Frieren: Attribute Hero Chapter 103: The Forgotten One

Lakebed, palace, fairy.

No matter how you looked at it, this was the setup for a horror movie.

The instant everyone's feet touched the ground, the weapons in their hands flashed out without the slightest hesitation. However, the fairy before them did not seem hostile at all.

Even after they drew their weapons, she continued to smile.

"I have prepared [Gifts for Coming Ho] for you all."

As the fairy's voice fell, Stark received a huge [strawberry sundae ice cream], Fern received a fluffy little rabbit plush, and Frieren received an extrely thick grimoire.

The fairy had prepared gifts suited to each person's tastes.

"In addition, I have also prepared delicious food and llow wine for everyone."

As she spoke, the fairy waved her hand. Inside the palace behind her, a long dining table instantly appeared, covered with fragrant food that seed to stretch on without end.

At the sight, Shane gradually frowned.

Stark was completely oblivious. The boy happily held the huge ice cream and was about to follow the fairy into the palace.

But before he could even take a step, Kraft suddenly grabbed him from beside.

At the sa ti, Shane's voice rang out.

"You think a trick like this is enough to keep us here?"

"Kraft, [Goddess's Magic] should have spells that dispel charm or illusions, right? Please don't hold back."

Hearing Shane's words, Kraft took out the Sacred Text and began to chant. A pale green light enveloped everyone.

A mont later, the three who had been bewitched ca back to their senses.

Stark looked utterly confused. Fern imdiately beca alert. As for Frieren, why did she look just a little regretful?

The corner of Shane's eye twitched.

That was a fake grimoire, girl!

At that mont, the beautiful fairy before them finally revealed her true form. She was nothing more than a mass of black mist.

Kraft was a priest and naturally immune to mind-control magic, while Shane had the [Occluncy] attribute, giving him extrely high resistance. From the mont they landed, the two of them had already seen the so-called fairy's true face.

The black mist flew into a rage.

"You two ruined my plan!"

As she spoke, a wild gale swept toward them, trying to tear apart Shane's [Barrier Bubble]. But it was useless. The bubble swayed back and forth in the water, just like a balloon drifting in the air. No matter how fierce the wind beca, it remained perfectly intact.

"Everyone, hold on to each other. Don't get separated."

"I don't know why this [fairy] can see us inside the barrier, but as long as we don't leave it, she can't do anything to us."

Sure enough.

Unable to break the bubble, the black mist grew furious and churned wildly.

"Damn it, damn it!"

As the black mist surged, the gale grew stronger and stronger. In the next instant, the mist and the storm rged into one, wrapping around the entire barrier bubble.

When the black mist dispersed, Shane realized that the scenery around them had changed. They had arrived inside a dark, low-ceilinged space.

Everyone exchanged glances. This ti, no one had been deceived. It was obvious that this place was not an illusion.

Frieren and Fern lit up their staffs.

Using the light from their magic, everyone slowly examined their surroundings.

After turning two corners in a row, they abruptly realized that this was actually a labyrinth. A labyrinth in the truest sense, with countless forks and dead ends.

Kraft showed a troubled expression. "This is troubleso."

In a labyrinth inside an enclosed space, there was no way to determine direction through external ans. It was no different from being a bee trapped inside a bottle, dood to keep crashing into walls.

Unexpectedly, before he had even finished speaking, the three youngsters all looked at Shane with eyes full of expectation.

"…"

Shane silently reached out and pulled a small tree branch from his backpack. Good thing he had not casually thrown it away during the blizzard earlier.

Kraft looked at the branch in Shane's hand, his face full of confusion.

Shane did not explain. He simply tossed it.

Tap.

The branch pointed toward one of the forks.

Everyone began walking and chatting along the way, without the slightest tension of people challenging a labyrinth.

Fern even rummaged through her backpack and pulled out a small handful of dried gooseberries to share as snacks.

Of course, it was not as though there was no tension at all.

The gargoyles at the wrong forks could have been left undisturbed, but Shane insisted on killing them.

"What if they drop equipnt?"

He was completely confident.

Fern's attempts to persuade him were useless.

The result, of course, was that nothing dropped.

Frieren could not help comnting, "It's very rare for gargoyles to drop equipnt. Don't waste your energy."

Shane refused to accept it.

"It must be that this gargoyle was the wrong one. The next one will definitely drop sothing."

As a result, around the next corner, they ran into a mimic.

Frieren insisted on rushing up to open the treasure chest no matter what anyone said, and Fern simply could not hold her back.

This ti, it was Shane's turn to mock her. "Don't waste your energy. There's no way a mimic will give you a grimoire."

"This is a treasure chest, not a mimic."

Frieren argued stubbornly despite having no ground to stand on.

"Lady Frieren, the detection spell shows that it is a mimic!"

Frieren refused to listen.

