A month's time was both long and short—
Regardless of whether this sudden wonderful journey was good or bad in everyone's hearts,
It inevitably reached its end, welcoming its final conclusion.
After that evening chat between Agusheed and Himmel under the dusk...
In the blink of an eye, another ten-plus days had passed.
Although the joy and excitement filling his heart since then made Himmel full of motivation in training,
The day-and-night, repetitive sword practice had indeed exhausted his energy,
To the point where he hadn't had a single chance to be alone with Frieren these past days.
However, precisely because of this—
Himmel had almost reshaped his concept of time during these days.
He always felt like he had just arrived on the Heaven Vein Dragon's back yesterday.
Of course, this might have been due to having no holidays or rest time for an entire month.
So when Agusheed told him they would reach the Village of Swords tomorrow,
Released him from the Equal Contract, and told him he could move freely on the last day,
Himmel inexplicably felt as if he were in another lifetime.
From morning to afternoon...
Having suddenly interrupted his self-discipline, he felt uncomfortable all over, as if ants were crawling on his body.
Although he had already completely emptied the reward pool in the Equal Contract—
Without the Annihilation Lightning's urging...
Himmel actually became somewhat muddled instead.
Until in the flower garden courtyard—
When Frieren gathered everyone together, then personally took his hand,
Leading everyone toward the farewell dinner and the best spot for watching meteors—
Only then did he break free from his muddled state,
Smiling as he quietly watched Frieren's back, closely following the white-haired elf's steps toward the distance.
—
The sky above the clouds slowly turned to night, and the majestic Heaven Vein Dragon like a mountain range continued moving slowly without pause.
On an inconspicuous edge mountain range in the southern part of its back—
Hidden on the side peak in the deepest part, the white-haired elf and blue-haired hero were first to reach the mountaintop.
"We're here!"
Frieren put her hands on her hips, under slight pride and Himmel's helpless gaze,
She waved and called to the others still making their way here,
Her childlike joyful voice carrying excitement and elation like when exploring in journey labyrinths.
"Heiter! Eisen!—"
"Don't get lost~ It's this way, this way!"
"And Agusheed and the mustached uncle—"
"Hurry up, hurry up!"
The white-haired elf, full of desire to share, bounced up and down with Himmel's support,
Making the others still leisurely strolling below unconsciously smile at each other.
BOOM—
After Frieren's call, two figures formed an arc in the sky,
Then crashed heavily toward Himmel and Frieren's direction—
Eisen, holding Heiter high, slowly emerged from the scattered dust of the crater,
Completely ignoring the alcoholic monk's iron-gray complexion that looked ready to vomit.
"Heiter seems to have been sickened by Eisen again..."
Reaching out to touch Heiter's face that had gradually turned pale white like an undead,
The white-haired elf complained as usual.
"That's his own problem. He said he could use his newly learned Barrier Magic to be immune to the dizziness from high-altitude falls."
Eisen, setting Heiter down on the ground, rarely defended himself.
"Lung fog Heiter."
"Stupid monk."
Learning the whole story, Himmel and Frieren each gave their own evaluations.
Step, step...
The sound of footsteps walking side by side came,
Accompanied by the four turning their heads, the figures of Agusheed and the Hero of the South slowly appeared in their vision.
"The best meteor observation spot... is here?"
The Hero of the South, carrying large and small bags of ingredients and tools with both hands, was somewhat surprised by the scene before his eyes.
—On the flat mountaintop with an open view,
Scattered wildflowers swayed in the night, and a lone but leafy apple tree fluttered in the wind.
This extremely open space, very suitable for picnics, made the Hero of the South rarely exclaim in surprise:
"I never expected there'd be such a place on the Heaven Vein Dragon's back..."
"How did I never discover it back then?"
Completely different from his reaction was Agusheed, who arrived with him.
The strongest Grand Demon seemed to already know about this small base belonging exclusively to the white-haired elf.
So having taken off his black robe today and wearing only a shirt, he said nothing,
After taking the ingredients from the Hero of the South's hands,
Agusheed, the only one present who could cook, observed the others running wildly around the mountaintop, acting crazy and foolish, while processing ingredients.
"Hmph~"
"How's that? The place I chose is pretty good, right?"
"This is what I found during those thirty years of hard training on the Heaven Vein Dragon—"
"When the meteors come later, you'll know how beautiful this place is!"
"Even Flamme and the founding court mages who established the Holy Staff Court praised the scenery visible from here~"
Seeing the white-haired elf getting carried away again,
Agusheed, unable to watch this, casually grabbed her collar,
After pulling her in front of him, assigned her the task of setting up the barbecue grill.
Emmmm...
Obviously, besides being good at eating,
Even something as simple as a grill was completely beyond the white-haired elf's understanding.
"Ugh..."
"Himmel, Heiter, Eisen, do you know how to assemble this?"
"Come help me!!"
"This kind of thing just needs to be done with spirit." (Brainless warrior)
"Well well... not sure..." (Alcoholic monk)
Finally, glancing sideways at the smirking Heiter and Eisen,
The blue-haired hero sighed under Frieren's expectant gaze.
"Leave it to me."
"When I was little at the monastery, passing merchants taught me how to handle this."
Thus, on the small mountaintop under the night sky, this scene appeared—
The blue-haired hero and white-haired elf working hand-in-hand together on the simple grill.
While Agusheed washed ingredients, watching the clingy pair, he couldn't help but press his brow.
As for the other three...
Glancing at his stupid disciple who was arm-wrestling with Eisen using one finger while drinking with the completely drunk alcoholic monk...
Agusheed shook his head and fell into silent contemplation.
"Look, Agusheed..."
A familiar and ethereal whisper echoed long in the strongest Grand Demon's ears.
His wife's hands, mischievously reaching out from behind to embrace his waist, seemed to still linger there.
"You actually love warm atmospheres too, you just never felt comfortable saying so..."
Flamme's teasing smile was right before his eyes.
But Agusheed remained silent.
He just quietly observed everything at this moment—
Under the night sky, alone, quietly caressing the silver ring on his ring finger.
No one knew whether he was observing in a daze,
Or once again immersing himself alone in memories.
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Powerstones?
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