"The future Demon King has already obtained unprecedented authority. Both humans and demons have been gathered under him, and they are no longer controlled purely by fear. If I want to stop him again, I won't just be facing the Demon King alone, no matter how I think about it, I can only think of you."
Frieren's expression was serious in a way it had never been before, and her gaze was so focused it was almost unsettling.
Looking away at a time like this would only invite suspicion, but Ash remained unusually calm. He simply looked back at the girl who had stopped working and quietly raised a hand, signaling her to wait a moment, "Frieren, before you question me, can I confirm something with you first?"
"What?"
"You just said you could only think of me, right?"
"What are you trying to say?"
"What I mean is... besides me, do you know any other demons?", Ash paused briefly, his expression turning very serious as he countered, "I mean the kind that are still alive, high-ranking demons you've actually talked to. Of course... my sister and Solitar don't count."
"No."
"Then," He fell silent for a moment, then spread his hands, "Do you have anything else to say?"
"A m-mistake?", Thinking about it carefully, she really couldn't come up with any other demon she knew. Frieren's expression stiffened slightly, then her seriousness collapsed as she waved her hands in a fluster:
"B-but! Normally high-ranking demons wouldn't act in groups, right? And among humans too..."
"Demons hiding among humans has existed for a long time, hasn't it? And cooperation among high-ranking demons isn't rare. More importantly, how many people are around me in total? Humans aside... look at my sister and Solitar. They follow me, sure, but do they look like subordinates?"
"Mm...", Frieren calmed down and thought deeply for a moment, "They feel more like friends?"
"Exactly. We don't have a master-servant relationship. And the relationship between a Demon King and demons..."
"But! Serie said it wasn't controlled purely through fear, right? It should be controlled by something else."
"Do you see any sign of control? We're just friends. Isn't friendship normal among demons? Macht and the Sage of Corruption were friends too. If I were the Demon King you're guessing, the one who saved the Sage of Corruption, then why would I fight Macht? A friend of a friend should also be a friend, right? And the Sage of Corruption would be angry too, wouldn't he?"
Facing the girl who was already starting to waver, Ash responded with clear logic, even turning it around and throwing suspicion back at Serie, "When you get down to it... don't you understand my relationship with Serie? And what kind of personality she has, I don't need to explain, right?"
"She's always like a child, sulking..."
"Exactly. So that was just her trying to smear me. Think about it, Serie personally stepped in to deal with Macht. If I were the new Demon King, someone you'd have to fight, would she just stand by and do nothing?"
After that whole line of reasoning from Ash, Frieren was left completely stunned.
The more she thought about it, the more it felt like nothing he said was wrong. Instead, it seemed like Serie might be the one stirring up trouble.
Even if someone had lived for thousands or tens of thousands of years, doing something like that sounded a bit unbelievable, but based on Frieren's understanding of Serie's personality, stirring up discord... really did seem like something Serie might do.
There was no helping it. She had only met Serie a few times, their personalities didn't get along, and they hadn't interacted deeply. All she knew was that Serie had a bad personality and acted like a child... in any case, they just didn't get along.
With things now seemingly clarified, she looked at Ash cautiously and tested him, "C-could it be... I was tricked?"
"You'd rather believe someone you've only met a few times than someone who's been with you all these years?"
Ash plopped down on a broken wall nearby, looking deeply hurt. As he spoke, he smacked Frieren's thigh, since she had sat down beside him, right within reach, making "smack! smack!" sounds, while shaking his head repeatedly, "Ah... that really hurts. Looks like our bond has faded."
That instantly threw Frieren into a panic. Ignoring the pain in her leg, she hurriedly forced out an awkward smile and apologized repeatedly, "S-sorry! I just... um, how do I say it... well, anyway, it's my fault, okay? Don't be like this!"
"When apologizing, is just saying it enough? Didn't you used to treat me to meals, desserts, and stuff?"
"T-that's for sure! I, um... walnut? Want one?", Frieren rummaged around on herself and once again pulled out that walnut with bits of thread stuck to it, offering it with an embarrassed smile.
"You should keep that for yourself."
"Is that so? Oh right! Once Denken gives the reward this time, I'll treat you! From my own savings!"
"Mm... that sounds good. Let's do that!"
