Frieren 15

Title: Serie Refuses to Be Taken Advantage Of

Serie’s curse-like whisper made Ash glance at her reddened hands, then he quietly averted his gaze. Pretending nothing happened, he changed the subject:

“…By the way, is the frozen roasted lamb leg still tasty?”

“I’ve never tried it, so I don’t know. But I do know if you don’t give me an explanation today, you won’t get away.” Having lived for thousands of years, Serie smiled, with no intention of dropping the topic, forcing him to give in: “Fine… Honestly, I thought it was hot.”

“You think I’m not afraid of heat?!”

“I heard old people’s hands are calloused, so they don’t fear pain.”

“Oh, how convenient… I also heard demons have thick skin, so they’re not afraid of being hit.” Serie’s face showed her brightest smile yet:

“Let’s change today’s lesson to magic attack and defense. How about I attack, and you run?”

“I refuse!”

“Give me a reason.”

“Because you’ll definitely take personal revenge!” Ash pointed at Serie while backing away, trying to stop her vengeance with logic: “Think about it! Serie, your kind-hearted disciple worked so hard to cook for you—shouldn’t you be touched right now??”

“Kind-hearted? Haha! Haha! You’re hilarious! I don’t know how you can say that without shame, but I’m truly touched now. As a reward for guessing correctly, I’ll give you…” Serie’s hands began to glow with dark flames, and she grinned, “Hellfire!”

*BOOM!*

The temporary barbecue setup outside the ruins was instantly engulfed in flames.

Ash fled without a trace amid the chaos, but Serie, still holding a grudge, unleashed a barrage of attacks.

In an instant, the surrounding forest was completely destroyed.

◆━⊰✧⊱━◆

Six months passed quickly.

After eating food reluctantly prepared by Serie, Ash planned to visit the elf village in a neighboring country that Serie had mentioned, to see if there were other great elves in this era.

“Serie, I’m going on a long trip. So, no need to prepare my meals.”

“…Am I your mother? Back then, I already wanted to kick out a freeloader like you who just eats and drinks without doing anything! Instead…” Serie, sitting on her throne, initially looked displeased, then turned gleeful: “After you leave, don’t come back!”

“Don’t be like that. A teacher once is a mother for life. In my heart, you’re—oww?!”

Before Ash could finish, a strong gust of wind cut him off and blew him out of the hall.

He used magic to reduce his weight. Though he tumbled and his face was covered in dust, he wasn’t injured.

Standing casually, Ash brushed the dust off his clothes and complained, “I’ve been studying diligently, haven’t I? Getting kicked out like this—isn’t that a bit too much?”

However… Serie in the hall ignored him completely. Feeling humiliated, Ash grabbed a large bag of Serie’s ancient magic books and left the place nonchalantly.

◆━⊰✧⊱━◆

On the way to the elf village, before finding any elves, Ash encountered someone who inexplicably seemed familiar.

But… after thinking it over, he felt he shouldn’t have any acquaintances from five hundred years ago. Or even five hundred years later.

The person had orange hair covering half her face and looked like a woman in her thirties. After a moment of hesitation, Ash realized he’d read a lot about her in his research, because… she was the woman who, in the future, would become the ancestor of human magic—Flamme.

And now…

“You…” Flamme stared at him, as if sensing something unusual: “Why do you keep looking at me?”

“Ah~ uh… you’re Flamme, right? I’ve heard about you.”

“Heard about me?” Flamme, always discreet, frowned and grew wary, even secretly preparing magic.

After all, this chaotic world was full of dangers. Even the strongest mage could be killed by a dagger from behind if not careful.

“Don’t misunderstand, I heard about you from Serie.”

“…Teacher?”

“Honestly, I’m your junior.”

“Junior? Teacher took a new disciple?”

“Strange?”

“Very strange.” Flamme nodded without thinking, eyeing him suspiciously: “With Teacher’s personality… she wouldn’t take a disciple so easily. What did she see in you?”

“Maybe my honesty and diligence?”

“…Though it’s not my place to say, Teacher isn’t the type to take disciples just for honesty and diligence.”

“And her temper’s pretty rough too. She even kicked me out. Ah, I wish she’d understand the importance of respecting elders and caring for the young.”

“…”

Flamme didn’t speak. She kept observing him silently.

From the outside, Ash didn’t seem suspicious, but his aura gave her an odd feeling.

What made her most wary was that Ash’s aura clearly felt like—he had killed many people.

Could it be because Flamme had never met someone who’d killed so much, so his aura felt strange? Honestly, she couldn’t be sure now.

Out of caution, she said nothing more. She silently walked past Ash, intending to confirm this with Serie when she returned.

In his spot, Ash watched Flamme disappear into the distance, then the smile on his face faded, and he let out a sigh of relief:

“…Serie’s method for hiding aura was really useful. If I’d met this person earlier, I’d have been found out, right?”

Though they didn’t fight, Ash could sense from her aura that Flamme was the strongest human he’d ever seen… though she seemed to be hiding her aura too.

Since she was gone, Ash didn’t dwell on it. He cheerfully headed toward the village marked on Serie’s map.

Not long after leaving the ruins, he began to suspect that the map Serie gave him… pointing to the elf village’s location, might have been her way of getting rid of him? To avoid him freeloading?