Lernen was Denken's friend, and one of the strongest human mages. After all, he had fought Frieren once before. If it really came down to a life-and-death battle between him and Frieren, it was hard to say who would win, so it wasn't strange that he could stall for time.
Even if escaping might be somewhat difficult, it wasn't particularly surprising.
But they also knew the second-class mage, Edel, because she had taken part in the previous first-class mage exam.
When it came to mental magic, Edel surpassed any first-class mage in the Continental Magic Association. However, there was a problem here... that is, all mages construct mental defenses. Just like Frieren and Ash both do.
Macht, who had defeated Frieren six hundred years ago and developed the spell that turns all things into gold, was already a Great Demon back then.
So he had lived for at least a thousand years. A Great Demon of that level couldn't possibly lack mental defenses. After all, even demons have to deal with attacks targeting the mind.
So just from a brief moment of contact, having his defenses broken and his memories read was simply absurd. In battle, even a short mental intrusion that causes hesitation could lead to a life-or-death crisis. That's why the stronger a mage is, the stronger their defenses become. Not to mention something like having those defenses completely broken and their memories read.
But setting that aside for now, it could barely be explained as Edel's mental magic having reached an inhuman level. Even though, given her age, that should be impossible.
What was even more bizarre was that although Edel's mental magic was strong, she herself had almost no combat ability and only knew mental-type spells.
Someone like that, after making zero-distance contact with Macht and stealing his memories, still managing to escape, felt completely detached from reality.
Macht's strength as a mage didn't need explaining. As a warrior, he could instantly kill one first-class mage and four second-class mages, severely injure the last second-class mage, and even plant a delayed gold transformation without the opponent noticing.
Even if he underestimated someone, it shouldn't be to that extent.
Yet he let someone like Edel, who couldn't even tie up a chicken, successfully read his memories and escape without a scratch. It was almost as ridiculous as an ordinary passerby with no martial skill or magic just walking up and casually slashing down Serie.
As listeners, both Ash and Frieren couldn't help but suspect Denken was joking with them, and not even a logical joke, more like a completely nonsensical deadpan one.
And if he was being serious, then he was clearly trying to grind their brains into the ground.
From a practical standpoint, neither Ash nor Frieren believed Denken's absurd nonsense at all.
Unless he could produce evidence. And, Denken actually did.
With a brief reach and touch, Denken opened his mind. Ash, who had recently been studying the grimoire Edel gave him and had some grasp of mental magic, and Frieren, who already knew some mental magic, both copied from Denken the past hundred years of memories that Edel had stolen from Macht.
This meant Denken directly slapped them both in the face with facts.
But even after copying them over, interpreting them wasn't simple. After all, a hundred years of memories were far too vast.
For deep, targeted analysis, especially the parts involving magic, Frieren would need about two months, Denken would need three years, and Ash...
"About a week?", Ash thought for a moment and gave a somewhat uncertain answer.
That outrageous statement made Denken blurt out, "Are you even human?"
"Well, who knows," He just smiled and didn't answer.
For humans, a demon's memories were hard to interpret, but for him, what was there that was hard to understand? He himself was a demon.
However, reverse-analyzing the magic was a different matter entirely.
At most, during the process, he could figure out Macht's behavioral patterns, magical effects, and some flaws.
Trying to reverse-engineer a counter-spell would take much longer.
Learning "Diagoldze" was definitely not that simple either. Otherwise, there would be no point in transfer magic. Reading memories only meant seeing it, like reading the corresponding grimoire.
Transfer magic was the real thing. It cut out and transferred the user's experience, along with all aspects of casting ability. Once transferred, the original user would have to relearn it to use it again.
But Frieren was different, in the past, she had spent a hundred years gradually undoing the gold transformation on her right hand.
After that, she had carried out a very long period of research. She already had several hundred years of groundwork in analyzing "Diagoldze," yet she still couldn't fully apply it to other objects.
But after obtaining Macht's memories, being able to continuously analyze how he used the magic, its methods, and its structure, she could probably get results in about two months.
"If it were the original version, it might be impossible to break. But fifty years ago, Serie used curse reflection to bounce the gold transformation back, causing his spell to waver. That created a flaw in what used to be flawless 'Diagoldze.' As long as we find that flaw, there's hope."
