"Hmph~"
"Super—deli—cious—"
"Worthy of food made with a grill assembled by me—"
Shortly after the grill assembly was completed,
Frieren, having taken the first bite of the delicious food made by her old father, very shamelessly took credit for herself.
Even noticing that everyone's gazes gradually turned helpless, she showed no signs of remorse.
Not only that, she even intensified her behavior,
Beginning to praise her own superior assembly skills while tasting bite after bite,
Completely ignoring her old father's death stare right beside her.
However...
Regarding Frieren's humming that completely ignored his cooking skills,
Agusheed actually didn't mind at all.
He had originally been dragged here by his little daughter to participate in this so-called farewell dinner.
His lack of refusal was only because places without Flamme were all the same to him—
Undoubtedly, this so-called farewell dinner was no exception.
In fact, in Agusheed's eyes,
This was no essentially different from children playing house.
Therefore, he had sufficient tolerance for Frieren's willfulness and mischief tonight.
Withdrawing his gaze from his stupid daughter,
Gently putting the grilled green pepper skewer with Heaven Vein Dragon meat into his mouth,
Sitting together with the others around the campfire lit by Hell Inferno Release Magic,
Otherworldly Cooking God—Agusheed,
After tasting his own cooking, once again looked with disdain upon his fellow demons who didn't understand fine cuisine.
"Ugh... it seems like there are still two hours until the meteors come..."
"Feels so long..."
Having roughly calculated the meteor fall time using Magic That Can Predict Celestial Phenomena, Frieren drooped her head.
Under the helpless yet amused gazes of everyone present except Agusheed,
The white-haired group pet fell into contemplation about the boring time ahead.
"Ah!"
Three minutes later, Frieren, who seemed to have thought of a good idea, raised her finger.
She showed a smile of 'worthy of me to think of such an idea' on her face,
Then faced everyone, spread her arms, and leaned backward—
"Agusheed once had journeys back and forth to Aureole with Flamme, the mustached uncle also once embarked on adventure to subjugate the Demon King, and coincidentally, Himmel, Heiter, Eisen, and I are also currently on a journey..."
As expected, caught by Himmel's outstretched hand,
Frieren, who didn't completely fall onto the flat grassland, maintained her leaning posture while looking up at the sky.
"Since that's the case, let's tell each other stories from our travels?"
"We don't have anything else to do right now anyway—"
Telling stories...
Regarding the white-haired elf's sudden whimsical proposal—
Himmel helplessly supported his face.
Heiter showed an 'as expected' expression, then sighed lightly.
As for Eisen, he stroked his beard as always and continued remaining silent.
Although their reactions were like this—
Undoubtedly, none of them refused Frieren's proposal.
Seeing that the four juniors before him didn't object to this decision,
The Hero of the South, who was biting down on half a grilled fish, looked toward Agusheed beside him.
Hmm... as expected—
He was still the same, not caring about or stopping whatever happened.
"Hehe..."
The Hero of the South, who had once swept through the Demon King's army in the Northern Plateau in just one year, showed a light smile.
"Nobody refuses or objects..."
"That proves everyone agrees with Frieren's decision, right?"
Draining his cup of wine, the Hero of the South surveyed everyone present.
Agusheed, Himmel, Frieren, Heiter, Eisen—
When he saw the last person, the Hero of the South stroked his chin with interest.
"Since that's the case, who should start?"
Without paying attention to others' gazes,
Immediately after saying this, the Hero of the South looked toward the silent Agusheed.
—
"Teacher, would you like to tell us about your legendary adventures with the great mage Flamme from days past?"
Hearing his stupid disciple inexplicably directing the topic toward him,
Agusheed only responded with a calm sideways glance.
—'Are you trying to tell me what to do'?
Agusheed didn't dislike discussing his past with Flamme to others...
But that was limited to one-on-one situations.
