"Don't you dare ntion this to them!"
With the Chaos Flower gone, the vines that had been supporting everything disappeared as well, and the buried monastery slowly began to collapse.
Shane and Sein dodged the falling rocks while climbing out along the newly exposed tunnel.
All the while, Shane kept reminding him every now and then.
Sein had no choice but to hold back his laughter and nod.
As a result, he received another glare from Shane.
Right now, Shane was deeply grateful that the three little ones had fallen asleep and had not co along. If they had seen a monster doing that to him...
Ugh.
He was getting goosebumps just thinking about it.
Shane swore that from this day on, the flower he hated most would be the Chaos Flower.
By the ti the two climbed back to the surface, the eastern sky had already begun to pale. Dawn was breaking.
Shane looked at the unfamiliar mountain forest around him, dazed for a mont.
"Which big tree did we leave them under again..."
"Don't panic. I'll ask my dear friend…"
Snap.
A tree branch fell to the ground.
"Oh, so it was that way."
Shane imdiately started walking.
Sein followed behind him, his face completely blank.
The curse was lifted.
The people in the small village woke from their sleep, all safe and sound.
The villagers were extrely grateful to the five people who had saved their village. Sein, in particular, was surrounded by the villagers after he checked everyone for illness one by one as a priest, with endless words of thanks pouring toward him.
Since this was his first real adventure, he looked sowhat at a loss.
After leaving the village, the group continued on their journey.
Stark rubbed his shoulder, looking confused.
"Why do I feel like I got beaten up even though I didn't take part in the fight..."
Shane rembered the scene of Fern and Frieren lifting him with Floating Magic and dropping him to the ground twice, and chose to remain silent.
Fern remarked, "It must be because you slept too much. Mister Heiter once said that sleeping in always makes your back and waist ache."
"Is that how it works..."
There was still so doubt in Stark's eyes.
At the sa ti, he raised a hand and rubbed his swollen, aching cheek. Even if oversleeping caused back pain, surely it should not leave him bruised and battered...
Shane pretended not to hear.
Beside them, Sein was still silently savoring the villagers' praise from earlier.
Frieren looked at him and gave a faint smile.
"Sein, saving a village during your first monster subjugation is quite impressive."
The elven girl reached out, wanting to pat Sein on the head, but the difference in height ant she could not reach.
Seeing this, Shane patted Sein on the shoulder in her place.
"Not bad. Let's all keep doing our best together."
Listening to their praise, a blush slowly rose on Sein's face.
He looked at everyone, then looked at the road ahead, and nodded with a smile.
"Yeah. Let's do our best together."
After completely leaving the Alt woods, the group stepped onto the Trade Road that stretched across the Northern Lands and began following the rchant route. Their pace clearly beca much faster.
So much so that, in the end, whenever everyone got tired from walking, they would push Shane into the middle of the road.
Strangely enough, it really worked.
Stark remarked that maybe Shane was not a sage, but a summoner instead.
Frieren stroked her chin and seriously considered whether she should make Shane stand in front of a treasure chest the next ti she opened one... Perhaps he might summon a legendary magic book.
"About thirty more miles ahead is the fortress city, Vorig."
The group thanked the farr driving the cart, then looked toward the faint little white dot on the distant horizon.
It was governed by the Orden family, one of the three great knightly families of the Northern Lands.
"Let's go. If we cut straight through the forest ahead, we might be able to have lunch in the city."
The group left the main road and entered the forest ahead.
But they had not gone far.
A great flock of birds suddenly burst out of the previously quiet forest.
Frieren's staff lit up in an instant.
"There are demons nearby."
A mont later, a plu of black smoke rose into the air.
The group did not delay and imdiately ran in the direction of the smoke.
After only a few steps, they ran into a young man wearing armor.
The boy was covered in blood, staggering before he collapsed to the ground. The blade in his right hand had already snapped in half, while his left arm was gone, leaving only a mangled, bloody stump at the shoulder.
Thud.
Unable to support himself any longer, the boy crashed to the ground.
When he saw the group, he struggled to raise his head and let out a faint voice.
"Run..."
The bloody scene shocked all of them.
But before anyone could say anything, an intense killing intent surged from behind the armored boy.
Boom!
A solid black beam of magic shot straight toward them from the front.
Bang!
The Defensive Magic Frieren raised barely blocked the fierce attack.
Even so, the magical impact that followed forced everyone back.
"Hm?"
The owner of that killing intent let out a puzzled sound.
Then his figure erged.
The horns of a demon had already revealed his identity.
Then he burst into loud laughter.
That rough, hoarse laughter echoed through the forest, especially chilling.
"Who would have thought? My luck is actually this good."
After laughing, the black-clad demon pointed the bone staff in his hand at Frieren.
"To think I would encounter a legendary mage here after pursuing a remnant soldier. How magnificent."
As his words fell, a dense black mist poured out from behind him...
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