Mirror Lotus

Soon, Fern and the merchant returned from fetching water.

Seeing Stark clearing the trees around them, Fern asked, "Lord Stark, what are you doing?"

"Rienta said he wanted a barbecue and asked me to clear some space."

Fern said, "...That sounds like Rienta."

She looked helplessly to the side and, sure enough, found what she expected.

Rienta had already taken out the grill and was lighting a fire.

The table beside him and the tiered rack meant for holding ingredients were both full.

Seeing this, Fern fell silent for a moment.

Then she said, "Lord Stark, sorry to trouble you, but could you make another table?"

"Huh?!"

Fern ignored Stark's protest.

She turned to help Rienta prepare the ingredients. Marinating all the different kinds of meat was quite a chore, after all.

Besides, she liked barbecue too.

If there had only been the four of them, the table would certainly have been big enough, but with five, it was a little crowded.

With Fern's help, the ingredients were soon ready.

But Rienta didn't start grilling immediately.

The pig trotters had only just been put on to simmer.

Even though Rienta had used magic to simulate the conditions inside a pressure cooker, they still needed to simmer for a while.

Only then would the braised pig trotters come off the grill tender and full of flavor.

Though they hadn't been left to soak, it didn't make much difference.

At first, Frieren and Fern had been strongly opposed to grilled pig trotters.

But they couldn't resist Rienta's enthusiastic recommendation, and once they tried them, there was no stopping them.

They became a must-have at every barbecue.

Everyone sat at the wooden table Stark had hastily made and drank tea.

Magic That Produces Hot Tea.

It had to be said, this magic really was convenient.

Or rather, this world was truly strange. Magic had become a complete part of people's daily lives.

Just then, the merchant, who was drinking tea, noticed Fern's bracelet.

He said, "Miss Fern, that bracelet with the Mirror Lotus design on your wrist is lovely."

Hearing someone praise the gift he had given her, Stark said somewhat proudly, "Right? I spent three hours picking it out."

The merchant looked at the two of them with some feeling and said, "I see. How enviable."

"Why do you say that?" Fern looked at the merchant, puzzled.

"Hm? You don't know?"

The merchant put down his tea, looking surprised. "The Mirror Lotus symbolizes eternal love. It's a gift for a lover."

Stark: "?!"

Having learned what the Mirror Lotus meant, Fern looked at Stark in surprise. She hadn't expected him to be so bold.

Could that blockhead Stark have finally wised up?

She was unexpectedly a little happy, but when she spoke, her voice was tinged with both anticipation and inquiry.

"Lord Stark?"

But how could Stark, a warrior, possibly read Fern's tone and expression?

He explained in a slight panic, "It's a misunderstanding!! Do you think I'd know what the design symbolizes or anything like that?!"

Fern looked at Stark expressionlessly and said, "Of course. Lord Stark, you are an idiot, after all."

"You didn't know either..."

Stark muttered, feeling a little aggrieved, but he hadn't expected Fern to hear him.

"Excuse me, did you say something?"

"No, nothing..."

Fern got up and prepared to leave, intending to find Frieren, who was still in the carriage doing who knew what.

Stark watched Fern walk away and asked rather hesitantly, "Um, should I buy you a different one?"

The merchant exchanged a somewhat shocked glance with Rienta.

Rienta could only give him a helpless look in return.

Fern stopped in her tracks when she heard that and silently cursed him for a blockhead.

Then she looked at Stark very seriously and said,

"This is the birthday present you put so much thought into choosing for me, Lord Stark."

"Please don't say that again."

"I'm sorry."

Fern entered the carriage without looking back.

"Sorry, Stark," the merchant said, somewhat embarrassed.

"It's all right. I'm used to it."

Stark waved a hand, indicating that the merchant shouldn't worry about it.

Then he looked at Rienta and asked, "When do we eat?"

As evening approached, the outdoor barbecue began.

Rienta handled the grilling. With Telekinesis, it was easy enough for him to keep all five of them fed on his own.

Everyone enjoyed the meal.

The final dish, grilled pig trotters, also won unanimous praise.

The cookout lasted well into the night.

After eating, everyone cleaned up and returned to their tents to rest.

But by midnight,

Frieren was still tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

For an elf who loved to sleep, this was a truly extraordinary thing.

Seeing that Fern was fast asleep beside her, Frieren quietly got dressed and slipped out of the tent.

She was going to look for the lost ring.

In the cold wind before dawn,

The elf, who had always been emotionally distant and oblivious, abandoned her usual laziness.

She headed into the forest alone to look for the ring.

By the time dawn was approaching, Frieren still hadn't found it.

Just then, Fern, who had noticed Frieren was missing, came looking for her.

When she saw Frieren, she breathed a long sigh of relief and asked, "Lady Frieren, where did you go?"

Frieren was silent for a moment before saying, "The ring Himmel gave me is gone."

Fern was taken aback. She remembered that, before the carriage was attacked by the monster, Frieren had said that Himmel the Hero had once given her a ring with the same design as her bracelet.

And she had learned what the Mirror Lotus meant from the merchant the day before.

"I'll help too. Let's find the ring before we set off."

With that, she began searching through the grass.

Frieren resumed her search as well.

By the time it was fully light, the two of them still hadn't found anything.

The forest was simply too large, and the monster had carried them quite a distance.

If they kept searching like this, it would take a great deal of time.

Frieren was silent for a moment before saying, "Fern, never mind."

"I'm used to losing things, and that ring isn't the only thing I got from Himmel."

Fern was taken aback. She pointed to the bracelet on her wrist and asked, "It was a ring with a Mirror Lotus, like this bracelet, wasn't it?"

"They say the Mirror Lotus symbolizes eternal love."

"I see. That's the first I've heard of it." Frieren's voice was very soft. "It doesn't matter. I don't think Himmel understood any of that either."

Hearing this, Fern grasped the bracelet on her wrist.

She didn't expose the elf who had come out alone in the middle of the night to search for the ring.

Instead, she said, "Even so, that ring is very important."

"I'll go get everyone to help look."

With that, she took Frieren back to the campsite.

Frieren didn't say anything more about giving up the search and quietly followed Fern.

By the time they returned to camp, everyone was already awake.

After Fern explained what had happened,

The merchant took out a scroll and handed it to Frieren.

"People in my village have often lost accessories for as long as I can remember."

"This is Magic to Find Lost Accessories. I was planning to give you this spell as part of the reward for the request anyway."

Frieren took the scroll and began studying it carefully.

She felt quite different studying magic this time than she had before.

Before long, Frieren had learned the spell.

She summoned her staff, flew into the air, and cast Magic to Find Lost Accessories.

Memories of the ring kept surfacing.

After they completed a mission to defeat a monster, Himmel had said she had worked very hard during the mission and told her to pick an accessory as a gift.

But she hadn't been interested in such things at the time, so she had picked a ring at random.

Just then, a light shone from the distant forest.

Even in daylight, the light was exceptionally conspicuous.

Frieren knew it was telling her that her lost ring was there.