next answer showed the slightest hesitation,
Agusheed would find a way to make Frieren 'temporarily' stay behind,
Rather than let her walk the same path to death as another stupid disciple.
But...
"Yes."
This was the answer Agusheed received from the blue-haired hero before him.
Brief and calm.
Himmel's words might have carried some restraint in facing his future father-in-law,
But from beginning to end, there was never any hesitation or doubt.
The best answer.
At the same time, this was also the worst answer—
At least Agusheed actually didn't want to hear this response.
"Let me ask first, do you understand what the identity of Demon King represents?"
Without changing his opinion of their overambition based on just one sentence's attitude,
Agusheed, gently smoothing down another strand of the white-haired elf's cowlick, continued asking.
"The Demon King represents the absolute power and authority that has ruled the world's peak for a thousand years."
This time, it was Heiter beside Himmel who responded to Agusheed.
Gripping his Spell book tightly, he calmly spoke these words.
Undoubtedly, these words were filled with reverence for the Demon King.
But equally, these words contained no fear of the Demon King's power.
"A very clear understanding—"
Agusheed chuckled flatly, not pausing in brushing his daughter's long hair.
Lowering his eyes, the strongest Grand Demon spoke softly:
"If that's the case, then I think you also know..."
"Throughout history, what has been the only result of attempting to challenge the Demon King."
Clenching his fist slightly, Eisen as a warrior answered with silent silence.
—Death.
In the thousand-year human-demon war, there was no shortage of heroes who had fought their way to the Demon King's Castle.
Among them, many had been crowned with the title of humanity's strongest.
But their final fate was only one.
Death.
Subjugating the Demon King—
The end of this great deed, even to this day, had only one choice: death.
So what Agusheed was going to say next, even without many words, the three could guess part of it.
"With your current strength, it's impossible to defeat the Demon King."
After glancing at Frieren, who was unusually quiet—
Agusheed's maintained actions slowed slightly.
He looked up again, gazing at the three sitting before him.
His cold gaze finally slowly settled on Himmel in the center.
"You are currently too weak. Even giving your all, you might not defeat a high-ranking Grand Demon."
"Let alone subjugate the Demon King who once unified the entire demon race with his own power."
"So..."
"If you don't want to die, then give up challenging the Demon King—"
Agusheed's words were always so coldly ruthless, hitting the nail on the head.
Making them unable to refute, and powerless to refute.
Because in the face of absolute facts, before an old father worried about his daughter's safety,
Himmel and the others could never say something stupid like—
'Failure doesn't matter, as long as we give our all.'
Or rather, Himmel estimated that if he said such words one second,
The next second he would experience what free fall from ten thousand meters felt like.
But...
Saying things like giving up here was also something Himmel couldn't do.
"I apologize, Mr. Agusheed. Regarding the outcome, we've long been mentally prepared."
"And no matter what, we will not abandon our mission to subjugate the Demon King."
Looking directly into the strongest Grand Demon's oppressive gaze,
Himmel lowered his eyes and responded to Agusheed with a low but firm voice:
"Because—"
"We are the hero party."
Although he had anticipated this answer, Agusheed couldn't help but laugh.
"Foolish..."
Putting down the comb while also setting down Frieren with her neatly arranged long hair,
The strongest Grand Demon shook his head and gave merciless criticism.
"Subjugating the Demon King... you're only throwing your lives away for nothing."
Foolish...
Throwing their lives away...
The three sitting across from Agusheed offered no rebuttal.
Because they knew Agusheed's true intention was for their sake, for Frieren's safety.
But if their resolve could be so easily changed—
They wouldn't have embarked on this path with an almost predetermined outcome from the beginning.
So they simply maintained their silence—
Until Frieren, who had been quiet for a long time, walked over and stood before them.
Reaching out to pat the heads of her three teammates who were feeling lost and troubled,
She gave them a 'leave it to me' look.
The magic little elf turned around with hands on her hips, looking directly at her old father.
"Agusheed..."
"You want us to give up voluntarily, isn't it because you're worried about our safety?"
Frieren naturally included herself in the hero party.
To fulfill Flamme's entrustment to her, and also to bring about an era of peace—
The magic little elf who had embarked on this journey for these reasons raised the corners of her mouth.
"If that's the case..."
"Agusheed, why don't you just come help us defeat the Demon King together?"
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Powerstones?
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