The Discussion

The next morning, Fern pushed open the door of the cabin. The fire in the fireplace had gone out, leaving only a pile of dark red embers.

She walked into the inner room and raised her hand to knock on the door.

"Lady Frieren, it's time to get up..."

He stopped halfway through his sentence.

The door wasn't closed completely, leaving a crack. Through the crack, you could see the silhouette of someone on the bed.

Frieren had already sat up.

She leaned against the headboard, her silver hair slightly disheveled from sleep, a few strands sticking up on her head. She was still wrapped in a blanket, only her shoulders and arms were exposed. Her emerald eyes were half-closed, staring blankly at a point in the void, her gaze unfocused, clearly not fully awake yet.

But he was definitely sitting.

Fern blinked.

"Frieren actually got up early!" Fern was greatly shocked.

Hearing the sound, Frieren slowly turned her head. Her gaze lingered on Fern for a moment, then drifted away, returning to the void. She raised her hand and rubbed her eyes.

"... Um."

His voice was muffled, filled with the weariness of someone who hadn't fully woken up.

The scene changes.

At the dining table in the cabin.

Frieren sat in a chair, a thick coat draped over her shoulders. She still squinted, her head nodding slightly, like a silver plant dozing in the morning breeze.

Fern sat down next to her, carrying a bowl of hot porridge. Steam rose from the bowl.

"Lady Frieren, ah~."

She scooped up a spoonful of porridge and held it to Frieren's lips.

Frieren opened her mouth reflexively. The porridge was at the perfect temperature, not too hot. She swallowed it in small sips, her eyes still half-closed.

Methode sat on the other side of the table, her hands supporting her chin, her face filled with undisguised ecstasy, her bright blue-violet eyes fixed on Frieren.

"Ah... even Miss Frieren, who's still a bit groggy in the morning, is so adorable..."

Liletta stood behind Frieren. She reached out and gently massaged Frieren's shoulder. Her face was expressionless, and her golden eyes gazed ahead.

"Are you tired, Miss Liletta?" Methode looked at her, her voice tinged with expectation. "Would you like me to take your turn?"

Liletta shook her head. "No."

Methode sighed regretfully, "What a pity..."

Lowell sat at the other end of the table, breaking off a piece of black bread. He took a bite, chewed a few times, and swallowed.

"Well... after all, Duncan said he'd be here in the morning. He's very punctual, so he'll definitely have to get up early."

Fern scooped up another spoonful of porridge and held it to Frieren's lips.

"Yes, Lady Frieren, open your mouth again, ah..."

Frieren obediently ate it.

"Great, wonderful, Frieren." She seemed to be encouraging herself. "Frieren, who gets up early, deserves to be praised!"

She turned to Lowell.

"Lord Lowell, you didn't say this last night. Since you're determined not to interfere in Mr. Duncan's fight with Macht, what are we doing here?"

Lowell stuffed the last bite of bread into his mouth and patted the crumbs off his hands.

"Well... I certainly won't get involved in his fight with Macht. But we can help him in other ways."

He had barely finished speaking.

Footsteps sounded outside the door.

It's not heavy, and it's very stable. It's parked at the doorway.

Then came two clear and restrained knocks on the door.

"Please come in," Lowell said.

The door opened.

Duncan stood outside the door. He was wearing the same dark robe as yesterday, his hair was neatly combed, and his eyes were clear.

His gaze swept across the room, lingering for half a second on Frieren, who was being fed porridge, and Liletta, who was massaging her shoulders behind her. His expression remained unchanged, and he didn't ask any further questions.

He walked in and sat down in an empty chair at the table.

"Well then," he began, his voice steady, "I'll explain the situation."

"The First-Class Mage, Lairen, who was also the former barrier manager, gathered a lot of information for me before our handover. This information was given to me by Edel, who was traveling with him."

He looked up at Lowell.

"This matter begins with..." He seemed about to launch into a long explanation.

Just tell me the conclusion.

Frieren's voice suddenly broke in.

She had finished her spoonful of porridge and was wiping her mouth with her sleeve. Her emerald eyes were fixed on Duncan, her gaze more clear than before, but her brows clearly showed that she was "too lazy to listen to a long-winded explanation."

Duncan: "..."

Meanwhile, on the other side...

On a main road, a horse-drawn carriage bumped along, its wheels making a monotonous, rhythmic rumbling sound as they rolled over the dirt road.

Inside the carriage, Lairen sat against the wall, seemingly resting, or perhaps deep in thought.

Edel sat at the very back of the carriage, slumped on the ground, her arms hanging limply on the open wooden planks at the back, swaying gently like a metronome with the movement of the carriage. Her face was etched with exhaustion.

Lairen opened her eyes and glanced at her.

"Thank you for your hard work, Edel," he said, his voice tinged with apology. "In a few more days, we'll be back in Oysast."

Etilu let out a weak "ha".

"It was really tough... investigating the Golden Land... I almost lost my life."

