But he could not help but say, "No, at least the second one was useful, right? If you think about it it's totally un— Ah, as expected it's useless, yeah yeah, Frieren is really awful, buying something that weird, she's seriously up to no good!"
Before he even finished speaking, Fern's gaze had already turned icy to the bone, making him sensibly give a light tap to his palm and quickly change his tune while looking away.
"Lord Ash."
"What?"
"Pathetic!", Even though he had already corrected himself, Fern still shot him a harsh glare, making him, who was trying his best to be a good role model yet never quite succeeding, lower his head in dejection.
"Sorry, I'll be more careful next tim..."
"Someone like 'Lord Ash', I don't even know."
Saying it with an expression like she couldn't stand him anymore, the angry Fern directly ditched him and quickly followed after the already distant Frieren.
But in reality, she didn't stay angry for very long.
When she saw Frieren up ahead asking passersby where there was a good dessert shop, Fern suddenly grabbed Ash's hand, leaned in close, and angrily complained to him again, "Lord Ash! Look, hurry! Isn't this person way too sly? I haven't had dessert for months either! And she's actually sneaking off to eat it alone."
"I-is that so?"
'What should I do? I just ate a cream apple pie with Linie before coming, and even had quite a few macarons with Aura. Does that mean Fern's been living this poorly?'
For a moment, he didn't know how to face Fern. He rummaged around himself, and the only thing he managed to pull out was an apple he'd swiped from Linie on the way here, which surprisingly still hadn't gone bad.
There really wasn't anything better, so he silently handed the apple over.
"Anyway, how about an apple for now?"
"Huh? Why are you suddenly giving me an apple?"
"Because all I have on me right now is an apple."
"Sorry, I really don't see how that's related at all, and, if I smell carefully, why does your body smell like apples too? You didn't recently eat apples and then wipe apple juice all over yourself, did you?"
Even though his clothes had been washed, at such a close distance Fern wrinkled her small nose and caught the faint apple scent, unconsciously showing a puzzled expression.
And worth mentioning was that as she grew up, every time Ash came back after being away for a long time, his clothes often carried the smell of apples as well.
But Ash didn't really seem like someone who ate apples that much, which made this long-unsolved mystery from her childhood spark a strong curiosity in her.
However, what could Ash say? Faced with the girl's probing gaze, he could only quietly turn his face away, trying to dodge the topic.
But that reaction only made him look even more suspicious in Fern's eyes. Completely igniting her urge to get to the bottom of it.
When Ash stubbornly avoided her gaze without saying anything, Fern, who had originally been worried about Frieren sneaking off to eat alone, completely forgot her dissatisfaction with Frieren. She stared straight at him and pressed in a low voice, "Lord Ash, what exactly is the apple smell on you about? Why won't you look at my face?"
"What is it, you ask," Being questioned over something like the smell of apples was an unexpected situation that left Ash both amused and helpless. He casually made up an excuse, "Because after a year of not seeing you, Fern suddenly became so pretty that I'm a bit afraid to look."
"Do you think I look like an idiot?"
"Not at all."
'She had that lovey-dovey girl vibe just a moment ago, so why is she suddenly so hard to deal with now? Was that just my imagination?', Ash felt relieved inside, but awkwardly changed the subject out loud.
"S-speaking of which, Frieren ran off to a tavern. Shouldn't we go check on her?"
"We can chase her later. Answer me first!", Fern stared at him without blinking, completely no longer caring about Frieren.
That attitude of wanting answers no matter what forced him to pause and think.
"Alright. Actually, I have an apple orchard in the north. Every year when I part ways with you all, I'm going there to take care of it."
"Huh? An apple orchard? Really? It still feels really suspicious."
"It's true! I really do have an apple orchard! Next time we go north, I'll take you to see it, okay?"
"But if that's really the case, what's there to hide about it?", He didn't look like he was lying, but the content still felt very off to Fern.
"Well, I just didn't want you to suddenly find out that you're actually the daughter of a farm owner and have your mentality go bad overnight because you got rich."
"In your eyes, is my mental resilience really that bad?", The sudden information sounded completely unbelievable to Fern.
"Better safe than sorry, right? Anyway, after I die it'll all be yours. Don't worry," He smiled as he reached out and patted Fern on the shoulder, but those words made her show an unhappy expression.
"Don't say such unlucky things. I'll get angry."
"You're already angry, aren't you?"
"Then I'll be even angrier!"
"...."
