Stark: "Frieren, you look a lot better now."
Fern: "This is all thanks to Stark-sama, Frieren-sama, and the medicine Sein-sama brewed."
Sein: "Well~ I may not look much like a monk, but I'm pretty good at brewing medicine."
Frieren: "Then let's continue heading toward the magical city of Öisasuto."
Seventy-nine years after Diego disappeared...
After Fern recovered, the Frieren party bid farewell to Old Man Voll, crossed the Öfen Mountains, and arrived at the largest magical city in the Northern Nations: Öisasuto.
—Continental Magic Association, Northern Branch—
"Frieren, Fern, Sein, and the other kid must be Stark, right? You've all had a hard journey—"
After many days, the Frieren party met Alicia once again.
"Alicia-sama!" A flash of joy crossed Fern's face. She took light, quick steps over to Alicia's side and habitually stood on tiptoe. "It really has been a long time..."
The Holy Hero Alicia-sama?!
Isn't that the third master who raised Fern?!
Stark's throat bobbed. He felt the same nervous tension as meeting a girlfriend's parents and suddenly became flustered.
Should I go say hello right now?
"Has Fern been a good girl and listened to Frieren?" Alicia spoke gently, reaching out to softly pat Fern's head, a warm smile curving her lips.
Mm... Fern has grown so tall... I almost have to stand on tiptoe myself to reach her head...
"Mm! I've always been a good girl, so Alicia-sama has to praise me!" Fern narrowed her eyes slightly, thoroughly enjoying the head-pat.
"Fern has always been such a good girl~"
"Um—" Stark's voice cut off abruptly.
The instant he spoke, both Fern and Alicia turned to look at him in unison.
Oh no, was my voice just a bit too loud...?
What do I do? What if Alicia-sama doesn't like me?
"Stark, is something wrong?" Alicia tilted her head slightly, smiling brightly. She didn't take the small interruption to heart. She clapped her hands once, as if suddenly understanding Stark's thoughts. "Are you asking where Master is? Mabel is still catching up on sleep at the inn."
"Y-Yes..." Stark's tone carried a hint of dejection.
Wuwuwu, that's not what I wanted to ask about Master at all... but Third Master is so approachable—I can't bring myself to say it in this situation.
Frieren, as usual oblivious to the mood, spoke calmly: "We can catch up back at the inn. Fern, let's go register for the First-Class Mage Exam first."
"Yes, Frieren-sama! Alicia-sama, please wait just a moment—I have so many interesting things from the journey I want to share with you."
Fern nodded, waved to Alicia, and hurried to catch up with Frieren, who had already started walking ahead.
Ever since seeing Alicia, the expressions on Fern's face had become much more varied.
At the registration desk, Frieren and Fern's attention was drawn by a noisy commotion—a green-haired girl was arguing with a tall man wearing a mask.
"Ara~ I really didn't expect to see you here, Joestar-san~"
The girl wore her hair in a side ponytail, dressed in a sleeveless black dress, holding a long spear-like staff. Her indifferent face was currently engaged in outrageous behavior.
For example, right now she was relentlessly teasing the masked man: "Can I finally see what your face looks like under that mask this time?"
"Shut up! I get pissed off the second I hear a woman yapping in my ear!" The man she called Joestar-san had dark lines all over his face. Impatiently shooing her away, he threatened, "Übel, do you want me to beat you up again like I did during the Second-Class Mage Exam?"
"Aw~ Joestar-san really isn't gentlemanly at all. You could be a little gentler with a girl, couldn't you?" Übel continued teasing without a care.
At the same time, her hand shamelessly reached toward the mask on Joestar's face: "It's not like I'm holding a grudge because Joestar-san almost casually beat me during the Great Battle exam question. It's just... Joestar-san gives me the feeling of someone whose name I can't say, so no matter what, I really want to see the face under your mask."
"Our Joestar family has never known what a gentleman is for generations." Joestar-san didn't even look up. Two fingers clamped firmly onto Übel's restless hand, then he left her hanging and finished filling out his entry form before hurrying away.
Übel didn't mind at all. Still smiling cheerfully, she finished her own form: "Joestar-san is so mean. At a time like this, you should wait for a lady, right?"
She looked up and noticed Frieren and Fern nearby. Intrigued, she walked over, hands behind her back, bending at the waist to bring her face close to Frieren's and speaking slowly:
"Eh~ Could it be... you're an elf? How rare. Not long ago I saw a monk elf at the border of Count Granat's territory."
Seeing this, Frieren leaned close to Fern's ear and whispered: "Fern, let's run. We've been targeted by a weird one. This person has heavy killing intent—she gives me the same feeling as the first time I met Dio. A murderer who doesn't see human lives as anything."
"Hmph hmph~ Don't let Joestar-san's easygoing appearance fool you—when it comes to a real fight, he won't hold back at all. He's extremely brutal, not a good person." Before Fern could react, Übel spoke again unprompted. "Self-introduction: I'm the mage Übel."
"White-haired twin-tailed elf... oh my, could it be... you're Frieren?"
"Um... do you know me?"
Übel shook her head. With a flash of white light, a dull, lusterless Cosmic Stone ring appeared in her hand, her eyes filled with reminiscence.