"Yes," Lairen nodded, "Thanks to this, we were able to provide Duncan with useful intelligence. This intelligence will certainly help him save his homeland."

Edel turned her head and glanced at him.

"You're so considerate of Duncan."

Lairen didn't reply immediately; the carriage was quiet for a while, with only the sound of the train moving.

"Can I ask why?" Edel asked.

"That's a long story..."

"Whatever." Edel remained slumped over, eyes closed. "I'm free. I'm actually looking for a story."

Lairen gazed at the receding forest for a long while, the light and shadows in the woods slowly shifting across his face.

"Let's start from when I was young."

His voice was calm, as if he were narrating a dusty yet sharply defined past.

"Duncan was a mage who joined the court in the same year as me. We're old friends."

"He was a soldier, formerly serving in the Empire Army. I, on the other hand, am a naive and inexperienced nobleman."

"However, we get along very well. It's probably because we're both the type who keep our thoughts to ourselves and let the results speak for themselves. Working with him, even with tedious paperwork and complex calculations, always seems to make me happy."

"As for me, although I possess magical talent, I am utterly clueless about interpersonal relationships. Therefore, I lost my status at a young age."

His gaze drifted into the distance, as if peering through the curtain of time to see scenes from the past.

In the library, he and Duncan sat across a table, on which spellbooks and documents lay open. They talked in hushed tones, occasionally scribbling on the paper. Outside the window, the quiet afternoon sunlight streamed in.

--The next scene is in another room. He stands aside, watching Duncan argue with a richly dressed nobleman. The usually silent Duncan is uncharacteristically clear and forceful, not giving an inch. In the end, he simply steps forward, puts his hand on Duncan's shoulder, and gently shakes his head.

"Only Duncan," Lairen continued, her voice lowering, "Speaking up for me until the very end."

"At that time, I made up my mind that [one day] I would repay this favor."

The carriage rolled over a stone, causing it to lurch. Edel frowned but didn't open her eyes.

"Like me, Duncan's personality might seem a bit twisted to others. But his stubbornness and the passion hidden beneath his tough exterior are things I lack."

"Moreover, his love for his wife is also impressive."

He would recount his love story with his wife in a tone so flat it was almost like giving a report. I always listened with a wry smile.

"Even after his wife was Goldification..." He paused slightly, "... he would still talk endlessly about his memories of his wife and his plans to return to his hometown to see her..."

He shook his head.

"How nostalgic. He hasn't mentioned these things for decades now."

"In the end, Duncan hasn't returned to his hometown for over fifty years."

His gaze fell back on his clasped hands.

"I can understand how he feels. It takes a lot of courage for a person to turn back and face what they have already lost."

Edel kept her eyes closed and didn't speak.

Lairen took an apple from his bag. It was golden yellow, with a uniform and dark metallic sheen. He held it in his palm and looked at it for a moment.

"Several years ago, after Duncan's hometown was also swallowed up by the Golden Land, he finally made up his mind."

"So I want to help him as much as possible. Help him return to his hometown."

"Not a cold, golden hometown. But a hometown where he once lived, a hometown full of warmth, color, the sound of wind, and the smoke of cooking fires."

Edel opened her eyes, looked at him, and then closed them again.

He didn't say anything.

Lairen waited a moment, then chuckled softly. The laugh was short and tinged with self-deprecation.

"... You probably think it's too late for Duncan to make this decision now, right?"

Edel hummed in agreement.

"It's really too late now."

"Has it come to this?" Lairen repeated the question, her gaze returning to the window, sweeping over the receding, vibrant greenery. "Yes."

But I couldn't bring myself to say a single word of blame.

His voice lowered, as if he were talking to himself.

"We are human beings. Humans have a limited amount of time. In our short lives, there is no 'someday'."

"How foolish. It's such a simple truth, yet Duncan and I, at this age, still haven't grasped it."

"Me too. Over the years, I haven't been able to repay Duncan's favor. 'There will always be a chance, and I'll help Duncan when he encounters difficulties'—that's what I always think. But at this age, who knows, one day we might never see each other again."

He tightened his grip on the golden apple.

"For us, there is no [someday]."

"Only now."

The carriage continued forward. The monotonous sound of the wheels remained unchanged.

That's why I spared no effort in assisting him, silently hoping he would accomplish this heroic feat of rescuing Weise from the Golden Land.

Lairen looked up at the distant mountain ranges that were faintly visible on the horizon. The morning light edged those undulating lines with a pale gold.

"This is the last stand for us old folks."

He was silent for a moment, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly, as if he were imagining a certain scene.

"What would he feel if he saw his hometown, filled with memories, turned into gold...?"

"What I can't do, Duncan will surely show me."

The wind blew in from the open back of the car, ruffling his graying temples.

His voice was clear and calm in the wind, carrying a sense of refinement that had been repeatedly washed away by the passage of time.

"That powerful and alluring, desperate gamble of twilight years."