Dragging and sulking

Morning light once again spilled across the road north as the party left the battered town behind. Unlike before, the nine travelers had a peculiar piece of "baggage" trailing behind them.

Lupa gritted her teeth, both hands gripping a coarse, sturdy hemp rope. The other end was bound tightly around the petrified Corrupt Sage, Qual. The statue was immensely heavy, and as it dragged along the dirt road, strewn with gravel and marked by ruts, it made a low, continuous rumbling scrape that grated on the quiet morning fields.

With every step, Lupa felt a tremendous pull on her arms and shoulders. Sweat quickly soaked her short red jacket, but a stubborn fire burned in her mismatched eyes, and every step she took was unusually firm. This was the training method she had chosen: using her enemy's stone form to temper her body and will.

Lowell had originally suggested putting the statue in his storage space so they could travel light, but Lupa had firmly shaken her head. "No, Master." She was panting, but her voice admitted no argument. "Dragging it lets me remember this weight at all times... and build my strength."

Lowell looked at her for a few seconds, then shrugged indifferently. "Suit yourself."

And so the party made for a peculiar sight: the handsome, blue-haired hero Himmel walked at the front, flanked by Eisen the dwarf warrior and Heiter the priest. The little red-haired mage Ruby skipped along beside Himmel. Behind them, Lowell and Frieren walked side by side with lazy expressions, followed by Mina and Linié in silence. At the rear, a red-haired girl gritted her teeth and strained to drag a huge stone statue of a demon.

Ruby glanced back from time to time. Finally, she couldn't help running over to Lowell and asking in a low voice, "Lowell, is that petrification seal... really all right? He won't suddenly break free, will he?" She had experienced Qual's suffocating mana firsthand.

Lowell was looking at a strange purple berry growing by the roadside. Without turning his head, he answered as casually as if he were discussing the weather. "Don't worry. Unless a fairly powerful mage deliberately undoes it, specifically targeting the seal, he'll be a stone that can't move for at least a hundred years in his current sealed state."

He paused, an amused smile curling his lips, and added, "Besides, we're not just keeping him so Lupa can take revenge someday. For you all, he's also a rare 'practice dummy.'"

"A practice dummy?" Ruby blinked her big green eyes, not understanding.

"Mm-hmm." Lowell finally looked away from the berry and glanced at Himmel and Eisen:

"A living great demon target who's available anytime, anywhere, absolutely quiet, and won't fight back, but whose strength is genuinely on the level of the Seven Sages of Destruction. Whenever you feel you've improved enough and want to see if you can withstand or even counter Killing Magic, just let me know. I'll undo the seal and let you practice. With Frieren and me watching, your safety is absolutely guaranteed anyway. Where else are you going to find a sparring partner at that level? That said, you're still a long way off. Learning Killing Magic doesn't happen overnight, even for a genius like Ruby. For now, he'd be more useful to Serie."

Himmel, walking ahead, heard this too. He looked back, surprise and amusement mingling on his handsome face, and shook his head with a quiet laugh. "Mr. Lowell, your idea is... both novel and genuinely practical. It's just..." His gaze swept over the statue, coated in dust and mud from being dragged along. He covered his mouth, a trace of subtle pity in his voice. "I feel a little sorry for this great demon, Mr. Qual."

Heiter took a swig of wine and laughed heartily. "Hahaha! Making the most of what we have! Still, to withstand such bizarre magic, the key really is finding an effective way to defend against his attacks." He looked at Ruby and Himmel. "Our holy light barriers seemed to have very limited effect, so..."

Only then did it dawn on Ruby. Her green eyes lit up, and she excitedly grabbed Frieren's sleeve. "Oh! That's right! Lady Frieren! Didn't you block his attack before? That defensive magic! Please teach me! And the principles behind Killing Magic itself, and how to cast it! If I could learn it..."

Frieren had been looking down at a small handful of wild berries she had casually picked by the road. Hearing this, she raised her head and shot Ruby a sidelong glance with her green eyes. A perfectly typical wicked grin slowly spread across her face, three parts slyness and seven parts "you know what I mean." She simply looked at Ruby without speaking.

The excitement froze on Ruby's face, then gave way to dismay. She stuck out her lower lip, clutched the little purse at her waist, which was noticeably flatter than before, and wailed, "Ah—you're going to extort me again! Lady Frieren, you're a bully! The commissions we've taken lately haven't paid much, and I'm almost out of pocket money..."

Frieren kept wearing that wicked grin and even deliberately waved the bright red berries in her hand, as if to say, "Knowledge is wealth. No money, no deal."

Ruby's eyes darted around. As if she had found a lifeline, she immediately turned to Lowell and tugged on his arm. "Lowell! You know it too, right? That defensive magic! Please teach me!"

Lowell grew a little dizzy from the shaking. He smiled helplessly and had just started to say, "I don't mind, but I wouldn't dare spoil Frieren's business..." when he felt the atmosphere beside him abruptly change.

He turned and saw that Frieren had let go of the berries at some point, leaving the little fruits to roll onto the ground. She had silently squatted beside a large rock at the roadside, her back to everyone. Even her silver twin tails seemed to droop, and a visibly gloomy atmosphere hung over her.

Ruby froze too. She let go of Lowell, cautiously approached Frieren, and squatted beside her. "Lady... Frieren?" she ventured in a quiet voice.

Frieren didn't turn around, but her shoulders twitched slightly. Then, in a highly unusual, distorted tone, plainly sulky and childish, she said:

"Go away, you stingy, stupid apprentice."

