Heiter's hundredth birthday had arrived.
Frieren suggested having cake.
Fern suggested having a big cake.
Shane suggested they shouldn't just eat cake.
The birthday star, Heiter, proposed, "Let's go camping."
"???"
Three faces full of question marks.
"Ever since I retired, I've been cooped up at ho. It's honestly too boring. I really miss the days when we were on the journey to defeat the Demon King. Back then, we practically slept outdoors every day. Why not go experience it again?"
"Leaving a soft bed just to go sleep on gravel and moss… You haven't even been drinking, so why are you talking nonsense?"
Frieren rcilessly shot him down.
Heiter burst out laughing. "When you get old, you start liking to reminisce about the past."
"Fine. You're the birthday boy—you decide."
Shane glanced at the weather outside. It was late autumn now, the perfect season for grilling in the wild.
He imdiately volunteered to show off his honey-glazed barbecue skills.
"I guarantee it'll be the best barbecue you've ever had in your life!"
Frieren fell silent.
Heiter's smile froze.
Only Fern spoke calmly, "Mr. Shane has been accompanying Mr. Heiter under the sun every day. That must be tiring. Leave sothing as small as grilling to ."
"…Are you looking down on my cooking?"
"Not at all, Mr. Shane."
"I think you are!"
"I'm really not."
To take care of Heiter's health, they didn't go too far.
They chose a relatively open cliff in the forest.
In the distance, countless lights of the holy capital, Strahl, shimred.
Heiter pointed at the faint outline of the city, happily introducing it to Shane, even proudly describing how, when he chose to retire, people were so reluctant to let him go that they escorted him all the way to the city gates…
Frieren expressed doubt.
Heiter insisted it was true, claiming that quite a few beautiful won had even blocked his carriage, crying their hearts out.
Shane expressed doubt.
…
Fern's cooking was good—the honey-glazed barbecue was rich and flavorful.
They ate while chatting leisurely. Of course, most of the ti was spent with Heiter and Frieren bickering.
Frieren complained that Heiter's private life back then had been extrely unrestrained, especially his lack of control with alcohol. A total corrupt priest. During their journey, there was at least one ti every week when he got drunk and suffered a hangover, sotis even reducing his combat ability to zero mid-adventure.
Heiter, in turn, complained about Frieren always sleeping in.
"During that ten-year journey, at least a third of the ti was spent waiting for you to wake up."
"Don't exaggerate, corrupt priest. I definitely wasted less ti than you."
"Heh."
Through their banter, Shane learned quite a few secrets about their journey to defeat the Demon King.
Honestly, for a team like this to actually defeat the Demon King… they really had sothing going on.
Whoosh—
A brilliant streak of light cut across the sky.
A teor!
Heiter gazed at the sky, lost in mories. The smile on his face softened.
He recalled the teor shower he had once seen—the Half-Century teor Shower.
"After all these years, that one was still the most beautiful."
Frieren seed to recall the past as well, a faint smile appearing on her face.
"Still, a certain elf really has no sense of ti. Making a promise fifty years later without considering whether others would still be alive."
"Well, I'm sorry about that. I'll try to take it into consideration next ti."
Just as Heiter and Frieren began another round of bickering, Fern quietly moved closer to Shane.
She first offered him a freshly grilled skewer.
Then she attentively asked if he wanted so juice.
The words "I need a favor" were practically written all over her face.
Shane sighed.
"Alright, what do you need to do?"
The little girl spoke a bit shyly, "Could you use [Image Recording Magic] to take a picture of and Mr. Heiter?"
Ah.
Shane smacked his forehead. How had he forgotten?
Back when he fell into that cave and discovered the treasure of a fallen princess, he had managed to obtain [Image Recording Magic].
Because of that, Frieren had been resentful toward him for days.
She thought the "Sage" training thod was too overpowered—being able to learn magic so quickly just by observing.
Shane couldn't explain to her that it wasn't because of the Sage, but because of his trait [Wisdom Under a Simple Mask (Gold/Legendary)], which simplified magical theory and knowledge into easily understandable attributes, allowing him to master it directly.
Not just Frieren—even Fern, who had seen him instantly grasp the magic, had been even more resentful.
After realizing Shane had absolutely no mana, she had been so shocked that she directly called the "Sage" a "cheater."
For several days straight, she added cilantro to his soup.
He hated cilantro…
Ugh—
Just rembering it made Shane shiver.
"I can do it, but you have to promise that my soup will never have cilantro in it again."
The little girl's face turned slightly red as she obediently nodded.
So, under Shane's suggestion, they took a group photo together.
To make the scene more beautiful, Frieren used magic to create a field of flowers, filling the entire cliff with colorful blossoms, like a dreamlike paradise.
Fern added a few glowing blue magical butterflies to the sea of flowers.
It was her favorite spell—magic to create butterflies.
Heiter stood in the middle of the flower field, happy like a hundred-year-old child.
He wove flower crowns for everyone, and they crowded together happily, striking all sorts of strange and funny poses.
In the end, at Heiter's insistence, Frieren even used floating magic to let him soar once.
He said he had always wanted to try it.
Before, he had been afraid Eisen would laugh at him for being "improper," but now his wish had finally co true.
However, this act of letting himself go completely—
Terrified the small Fern.
She sternly scolded Heiter.
…
After that, ti seed to press the fast-forward button.
After autumn ca winter, after winter ca spring, after spring ca sumr.
Four years passed in the blink of an eye.
Under Frieren's guidance, Fern grew rapidly and had already beco an excellent mage.
Although she had yet to break the "target rock" Heiter had set for her, in Frieren's eyes, it was only a matter of ti.
anwhile, Frieren's study of the counterfeit Diary of Sage Ewig was nearing its conclusion.
Everything seed to be moving in a good direction.
But Shane's mood grew heavier with each passing day.
Because the gray attribute on Heiter—
Its description was becoming worse and worse…
One day after snowfall.
Shane and Heiter sat inside, drinking hot tea while watching Frieren and Fern practice attacking using snown.
Over the past few years, Fern had grown taller.
Once a small child, now standing beside Frieren, she looked almost like a sister.
Using the magic Frieren taught her—magic that makes snown do sorsaults—Fern animated a snowman shaped like Shane.
She happily turned back to look at Heiter.
Heiter understood, and the two exchanged a smile.
Shane raised an eyebrow and pretended to glare at Fern.
Fern gave a mischievous smile, completely ignoring his harmless warning.
Shane muttered inwardly that the little girl had beco much more lively over the past few years.
At that mont—
Heiter looked at Shane seriously and suddenly spoke, his tone sincere.
"Thank you, Shane. Back then, it really ant a lot that you and Frieren ca to see ."
For a mont, Shane didn't know what to say.
He suddenly realized that Heiter might not be thanking him for sothing so simple…
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