In the morning, when Fern woke up, she found Frieren staring straight at her—eyes full of grievance.
"Frieren-sama?"
"I'm hungry…" Frieren pouted, cheeks puffed out.
"Huh?" Fern froze for a second.
"I'm hungry!" Frieren shouted louder.
"So you're hungry… I'll go make break— hiss—" Fern had barely started to get up before she sucked in a sharp breath.
She frowned and looked down at herself—moving around felt… kind of inconvenient.
Shichen-sama had gotten a little too excited last night.
But the moment Fern recalled what happened, her heart practically bloomed into fireworks.
"Fern, aren't you the one in pain? Why are you smiling?" Frieren's voice was icy.
"Huh? Was I?" Fern immediately fixed her expression.
"Whatever. Just have Shichen heal you first." Frieren sighed.
"Shichen-sama can do that too?"
"He can do a lot."
"Hm?"
"Shichen! Wake up! Heal Fern already! I want breakfast!"
Frieren didn't say anything else. She stood up, walked over to Shichen—and planted one foot right on his face.
"..."
Shichen didn't even need to open his eyes to know what that feeling was.
But… small and delicate—being stepped on actually felt kind of nice?
"Get up! How long are you going to sleep?!" Frieren kept stepping on his face.
"I haven't even slept that long." Shichen opened his eyes with a helpless look and grabbed her little foot to stop her.
Up close—plump and smooth, pale and almost translucent. It was… appetizing.
"It's not like I caused it." Frieren glanced at Fern.
"Um…" Fern lowered her head, embarrassed.
Yeah. She absolutely had caused it.
"Isn't Fern really tempting?" Frieren continued.
"Cough—what are you even saying?"
"Isn't it true? You were excited all night. Fern just went through it for the first time—wasn't that a bit much?"
"I couldn't help it…"
"So you couldn't help it?!" Frieren tried to step on him again with more force.
Shichen held her ankle tight. "Don't push it. I've never had someone step on my face before."
"Well, now you have." Frieren struggled.
"I'm warning you—don't make me."
"Make you? What can you even do?"
"I can do anything."
"Hmph. I don't believe you."
"You said it."
Shichen opened his mouth and—without hesitation—put Frieren's foot in his mouth.
Frieren froze, completely stunned, eyes wide with disbelief.
Fern was also dumbstruck on the side. Shichen-sama… had that kind of hobby?
Then what was this—was she supposed to "replace" Frieren-sama?
"What—what are you doing?!" Frieren demanded, aghast.
Shichen licked once. "Didn't I say it? I can do anything."
"You're disgusting!" Frieren yanked her foot back and scrambled away, face full of disgust.
"Don't you ever kiss me again!"
"What? I can't pretend I didn't hear that." Shichen immediately sat up, grabbed her ankle again, and pulled her right back.
"What are you doing?" Frieren looked genuinely scared now.
"Obviously—"
Shichen pinned her down and kissed her.
"You're insane!"
"You seriously think you can look down on yourself?"
"Obviously!!"
"You're literally a pure body. You're not dirty at all."
"Seriously, I'm already giving you reassurance!"
"You pervert! Let go!"
"Nope. I'm going to make sure you stop being disgusted." Shichen acted like he was about to keep kissing her.
"Don't!" Frieren struggled, covering her face with both hands.
"Won't work. Heh heh heh." Shichen pried her hands away and kissed her again—
and this time it turned into a deep kiss.
Frieren went from resisting to giving up in two and a half seconds.
Not because she'd accepted it—because Shichen's technique was just that good.
When they finally separated, Frieren looked completely wrecked.
How was this any different from her licking her own foot?
"S-Shichen-sama…" Fern stared, utterly shaken.
"Fern, want a taste too?"
"No! And Shichen-sama, you're not allowed to kiss me either."
"Why not?"
"Unless you've brushed your teeth."
"Heh." Shichen laughed.
"Can you heal Fern already? I still want breakfast." Frieren snapped back to herself and urged him.
"Right." Shichen raised his hand toward Fern, and healing light bloomed.
Green, life-filled light wrapped around Fern. The pain eased, then vanished completely.
Fern didn't need any "touching the wound for fun" kind of treatment. Honestly, she was pretty proactive—she had a bit of a naughty streak.
Shichen had fully discovered that last night.
"It's really gone!"
"Easy."
"Shichen-sama… did you practice on Frieren-sama?" Fern asked innocently.
"I hate to tell you this, but I still haven't." Frieren answered flatly.
"Huh?" Fern blinked.
"What?"
"Frieren-sama… are you saying… I was first?" Fern's eyes sparkled with unmistakable delight.
"You look pretty happy." Frieren narrowed her eyes at her.
"I'm not. I'll go make breakfast for you." Fern smoothed her expression and tried to get up.
"Wait." Shichen stopped her.
"What is it, Shichen-sama?"
"Let me make breakfast. You rest for a bit."
"Huh? Shichen-sama is cooking? But… I'm fine now."
"Whether you're fine or not, you're resting." Shichen pressed a hand to Fern's shoulder, then got off the bed and left.
"Shichen-sama…" Fern watched his back, feeling oddly happy.
"Feeling pretty good, aren't you?" Frieren teased.
"No." Fern shook her head.
"That's his usual routine—same old trick. You're the only one who falls for it."
"Frieren-sama fell for it a long time ago, didn't you?"
"..." Frieren's face went blank. "I don't fall for that."
"Because you never got the chance?"
"Fern, have you changed? You're getting less and less respectful."
"Not at all." Fern replied with a perfectly calm face.
"Sigh…"
Fern really had changed. She'd stopped treating Frieren with reverence and started treating her like a peer—or even like a child.
Which, honestly, was how Frieren should be treated.
Fern was still strict, though. Sometimes she'd force Frieren to go to bed early—if Frieren refused, Fern would basically make her sleep.
Because once Frieren was asleep… Fern could do "adult things" with Shichen.
She was kind of addicted.
And because of that, Fern grew more radiant by the day—young as she was, she'd already started to carry a vivid, alluring charm.
Frieren watched Fern's changes, and felt even worse.
Did you only really grow up after experiencing that kind of thing?
Should she… try it too?
Maybe she'd get taller.
Frieren's thoughts didn't get fulfilled yet. They arrived at the Central United Nations—Eisen's student was here.
"Shichen-sama, where do we find that guy?"
"Just ask around."
"Just ask around? Is he famous?"
"We'll see. If Eisen praised him that highly, he might already be well-known here."
"Then I'll go ask."
Fern came back in less than a few minutes.
"Shichen-sama… you were right. He really is pretty famous here. They call him the hero who scared off the Mirror Dragon."
"Mirror Dragon? That guy's that strong? Seriously?" Frieren sounded a little surprised.
"We'll find out when we see him."
Shichen led the two of them straight toward Eisen's student.
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— This Fanfic is Completed in Patreon!