"Huh?" Ruby was bewildered, her eyes wide and round. She had no idea what had happened. "I... what did I do?" She thought back. She didn't seem to have said anything particularly excessive, had she? She had called Frieren a bully and said she was extorting her... but wasn't that the sort of thing she always said? Lady Frieren never got angry over that!

Unwilling to give up, she reached out and gently tugged at Frieren's sleeve again. "Lady Frieren? Are you all right? Are you feeling sick?"

"Go away, go away, go away!" Frieren abruptly shook off her hand, still facing away from her. Her voice rose, her tone even nastier and almost unreasonable. "Don't touch me! You called me an old woman, and I remember! You said I was greedy too! And sloppy! And lazy! And you don't want to pay your tuition! Go away!"

As if struck by lightning, Ruby froze on the spot, disbelief and shock written all over her little face. She... she had said those things... but that was ages ago! How could Lady Frieren remember? And why bring it all up now?

She turned to Lowell and the others as if pleading for help, her eyes reddening slightly. Her voice was tearful—though the crying was fake, her sense of grievance was real. "L-Lowell... wh-what did I do? Lady Frieren... why is she suddenly like this? I didn't say anything too awful, did I...?"

Himmel, Heiter, and Eisen had stopped too, watching in surprise. Even Lupa, who had been straining to drag the statue, couldn't help stopping to look over curiously as she caught her breath.

Lowell looked at Frieren, squatting by the road and radiating an air of "leave me the hell alone." At first he was taken aback, but then, as if he had suddenly remembered something, he looked caught between laughter and tears. He walked over to the nearly crying Ruby, patted her shoulder, and lowered his voice to explain:

"Uh... that. Don't worry, you didn't do anything wrong. This is Frieren's own... um... periodic 'special condition.'"

"Special condition?" Ruby looked bewildered.

"Yeah." Lowell carefully considered his wording. "It happens about once every ten years, and lasts around ten minutes each time. During those ten minutes, she goes into an 'unreasonable' mode. Everyone gets on her nerves, and she says very childish things she'd never normally say and brings up all kinds of ancient grudges. In short, she's very hard to deal with."

"Once... once every ten years? For ten minutes?" Ruby's mouth fell open, and her expression grew even more incredulous. "E-elves have a setting like that?"

"Apparently." Lowell spread his hands. "That's what I've observed, anyway. The good news is that after ten minutes, she'll go back to normal and won't remember anything that happened during that time, as if nothing had happened."

"S-so that's it..." Understanding dawned on Ruby. She patted her chest and breathed a sigh of relief, but looking at Frieren's back, she also felt a little amused and sorry for her. "Once every ten years, and only ten minutes each time... uh, that's pretty brief?"

Just then, Lowell smiled and turned to walk over to Frieren. He squatted beside the still-sulking elf, reached out, and rested his hand on her silver head with complete ease. He stroked it gently, his voice soft as if he were coaxing a petulant child.

"There, there, Frieren. Don't be angry. Ruby didn't mean any harm; she was only joking. Look, the wild berries by the road seem to be almost out of season. How about we stop tonight in a town with a dessert shop? I'll buy you honey cake."

"Go away! I remember asking you to feed me breakfast five years ago, and you wouldn't! And three years ago, you promised to buy breakfast, but you got up later than me!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. It was my fault. Don't be angry, don't be angry. The next town might have something delicious you've never tried before..."

Frieren seemed to struggle, trying to shake off his hand, but Lowell kept it steady and continued stroking her patiently. Gradually, her struggles subsided. Though her back was still to everyone, her tense shoulders seemed to relax a little, and she gave a very soft, heavily nasal huff. "...Hmph. You're so annoying. Go away..."

Ruby watched, blinked, and asked quietly, "Uh... Lowell, didn't you just say Lady Frieren would forget what happened during these ten minutes afterward? Even if you comfort her now... she won't remember it later, will she?"

Lowell didn't turn around. Still focused on stroking Frieren's hair, he looked at the horizon at the far end of the road, an extremely faint but infinitely gentle smile on his lips, and said softly:

"Yeah, she won't remember."

"But," he paused, his voice as gentle as a spring breeze, "even if it's only for ten minutes, I don't want her to feel like no one cares about her."

Ruby stood dumbfounded, looking at Lowell's profile as he crouched beside Frieren, at the tenderness and companionship he gave her even though he knew she would forget. Suddenly, a soft, warm feeling filled her heart. She seemed to... understand a little of how Lowell felt about Lady Frieren.

Himmel and Heiter exchanged a glance and smiled knowingly. Eisen silently turned around and resumed keeping watch ahead. Lupa wiped away her sweat, hauled on the rope again, and dragged the statue onward, a flicker of envy in her eyes. Mina and Linié watched silently.

About seven or eight minutes later, Frieren, who had been squatting there all this time, suddenly stirred. She raised her head and blinked her green eyes, her expression returning to its usual impassive, slightly lazy look. She stood up, brushed the bits of grass from her clothes, and looked at Lowell as if nothing had happened. In her usual tone, she asked:

"Lowell, it's almost noon. What are we having for lunch today?"

Lowell stood up too and smiled. "How about honey cake?"

"Oh, sure." Frieren nodded and walked naturally to Lowell's side, as if the elf who had been sulking by the roadside moments ago had only been a figment of everyone's imagination.

Ruby couldn't help bursting out laughing at the sight, earning a slightly puzzled glance from Frieren. Ruby quickly covered her mouth, but her eyes curved into crescents.

The party continued onward. The sound of wheels and footsteps mingled with the rumble of the statue being dragged, moving slowly north beneath the steadily rising sun. This little episode on their long journey was like a ripple on the surface of the water: it soon subsided, remaining only in certain people's memories as a warm smile.