Gimme votes. 🫡
-Present-
Flamme has finished musing about the past when she first steps inside this very establishment.
It wasn't anything sort of special, but regardless it would be stuck in her mind for a very long time. Possibly all her life.
"My offer still stands, you know?"
Alexander raised a brow in her direction. "What do you mean- oh…"
Realization flashed in his face and looked at her with a strained smile. "No, no thank you. If you're that horny why don't ask him. Maybe, you know he'll accept."
He pointed at his white haired subordinate, who she knew as Emiya or Archer, as he insisted she call him.
Emiya frowned as he noticed his boss pointing at him. "Accept what exactly..?"
Flamme made one good look at Emiya and thought.
'He's handsome, not to mention he has that rare combination of having a gray colored eyes and a white hair…but that's not all his skin makes him an exotic kind of specimen, perhaps he's the first person I've seen with this kind of mix and there's no doubt he would be popular in my world based in his appearance alone.'
Although she thinks that, there's no doubt that Alexander was more good looking, and she isn't afraid to admit that.
Either way, she wouldn't mind sleeping with Emiya as it's been quite some time somebody scratches her itch.
"He means to say, accept my invitation to have sex." Flamme bluntly stated, she wasn't an inexperienced maiden and surely isn't afraid to say what she wants.
As soon he heard it, his frown turned into disbelief, then stared hard at his boss. "Did you just attempt to pimp me out..?"
Alexander shrugged with a smile. "Who knows?"
Emiya's face twitched and then looked at her and answered. "No, thank you. There's no way I'd become a gigolo, I may have done a lot of atrocities in my life that would make me a literal demon in the eyes of humanity, but I would never swoop so low and become a gigolo to someone!"
"So…are we just going to forget Rin then?"
Emiya looked flushed and she would never have thought this man was capable of being embarrassed like this, he doesn't seem the type to do so.
"Bastard! You know it's different! She's my girlfriend at that time, so it doesn't count!"
"What about Luvia then?
"She wants me as her butler and not because of 'that'!"
Flamme had no idea who they were talking about, unwilling to become a third wheel, she said. "Do you mind me asking who are those people you're talking about?"
Emiya looks like he didn't want to talk about it, but Alexander spilled the beans for her. "Rin is his ex-girlfriend or lover if you have no idea what a girlfriend is, since it's technically a modern term, as for Luvia she's someone who wouldn't mind sleeping with him if given a chance."
"No, she does not want to sleep with me. She just flirts with me to get under Rin's skin." Emiya explained.
"You're in denial, she wants you. There's no way she would go far as flirting with you just to get Rin annoyed, tell me in the perspective of a magus who is apparently a heiress of a thousand years old noble bloodline, flirts with a first generation magus like you, not to mention a 3rd rate magus."
Emiya grimaced at that reply, however Alexander wasn't quite done just yet and continued.
"Unless she's genuinely interested in you, there's no way she would willingly flirt with you just to get under Rin's skin. If I were in her shoes, I wouldn't do something degrading unless I'm genuinely interested in getting closer to someone."
With that logic and fact, there's no way for Emiya to deny. Luviagelita Edelfelt likes him.
Flamme as a woman herself, she is inclined to agree, because there's no way she would try and flirt with a guy that she doesn't find attractive or interesting.
Emiya didn't say anything for a while as if he was trying to process that information, and only after a few minutes, he shook his head and replied. "Interested or not, it doesn't matter, it's been a long time since my death, there's no point thinking about it. Not like I could meet her or anyone from my home world ever again."
Then glared at Alexander. "And besides, how do you even know about it?"
"I have my ways, you know how this shop works. Do I really have to explain?"
Emiya let out a sigh, and just let it be, however as he was about to leave, suddenly Alexander said.
"By the way, you're wrong about one thing, you can still meet them."
Emiya stared hard at Alexander. "What?"
Deciding it's best to clarify things, he said. "What I mean is that you can go back to your original world, meet Rin, your Luvia and everyone you know, and besides it wasn't even that long has passed in your world, after your apparent death, Emiya you can go back home, why do you think I added weekend breaks in your job description? You can also bring Ymir with you if you like, she's clearly attached to you and the option of leaving her here won't do her any good mentally."
Emiya looked shocked at this revelation.
Flamme honestly has no idea what they are talking about and was really lost, as she's missing a lot of context.
"You mean..I can go back there..?"
"That's right, whether you go back or not, it's your decision, but let me warn you though, just don't regret whatever your choice is going to be, as much as I want you to go there and meet them again. It's ultimately up to you." Alex said.
