Frieren 19

Title: The Secret to Elves’ Longevity

Compared to Frieren and the other elves in the village, Ash was so active that Frieren began to suspect humans died young because they worked too much.

But now, realizing the issue, Ash… didn’t let her take back her words at all.

Not only did Frieren complain, but Ash also pouted: “It’s just gotten dark, and you’re telling me to rest??”

“…Go find Millie; she’s probably still drinking at night. She’ll have time.”

“No, I refuse!” Ash rejected the idea without thinking. This made Frieren sit up from her bed and glare at him irritably: “Why?! Hasn’t she traveled outside? She should know a lot of magic, right??”

“…Yeah, but for some reason, she’s obsessed with planting wheat, making wheat grow better, and magic that makes wheat sprout quickly after planting. She insists I master those spells first before teaching me anything else, even when I drank her precious wine collection, she wouldn’t budge.”

“That’s because wheat can be used to make wine, so she’s focused… By the way, you’re pretty ruthless.” Frieren wasn’t just surprised; she genuinely admired him: “I remember that was wine from six hundred years ago? I heard she treasured it? And you just drank it.”

“Even so, it still tasted awful.”

“…She didn’t retaliate, and you’re still complaining about the taste? Calm down, at least now I can tell you the secret to our elves’ longevity.”

As she spoke, Frieren lay back down and pulled up her blanket. Turning her back to him, she said casually: “It’s by relaxing. Hurried people like you can’t live for hundreds of years.”

“…Normally, humans can’t live that long anyway, right?” Ash grabbed her blanket and tried to pull it off, but Frieren clutched it tightly, refusing to let go:

“Not necessarily. Humans are always in a rush, that’s why they can’t live to a hundred.”

“What are you talking about? Your attitude just wastes life.”

“How would you know if you don’t try it yourself?” Frieren argued, seemingly hoping Ash would try for a hundred years, making him break out in a cold sweat:

“Isn’t it sad to pay with your entire life?”

“But isn’t it sadder to spend your life without knowing anything?”

“No!”

“What’s wrong with wasting a hundred years?”

“…This is getting way off track. Get up quick; don’t waste your life.”

“And you, shouldn’t you let me go now?”

That night, Ash and Frieren argued while tugging at the blanket. And the result…

◆━⊰✧⊱━◆

The next day, Frieren didn’t wake up until noon. She also didn’t know when she rolled onto the floor with her blanket.

Meanwhile, Ash was using her pillow, sleeping soundly in her bed… though without a blanket.

Millie, finding the village unusually quiet today, came looking. Seeing this scene… her expression turned strange.

But, following the principle of not getting involved, Millie, not wanting to meddle in their messy relationship, casually closed the door as if nothing happened.

Though life was flat, there were slight ripples.

At least for the elves in the village, their originally peaceful life became a bit turbulent because of Ash.

Almost every elf, if they had time, was dragged by him to discuss magic.

Sometimes, Ash would lie under a tree in the village, quietly reading, researching, and practicing the magic books he took from Serie.

After finishing their daily magic practice, Millie and Frieren sat leisurely nearby, observing the “human” who had unknowingly been in the village for two years.

“Millie, look at him. He’s so busy every day; I feel like he won’t live to a hundred.”

“What are you talking about, Frieren? Humans usually just die like that, don’t they?”

“Seeing a human so busy, don’t you, Millie, who’s always idling and daydreaming, feel anything?”

“…Feel what?” Millie, still holding her wine glass, thought for a moment before turning to her friend beside her: “Lately, you’ve been calling me Millie too. Didn’t you always call me Millieald before?”

“Is that so?” The unexpected situation made Frieren show a surprised expression.

But Millie just nodded with a smile, looking at Ash’s figure with an intrigued expression: “A human this interesting… is pretty rare.”

“…Don’t care too much; humans just die like that.”

“That’s true.”

Millie nodded understandingly, no longer paying much attention to Ash. She continued enjoying her wine and chatting with Frieren as usual.

◆━⊰✧⊱━◆

But that night, when everyone was fast asleep, only Ash remained in the stone house, tirelessly continuing his training.

As clouds covered the moonlight, darkness silently enveloped the usually peaceful and quiet elf village… For some reason, the village was eerily silent tonight. Even the sounds of birds and animals vanished, quiet to the point of being unnerving.

Amid the total silence, only the cold light of a candle stood out, accentuating the unusual stillness and deep solitude, sending chills down one’s spine.

…And in this deadly silence, the dense forest at the village’s edge quietly became the stage for a different scene.

The varied moonlight, piercing through the treetops, illuminated a group of mysterious figures in long robes.

Like ghosts in the night, their bodies were tightly wrapped in colorful robes. Their heads were clearly different from humans’, most bearing various horns, exactly like—the demons of legend.