Reckoning

Lowell's body stiffened almost imperceptibly.

Everyone stopped and looked toward the source of the sound.

Fern had already changed into her bathrobe, her long, pale purple hair wrapped in a towel, and stood under the corridor light. Her face was expressionless, but her eyes looked over calmly, appearing exceptionally clear and penetrating in the soft light.

Lowell slowly turned around, forcing a smile on his face.

"Uh... Fern, is there anything else?"

Frieren and Ruby seemed to sense something as well, paused in their tracks, exchanged a glance, and saw a similar, subtle premonition in each other's eyes.

Fern didn't answer immediately. She took a few steps forward, her gaze slowly sweeping over Lowell, then over Frieren, and finally landing on Ruby's face.

Then, she turned slightly to the side and reached out to push open the door to a small, empty Japanese-style room used as a tea room. Inside, there were tatami mats and soft lighting.

"My lords," she said calmly, her tone devoid of emotion but carrying an undeniable air of authority, "Please come in."

Ruby blinked.

Frieren squinted.

Lowell touched his nose.

The three exchanged a glance, a sense of foreboding rising within them simultaneously. Nevertheless, they obediently entered the Japanese-style room one after another.

Fern nodded slightly to the remaining people in the corridor.

Excuse me.

Then, she went into the Japanese-style room and gently closed the door behind her.

"Despair."

The soft sound of the door closing was particularly clear in the suddenly quiet corridor.

The remaining people looked at each other in bewilderment.

Himmel stroked her chin, a knowing yet slightly amused expression on her face. She shook her head and whispered to the others, "Looks like it's time for liquidation. Shall we... head back to our rooms?"

Sam remained silent, then turned and left.

Solitär softly and began to walk.

Lupa glanced at the closed sliding door, then at Himmel, her expression somewhat confused. "Uh... what's Fern going to do?"

"They're probably going to do a 'post-war debriefing,'" Himmel smiled gently. "That boy, Fern, is always so responsible; it's really admirable."

Linié had somehow produced another apple, taking small bites of it. Her icy blue eyes glanced at the door of the tatami room before she quietly followed Lupa.

Ubel leaned against the wall, water still dripping from the tip of her green ponytail. She looked at the door, a knowing smile playing on her lips, then turned and left without a word.

And indoors.

The lighting was soft, and a faint aroma of tea lingered in the air.

Lowell, Frieren, and Ruby, all dressed in matching light-colored yukatas, knelt down in a row on the tatami mat, their movements almost synchronized under Fern's calm gaze.

The postures were exactly the same: hands on knees, backs straight, but upon closer inspection, they all looked a bit stiff, eyes looking straight ahead.

Their expressions were also perfectly synchronized. They both had their lips slightly pursed, their eyes darting around, and the corners of their mouths turned down in a subtle, knowing smile. Even the angle at which their yukata collars were askew conveyed a sense of innocent docility, as if they had been caught red-handed.

Fern knelt down properly opposite them. She had untied the towel covering her head, and her long, pale purple hair, still damp, cascaded over her shoulders. Her expression was calm, even gentle, but when her clear eyes slowly swept over the three of them, an invisible pressure, stemming from a sense of guilt, inexplicably arose in the row of "principal offenders" and "accomplices."

The room was silent for a few seconds.

"First,"

Fern spoke, her voice soft but clear and steady, and she looked at Ruby on the far right.

"Ruby."

Ruby sat up straighter, and even the fiery red curls seemed to have softened their bouncy waves.

"Regarding today's events," Fern continued, her tone devoid of blame, merely a calm statement, "The danger and uncontrollability of that 'temporary personality-reversing potion' have been fully proven. Not only are its effects unpredictable and potent, but in a combat setting, it has caused almost unmanageable and serious consequences, severely endangering the safety of everyone, including yourself."

Therefore, please be extremely cautious about items of unknown origin, unknown efficacy, and extremely high risk in the future. Do not share them casually, and never encourage others to try them.

