Chapter Summaries

In the Bia Region, Frieren reunited with Fasi, who had spent over two hundred years searching for Imperial Sake, and he led the group to the sealed ruins where he believed it was hidden. Frieren refused to spend time breaking the barrier, but Rienta persuaded Fern, leaving Frieren poised to reconsider Fasi’s request.

• Rienta and the others visited a tavern in the Bia Region, where they heard locals discuss Fasi’s search for Imperial Sake and learned about the legendary drink from Fern.
• Fasi recognized Frieren and asked for her help, then revealed that Heiter had died and that he had found the location of the Imperial Sake.
• Fasi led the group through a tunnel he had dug himself to a monument inscribed in Ancient Elvish; Fern read the inscription and Frieren recognized Milliarde’s signature.
• Fasi showed Frieren a stone door protecting the ruins and asked her to dispel its barrier, but Frieren refused when he offered money instead of a grimoire.
• Rienta told Frieren that he had persuaded Fern to accept the request.

Rienta and Frieren’s party spent three months breaking the Barrier to recover the legendary Imperial Sake, only to discover that it tasted terrible. They shared it with the townspeople in a festive gathering, then departed, while Frieren reflected on the value of sharing a disappointing discovery with others.

• Rienta and the others accepted Fasi’s commission to break the Barrier, and Rienta worked on his magic research while Frieren chipped away at it over the next three months.
• Frieren told Fern about Milliarde, who had carved an inscription praising cheap Imperial Sake as a peerless vintage to pass the time.
• Frieren broke the Barrier, and Fasi, Rienta, and the others tasted the Imperial Sake and found it awful.
• Rienta used Special Effects Magic to make the sake bottles glow, then brought them to town and handed them out to the villagers.
• Fasi thanked Frieren and her companions for a happy evening, and the party left town after completing the commission.
• Heiter told Frieren that if he found the sake he had searched for all his life tasted awful, he would laugh and let everyone try it.

Rienta, Frieren, Fern, and Stark reached the Norm Trading Company’s fortress city, where its president demanded repayment of Frieren’s eighty-year-old loan. Rienta calculated the debt at just over five hundred Schtrahl gold coins and offered to pay, while President Norm doubted he could afford it.

• Rienta served Frieren, Fern, and Stark a breakfast of flatbread, pancakes, dumplings, and tofu pudding before the group resumed traveling.
• Frieren explained that the Norm Trading Company controlled much of trade across the Northern Plateau, where supply routes had recently been disrupted.
• At the city checkpoint, an attendant recognized information on Frieren’s application and escorted the party to the company headquarters.
• President Norm identified Frieren as a member of the hero’s party and demanded principal and interest on the money she had borrowed eighty years earlier.
• Rienta examined Frieren’s IOU, calculated that the debt exceeded five hundred Schtrahl gold coins, and asked whether President Norm wanted payment in Schtrahl or Larsi Gold Coins.
• President Norm questioned whether Rienta could afford the sum, and Rienta grew annoyed that the president seemed to doubt his arithmetic.

Rienta paid off Frieren’s debt to the Norm Trading Company and uncovered President Norm’s reason for presenting the old IOU: he wanted to recruit Frieren for a commission. President Norm asked her to locate the main vein of a promising silver mine so his company could rebuild its trade network, but Rienta insisted they discuss payment before accepting.

• Rienta used Telekinesis to place more than five hundred Schtrahl gold coins on the table, settling Frieren’s debt and securing permission to pass the checkpoint.
• Rienta realized President Norm had used the IOU to pressure Frieren into accepting a commission, and he agreed to hear the offer in the reception room.
• Fern and Stark agreed to listen, while Frieren remained willing to repay the kindness of the trading company’s former president.
• President Norm explained that Demons had devastated the company’s caravans and troops, disrupting trade across the Northern Plateau.
• President Norm asked Frieren to locate the main vein of a likely large silver mine, promising that the company would restore trade and provide soft bread.
• Rienta stopped Frieren from accepting immediately and asked President Norm to discuss the commission’s payment.

Rienta negotiated payment from the Norm Trading Company for finding a silver deposit, securing ten Grimoires, monthly information deliveries, and a permanent discount card. Frieren located the deposit, and the party left town with their rewards.

