Chapter 92: Frieren's Procrastination: The Cloud of Terror
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The usually cold and aloof Frieren's rare confident words greatly reduced Fern's anxiety.
Normally, Ash, who would have been the first to comfort Fern, was unexpectedly quiet at this moment, as if lost in a trance.
But there was nothing he could do... nothing he could say now.
After all, the person they were worried about had been released by none other than Ash himself more than seventy years ago. The defensive magic specifically designed to restrain the corrupt sage Qual had been deciphered by Qual on the very first day he encountered it. It hadn't taken him long to deduce and develop an evolved killing magic as a countermeasure.
When Ash had dealt with Aura's killing magic, Gravity Thunder had been able to break it with a single strike. This was a new magic created by integrating techniques inspired by Qual, specifically designed to restrain killing magic. Naturally, defensive magic of the same frequency, crafted to shield against killing magic, could also be broken just as easily.
In terms of magic development and improvement speed, Qual completely surpassed humans. For Ash, Qual was essentially the cornerstone of a peaceful world in the future. He could never give that up to anyone else. Therefore, Ash could only choose to remain silent at this time.
But it was precisely because of his decision to secretly intercept Qual more than seventy years ago that Frieren's confidence didn't last long.
---
When they arrived at the village, the elderly man chatting with them froze in confusion upon seeing Frieren, the eye-catching elf with silver hair and twin ponytails. Then, his expression shifted into one of astonishment:
"You... could you be Lady Frieren?"
"...Do you know me?"
After eighty years away from home, she was surprised to return to a place where a human still recognized her. This was a rare experience for Frieren, and she couldn't help but show a little surprise.
When the old man confirmed his recognition, he explained with a tinge of awkwardness: "Lord Himmel visited here about thirty years ago, worried about the seal of the corrupt sage Qual."
"…What a conscientious man," Frieren sighed faintly. Her nonchalant reaction seemed to relieve Fern's tension, but he couldn't help but chide her:
"Lord Himmel came here thirty years ago. Compared to him, why did Lady Frieren take so long? If you were confident, why didn't you resolve it quickly? Then no one would have had to worry! Weren't the analysis and countermeasures already prepared fifty years ago?"
"...No, actually, they were almost ready fifty years ago," Ash added at just the right moment. "If you're wondering why it took so long, there's no special reason—it's simply because this elf is lazy."
"Well... I wanted to do it, but thirty years slipped by before I knew it. There's nothing I can do about it now, right?" Frieren admitted with unexpected honesty, her tone vague and ambiguous, as if brushing the matter aside.
After all, she did feel a little guilty about making everyone worry for decades. But... she really was lazy. Even when guilt weighed on her, she naturally delayed things until the very last moment.
Fern, well aware of her procrastination, stared at her ears and sighed helplessly. "Is it really a racial thing? Just like when I forgot to clean the house a week ago—there's still trash in your room from back then, isn't there?"
"No, Fern, you're mistaken," Ash interrupted with a mock-serious tone.
"Huh? Are you saying that was just an accident?"
"No. Actually, if we're talking about cleaning her room or washing her bedding, she can easily put it off for five—or even ten—years."
"…Are all elves this untidy? They lack such a basic sense of time… No, this isn't just a question of time management, right?" Fern was visibly shocked by the unexpected information.
"Of course not," Ash replied. "Most elves don't care if their houses are damaged, but even they wouldn't let their homes get this messy. As for hygiene, that's purely because Frieren is lazy. It's not a racial issue."
"…Lady Frieren? What do you say to that?"
Fern's disbelief made her narrow her eyes as she stared at Frieren. She had no room for rebuttal. Instead, she lowered her head silently, pretending nothing had happened and hoping to get away with it.
This only made Fern's angrier. She puffed up her cheeks, clearly preparing to lecture her.
Fortunately, the old man listening to their conversation with a cane in hand and a straw hat on his back, who had shown a strange awkwardness earlier, finally interrupted:
"Wait a moment… Lady Frieren, are you planning to remove the seal on the corrupted sage Qual and destroy him?"
