"That uncle is actually that nosy?", Ubel looked displeased when she heard that guess.
The three girls just kept discussing it like that, leaving Ash with no chance to cut in.
Sein, who had not gone far yet, clearly heard their completely undisguised discussion and almost stumbled and fell into the snow.
No matter how he thought about it, he could never have imagined that last night's conversation would lead to this kind of conclusion. He even felt that, without realizing it, his reputation had been ruined by Frieren to the point that it was worse than Ash's.
But turning back now would feel strange too. In the end, with tears in his eyes, he looked back and glared at Ash, who he believed was the main culprit behind Frieren becoming strange, before quickening his pace to escape this place of trouble.
He had already made up his mind. When Frieren understood more things and matured a bit in the future, he would properly explain everything to them. Explaining it then would definitely be easier.
Meanwhile, Ash, who had been glared at for no reason while standing there, felt completely innocent. He really had not said anything, so why was he being resented too?
"Girls' thoughts are already hard enough to guess. Now even an uncle's thoughts are hard to guess? Or... does Sein have the delicate heart of a young girl?"
Ash was utterly baffled after being glared at and could not figure it out no matter how he thought about it.
But actually, he was not the most confused one in the team. The one who felt the most puzzled was Ubel.
After spending an entire winter with them, she had tried her best to understand the three of them. But for some reason, even though they were clearly very strong, she just could not resonate with any particularly powerful magic from them.
Ash did not say anything at all. Frieren honestly told her she knew too many spells and did not have a single most skilled or unique one. Fern also said she did not have any special magic either, and that what she was best at was ordinary offensive magic.
That made Ubel unable to tell whether the two of them were lying to her. It did not feel like a lie, yet they were obviously strong.
Of course, it would not be accurate to say there had been no results at all during this time. After all her efforts to resonate, Ubel gradually discovered that while nothing else had improved, her ability to conceal her mana had gotten better and better?
In this team she was often teased by Ash, but in exchange she had gained strong and effective mana concealment. Was that worth it?
"Even though it feels like there's not the slightest fluctuation in my mana, why would I even need to conceal it for no reason?"
As everyone set off again, Ubel walked at the back and muttered to herself, already starting to doubt her own talent.
But she had already spent so much time. It would be hard to give up now. She could only sigh and follow the others again.
———
The cold wave had retreated, and the blizzards were gone.
After Sein left, the four of them also set out on their journey again.
But the northern lands were unexpectedly cold, and snow and wind still drifted endlessly.
On a certain late night amid the endless white snow, Fern, who had just taken a hot bath deep inside a cave, surprisingly slept in the next morning, just like Frieren.
"No, something feels a bit off?"
Looking at the girl wrapped in a blanket, her face flushed an unnatural red and her breathing faintly uneven, Ash had just come back from outside with some fresh firewood and immediately sensed that something was wrong.
Without thinking much, he reached out and placed his hand on Fern's face to check.
"!"
As if shocked by electricity, Fern's body trembled instantly. Her consciousness was forcibly dragged awake. She opened her sleepy eyes and looked at him with weak resentment.
"Lord Ash... what are you doing?"
"I wanted to check your temperature..."
"With such cold hands?"
"That was my mistake, sorry."
While apologizing, he casually reached out and placed his hand on Ubel and Frieren's faces as well.
"?", Ubel was jolted awake by the cold and glared at him resentfully, "What are you doing?"
"Don't... don't do that~ Mm~"
Compared to Ubel, Frieren was unexpectedly gentle. She only made a soft, drowsy complaint, shook her head like a caterpillar, and burrowed her face straight into the blanket.
The completely different reactions made Ash look toward the now fully awake Ubel.
"Sorry, I just wanted to see who I could wake up first."
"Is that really an apology?", Ubel had never heard such a lack of sincerity.
"Mm, sorry."
"And? What do you want?"
Although she still felt the apology lacked sincerity, Ubel did not expect much from him anyway. She sat up, rested her chin on one hand, and looked at him with an impatient expression.
