Birthday Present

Early the next morning.

In the lobby of the hot spring inn, morning light streamed through the paper windows, casting soft dappled patterns on the floor.

Lowell stood at the counter, looking at the thin, but clearly well-made, bill handed to him by the waitress. The numbers on it clearly listed the various charges, ending with a rather considerable total.

He was silent for a moment, his fingers unconsciously tracing the edge of the bill.

Then, he looked up and waved to the smiling, slightly bowing waitress.

"That bill..." He cleared his throat, his tone as usual, "... send it to the North Country Bank, and say it was for my, the Hero Himmel's, spending."

After saying that, he turned around and nodded to Frieren and Fern, who were waiting to the side.

"They're gone."

The waitress paused for a moment, but her good professionalism prevented her from asking further questions. She simply bowed again and said, "Yes, sir, please take care."

After all, the guests who come here are all rich and powerful, and impersonating the North Country Bank and the Hero is no laughing matter. Although this person does not resemble the Hero in the statue, who knows? After all, that hero defeated the Demon King and is said to be a monster who lived for over a hundred years or was around twenty years old.

The three of them stepped out of the hot spring inn, and the cool morning air greeted them.

"North Country Bank?" Fern couldn't help but ask as they walked back.

"Yes." Lowell strolled along leisurely, hands behind his head. "The Northern Countries, or simply the Northern Kingdoms, makes sense, right?"

Fern stopped and looked at Lowell, his expression somewhat subtle.

"... Did you ask King Anthony to reimburse you?"

Lowell laughed heartily, continuing on his way.

"Haha... Don't worry about the details. Don't fret, he won't mind. After all, I saved the country, educated so many outstanding talents for him, and cleared out so many monsters. I've done a lot of good deeds and hard work. It's only reasonable for me to enjoy 'official hospitality' and 'public funds reimbursement' occasionally, right?"

Fern opened his mouth, wanting to say something, after all, he had heard Lowell announce the name "Hero Himmel".

"Fern."

Frieren's voice broke in, very calm.

Fern looked at her.

Frieren blinked her emerald eyes and stated in a calm tone:

"Today is Lowell's birthday."

Fern paused for a moment.

"Huh?"

She blinked and thought about it carefully. Indeed, Lowell and Frieren had never specifically mentioned their own birthdays, but they always remembered to celebrate hers every year.

"Speaking of which..." Fern's voice lowered, carrying a hint of subtle resentment, "I never knew Lord Lowell's birthday before. You always celebrated it for me, but you never told me the exact date of your own birthdays."

Lowell chuckled, rubbed the back of his head, and his black hair swayed slightly in the morning breeze.

"You didn't have any income back in college, it wouldn't be right for you to spend money on our birthdays. Well... now I know you had a little stash of money, haha."

Fern puffed out her cheeks, her pale purple eyes fixed on him.

Even without income, I can still prepare birthday gifts with my own heart. Knitted bracelets, wildflowers I picked, homemade desserts... these don't need to cost much.

She paused, then her tone became serious.

"In short, I understand this year. Therefore, please, Lord Lowell, leave now."

Lowell: "Hmm?"

Fern pointed in the direction of the ordinary hotel where they were staying.

"I need to go back to the inn with Lady Frieren to discuss your birthday present. We'll need some time alone, so please go out and have a look around on your own."

Lowell's expression fell, tinged with exaggerated grievance.

"Seriously... It's just a birthday, and you're going to separate me and Frieren?"

Fern remained unmoved, her expression calm.

"Your birthday present will definitely be a surprise. It won't be long, and..."

She glanced at Lowell and lowered her voice slightly.

"Well, this is the first time I've ever given you a birthday present. I wanted to prepare something special."

Lowell looked at her earnest little face, finally smiled helplessly, and raised his hands in surrender.

"Okay, okay. I'll just wander around outside. You guys hurry up!"

"Knew."

Seeing Lowell turn around, put his hands in his pockets, and slowly stroll towards the street corner, Fern breathed a sigh of relief. He returned to the hotel with Frieren, looked at her, and began to discuss the matter.

