Getting Up

Inside the hotel room, it was well past the usual time to get up. The fireplace was burning brightly, dispelling the chill of early spring in the Northern Frontier, and the air was filled with a lazy warmth.

On the large bed in the center of the room, Lowell lay on his side, his black hair disheveled on the pillow, and another pillow covering his face, as if trying to shut out all disturbances. His breathing was steady and long, as if nothing could wake him up, no matter what happened.

Frieren's sleeping posture, as always, was creative and unconventional—after tossing and turning all night, most of her body had slid off the edge of the bed, her silver head resting on the cool floor, her cheeks pressed with adorable red marks, and a suspicious glistening trace lingering at the corner of her mouth. Her legs, however, remained stubbornly propped up on the edge of the bed, her whole body twisted into a position that seemed extremely uncomfortable, yet she slept soundly.

Her emerald eyes were tightly closed, her long eyelashes like two small fans, trembling slightly with her breath, emitting soft, long breaths, like a ferret that had fallen into a honey pot in the sunlight and was sleeping soundly.

Everything was no different from countless other similar mornings.

As is customary, there is still quite some time before Lupa finishes her morning exercise and returns with breakfast. It is then that Linié changes Frieren's clothes, while Lupa half-coaxes and half-persuades Frieren to eat, thus beginning the difficult start of a new day.

However, things are different today.

Because that woman came back.

"Lady Frieren! Lady Frieren! Wake up! The sun's already high in the sky!" Ruby's voice was clear and loud, full of undeniable energy, accompanied by a relentless "knock, knock, knock" on the door, like a clarion call announcing the end of sleeping in.

The silver head on the floor twitched, Frieren let out a disgruntled grumble, like a small animal disturbed from a sweet dream. She buried her face further into the cooler floor, her voice heavy with sleepiness and resistance. "No... um... don't disturb me... I haven't gotten up early in ages..."

She seemed to think for a moment, then muttered a rebuttal in a low voice, "Besides... the window... faces west... so the sun doesn't shine in..."

Ruby outside the door, was clearly not going to be fooled by such an excuse. She immediately retorted confidently, her voice still full of energy through the door. "The sun's shining on Ruby's butt! Ruby's room faces east! Anyway, it's getting late! Get up!"

Frieren tried to curl up, burying her head deeper like an ostrich to escape the annoying sound, muttering her struggle, "Hey... what's the rush... hasn't the Demon King already been defeated...?" The implication was clear: peace was restored, the greatest threat was gone, shouldn't she now live a blissful life of sleeping in until she naturally woke up?

"That has nothing to do with it!" Ruby's voice carried the sternness of a little teacher, one could almost picture her with her hands on her hips. "Good children must go to bed early and get up early! Lady Frieren, you're an adult now, you should set a good example for everyone, right?"

She abruptly changed the subject, unleashing her trump card with a sweet, seductive tone:

"Hmph~ We're heading back to the Royal Capital soon, and then we'll be heroes who vanquished the Demon King! What delicious food won't be at the victory celebration? If Lady Frieren doesn't get up soon, all those carefully prepared desserts, sizzling patties, and that honey lava cake from that century-old shop in the Royal Capital —limited to only a hundred servings a day... you won't get any!"

"Ah!" The allure of delicious food was immense. Frieren's ears twitched almost imperceptibly, and her struggles weakened noticeably. She murmured unconsciously, "I'm getting up... Lupa..."

Clearly, the chaotic consciousness was still habitually searching for that reliable person who could always "salvage" her from all sorts of bizarre sleeping places and feed her breakfast.

However, Lupa couldn't hear her call; perhaps Frieren should learn a telepathic spell.

Hearing the Ruby gave a smug smile, her voice softening as she coaxed, "That's a good girl~ Frieren, wake up, Ruby take you to eat something delicious~" as if calling to a sleepy and greedy cat.

Frieren seemed to regain a little clarity, recalling some of the "grudges" from the previous night, and muttered softly, with a hint of grievance, "But you... treated me like that last night... and today..."

"Don't mention last night again!"

Ruby immediately interrupted her, her voice tinged with embarrassment and nervousness at Ruby. She instinctively peeked through the crack in the door, though she couldn't see anything, and especially glanced warily at the "sleeping" figure on the bed. She quickly lowered her voice, a hint of exasperation in her tone, "Anyway, get up! If you don't get up, there won't be any more good food!"

Frieren struggled on the floor, trying to sit up on her own, but drowsiness and the difficult sleeping position made her weak all over. She thrashed about futilely a couple of times, and finally, like a stranded fish, gave up and collapsed onto the floor. With her last shred of consciousness, she weakly called for help:

"Lowell..."

Lowell, who had been "sound asleep," opened his eyes, his gaze clear and bright, showing no trace of the grogginess of someone just waking up.

He had long been kept awake by the ongoing negotiations outside the door, but was too lazy to move. He slowly sat up and glanced helplessly at the elf sprawled on the floor, its eyes sending out distress signals.

"Okay... okay... I'll do it."

Lowell began changing Frieren's clothes.

Half an hour later.

Frieren was finally tidied up and sipped the hot soup in her bowl. Her emerald eyes were half-closed, clearly not fully awake yet. Although her silver hair had been combed, a few stubborn ahoge still stuck up.

Lowell sat opposite him, looking exhausted as if he had just finished a tough battle, slowly eating the bread in front of him.

Just then, the inn door was pushed open, Lupa and Linié walked in, bringing with them the crisp morning breeze and a light sheen of sweat.

Lupa was surprised to see Frieren already sitting at the table, drinking soup. Her pink twin tails swayed in surprise, and her heterochromatic eyes were full of astonishment.

"Huh? Lady Frieren is up early today?" She remembered very clearly that at this time in the past, Lady Frieren would still be struggling to get out of bed, and it would take a "hard-fought" tug-of-war to wake her up.

Frieren, who was sipping her soup, froze. She lowered her eyes somewhat guiltily, her long silver eyelashes fluttering a few times. She pretended to be intently studying the ripples in the soup bowl, remaining silent, but burying her face deeper into the soup as if it held some ancient magical secret.

Ruby nearby, immediately put her hands on her hips, puffed out her chest, and her face was full of accusations: "This is all thanks to me" and "You guys were too lax when I wasn't around." She pouted and said:

"See! As soon Ruby is away, Lady Frieren's schedule goes completely messed up! This can't go on! From now on, Ruby will have to supervise her!"

Frieren continued to drink her soup silently, trying to shrink herself into an invisible presence.

Lowell picked up his soup bowl, glanced at Frieren and exuding a Ruby of "praise me," then looked at Frieren seemed to want to bury herself in the soup bowl, and took a sip of the hot soup. The warm broth, with its just-right salty and savory flavor, slid into his stomach, dispelling the last vestiges of morning weariness.