A Strikingly Different Outcome

A wooden house on the edge of a cliff.

Nearly a week has passed since I last entered the Barrier to negotiate with Macht.

During this time, Rienta and Stark rebuilt a new wooden cabin on the Cliffside.

After all, the wooden hut that originally served as the Barrier administrator was far too rudimentary.

The new cabin has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, and a huge kitchen.

This configuration is perfectly adequate for the living needs of five people.

Judging by the timing, the letter sent to the Continental Magic Association for help should have arrived by now.

Perhaps Serie is already on her way.

Although Frieren was somewhat reluctant to ask Serie for help, she did not stop her just to be on the safe side.

This day was like any other.

Rienta, Stark, and Dunkel sat in the living room drinking tea.

That's right, there's also a room for Dunkel in the new cabin.

Fern was in the bedroom taking care of Frieren was working hard to analyze her memories.

Normally, with Rienta's help, Frieren would have been able to move around freely long ago.

Focusing all her bodily functions on analyzing Macht's memories no longer affects her normal activities.

However, ever since that test...

Frieren then fell back into a state of stiffness, unable to move freely.

No matter how many times Rienta healed her, Frieren stubbornly focused all her energy on deciphering memories.

Rienta had no way to deal with this.

At midday, the sun was shining brightly.

Frieren pushed open the door, frowned, and went into the living room, sitting down next to Rienta.

Fern followed closely behind, but looked somewhat bewildered.

Rienta poured a cup of tea for each of them and said with a smile, "Lady Frieren, you've finally finished your analysis."

I'm going to cook a big meal to celebrate.

"Fern, come on over."

After saying that, Rienta stood up and walked towards the kitchen.

Upon hearing this, Fern nodded, picked up the hot tea that Rienta had just poured for her, took a sip, and then stood up, preparing to go and help.

"Rienta, wait a minute."

Unexpectedly, Frieren stopped Rienta at that moment.

At this time in the past, she should have been urging them to order.

Rienta was putting on an apron at the kitchen doorway.

Turning around, I was about to ask Frieren what she wanted to eat, but I saw that Frieren was frowning, looking very conflicted.

He had never seen such an expression on Frieren's face before.

Unlike when choosing Grimoire or a certain food, Frieren's expression now was more solemn and intriguing.

"What's wrong, Lady Frieren?"

Frieren didn't answer immediately. After a moment of silence, she drank the tea on the table in one gulp, stood up, took a few quick steps to the kitchen door, and then pulled Rienta along towards the bedroom.

Seeing this, Fern tilted his head, looked at the two people's backs, and asked, "Eh? Aren't you making lunch?"

Rienta didn't know what had happened either, and Frieren's actions were very urgent.

In just a few seconds, the two had arrived at the door of Frieren's bedroom.

Before being pulled into the room, he could only shout, "As for lunch, Fern, you can decide what to do."

'Bang!'

The bedroom door was closed.

Inside the living room.

Fern stared blankly at the scene, as she had been taking care of Frieren in the bedroom as usual.

But just now, Lady Frieren suddenly sat up in bed on her own.

Moreover, he had a furrowed brow, looking as if he had something on his mind.

She asked, but Lady Frieren showed no intention of explaining and simply left the bedroom.

Then she pulled her Rienta back into the bedroom.

Suddenly, a surge of Mana energy emanated from the bedroom.

After sensing it for a moment, Fern discovered that it was actually [Soundproofing Magic].

"What exactly happened...?"

Fern held her hands lightly to her chest, looking worriedly at the bedroom, and murmured softly.

Dunkel's gaze also fell on the tightly closed wooden door, his expression somewhat tense.

He also sensed the Soundproofing Magic being released in the bedroom.

Wasn't Frieren analyzing Macht's memories?

Why did she pull Rienta into the bedroom alone?

Furthermore, it has constructed [Soundproofing Magic].

Could it be that something has changed regarding Rienta's ability to lift the curse of Golden Transformation?

On the wooden table.

Stark glanced at the closed bedroom door, then at Dunkel brow was furrowed.

Finally, their gaze fell upon Fern standing at the kitchen doorway.

He didn't know what had happened.

But he knew that Rienta had just been about to cook.

Although Rienta was pulled away to a private meeting by Frieren, Rienta the cooking to Fern.

After a brief moment of thought, Stark looked at Fern, raised his hand, and said:

"Fern, I want to eat barbecue."

"A big one!"

Fern: "... Okay, I understand..."

Dunkel: "..."

Inside the bedroom.

As soon as Frieren entered the room, she cast a [Soundproofing Magic].

Hexagram-shaped Magic Array Pattern enveloped the entire bedroom.

The two sat down at a table made from a single tree stump.

After a moment of contemplation, Frieren spoke, "Rienta, I remember you said before that when you lifted the curse on the [Golden Land], the flowers and plants that had been Golden Transformation would wither rapidly in a very short time, right?"

Upon hearing this, Rienta paused for a moment, then replied:

Yes, is there a problem?

Isn't that precisely because of this problem that they sought help from Serie?

Why did Frieren suddenly ask this?

Frieren said calmly, "I have completed the analysis of all of Macht's memories."

Before Rienta could utter a word of praise, Frieren stopped him and continued:

"As you should know, I fought against Macht six hundred years ago."

"But to Macht at that time, I was just an ordinary magician."

"It was during that battle that my right hand was affected by the [Magic That Turns All Things to Gold]. Afterwards, it took me nearly a hundred years to remove the curse."

"The reason I provoked Macht earlier was because I wanted to see if I could break free from the Golden Transformation."

Even if I can't do it, you'll be there for me.

Rienta nodded and said, "That's what I thought too, which is why I also provoked Macht."

"However, what does this have to do with Lady Frieren's question?"

Frieren had guessed Rienta's intentions, which is why she didn't stop him.

But now, after this period of time, Macht's memory analysis is complete.

Her analysis of the [Magic That Turns All Things to Gold] is also basically complete.

Thus, the magic to break the Magic That Turns All Things to Gold's was born.

However, according to her reasoning, if the curse of the Golden Land was lifted by [the magic that removes the Magic That Turns All Things to Gold], it would be impossible for things that have been untouched from 'Golden Transformation' to wither so quickly in a very short time.

Instead, it will remain in the state it was in when it was first 'Golden Transformation'.

This is completely different from what Rienta said.