Emiya stood there for a while and said. "I-i clear my mind for a bit…"
He was clearly affected, it was quite obvious to see.
After that he left the counter and went inside the staff room, leaving them both alone.
"I'm pretty sure you have some questions regarding Emiya, but unfortunately I won't answer them unless he allows it. I know that you're curious about it but it's his privacy, and as to why I said those words, it's for his own good, for him to open up the idea of returning." Alexander said as he crossed both of his arms.
Flamme let out a light 'hmm' and said. "So, basically you used my 'offer' to create that kind of topic?"
Alexander smiled. "Maybe."
"I didn't know you were this manipulative." Flamme wasn't a stranger of being manipulative, it certainly comes into territory especially when the enemy is a demon.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He talks about denying it, but words aside his tone is exactly the opposite, then after saying that he continued.
"Since, Emiya is currently indisposed at the moment, which is kinda my fault. If you need anything just call me."
Flamme nodded. "Of course."
Then when she was about to continue looking for a good grimoire to buy, all of the sudden a bell rang indicating that a customer went inside the establishment, normally she wouldn't care but…
Right now it's a special case, as she hadn't met any customers aside from herself, so she wanted to know what sort of other customers this shop welcomes.
And to her surprise, she saw someone she never expected. "Frieren..?"
It was her disciple, but she knew something was different about this one. Not only did she wear different clothing, she also had a party with her.
The same could be said for Frieren who was surprised to see her.
"Master..?"
—
-A few minutes ago-
"Are we really going to enter this place..? It looks really dangerous…" Hieter said with a scared tone.
"Don't be a coward Hieter, it's not like this is the first underground dungeon we've entered." Eisen told the priest of their party.
"I know that! It's just this one gives a different kind of vibes like…"
"That's what you said in the previous underground dungeon we went in."
"I did?"
"You did."
Frieren had enough of this pointless conversation between the dwarf and the priest of their party.
"We're wasting time already, let's go inside."
Himmel agreed with the elven mage of their party. "Frieren's right, let's get going guys."
Then he followed Frieren, Eisen followed him next.
Hieter could only helplessly say. "Wait, don't leave me!"
And went after his party members.
—
They explored the dungeon for a while, but there wasn't anything special about it, just like a typical dungeon that their party usually goes to.
Albeit with less traps and relics.
Or that's what they thought, however as they got deeper to the core of the dungeon. It was clear that the difficulty is getting harder and harder.
Any normal adventure party would already have perished, but they weren't normal, as they are the future party that would later defeat the Demon King.
—
They went to the dungeon inner core after a couple hours, they would have arrived earlier if it wasn't for the fact that Frieren always gets stuck in a mimic.
Truly the bane of her existence, it wasn't like she doesn't know that it's a monster or not, it's just she thinks that chest had an infinite potential and it could be anything inside.
—
As they arrived at the very core of the dungeon, they expected to see treasures and ancient artifacts from long gone era, however what they found was just a single door and nothing more.
"What?! After all those deadly traps and hours of walking through this dungeon, what we all get is just a plain door! This is so unfair!" Hieter complained.
Himmel was also surprised, but unlike Hieter he didn't mind too much, he smiled and said. "But we had fun, that's all it really matters. It's not like we're expecting anything else from this place."
"But still…" Hieter said.
"Hieter, don't. Himmel is right, at the very least we gained a valuable experience of not expecting anything."
Hieter stared at the warrior with deadpan eyes. "Is that supposed to make me feel better..?"
"It's not supposed to."
"..Thank you for that very uninspiring speech you just told me."
"Anytime."
"...It was sarcasm."
"I know."
Frieren ignored the ongoing conversation between their warrior and priest and just stared at the lone door in front of them.
She checked that the door doesn't have any special properties on it, it's even devoid of mana, however her instinct as a mage was telling her that there was more to this door.
Slowly she went closer to the door.
"Frieren..?" Himmel was a bit curious about her actions.
However, she wasn't paying attention at the moment and went ahead to open the door as soon as she did, she was greeted by an unexpected sight.
It was a room filled with different types of items, but mostly unfamiliar to her.
And behind her was her party shocked to see that the door was hiding something they didn't expect.
But the biggest surprise to Frieren personally was seeing a person, someone who should have been long dead thousand years ago, someone she wouldn't forget for as long as she lived.
Her master, the Great Mage Flamme.
"Master..?"
—
A/N: This took so long! But anyway, the past meets the future, would this cause a paradox?
Absolutely!