'So what am I supposed to say now?', Left speechless, he stayed silent for a long while. When he finally looked forward again. Frieren had already disappeared without a trace.
Very clearly, while they were chatting, they had completely lost Frieren.
Realizing this, Fern couldn't help tilting her head up and complaining to him, "It's all Lord Ash's fault. Lady Frieren has definitely gone to eat dessert by herself! Even though travel funds can't just be wasted! And I haven't had dessert for months either!"
"There's no need to care that much about something like that, right?", Even though he felt a bit wronged, as an adult he naturally didn't argue with Fern. Instead, he directly held his hand out to her, "She can eat hers. I'll treat you to your share, okay?"
"Really?"
"No, why do I, a grown adult, have to be doubted just for treating someone to dessert?"
"Well, that's true, sorry. Lately I've been living pretty poorly with Lady Frieren… without realizing it..."
Fern had originally wanted to complain that Frieren's lack of restraint with money had forced them into poverty, but once she thought about being able to eat dessert, she temporarily stopped caring about that. Happily, she grabbed his hand.
"Thank you, Lord Ash. Let's go eat dessert together. Before that sly Lady Frieren comes back~"
"Yeah, let's go together."
Somehow, she suddenly feels like a little kid again. Seeing the girl's expectant expression, he couldn't help smiling knowingly. He gently stroked her purple hair and took her to search for a dessert shop in the city.
———
While searching for a dessert shop, Ash also planned to see if they might run into Frieren along the way.
Unfortunately, they didn't meet Frieren, but instead found a dessert shop that looked quite popular.
After Ash generously told her to order whatever she wanted, Fern hesitated a bit before ordering a small cake. Filled with joy, she happily enjoyed it with her fork and knife.
"Mmm~ so sweet! so good!"
After just one bite, Fern looked like she was about to melt, her face showing an overflowing happiness.
Ash, resting his chin on one hand as he watched from the side, found it amusing just to look at her. Smiling, he even took out a napkin and wiped the cream from the corner of her mouth.
"W-what is it? Why are you looking at me like I'm a little kid," Remembering what he'd said earlier about treating her like a child, Fern's cheeks flushed slightly as she protested in a small voice.
"I'm not a child."
"I just want to take care of you, Fern. Is that not allowed?"
"It's not that it's not allowed, it's just a bit embarrassing. Though I don't dislike it," His casual words weren't mixed with any lies, making Fern lower her head shyly.
But he shook his head helplessly.
"When you had a fever before, didn't I help wipe you down? At first, didn't we even sleep together? At this point, what's there to be shy about?"
"T-that kind of thing was so many years ago. Please forget it already!"
Having old memories she'd almost forgotten suddenly brought up made Fern's face turn bright red. Angry and embarrassed, she puffed up her cheeks and started pounding his shoulder again and again with her fists.
But the blows weren't heavy at all, lacking any real force. They were actually quite cute, even a bit like she was acting spoiled. So even while being hit, Ash apologized while happily patting her, making Fern finally understand why children being doted on by their parents sometimes looked so helpless.
Of course, compared to those children, her feelings were a lot more complicated, but... unexpectedly, she still didn't dislike it.
And when she endured Ash's cheerful gaze, ate her cake in a sulky mood, and walked out of the dessert shop.
On the distant horizon of the city, the sun over the sea had already sunk low, as if the land and ocean had both been gilded in gold.
"Oh no, it's already this late… and we didn't buy anything at all," Only after enjoying dessert and stepping outside did Fern stand dumbfounded at the entrance, finally remembering the task she and Frieren were supposed to handle when they split up.
"Buying it tomorrow is fine too. For now, let's just go meet back up, okay?"
"That's all we can do now. I wonder if Lady Frieren is done eating," Accepting his suggestion, Fern let out a soft sigh. She temporarily stopped worrying about it and, to avoid making Frieren worry, quickly led Ash toward the inn.
Not long after, they arrived at an inn room that had a balcony view of the ocean, a full-on sea-view room.
As soon as Fern walked in, she saw Frieren already sitting by the bed, staring blankly at the sunset outside the window.
But when Fern, who had rushed in first, stepped into the room, Frieren only complained softly with a blank expression.
"You're late."
"Sorry, on the way we ran into," Fern was about to say that Ash was right outside and scare her a bit, but Frieren suddenly said in a stiff tone, "Forget it, want to go eat some dessert together sometime?"
"Huh?"
'So she didn't want to eat alone, she wanted to take me with her? And yet I...', Fern's expression froze for a moment.
