Once again, Frieren had to be rescued from a mimic chest.
Even the most patient person would be getting tired of this by now.
"Looks like this one didn't have a grimoire either…"
Sitting on the ground in a duck-squat, Frieren wiped the mimic's saliva from her head.
With arms folded across his chest, Himmel looked a little worn out. Eisen beside him was clearly running out of patience as well.
"We've searched for so long and still found nothing?"
But Frieren simply smiled at that.
"If it were that easy, would it really be called an adventure?"
Himmel blinked in surprise. Aesc covered her mouth and let out a quiet laugh.
"Isn't that exactly what you said earlier, Himmel?"
"And…" Frieren turned to Heiter with a smile, "The harder the adventure, the better the wine tastes afterward. That was your line, right?"
Eisen nodded. "That definitely sounds like something Heiter would say."
Himmel and Heiter exchanged a look—then smiled knowingly.
"True," Himmel said. "The tougher the challenge, the more thrilling it is."
"When we get back," Heiter added, "let's share a drink together. You know what they say—post-adventure drinks taste best with friends."
"I can't drink, though…" Aesc sighed.
"Then you can have juice," Eisen said.
"…I feel like I'm being treated like a child," Aesc murmured in defeat.
They continued deeper into the dungeon. Around a corner, they found yet another chest abandoned in a dark alcove.
All eyes watched as Frieren trotted cheerfully toward it, opened the lid, and was instantly swallowed whole.
As she kicked her legs and flailed, calling for help, the others let out synchronized sighs.
After freeing Frieren yet again, they stood around the fading ashes of the mimic, thoughtful.
"There are way too many mimics in this dungeon," Heiter said, frowning. "This is getting ridiculous."
"There are other ways to distinguish real chests from mimics," Aesc said thoughtfully, tapping her lips. "If you smoke them with fire, the mimic will usually react and give itself away."
"No way," Frieren cut in immediately. "What if there is a grimoire inside? Smoking it might damage the contents."
"…This elf is such a hassle," Eisen muttered.
Heiter nodded in agreement. "Seriously. If Frieren were as low-maintenance as Aesc, that'd be a dream."
"That's true…" Himmel mused. "There's a huge difference between Aesc and Frieren."
"She doesn't even act like an elf," Eisen said flatly.
"You guys have only met, what, a handful of elves in your whole lives?" Aesc deadpanned. "And you're already saying I don't count as one?"
"…Do you think you seem like an elf?" Eisen asked.
"Not really."
"…So even you admit it," Heiter said with a sweatdrop.
"Aesc helped me a lot in the future," Frieren said softly, her face warming into a gentle smile like a spring breeze. "Eighty years from now… I started traveling again for certain reasons. Aesc joined up partway through. I kept thinking—if she hadn't come with me, I would've run into some serious trouble along the way."
Turning her head slightly, Frieren glanced at Aesc out of the corner of her eye.
"And every time I think about that, I want to say… thank you."
Aesc blinked her pale blue eyes, her lips curving into a soft smile like a breeze drifting across the grasslands in spring.
"You're welcome."
"And Heiter, Eisen—"
Frieren turned to the two of them. As memories of Fern and Stark flashed through her mind, her expression softened even further.
"You two helped me more than you know."
Heiter gave a wry chuckle, but there was affection and pride in his eyes.
"Could you be a bit more specific? I've got no clue what you're talking about."
Eisen nodded. "No idea what it means, but… it's nice to hear."
"What about me? Hey, what about me, Frieren?"
Himmel leaned in eagerly. "You haven't mentioned me yet."
Frieren smiled kindly.
"You gave me a lot of motivation."
Himmel blinked, then smiled back—a warm, hazy smile, like sunlight filtering through the ruins of an ancient city.
"I'm glad to hear that."
He brushed his hair back and struck a pose. "Looks like all those statues I insisted on were worth the effort."
"Maybe," Heiter muttered. "But could you not spend an entire day just deciding on your pose each time?"
"The way that sculptor looked at us," Aesc said, shaking her head, "it felt like he wanted to murder us—especially when Himmel changed his pose over thirty times… only to go back to the first one."
"I still feel bad for them," Eisen sighed.
Just recalling the memory made Frieren's eyes go blank.
"That really was a long wait…"
"Look, Frieren's soul just left her body," Aesc deadpanned.
"To break an elf's will like that… Himmel, you're terrifying," Heiter said with mock horror.
Himmel scratched his head sheepishly.
"Sorry about that. But I won't give up. To properly immortalize my beauty for future generations, the statue must be perfect."
"…Where do you get that kind of energy…" Eisen muttered.
But Himmel only gave a serene smile and said nothing.
And with that, they continued their exploration.
Down a cracked stone stairwell, they descended toward the lowest depths of the dungeon.
"This should be the final floor," Aesc observed, glancing around with practiced eyes.
"There's only one room," Heiter noted.