Frieren, who understood "Diagoldze" more deeply than anyone else in the world, stroked the hair of the kneeling woman beside her while skimming through the memories. Surprisingly quickly, she grasped what had changed in this magic compared to before.
If the old version was a perfect hundred, then the current one was ninety-nine. Just one point away from perfection, yet that "one" was a fatal defect.
Without these memories, it would still be impossible to undo such a high-level spell. But now, it was like an open-book exam.
The principles had been laid out for her, allowing her to use them to find the corresponding solution.
Although limited by her race, Frieren couldn't use it herself, but undoing the "rope" of the curse and restoring things was no longer impossible.
———
After hearing Frieren's explanation and confirming she truly had confidence, Ash placed his hands on her shoulders, signaling her not to speak, then looked straight at Denken and asked, "Even if we don't mind helping you, what can you offer as payment? Before, I only agreed out of goodwill to go to your hometown with you once. But we've already gone there. Even if this curse can be broken, Macht himself is still extremely powerful. The risk of fighting him is too high. You're not planning to treat us as free cannon fodder, are you?"
"Of course not," Denken nodded and thought for a moment before saying, "How about everything I have?"
"Come on... what would I even do with everything you have? Ever since you joined the Magic Association, your status in the Empire isn't what it used to be, right?"
"Then... curse reflection magic," Denken thought briefly, then brought out his most valuable bargaining chip.
"Explain."
"Actually, after I obtained curse reflection magic, I kept asking Serie for help for quite a while. During this time, I've also been learning transfer magic. Before Frieren finishes her analysis, I should be able to master it."
Denken frankly stated the timing and terms he had already planned. And when Frieren looked like she wanted to say something, he added proactively, "Additionally, I heard Frieren, you've run out of savings, so I'll add 20 gold coins and a grimoire as a personal commission."
""Deal!""
Ash and Frieren exchanged a glance. Almost at the same time, they reached out their hands. After a moment's hesitation, Denken grasped both of them.
Holding two people's hands at once felt a bit strange, but Denken let out a solid sigh of relief. With these two, what once seemed impossible was no longer so.
But just as he relaxed, Ash suddenly said, "By the way, I almost forgot... regarding Macht's memories, please allow me to modify a small portion."
"What? Wait... why?"
"Don't worry about it. It's nothing important."
He didn't explain, just gave a vague smile. After repeatedly assuring he wouldn't delete anything recklessly, Denken reluctantly nodded.
There was no choice. The memories of him coming here before with Aura and the others, and being seen by Macht, had to be erased before Denken read that part.
———
After the three reached an agreement, Fern, who had been tidying the room and laying out bedding, finally learned about their plan.
Even though it was extremely dangerous, after hearing Ash describe Denken's performance in the Golden Land, and both Ash and Frieren's strong desire to free the fortress city Weise from gold and save those who had been turned to gold over the years all of that left Fern unable to say anything to stop them. Only...
"Lady Frieren has been led astray too. She could've just said she wanted the grimoire directly, but now she's learned to come up with high-sounding excuses like Lord Ash."
After hearing their reasoning, Fern folded the bedding while staring at Ash with clear dissatisfaction, as if she was about to start lecturing him.
But Frieren, who was completely immersed in analysis, looked half-asleep and unsteady, barely able to stand on her own. Fern hurried over and helped her onto the bedding she had just laid out.
However... her gaze never left Ash. Before he could come up with an excuse, she spoke first, "Lord Ash, you should pay more attention to your words and actions."
"What are you even saying, I've always been pretty careful."
"No, you're always very casual. If you were alone, that would be one thing, but I hope you understand that this behavior is very bad for Lady Frieren's education. At the very least, be more proper in front of her."
"Alright, you have a point. I'll reflect on it."
Although he wanted to argue that he was always upright, reason told him it was pointless. He simply waved it off and, as usual, readily admitted fault.
Frieren, hearing their conversation, looked annoyed, "Seriously... what kind of person do you think I am?"
"Stop talking and focus on your analysis," Without hesitation, he placed his hand on her forehead and brushed downward, closing her eyes.
"I'm just sleepy, not dying. Why are you closing my eyes!", Frieren weakly bit down on his hand.
Fern, who had already started organizing luggage, didn't even turn around as she sighed, "Lord Ash, please don't take advantage of this to bully Lady Frieren. I'll get angry."
