Chapter Summaries

Lowell and Frieren shared their familiar morning routine at an inn before setting out north toward Central City. After learning that Serie and the Continental Magic Association were there, they continued toward the city, leaving their next encounter ahead.

• Lowell woke Frieren and went out to buy breakfast, while Frieren tried to avoid getting up.
• Lowell returned with apple jam buns, milk, tea leaves, and a small wooden box, which Frieren added to her collection.
• The innkeeper gave Lowell and Frieren apple pies and told them the Continental Magic Association's headquarters was in Central City.
• Lowell and Frieren set out north, and Frieren noted they would pass through Central City, where Serie was.

Lowell and Frieren arrived in Central City and approached the Magic Association’s Tower of the Firmament to visit Serie. They entered the tower and climbed its seemingly endless staircase, reaching an open door at the top.

• Lowell and Frieren discussed whether to visit Serie, and Frieren wondered why Serie had established the Magic Association.
• Lowell and Frieren entered Central City, where Frieren criticized the tower’s levitation magic and barriers as ostentatious and wasteful.
• After initially deciding to wait until the next day, Frieren changed her mind and asked Lowell to accompany her to the tower.
• The tower’s bronze doors opened on their own, and Frieren and Lowell stepped through while the guards pretended they had seen nothing.
• Frieren and Lowell climbed the tower’s long spiral staircase, and Frieren complained that Serie was making them climb for no reason.
• Frieren pushed open an unadorned wooden door at the top of the stairs, where warm light shone through.

Frieren and Lowell met Serie in the Mage Association’s tower, where Serie spoke about her unruly human student, Ruby. After Frieren and Lowell left, they suspected Ruby was more important to Serie than she admitted, and Frieren paused to watch the young mages below.

• Frieren and Lowell entered Serie’s study, where Serie greeted Frieren and teased her before discussing the Mage Association.
• Serie described a clever, noisy human student who had left to gain experience and called herself the royal capital’s greatest genius mage.
• Frieren asked the student’s name, and Serie revealed it was Ruby while quietly tending to a bouquet of blue flowers in her study.
• Lowell told Serie that they would stay in Central City for a few days, and Serie dismissed them.
• As Frieren and Lowell descended the tower, they concluded Serie cared about Ruby, and Frieren watched the young mages gathered in the square.

Lowell avoided fighting Serie at full strength, and Frieren helped end their sparring before they returned to their inn room in Central City. They shared a quiet meal and considered leaving the city the next day, while wondering whether they might eventually meet Ruby.

• Serie accused Lowell of holding back after finding him lying on the floor in her pocket dimension.
• Frieren brushed the dust from Lowell and asked whether they could return to the inn.
• Lowell admitted he saw no point in settling who would win because he wanted a quiet life.
• Frieren and Lowell shared dried fruit and jerky, then wondered whether Ruby was in the Tower of the Firmament.
• Frieren suggested leaving Central City the next day, and Lowell extinguished the lamp before they went to sleep.

While traveling toward the royal capital, Frieren and Lowell found a secret realm containing a Mimic disguised as a treasure chest. After Lowell freed Frieren and helped her clean off its slime, they continued their journey and camped by a stream.

• During a midday rest, Frieren discovered a hidden entrance to a small secret realm, and Lowell followed her inside.
• Frieren rushed to open a treasure chest, but it was a Mimic that swallowed her upper body.
• Lowell made the Mimic release Frieren, then helped her wash off its slime in a pool.
• Frieren decided to leave the Mimic alone, and Lowell lent her a coat before they continued toward the royal capital.
• That evening, Lowell and Frieren camped beside a stream, where Frieren fell asleep against his shoulder.

Lowell and Frieren reached a village under attack and watched Ruby, a young mage, defeat its monsters with powerful magic. A demon named Camilla then confronted Ruby, and their battle began with neither side yet showing its full strength.