"This looks familiar to you, right? This ring was given to my grandmother by Diego Brando a long time ago. By a twist of fate, he saved my grandmother's life and gave her this ring.
Thanks to her, I grew up listening to stories about Diego Brando. From her, I learned about a Diego Brando different from what the outside world knows.
Like the true hero who killed the Demon King, a peace envoy who used absolute force to deter both humans and demons, looking fierce on the surface but always soft-hearted deep down.
My grandmother treasured this ring and kept it in perfect condition. Before she passed, she gave it to my older sister, and my sister gave it to me before she disappeared..."
Seeing Übel getting more and more excited, Frieren vaguely sensed trouble brewing. She grabbed Fern and started walking away quickly.
Snap...
"Hm?"
Feeling her hand being held, Frieren sighed, slowly turned back to Übel, and asked with difficulty:
"So what exactly do you want?"
"Hey, Frieren—Diego Brando is a total softie, right?" Übel's eyes sparkled with amusement as she deliberately lowered her voice. "I've been pestering Joestar-san because he feels so much like Diego Brando, but now there's a better option. You're a mage who traveled with him—you must know tons about him. Can you share some with me? Like... where he is right now, for example..."
"Sorry, no comment on any of that." Frieren waved her off and started walking away again.
At the front desk, one sentence from Fern drew Frieren's gaze.
"Frieren-sama, what's going on here?"
Fern's voice reached her ear. Frieren followed the direction of Fern's pointing finger and saw a sign placed prominently on the registration desk, with several large characters glaringly written on it.
Frieren and Dogs Not Allowed Inside!
＜(´⌯ ⩊ ⌯`)＞!
"Hello, we're here to register for the First-Class Mage Exam. This sign is...?" Fern politely asked the bespectacled mage lady at the front desk.
"We're very sorry, but Frieren-sama is prohibited from entering and cannot participate in the First-Class Mage Exam. This is an order from Serie-sama. For the next one thousand years, Frieren-sama is barred from all Continental Magic Association facilities."
Serie: You corrupted my favorite junior and still want First-Class privileges?
Fern's cheeks puffed out. She clenched her fists, indignant: "What did Frieren-sama do wrong?"
"No helping it. Ever since that last time Dio talked with Serie, it's been like this. Who told Dio to tattle on her? Both of them are still acting like kids..." Frieren ＜(´⌯ ⩊ ⌯`)＞ turned to leave, helplessly running her hand along her ponytail over and over, throwing a little tantrum. "Don't mind me. I didn't even want to come in the first place anyway."
"Besides, registration requires a mage of Fifth-Class or higher. Fern, I'm counting on you."
Fern grabbed Frieren's hand and made the once-in-a-lifetime request: "Frieren-sama, I can't do it alone."
"You can." Frieren kept walking forward.
"What if I fail? The First-Class Mage Exam is only once every three years. Alicia-sama and Mabel-sama chose to wait here because they trust us." Fern held on tightly, expression full of worry.
"Then hire a First-Class mage, or go by sea."
"That would cost a lot of money. We'd go back to days without snacks." Fern laid out the priorities helplessly and showed Frieren the small amount of money they had left.
"...Even so, I don't have exam eligibility..." Frieren relented slightly.
Seeing that Frieren and Fern hadn't returned for a while, Alicia came over and overheard the entire exchange.
"Could it be... Frieren doesn't have exam eligibility?" Alicia raised her hand to volunteer. "I can help solve the eligibility issue!"
"Eh? Alicia, you can't fix this. This is Serie losing her temper and personally issuing the order."
"Why though? Serie-sama is such a good person—she wouldn't make things difficult for you."
"I told you, Serie is just..."
...
"Understood. We will now make a special exception and process First-Class Mage Exam eligibility for Frieren-sama."
The moment the front-desk mage lady saw it was Alicia asking, her attitude flipped instantly. She quickly handed Alicia Frieren's exam certificate.
"Great! Now Frieren can take the exam. Serie-sama really is as kind-hearted as ever!" Alicia gently shook her head, hands clasped together, smiling warmly.
"As expected of Alicia-sama! What we couldn't do, she handled so easily!" Fern looked at her with pure admiration.
Hearing Fern's praise, Alicia bashfully scratched the back of her head, hands fidgeting, words stumbling: "No, no..."
The front-desk mage lady wore a dazed, lovestruck smile. Ever since Alicia stayed here for a while, she had inexplicably captured every member of the Continental Magic Association with her little-angel halo. Even Serie seemed to give her special consideration because of their past interactions.
(Serie: It's not like I like her!)
Hehehe, Alicia-sama's smile really is so cute...
Oh right—she just praised Serie-sama! This has to be reported—Serie-sama will be delighted!
Um... Alicia-sama said Serie-sama really is as kind-hearted as ever!
The front-desk mage lady energetically wrote up the report, held it up to admire carefully, and nodded in satisfaction.
Meanwhile, Frieren's expression underwent the biggest change of the chapter. Her eyes widened, mouth slightly open, her entire face twitching uncontrollably.
What is this situation...
Why did they agree the moment Alicia mentioned it?
Since when did Alicia get so close with Serie? Come to think of it, Dio also seems really close with Serie... Am I the only one Serie hates?
Angry. Unhappy!
Hmph, I, Frieren, am definitely not hated!