The Price and the Past

Lowell looked at Lupa's mismatched eyes, burning with the flames of determination, but did not answer immediately. The firelight illuminated half his face, while the other half lay hidden in shadow, its expression impossible to read.

After a few seconds of silence, he raised a hand and scratched his perpetually untidy black hair. His voice had its usual lazy, trouble-averse tone, though it carried a trace of solemnity that was hard to detect:

"All right," he said.

Lupa's eyes lit up at once, like a dying person grasping at a final straw.

But Lowell immediately continued, his voice as flat as if he were commenting on the weather. "One thing first, though: I don't like fighting, and I avoid it whenever I can. As for what I teach you and how, that depends on my mood. Of course, once I've taught you, whether you like fighting or what you do with that power has nothing to do with me. That's your choice. And..."

He paused and looked at Lupa calmly. "I probably won't be much of a teacher. I might not have much patience, or much of a method. Finally, and most importantly—"

His voice grew a little lower, carrying a weight that demanded careful consideration:

"Lupa, are you willing to give up...'everything' to gain this power? Think carefully before you answer."

He said the word "everything" softly, but it was like a piece of ice dropped into the warm room, seeming to make the very air grow still.

Lupa barely hesitated. The tragedy that had destroyed her home and family, her bone-deep hatred, and her only hope for the future made her resolve as firm as tempered steel. She nodded hard, her voice trembling slightly with excitement yet unusually clear:

"I am! As long as I can gain power, I'm willing to do anything! I believe in you, Mr. Lowell!"

Her eyes held unreserved, almost blind trust, as well as the determination to entrust herself entirely to him.

Lowell looked at her, his gaze lingering for a moment on her young face, so full of resolve. He sighed softly, the sigh containing too many complicated emotions before finally becoming a simple answer:

"All right, then I promise."

His straightforward agreement instead made Heiter frown slightly, while Himmel cast him a somewhat worried look. They both knew that the promise to "give up everything" could mean a price far beyond what ordinary people could imagine.

However, Lowell seemed unwilling to continue the heavy conversation. Changing the subject, he turned to Frieren, who was sipping her hot soup beside him as though the conversation around her had nothing to do with the food in her bowl. A teasing smile appeared on his face.

"Frieren, looks like your daily life can be even easier from now on. You have Linié to brush your hair, and you probably won't even have to feed yourself anymore. You can leave that to Lupa."

Frieren had been focused on the food in her bowl, but at his words, she abruptly raised her head. Her emerald eyes lit up like stars suddenly kindled in the night sky, and a rare look of anticipation that could even be called "radiant" appeared on her face.

"That's wonderful!" She made no attempt to hide her delight and even swung her dangling legs slightly.

Ruby immediately pouted and protested in a quiet voice, "Mr. Lowell! You're spoiling Lady Frieren too much! She's almost unable to take care of herself!"

Frieren immediately turned to Ruby and lifted her chin a little in triumph, her voice a touch boastful. "Hehe~ Jealous? Why don't you have Himmel feed you?"

"W-who's jealous?!" Ruby's little face turned as red as a ripe apple, and she turned away in a huff, though her crimson ears betrayed her embarrassment and annoyance.

Lupa, meanwhile, had just succeeded in becoming his disciple. Although she still did not fully understand this sudden "task," she immediately answered Lowell's instruction respectfully, delighted to have found her own worth. "Yes, Teacher Lowell! I'll do it well!" She seemed eager to prove she was useful rather than a burden.

Watching the somewhat chaotic yet strangely harmonious scene, Lowell smiled helplessly and shook his head.

Just then, Frieren seemed to remember something. She gently stirred the soup in her bowl with her spoon, turned her emerald eyes to Lowell, and tilted her head. In her characteristic flat, unruffled tone, which nevertheless always produced astonishing remarks, she said:

"Come to think of it, Lowell, you really are much gentler than you used to be."

Her words succeeded in drawing everyone's attention.

Frieren continued to reminisce slowly, as though recounting an ancient story. "I remember...about eight hundred years ago, I think? There was a similar situation. We were in the eastern forest, and a little girl whose village had been destroyed shouted at you. Your reaction was quite different back then."

Imitating how Lowell might have sounded at the time, she spoke without much inflection, though her words were startling. "I think you said something like, 'Damn evil cultivator, how dare you possess an innocent child! Take my punch!'"

"Pfft—!" Heiter nearly sprayed out a mouthful of soup and hurriedly covered his mouth, coughing. Himmel's blue eyes widened in surprise. Eisen stopped wiping his battle axe. Ruby and Lupa listened with their mouths hanging open.

With his past suddenly exposed, a rare flash of embarrassment crossed Lowell's usually lazily smiling face, and his ears reddened at a visible pace. He practically lunged over in a fluster and clapped a hand over Frieren's still-chattering mouth, lowering his voice, agitated and exasperated:

"Frieren! How many times have I told you?! Don't go telling everyone everything! Why bring up ancient history?!"

With her mouth covered, Frieren made muffled noises and blinked her big emerald eyes innocently, as though saying, But it's true.

Lowell looked at the gazes his companions turned on him, a complicated mixture of surprise, curiosity, So you have a side like that? and Eight hundred years? He gave an awkward chuckle, released Frieren, and rubbed his nose, trying to salvage his image.

"Haha...well...ahem, I was young and hotheaded back then. I was joking, just joking! Besides, I didn't actually punch her in the end! It was just a joke... In the end, that girl..."

His voice trailed off, and his smile faded somewhat.

Able to breathe again, Frieren calmly finished the story in her usual matter-of-fact tone. "She followed us afterward and learned a few skills. People die very quickly. For a human, dying at twenty-three is normal too, but when she passed, she said she was very grateful to you for saving her and teaching her."

Lowell fell silent for a moment, lowering his gaze to the dancing flames. When he looked up again, his usual languor had returned, but a faint, elusive shadow seemed to pass through the depths of his eyes. He looked at Lupa, who had just become his disciple, and then seemed to look through her into the distant past. He smiled faintly, with a touch of self-mockery and weariness.

"That's why...I had to ask her beforehand whether she was willing to give up 'everything.' Because I don't want to be 'worn down' again."

He used the words "worn down" lightly, yet they were like a heavy stone cast into the lake of everyone's hearts, sending ripples across it.

"Master...you're here. I'm sorry, I've brought shame on you..."

"...What are you saying? That really was a greater demon. You did very well."

"Is that so...Master, and Lady Frieren...sorry...hold me again, like when I was little..."

"...All right."

"..."

Lowell shook his head. Eight hundred years had passed, and he still could not forget.

"Sorry, everyone. I'm going out for a walk."

A brief silence fell over the room. The firewood crackled, occasionally sending up a few sparks, while outside, the night wind blew through the ruins with a sound like a sob. Himmel looked thoughtful, Heiter shook his head and sighed softly, and Eisen said nothing.

Lupa watched Lowell walk out the door, only half understanding. She did not quite grasp what "worn down" meant, but she could feel the heavy weight in her master's words. Without thinking, she simply gripped the edge of the blanket around her more tightly.

Frieren lowered her head and gently set her empty bowl back on the floor. Her emerald eyes watched the dancing flames quietly, and in those firelit eyes, a few indistinct fragments from a very distant past seemed to flicker.

The night grew deeper.