Miss Fíliya strolled with light steps along the shores of a lake. Her gaze would occasionally drift toward the clear, azure water, but more often than not, it focused on the grassy banks nearby.
She wasn't searching for anything of great importance here. Rather, she was looking for the most inconspicuous pale-blue flowers hidden amongst the overgrown weeds.
She uprooted these nameless wildflowers and carefully transplanted them into flowerpots she had prepared beforehand. Only then did she carry the pots back to her temporary residence... a small wooden cabin built by the lakeside.
A long time had passed since that gala—an event that had made her feel both ashamed and deeply impressed.
During this period, she had traveled with Solitär and the others to quite a few human cities, gaining many precious experiences... And now, it was time for them to pause their journey and rest for a while.
They had chosen this beautifully scenic lakeside for a temporary stay. As for the house, it was something they had constructed temporarily using magic.
"This guy really does like flowers, doesn't she?"
Watching Fíliya return with pot after pot of flowers, Solitär couldn't help but remark.
She instantly recalled Fíliya's incredible barrier space... and then silently nodded.
True enough. If she weren't a flower lover, she wouldn't have designed that barrier in such a way.
"Solitär, do you know what these flowers are called?"
After arranging the flowerpots, Fíliya immediately brushed off the soil that had gotten onto her clothes, then turned around to reveal a smile at Solitär.
"I don't know."
Solitär answered very honestly.
After all, she was an 'Expert on Humans,' not a 'Botanical Expert.'
"Is that so... What a pity. I really wanted to know the names of these little guys."
Fíliya spoke with a tone of regret.
So you don't know their names either... And wait, are you the type of person to call wildflowers 'little guys'? What is with this pure, girlish speech... Give me back the original Fíliya!
Looking at Fíliya's appearance, Solitär subconsciously retorted in her heart. Her habit of making internal retorts was clearly influenced by a certain someone.
"Where is Aura?"
Fíliya asked again.
"Who knows? She's probably sleeping comfortably again."
Solitär replied casually. she couldn't be bothered to waste time sensing what Aura was doing; there was nothing more nutritious in the world than that.
"Who said that! I haven't been slacking off! I've been meditating hard recently, okay?!"
An indignant complaint came from inside the house.
"Really? If you were truly meditating seriously, you shouldn't have been able to chime in at a time like this. So, obviously, you really were slacking off."
Fíliya arrived at the window the moment she heard the voice. She leaned her upper body against the frame, looking into the room with a mischievous grin.
"..."
Miss Aura naturally had nothing to say to this, so she simply closed her eyes again, pretending she hadn't heard anything.
"Heheh, not talking? Then I'll take that as a default admission."
Seeing Aura choose to escape reality, Fíliya didn't bother continuing to tease her. She returned to Solitär's side with a triumphant smile.
"Alright, what's good to eat today? I've been busy all afternoon and I'm just about starving."
Fíliya tugged at Solitär's cuff, looking at her with a face full of anticipation.
"Then I'll go prepare it right away. Hmm... I'll make that one you love to eat the most."
Solitär smiled, her eyes holding a trace of doting affection.
"Yay!"
Fíliya immediately erupted in a cheer of joy. This appearance once again caused Solitär to shake her head.
It's only at times like this that this guy acts like a 'little sister'... Solitär thought to herself.
Very quickly, Fíliya and Solitär returned to the wooden cabin together.
Aura was feigning meditation on her own bed, Solitär was preparing dinner, and as for Fíliya... she held Linie on the bed, playfully wrestling with her as they waited for the meal to start.
Everything was so quiet and harmonious.
But within this harmony and tranquility, a strange element soon intruded.
"...!"
Almost in an instant, everyone present sensed that discordant feeling of wrongness.
Aura immediately frowned and opened her eyes, jumping down from the bed. Solitär also immediately put down what she was doing and rushed to Fíliya's side.
Their gazes were all fixed on a mass of shadow in the corner of the room.
"Relax, it's an acquaintance of mine."
Seeing this, Fíliya immediately spoke up to soothe them. Of course, her words were addressed both to Solitär's group and to that mass of shadow.
"..."
Hearing Fíliya's words, Aura, Solitär, and Linie finally reined in their hostility.
And that thing, which had almost blended perfectly with the shadows of the table and chairs, finally revealed its true colors. It was a human slowly emerging from the darkness.
"Falsch-ge... Actually, I've been curious about your magic for a long time. Can you really move within any shadow?"
Fíliya stood with one hand on her hip, directly calling out the name of the person in the shadow.
"Of course not... Though I am trying my best to work towards the direction you mentioned. I'm still far from it... Locking onto you took me quite a bit of time. And look, didn't I get caught by you all the moment I arrived?"
Falsch looked at the group before him and helplessly pushed up the frame of his glasses.
First-Class Mage Falsch. He was an old acquaintance of both Fíliya and Sense. The magic he used was his signature technique: he could merge into shadows to hide his form, and he could also teleport and move within the shadows.
Looking at the unfamiliar women before him, Falsch quickly deduced the answer... These were likely the demons Fíliya was associating with... But since even Lord Serie had given tacit approval to this...
Thinking of this, Falsch didn't say much about this obvious point of contention and instead looked directly at Fíliya.
"Fíliya, Lord Serie asked me to remind you: playing around is fine, but it's time to reel it in. Don't forget your duty."
So it's about that.
After listening to Falsch's message, Fíliya first nodded, then shook her head helplessly.
As expected, what must come will come...
She naturally knew what matter Serie was referring to.
After all... in that death match with the replica of Frieren, she had already exposed the fact that she had mastered the Gold Transformation Magic... Although it wasn't complete, it was enough to attract Serie's attention.
So, after that interview ended, Serie had held a private conversation with Fíliya.
The content of the conversation was, first of all, to have Fíliya confess how she learned the [Gold Transformation Magic]...
Fíliya's answer at the time was, "I don't know. I was confused, tried it out, and just learned a little bit."
Regarding this, Serie actually expressed understanding. After all, there are many magics in this world whose principles cannot be analyzed at all, yet can be tangibly mastered by people... For example, the Flight Magic directly appropriated from demon spell formulas. Humans still haven't understood its principles to this day, but that doesn't affect their ability to master flight; they just can't utilize it to the same extent as demons.
Since she couldn't get the principles of the [Gold Transformation Magic] from Fíliya, Serie could only assign her a specific task. That was... to lift the curse of the Golden Land and restore those humans who had been turned into gold.
Regarding this... Fíliya naturally continued to make excuses.
Her excuse at the time was... that to lift the gold transformation on so many people, her current mana was far from sufficient, so she needed to train for another period of time.
Thus, Serie continued to express understanding, but still insisted that when the time was right, she must go and solve the problem of the Golden Land... After all, this was an intractable disease that had plagued humanity for decades. Since a human who could understand the [Gold Transformation Magic] had finally appeared, Fíliya's power was undoubtedly indispensable.
So then... for Serie to suddenly send Falsch to find her... does this mean... the current situation has already reached a crisis level... where she has no choice but to rush there ahead of schedule?
____
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