"That's the plan," Frieren answered quickly, using the opportunity to change the subject. She extended her hand toward Fern as if to show goodwill. "Now that I have outstanding disciples to assist me, there will definitely be no problem!"
"That's really… congratulations..." The old man nodded slightly, though his expression remained uneasy. Frieren, sensing something was amiss, hesitated before asking:
"Um… didn't Lord Himmel say something about this?"
The old man's face turned even more awkward. "Qual had the demons remove the seal and take him away more than seventy years ago… before the Demon King was destroyed."
"—Take him away?!"
The unexpected news froze Frieren's calm and composed demeanor. For a moment, her expression stiffened, and her mouth hung open in disbelief. Finally, she screamed—something Fern had never seen her do before.
---
With an uncontrollable cry of shock, and feeling a chill course through her body, Frieren dashed away and headed straight for the mountain behind the village.
When she arrived, the cliff that was supposed to house the seal was empty. All that remained were faint traces of ruins left from the battle that had once taken place there.
Both Frieren's and Fern's hearts sank.
"Really… there's nothing…" Frieren muttered to herself as she began wiping her eyes repeatedly, as if trying to dispel an illusion. She searched frantically, hoping she had missed something or remembered the location incorrectly.
"Lady Frieren… what should we do now?" Fern asked anxiously, tugging at the hem of her clothes.
"…How strange. This shouldn't be possible! He's truly gone. If someone as reckless and terrifying as Qual had reappeared in human territory, the news would have spread across the entire continent immediately," Frieren muttered, more to herself than to Fern.
For a moment, she didn't even bother trying to comfort her. Instead, she frowned deeply, her mind racing as she tried to identify what had gone wrong.
But before she could pinpoint the issue, another troubling realization dawned on her—one she had overlooked entirely:
"No… this is truly strange! Not only the corrupt sage Qual, but also the bloodthirsty god of war Rivale. I haven't heard of any city or village being breached in the past half-century."
"Huh? But wasn't there that incident in the north, where a big demon conquered a large fortress city by himself?" Fern recalled the most infamous event involving demons after the Demon King's defeat—a battle that had shocked the world and thrown humanity into chaos once more.
"Yes, that's true. That city was protected by sophisticated spells, ancient barriers, and countless magicians and warriors. Only a great demon could have conquered it alone," Frieren replied, lowering her head in thought. "But… that wasn't the work of the battle maniac Rivale. I went to the scene, and the attacker was clearly a magician. A very powerful one."
Frieren fell silent, lost in her thoughts. To this day, she had yet to figure out the identity of the mysterious magician.
Based on the characteristics described, the great demon who conquered the fortress city was not one of the known great demons.
Normally, nameless demons wouldn't act so boldly. They typically chose to study magic in isolation. For one to suddenly conquer an entire fortress city after the Demon King's death seemed abnormal no matter how you looked at it. It felt as if someone was orchestrating events behind the scenes.
"...But the Demon King and the All-Knowing Schlacht are both dead. Who could possibly command these great demons?"
Frieren was utterly perplexed, her head beginning to ache from overthinking. Normally, she would have abandoned such thoughts long ago, but now she couldn't shake the unsettling feeling that an invisible force was pulling the strings behind the scenes. This force was guiding terrifying demons—entities capable of destroying entire cities single-handedly.
If given enough time, even ordinary nations would struggle to withstand these great demons, whose power stood at the very pinnacle of their kind.
Ash, who remained silent during Frieren's speculation, knew full well that the one who had captured the fortress city was likely the frail woman who claimed to be powerless— Solitär .
But despite Solitär's claims of being timid, that wasn't entirely true. Solitär did avoid trouble and preferred a secluded life, but for her to suddenly attack a fortress city must have been part of the instructions left by the omniscient Schlacht before his death. Otherwise, such behavior would be entirely inconsistent with Solitär's usual logic.
After all, Solitär had unwavering faith in Schlacht's predictions of the future. Even if she didn't fully understand the reasons behind them, she would still follow his instructions without question.
