Perfect Warrior

Sense's droopy eyelids lifted slightly.

His deep blue eyes calmly turned towards Frieren.

To be precise, it was a turn toward Frieren's hood.

Frieren blinked her emerald eyes, reached behind her, grabbed the brim of her hood, and gave it a gentle shake.

Lowell landed on the ground, his body returning to normal size the instant he touched down. He brushed off non-existent dust from his body, his movements a little stiff.

Apart from Fern and Frieren, everyone else looked at this suddenly appearing guy with some surprise.

Lowell scratched the back of his head, a slightly embarrassed yet trying-to-appear friendly smile on his face.

Uh... well...

He glanced at Frieren, then at Sense, and finally his gaze swept over the examinees around him, each with their own distinct expression.

"As for why I came..." he muttered to himself, his eyes darting around as if searching for another reason.

After hesitating for a few seconds, he finally gave up on fabricating a complicated excuse and simply said vaguely, "Um... it's nothing special, just came to take a look, to observe, haha..."

He chuckled twice, trying to lighten the mood.

"Right, it's not surprising that someone who's unemployed would wander around like that, right?"

His voice grew softer and softer until it was almost a soliloquy. Clearly, he was too embarrassed to say the real reason he had followed Frieren secretly because he didn't want to leave her.

Sense without saying a word.

Her light brown hair seemed almost still in the firelight, and her deep blue eyes were calm and undisturbed as she looked at him.

Beneath his half-closed eyelids, those deep blue eyes showed no emotion, yet Lowell felt a strange sense of guilt.

Lowell felt a little uncomfortable under her gaze, looked away, then looked back, finally sighed, and slumped slightly.

"Uh... okay, okay."

He shrugged and pointed to the armored figure on the throne in the hall, radiating terrifying magic.

"In short, that thing definitely looks like my 'Perfect Warrior' magic."

He paused, his tone becoming somewhat conciliatory.

"Ahem, so what do we do? You see, if I'm not here, there shouldn't be 'me' in here, right? The monsters in the deepest part shouldn't be able to resist."

He looked at Sense, his eyes conveying a "you know what I mean" message.

"How about... we just declare everyone passed the exam? What do you think? Nobody got hurt, and everyone worked really hard."

Sense's expression remained unchanged.

"No."

Her voice was steady and her pronunciation was clear.

"The Water Mirror Demon's magic takes longer to create the clones the stronger they are. Without you, many other clones would have appeared."

She paused, her deep blue eyes turning towards the hall.

Therefore, this reason cannot be used to determine whether it is qualified.

Lowell's smile froze.

He scratched his head, looked at "himself" on the throne, then at the calm-faced Sense, and his expression became rather interesting.

"No... no," he said, his voice tinged with disbelief, "You're not suggesting that the other test-takers should use their skills to eliminate 'me,' are you?"

He pointed to the figure in the hall that made it hard to breathe just by sitting there.

"This joke has gone way too far."

Sense turned his head, his droopy eyes looking at him, his tone still flat.

There's no way.

She stated.

"You brought this trouble upon yourself."

She added, her voice flat, yet as quiet as a needle.

"In fact, you're the one who hindered my exam."

Lowell opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but looking at "himself" in the hall and then at the other examinees around him, their expressions varied.

He finally slumped his shoulders, let out a long, resigned sigh, and his face scrunched up, filled with reluctance.

"I..."

He struggled for a moment, but ultimately gave in, his voice weak and feeble.

"Then I'll go and take care of it, okay?"

As he spoke, he lifted his foot to walk into the hall, his steps dragging, his back conveying the message of "I don't want to work."

Sense's voice came from behind, still calm.

It doesn't matter.

Lowell paused, glanced back at her, pursed his lips, said nothing more, and continued dragging his feet toward the hall.

As Fern watched Lowell's reluctant back as he walked towards "himself," her pale purple eyes turned to Frieren, and she asked softly, "So, Lady Frieren, shall we go and help?"

Her voice wasn't loud, but it was clear in the quiet corridor.

Frieren's emerald eyes watched Lowell's dawdling figure disappear into the distance, and almost without hesitation, she nodded slightly.

"It's fine if I go."

Upon hearing this, a complex emotion flickered in Duncan's cloudy eyes. He glanced at the figure in the hall radiating an abyssal magic, then looked at the person beside him.

These young mages spoke slowly, their voices steady and discerning, carrying the judgment of seasoned veterans:

"... That's right."

He affirmed Frieren's decision.

"If we're fighting that thing, the others shouldn't distract him."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the crowd, his tone becoming more serious.

"We just need to be wary of other possible clones."

His gaze finally fell back to the entrance of the hall, watching Lowell's slow, seemingly about-to-turn-and-slip-away figure, then glancing at Frieren's calm profile, before finally just nodding in silence.

The atmosphere in the corridor fell silent once more.

Ubel looked at Lowell but said nothing.

Lanto adjusted his glasses.

Wirbel just smiled, clearly not intending to go in and fight that thing.

For a moment, only the eternal dripping sound of the labyrinth in the distance and Lowell's increasingly faint and slow footsteps remained.

Facing the center of the hall.

Towards the throne.

That silent, black figure, exactly like him, yet seemingly from another time and space.