Reunion

30th anniversary of Shinshi Era

The Rufen Region of the Northern Plateau.

Amidst the ruins, the First-Class Mage, Genau, stared expressionlessly at the Demons begging for mercy before him.

"Please, please let me go! I have young children to take care of..."

"Shut up."

Genau impatiently interrupted the Demons kneeling on the ground begging for mercy, his expression growing increasingly disgusted.

Seeing that the person before him remained unmoved by his pleas for mercy, the Demons secretly gathered his Mana, intending to strike first.

But all of this was observed by Genau.

With a wave of his hand, he unleashed Offensive Magic, eliminating the Demons had been begging for mercy just a moment ago, but was now poised to launch a sneak attack on him, spewing lies the next.

After defeating the Demons, Genau searched for survivors in the village.

This subjugation mission was personally entrusted to us by Lady Serie.

And here.

It is his hometown.

Although Genau didn't have any particular feelings for the village, the shocking scene before him still made him feel troubled.

As I searched through the village following my memories, a faint voice drifted over.

"Hmm..."

Although they hadn't seen each other for many years, Genau could still vaguely recognize that it was his childhood friend.

He carried his friend on his back and walked towards the church.

Perhaps the pain from moving woke up the friend on Genau's back.

"It's Genau... The village was destroyed by the Demons..."

Genau said calmly, "I know the general situation. I've killed all the Demons here. It's all over."

"The people in the village..."

Genau paused slightly before continuing toward the church.

"... Everyone is safe and sound."

"You will be saved too. Although the person who came with me this time is a newly promoted First-Class Mage, she can use the Goddess's magic."

Isn't that strange?

Genau received no reply; the person on his back seemed to have fallen asleep from exhaustion.

After a moment of silence, she said to herself, "So don't worry, she'll heal your injuries quickly."

The small church was already filled with the corpses of villagers.

Even Methode, who could use the Goddess Magic, was powerless to reverse the situation.

They arrived a little late.

But this is not their fault.

It also takes time to get from receiving the message to arriving at the mission location.

But the Demons won't wait for them.

"Mr. Genau..."

Methode looked at the lifeless figure that Genau was carrying on his back; experience told her that the person was dead.

But...

Methode hesitated only for a moment before saying, "Please leave the injured person here."

"The injured?"

"Don't say things like that to comfort me, Methode."

"When I found him, I knew he was beyond saving."

"It smells awful, doesn't it? This guy's abdominal wound has been rotting for a long time. At this stage, only Goddess could heal him."

Genau is First-Class Mage; the fact that he cannot use Goddess Magic does not mean that he cannot even tell whether a person is still alive.

Placing the body beneath the statue of the Goddess, Genau half-squatted, looking at his friend's lifeless corpse lying on the ground, and continued:

"This guy is the bakery owner's son. We used to play together a lot when we were kids."

"After the owner passed away, he took over the bakery. But the bread he bakes is terrible."

"We'll never be able to eat this again."

Methode didn't speak, but simply stood quietly to the side.

After a while...

Genau straightened up, his voice still calm, but carrying an undisguised chill.

"Why aren't the Demons attacking us? These unarmed villagers are completely different from us, who live by fighting."

"Even if we die, it should be us who chose to fight, not these villagers."

Upon hearing this, Methode said softly, "Mr. Genau, by the time the Northern Branch received the request for help from the Norm Knights stationed here, the village had already been destroyed by the Demons."

"This is not Mr. Genau's fault."

Genau remained silent for a moment; he certainly understood this principle.

But this was, after all, his hometown, where his childhood friend had just lost his life on his back.

All of this ignited a nameless fire within him.

The villagers we might find are probably already lying at the feet of the Goddess statue inside the church.

Those that can't be found probably won't be found anytime soon.

He also wiped out the remaining Demons in the village.

"... I'll go and inspect the village again."

After saying that, Genau turned and prepared to leave the church.

Methode knew that the mission location was her partner's hometown.

Since arriving in the village, the two have been working tirelessly to clear out the Demons and search for any remaining survivors.

Although he wasn't exactly exhausted, Genau's condition was definitely not right at the moment.

He quickly called out to Genau, who was about to leave, "Mr. Genau, how about taking a short rest?"

"Why?" Genau stopped and looked at Methode behind him, puzzled.

That's because...

As Methode was pondering how to explain, one of the watchful eyes that Genau had sent out suddenly disappeared.

"One of the eyes I deployed nearby has disappeared."

Methode and Genau's [Detection Magic] instantly surged towards the spot where the eye had disappeared.

"There's one mage lurking nearby... no, are there three?"

"There should be three."

Methode then echoed Genau's assessment.

However, the Mana aura emanating from these three mages didn't feel like that of Demons; rather, it was somewhat familiar.

"Three mages, judging from their Mana aura, all three are skilled. Do you think they will be enemies?" Genau asked, looking in the direction where the eye had disappeared.

"No, this should be..."

Methode had already recognized whose the three Mana auras belonged to.

But before he could finish speaking, the windows on both sides of the church suddenly shattered.

Methode and Genau reacted quickly, each looking towards the side of the broken window.

The moment the window shattered, Genau had already begun to gather Mana.

However, what appeared through the broken window was a familiar face that left a deep impression on him.

Frieren.

The candidate who broke the Barrier personally set up by Lady Serie during the first round of the First-Class Mage exam.

At that moment, Frieren rushed into the church through the window, Staff in hand. But upon realizing that the person in front of her was the examiner, she canceled the spell she was about to unleash and landed on the church floor instead.

Seeing this, Genau also canceled the spell in his hand and said, "... So it's Frieren."

"So that means the other two Mana belong to the First-Class Mages Rienta and Fern, right?"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the church.

Rienta first waved her hand, canceling the longsword and afterimage that had rushed in front of Methode.

He was about to say hello when he noticed that Methode was looking behind him.

Rienta coughed lightly, canceling the two sword and knife rings that were slowly rotating behind her head, one clockwise and one counterclockwise.

"Ahem, it's Methode! Long time no see."

Frieren was already used to Rienta's special effects; after all, she wasn't the one who was embarrassed.

"It's Methode, oh, and the examiner from the First-Class Mage exam. I remember your name is Genau, right?"

After saying that, Frieren glanced somewhat strangely at the Mana surrounding Genau, and continued:

"Honestly, I sensed a murderous magical Mana here; I thought it was Demons."

Upon hearing this, Genau remained silent for a moment, then glanced at Methode beside him before speaking:

"Oh, I see. I apologize for the misunderstanding caused by my personal reasons."

Methode also turned her gaze away from Rienta at this moment. She saw Genau's eyes and understood what Genau was trying to express.

"Indeed, until just now, Mr. Genau looked extremely anxious."

Rienta quietly hid to the side without making a sound. Taking advantage of Methode's gaze towards Frieren, she used Telekinesis to control herself and fly towards the window.

He originally thought it was Demons and wanted to show off with all the special effects enabled.

Unexpectedly, not only was he not Demons, but he was someone I knew.

Just as he was about to fly away, Fern appeared behind the window that Frieren had smashed.

After briefly surveying the church, Fern's gaze settled on Rienta seemed to be trying to sneak away.

The people inside the church followed Fern's gaze and looked at Rienta, who had flown to the edge of the window.

Fortunately, Frieren spoke up at this moment to help Rienta out of the predicament.

"It's alright, Fern. Rienta. Rinta, go tell Stark that he's one of us."

"... good."

Rienta left the church through the window.

But the atmosphere inside the church was no longer as somber as before.