Side Story: The Missing Frieren (Part 2)

"No—maybe there's another possibility." Just as the group was pondering where Frieren had gone, Heiter suddenly spoke up, breaking the silence.

"Do you remember? On our way to the depths of the Dungeon, there was a Hidden Chamber we didn't go into because there were too many traps outside. Even you, Himmel, gave up on exploring it."

"Perhaps, Frieren used some kind of magic to detect the possible presence of a treasure chest inside."

Hearing Heiter's guess, Himmel frowned slightly and said:

"But if that's the case, why didn't she tell us so we could all explore it together?"

"Going together would reduce a lot of the risks, right? At least we can work together to find a solution when danger arises."

Himmel was still somewhat puzzled, even though Heiter's conjecture might be the only clue the three of them had at the moment. In this Dungeon where a magic circle had been set up to shield each other's Mana aura, they couldn't even sense the Mana on Frieren's body, which was why they could only wander around like headless flies until now.

"Well... I'm not really sure about that either... I guess we can only ask her about this, right?"

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Heiter seemed to think there was some truth to Himmel's words, but after thinking it over, he couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation.

"Maybe it's because you're afraid you'll get angry with Heiter again? After all, you looked really scary when you got angry yesterday. If it were me, I'd definitely avoid you and go find the treasure chest."

"If we encounter Mimic, at least we can avoid your scolding, Heiter."

"So, in Frieren's heart, an angry Heiter is more terrifying than being swallowed by Mimic?"

In the end, Aizai explanation.

"That sounds really believable, Heiter."

Himmel for a moment and echoed in agreement.

"Huh, did I really look that scary yesterday?"

Heiter seemed somewhat incredulous that both of them described him that way.

Before this, everyone I had met described me as a kind, approachable, and steady person—at least that's how it was before I got drunk.

"After all, Frieren has never seen you angry before, and she seems genuinely frightened."

"But I did talk to her properly in the end, didn't I? Her reckless use of such dangerous magic could really hurt someone."

"Hmm... that's true, but the most important thing right now is to go and check it out."

With no movement in sight, the three of them grew worried and immediately set off towards the route they had previously abandoned.

If Frieren really does encounter some danger, then things will be in serious trouble...

"Based on the instructions of the [Magic That Can Detect Treasure Chests], the treasure chest should be in this Hidden Chamber."

With her two signature silver-white ponytails fluttering behind her, Frieren dispelled her [magic that could briefly levitate people], lightly touching the ground with her toes, and muttered to herself while facing a hollow wall that looked quite suspicious.

On the way back, she deliberately distanced herself from the group and hid in a corner when they weren't looking. Then, following the marks she had left, she returned to the route they had avoided.

In order to enter this dangerous secret passage, she specifically used a lower-level [Flight Magic] that [can make people levitate briefly].

Humans are currently unable to decipher the Demons ' [Flight Magic].

Therefore, the only thing this lower-level spell can do is levitate the feet four or five centimeters off the ground. Even though this spell is almost useless in actual combat, it is exceptionally useful when exploring Dungeon.

It was through this magic that Frieren avoided all the potential dangers of contact along the way.

It's no wonder Himmel abandoned this route; it really wasn't an easy one... If she didn't know this magic, she doesn't know if she could have avoided so many traps.

Looking deeper into this secret passage, a huge, round boulder is stuck uphill by a mechanism.

If she had stepped into a trap on the ground just now, she would have been chased and crushed by the rolling boulders. Thinking of this, she couldn't help but feel secretly fortunate.

But it was precisely because of all these hardships and obstacles that Frieren became even more convinced that there must be some great treasure hidden in this secret room.

If there's no treasure involved, why go to all that trouble to set up so many traps?

This time, the four of them are navigating a medium-sized Ancient Dungeon. Because it is located on the Northern Plateau, this Dungeon may very well contain treasures from the [Unified Empire Era], and it's even possible that it might contain transcribed Grimoire from the [Mythical Era].

That unknown allure was something she couldn't resist.

So when Frieren passed through this place for the first time with Himmel and the others, and sensed the faint signs that a treasure chest might be there, she made up her mind to explore it.

"[Magic That Makes Walls Collapse]"

As soon as she placed her hand on the hard stone bricks of the wall, it immediately collapsed as if it had lost its backbone, kicking up a cloud of dust.

As she waved her hand, covered her nose, and walked through the dust into the Hidden Chamber, she immediately discovered a huge treasure chest inlaid with gold, placed in the center of the empty room.

"There really was a treasure chest; the magic's intuition was right."

The moment Frieren saw the gleaming golden treasure chest, her heart leaped with joy.

"Well, just in case, let's check if it's Mimic first."

She reached out her hand towards the chest, and a Mana swirled from her fingertips as she examined the treasure chest.

What she couldn't accept was the result of this magical reaction: the box in front of her was Mimic.

"How could that be? It must be a mistake in the magic!" Frieren shook her head in anguish, trying to forget the results of her magic investigation.

That's impossible! That's absolutely wrong! Even the [spell to check if a chest is Mimic] only has a 99% accuracy rate. That means it's very likely that your spell is wrong!

All the miracles in history were born from that one percent chance, as were those miraculous magical occurrences.

I only managed to avoid the Heiter and come all the way here in order to obtain the [Mythical Era] Grimoire!

How can we just give up like this!?

She bit her lip tightly, and once again, without hesitation, opened the treasure chest before her.