Farewell

Indeed, the elves of this world all possessed a sense of time befitting the Long-lived Race.

Compared to them, Lin Yu had yet to cultivate such a mindset. Four months together already felt like an exceedingly long time to him.

Two days later, Flamme returned from outside the forest and handed Lin Yu a brand-new Holy Scripture before saying with a smile:

"Don't be sad. I'll come back to visit you often. And before long, an entire village of refugees will relocate here from the north, which has suffered terribly at the hands of the Demon Race. You may have some dealings with them."

"If you don't mind, you can allow them to live nearby and protect them."

"But I wouldn't advise getting too close to them. You are a god, after all. Even an unconscious turn in your sleep could be an unbearable disaster for the tiny lives around you..."

"I understand." Lin Yu nodded. "Were you frequently leaving last month because of this?"

Flamme smiled. "More or less. But don't be in such a hurry to feel touched. I didn't do this only for you—do you remember the day I first came here?"

Lin Yu nodded. "I remember."

Flamme smiled. "That was when I accepted a commission from those villagers. They were originally residents of this forest, but twenty years ago, they were driven out by the Monsters that appeared here—namely, Rolycoly—and forced to move north."

"Now that war has broken out across the north and their village has once again been caught up in it, the new generation of young adults began to miss their childhood homeland. So they pooled their money to hire an Adventurer to check on this place..."

There was no need to say what happened next. Lin Yu knew perfectly well.

"So they had already set out four months ago?"

"Not quite. For ordinary people, migration is quite troublesome, especially when they are bringing the elderly, women, children, and a great deal of household belongings. It took them about three months just to reach the nearest town outside the forest."

"That's already quite impressive. No wonder you were always going out back then."

Lin Yu nodded and said with interest, "In an era like this, someone not only managed to persuade an entire village to relocate, but also hired a mage like you to scout the way and escorted the whole village here, families and all."

"There must be someone remarkable among those villagers, right?"

Flamme chuckled. "So you saw through it after all!"

"That's right. There is a warrior in the village with exceptional talent. I'm a mage and need a vanguard to protect me, so I invited him to adventure with me long ago."

"Unfortunately, the war had already reached his hometown by then."

"He couldn't stop worrying about his friends and family in the village, and refused to leave with me no matter what."

"I had no choice but to put in some extra effort and resolve the villagers' safety first..."

Come to think of it, the notes Flamme left Frieren in the original story did mention that she had once gone to the Soul's Resting Place and met her long-dead companions there.

Although that plotline existed to introduce Frieren's main quest of heading north, the information it revealed also proved that Flamme had indeed traveled with companions in her youth.

Unfortunately, the outcome of that experience did not seem very pleasant...

Lin Yu silently looked at Flamme, hesitating over whether to remind her.

Naturally, Flamme had no idea what Lin Yu was thinking. Her gaze shifted toward the Unicorn Giant Beast lying behind him.

"You should understand the nature of the Demon Race and Monsters quite well, right?"

"...Of course!"

Lin Yu came back to his senses and said softly, "The Demon Race are Monsters that can speak, while Monsters are vicious beasts without reason, incapable of communication, and filled with hostility toward humans and living things."

"Correct."

Flamme nodded and looked at Rolycoly. "But your Rolycoly is not like that."

Lin Yu turned around, patted Rolycoly beneath the jaw, and said with a smile, "Could it be that it's simply an ordinary animal with Magic Power?"

"Impossible!" Flamme shook her head. "The Spine Peak Lord is a Monster. There is no doubt about that."

"Is that so?"

Lin Yu neither agreed nor disagreed. He forcibly pried open Rolycoly's half-closed eyes and pointed at its helpless yellow pupil, as though saying, Look at that. Is that the gaze a Monster could have?

"That's why I find it strange. Why did it become like this?"

Flamme said calmly, "Lin, did anything happen when you first arrived in this world?"

Lin Yu froze slightly and replied hesitantly, "Probably not—does that lake count?"

Flamme shook her head and continued, "In this world, one question has troubled humanity for a long time: where exactly does the Monsters' innate hostility toward humans come from?"

"There is a rather popular hypothesis concerning this. It suggests that this hostility was forcibly implanted by some evil existence."

"The evidence is the Hero's Sword in Sword Village. Legend says it is a treasure Goddess left behind in the world, and only the Hero destined to defeat the world-ending calamity can draw it."

"Whether the legend is true remains open to debate, but the Monsters' urge to destroy the Hero's Sword is certainly not fake."

"Ever since it appeared, Monsters have been drawn to it in an endless stream, trying to destroy the Hero's Sword, as if an existence completely opposed to Goddess were hidden behind them..."

Lin Yu pondered this. "Hearing it that way, it does seem plausible."

Flamme turned to Rolycoly. "If the hostility of Monsters really was implanted by someone, then it should be possible to brainwash them in reverse and restore their reason."

Lin Yu said thoughtfully, "You mean I washed away the hostility that had appeared out of nowhere in the Monsters' minds?"

Flamme nodded. "That's right. And I discovered that it isn't just Rolycoly. Every Monster within your range of activity, whether strong or weak, lacks the aggression of Monsters outside."

"Certainly, when faced with humans who suddenly intrude upon their territory, they will still attack. But that does not come from cruelty or hostility. It is simply the instinct of beasts to protect themselves when faced with danger..."

Hearing this, Lin Yu suddenly remembered that when he first entered this world, he had indeed unconsciously released his aura.

Could it have been then...

After thinking for a moment, Lin Yu suddenly smiled. "You only dared let those villagers move here after confirming this, didn't you?"

"Correct!"

Flamme smiled. "Over the past month, I traveled throughout the entire forest and confirmed that this was not an isolated case. Only then did I send word to the villagers staying in the nearby town."

As she spoke, she raised her hand and lightly snapped her fingers. Two enormous figures immediately emerged from the forest behind her.

Both figures stood outside Lin Yu's territory, so they were beyond his perception.

Clearly, Flamme had deliberately made them stand there.

As for her purpose, that was hard to say!

Lin Yu swept his gaze over the two figures and discovered that one was a Giant Ape over two meters tall, heavily muscled and covered in white fur, while the other was a Giant Wolf more than three meters long with grayish-white fur.

Judging solely from the Magic Power fluctuations around the Giant Ape and Giant Wolf, they were undoubtedly powerful Monsters.

Yet their eyes did not carry the pure, savage brutality of Monsters. Instead, like Rolycoly's, they were vivid and lively.

Could it be...

Lin Yu's heart stirred, and he turned to look at Flamme.

Flamme smiled. "That's right. These two escaped from your territory. Like Rolycoly, they regained their reason. Such rare special specimens would be a pity to let die outside, so I caught them all and brought them back!"

So that was it!

A smile appeared on Lin Yu's face as he gladly accepted these two farewell gifts.

A moment later, the thirty-five-meter-long Rolycoly pushed itself up on all four limbs. Magic Power several times stronger than a year ago radiated from its entire body as it scrutinized the two trembling little creatures before it.

Lin Yu paid no attention to the interaction among the three Monsters.

Holding the Holy Scripture in his hand, he stood on the small path at the edge of his territory and looked at the smiling White-robed Woman before him.

"Thank you for the gifts. I like them very much."

"Then... farewell."

"Mm. Farewell."