This line of reasoning sparked a bold idea in Frieren's mind. She looked at Ash intently and said:
"Although this is just a guess, I suspect there's a very powerful demon among them, someone who's steadily making their way toward the throne. They may be aiming to become the new Demon King. Perhaps some of these demons have already submitted to them, forming the foundation of their growing power."
"No," Ash replied with a sigh, "even if you suddenly propose this idea, it's baseless and sounds alarmist."
"I'm not exaggerating, nor is it groundless!" Frieren asserted confidently. "Think about it: when have demons ever come to rescue someone before? Normally, the demon tribes wouldn't lift a finger to save another. That's why we felt safe leaving a dangerous figure like Qual sealed here."
She paused for emphasis, her silver eyes gleaming with conviction.
"But now, someone did rescue him. That alone suggests something is deeply wrong. Add to that the nameless demon who conquered the fortress city and the disappearance of the bloodthirsty demon Rivale. These powerful figures vanished without a trace and haven't reappeared. It's likely they've been subdued and are now being controlled by someone else. That's the only explanation for why they haven't acted recklessly."
"..." Ash rubbed his temples, his head aching as Frieren's words echoed in his mind. Should I say something now? Or is silence really the best response?
Fern, visibly unsettled by her teacher's speculation, nervously asked, "...Lady Frieren, do you think this means another large-scale war is coming? Like the one more than eighty years ago?"
"No, the situation shouldn't escalate to that extent," Frieren reassured her disciple. "After all, the previous Demon King was incredibly powerful, and humanity is better prepared now. Not only do we have the empire, but we also have the newly rising Kingdom of Ester, the second-largest nation. The circumstances will undoubtedly be better than before."
Though her own heart was filled with unease, Frieren smiled warmly at Fern. She gently touched the young girl's head, her silver hair glimmering under the sunlight.
"Don't worry," she said, her tone full of hope. "We'll be fine."
Although the number of human magicians had significantly declined compared to the war years, and the demons were quietly recuperating, the lack of awareness about the underlying problems deeply unsettled Frieren.
However, the rise of the second-largest country after the war, a nation even bold enough to challenge the empire, gave her an inexplicable sense of reassurance.
...
Faced with Frieren's and Fern worried expressions, Ash found himself at a loss for words. The culprit you're so anxious about, and the new force you're relying on... it's all me!
He chuckled inwardly, Wouldn't it be unexpectedly amusing if they found out in the end? Maybe it's better to keep things this way for now.
Looking at Frieren—her silver hair glimmering as she balanced between relief and concern—Ash, who was both a savior and a devil in disguise, decided to remain silent. The thought of future revelations stirred a mischievous sense of anticipation within him, and he couldn't help but smile. Reaching out, he playfully ruffled the silken silver strands before him.
"…What are you doing?"
Frieren, who was already patting Fern's head herself, glanced up with a strange expression, noting the peculiar cycle of head pats now taking place.
"Don't worry; I'm just acting on impulse," Ash said with a wide grin. Ignoring her confused stare, he slapped her hand away and shifted his attention to Fern's head, gently patting it instead. The difference in texture between the two heads amused him as he mused aloud:
"...Is this what it feels like to have two daughters? Surprisingly nice."
"How many times do I have to tell you not to touch my head?!" Frieren snapped, her voice rising in frustration. "You're so stubborn... you're really starting to make me angry!"
Her earlier distress momentarily forgotten, Frieren glared at him, exasperated. This infuriating man not only ignored her repeated requests to stop patting her head but had now even stolen Fern's exclusive right to do so. Unable to hold back, she raised her leg, ready to kick him in retaliation.
Meanwhile, Fern, who didn't particularly mind being patted by them, couldn't help feeling a little awkward as she observed their strange behavior. She sighed inwardly, overwhelmed by the eccentric antics of her two guardians.
Yet, no matter how peculiar the scene appeared, the playful atmosphere succeeded in dispelling much of the oppressive tension caused by the corrupt sage Qual and the mysterious mastermind looming in the background.