• Lowell and Frieren found a village surrounded by the remains of monsters, while Ruby fought the surviving attackers alone.
• Ruby defeated the remaining monsters with Arcane Missiles and fire magic, impressing Lowell and Frieren with her skill and mana.
• Camilla emerged from a shadow and attacked Ruby, identifying himself as the demon called the Shadow Weaver.
• Ruby repelled Camilla’s surprise strike and dodged his shadow tentacles while counterattacking with spells.
• Camilla unleashed a composite spell of shadow and ice, and Ruby met it with a Flame Barrier as Lowell and Frieren watched.

Ruby defeated Camilla, but he survived and launched a surprise attack. Himmel and his companions saved Ruby and killed Camilla, while Ruby suspected Frieren had also intervened; the chapter ended with the heroes and Frieren's party facing one another awkwardly.

• Ruby concentrated her fire barrier into a beam that pierced Camilla's defenses and hurled him into a tree.
• As Ruby celebrated, Lowell and Frieren realized Camilla was still alive, and Camilla sprang up to attack her from behind.
• Himmel severed Camilla's wrist with his sword, while an unseen beam pierced Camilla's heart and killed him.
• Himmel warned Ruby to stay alert, and Ruby blushed before insisting she could have handled the demon herself.
• Heiter and Eisen arrived, and Lowell and Frieren emerged from the village entrance; Himmel greeted Frieren, while Ruby glanced between him and Frieren awkwardly.

After the battle, Ruby introduced herself to Frieren and showed off her Flower Field Magic, but Frieren effortlessly covered the land in Cecilia Flowers. Ruby begged Frieren to teach her as Frieren resigned herself to dealing with her new admirer.

• Ruby thanked Frieren and Himmel for helping defeat the demon officer, then introduced herself to the group.
• Himmel introduced Heiter and Eisen, while Frieren and Lowell gave their names.
• Ruby demonstrated Flower Field Magic by creating a Cecilia Flower and boasted that Lady Serie had taught her.
• Frieren instantly spread a vast sea of Cecilia Flowers across the battlefield, astonishing Ruby.
• Ruby clung to Frieren and pleaded for lessons as Frieren sighed in resignation.

At the village campfire, Himmel invited Ruby to join the journey to defeat the Demon King, and she accepted. Lowell and Frieren agreed to travel with Himmel’s party for part of the way, while Ruby tried to persuade Frieren to teach her magic and received no outright refusal.

• Himmel praised Ruby’s magic and invited her to travel with the party to defeat the Demon King, and Ruby accepted while insisting she was not doing it to help them.
• Himmel invited Lowell and Frieren to join them, and Lowell agreed to travel together for part of the way.
• Ruby asked Frieren about the promised Flower Field Magic, and Frieren said it depended on her mood.
• Ruby tried offering Frieren treats and gems, then pleaded with her to teach a spell.
• Lowell recalled Ruby’s month-long attempt to learn Falling Star from Serie, prompting Frieren to call Ruby noisy without refusing her request.
• Ruby sat quietly at Frieren’s feet, and Frieren drank her tea without turning her down.

Ruby woke Frieren and Lowell before their party set off, then won Frieren over with homemade pudding and carefully combed her hair. Frieren softened toward Ruby’s request to learn Flower Field Magic, while Lowell went outside to wait for them.

• Ruby entered the room and tickled Frieren until she woke, while Lowell got up after saying he was already awake.
• Ruby presented Frieren with her homemade Mercury Pudding, which Frieren happily ate.
• Ruby combed Frieren’s hair and asked about learning Flower Field Magic.
• Frieren said the lessons depended on her mood, encouraging Ruby to keep trying.
• Lowell packed his belongings and left the room to wait outside.

Himmel's party rested in an oak forest, where Ruby and Frieren shared food and conversation with their companions. As they continued north, Frieren quietly encouraged Ruby, leaving the young mage delighted and eager to keep talking with her.

