"Shichen? Why did you stop responding?"
"Shichen? What are you doing?"
"Hey~"
"Can't you hear anymore?"
Elaina called out to him in her mind for a long while, but got no reply.
He'd said he was disconnecting for a bit, and then there'd been nothing at all.
It had already been an hour.
She wasn't worried that anything had happened to him. It just felt strange not chatting with him for that long.
Like sothing was missing.
Even the milk tea in her hand didn't taste as good anymore.
Without Shichen keeping her company, Elaina felt like sothing was off. She didn't even feel like traveling anymore, and just happened to spot a movie theater.
She walked in, naturally attracting a lot of attention, but ignored it, picked a movie whose poster looked interesting, and bought a ticket.
There was still so ti before it started, so she bought a soda and sat in a quiet corner to wait.
While waiting, she tried reaching out to Shichen again, but still got no response.
It was boring.
A few people tried to hit on her, but she ignored them. Anyone who got too pushy got one cold glare from her, and that was enough to send them running.
After that, no one else dared approach.
Elaina waited alone until the movie started, then entered with her half-finished soda, which had already gone warm.
It was her first ti in a place like this. Even though Shichen had explained a lot about theaters to her, experiencing it in person was totally different.
She looked around curiously the whole way in.
When she entered the screening room and found her seat, she kept looking around.
Then she gradually noticed that everyone else coming in was in pairs—a man and a woman.
Right, she'd picked a romance movie.
Watching it alone did feel a little odd.
Still, she didn't care and sat there as if it were perfectly normal, waiting for the movie to start.
This kind of film was a first for her, and the opening alone amazed her.
After all, in her era, there was only theater.
So this was what a big screen was.
So this was what special effects were.
Elaina was completely absorbed.
But it didn't take long before she started feeling awkward.
What were the male and female leads doing?
Watching them kiss on screen made her feel uncomfortable, but at the sa ti she wanted to keep watching.
Then, as she watched, the sounds around her started to feel wrong too.
This was a public place—what were these people doing?
Elaina was annoyed, but she also knew this was apparently one of the "features" of movie theaters, so there wasn't much she could say.
She could only endure it in silence.
She tried reaching out to Shichen again, but still got no reply.
That made her even more unhappy.
The movie stopped being enjoyable, and she watched the rest of it in boredom.
Before she knew it, the movie was over. Elaina let out a long breath and decided she was never coming again.
Movies were awful.
"So, how was it?"
A familiar voice suddenly sounded beside her. Elaina whipped her head around.
"Shichen?!"
He was sitting right next to her.
She thought she was seeing things and rubbed her eyes, but he was still there.
"Heh~ Why are you so shocked?" Shichen looked at her and smiled.
"When did you get here?" Elaina asked, delighted.
"Guess."
"How would I know?"
"Then the answer is: when you weren't paying attention."
"You really are the worst..." Elaina laughed and grumbled at the sa ti.
"We should head out too." Shichen stood up.
"Okay!" Elaina bounced up and followed him, her steps light.
The two of them left the screening room and entered the lobby. This ti, no one looked their way at all. It was as if they didn't exist.
They left the theater together.
"So why did you suddenly decide to see a movie?"
"I was bored..."
"Watching a movie alone isn't much fun."
"I've definitely learned that now."
"Then call next ti. I can co with you."
"You said that, okay?" Elaina made sure to rember it.
"Yeah. As long as I'm free."
"So what were you doing just now?" Elaina couldn't help asking.
"Taking care of sothing. It took a while, and it wasn't the kind of thing you should hear."
"I see." Elaina nodded and didn't think too much about it.
Now that Shichen was here again, she felt like none of it really mattered.
She wanted to keep traveling again.
"You weren't getting anxious without , were you?" Shichen teased.
"Hmph~ Don't treat like a child." Elaina turned her head and denied it.
"Heh." Shichen smiled and reached out to ruffle her hair.
Her ash-gray hair was incredibly soft and warm, almost like cotton.
"I said don't treat like a child!" Elaina swatted his hand away.
"Fine, fine. Since you're not a child, I guess I don't need to compensate you."
"Compensate?" Elaina looked at him in confusion.
"I was going to make it up to you because you got scared. But since you weren't scared, I guess there's nothing to make up for."
"..." Elaina opened her mouth, then shut it again.
Admitting it was bad. Denying it was bad too.
"You really are..."
"Haha~ I'm kidding. How about I make it up to you with ice cream?"
"Really?" Elaina blinked.
"Really."
"That's more like it. Hmph~ You said you'd keep an eye on , and then you disappeared for that long. Not making it up to would've been outrageous."
"Sure, let's go with that."
"I want a different flavor this ti!"
"A different flavor? Why not get all of them?"
"All of them? Can I?"
"Of course. Just get a triple scoop."
"Triple scoop? That sounds amazing. Hurry up and take there!"
"Alright~"
Shichen, sounding openly affectionate, took her to an ice cream stand and got her a triple-scoop cone.
He got himself plain vanilla.
After trying all kinds of flavors, you eventually realized plain vanilla was still the best.
Shichen wandered around with Elaina for a while, then left once she'd finished her ice cream.
Elaina went back to traveling, though honestly it looked more like shopping. She walked everywhere, looked at everything, and asked Shichen about anything she saw.
There was no end to it.
Shichen lay beside Serie, holding her in his arms, answering Elaina's endless questions while also checking on how Frieren and the others were doing.
They were still crawling through the dungeon at a snail's pace.
The mages who had already reached the end had had enough and started looking for Frieren.
They knew only Frieren could deal with her own clone.
They themselves were completely helpless.
On the second night of the second round, Frieren's group was finally found by the others.
She could no longer leisurely wander around.
Along with the other mages, Frieren's group ca to the final boss room and started discussing strategy.
Everyone had already defeated their own clones, so they had experience to share.
"By the way, does it not matter if you haven't defeated your own clone?" Übel asked.
She'd been following Frieren this whole ti and had never even seen her own clone.
"The rule is to clear the dungeon, not to defeat your clone," one old man answered.
"I see... I never even found mine. I don't know if it's strong or not."
"I didn't find mine either," Fern added.
"Say, don't tell the two of them are hiding sowhere and tead up with Frieren's clone?"
"No way, right?"
"That shouldn't happen. They don't think for themselves. They just have the sa strength, habits, and weaknesses as we do," soone explained.
"That's good then..."
"Then here's the real question: what's Frieren's weakness?"
The mont that question was asked, everyone turned to look at Frieren.
~~~
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