"Then, Lady Frieren," she said, her tone regaining its usual composure, "What does Lord Lowell like? You know him best, don't you?"

Frieren blinked, a thoughtful glint in her emerald eyes.

"Uh..." She tapped her chin with her finger, "You like me?"

Fern: "..."

She paused for two seconds, then held her forehead.

"... That's natural. But, you can't give yourself away as a birthday present, can you? I'm asking what specific items he likes?"

"Oh, an item," Frieren continued thinking. "A sundae? Such a big cylinder? A spellbook?"

Fern shook his head gently.

"Food wouldn't be a good birthday gift that can be preserved for a long time, would it? As for the magic book..." She looked at Frieren, "He probably bought those things thinking you might like them, and they're probably meant for you in the end, right? Besides, what kind of birthday gifts do you usually give Lord Lowell? I can take a look and avoid repeating the same thing."

Frieren's expression paused for a moment, her eyes darting around.

"Uh... well..." she said softly, "It's too much trouble. I always... make him hamburger patties."

"Hamburger steak?"

"Hmm." Frieren nodded, a hint of smugness on her face, as if to say, "Isn't that amazing?" "It's a custom from Eisen's hometown. We learned about it about a thousand years ago when we passed through Warrior Village. It's said that making hamburger patties by hand for someone important on an important day is the best way to express your feelings. Pretty amazing, right?"

Fern looked at Frieren, his pale purple eyes filled with complex emotions.

"Making hamburger patties for a thousand years..." she whispered, "Don't you and Lord Lowell ever get tired of it?"

However, she paused, then added:

"... But it's true, giving different gifts every year for a thousand birthdays must be quite exhausting. However, since you've already made hamburger patties, I certainly can't give the same thing again. I need to think of something else."

Frieren hummed in agreement, crossed her arms, and adopted a serious, thoughtful expression.

A few seconds later, her eyes lit up.

"That's right!"

She turned and jogged toward her small, unremarkable suitcase in the corner of the room, which always seemed to be able to pull out all sorts of things.

"Let me look for it..."

She crouched down, unlocked the suitcase, and began rummaging through it.

No, that can't be called searching.

That's called tilting.

Frieren practically turned the entire box upside down, dumping its contents all over the floor.

In an instant, all sorts of strange, colorful, and varied objects were scattered all over the floor, almost covering half the room.

Fern stared at the unexpected "treasure mountain" before him, his pale purple eyes widening slightly, speechless for a moment.

"... What are all these things?"

On the floor, there were silver headdresses inlaid with gemstones, small magical tools with an antique design, strange flowers that had been preserved by magic, mysterious parchment scrolls, beautiful stones of various colors and irregular shapes, and even a few small wooden animal carvings that looked like children's toys and were not very well made.

A wide variety of things, with no discernible pattern.

Frieren was already lying down next to this pile of "treasures," rummaging through them and listing them off as if they were her own treasures.

Fern asked her question.

"Oh, this." She picked up a simple, silver, crescent-shaped hair clip with tiny pale blue crystals around the edge. "It was a birthday gift from Lowell about eight hundred years ago. We once passed through a canyon famous for moonstones, and he said this color suited my hair perfectly. I think he bought it around that time?"

She put the hair clip aside and picked up a palm-sized brass object that resembled a compass but had several strange pointers.

"This, it's from about five hundred years ago? It was also my birthday present. This magical tool can guide you to hidden dungeons and treasure chests nearby."

"This," she picked up a smooth, milky-white stone with what appeared to be flowing cloud patterns inside, "Is a birthday gift he gave me three hundred years ago by the hot springs in the snow-capped mountains. Lowell said it looked like solidified milk..."

"And this, a sandalwood pony, he won it two hundred years ago at a market in a border town while playing a game with a carpenter. Each game cost 20 copper coins, and he ended up spending 28 silver coins to win this..."