• Rienta proposed three terms to the president of the Norm Trading Company, who accepted them.
• Frieren used Detection Magic to mark the silver deposit's location in the mine, and the workers dug to it that night.
• The next day, Frieren received ten Grimoires, and Rienta received the Norm Trading Company's permanent 30% discount card.
• As they left town, Stark praised Rienta for earning nearly a hundred Larsi Gold Coins a year, and Rienta called him a business genius.

L163 Rienta mourned Flamme’s death and met L996 Rienta, who had found the person they were seeking. As the two discussed assigning him the vacant number L464, L163 reflected on the Rientas’ plan to find the correct timeline and stop their existence from causing the World-Destroying Calamities.

• Serie told L163 Rienta that Flamme had passed away, and he remembered Flamme’s kindness and magic lessons.
• L996 Rienta arrived at L163 Rienta’s waterside pavilion, complained about the tiny teacups, and said he had found him.
• L163 Rienta recalled how Rientas from different timelines had discovered that appearing before the story began made them a source of the World-Destroying Calamities.
• L163 Rienta and L996 Rienta agreed that the person they had found could be given the vacant number L464.
• After L996 Rienta left, L163 Rienta remembered Serie and resolved that neither she nor the world should be lost because of Rienta.

Genau returned to his ruined hometown, where he found his childhood friend and the villagers dead despite Methode’s healing magic. Frieren, Fern, and Rienta arrived after mistaking his grief-driven killing intent for a Demon, and the group reunited in the church.

• Genau killed a Demon that pretended to beg for mercy, then searched the village for survivors and found his childhood friend barely alive.
• Genau carried his friend to the church, but Methode could not save him, and Genau placed his body beneath the Goddess’s statue.
• Genau mourned his friend and the villagers, then decided to patrol the village again despite Methode urging him to rest.
• Genau and Methode detected three skilled mages nearby, and Frieren burst through a church window before recognizing Genau.
• Rienta entered from the other side, recognized Methode, and tried to slip away until Frieren asked him to tell Stark they were allies.

Rienta and his companions reached a village where they encountered Methode, but Rienta was drawn into a mysterious cabin and met another version of himself, L996 Rienta. After L996 questioned whether Rienta was the protagonist, he sent him away, leaving the meaning of the different Rientas and their roles unresolved.

• Frieren spotted a bird familiar and murderous mana near the village, so she and Fern, Rienta, and Stark went to investigate the church.
• Fern and Frieren spoke with Methode inside the church, while Stark rushed in expecting to rescue them and found the scene unexpectedly peaceful.
• Rienta was drawn to a cabin outside the village, where L996 Rienta gave him an apron and had him help prepare dinner.
• After they ate, L996 Rienta told Rienta that he was designated L464 and that L163 Rienta held [Supreme Rank].
• Rienta insisted that he was the protagonist but would not follow L996 Rienta's script; L996 then used a magic circle to send him away.
• Alone in the cabin, L996 Rienta wondered whether a protagonist who had lost everything could still be called one, and whether Rienta would become the protagonist of [Rienta].

Frieren's party joined Genau and Methode in investigating the massacre of a village, discovering that the Norm Knights had been slain by a powerful Demon still at large. As the group prepared to hunt it, they realized Rienta was missing, and Frieren wondered where he had gone and whether he had eaten.

• Stark prayed in the church and told Genau that Demons had destroyed his hometown too, while Genau said Demons kept killing even after they had eaten their fill.
• Frieren and Fern learned from Methode that the knights had died from sword slashes, and Genau concluded that a powerful Demon who had attacked the village was still alive.
• Methode examined the knights' wounds, and Stark suspected the attacker had used a Two-Sword Style.
• Fern realized Rienta was missing, but Frieren reassured her that he would be fine and asked Methode to continue analyzing the Demon.
• Frieren, Fern, and Methode ate their meager bread, and Stark took Genau's portion to the church while Frieren wondered where Rienta had gone.

Methode and Genau joined Frieren’s group to investigate the Demons attacking villages in the Northern Plateau, while Rienta got lost and discovered two powerful Demons. The chapter ended as Rienta flew toward them and one Demon alerted Lord Rewerdi that prey was approaching.

• Serie assigned Methode and Genau to subjugate the Demon in the Northern Plateau, and Genau warned Methode not to hold him back.
• Genau told Methode that his former partner had sacrificed himself for a child and said he would not make the same choice.
• Frieren’s party and the mages compared information, learning that four Demons had attacked villages and that one was a four-sword-style general.
• Frieren asked Stark to take the front line because Rienta was absent, and Stark worried about facing the Demon general.
• Rienta became lost in the forest, detected two powerful Demons, and flew toward them.
• A petite female Demon told Lord Rewerdi that they had found prey with plenty of mana.

