A Day of Rest

Kanne stood on a high platform at the edge of the Central Square, leaning on the stone railing, looking down at the bustling crowds on the street below.

The sun was shining brightly, and the wind carried the smells of lake water and food.

Footsteps echoed from the stone path behind me.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Kanne."

Kanne turned around.

Rabiñe stood a few steps behind her.

Unlike her usual casual attire, she wore a wide-brimmed lady's hat decorated with light blue ribbons, a white lace-trimmed dress, and a well-tailored burgundy short jacket. She also carried a delicate padlock handbag with a small clasp.

She looked like a young lady who had stepped out of a noble portrait.

Kanne blinked.

"You look even cuter than usual, Rabiñe."

Rabiñe's expression remained unchanged, and his eyes showed no emotion.

"... It's because my brothers came back from the Royal Capital." Her voice carried a hint of helplessness. "Everyone bought some unnecessary things."

The scene from this morning flashed through her mind--

The mother stood smiling to the side, watching her three older brothers each beaming as they received their gifts, while the maids bustled around them, each clutching a spare ribbon, their eyes shining as they exclaimed, "Oh my, isn't this wonderful?" without any intention of stopping them.

And I, like a puppet, was listlessly manipulated.

"I'm not some kind of dress-up doll," Rabiñe muttered, "My mother is just as enthusiastic and won't stop me at all..."

Kanne smiled.

You're even more favored than I am.

Rabiñe glanced at her.

"Do you want to switch places with me? I'm constantly being compared to my outstanding older brothers, and the pressure is like hell."

She paused, seemingly not wanting to continue the topic, and tilted her head towards the steps.

"Okay, this is getting really depressing. Let's go."

Kanne responded, turned around, left the railing, and walked towards Rabiñe.

Then, she stopped in front of Rabiñe, naturally extended her hand, knelt on one knee, and took Rabiñe's free hand.

She looked up, a forced, serious smile on her face, and her tone became exaggeratedly theatrical.

"Then, let me be your protector today, little Rabiñe."

Rabiñe looked down at her.

He didn't say anything.

A few seconds of silence followed between them.

Then, Rabiñe grabbed Kanne's outstretched hand and pulled hard.

"Ah!"

Caught off guard, Kanne lost her balance and fell forward. Rabiñe straddled her back with practiced ease, as if they had rehearsed it countless times.

"Ouch! Ouch! You're going to rip your hair out!"

Kanne immediately screamed in pain, his previous "protector of the flower" demeanor vanishing instantly.

Rabiñe straddled her expressionlessly, his grip remaining firm.

"So, the only thing that changed was his clothes..."

Kanne mumbled something under his breath and gave up resisting.

The two strolled casually down the street.

As he passed a bakery with a wonderful aroma, Kanne stopped and bought some cookies from a wooden basket.

She slung the basket over her arm.

"It's for Frieren," she said. "A thank-you gift."

Rabiñe nodded. "Yes, that's appropriate."

They walked a little further and came to an intersection where they saw three people coming from another street.

Lowell walked leisurely with his hands behind his head. Frieren walked beside him, her silver hair shimmering slightly in the sunlight. Fern stood half a step in front of them, her pale purple eyes calmly observing their surroundings.

"Oh, isn't this Frieren?" Rabiñe greeted her first.

Kanne smiled and waved, "We were just about to do a little shopping before coming to find you."

The two teams naturally merged into one.

Several people walked side by side down the street.

Kanne looked at Frieren, his tone filled with gratitude. "You must be Fern. Frieren has helped us a lot. During the exams, she was like a teacher to us."

Fern nodded slightly, his tone affirmative. "Yes. Lady Frieren is indeed very capable."

Upon hearing this, Frieren was walking ahead, twitched her pointed ears almost imperceptibly, but she didn't turn around or say anything.

Lowell smiled but didn't say anything.

We walked past another street corner.

Three people are walking towards us from the opposite direction.

