"Follow ."
Eisen led the way into the forest, and Shichen and the others followed behind him.
"Shichen-sama…" Fern glanced at Shichen. This was the first ti she had ever seen him look so serious.
That person… must be soone Shichen-sama respected deeply.
After walking with Eisen for a while, the view suddenly opened up, and the light grew brighter.
Ahead was a large patch of brightness—the exit of the forest.
As they drew closer, they could even sll flowers.
The mont they stepped out of the forest, color flooded their vision—and Fern froze.
In front of them was a garden, overflowing with blossoms. The fragrance was thick in the air, the scene vivid and dreamlike.
"This is…"
"A place Frieren and I used to live," Shichen said, gazing over the sea of flowers with nostalgia in his eyes.
Master really did love flower-growing magic the most.
"The house is still here." Frieren looked toward the small stone cottage on the far side of the garden and smiled faintly.
That place held a lot of mories for her, too.
Even though she was an elf with an endless lifespan—little things like this shouldn't have stayed so clear.
And yet they did, because of him.
Frieren glanced at Shichen, the corners of her mouth lifting. Because of him, every mont of her life had aning.
"What are you smiling at?" Shichen noticed her look.
"Nothing." Frieren shook her head.
"So you're hiding sothing from now, huh?" Shichen reached out and ruffled her hair ssily.
"My hairstyle is going to get ruined!"
"It's fine. I'll braid it for you."
"You'll make lose sleep…"
"Oh, you think so?" Shichen ruffled harder.
Fern watched, amused. In a situation like this, she didn't feel jealous at all.
Eisen, on the other hand, looked uncomfortable. After all these years, their relationship was still just as sweet.
And the mont they t again, he had to watch this tooth-aching display of affection.
"Shichen-nii… can you stop flirting in front of ?"
"Eisen, why are you still single? Can't you get yourself a wife?"
"No interest."
"I'm starting to think you and Heiter had sothing going on, if you never even got married."
"Shichen-nii, don't say weird stuff."
"Figures. Eisen's not the type you can joke with. Co on—let's go. And don't step on the flowers."
Crossing the garden, they reached the small stone cottage they had lived in.
It hadn't been around long for Shichen and Frieren, but the cottage itself had endured for a thousand years.
And it wasn't damaged at all.
Clearly, soone had been maintaining it regularly.
Shichen looked at Eisen.
"Don't look at . I haven't touched this place."
"So Master really did still care about ." Shichen smiled.
"Of course." Frieren took his hand, quietly comforting him.
"Shichen-sama? Is there… sothing between you and Flam-sama?" Fern sensed sothing off.
"Yeah. I had a disagreent with Master. She hasn't t for a thousand years."
"A thousand years…" Fern couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of conflict could last that long.
"I went against what she wanted. It made her furious."
"But even so, not eting for a thousand years…"
"The main reason is… I kept avoiding her," Shichen admitted.
For Flam it was a thousand years. For him, it wasn't even a hundred.
"It's been a thousand years. Flam-sama has to have forgiven you by now, right?"
"Hard to say…" Shichen shook his head, uncertain.
"She definitely has. Hurry up and go inside—see if she left you a ssage." Fern tried to encourage him, pushing Shichen toward the cottage.
Eisen blinked at their backs.
"Frieren… Fern is…"
"Pretty normal," Frieren replied, unbothered.
"You're not bothered?"
"If you really understood Shichen, you wouldn't be thinking that." Frieren smiled.
"Truly understand him… yeah, we really don't, do we? He lived up to his nickna in the hero party—'the mysterious one.'"
"It's fine. You only need to know the version of him that exists in this world," Frieren said gently.
"…Yeah."
Eisen thought about it and decided she was right. The Shichen-nii he knew was already more than enough.
With that settled, the two of them went inside—only to see Shichen hugging Fern, grinning like an idiot, absurdly excited.
"S-Shichen-sama, please—let go…" With Frieren and Eisen walking in, Fern went bright red with embarrassnt.
"Shichen-nii, what are you…?" Eisen looked just as confused.
Weren't they here to find a ssage?
And he couldn't wait even a second?
"Oh, I'm just happy." Shichen finally released Fern.
"Shichen-sama, honestly… you got carried away." Fern, face still red, fixed her hair.
"Because Master forgave ."
"What did Flam say?" Frieren stepped forward, asking.
"She told to go find her—but I can't use any special abilities. I have to do it step by step."
"That does sound like she's forgiven you."
"Yeah. Otherwise she wouldn't have asked to see ."
"But… that basically ans the sa thing as the journey we're on right now."
"True."
"So we keep going as planned?"
"We never really had a plan," Shichen said.
"Fair."
"Shichen-sama, I still don't understand why Flam-sama was angry at you."
"It was sothing simple—I gave her an infinite lifespan."
"Infinite lifespan? But Flam-sama wasn't an elf—wait! That's not simple at all!" Fern finally realized.
"It is for ."
"Shichen-sama… what are you, exactly?"
"The mysterious one?"
"…"
"So you didn't give Himl and the others infinite lifespans because Flam influenced you?" Eisen put it together.
"Yeah. Master told not to casually decide soone's life journey for them."
"No wonder…"
"Alright—no ti to waste. Let's go." Shichen was already itching to set out and reconcile with Flam.
"Not so fast, Shichen-nii. Stay one night with first," Eisen said.
"Stay one night?" Shichen stared at him, suspicious.
"…What are you thinking? I an I want to ask you for a favor," Eisen said flatly.
"Oh. You scared —I thought you'd finally awakened or sothing."
"…"
That night, the three of them sat around a campfire, grilling at.
"This takes back," Shichen said, staring into the flas with a sudden sigh.
During their journey with Himl, they'd grilled at like this all the ti.
"Yeah." Eisen nodded.
"Alright. What do you want to ask ?"
"Shichen-nii… I want you to et my student."
"Student?"
"Yeah. I took on a student once. But he ran away from ho," Eisen said.
"Eisen-sama—your student is a boy or a girl?" Fern asked.
"Hm? A boy. Why?"
"Then it's fine." Fern went back to grilling.
"What does that an?" Eisen looked at Shichen.
"Don't worry about it," Shichen said lightly. "Eisen, do you want to take your student in?"
"As expected of you, Shichen-nii."
"Can't you teach him yourself?"
"I can't anymore." Eisen stared at his hands, expression grim.
"Can't?"
"I'm scared of him." Eisen's voice was steady, but serious. "I sparred with him before, and he frightened . I panicked and used too much strength… and ended up hitting him hard enough that he ran away."
"Yep. Sounds like you."
"So, Shichen-nii—he's talented. I want you to take him and guide him," Eisen said, asking earnestly.
"No problem."
~~~
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