• Himmel led the party to a forest clearing, where Ruby shared fruit and Frieren watched fish in the stream.
• Himmel stopped Ruby from using magic to catch fish, and Eisen speared several trout for the party to roast with Ruby's spices.
• Ruby promised to treat Frieren to a strawberry tart in the Royal Capital, and Frieren softly agreed.
• Frieren paused to look at lilies of the valley, and Ruby asked whether she was in a better mood.
• Frieren mentioned using the flowers to color pudding, and Ruby happily followed her, chattering about desserts as Himmel, Heiter, Eisen, and Lowell watched.

The party crossed a bridge into Stonebridge Town, where Frieren casually sent a Water Lizard plunging into the river and teased Ruby about revealing how. Later, Ruby abandoned a planned prank when she found Frieren asleep, while Frieren secretly showed she had been awake.

• The party reached the bridge to Stonebridge Town, and a Water Lizard lunged at Frieren from beneath it.
• Frieren lightly tapped a loose stone with her staff, causing the Water Lizard to lose its balance and fall into the river.
• Ruby asked Frieren how she had defeated the monster, and Frieren jokingly demanded Ruby's entire dessert share in exchange for the secret.
• At the inn, Ruby approached Frieren's room with pungent herbs to prank her, but stopped when she saw Frieren sleeping peacefully.
• Ruby put away the herbs, gently touched Frieren's finger, and adjusted the window and curtains before leaving.
• After Ruby left, Frieren smiled and murmured, "Dummy."

Frieren taught Ruby Flower Field Magic, guiding her through a day of practice that ended with Ruby successfully maintaining a small field of flowers. The lesson left Ruby encouraged and revealed Frieren’s gentler side as she celebrated Ruby’s progress with glowing flowers.

• Ruby reminded Frieren of her promise to teach her Flower Field Magic, and Frieren demonstrated it in the inn’s garden.
• Frieren coached Ruby through several attempts until Ruby made tiny white flowers bloom, then Lowell called them to lunch.
• At lunch, Frieren told Ruby she had learned Flower Field Magic from a woman and shared Star Candy she had spent a hundred years perfecting.
• Frieren conjured glowing flowers to encourage Ruby, and they burst into starlight when Ruby maintained her flower field for more than ten minutes.
• Ruby shared her dessert pudding with Frieren to thank her, and later recorded the lesson in her notebook while Frieren watched the stars with a piece of Star Candy.

As the party neared the Royal Capital, Frieren tried to persuade Ruby to pay for lessons in advanced Flower Field Magic, hoping to afford the famous desserts there. Bandits interrupted them with an attempted robbery, and the party prepared to deal with them quickly so they could continue toward the capital.

• Frieren told Lowell they were nearly at the Royal Capital and considered how to pay for desserts despite their dwindling funds.
• Frieren tempted Ruby with advanced Flower Field Magic, and Ruby reluctantly prepared to share her remaining savings.
• A band of more than a dozen bandits ambushed the party and demanded their money and valuables.
• The bandit leader ordered his men to target Frieren and Ruby after deciding that the mages must carry valuable magic tools.
• Himmel warned the bandits to leave, while Heiter, Eisen, Lowell, Frieren, and Ruby prepared to fight.
• Frieren said to make the fight quick because she wanted a sundae.

Lowell and his companions defeated a band of highwaymen, and Lowell forced their bald boss to repay a supposed two-gold-coin debt before taking their equipment as interest. The party continued toward the next town, while Ruby wondered whether she should become more cunning.

• Ruby kicked the fallen bald boss until Lowell lifted her away and told her to leave him to Lowell.
• Lowell claimed the bald boss owed him two gold coins from a promised investment and threatened him with a broken cleaver until he agreed to pay.
• The bandits pooled their money, giving Lowell just over thirty silver coins, which he dismissed as insufficient to cover the interest.
• Lowell magically stripped the bandits of their equipment and took it as interest, leaving them in their underpants.
• Lowell and his companions resumed their journey, and Ruby considered learning to be more cunning.

