Hard Bread After So Long

Inside the church.

Genau crossed his arms and watched as the red-haired youth, who had been furious just moments before, now knelt quietly beneath the Goddess statue.

Are you praying?

"Can't we do that?"

"No, of course."

Stark was a warrior, and there wasn't much he could do about the current situation except pray.

Genau is First-Class Mage, but he can't do much more than Stark these days.

Soon.

Stark's prayer was finished.

"My hometown was also destroyed by the Demons."

"I see."

Looking at the villagers' corpses at the foot of the Goddess statue, Stark continued to ask, somewhat puzzled:

"Demons eat humans, right?"

"Then why did they leave so many corpses behind?"

"My village is like that too."

Genau's gaze shifted from Stark to his childhood friend, and he replied in a cryptic tone:

"Even when Demons are full, they won't stop killing. As for why, who knows..."

On the other side.

Frieren and Fern have finished exchanging information with Methode.

Both parties received the same commission, but the difference was that Methode and her companion arrived earlier than Frieren and her group.

The remaining Demons in the village were also dealt with by Genau and Methode.

Frieren paused for a moment, then said softly, "It seems we're still a step too late. After receiving this request, we tried our best to get here in the shortest possible time."

She was no longer the slow-witted sprite she once was, and in this situation, it was inevitable that a few ripples would stir in her heart.

It may not be considered early; it's only been a matter of the last hundred years, which is indeed short compared to the previous thousand years.

When did it start...?

Yes.

It was that invitation.

Methode, who was also late, looked at the two silent women in front of her and probably understood what they were thinking.

"However, there's still one thing Mr. Genau doesn't understand."

Having said that, he led Frieren and Fern to one side of the church.

Seeing this, Genau also led Stark to the corpses dressed in knight's robes.

"These are the Norm Knights stationed here."

"The Norm Knights?" Stark felt the name sounded familiar.

Frieren explained, "You should have seen them in the Norm Trading Company Guild's territory, right? They are knights directly under the Norm Trading Company."

"... There are only a few of them." Fern said softly, looking at the knights lying on the ground covered in wounds.

Genau stood in front of an older-looking man and explained:

"The garrison of knights in a village is usually not very large."

"However, even so, these individuals are the cream of the crop, and one could even say they are far too extravagant for this village."

"This is their captain; he's a hero who has been protecting the village since very early times."

Frieren crouched down to examine the situation of the Norm Knights before her.

"Incredible, this person is far stronger than Stark."

"... That's definitely better than someone like me..."

"Let me see, the cause of death is..."

At this moment, Methode spoke up, "According to the [Autopsy Magic], their cause of death was all from sword strikes."

"The entire Knights were killed on the spot."

Recalling the Demons he had previously dealt with, Genau's gaze fell upon the Knights' Commander, and he spoke:

"The Demons remaining in the village are all weak and Demons, not even worthy of being their opponents."

"The Demons who actually attacked the village are probably still alive and well."

After saying that, Genau looked at Frieren and continued, "That's wonderful, you didn't come for nothing."

Although Genau and Methode are both First-Class Mages and confident they can take down the culprit, the help of Frieren and the other two First-Class Mages will undoubtedly make things much easier.

Frieren stood up, a slight smile playing on her lips. She was more than skilled at killing Demons.

"I see. It seems there's something we can do to help."

"Let these Demons experience firsthand the terror that comes from humans."

Inside a house that is still relatively intact.

Methode is deducing information about the Demons based on the wounds on the knights.

He tried to unleash a few slashes; although he was a mage, his movements were precise and powerful. He then asked the only warrior among them Stark:

"First like this, then like this."

"Is this how the injuries were sustained?"

Watching Methode's movements, Stark shook his head and said, "It shouldn't be; the movements look a bit unnatural."

"Judging from the knights' injuries, the enemy might be using Two-Sword Style."

"In that case..."

Stark began to ponder how he should defeat his opponent, who wielded Two-Sword Style.

On the other side.

"Generally speaking, Demons can only conceal their Mana for short periods, so they are most likely outside our range of Mana perception."

"In other words, the area around this village is safe for the time being."

Frieren nodded and continued, "Genau wrote down all the places in the area that could be Demons strongholds. Let's investigate according to this clue later."

"It's about time for dinner; you can't win a battle on an empty stomach."

"Rienta... wait, where's Rienta?"

Fern was taken aback by what she heard. She remembered that her Rienta had gone to Stark.

Although only Stark entered the church, and in that manner.

However, ever since leaving the Norm Trading Company Guild territory and entering the Rufen Region, Rienta's condition has been rather strange.

He would occasionally do some strange things, but he himself was completely unaware that something was wrong.

Even Lady Frieren and Lady Stark didn't think there was anything wrong with it, after all, Rienta had indeed been quite chuunibyou before.

Over time, I stopped paying attention to it.

I just thought that Rienta a little embarrassed, which is why he didn't go into the church with Stark.

Now it seems things are starting to look a bit off.

After all, if Rienta had told Stark about what was happening inside the church, Stark wouldn't have broken down the door.

Thinking of this, Fern quickly looked at Frieren.

"Frieren, Rienta..."

Frieren then looked at Stark, who was studying information about the Demons, and asked:

"Stark, did you just run into Rienta?"

Upon hearing this, Stark looked at Frieren and replied, "Rienta? No. I thought he went to search for Demons. Did something happen?"

Upon entering the church, he indeed did not see Rienta; his first thought was that Rienta was hiding inside his [Personal Space].

However, after realizing it was a misunderstanding, they stopped paying attention to Rienta's whereabouts.

Methode still has a pretty deep impression of Rienta.

Whether it was the slightly flamboyant double sword rings at their first meeting and the longsword rushing towards them, or the Mirror Image that defeated all the candidates during the First-Class Mage exam, all of these demonstrated Rienta's strength.

"Don't worry, Fern, Rienta must have something to do. She'll be fine," Frieren said, glancing at the window Rienta had left through.

"Hmm." Fern's voice was somewhat muffled.

After entering the Rufen Region, Rienta's condition was clearly not right, especially when they first entered the church.

Although Rienta used to use some exaggerated special effects, he still prioritized efficiency when dealing with Demons.

The house, which served as a temporary base, wasn't large; it was merely a place for the group to rest temporarily after the Demons' rampage.

Methode had heard what Frieren had just said. She took out a piece of bread from her package and placed it on a plate. The bread made a crisp sound as it hit the plate.

"The conditions are a bit basic, but let's make do for now."

"Chew, chew." Fern began to silently deal with the food in front of him.

"It's been so long since I've had this kind of bread..." Stark picked up a piece of bread and started eating.

"Let's be patient for now until Rienta's return," Frieren said softly, then looked at Methode and asked, "Where's Genau?"

Methode didn't quite understand the connection between eating and Rienta, but she didn't ask further. She picked up a piece of bread and said:

"They should still be near the church. I'll take care of Mr. Genau's bread..."

Before she could finish speaking, Frieren interrupted Methode: "No, Methode, please continue with your intelligence analysis. I want to know about that Demons as soon as possible."

"Then I'll go get the bread for him."

Stark took the bread from Methode and left the house.

Frieren hadn't eaten such hard bread in a long time.

"Where did Rienta go? He probably hasn't eaten yet..."