Wirbel walked at the front, still sporting that same wide, slightly wild smile. Scharf followed beside him, along with a red-haired, slick-back warrior Stoltz, dressed in light cloth and a pure white cloak.

"Oh! Isn't this Lord Lowell?" Wirbel's eyes lit up, and he spoke first.

Lowell stopped and looked at them.

"Hmm? It's Wirbel. What's going on with you guys...?"

"We accepted a mission from the Continental Magic Association to hunt down the Lion Boar," Wirbel said casually. "It'll help cover our exam expenses."

His gaze swept over Fern behind Lowell, and his smile deepened, tinged with a hint of teasing.

"Oh, and Fern. I saw her during the exam. You really fooled me."

Fern's expression remained unchanged; he simply responded calmly.

"Lady Frieren taught me."

She paused, then added.

She said, 'Adults are always dirty.'

Frieren was walking ahead, paused slightly, turned around, narrowed her emerald eyes, and pouted her lips, forming a slightly helpless little cat mouth.

"Why does this have to involve me...?"

Wirbel chuckled twice and waved his hand.

"Hahaha... Really? That's true. On the battlefield, anything goes. As long as we win, that's all that matters."

He glanced at the sky and patted his companion on the shoulder.

"Then we're off. See you later."

"Goodbye." Lowell nodded.

The three of them brushed past them and headed towards the city gate.

Fern watched Wirbel's departing figure and murmured, "Completely different from during the exam. He looked so fierce back then."

Rabiñe crossed his arms and analyzed calmly, "It's probably the kind of switch that allows you to freely change between working and not working. Just like my brothers."

Kanne nodded in deep agreement.

After wandering around for a while, the group returned to the hotel.

I pushed open the door.

Kanne stopped in his tracks, looking at the various odds and ends scattered all over the ground.

Glowing stones, old parchment scrolls, small magical tools, brightly colored pieces of cloth, dozens of magic books... a dazzling array, almost covering a small area.

"Uh..." She blinked, asking uncertainly, "This is... Frieren's stuff?"

Frieren stood in the center of the room, looking at the mess on the floor. Her emerald eyes flickered for a moment, then she narrowed them, revealing an expression that was clearly guilty but trying to appear calm.

"... Yes."

Fern's gaze swept across the room before settling back on Frieren's face. Her pale purple eyes remained calm, but her tone carried a hint of understanding.

"Lady Frieren," her voice was not loud, but carried a clear hint of reproach, "You really haven't tidied up again."

Frieren pouted like a kitten.

Lowell coughed twice, took half a step forward, and stood slightly in front of Frieren.

"Ahem, I'm the one who dragged her out shopping," he tried to explain, "I haven't had time to get ready yet..."

Fern glanced at Lowell, then at Frieren, and finally let out a soft "hmm," her lips slightly pouting, but she said nothing more.

"All right."

Looking at the mess scattered on the ground, Kanne recalled the morning of the second day of the exam and seemed lost in thought.

"Speaking of which, Frieren also seemed to have a hard time getting out of bed early the morning after the exam... Could it be that you're a rather sloppy person...?"

She didn't finish her sentence.

Frieren immediately turned to her, her emerald eyes widening slightly, and she shook her head quickly, her tone somewhat hurried.

"Stop talking. Fern will get angry."

Kanne paused for a moment, then realized what he meant and covered his mouth to chuckle.

Rabiñe also smiled slightly.

Kanne stopped laughing, took the small basket off his arm, and handed it to Frieren.

"Here, this is a gift for you."

Frieren took the basket, looked at the delicate cookies inside, and blinked.

"I didn't do anything to deserve a gift."

"How could that be?" Rabiñe said. "Without you, we would have had a very difficult time capturing the Stille."

Lowell smiled and nodded, "Thank you very much."

Frieren looked at the basket in her hand, then at Kanne and Rabiñe, and finally gave a soft "hmm".

"Oh well."

Fern took a cookie from the basket and took a small bite.

Her eyes brightened slightly.

