Chapter 29: The Goddess's Time and Space Repatriation
____
Compared to Ash's pursuit of the unknown, Flamme had no interest in exploring the ruins and was equally indifferent to treasure hunting.
In her opinion, the knowledge she gained from Serie far surpassed anything the ruins could offer in a lifetime. Instead of wasting time exploring, she focused on realizing her dream—to teach magic to all of humanity.
In fact, Flamme had resolved that if she couldn't achieve this goal, she wouldn't return to see her mentor, using this promise as a motivator.
This was because, compared to the world five hundred years after Ash was born, humanity now regarded magic as a technology of demons, with public research into it considered taboo.
Before returning to Serie, Flamme had already persuaded the emperor of the empire, which ruled most of the continent, to establish education for court magicians. While she took on this monumental task, Ash and Frieren did not participate, instead staying in the imperial capital as guests and sightseeing. Occasionally, Ash would sit in on lessons to consolidate his foundational knowledge.
Time passed quickly, with several uneventful years slipping by. Even in the imperial capital, there were no dramatic power struggles at the palace—likely because Flamme handled them behind the scenes.
Her status in the empire was incredibly high. Even when Ash, lost and trying to find his way, accidentally climbed over a wall and wandered into the emperor's harem, there were no serious consequences. He was simply forbidden from climbing palace walls again and was required to memorize the palace map.
Other than that incident, Ash and Frieren spent much of their time sparring against one another, and Ash frequently ventured outside the city, searching for suitable opponents for real combat.
On a normal morning, Ash casually pried open Frieren's door…
"—It's morning already. We agreed to go monster hunting together! Frieren, wake up!"
Without mercy, Ash yanked the blanket off her, intent on getting her to fulfill her promise to go hunting outside the city.
However, Frieren expertly turned over, her back now facing him. Without even opening her eyes, she pulled out a fresh blanket from beside her bed and draped it over herself.
Not only was she in no mood to get up, but she also raised a hand weakly, waving it in protest, "I said… in the afternoon… please… let me sleep another five days… five days is all I need…"
"…Is that so? But, Frieren," Ash sat down on the edge of her bed, pulling the blanket off her again as he gently tried to reason with her. "The imperial city is huge, and the monster territory is far away. If we leave at noon, we'll only be back by midnight. It's better to head out now, don't you think?"
"…No… You should just… kill me…"
"…You're so lazy." Watching her pull yet another blanket from the closet and cover herself without even opening her eyes, Ash couldn't help but feel he might've inadvertently enabled some strange new skill of hers.
Seeing how reluctant Frieren was, Ash hesitated for a moment and gave up the idea of carrying her away. He shook his head helplessly and turned to leave: "...Forget it, forget it, I'll go by myself. When you wake up, remember to tell Flamme that I'm leaving."
"Ah... I see... Thank you. Be careful on the road... See you tonight..."
Until the very end, Frieren did not open her eyes. She just muttered weakly, vague words like sleep-talk, then she tightened the quilt around herself and fell asleep again, very content.
Ash helped her close the door, and then prepared to leave alone with some regret, but...
Less than two minutes after leaving Frieren's room, he suddenly sensed something unusual in the corridor.
It was as if... the whole world was rejecting him, and even the space around him began to distort inexplicably.
"Are you trying to throw me out of this time and space? I thought there was no time limit for traveling through time and space, but... is it the origin of the world, or an anti-travel restriction left by the goddess?"
Ash had discussed the idea of time traveling with Serie, so he had some understanding that time travel wasn't impossible in this world.
But that right belonged exclusively to the goddess and was monopolized by her.
However, after the chaos of the mythological era, the goddess seemed to have left the planet and disappeared without a trace.
The only thing left over from that era is the "Goddess's Stele," which still contains the power she sealed inside, and may trigger time travel.
...But to be honest, he didn't really understand what was going on, but this sensation of rejection felt more like being sent back than being destroyed.
In this state, he realized he couldn't stay here much longer, so he drew his sword, intending to leave some information behind.
But just as the blade touched the ground, the surrounding space and time distorted abruptly, causing him to vanish from the corridor in the next instant, without even leaving a scratch.
.....
At noon, Frieren, who loved staying in bed, finally got up and was about to go to lunch when she noticed...
"...Did Ash go out to practice magic again?" She glanced at the empty space next to her but didn't care too much.
Ash often went out to practice magic, and sometimes even ventured outside the capital to fight monsters for real combat experience. Flamme was aware of this, and wasn't too worried, though he muttered to himself in confusion:
"But usually, he tells someone... Why didn't he tell anyone today?"
"Maybe he told someone at random, and that person forgot?" Frieren responded.
"...True."
Flamme nodded vaguely. She didn't know why, but she felt a bit uneasy.
It was at this moment that Frieren suddenly exclaimed "Ah!", remembering that she had heard Ash's voice early in the morning, when she was half-asleep and half-awake. She also remembered that he had taken her quilt away.
But she hadn't been fully awake at the time, so she had completely forgotten about it.
As Flamme watched, she waved her fork in the air and said:
"I remember now, that guy asked me to go monster hunting with him this morning."
"Going monster hunting again?"
"Though he's young, he's not weak. Master, don't worry. He'll be back by himself this evening."
"Well, you're probably right."
After hearing this, Flamme felt a bit more relieved, but for some reason... a lingering feeling of unease still clung to her, refusing to fade.