"Don't be stubborn. If I handle it, it's probably going to hurt."
"Then give me a hand to bite."
"Are you giving birth or something?", he shot back instinctively, then simply placed his hand on her fair thigh.
"Ah!"
"I haven't even started yet. Can you not make weird noises?"
"It tickles~"
"Since when did you become this girly?", Looking at Ubel squirming in front of him like a shy girl, Ash couldn't help but suspect… maybe she was just messing with him again.
"If I'm not a girl, then what am I??"
"Anyway, stay still and keep quiet. If you make noise and it hurts, I'm not taking responsibility… though even if I wanted to, I couldn't do much."
Honestly, if it weren't because she had been guiding him and he really had been careless, leading to this situation, he wouldn't want to deal with such a troublesome person at all.
Especially now, when she clearly enjoyed doing weird things to him even more than before.
"Okay, okay~ quiet, quiet~", Ubel knew when to stop. She closed her eyes and endured the strange feeling coming from her thigh.
Where his fingers passed, it felt scorching, like being burned. Pain and itch mixed together. The wound stung sharply under the medicine, while the surrounding areas felt oddly ticklish.
That heat spread through her body bit by bit, making it hard to tell whether it came from pain… or something else.
But when Ash took out special needles and thread, preparing to stitch it, Ubel suddenly opened her eyes and stopped him.
"Wait! How about you just go grab a priest or nun instead?"
"Did you already forget what you just said?"
"Well, cleaning the wound had to be done anyway~ it's disinfected now, so wouldn't it be better to just fix it with goddess magic in one go? Or…", Ubel wore her usual teasing smile, "Are you planning to keep touching me? Is that really okay? I don't mind, though~"
"I don't have weird thoughts like that. And… even if you say that, your face is red."
"No way?"
"It is," Ash spoke seriously, his gaze not shifting even for a moment.
Under that intense stare, Ubel's smile faltered slightly. She pressed her lips together, "Then why are you still staring?"
"It's interesting."
"Huh?"
At first, she hadn't even understood what she was feeling. But under his teasing, she could feel her face heating up, her gaze drifting, completely unable to stay calm.
Even she found it surprising. Just being looked at like that, just being teased a little, and she was already losing her composure. Yet the feeling… didn't feel fake.
But at that moment, Ash simply stood up, flicked her forehead with his finger, and then disappeared out the window with an easy motion.
Leaving Ubel alone in the bath, staring at where he had been, her teeth itching with frustration.
Because she felt like she had been toyed with. But, compared to anger, some other indescribable emotions felt much stronger.
———
While Ubel was lost in her thoughts, Ash had already gone out, abducted a nun who was out on errands, forced her to perform the treatment, then brought her back afterward and quietly erased her memory before returning silently.
After that, the two of them went back together to the Magic Association's hidden base in the capital. The moment he stepped inside, he saw—
The silver-haired elf, Frieren, sitting crouched against the wall with her knees hugged, facing the wall and pouting, radiating a clear "I'm mad, don't talk to me" mood.
Now that she had calmed down, Ubel peeked out from behind him, curiously observing the sulking elf, and poked his waist, "What's going on?"
"I came back with you. Why would I know?", Ash pressed her head down casually, then turned his gaze toward Fern, who stood nearby with an obvious look of distress.
"When we went shopping… we got scammed," Fern sighed, handing over a ceramic pot from beside her, "The vendor said this pot was an antique from the Unified Empire period. Lady Frieren bargained, but still spent four silver coins to buy it."
"I don't know much about this stuff. So it's fake?"
"Yes. Lord Falsch recognized it at a glance, it's a worthless, low-quality fake. Lady Frieren was just crying and throwing a tantrum," Seeing Frieren lose control over her hidden savings made Fern feel helpless.
Ash, however, felt no sympathy, "Serves her right. An antique from the Unified period for four silver coins? If you're buying from a street stall, you should expect to get scammed."
"Lord Ash! Even if it's true that we've gained another piece of junk and Lady Frieren's taste is as bad as ever," Fern puffed her cheeks, "Some things can be said, and some things can't! Please go comfort her! What if she gets even angrier?"
"Come to think of it, why is she still sulking after crying? She's willful, but usually she gets over it quickly, right?", He casually changed the subject, but Fern hesitated before sighing.
"Actually… this is her once-every-ten-years super tantrum phase. This is only the second time I've seen it."
"I see. That explains it."
He nodded, set the incomprehensible pot aside, and decided not to get involved in anything strange.
"You understand?", Ubel blinked blankly, then after a while stroked her chin, "There's a phase like that? Do elves have a mating season too?"
"How am I supposed to answer that? Probably not."
Faced with yet another bizarre question, he rubbed his temples and walked farther away, avoiding getting dragged into unnecessary trouble.
Even Fern quietly kept her distance from Frieren in this state. But as Ash leaned against the wall, thinking about something, she suddenly seemed to recall something interesting. She moved closer with a smile, deliberately building suspense.
"Lord Ash, do you know who we ran into today?"
"Who?"
"A dwarf who now calls himself Wehrlos. And Lady Frieren said you know him? She even said that if we said his real name, you'd definitely remember!"
"Rasen?"
"Eh? You saw him too?", Fern immediately looked disappointed.
She had wanted to talk about how a former hero had fallen so far… but now, all that remained was a quiet sense of regret.
"Well, I gave him a bit of help."
"Help?"
"Ash gave him a silver coin," Ubel answered for him, wearing a half-smile.
Ash simply looked away, unwilling to elaborate.
After all, he had been someone he knew. A rare acquaintance in this world. And yet, by accident, he had killed him. There was still a trace of regret.
