Guided by Frieren, we stepped past the boundary and into the hidden sanctuary of the elves.
As we walked deeper into the settlent, Frieren took it upon herself to introduce us to nearly every resident we passed.
"Oh, it's Frieren. Did you need sothing?"
"No. Just showing my friends around."
"I see. Welco."
This exact exchange, with minor variations, repeated itself at least twenty tis. It was becoming a loop in my auditory processing.
Frieren seed almost... proud. Like a child showing off a shiny new toy.
The elves themselves reacted to our presence with a surprising lack of concern. There were no elders here, no wizened faces marked by ti.
Every single resident appeared to be in the pri of youth, a testant to their species' near-eternal lifespan.
Based on my data regarding Serie and the Elven Monk, these beings were functionally immortal, living as long as the world itself allowed.
Takson walked beside , his head swiveling back and forth, eyes wide with childlike wonder. The architecture fascinated him.
The buildings were made of wood, similar to human structures, but they were woven into the living trees, a seamless fusion of nature and civilization.
I, however, felt no such wonder. My long-range scans had already mapped every inch of this village before we even entered.
Instead of sightseeing, I was working. With every step, I logged the biotric data of every elf we encountered. I marked key structural points, mana ley lines, and defensive choke points.
This was the groundwork for my second layer of insurance.
….
We spent a considerable amount of ti wandering, mostly because Frieren insisted on the introductions.
My assessnt of the elven population was mixed. On one hand, their lack of vigilance was staggering.
I had assud they would be wary of outsiders, given the barrier and the chief's required permission.
But once Frieren vouched for us, they accepted us without a second thought.
It was no wonder they were destined to be slaughtered by the demons. They were sheep who had forgotten the existence of wolves.
On the other hand, their raw potential was imnse. My scans revealed that almost every individual here possessed high mana reserves or deceptive physical strength.
I watched a slender elf, who looked no older than a human teenager, casually lift a log that would have strained even Takson's muscles. I saw mages casting spells with casual fluidity.
But their application was... mundane.
"Spell to Dry Pages Instantly."
"Spell to Accelerate Plant Growth."
"Spell to Extinguish Campfires."
They used their god-like power for household chores. They had no combat experience, no martial discipline.
They lived in a bubble of eternal peace, their potential wasted on comfort.
To a machine built for war, it was inefficient. But I was not here to judge their lifestyle. If they didn't know an invasion was coming, their pacifism was logical.
But I knew.
The sphere I had given Frieren was a weapon of mass destruction. If triggered, it would obliterate the demons, yes.
But without containnt, the resulting blast radius would likely consu the village and the forest along with them.
That was why I was here. I wasn't sightseeing; I was calibrating. I was setting up a targeting matrix and a containnt field to ensure that when the ti ca, the destruction would be precise.
Would the Demon King's seer predict my interference? Would this change the future?
I didn't care.
I had access to the multiverse. I had the power to rewrite reality. The idea of tiptoeing around a "canon tiline" like so frightened ti-traveler from a bad novel was absurd to . If I had the power to change an outco I found displeasing, I would use it.
I was here. I was real. And if I wanted to save these naive, long-lived fools, then that is exactly what I would do.
….
Ti slipped away unnoticed, and soon, the morning sun had dipped into the late afternoon.
Takson, driven by his insatiable curiosity, had wandered off to explore the other side of the village after letting know.
His absence was convenient; it gave the window I needed to execute the final phase of my plan without questions.
I stood in the center of the village, in a quiet spot where no elves were currently looking.
Two thin, black cables—my "tails"—snaked out from beneath the hem of my dress and burrowed deep into the soft earth.
"True Endo: Barrier Construction"
I initiated the sequence.
"Function: Environntal Reset. Trigger Type."
"Function: Biological Resurrection. Trigger Type. Target Designator: Elf."
I wove the spells together, infusing the barrier logic with the ti-reversal properties I had derived from Zafkiel.
A pulse of energy, invisible and colorless to the naked eye, expanded outward from my position. In a fraction of a second, it enveloped the entire village, forming a massive, imperceptible do.
According to my calculations, this barrier was absolute. If any entity designated as an "Elf" within this zone suffered a fatal injury, the barrier would trigger, reversing their personal ti to a state before the injury occurred. The sa logic applied to the buildings and the trees.
When Frieren eventually used the golden sphere I had given her, the resulting explosion would be contained. The demons would be erased, but the village, and its people, would remain untouched.
"What are you doing?"
A voice broke my concentration.
I calmly retracted my cables, letting them slide back under my clothes, and turned around. Frieren was standing there, holding a basket of fresh fruit.
"Answer: Finalizing operational paraters," I replied, my face betraying nothing.
"?"
Frieren tilted her head. "You an the big do thing that just popped up?"
My internal processors paused for a microsecond.
"Query: You can see it?"
"No," she said, shaking her head. "I can't see anything. But I felt it. It feels like the whole village just got covered in two thick blankets."
She felt it?
I had designed this barrier to be undetectable by standard magical senses. For her to perceive it on instinct alone...
"Query: Is that how you found just now?"
"No. I was just looking for you."
"Addendum: Does anyone else know?"
"Nope. Just . Is it a new spell?"
I looked at her face. She was completely calm. There was no fear, no suspicion. Just mild curiosity.
"Query: Are you not concerned? This could be a trap. It could be harmful."
"Why would it be?" she asked, biting into a piece of fruit. "Friends don't do bad things to each other, right?"
Her logic was so simple, so pure, that it nearly caused a logic error in my systems. She truly believed that because we had exchanged a few words and a gift, we were allies.
"Rebuttal: The human concept of 'friend' is not a guarantee of safety," I lectured. "Betrayal is a common occurrence among organic lifeforms. Two individuals can be close and still cause harm to one another."
"Reminder: Frieren, you must maintain a higher level of vigilance toward strangers."
"Ehh..." Frieren slumped her shoulders, looking genuinely annoyed. "Talking to humans is so much work."
She didn't seem to take the warning to heart at all. She simply looked in the eye.
"So? Are you going to hurt ?"
"Answer: No."
"See? Then it's fine. I believe you because we're friends."
"..."
I was speechless.
How could she be this trusting? It defied all tactical logic.
….
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