"Let's go!"
For some reason, Frieren's arm and leg movements were oddly exaggerated, making her look suspiciously unnatural. Yet she didn't notice Fern's strange reaction at all. Leaving those words behind with a mysterious smile, she quickly headed outside.
'This is bad. This atmosphere makes it seem like I took Fern to eat alone, while Frieren, sneaking around, didn't eat anything at all,' It was hard to say that I'd just taken Fern to eat alone. With a subtle expression, Ash disappeared in a flash before Frieren could appear.
———
In a seaside café built along the coast, at the outdoor seats overlooking the ocean sunset, the shoreline, and even the city streets below.
Fern and Frieren sat facing each other. Frieren, who had been acting mysterious all day, gazed at the sunset, the sea, and the city woven together into a beautiful view, and sighed with relief.
"The scenery here really is nice. It's definitely worth recommending."
"I feel really sorry, Lady Frieren. I actually doubted you, and even…"
"Doubted me? Even what? Did you do something?", Frieren looked completely confused.
"N-no... please don't worry about it," Fern stiffly turned her face away, trying to avoid her gaze.
Those lines and actions made Frieren smile nostalgically, "You really have been influenced a lot by Ash. Whenever you have something you don't want others to know, you avoid their eyes like that."
"I-is that so?"
"By the way, this might be sudden, but... has Ash ever given you any gifts before?"
Thinking of the birthday gift she'd secretly bought for Fern and wanting to make sure it wouldn't be a disaster, Frieren cautiously asked.
"It really is sudden. Well, as for gifts, you've seen it before, haven't you?", Fern paused slightly, then took out a small box from her pocket. Inside was a silver-leaf bookmark. Stroking it gently with a smile, she murmured, "When I was little, I felt like I really liked it the moment I saw it. I only looked at it a couple more times, and Lord Ash bought it and gave it to me. Even though it's a bookmark, it's so precious that I've never actually used it as one."
"I see. So he has that kind of delicate side too."
"Come to think of it, Lord Ash and Lady Frieren seem to have known each other for a very long time, right? What did he give you, Lady Frieren?"
"It really has been a very, very long time," Frieren nodded gently, then rummaged around herself for a bit.
"Found it, found it," She pulled a gold ring out of her pocket.
"A ring? And it's gold!", When Fern saw it clearly, she almost jumped up in excitement.
"Thinking about it seriously, that awful guy Ash seems to have only given me this."
"But isn't this gold? What's awful about that?", If anything, Fern really wanted to trade with her. Even though she'd probably be reluctant if it actually came to that, but…
"You don't get it," Frieren toyed with the ring, showing a speechless expression as she let out a very, very short sigh, "He picked this up ages ago from a dungeon treasure chest and forgot to sell it. Apparently, during a festival he had nothing else on him, so he just tossed this to me. Oh, and by the way, when he gave it to me, it was still covered in monster blood he hadn't wiped off."
"Th-this..."
'What do I do? I can't think of a single way to defend Lord Ash! Just thinking about it feels so outrageous!', Forget defending Ash, Fern even felt like helping Frieren scold him.
And Ash, who had been hiding behind a wall the whole time with no chance to come out, now found it even harder to step out due to the atmosphere and the shift in their topic.
For a moment, he could only squat behind the wall, covering his face and repenting for his past actions.
"If I'd known, I really should have wiped the blood off before giving her that ring."
"Seriously? Are you really reflecting on it? You should have bought a new gift from the start!"
As he muttered to himself, Fern's exasperated voice came from behind him. Her hands grabbed the back of his collar, and without giving him time to react, she forcefully dragged him out from the corner.
———
Still sitting in her seat, holding the menu, Frieren curiously watched Fern suddenly leave the table for no apparent reason, about to ask what was going on.
But before she could even make a sound, she saw Fern bending over with effort, dragging a familiar figure out from the corner by the wall.
This made Frieren freeze, just like so many times before, doubting her own eyes.
"Ash? Why are you hiding back there?"
"Ah-ah~ Frieren, long time no see?"
"What are you doing?"
"What am I doing? Thinking about life, I guess?", Having been dragged and accidentally fallen to the ground, he patted his butt with an ambiguous smile and stood up on his own.
It was also at this moment that Fern, wearing an expression that said she really couldn't deal with him anymore, bowed her head to Frieren in apology.
"Lady Frieren, after hearing that conversation just now, what this man thought about was wiping the blood off in advance… I'm really sorry."
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