Frieren 46

Title: Aura’s Compromise

On the second day after the duel, as evening approached, Aura slowly regained consciousness. She opened her still-drowsy eyes, saw the familiar ceiling, and blinked a few times.

It took her a while to grasp the situation and realize—her defeat.

“Why… did it end like this…”

“Sorry, my magic can indeed counter your army tactics.”

“You cunning jerk…!”

The familiar voice beside her bed made Aura turn her head and glare, her face filled with shame and frustration.

Even though she knew that even if the duel were repeated, she’d still lose, at least cursing Ash made her feel a bit better.

After all, she was genuinely upset.

This was their second duel after 500 years. She had imagined a crushing victory, but the reality was even more crushing… and she was the one utterly defeated.

…Honestly, if she didn’t have to maintain her dignity, this sudden and total defeat made her want to cry.

Though she managed to hold back her tears, Aura still felt deep regret. Unconsciously, she began biting her blanket on the bed while glaring sharply at Ash, as if the torn blanket in her mouth was a substitute for him.

This put some pressure on Ash. He even stepped back slightly, worried she might bite him. Sighing and shaking his head, he said: “Are you a kid who cheats? Don’t you know you have to accept defeat after making a bet?”

“CUNNING JERK—!!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m cunning.” Aura grumbled with the same annoyed tone as before, but Ash just shrugged casually: “Call me whatever you want, but don’t forget what you said.”

“…What do you want?” Though extremely irritated, Aura recognized the gap in their strength and was forced to compromise, just like 500 years ago.

Still, she didn’t forget to warn: “Listen up! If you dare bully me like you used to, I won’t let it slide!”

“What kind of person do you think I am?”

“A cunning jerk.”

“Enough already. Besides, it was a fair duel—where’s the cunning part?” Ash retorted, then smacked her face to stop her from talking: “Now, forget that. Come with me first.”

“…What do you mean, forget that!” Aura swatted his hand away, grumbling, then let out a long sigh and lay on her side: “I haven’t explained properly, but I’ll do it now.”

“What?”

“Though I also want to be the Demon King, there are a lot of troublesome people, not just the Demon King. All-Seer Schlacht and Macht of the Golden Land—they’re all a hassle. Even if we both fight them, we might not win. Do you really think we have a chance?”

“…We can ignore Schlacht for now. Macht himself isn’t interested in things like that.”

“Really? But besides them, there are still plenty of other troublesome people.”

“Let’s ignore those too for now. The point is, we need to make the necessary preparations before that happens.”

There weren’t many demons, but their hidden strength was immense. Great demons would occasionally appear. No one knew how many great demons were hidden in this world.

They were also skilled at hiding, making them hard to find. Even the Demon King might not know where they were.

And asking Aura to control great demons was far more troublesome than controlling human leaders.

“Leave all your followers here, even your undead army. Come with me to the Kingdom.”

“The Empire? Why?”

In this world, there was only one place called the Empire. It wasn’t just the strongest among the northern countries but the strongest in the entire world.

Because the Empire was the successor to the great empire that once ruled most of the world a thousand years ago.

Even in the current demon attacks, they were the toughest enemy on the battlefield.

“…The Empire is a hassle. In fact, if it weren’t for the Empire, we’d have conquered the central continent long ago. Don’t tell me you want me to control the Emperor? No way—if it were that easy, they’d have been defeated ages ago.” Just thinking about the troublesome Empire, Aura already showed an annoyed expression.

But Ash, of course, understood what she meant, even better than his little sister. Sitting at the table in the room, he poured himself a glass of water and said casually: “It’s true—if we barge in carelessly, we’ll be surrounded, and that’d be a real pain… Besides, the Empire inherited many of Flamme’s relics, and they’ve developed over the thousand years since.”

“Flamme? Oh… that human magic ancestor from the book you used to read?”

“…So, besides great demons, the Empire is the biggest hassle.”

Though Ash never planned to directly confront the Empire, he only intended to make preparations first. But just thinking about the Empire gave him a headache.

Though they were merely a surviving fragment of the great empire, besieged by other nations, they were the strongest part, led by the imperial capital. No demon or human could defeat them.

With good intentions, Flamme spread magic to human society, mostly within the Empire. She had hoped it would be a light for humanity… but the reality was a bit different.

Indeed, they were the backbone of resistance against demons, but they weren’t exactly a shining light for humanity.

Because, according to the future Ash knew, after the Demon King’s death and the demons’ chaos, the Empire, having lost its greatest threat, planned to kill those who contributed most to making it the greatest magical civilization and the strongest human nation in the world.

The people they revered—Flamme, her master Serie, and her disciple, Frieren.

Even then, Serie followed Flamme’s will, leaving to teach human magic for over half a century. Frieren too was one of the heroes who helped them eliminate the Demon King, their greatest threat.