"Lady Frieren," she turned around and held the cookie to Frieren's lips, "This is delicious."

Frieren took a bite from her hand, chewed it slowly, and then nodded.

"Yes, it's not bad."

Fern took another bite, and the slight dissatisfaction on his face seemed to finally dissipate. His cheeks puffed out slightly, and his eyes softened.

Seeing that her sullen expression had finally subsided, Frieren smiled.

"Fern is finally happy."

The group sat in the room, eating cookies and casually chatting about their exams and their experiences in Oysast.

Suddenly, the sound of flapping wings came from outside the window.

Immediately afterward, a shadow swept by, and several letters were precisely tossed in through the crack in the window, landing lightly on the carpet in the center of the room.

Fern got up and walked over, picking up the letters. One of them had her name on it.

She pulled out the letter and quickly glanced at it.

"It's a notice for the next exam." She looked up at the others, "It lists the time and location, and the examiner's name..."

Her gaze lingered on a certain name for a moment.

"Sense. Ah, I think I've met him before."

Rabiñe and Kanne exchanged a glance.

"It seems our letters all contain the same content... Sense," Rabiñe said with a hint of helplessness, "What bad luck."

Kanne sighed, his shoulders slumping slightly. "Yeah. We barely made it through the first round..."

Frieren tilted her head, her emerald eyes asking a question.

"What's the meaning?"

Rabiñe explained, "Sense has served as an examiner for the examinations four times in the past. Each time... no one passed."

Lowell, who was picking up a cookie, paused upon hearing this and raised an eyebrow.

"What Kakashi?"

Rabiñe and Kanne looked at him simultaneously, their faces full of confusion.

"What?"

Lowell stuffed the biscuit into his mouth and waved his hand vaguely.

"It's nothing... Anyway, no matter what the exam is, my Frieren will definitely pass."

After all, even though she used magic to temporarily forget her memories and maintain the novelty of the story, the original Frieren had no pressure, so how could the current Frieren Pro Max+ possibly fail the second test?

At almost the same time, the notification letters were also delivered to the other candidates.

Duncan sat by the window of his hotel room, unfolded the letter, and his cloudy eyes swept over the name on it, his expression unchanged.

Behind the counter of the magic item shop, Lichta wiped an old compass while holding a letter between two fingers. She glanced at the contents, her dead fish eyes twitched, and then she focused on her work again.

Laufen sat on the eaves of a roof, swinging her legs, a basket of donuts beside her. She glanced at the letter that had fallen to her legs, picked it up with her frosted fingers, opened it, looked at it, then casually stuffed it into her pocket and continued munching on her donuts.

In the quiet reading area of Oysast Library, a thick ancient magic atlas lay open before her. An Länge bird silently placed a letter beside her. She smiled and nodded to the bird, put down her quill, and picked up the letter to read.

Lanto and Ubel sat on a bench in the Central Square. Lanto looked at the letter in his hand. Ubel leaned close to him, his eyes fixed on the contents of the letter with great interest.

Edel and her two teammates— Bly the bald and Dunster the brown-bearded—were walking down the street. A letter fell from the sky, nearly hitting Edel on the head. She caught it hastily, muttering "What is this?", opened it, glanced at it, and casually shoved it to Bly beside her.

Ton was soaking in the hotel bathtub, resting with his eyes closed. The letter was placed on a wooden tray beside the tub. He reached out and picked it up, his wet fingers leaving a slight water stain on the letter. He quickly read it.

Methode stood under a sign outside a tavern, seemingly waiting for someone. She took the letter, opened it gracefully, and glanced at it calmly.

Ehre was alone in a forest, her eyes closed, her breath held, desperately suppressing her magic and trying to blend into her surroundings. A small bird landed on her head, and a letter lay at her feet.

Adonis leaned against a branch of a large tree, seemingly asleep. The letter rested on his chest; his eyelashes fluttered, but he didn't open his eyes. He simply reached out, took the letter, and set it aside.