"Wait, she's biting my hand, you know? Aren't you going to say something about that?"
"That's because you bullied her first. And Lady Frieren too, let go already! Lord Ash is always touching things everywhere, you know that."
Fern only glanced back once, then, like a mother seeing a child chewing on something random, quickly stepped forward, pinched Frieren's mouth open, and pulled Ash's hand free, while scolding Frieren as well.
Unfortunately for Ash, her reasoning left him no room to gloat.
He even unconsciously used magic to create water and went to the window to wash his hand, which had been touching things all over the Golden Land.
Denken, who had already finished cooking downstairs, heard their conversation as he climbed the stairs, but silently turned around and left again.
"Youth, huh...", With a quiet sigh, he returned downstairs to study transfer magic, striving to give Ash the upper hand in the coming conflict.
———
In the blink of an eye, a month passed. Ash, who had long finished his analysis, began studying and learning the magic of "Diagoldze."
During this time, the Kingdom army that had occupied Kessman City to the west had already sent an advance force and set up camp near the fortress city Weise. It seemed they intended to use sheer numbers to wear Macht down.
However, that was meaningless.
According to the memories they obtained, over fifty years ago, Macht had proactively suggested eliminating the strongest forces of the magical special unit sent to Weise. He had even proposed letting the fortress city declare independence from the Empire, confidently claiming he could wipe out all invading Imperial forces.
That wasn't empty boasting, as long as he wasn't simultaneously analyzing defensive barriers while dealing with harassment, Macht's combat power was enough to defeat one of the strongest members of the magical special unit back then. Protecting an independent fortress city while fighting an entire empire alone was not a problem.
So using numbers would only waste lives. Naturally, Ash wouldn't adopt such a strategy. And just like that, two months passed.
As promised, Denken mastered transfer magic and handed over curse reflection magic to him. As for Frieren, as usual, being taken care of by Fern, Frieren suddenly opened her eyes one night after constantly feeling drowsy during this period.
While Ash stood outside the wooden house, staring blankly at the Golden Land in the distance, she suddenly appeared behind him and calmly said, "It's done."
"Both the analysis and the countermeasure?"
"That's right. When do we act?"
"I'll go talk to Macht first."
"Even if you have curse reflection, it's still very dangerous."
"It's fine. I have a companion who won't provoke Macht and has sufficient combat strength."
He raised his gaze toward a girl standing quietly by the roadside in the distance.
Frieren followed his gaze, and her pupils shrank slightly.
That small frame, long flowing hair, the small horns on her forehead, her delicate appearance... she had never heard of such a being.
Yet from her, Frieren could sense magic power nearly equal to her own, making her take an involuntary breath.
"How many unknown Great Demons are there in this world? Don't tell me this is another one of your little sisters?"
"Want an introduction?", Ash calmly turned back and, without waiting for a reply, said, "She's Solitar. You could say she's..."
"Someone like a fiancee."
Before he could finish, Solitar herself stepped forward, wearing an innocent smile as she added.
Those words made Frieren blink in confusion. After a moment of silence, she repeated it as if doubting her ears, "You said... fiancee?"
"Yes, fiancee."
"Wait, hold on? I've never heard of demons having fiancees. Who even arranges the engagement? Demons don't have the concept of parents, right? Then how could there be a fiancee?"
This time Frieren was completely thrown off. Her gaze darted back and forth between the two, her expression unusually vivid, even her speech speeding up noticeably.
If he weren't directly involved, Ash would definitely want to observe her more closely, maybe even take a picture.
But unfortunately... he was involved.
In this situation, he could only cover his face and sigh, about to explain, but—
"While it's true demons don't have the concept of parents, we still need to reproduce. I just happen to be of the right age, and Ash happens to be the perfect partner. We share the same ideals and the same hobbies. As long as we deepen our understanding a bit more, we can conceive the crystallization of our love and raise children just like humans."
With a gentle smile on her lips, Solitar nodded without hesitation.
"Yes~ raising children together. I believe they'll definitely be wonderful kids~"
"Hah, huh?"
[T/N: I have started a new fanfic guys: "Demon Slayer: This Time, I Won't Follow the Plot". Enjoy it and leave a review. Thank you~]
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