Chapter 368: Giving Flamme a Vacation
Solitär-Flamme took two steps forward.
She didn't answer Serie's question immediately. Instead, she looked at Flamme first, her gaze lingering on her face for a moment, as if pondering something, before finally turning to Rhodes and Serie.
"I wish to change my course of action," she said slowly. "Flamme's recent movement patterns have been too monotonous. There are no conditions for observation."
Serie looked at Rhodes in confusion. She had no idea what this demon was talking about.
Previously, the demon had been following Rhodes, but then she suddenly switched to following Flamme. Serie hadn't bothered to care; with one less third wheel, no one disturbed her two-person world with Rhodes.
But now, it seemed she had followed Flamme to observe something.
Rhodes explained briefly to her, including Solitär-Flamme's desire to understand human emotions and his loosening of restrictions to let her follow Flamme.
"Mn... Flamme, has she caused you any trouble?" Serie asked Flamme.
"No. Aside from following me constantly, she hasn't done anything. It is just..." Flamme hesitated.
"Just what?"
"No, nothing."
Flamme thought about it and decided not to mention that Frieren hated Solitär-Flamme following them.
"Solitär-Flamme, give me a specific reason," Rhodes asked.
"According to my observations over the past two months, correcting documents and assessing mages occupy the vast majority of Flamme's time. I cannot sense detailed human emotions from this."
Solitär-Flamme wanted to see interactions between humans, which would better allow her to understand those subtle emotions.
But recently, Flamme did nothing but work. Even when she interacted with others, the most frequent conversations were with the elf named Frieren.
However, Frieren hated her. Solitär-Flamme had requested to observe, but Frieren rejected it outright, making observation impossible.
So, taking this opportunity, Solitär-Flamme submitted this application to Rhodes.
"Flamme, you should take a break occasionally too," Rhodes looked at Flamme helplessly.
Hearing Solitär-Flamme say this, Rhodes finally noticed the fatigue in the corners of Flamme's eyes. Clearly, she had been overworked recently.
"Master Rhodes, I am fine," Flamme hurriedly stated.
"Take a vacation. For this period, Serie and I will handle Association matters. You rest for a few days."
Hearing Rhodes drag her into it, Serie's eyes widened. But seeing the unconcealable exhaustion in Flamme's eyes, she also felt pained.
"Leave it to me! Isn't there still Ela? It is time for that girl to learn how to manage the Association too! Save her from running around every day!"
Serie was very dissatisfied with Ela.
Once, she had handed some Association affairs to Ela, and the girl had made a mess of it. She even mixed up the badges for passing mage exams.
Letting someone who just passed the Third-Class Mage exam receive a First-Class Mage badge directly, skipping two ranks.
And those guys weren't polite either, running to ask her for magic with their First-Class badges. Serie was so angry she threw them all out of the Association and confiscated their badges.
"Alright." Seeing Master Rhodes's unquestionable stance, Flamme didn't insist.
"Solitär-Flamme, you follow me."
To give Flamme a perfect vacation, Rhodes abandoned the idea of letting Solitär-Flamme continue following her. After all, no one wanted a little follower behind them while resting.
Although she had cognitive interference magic cast by him to block detection by other mages and prevent her demonic identity from being exposed...
Rhodes dared not let her move freely in the Association.
With the dual restrictions from him and Serie, the possibility of her attacking suddenly was minimal, but Rhodes didn't want to gamble on that possibility.
"I understand."
Seeing this, Flamme knew it was time to leave. She bowed to Rhodes and Serie. "Master, if there are no other instructions, I will go handle Frieren's matters first."
"Go ahead." Rhodes nodded.
Flamme turned to leave. As she passed Solitär-Flamme, she nodded to her.
Unlike Frieren's dislike for Solitär-Flamme, Flamme didn't feel much aversion toward her. Of course, she didn't have much affection either.
Out of trust in Master Rhodes, she sincerely looked forward to the uniqueness in Solitär-Flamme bringing a brand new possibility to the entire Demon Race.
Although she was destined not to see that day, Flamme still hoped for it.
Hoped that there wouldn't be a second existence like her and Frieren.
Solitär-Flamme blinked slightly in response.
Only Rhodes, Serie, and Solitär-Flamme remained in the room.
Serie looked at Solitär-Flamme standing there like a pillar, sighed, and said to Rhodes, "Hey, how long do you plan to let her... follow you?"
She had finally enjoyed some two-person world with Rhodes, and now there was another tagalong. Truly annoying.
Rhodes looked at Solitär-Flamme. "That depends on her. Only when she can rudimentarily understand emotions will I dare to let her move freely."
Solitär-Flamme's gaze met Rhodes's. Something extremely faint seemed to flash deep in her black eyes, but it quickly returned to calm.
"You really dare let her move freely?" Serie glanced at Solitär-Flamme.
Her current strength wasn't very high—just a bit stronger than a magic apprentice. Any qualified mage could easily kill her.
Since birth, Solitär-Flamme had received no magical education. Her magical strength so far relied entirely on the innate talent of demons.
But that didn't mean she was harmless.
Even with mental magic applied, who knew what a demon was thinking?
"It is fine. Ela brought back a magical item last time that can seal the mana in a mage's body. I modified it slightly. I'll use it on her then."
"That is good."
"I will not attack humans," Solitär-Flamme promised from the side.
Rhodes didn't reply to her. Instead, he walked over to sit beside Serie, holding her hand naturally. "We are going to eat. You go eat too."
Unlike other demons, Solitär-Flamme showed no craving for human flesh and blood. At least Rhodes had never seen such emotion in her eyes.
She ate and slept normally like everyone else, and without the characteristic horns on her head, anyone would take her for a normal human.
Even because of the special holy aura within her, it wasn't impossible for others to think she was a mage mastering Holy Magic.
"Understood," Solitär-Flamme responded and left the room.
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