Ruby her mouth, blinked her large blue eyes twice, as if she had a lot of theories to expound about the "novel magical experience," but when she met Fern's calm and unwavering gaze, which seemed to see through all her excuses, she swallowed her words in the end.

She pouted, her shoulders slumped slightly, and her voice softened. "How was I supposed to know... with so many of us, all experts, we'd be so badly messed up by something like that... and it was actually quite fun at first..."

Fern's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

"Yes, yes, yes," Ruby immediately caught the subtle change, raising one hand in a gesture of surrender, her tone becoming quick and sincere, "I understand, Fern. It won't happen again. I promise I'll carefully examine the unidentified object first, or at least... well, find a safer, more open place before trying." She added, trying to sound more convincing, "Really!"

Fern looked at her, remained silent for two seconds, seemingly assessing the sincerity of her promise, before nodding slightly.

"Um."

The gaze shifted to the center.

"Lord Frieren."

Frieren blinked, her large, clear eyes looking at Fern with a feigned innocent expression.

"You too." Fern's tone remained steady, but softened slightly, perhaps because she was speaking to her master. "You can't encourage others to try dangerous things just because you find it 'interesting' or 'curious.' That kind of behavior is unacceptable. Please don't do it again."

Frieren stopped looking at the spider, lowered her head, and a few strands of still slightly damp silver hair slipped down her shoulder. She unconsciously twirled the ends of her hair with her fingertips. After a few seconds of silence, she spoke softly, "... Okay."

She responded, her voice carrying a hint of obediently admitting her mistake after being lectured by her apprentice, but if you listened carefully, there seemed to be a lingering resentment that "but the effect of that potion is really special."

Fern sighed softly, and finally turned his gaze to Lowell on the far left.

Lowell immediately sat up straight and cleared his throat.

"I hereby solemnly and deeply apologize!"

His voice was loud and clear, and his expression was serious, completely different from before.

"Today, as a senior member of the team, I failed to set a good example, strictly discipline myself, and resist temptation. Instead, I rashly took a potion of uncertain origin and efficacy, leading to serious misbehavior and a drastic change in my personality! This has caused extremely negative impacts and significant potential risks to the team's mission, the safety of its members, and mutual trust! I sincerely apologize for this!"

He paused, his gaze "sincerely" sweeping over Fern, then quickly glancing at the two "accomplices" beside him.

"The root of this matter lies in my laxity and weak sense of risk, placing my personal curiosity above the safety and stability of the collective. As a member of the Party... no, as a senior member of the team, I not only failed to stop the dangerous tendencies in time, but also took the lead in 'testing the poison,' setting an extremely bad example. This profoundly exposes my blurred role positioning, lack of responsibility, and failure to live up to everyone's trust."

"I promise that I will deeply reflect on my actions, learn from this lesson, and strictly adhere to discipline. Whenever I encounter anything of unknown origin, I will first inquire about its source and consider its potential harm, resolutely refraining from touching, testing, or encouraging it. I earnestly request Comrade Fern and everyone else to supervise me!"

He finished speaking in one breath, then placed his hands back on his knees, bowed his head slightly, and adopted a standard and sincere posture of admitting his mistake. However, beneath his lowered eyelids, his peripheral vision still secretly glanced at Fern, keenly observing her reaction.

Fern: "..."

She fell silent.

This overly formal "self-criticism," even tinged with strange official jargon, combined with Lowell's earnest yet barely concealed familiar cunning in his eyes, left her momentarily at a loss for words, and her carefully maintained serious expression nearly crumbled.

"... What kind of strange statement is this?" she finally said softly, her tone filled with deep helplessness and a hint of resignation that the person in front of her was "hopeless." The deliberately created serious atmosphere was completely shattered by this outrageous "self-criticism."

Upon hearing this, Lowell immediately raised his head, instinctively tossing his hair back. The "heavy remorse" on his face was instantly replaced by a smug look of "having a plan," though he quickly suppressed it again.

"Don't underestimate the skill and quality of the self-criticisms written by troubled children back then!" He lowered his voice, speaking with a hint of pride that "this is valuable experience," as if what he had just said was some remarkable achievement.