Elder was soaking in the hot spring, only his nose and above were visible, and he was drowsy. The letter was placed on a rock by the pool. He lazily reached out and picked it up, glanced at it in the steam, then yawned widely, crumpled the letter into a ball, and casually tossed it into the water. The ball of paper quickly soaked into the hot spring water and sank to the bottom.

The hotel owner outside muttered, "How come a messenger bird got into the hot spring area? There shouldn't have been any customers in the men's bath today..."

The outer edge of the Grobe Basin.

The Lion Boar roared as it parried Stoltz's sword and the magic of Wirbel and Scharf, but it was clear that the magic was not very effective against its rough hide.

Wirbel and Scharf received the letter and read it on their own, instantly betraying their teammate and leaving Stoltz to deal with the Lion Boar alone.

Of course, Stoltz was not afraid.

On the high platform of the headquarters of the Continental Magic Association in Oysast.

Genau stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the letter.

"What an excessive exam!" he muttered.

Sense sat on the railing beside her, her long, light brown hair swaying in the breeze. Her eyes were droopy, and her tone was flat and emotionless.

"Really? I think you're the one who's gone too far."

She paused, then continued in that monotone voice.

Several promising students failed in the first exam.

She turned her face, her deep blue eyes looking at Genau.

"But I'm not like you."

"I'm a pacifist. I won't let that happen."

Genau looked at her.

"Sense, the so-called First-Class Mage, is the pinnacle of mages. If the candidates who come to take the exam cannot even handle a monster like the Corpse-Luring Bird when they are in a team of three, they will eventually die at the hands of other monsters."

Sense's expression remained unchanged.

Even so, there are clearly more peaceful solutions.

Genau's tone remained unchanged. "That's not something I need to consider; I'm just an examiner."

Edge of the Grobe Basin.

A campfire was lit, and the aroma of roasted meat filled the air.

Wirbel, Scharf, and Stoltz sat around the fire, each holding a large, sizzling piece of Lion Boar.

"This meat is really good!" Wirbel tore into a large bite, praising it indistinctly. "Stoltz, you're really reliable. You prepared it quickly and well, and your grilling skills are top-notch!"

Stoltz smiled, slicing meat with his dagger, and said gently, "You're quite strong too. I often grill meat."

Scharf ate in small bites, nodding in agreement.

In the hotel room.

Kanne sat cross-legged on the carpet, holding half a cookie in his hand, his face showing an excited, secret-sharing expression. He leaned forward and lowered his voice.

"Let me tell you, Rabiñe, don't let her current appearance fool you. When she was little, the first time she used Flight Magic, she was so scared that she clung to a tree and wouldn't let go. It was me..."

She didn't finish her sentence.

Rabiñe pounced on her, expertly pinning her to the ground once more, his hands precisely grabbing her twin tails.

"What?!" Rabiñe's face flushed suspiciously, but his grip didn't loosen at all. "It was you, Kanne! You tried to wash your face with Water Magic for the first time, and you choked until your face was bright red and you were crying so hard you were blowing snot bubbles from your nose!"

"That was an accident!"

"When you were seven, you believed Santa Claus would put presents in your stockings! But actually, I was the one who secretly put them in yours!"

"You're ten years old and you're still afraid of the dark and need someone to sleep with you!"

The two started fighting again, and the familiar sounds of their argument filled the room.

Frieren sat on the edge of the bed, munching on cookies, her emerald eyes watching them play quietly.

Fern sat beside her, slowly eating cookies, her eyes reflecting the flickering light, her expression serene.

Lowell leaned against the window, watching this scene, then looked at the small, simply wrapped but thoughtfully given gift from Fern —a small pendant, hand-carved from some kind of hard wood, with a slightly clumsy design but clearly showing Frieren's profile.

He smiled and carefully tucked the pendant into his pocket.

Outside the window, night slowly descended, and the lights of Oysast lit up one by one, reflecting on the calm lake surface.

"This birthday..."

He gazed at the scenery outside the window and murmured to himself.

"That's really good."