The Battle to Defend Dessert

As the weather gradually warmed, the withered meadows along the roadside were replaced by scattered wildflowers, and the air was filled with the unique fresh scent of thawed earth. The three of them traveled by day and rested by night, crossing hills and wading through shallow streams at a leisurely pace, as if the long hours had become leisurely under their feet.

One afternoon, they rested by a clear stream. The warm sunshine shone on them, the stream babbled, and occasionally a fish would leap out of the water, splashing up tiny droplets.

Frieren found a flat, large rock that was warm from the sun and sat down. Her long, silver hair almost reached the ground, like a cascading beam of moonlight.

She carefully took out a small, square package wrapped in clean oil paper from her bag. When she opened it, a cake decorated with amber-colored nuts and drizzled with glistening honey was revealed—a souvenir that Lowell had painstakingly bought after queuing for a long time when passing through that bustling human town that morning.

She ate in small, precious bites, her emerald eyes narrowing into slits with satisfaction. Her cheeks puffed out with each chew, like a contented little squirrel that had stocked up on food for winter. She was completely immersed in this hard-won sweetness, as if all the noise around her had faded away.

Lowell leaned against a tree trunk, his black hair ruffling in the breeze. Looking at Frieren's adoring expression, a smile unconsciously crept onto his lips. He had managed to earn some money these past few days by occasionally hunting, which had somewhat eased the financial deficit of "raising" Frieren. Seeing her contentment now, he felt it was all worthwhile.

Flamme sat a little further away on the grass, her long orange hair flowing like sunlight. In front of her lay a thick, antique-looking magic book, which she was reading intently, her fingertips unconsciously fiddling with a corner of a page. Sometimes she frowned, sometimes she seemed to be lost in thought, completely immersed in the ocean of knowledge.

However, as Frieren was taking small, almost sacred bites, about to finish the last piece of cake—the most prized part, the largest nut coated in honey—an orange shadow crept up silently like a ghost.

"Hmm~ This aroma, it's honey mixed with roasted nuts, isn't it? It's so tempting..."

Flamme had closed the heavy magic book at some point, a harmless smile tinged with innocent curiosity gracing her face. Her bright blue eyes, like a cat discovering a new toy, were fixed intently on the last remaining, irresistibly alluring tip of the cake in Frieren's hand.

"Frieren, this last bite looks like the very soul of this cake! Can I have a little bit? I can trade you a new and fun 'Food Freshness Preservation' magic trick I just learned! I guarantee that next time you find something delicious, it'll stay like it just came out of the oven for three days!"

Before she finished speaking, her finger had already shot out with lightning speed, its target perfectly precise—pointing directly to the last bite that contained the essence of the cake! The skill in her movements and the cunning of her timing were nothing short of masterful.

Frieren's reaction was ultimately a beat too slow.

It wasn't that she was slow-witted; she simply hadn't expected that this "big sister," who usually seemed mature, composed, and dedicated to the great cause of magic, would resort to such a "low-class" sneak attack for a dessert.

Before she realized the danger, Flamme's slender fingers had already deftly hooked the edge of the cake, skillfully breaking off a small piece with a whole nut attached, and swiftly popped it into her mouth.

"Mmm~" Flamme squinted her eyes in ecstasy, letting out a satisfied sigh. She even licked the honey off her fingertips with lingering relish, a sly, cat-like smile spreading across her face. "Indeed, the last bite of dessert is the real essence! Utter bliss!"

Frieren looked at the cake in her hand, now imperfect and missing a corner, and then glanced at Flamme looked smug and completely unashamed.

She lowered her head and silently finished the rest of the cake, now devoid of its soul. Her movements remained refined, but the subtle, almost tangible low pressure emanating from her seemed to be sensed even by the birds in the nearby trees, who fluttered their wings and flew away. It was an indescribable sense of loss, a mixture of "the treasure that was almost in my mouth has flown away" and "the sense of ritual has been destroyed."

Lowell's brow furrowed instantly. He stood up, walked to Frieren's side, first giving the still-enjoying "dessert thief" a disapproving glare, then crouching down to Frieren's eye level, his tone carrying undisguised encouragement and a protective undertone of "my child being bullied":

"Frieren, did you see that clearly? This is what you call 'unpredictable'!" he said in a low voice.

"Let me teach you. To deal with this kind of disrespectful older person who even steals desserts from kids, next time she dares to reach out, don't hesitate, just blast her with magic! Don't worry, she's tough, she can take a beating! Just treat it as a practice run. Anyway, she'll be too embarrassed to really hit you hard, so why not take advantage of this opportunity!"

Frieren raised her head, a faint hint of doubt flickering in her emerald eyes, and stated the fact in her usual calm voice. "She treated us to dinner."

The implication is that it seems reasonable for him to eat a little something from her?

Lowell immediately glared at him, his tone resolute and forceful, carrying an air of "even fallacies are valid" arrogance:

"Let's keep things separate! She treated us voluntarily; we didn't force her! Now that we can support ourselves, we don't owe her anything! She's just taking advantage of her age... uh, her mature mindset, to bully you because you're shy and slow to react! Next time, just do it, don't hold back! Let her know that taking someone else's dessert will have consequences! I'm helping you protect your 'right to food'!"