"This hand-woven grass wreath was made by the children of a village I passed through 120 years ago. Lowell traded it for a piece of candy and insisted on putting it on my head..."

"I bought this book Folk Joke Compendium of the Southern Lands *, thirty years ago. Lowell said the jokes in it weren't funny at all, but the illustrations were silly, so maybe I'd like it..."

"This perfectly preserved packet of magical herb seeds, from twenty years ago..."

Frieren picked up the items one by one, then put them down again, calmly recounting their origins. Each item corresponded to a vague era and a similarly vague memory, yet one she seemed to remember very clearly.

Fern listened quietly, watching the growing pile of small objects on the floor, each bearing witness to a long period of time, and then looking at Frieren's earnest recollection.

She sighed softly, her tone complex.

"... The gifts Lord Lowell sent you are truly... very diverse."

"Hmph~ Is that right?"

Frieren seemed quite proud of this. Her emerald eyes scanned the floor, finally settling on a rather ominous-looking purple bottle.

"Ah, this!"

Her eyes lit up, and she reached out and picked it up, a mixture of mystery and a mischievous grin on her face.

"This will definitely work!"

Fern looked at the small bottle, her intuition telling her that something was wrong.

"I remember this isn't that..."

"Hmph~" Frieren shook the small bottle, the liquid inside rippling slightly. "That's right, 'Clothes-Dissolving Potion'! I remember it being very expensive!"

She brought the bottle close to Fern's eyes, lowered her voice, and said in a tone as if "sharing a secret":

"Flamme once told me that any man would be delighted to receive this as a gift! See, didn't I put a lot of thought into this gift? I was originally planning to give it to him this time, but Fern doesn't know what to give..."

Fern: "..."

The expression on her face froze instantly, then quickly transformed into an extremely clear and undisguised look of disgust.

She looked at Frieren's innocent face, which seemed to scream "Praise me!", and then at the small bottle containing the suspicious liquid.

Then, Fern moved.

Without a word, she strode up to Frieren, reached out, and snatched the small crystal bottle from Frieren's hand with lightning speed.

"Huh? Fern?" Frieren hadn't even reacted before her hand was empty. "You're interested in this? But there's only one bottle, and it's quite expensive..."

She didn't finish her sentence.

Without hesitation, Fern pulled out the cork, flipped his wrist, pointed the bottle at Frieren's head, and poured all the clear liquid inside in one go!

"Ah, ah--!"

The icy liquid flowed down her silver hair, instantly soaking her hair, forehead, cheeks, and the white mage's robe she wore.

Immediately afterwards.

The fine white mage robe that Frieren was wearing began to dissolve and disappear at a visible rate at the parts that came into contact with the liquid.

"Laugh..."

A soft, bubbling sound, like soda bubbles, was heard.

It only took two or three seconds.

Frieren remained seated on the ground, her head tilted slightly back, her emerald eyes blinking blankly.

But she was already completely naked.

Her long, silver hair clung damply to her smooth skin, water droplets sliding slowly down her neck, collarbone, slender shoulders and arms, and the curves of her body. Morning light streamed in through the window, outlining her soft silhouette.

Only the pile of debris on the ground and the faint, lingering scent of magical potion in the air remained.

Frieren looked down at herself, then looked up at Fern, who was still holding an empty bottle, her expression somewhat blank.

"This medicine..." she said softly, a hint of heartache in her voice, "Is really expensive..."

With a blank expression, Fern casually tossed the empty bottle into the trash can in the corner of the room, making a soft "thump" sound.

Then, she dusted off non-existent dust from her hands, turned around, and walked towards the door.

"I went out to find a gift myself."

Only then did Frieren belatedly wrap herself tightly in the blanket, leaving only her wet head sticking out, looking pitiful.

"My clothes..." She buried her face in the sheets, her voice muffled and filled with grievance, "... they were very expensive too..."

Fern had already opened the door, paused for a moment, but didn't turn around.

"Use your savings to buy another one."

After saying that, she walked straight out and gently closed the door behind her.