———
Falsch, who had been there, left again after hearing their conversation… not wanting to get involved in Frieren's tantrum.
But not long after he left, Sense returned, wearing an unusually serious expression as she looked at Ash, "Lord Ash, the capital has suddenly gone into lockdown."
"Lockdown?"
"A battle broke out on the outskirts of the northern district. It was short, but the damage was extensive. The Magic Special Forces is going crazy searching for suspects," Usually expressionless, she now tilted her head slightly, frowning as she stared at him, "If this continues, our actions will become very inconvenient. I wonder who did it."
"Why are you staring at me when you say that, Sense? That look… it feels like you're suspecting me."
"I'm sorry, Lord Ash. I went to the scene. The traces clearly point to a warrior, and not many people I know could cause that kind of damage. One of them…", Though she apologized, her gaze didn't waver.
Even without finishing her sentence, it was obvious she suspected him.
Just as he was considering whether to come clean, Ubel cut in with a smile, "We didn't do anything~ you're overthinking it."
"Come to think of it, why did Lord Ash come back with Lady Ubel?", Fern suddenly realized something, looking between them, "What were you doing? And… what is Lady Ubel wearing?"
"We just went on a da—mm?"
Before Ubel could finish with a grin, Ash covered her mouth, expressionless, "Fern, you understand, right? She always says strange things."
"Hah!", Fern roughly understood Ubel's troublemaking personality, but still felt suspicious.
There was no concrete reason, just a feeling. It felt like… the way Ubel looked at Ash was different from before.
But before she could ask further, Frieren suddenly slapped her cheeks, snapping herself out of her strange state. She walked over to Ash, face expressionless but tone oddly serious.
"Ash, come with me. I'm going to return it."
"What does that have to do with me?"
"I heard very clearly. You were talking bad about me just now."
"That's different. And it's just the truth, isn't it?", Ash didn't back down at all.
Frieren puffed her cheeks like Fern, then pointed at him and complained, "Fern, he's bullying me."
"Lord Ash… I told you, even if it's true, there are things you shouldn't say," Fern sighed, clearly wanting him to go comfort her.
Sense, who had stayed out of it until now, stepped in, "We're still on a mission… we shouldn't waste time on strange matters."
"What strange matter? I got scammed!"
"Scammed?", Sense tilted her head. Ash nudged the pot with his foot, "She paid four silver coins for this."
Sense paused, then after a quick look shook her head, "If you'd buy something this low-quality, that's on you for getting scammed."
"You can say that when it's someone else. Can you still say that if it happens to you?"
"Yes. It's only four silver coins," Sense replied without hesitation.
Frieren's expression didn't change, but she clearly ground her teeth, "Damn rich people!"
"If it really bothers you, I'll give you the money."
"This isn't about money! It's about my dignity as an appraiser and a mage!"
"Why care about something that doesn't exist?"
"You've got some nerve!"
The two shorties started arguing over a ridiculous topic, both expressionless.
Ash had no intention of getting involved. Watching their deadpan argument was oddly entertaining, so he simply stood by and observed.
———
At the same time Ash was watching Frieren and Sense argue, within the capital, the squad that Rasen belonged to, preparing to assassinate Serie, had gathered in a church.
"Rasen has gone missing," The tavern owner with a parted hairstyle spoke heavily to the group.
But the twin-tailed waitress, who usually acted as the face of the tavern, tilted her head, "Just missing? He was taken by the Magic Special Forces, then disappeared during a conflict. Doesn't it sound more like he got killed?"
"No body was found. Only his spear, discovered at a distance, bent into a strange shape. But it's hard to imagine a monster like Rasen being taken down that quickly. Maybe he ran into trouble and can't get away for now?"
The church priest, called a father in the Empire, frowned as he objected.
"Unlikely. If something really happened, he would've contacted us," said a young female mercenary with a ponytail, shaking her head while holding a drink.
"I saw the scene. It looked like a clash between monsters, full of raw violence… completely beyond our level," said a street vendor, his face tense, "If Rasen got taken out, we don't stand a chance. We'll need that Lowe you mentioned. Otherwise we're done for. Of course, that's assuming he's really as strong as you say. But if we get targeted before that, we'll probably be wiped out immediately, right?"
"It's not hopeless. If we all fight together, even against Rasen, we'd have a chance. He's old now."
A short-haired, expressionless girl who worked as a librarian tried to encourage them softly, but no one seemed convinced.
Meanwhile, a woman dressed as a black-clad nun stood to the side, hands clasped in prayer, not joining the discussion.
No matter what they said, the atmosphere remained heavy.
Their target, Serie, was already someone they weren't sure they could defeat. And now another monster had appeared, one that had taken out their strongest member.
Even the most optimistic among them couldn't ignore this bad news.
The only thing they could hope for was that Rasen had severely injured his opponent, leaving them unable to act freely for a while.
With no conclusion reached, the group quietly left the church one after another, deciding to split up to avoid being wiped out all at once.
———
[The Next Day, Morning]
After breakfast, to avoid being dragged into Frieren's refund mission, Ash left with Sense.
Under the pretext of carrying out their mission to prevent an assassination, Fern forcibly dragged the unwilling Frieren away, afraid of delaying important matters.
But as Ash walked down the street with Sense, heading toward a tavern to deal with the Shadow Warriors there, before they had gone far, they saw wanted posters of both him and Ubel already plastered along the roadside.
These posters had spread across the entire city overnight, leaving Ubel temporarily unable to go out. When they left earlier, she had even shown a rare look of regret.
Clearly, she regretted not disguising herself like Ash when pretending to be a member of the Magic Special Forces yesterday.
Otherwise, she wouldn't be stuck like this now.
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