Rienta confronted Rewerdi and You'en at the abandoned fortress after learning Demons had massacred a nearby village. He killed You'en with a lightning-fast attack, while Rewerdi survived the assault and prepared to fight at close range.

• Rewerdi and You'en discussed the approaching human mage as Rienta arrived above the fortress wall and accused them of killing the villagers.
• Rienta surrounded Rewerdi and You'en with lightning-charged sabers, while his weapons also searched for the hidden Hemon and Zuolitan.
• You'en tried to block Rienta's attack but was split apart and dissolved into black particles.
• Rewerdi blocked Rienta's attacks with the Four-Sword Style, then resolved to close in for a sword strike.
• Rewerdi acknowledged Rienta's strength, introduced himself as Rewerdi of the Divine Technique, and asked for Rienta's name.

Rienta fought Rewerdi, a Demon famed for a thousand years of Martial Arts training, after Rewerdi mistook his choice to use swords for arrogance. Their close-range duel exposed Rewerdi’s advantage in technique, but Rienta then unleashed a massive storm of projected blades and swords, leaving Rewerdi stunned by his strength and mana.

• Rewerdi assumed Rienta was an arrogant mage and prepared to punish him for refusing to give his name.
• Rienta summoned a Tang saber, a Han sword, and rings of floating blades and swords, while Rewerdi chose to let him finish casting.
• Rienta and Rewerdi exchanged more than a hundred blows in a duel between Rienta’s Two-Sword Style and Rewerdi’s Four-Sword Style.
• Rewerdi recognized that Rienta’s Martial Arts were amateurish, while Rienta judged Rewerdi only a little stronger than Stark when serious.
• Rienta unleashed a torrent of blades and swords with “Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Origin,” and Rewerdi wondered how a First-Class Mage could possess such strength and mana.

Stark stayed in the village with Genau to protect the bodies, while Frieren, Fern, and Methode went to investigate the abandoned fortress. There they reunited with Rienta and encountered another Rienta as the night sky shattered.

• Stark chose to remain in the village with Genau, insisting that Genau should not have to guard the corpses alone.
• Frieren, Fern, and Methode sensed Rienta's mana coming from the abandoned fortress and flew there to help him.
• At the fortress, Rienta revealed that the purple lotus was a form of Rho Aias, though it was not his.
• A magic circle and giant purple lotus enclosed Rienta and the others as cracks spread across the night sky.
• A second Rienta appeared and told the first that he knew Fern was not his own Fern.
• The sky shattered before Rienta could finish asking the newcomer why he had saved the Demon.

L996 Rienta protected Rienta, Frieren, Fern, and Methode from the shattered sky and faced the hostile figure resembling Fern as she prepared the Super-tier Magic Skyfall. As the spell charged, L996 Rienta stepped toward her with Rienta beside him, ready to counter the attack.

• L996 Rienta shielded the group with a Purple Lotus while the falling lights and snow vanished against each other.
• The figure resembling Fern unleashed nearly a hundred powerful attacks, destroying most of the Purple Lotus's petals.
• L996 Rienta explained that the figure was charging Skyfall and said he had taught it the spell.
• Frieren admitted she had no magic strong enough to oppose Skyfall and asked Rienta to get its grimoire from L996 Rienta afterward.
• Rienta agreed to consider L996 Rienta's plan, then stood beside him as L996 Rienta advanced toward the figure with his sword and snowflake blades gathering behind him.

L996 Rienta and the mirror Fern clashed with city-destroying super-tier spells, while Rienta and the others survived behind the Purple Lotus. The mirror Fern yielded before L996 Rienta could unleash an even greater technique, and Frieren and Rienta immediately maneuvered to get Fern access to the spells.

• Rienta realized the clash between the two Ferns threatened to destroy the city and joined Frieren, Fern, and Methode in reinforcing the Purple Lotus with Defensive Magic.
• The mirror Fern and L996 Rienta unleashed Skyfall and Frost's Lament, and their spells collided, shattering the surrounding defenses but leaving the Purple Lotus intact.
• Frieren asked Rienta to help her obtain grimoires for the two spells, while Rienta admitted he wanted to learn them too.
• L996 Rienta began chanting a powerful technique, prompting the cracked mirror Fern to concede and vanish as the night sky returned to normal.
• Rienta suggested to L996 Rienta that Fern wanted to learn the spells, and Frieren backed him up until Fern reluctantly agreed.