The strongest Grand Demon, who disliked all lively scenes, loosened the buttons on his collar,
Expressing that while he didn't oppose their proposal, he had no interest in it either.
Frieren was naturally unsatisfied with such a response—
It's just that her pitiful pleading eyes were still ignored by Agusheed.
So naturally...
That phrase they were getting tired of hearing, 'I hate Agusheed the most,' once again thickened everyone's ear calluses by another layer.
"Hmph~"
"Even if you don't tell, I know some things. It's the same if I tell them—"
The stubborn Frieren rarely stood up to her old father,
But in no time, she was stared back into a wilted state by Agusheed's single glance.
"If you won't tell, you won't tell. Why be so fierce..."
The white-haired elf drooped her ears pitifully under everyone's gaze.
But after thinking for a moment, she looked up directly at Agusheed again.
"Can't tell stories about when you and Flamme were together—"
"Then it should be fine if I just tell stories about you alone during the early period of the thousand-year human-demon war, right?"
Frieren, bursting with desire to share and extremely eager to show off, persisted stubbornly.
Perhaps having his ears worn down by her,
This time, Agusheed surprisingly didn't show stopping eyes.
He just silently closed his eyes and lowered his head,
Out of sight, out of mind, no longer paying attention to his daughter who was initially cute but became annoying over time.
The early period of the thousand-year human-demon war...
The Hero of the South and the three from Himmel's group simultaneously showed interested looks at Frieren's words.
For short-lived humans, stories from nine hundred years ago were naturally attractive enough,
Not to mention these were stories about Agusheed—
So undoubtedly, attracted by "Stories About Agusheed During the Early Period of the Thousand-Year Human-Demon War,"
Almost everyone simultaneously stopped their actions, focusing their gazes on Frieren.
Hmph hmph~
Receiving everyone's attention, Frieren raised her chin, once again putting her hands on her hips without being able to handle praise.
"Ahem—"
After confirming that Agusheed had no intention of spanking her,
Frieren very solemnly cleared her throat and began revealing her old father's past.
"Although now Agusheed always says he won't interfere in the war between humans and demons..."
"But at the very beginning of the thousand-year human-demon war, when the Unified Empire hadn't yet split—"
"It was precisely because of Agusheed's help..."
"That the Empire could avoid collapse under the Demon King's army's full offensive."
"Do you know about the historically recorded Great Counteroffensive of Lanmalot and the Eiseberg Total Defense Line Battle?"
"These two battles that reversed the early situation of the human-demon war could succeed thanks to Agusheed—"
"He not only provided specific training to the court mages against all Grand Demons' magic that appeared on the battlefield..."
"But also used his own magic to temporarily restore the first generation of seventeen court mages to their peak, allowing the Empire to maintain its precarious battle lines."
"You don't know how respected Agusheed was in the Empire at that time—Even the Holy Staff Court, the court mages, and that young emperor privately called him the Arcane King."
"Right, right... and also..."
"Last time when we passed through the Central Lands, wasn't Heiter curious about the answer to that research topic they've been studying all these years?"
"That one..."
"—On the reasons why during the fifty-year decline period of the Unified Empire after the Demon King's army's first offensive in the early thousand-year human-demon war, there were no large-scale demon attacks?"
"That was also because of Agusheed—"
Frieren slowly stood up while narrating,
As if immersing herself, substituting herself for the Agusheed she had witnessed with her own eyes at that time.
She extended her hand, pretending to assume a calm yet serious posture,
Just like that time on the border of the Falbe region—
As if she were the one who faced nine Grand Demons and tens of thousands of the Demon King's army alone without the slightest ripple.
—
'I guard this place. No one is allowed to pass.'
The twelfth year of the thousand-year human-demon war, the Falbe region of the Unified Empire—
Under the frozen smiles of nine Grand Demons...
Standing on the border, Agusheed gave his former colleagues that unquestionable decision and response with indifference and calm.
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Powerstones?
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