"It looks like it worked, Miss Frieren."
Seeing Frieren's magic take effect, Fern imdiately returned to her side.
"Mm. Still, let's be careful."
Frieren murmured in reply, then led Fern and First-Class Mage Lernen toward where Himl lay.
"That's strange... he just went completely still."
As Frieren's group approached, Stark scratched the back of his head in puzzlent.
"Hm?"
Frieren furrowed her brow slightly.
The suppressive force of that spell was certainly powerful — but given Himl's physical constitution, it shouldn't have been enough to knock him unconscious.
Even so, whatever her private doubts, Frieren was ultimately relieved.
Out cold was fine. Better that way... she didn't know what she'd even say to him if she had to face him right now.
Pushing that thought aside, Frieren imdiately condensed her mana into glowing amber-tinted ropes and bound Himl up securely.
In truth, these bindings wouldn't hold for long — the mont Himl woke, he'd break free in an instant.
But at least before he did, Frieren would be able to sense it the mont he stirred.
As she finished tying him, she also infused a trace of mana into Himl's body for diagnostic purposes. After examining him carefully for so ti, she finally spoke.
"Himl appears to be under the influence of a highly complex form of Mind Control Magic. I don't have any leads at the mont... My suggestion is to bring him back to the Magic Association first."
"Oh? Mind control, is it... Yes, that works. As it happens, we have quite the specialist on that subject at the Association."
Lernen stroked his beard thoughtfully at her words.
"A specialist... You an First-Class Mage Edel?"
"That's right. That girl has co to the Imperial branch as well. If it's Mind Control Magic, she'll certainly be of use — when it cos to ntal magic alone, she's already reached an unparalleled level of mastery."
"Mm, that I can believe."
Frieren gave a small nod, her thoughts drifting unbidden back to those days in the Golden Land.
It was precisely because of Edel's cooperation that they had been able to steal centuries' worth of mories from a high-ranking demon.
"In that case, let's head back quickly."
As he spoke, Lernen called his golem back to him, then used magic to nd the various cracks and battle damage it had sustained.
"Lernen, I didn't expect you to have a trick like that up your sleeve... This is the first ti I've seen a mage who specializes in autonomous golems."
Watching this elderly human at work, Frieren found herself genuinely curious — and offered the complint almost without thinking.
Lernen's own combat ability was already among the finest of the First-Class Mages. And on top of that, he had this mobile golem capable of blocking a strike from the Hero Himl himself.
The old man's total combat power was frankly equivalent to three or four First-Class Mages combined.
"You flatter ... Truth be told, this 'child' of mine only reached its current form thanks to that girl Fíliya."
"Oh?"
The mont Lernen ntioned Fíliya's na, everyone present perked up at once.
"Yes. It was so ti before the First-Class Mage examination — I suddenly received a gift from Fíliya. It was a collection of golem constructs from many years in the past. I took them apart and studied them carefully, and I can say without reservation that I learned an enormous amount."
"Is that so... May I ask what those golems looked like?"
Sothing had sparked in Frieren's mind, and she found herself asking before she'd even consciously decided to.
"Hmm... They were a group of golems resembling both lizards and serpents — though strictly speaking, they looked more like great snakes with several pairs of forelegs. And at the top of their heads was a single-eye structure, with the eye itself ford from a gemstone engraved with intricate inscriptions."
...Just as I thought.
Frieren had her answer before he'd even finished.
Those were Flam's creations, weren't they... Back then, she had even mocked Flam's golems as useless. And yet here they were, a thousand years later, not only still relevant but still capable of inspiring mages who ca after.
"Lernen... you called him Himl by na, just now. I didn't mishear that, did I?"
Frieren turned to Lernen with another curious question.
"Mm."
Lernen gave a calm nod.
"Is there sothing wrong with that? Statues of the Hero Himl are erected all across the continent — the mont I laid eyes on him, I recognized him as Lord Himl imdiately. That shouldn't be so strange, should it?"
"Well, that's true... but statues and the real person always have their differences. The fact that you recognized him in the very instant you arrived... honestly, I'm still a little impressed."
"Is that so... Then think of it this way — a man of my age has been looking up at the Hero's radiance since he was young enough to be filled with wonder at it."
"I see..."
Frieren gave a thoughtful nod at that, then — cradling the bound Himl in a princess carry — held him close against her chest.
Mages in this world were hardly the frail, bookish type. Even a mage like Frieren, traditionally a ranged artillery caster, had more than enough physical strength in her arms.
Besides, Himl wasn't heavy. Carrying him like this, Frieren felt no strain whatsoever.
"Aren't you curious, Lernen?"
Frieren's voice dropped to a murmur. What she was asking about, naturally, was the matter of Himl's resurrection.
"Mm... it is certainly a bewildering thing. But then again — we've already watched a little human girl transform into a mber of the Demon Race in broad daylight and declare herself the Demon King. At this point, I don't think anything that happens would surprise all that much."
Lernen's tone was remarkably composed.
"Fair enough... Let's go."
Frieren nodded in agreent, then called to Fern and Stark behind her and urged them to get moving.
Though it was quite clear that both of them were still brimming with unanswered questions.
"Why is Frieren carrying the Hero like that? You mages can levitate things with your mana, can't you... isn't it exhausting to carry a whole person around... couldn't she just float him through the air and be done with it?"
Stark leaned close to Fern's ear and whispered the question.
"Idiot."
Fern's only response was a single, rciless word of dismissal.
And then, imdiately after, a look crept into her eyes — the unmistakable gleam of soone who had just caught a very juicy piece of gossip.
Because... Miss Frieren had never once told her.
That this was how she felt about the Hero.
"Miss Frieren, Fern, and Lord Stark — if you don't mind, you're all welco to ride along. You expended a great deal in that battle just now, so why not conserve your mana for the ti being?"
Lernen called out the invitation from atop his mobile golem as it raced through the forest.
Frieren, who had chosen to carry Himl and fly low through the air, felt a flicker of hesitation cross her face.
She knew Lernen wasn't wrong. And she was genuinely willing to conserve her mana.
It was just... if she climbed up onto the golem's back, she'd lose her excuse to keep holding... the person in her arms.
____
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