The more he spoke, the more convinced he became, as if he himself had been robbed of his prized possession. His cheeks puffed up slightly with anger. "Hmph! I queued for ages to buy this! The last, most delicious part! And she just snatched it away! How can I tolerate this? Frieren, remember, with dessert thieves, you have to strike hard! Use your best magic to teach her a lesson!"

Frieren looked at Lowell's indignant expression, blinked, and seemed to consider the logical relationship between "the dessert being stolen" and "using magic attacks." Then she nodded and replied in her unique, emotionless voice, "Okay." It was as if she had simply accepted a new order to act.

A few days later, a barren mountain area with slightly undulating terrain and covered with weathered rocks.

"Hey! Frieren! Wait! Stop it! I give up! I admit I was wrong, okay?! Sister, I really know I was wrong!" Flamme's exclamation echoed through the valley, her originally calm tone now tinged with genuine panic and a helpless, almost absurd, frustration.

Her orange figure nimbly darted and dodged among the jagged rocks ahead, sometimes leaping onto towering stalagmites like a cat, sometimes gliding into narrow crevices like a fish. Although her posture remained elegant, her slightly disheveled hair and the dust marks accidentally brushed against her skirt betrayed her current disheveled state.

Behind her, Frieren's silver hair cascaded down her back as she sped along, her emerald eyes like the most precise tracking array, firmly locking onto the orange target ahead. With a wave of her staff, beams of condensed magical energy, as if they had eyes, relentlessly blasted towards Flamme with sharp whistling sounds.

"Boom!" A scorching beam of light grazed Flamme's skirt and struck the rock, instantly melting a small crater in the hard rock, with the red-hot magma sizzling.

"Swoosh!" A cold ray of light grazed past her heel, instantly freezing the ground.

"Bang!" An invisible shockwave of magic exploded on the boulder where she was about to land, forcing her to twist and change direction.

The light projectiles struck the rocks, blasting shallow craters and sending debris flying; scorching beams grazed the hem of Flamme's clothes, leaving charred marks; and even invisible magical shocks attempted to restrain her movements.

Frieren's expression remained calm, but her movements as she cast the spell were meticulous.

While maintaining the pressure of the pursuit, she calmly repeated Lowell's "tactical instructions": "Lowell said this is an effective live-fire exercise. He also said that you most likely won't retaliate."

Flamme narrowly avoided a crescent-shaped blade of light sweeping across the ground in an almost bridge-like posture. Feeling the burning smell emanating from the hem of her skirt, she nearly burst into tears.

"I... of course I wouldn't attack you! But isn't this exercise a bit too intense?! You're bombarding me with magic like it's free! It's not easy for me to accumulate magic! Oh! And what I did was share! Sharing is a virtue! Besides, I only ate a tiny bite... Is it really necessary to treat me to 'Rending Wind Blade'?!"

Another beam of blazing white light grazed her nose, the scorching air it generated causing her eyelashes to curl.

Finally, Flamme completely abandoned any semblance of composure, running away with her head in her hands while loudly pleading for mercy, "Frieren! That's enough! Enough! If we keep fighting, my magic shield will really be overloaded! Look, there's a rock over there that looks a lot like pudding. Let's call a truce and go over there to see if it's edible, okay?"

Frieren continued walking, a dazzling light gathering once more at the tip of her staff. She assessed her own condition and then answered methodically, "I still have magic power remaining. Lowell said we must make full use of opportunities in combat; only by exhausting it can we better increase our power."

Seeing Flamme 'Frieren serious expression of "strictly following orders," and feeling the sharp magical energy surge from behind her again, Flame finally let out a cry of despair, "Oh my god... Lowell! You'll remember this! And Frieren! How can you be so honest?! Help--!"

Forget about maintaining the decorum of Great Mage power, transforming into a dazzling orange streak of light. Ignoring her surroundings, she raced desperately towards the more complex area of towering stone pillars in the distance, hoping to temporarily escape the tireless, meticulously executing "Sweet Revenge Plan" of the elven "hunter" behind her.

Seeing this, Frieren immediately accelerated, like a silver arrow flying close to the ground, relentlessly pursuing him. A new round of "high-intensity live-fire exercises" was once again fiercely staged in this deserted mountain area.

In the shadow of a distant boulder, Lowell sat leisurely, a plump rabbit leg, freshly skewered on a twig, roasted to a perfect crisp on the outside and sizzling with oil, gnawing contentedly as he watched the chase he had orchestrated unfold in the distance. A bright smile, a mixture of satisfaction, relief, and a touch of schadenfreude, graced his face.

"Hmm, that's more like it. My Frieren, how can she always be the one to suffer?" He mumbled to himself as he roasted the rabbit. "As for Flamme... Hmph, serves you right for being so cheeky, even stealing a child's candy. Now you know the pot is made of iron, right? But speaking of which, this practical exercise was really effective. Look at Frieren's magic transitions, they're getting smoother and smoother."

"Frieren! Well done! Predict where she'll land next when she dodges!"

"Yes! Use that 'Light Binding' to restrict her movement! Block her movement! Block her movement!"

"Oh dear, you almost hit her! Be faster next time!" It's okay! Keep the pressure on! She's running out of room to hide!

"Keep it up! You'll both get rabbit meat after the exercise!"