The result, naturally, was obvious.

Kraft followed at the back of the group, trembling with fear. He quietly ca to Stark's side and asked, "Are those two always like this?"

Stark nodded tragically.

One hour later, the labyrinth's exit appeared before everyone.

The [Branch Pathfinding thod] had rendered ritorious service once again.

"So this actually works."

Kraft looked at Shane with eyes full of shock and admiration. This was probably the strength of soone chosen by the Goddess.

After leaving the labyrinth, everyone returned to the front of the fairy's palace.

Only to see that mass of black mist crying.

And when the black mist saw that they had co out safely, she imdiately ca forward.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost my temper. It was all because I was too afraid."

As she spoke, she even ford an arm out of black mist and slapped herself across the face.

Her tearful, repentant appearance was so sincere that everyone was left a little stunned.

"What do you an by this?"

Following Shane's question, the black mist began sobbing out her story.

From the mont she was born at the bottom of the lake, she had been able to hear the prayers of the people on the shore. They loved fair weather. They hoped for favorable winds and tily rain.

And so, she leapt out of the water and swallowed the dark clouds in the sky in one gulp, making the original storm disappear.

People began calling her a "fairy" and worshiped her day and night.

Amid the sound of people's prayers, she grew larger and larger, and began to possess magic of her own. Finally, one year during the harvest festival, she leapt out of the lake, transford into the appearance of a human girl, and ca to the altar that belonged to her.

From then on, she had a specific na: [Lady of the Lake].

Together with the village that worshiped her, she passed a happy period of ti. But at so unknown point, the weather began to grow unpredictable. Storms occurred frequently, and snow even began drifting down from the sky. Even after exhausting all her strength, she could no longer swallow all those dark clouds.

The people sighed over it.

Slowly, family after family began to move away from the village.

In the end, she walked through an empty village. There were no longer any children who ca to hold her hand, no elderly won who handed her fruits and vegetables, and no craftsman uncles who repaired her stone monunt.

Because of that, her form slowly shrank, until in the end, she beca a mist that could barely even maintain a shape.

"I know this is because the descendants of the humans who believed in are about to completely forget ."

"Being forgotten ans disappearing forever."

Hearing those words, Shane suddenly thought of Kraft.

He glanced at the tall elven monk beside him. The other man's eyes were fixed on the black mist, but he seed to be looking through her, gazing at so unknown place.

Shane rembered what he had said a few days ago. In this world, there was also no one who rembered him anymore.

Being rembered was proof of one's existence. If no one rembered us, then our connection to this world would vanish in an instant.

Shane could not help feeling a trace of regret for Kraft.

The black mist before them sobbed, her voice filled with sorrow.

"I truly wanted to beco [Lady of the Lake] again before I disappeared completely. That was the happiest ti of my life. That was why I wanted to keep you here and make you my believers. I'm sorry. I nearly hurt you because of that. I'm sorry."

Everyone looked at one another, suddenly unsure what to say.

Seeing this, Shane lowered his head and thought for a mont.

"If soone can still rember you now, will you gain the power to restore your form?"

"I don't know. Perhaps I can, perhaps I can't. This is only my wishful thinking."

"Then let's try."

As he spoke, Shane closed his eyes.

He began concentrating his ntal power, imagining the Lady of the Lake he had seen on the stone monunt. Following his actions, the black mist's silhouette suddenly began to swell.

Shane did not stop. In his mind, he traced the words on the stone monunt line by line, word by word. The harvest days from the legends, the celebratory banquets, the songs and dances that surrounded the fairy.

He exhausted every bit of his imagination, slowly painting the scene in his mind.

With every bit he imagined, the black mist grew a little clearer.

With every stroke he pictured, the black mist's form stretched a little longer.

Finally, through Shane's efforts, the black mist gradually turned into the form of [Lady of the Lake]. Although she was still wavering and indistinct, she was just as holy and beautiful as the figure carved on the stone monunt.

She lowered her head and looked at her own hands in disbelief.

"Thank you, adventurer."

Shane kept his eyes closed and did not respond to the fairy's gratitude.

He could not open them.

Because once he opened his eyes, everything he was imagining right now would be rejected by his deeply rooted [rational thinking]. If that happened, he would no longer be able to provide the fairy with even the slightest bit of power.

The fairy smiled and looked at Shane's tightly closed eyes. A tear rolled from the corner of her eye.

"Thank you. From the past until now, humans truly are lovely creatures."

As her voice fell, that holy figure turned into a string of bubbles and completely vanished at the bottom of the lake.

The palace began to collapse.

Without the pulling force dragging them down, Shane's [Barrier Bubble] rose smoothly. Fern blasted open the ice above with a spell, and everyone successfully leapt out of the water.

Shane lowered his head and looked at his hand.

There lay the thank-you gift [Lady of the Lake] had left for him.