Lowell divided the party’s recovered money among the six companions, and they stopped at a lively town tavern for dinner. Frieren tricked Ruby into paying for sweets in exchange for a lesson in Flower Field Magic the next day, leaving Ruby lamenting her depleted purse.

• At the town entrance, Lowell split the money into six shares, and Frieren complained that two shares had become six.
• At the tavern, Frieren ordered a honey and nut sundae and enjoyed it while Ruby waited for her food.
• Ruby tried to win Frieren’s favor with a shoulder rub and asked when Frieren would teach her to change the colors of flowers.
• Frieren demanded that Ruby pay for her sweets, and Ruby reluctantly handed over coins for a strawberry tart, a mille-feuille, and five copper coins.
• Frieren promised to teach Ruby the magic on the road the next day, then left for her room as Ruby pretended to cry to Himmel.

As the party neared the royal capital, Ruby struggled to master Frieren’s advanced Flower Field Magic, which Frieren had spent two hundred years refining. After Frieren demonstrated how to imitate a flower’s light-reactive petals, Ruby resolved to study the flowers around her more carefully, and the capital came into view.

• Ruby repeatedly failed to create natural-looking flowers while practicing beside the road.
• Frieren explained that she had spent two hundred years refining Flower Field Magic after learning its basic form.
• Ruby nearly called Frieren an old woman, but Frieren’s intimidating gaze stopped her.
• Ruby noticed Shadow Flowers changing color in sunlight, and Frieren demonstrated a spell that transformed a daisy’s petals.
• Ruby decided to observe the plants more carefully as the party approached the royal capital.

Himmel and the others arrived in the Royal Capital, handed off their commission, and split up to explore before meeting at Central Square. At Honey and Elf, Frieren guarded her pastry while Himmel cheered Ruby up with a strawberry tart, and the group settled into a quiet moment in the city.

• Himmel led the party through the Royal Capital gates and arranged to meet everyone beside Central Square that evening.
• Frieren headed to Honey and Elf with Ruby, while Himmel, Heiter, and Eisen went to the Adventurers Guild.
• Frieren bought a mille-feuille and a strawberry tart, and Lowell paid for the treats and ordered a chocolate ice cream cone.
• Frieren refused Ruby a bite of her mille-feuille, leaving Ruby to watch enviously as Frieren and Lowell enjoyed their desserts.
• Himmel returned with a strawberry tart for Ruby, who eagerly accepted it while pretending she was doing him a favor.
• Heiter and Eisen relaxed with drinks nearby as Lowell and Frieren quietly watched the Royal Capital from the shop window.

Himmel’s party received only ten copper coins from the king, and Himmel and Eisen openly criticized the meager reward. The king threatened to behead them until Ruby agreed to visit her estranged father, leaving the party released but their journey entangled in royal politics.

• The king offered Himmel’s party ten copper coins to support their journey to defeat the Demon King.
• Himmel called the reward a bad joke, and Eisen agreed that it would only buy a few days of cheap rations.
• The king ordered axemen to seize Himmel, Eisen, and Heiter, while Ruby protested and Heiter tried to appease the king.
• The king offered to spare the captives if Ruby promised to visit her father, Duke Grendel.
• Ruby reluctantly agreed to visit her father, and the king ordered the axemen to release the party.

Ruby returned to her family estate with Himmel’s party and cautiously reconciled with her parents. She drew Frieren into studying an ancient book attributed to Flamme, giving the party a reason to remain at the estate.

• Ruby and her companions arrived at the estate, where Grand Duke Grendel reproached her and Lady Margaret welcomed her warmly.
• Lady Margaret hosted dinner and helped ease the tension between Ruby and her father with a meal and Ruby’s favorite lava cake.
• Grand Duke Grendel invited Himmel to his study, while Lady Margaret took Ruby upstairs to talk.
• Ruby brought Frieren an ancient family book said to be a manuscript by Flamme and offered to show her other old magical texts.
• Frieren agreed to study the book with Ruby and followed her toward her room, while Lowell suspected they would not leave soon.