(A Bonus chapter, so please leave a review （;´д｀） )
Shane and Frieren left Fu'an Town and officially set out on their journey toward the Central Lands.
This ti, Shane had learned his lesson.
Right from the start, he found a caravan heading to the Holy Capital, Strahl, and proactively accepted a Guard Escort Commission. That way, he could hitch a free ride and earn so extra reward money on the side.
Most importantly, it eliminated the risk of a certain white-haired elf constantly taking detours and wandering off course at any mont.
The caravan departed at dawn.
The red sun had just begun to rise over the mountain peaks, and the air still carried the lingering chill of the night.
Shane had expected that leaving so early would make Frieren reluctant, but to his surprise, she was even more energetic than he was.
Inside the rear carriage.
Frieren was clutching the reward she had received from the town mayor, her face glowing with satisfaction, looking completely content.
Shane didn't even need to guess—it had to be so strange folk magic again.
"It's a very powerful folk magic!"
"Oh? So what kind of magic is it, exactly?"
"It's the magic that keeps your blanket properly covering you while you sleep. Very practical, you know."
"..."
Shane was speechless.
But thinking about it carefully… fine, it really was practical—especially for Frieren.
After traveling together for a while, he had already witnessed her "astonishing" sleeping habits. Rolling off the bed in the middle of the night was practically routine for her. With this magic, the blanket would follow the person, completely eliminating the risk of catching a cold.
The carriage rolled leisurely along the road as the two of them watched the scenery slowly drift by, chatting idly.
When the conversation turned to travel, Shane rembered that after defeating the Demon King, Frieren had continued traveling alone for over seventy years. So he casually asked, "Frieren, when you used to travel alone, did you ever feel bored?"
The excitent from earlier had already faded, and Frieren's energy dropped quickly. She leaned against the carriage rail, looking a bit listless.
"…It wasn't always alone. I would et traveling rchants from ti to ti."
"You know that's not what I ant. I'm talking about companions like —teammates who travel with you long-term. You've never really had that, right? Didn't you ever feel lonely?"
"I got used to it. After Flam passed away, I… hmm… traveled alone for a few hundred years, I guess."
"What about after defeating the Demon King?"
At that question, Frieren fell silent for a few seconds.
"After traveling with Himl, Heiter, and Eisen as part of the hero's party, I did feel like traveling alone wasn't as interesting as before… but I wouldn't say it was boring. It's just that whenever I found an interesting spell, there was no one to share that joy with. And besides, finding companions is troubleso. Humans are fragile—they grow old so easily."
"..."
Shane shook his head and didn't continue the conversation.
This clumsy elf really didn't understand anything.
Perhaps the feeling of loneliness would only hit her decades—no, centuries—later.
Yeah… that's quite the delayed reaction.
......
While crossing the Neck Mountains, the caravan encountered several packs of magic wolves.
Frieren didn't even need to act—Shane alone could handle them with ease.
Before setting out, he had switched to a new longsword, transferring all the attributes from his broken blade onto it. It had drained his ntal energy to the point that he fainted for half a day.
But the effort was worth it.
He had transferred the [Flashbang] attribute onto a kunai.
Now, he could combine [Flashbang] [Electrocution] [Suspicious Poison] to create a near-perfect control chain.
Ordinary monsters stood no chance against him.
In fact, as long as he could close the distance, no monster could survive under that control chain.
Of course, he also seized an opportunity to test a gray attribute.
To ensure his safety, he even asked Frieren to provide backup and clean up afterward—
During the experint, he assigned the attribute [Rot] to a magic wolf.
[Rot (Gray/Inferior)]: Systemic destruction of organic matter caused by fungal growth.
The result…
He instantly collapsed from ntal exhaustion.
And the magic wolf, now imbued with [Rot], imdiately transford into a Zombie Magic Wolf. It scared the caravan mbers half to death. Fortunately, Frieren handled the aftermath, or the consequences would have been disastrous.
After the failed experint, Shane reflected.
He guessed that the last ti he had successfully used a gray attribute to trap Rivale—and still managed to stay conscious by biting his tongue—was probably thanks to sheer survival instinct and adrenaline. Thinking back on it now, it was honestly a bit terrifying.
With his current ntal capacity, he simply couldn't sustain an "attribute-based combat strategy."
After that, he behaved much more cautiously.
Whenever they encountered monsters again, he stuck to his control chain—no fancy tactics, just raw stats.
After more than a month of travel,
the caravan successfully arrived at the outskirts of the Holy Capital, Strahl, in the Central Lands.
Looking at the magnificent and towering city in the distance, a trace of relief finally appeared in Shane's weary eyes.
After eating nothing but bread and dried at for the entire journey, his mouth had practically lost all taste.
Into the city. A proper al!
He couldn't wait another second!
"Mr. Shane, Miss Frieren, our caravan will be staying in Strahl for a while before heading to other trade cities. Won't you consider continuing the journey with us?"
"The escort reward can be doubled!"
The caravan leader sincerely tried to persuade them to stay. After all, they had demonstrated extrely reliable combat ability during the journey.
Having guards like them was an absolute bargain.
"No, thank you for your offer, but I have other plans here."
Frieren politely declined.
Seeing her firm attitude, the rchant had no choice but to part ways with so regret. As a gesture of gratitude, he enthusiastically gifted them a bag of dried at before leaving.
Shane honestly felt that such enthusiasm wasn't necessary. After eating dried at for a month, he was thoroughly sick of it.
"I'm going to visit Heiter. Do you want to co along?"
"Hm?"
Hearing Frieren's invitation, Shane was montarily surprised—then pleasantly delighted.
He had been worrying about how to find an excuse to tag along, and now he was being invited directly. Of course he agreed.
"You have the talent of a priest, yet you refuse to train as one and instead pursue the path of a Sage, whose lineage has already been lost. It's quite a waste. Heiter is an excellent priest—perhaps he can persuade you not to squander your talent."
"After all, priests are always in short supply."
Hearing her reasoning, Shane couldn't help but find it amusing.
This girl… she still hasn't given up on turning into a priest?
Ah, whatever. We'll deal with it when we get there.
Besides, he needed to et Heiter anyway, to ask about the Diary of Sage Ewig.
And while he was at it, he also wanted to et the little kid, Fern.
(A Bonus chapter, so please leave a review （;´д｀） )
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