He nodded, somewhat reluctantly agreeing, finally letting go of her thigh. He absentmindedly started patting her head again, unable to stop sighing inwardly.
'She really is slow, isn't she? She got fooled that easily? Or maybe it's because she trusts me? But thinking about it... my conscience suddenly hurts a bit,' Ash rubbed her head while brooding inwardly.
Frieren, who didn't usually like having her head touched, surprisingly didn't resist this time. She just sat there quietly letting him pat her, while... rubbing her sore thigh.
For some reason, even though she had just relaxed, she still felt like something about this situation was off. And right then, she suddenly remembered the question she had thought of earlier while walking back to the cabin after getting hit on the head. She couldn't help but raise her head and ask, "Speaking of which... Fern might be slow and hasn't noticed yet, but I'm different. I already figured it out, Fern's ancestor is from over five hundred years ago, so why is her ancestor your first friend? We met a thousand years ago, didn't we? And I'm only second? Could it be..."
"This..."
"Like I thought... there's only one answer!"
Halfway through speaking, the guilt she had felt earlier quickly vanished.
"Hm? You figured it out?"
'Could it be she actually noticed I have a system?', Ash was genuinely a bit impressed this time, but...
"You... you're definitely looking down on me again, treating me differently, right?"
After frowning briefly, Frieren quickly arrived at her conclusion and, copying him, smacked his thigh with a loud "smack! smack!"
Ash, however, wore a numb expression. After a long silence, he said slowly, "You really are Frieren."
"What?"
"Forget it. Let's work first, we'll talk after we go back," Ash withdrew his hand and was about to get back to work, but Frieren moved in front of him again, insisting, "No, explain it now!"
"You didn't forget you just suspected me, did you? At least feel guilty a little longer."
"That's separate! Treating you to a meal is one thing! That doesn't mean I can ignore this kind of unfair treatment!"
"You're surprisingly petty... no, actually, not surprising at all. You've always held grudges."
Frieren stubbornly argued with him over this strange issue for quite a while. Only after he was forced to admit he was treating them differently, and also agreed to treat her to a meal in return, making it mutual, did the matter finally settle for now.
Perhaps because she still felt a bit guilty, she didn't continue asking why he had allowed the fortress city to be destroyed. Instead, they cheerfully continued their "search and rescue" together.
———
Not long after the conflict that broke out deep into the night ended, the kingdom's soldiers also joined the rescue efforts.
By the time dawn broke, the entire fortress city had been searched thoroughly, and everyone had been found.
Frieren then lifted their golden state, allowing those who had been sealed for half a century to finally see the world again.
However, looking at the ruins before them, everyone was in an uproar, clearly unable to understand what had happened.
After all, for them, it was just a matter of opening and closing their eyes, and the world had completely changed.
What had once been imperial territory was now under the order of foreign soldiers. The city guards hadn't even had time to react before being disarmed and pinned to the ground.
The sudden shift left everyone caught off guard, but the takeover of this place by the kingdom had already become a fixed outcome.
The lord, under the persuasion of his son-in-law Denken, was forced to accept the current situation. After all, with the fortress city itself already gone, whether he accepted it or not made little difference.
But before everyone could sink into despair over losing their homes, Ash put on a mask and changed his appearance again, once more acting as a mage of the kingdom's army. He placed a hand on the ground, sending a surge of magic flowing across the entire ruin.
The scattered debris of buildings and various objects began to restore themselves, as if time were reversing, gradually returning to their original forms.
The entire process lasted less than a minute. The ruined structures were restored to their familiar appearance amid waves of astonished exclamations.
At that moment, Denken, who had already suspected Ash might have intentionally allowed the fortress city to be destroyed, finally understood his purpose.
To establish a positive image of the kingdom. To let everyone know they were saved by the kingdom, and even their homes were restored by it.
With that, the resistance to the kingdom taking over this fortress city would be greatly reduced, perhaps even stabilizing it completely.
After all, they had been abandoned by the empire, yet it was the kingdom that saved them, even restoring their homes destroyed by war.
In that case, it was obvious which side people would support. This frontline fortress city would quickly stabilize as a result.
It was only after realizing all this that when Ash changed his clothes and returned, Denken's expression toward him became strange. He couldn't help but mutter, "You're actually from the kingdom?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I mean..."
