"Follow me."
Eisen led the way into the forest, and Shichen and the others followed behind him.
"Shichen-sama…" Fern glanced at Shichen. This was the first time she had ever seen him look so serious.
That person… must be someone Shichen-sama respected deeply.
After walking with Eisen for a while, the view suddenly opened up, and the light grew brighter.
Ahead was a large patch of brightness—the exit of the forest.
As they drew closer, they could even smell flowers.
The moment they stepped out of the forest, color flooded their vision—and Fern froze.
In front of them was a garden, overflowing with blossoms. The fragrance was thick in the air, the scene vivid and dreamlike.
"This is…"
"A place Frieren and I used to live," Shichen said, gazing over the sea of flowers with nostalgia in his eyes.
Master really did love flower-growing magic the most.
"The house is still here." Frieren looked toward the small stone cottage on the far side of the garden and smiled faintly.
That place held a lot of memories for her, too.
Even though she was an elf with an endless lifespan—little things like this shouldn't have stayed so clear.
And yet they did, because of him.
Frieren glanced at Shichen, the corners of her mouth lifting. Because of him, every moment of her life had meaning.
"What are you smiling at?" Shichen noticed her look.
"Nothing." Frieren shook her head.
"So you're hiding something from me now, huh?" Shichen reached out and ruffled her hair messily.
"My hairstyle is going to get ruined!"
"It's fine. I'll braid it for you."
"You'll make me lose sleep…"
"Oh, you think so?" Shichen ruffled harder.
Fern watched, amused. In a situation like this, she didn't feel jealous at all.
Eisen, on the other hand, looked uncomfortable. After all these years, their relationship was still just as sweet.
And the moment they met again, he had to watch this tooth-aching display of affection.
"Shichen-nii… can you stop flirting in front of me?"
"Eisen, why are you still single? Can't you get yourself a wife?"
"No interest."
"I'm starting to think you and Heiter had something going on, if you never even got married."
"Shichen-nii, don't say weird stuff."
"Figures. Eisen's not the type you can joke with. Come on—let's go. And don't step on the flowers."
Crossing the garden, they reached the small stone cottage they had lived in.
It hadn't been around long for Shichen and Frieren, but the cottage itself had endured for a thousand years.
And it wasn't damaged at all.
Clearly, someone had been maintaining it regularly.
Shichen looked at Eisen.
"Don't look at me. I haven't touched this place."
"So Master really did still care about me." Shichen smiled.
"Of course." Frieren took his hand, quietly comforting him.
"Shichen-sama? Is there… something between you and Flamme-sama?" Fern sensed something off.
"Yeah. I had a disagreement with Master. She hasn't met me for a thousand years."
"A thousand years…" Fern couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of conflict could last that long.
"I went against what she wanted. It made her furious."
"But even so, not meeting for a thousand years…"
"The main reason is… I kept avoiding her," Shichen admitted.
For Flamme it was a thousand years. For him, it wasn't even a hundred.
"It's been a thousand years. Flamme-sama has to have forgiven you by now, right?"
"Hard to say…" Shichen shook his head, uncertain.
"She definitely has. Hurry up and go inside—see if she left you a message." Fern tried to encourage him, pushing Shichen toward the cottage.
Eisen blinked at their backs.
"Frieren… Fern is…"
"Pretty normal," Frieren replied, unbothered.
"You're not bothered?"
"If you really understood Shichen, you wouldn't be thinking that." Frieren smiled.
"Truly understand him… yeah, we really don't, do we? He lived up to his nickname in the hero party—'the mysterious one.'"
"It's fine. You only need to know the version of him that exists in this world," Frieren said gently.
"…Yeah."
Eisen thought about it and decided she was right. The Shichen-nii he knew was already more than enough.
With that settled, the two of them went inside—only to see Shichen hugging Fern, grinning like an idiot, absurdly excited.
"S-Shichen-sama, please—let go…" With Frieren and Eisen walking in, Fern went bright red with embarrassment.
"Shichen-nii, what are you…?" Eisen looked just as confused.
Weren't they here to find a message?
And he couldn't wait even a second?
"Oh, I'm just happy." Shichen finally released Fern.
"Shichen-sama, honestly… you got carried away." Fern, face still red, fixed her hair.
"Because Master forgave me."
"What did Flamme say?" Frieren stepped forward, asking.
"She told me to go find her—but I can't use any special abilities. I have to do it step by step."
"That does sound like she's forgiven you."
"Yeah. Otherwise she wouldn't have asked to see me."
"But… that basically means the same thing as the journey we're on right now."
"True."
"So we keep going as planned?"
"We never really had a plan," Shichen said.
"Fair."
"Shichen-sama, I still don't understand why Flamme-sama was angry at you."
"It was something simple—I gave her an infinite lifespan."
"Infinite lifespan? But Flamme-sama wasn't an elf—wait! That's not simple at all!" Fern finally realized.
"It is for me."
"Shichen-sama… what are you, exactly?"
"The mysterious one?"
"…"
"So you didn't give Himmel and the others infinite lifespans because Flamme influenced you?" Eisen put it together.
"Yeah. Master told me not to casually decide someone's life journey for them."
"No wonder…"
"Alright—no time to waste. Let's go." Shichen was already itching to set out and reconcile with Flamme.
"Not so fast, Shichen-nii. Stay one night with me first," Eisen said.
"Stay one night?" Shichen stared at him, suspicious.
"…What are you thinking? I mean I want to ask you for a favor," Eisen said flatly.
"Oh. You scared me—I thought you'd finally awakened or something."
"…"
That night, the three of them sat around a campfire, grilling meat.
"This takes me back," Shichen said, staring into the flames with a sudden sigh.
During their journey with Himmel, they'd grilled meat like this all the time.
"Yeah." Eisen nodded.
"Alright. What do you want to ask me?"
"Shichen-nii… I want you to meet my student."
"Student?"
"Yeah. I took on a student once. But he ran away from home," Eisen said.
"Eisen-sama—your student is a boy or a girl?" Fern asked.
"Hm? A boy. Why?"
"Then it's fine." Fern went back to grilling.
"What does that mean?" Eisen looked at Shichen.
"Don't worry about it," Shichen said lightly. "Eisen, do you want me to take your student in?"
"As expected of you, Shichen-nii."
"Can't you teach him yourself?"
"I can't anymore." Eisen stared at his hands, expression grim.
"Can't?"
"I'm scared of him." Eisen's voice was steady, but serious. "I sparred with him before, and he frightened me. I panicked and used too much strength… and ended up hitting him hard enough that he ran away."
"Yep. Sounds like you."
"So, Shichen-nii—he's talented. I want you to take him and guide him," Eisen said, asking earnestly.
"No problem."
~~~
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