L996 Rienta explained the Hindrance of Knowledge and Views and used it to restore Rewerdi and repair the damage left by Fern’s descent. After sending Rienta, Frieren, Fern, Methode, and the Demons to safety, he shattered and disappeared, leaving Rienta to continue on the right timeline.

• L996 Rienta restored a shattered city wall with green mana and explained that the Hindrance of Knowledge and Views kept Rienta from using Magic That Heals Everything beyond its limited, familiar applications.
• L996 Rienta described how the world rejected Ascension and explained that he had accepted becoming a sacrifice so L464 could integrate into the world and avoid the same fate.
• L996 Rienta restored Divine Skill Rewerdi from the remaining mana inside the illusory Purple Lotus.
• L996 Rienta cast the Hindrance of Knowledge and Views on everyone, then used Telekinesis to carry them away from the abandoned fortress.
• L996 Rienta repaired the corrosion caused by Fern’s descent, urged Rienta not to let his world become hell, and shattered into points of light.

Rienta, a man reborn in a magical world after a lonely life and death, met Fern, who took him in and survived the destruction of their village with him. After their mysterious master revealed himself as Rienta from the future and sent him back, Rienta awoke in a cabin beside Fern with his memories confused.

• Rienta recalled his troubled former life and how he died during the pandemic before waking as a child in a magical world.
• Fern gave the starving Rienta bread and brought him to live with her family.
• Demons destroyed Fern's village and killed her parents, leaving Fern and Rienta to survive together.
• A black-hooded mage rescued them from Demon scouts and trained them for nearly two years.
• After Rienta and Fern passed the Fifth-Class Mage exam, their master revealed that he was an older Rienta and vanished after speaking about time and healing.
• Rienta returned to a furnished cabin beside Fern, remembered only his trek toward civilization, and asked who she was.

Frieren, Fern, and Methode were detected by two Demons and drawn into a mist-covered battle near the abandoned fortress. The Demons separated Methode from Frieren and Fern, while Rienta was also nearby, and the male Demon headed toward Frieren and Fern.

• Frieren traded a Grimoire for Methode’s head pats, then let Methode hug her until Fern tried to pull her free.
• Two waves of [Detection Magic] revealed the trio’s position, while Frieren identified one signature as Rienta’s and the other as a warlike Demon’s.
• Two Demons summoned mana-mist that blocked sight and detection, then attacked from the sky and split the group apart.
• Frieren carried Fern out of the bombardment and explained that Demons treated [Flight Magic] as no more unusual than walking.
• The female Demon flew toward Methode, while the male Demon moved toward Frieren and Fern after deciding to deal with Rienta later.

Rienta detected Frieren and the others fighting Demons in the forest and rushed toward them, while Frieren left Fern to face a male Demon who attacked through the mist. At the church, Stark grilled fish with Genau, who revealed that the Demon who killed his partner also used the Four-Sword Style.

• Rienta detected two Demons flying over the forest, lost track of Frieren's group when their mist blocked his magic, and hurried toward them.
• Frieren told Fern to handle the male Demon, who emerged from the mist and launched attacks that Fern blocked with Defensive Magic.
• Fern doubted she could win, but Frieren reassured her that her skill and dedication to the basics would carry her through.
• Stark returned from fishing, grilled two fish, and ate while Genau declined a late-night snack because Methode would disapprove.
• Stark asked Genau about the Demon who attacked the village, and Genau said Divine Skill Rewerdi, who killed his partner, also used the Four-Sword Style.

Rienta reunited with Frieren in the sky while Fern and Methode fought two Demons in the misty forest. Frieren trusted Fern to handle her opponent, and Rienta headed back to the village as Methode prepared to continue her fierce battle with the female Demon.

• Rienta reached Frieren, who told him to trust Fern and watch her fight from the sidelines.
• Frieren explained that Stark and Genau had stayed in the village to await the Norm Knights and collect the corpses of the villagers killed by a Demon General.
• Rienta detected no other Demons and flew toward the village after Frieren pointed out its direction.
• Methode struggled to gain an advantage against the female Demon and realized that clearing the mist could change the battle.
• Methode attacked with a volley of magic, then appeared behind the female Demon and struck her, leaving half her body covered in blood.
• The female Demon compared Methode to the Demon-Hunting Clan of the Northern Plateau and challenged her to a proper fight.