"Wait."
Before Denken could finish, his question much like Frieren's earlier, Ash suddenly raised a hand to stop him. When Denken showed confusion, Ash widened his eyes slightly and launched a mental attack through eye contact.
"?"
Caught off guard, Denken's body trembled slightly. His mental defenses collapsed instantly, and he lost consciousness.
Just as he was about to fall, Ash kindly caught him, placing a hand on his head and beginning to erase the memory of seeing him take action the previous night.
After all, Denken was from the empire. What if he reported it? It was better for the empire to know as little about him as possible.
At that moment, an elderly noble with a cigarette in his mouth, the lord of the city and Denken's father-in-law, noticed the situation and hurried over with a puzzled expression, "What happened to Denken? No, wait, you're not..."
"Just a bit dizzy, nothing to worry about. But it seems you've seen me before too, so..."
Ash smiled reassuringly, but the next instant their eyes met, he launched a mental attack on the wary old man.
This time, the elderly man, already leaning on a cane and entirely ordinary, collapsed like a puppet with cut strings. Ash caught him as well, one in each hand, and began erasing the memories of both men.
Before anyone noticed the two had fallen unconscious, Ash had already disappeared, leaving the two old men lying side by side on the ground, causing quite a commotion in the city.
———
Before the two old men woke up, Ash had already pulled Fern and Frieren along, quickly moving through the streets away from the scene. He even took out gold coins from his own pocket, claiming it was money Denken had asked him to pass on.
Although they happily accepted the money, Frieren looked at him like he was suspicious.
But Ash acted like he didn't notice at all and simply kept walking.
Even though the fortress city had just gone through destruction and rebirth, for the people living there, the speed of it all made everything feel like a dream, unreal.
Even when told they had been cut off from the world for half a century, it still didn't feel real to them.
So after returning to their homes, they quickly resumed their previous lives.
After all, no matter what had changed outside, everything seemed almost the same as it had been fifty years ago.
Only the guards on the streets had changed to soldiers of the kingdom. But since they were their saviors, there wasn't much resistance, just a lingering sense of disorientation.
The three of them also casually found a tavern still open and went in for a meal.
The way the two of them kept treating each other, however, left Fern confused, unsure what kind of strange game these adults were playing.
Ash didn't care. After eating, he planned to leave immediately.
Although Frieren and Fern felt they should at least say goodbye to Denken and the others, they couldn't persuade him and were forced to follow.
Along the way, the towns were all under the kingdom's control, making their journey smooth until... they reached a checkpoint controlled by the empire.
With tensions high, entry inspections had become stricter, forcing them to wait outside for the time being.
"Perfect... I remember there's a goddess monument nearby. Let's go take a look."
Even though they couldn't enter the empire yet, Frieren seemed oddly cheerful, full of energy as she walked ahead, leading them toward the monument.
This made Fern, who followed instinctively, look a bit troubled. Still, she walked quickly to Ash's side and asked, "There's actually a goddess monument around here?"
"You know about that too?"
"What are you saying? Of course I do... According to the scriptures, the world was created by the Goddess. Master Heiter also said that in legend, the Goddess infused her magic into stone monuments and left ten identical goddess monuments across the continent," Feeling her knowledge was being questioned, Fern sounded slightly dissatisfied, but then added doubtfully, "But if I remember correctly, no one has ever successfully deciphered those ten monuments, right?"
"You're not wrong. Even I don't know if anyone's ever cracked them. Or rather, even if they have, if it's not the monument casting the magic, it doesn't matter. So when the time comes, just get properly mad, scold Frieren, and drag her away."
"I was planning to," Fern nodded without hesitation.
Their conversation wasn't hidden at all, and Frieren heard every word from ahead, her smile turning a bit strange.
Still, she shook her head vigorously, pushing aside those external factors, and walked deeper into the forest full of anticipation.
.
.
.
In the forest, at the end of an open clearing, the goddess monument stood alone.
But when they arrived, the stone monument carved with ancient text had already collapsed, with less than half of it remaining.
"It's broken," Frieren stared at it for a moment, then crouched down, "But there's still some magic left."
"Even though I'd like to remind you not to trigger any troublesome magic... this level shouldn't be a big deal."
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through P@treon.