Dunkel

Northern Plateau.

Forests surrounding the Weise region.

It was almost noon.

"Familiar?"

Rienta put away the kitchen knife in her hand and walked towards the squirrel familiar with a large backpack slung across her shoulder.

When this familiar appeared in [Detection Magic], he thought it was wild game, so he came over with a knife to prepare an extra meal.

Unexpectedly, it turned out to be a familiar responsible for delivering messages.

As Rienta approached, the squirrel familiar shakily took out a letter and a Grimoire from a satchel that was half its height and handed them to Rienta.

Then, without looking back, he ran into the bushes and disappeared.

"..."

Am I scary?

Rienta scratched his head, took the letter and the Grimoire, and returned to the campsite.

Frieren, who was reading a book, was slightly taken aback when she noticed the letter in Rienta's hand, before turning her attention back to the Grimoire in her hand.

He casually flipped to the next page of the Grimoire in his hand, and without looking up, said, "Another request from the Continental Magic Association?"

They are now deep in the Northern Plateau, and delivering the letter accurately to them is no easy task.

Rienta opened the letter, glanced through its contents, and then said:

"No, this was a request sent in a personal capacity by that impolite First-Class Mage, Lernen."

Rienta still has a pretty deep impression of this person.

During the First-Class Mage exam, he first helped Frieren secure her exam qualification.

Then, during the second round of the exam, [Escape Golems ] were provided to ensure the safety of the examinees.

Judging from these things alone, Lernen is quite a good person.

But.

This guy isn't very bright.

In order to ensure that Serie wouldn't be alone in the future, he even dared to plot to kill Frieren.

They were trying to leave behind a legend that could last a long time in this way.

Moreover, they attacked directly when Frieren had no will to fight.

Let's not even talk about whether this old guy can do it.

The key point is,

Whether Serie will be remembered in the future has nothing to do with killing Frieren.

Did something get stuck in Lernen's brain?

Besides...

Serie is an elf, but isn't Frieren too?

Why can't Frieren remember Serie?

That's outrageous.

Frieren said as she flipped through the Grimoire:

"The request wasn't made through the Continental Magic Association, but rather in an individual's name."

"This situation is definitely going to be troublesome; it's better to refuse."

Rienta nodded in agreement.

"That's what I think too."

At this moment, Fern also came over, took the letter from Rienta, glanced at it briefly, and said with some surprise:

"Lady Frieren doesn't seem very interested in this request."

Frieren replied curtly, "I hate that guy."

Stark, who was standing nearby, also remembered who the 'old guy' Rienta had mentioned was.

After all, Rienta gave him a very serious lecture after that.

"After all, his shoulder was injured before."

When it comes to commissions, Rienta's group usually decides whether or not to accept one based on the principle of majority rule.

Rienta and Frieren have made it clear that they do not want to take on this request.

And Stark looks about the same.

Seeing this, Fern also decided not to accept the commission.

Put the letter back in the envelope, put it away, and hand it to Rienta.

"In that case, I won't answer."

"Rienta, remember to send the letter and the Grimoire back with you when you reach the next town."

Broken.

Rienta never expected that the Grimoire, which she had deliberately omitted as a reward, would be brought up by Fern unintentionally.

Sure enough, Frieren, who possessed the Grimoire, spoke up.

"Ahem, I think accepting the commission isn't out of the question."

"..."*3.

The Barrier.

Even Rienta, the wealthiest person present, was astonished by the sight inside the Barrier.

Looking around, everything within the Barrier's range—trees, flowers, grass, cities—was shimmering with golden light.

Looking at the scenery not far away, Stark sighed:

"An endless expanse of gold, it's so magnificent..."

Frieren gazed at the golden city in the distance, and calmly introduced it to the group:

"This is the Fortress City of Weise."

"Macht, one of the Seven Sages of Destruction, known as the 'Golden Land,' turned this city into gold fifty years ago."

"Although I had heard this rumor, I never imagined that the Continental Magic Association was in charge of sealing this place."

Frieren knew about Weise because Macht was one of those eleven magic users.

[Golden Land] Macht uses the [Magic That Turns All Things to Gold].

Macht caused them quite a bit of trouble on their journey to defeat the Demon King.

"In other words, Macht is now also trapped within this Barrier that shrouds the Golden Land."

Frieren's tone was somewhat subtle; after a pause, she looked to the side:

"This mission involves us assisting the Barrier administrators sent by the Continental Magic Association."

"I never expected it to be you, Dunkel."

Dunkel, who had remained silent since reaching the edge of the Barrier, gave a wry smile upon hearing Frieren's words and said:

"I've only just taken over as the Barrier manager here, and I've been asking Serie for a long time for this."

Seeing the puzzled looks on everyone's faces, Dunkel added, "My hometown is within the reach of this Golden Land."

Rienta had a pretty good impression of Dunkel.

After all, Dunkel, as Court Mage, contributed three super cool spells to him.

[The Magic That Summons Tornadoes].

[The Magic That Turns Wind into Infernal Flames].

These two spells can be cast individually or as a combination to summon a fire tornado.

And [the magic that summons arrows of light].

Although he rarely uses those few spells.

My hometown in the Golden Land.

He abandoned his identity Court Mage and came to the Northern Plateau to become a Barrier manager.

Collect all known information.

It seems so.

Dunkel is an old man with a story to tell.

Although I don't know exactly what needs to be done yet.

But, it seems like we could take this opportunity to extract a few more spells from Dunkel?

As for the advance payment from Lernen...

This Golden Land looks like an extremely difficult Dungeon, at least SS-level in difficulty. One Grimoire is definitely not enough.

He's stingy even when asking for help.

Rienta didn't believe that Lernen, as Serie's disciple and a veteran First-Class Mage, couldn't offer a suitable reward.

Even setting aside compensation, shouldn't Lernen offer some form of compensation for what happened before?

Since he knew to use Grimoire as payment, it means he must have known Frieren's preferences, right?

Thinking of this, Rienta's impression of Lernen worsened even further.

It wasn't just because he injured Frieren.

It's more about Lernen's attitude.