"Then the pocket watch must be in there," Himmel said.
"Let's hope there aren't any monsters," Eisen added.
But the goddess, it seemed, was not listening.
Beyond the doors lay a vast circular chamber—its floor thick with shadows. A few black monsters lurked inside, curled and waiting.
The moment they stepped in, the monsters stirred, exuding hostility that made the group instantly fall into battle stances.
"…Didn't multiple parties already clear this dungeon?" Aesc muttered, resisting the urge to sigh. "The mimics were bad enough—why are there still monsters here?"
"It's been a while since the last group came through," Himmel said, drawing his sword with a wry smile. His gaze sharpened like a blade. "It's not strange for monsters to reoccupy an abandoned space."
There weren't many enemies and they weren't especially strong, so Heiter had the luxury of joking mid-fight.
"If I'd been the one to pray for no monsters—maybe the goddess would've listened. Everyone knows how devout I am."
Aesc raised an eyebrow. "Wow. The meat-gorging, wine-guzzling guy who looks nothing like a monk is calling himself devout."
The battle was quick and easy.
Himmel's cloak didn't even have a speck of dust on it.
"With the monsters out of the way, let's find the pocket watch and get out of here."
Himmel sheathed his sword and glanced around—only to notice something was off.
"…Where's Frieren?"
"It's so dark—! So scary—!"
Again?!
...
"Frieren!"
After what must have been the fifth time rescuing her from a mimic's mouth, Himmel stood before her, hands on hips, ready to deliver a long-overdue lecture.
But before he could open his mouth, Frieren pulled something from her robes.
A silver pocket watch.
Himmel froze.
"…Is that—?"
"The watch our client asked for. I found it."
The others quickly gathered around.
After a careful look, they confirmed—it was the right one.
"Who would've guessed the thing was inside a mimic," Heiter muttered, rubbing his chin. "No wonder the other adventurers never found it."
"No one but Frieren could've retrieved it," Eisen added, marveling. "Fate sure is strange."
It was dumb luck, really. But Frieren looked so proud of herself she was practically glowing.
"Hmm hmm hmm! I'm the MVP this time! You only found it because I was here!"
"Yeah, yeah," Himmel said with a helpless smile. "You win."
And since it was thanks to her that they retrieved the watch, he couldn't exactly scold her for constantly getting eaten by mimics.
After leaving the dungeon, Frieren let out a long, regretful sigh.
"So many chests… and none of them had a grimoire."
Aesc gave a shrug.
"That's life. Most of the time, you don't find what you're looking for. That's what makes the next adventure worth chasing. Isn't that what a journey's all about?"
Frieren blinked at Aesc's gentle smile—then smiled in return.
"…You're right."
...
To send Frieren back to her own time, the Hero's party continued gathering information about the Goddess's Stele.
But the results were meager.
Aesc was the first to step out of the crumbling ruins. She looked up at the starlit sky and murmured,
"It's gotten dark again…"
"We didn't find anything useful about the stele here either," Himmel said behind her, fatigue in his voice.
Understandably so—they'd just fought their way into the ruins, battling the monsters that had taken up residence inside. Then, once the dust settled, they immediately started combing through ancient, brittle tomes for information about the stele until nightfall.
"These books were a pain to read…"
Frieren slumped, arms limp. "I still prefer grimoires…"
"Same," Aesc nodded. "If it were a storybook, I'd be wide awake."
If they were exhausted, the rest of the party was even more so.
Too late to head back, they decided to set up camp near the ruins. A fire crackled in the forest clearing.
The flames hissed softly as they danced.
Frieren hugged her knees, chin resting on top. The firelight flickered in her eyes.
"…Sorry."
The words came so suddenly that no one reacted right away.
Watching her quietly, the firelight casting her face in warm amber, Himmel smiled.
"No need to apologize. This is fun in its own way."
Heiter grinned. "What did you expect, with our hero constantly taking the long road?"
Himmel scratched his head, smiling. "Geez, you guys don't have to compliment me so much."
"I wasn't complimenting you," Heiter snorted.
Eisen poked the fire with a stick. "Still… it was another dead end."
But Himmel shook his head.
"No, I don't think so."
He looked up at the stars, or perhaps back at the ruins they'd just left behind.
"We defeated the monsters in this area. That means things will be safer around here—for travelers, for merchants. We may not have found the information we wanted, but we did make a difference."
Aesc propped her cheek against one hand.
"Himmel always has some grand idea to say."
"Don't you feel the same?" he asked.
"…I do, actually."
Her lashes lowered, a smile rising in her sea-blue eyes.
"That's why I decided to join your journey in the first place. To slay monsters with joy, explore dungeons with joy, research magic with joy, trade harmless jokes, help others, admire the scenery… and before you know it, you've reached the end."
"I've been traveling for so long… I don't even know when my journey will end. So I just wanted to try a journey like this—one that's joyful, start to finish. Even just imagining it… makes me happy."