"Fern's probably sick. Can you check? My hands are too cold to test properly."
"Seriously, isn't your difference in treatment a bit too obvious?"
"As an apology, once we reach the Magic City, we can have a good talk. How about it?"
"That sounds nice~ deal."
Even though the reward was just chatting, Ubel immediately changed from anger to delight. After all, chatting was exactly why she followed this team.
And what she had to do was simple. She just extended her not cold hand and placed it on Fern's forehead. After finishing her job, she murmured,
"Mm~ she's got a fever."
"As expected. But is it just a simple cold or something else?"
"How would I know?", Ubel spread her hands helplessly.
Left with no choice, he reached out—
"Wait! I'm awake already!"
Before his hand could touch Frieren's face, she suddenly opened her eyes and grabbed his evil icy hand.
Although she was a little unhappy about being woken up so early, in her half-asleep state she had heard their conversation and was actually worried about Fern, unable to fall back asleep.
Now she sighed and was forced to get up from the not very warm bedding. She even casually picked up the holy scripture she had used to prop up the pot last night and used a simple Goddess spell to diagnose Fern's condition.
"It really is just an ordinary cold from the chill. But we need to move to a warmer place. If it gets worse, that won't be good. And she needs some medicine."
Goddess magic could not cure illness, only diagnose it. As Frieren spoke, she suddenly seemed to remember something and turned to Ash with a nostalgic expression.
"Come to think of it, I also got sick here before. You took care of me back then."
"Mm! I think so."
"I remember I caught a cold around here, and then... after sleeping in a daze, I woke up in the Magic City."
"...."
"But how exactly did I get to the Magic City?"
As he fell silent for some reason, Frieren could not help asking the unresolved mystery that had troubled her for a long time.
That made Ash recall a long buried memory.
———
[About 80 Years Ago]
When Frieren suddenly caught a cold and developed a fever, the Hero's party was completely at a loss.
No matter how favored by the Goddess Heiter was, healing magic could not cure illness.
They were unfamiliar with the area, so they discussed whether they should first find a warm place and slowly look for medicine, or carry her and push forward to the Magic City to get medicine there.
Traveling with a feverish patient was not ideal. But what if there were no medicine or residents nearby? Wouldn't that be disastrous?
While everyone was worrying and had not yet reached a conclusion, Ash silently reached out and lifted Frieren, who was curled up in her portable bedding, into his arms.
"Ash... you... what are you?", Frieren weakly opened her eyes and tried to say something, but he gently comforted her.
"It's fine. Close your eyes and rest for a bit. It'll be over soon."
"?"
Frieren did not really understand what he was planning to do, but out of trust she obediently closed her eyes.
Then, under everyone's astonished gaze, the defenseless girl in his arms was suddenly petrified and turned into a stone statue in an instant.
Himmel seemed as if he had been petrified too, unable to speak for a moment. Even the usually silent Eisen felt his head buzzing in shock.
"Y-You... what are you?", Heiter was dumbfounded.
Their strange reactions made Ash unable to resist complaining.
"What's with those looks? Since the situation's uncertain, shouldn't we just take the safest approach? Like this, Frieren won't feel uncomfortable. When we reach the city, we can just get medicine directly. Isn't that the most convenient and effective way?"
"It is convenient, but there are some problems with this method," Himmel held his forehead with one hand, trying to endure his headache.
"After all, even if we say it's close, it'll still take several days to reach the Magic City, right? Carrying a stone statue would probably make it even slower," Heiter's expression looked strange.
Ash refuted confidently, "If we move at full speed, it'll probably only take half a day."
"That's for warriors like you or Eisen! A priest like me can't get there in half a day! And on top of that, carrying a stone statue? This is just..."
Before Heiter could finish, Ash casually tossed Frieren upward with both hands, used magic to make her float in midair, and pushed the floating Frieren with one hand as he dashed out of the cave.
Seeing this, everyone could guess what method he planned to use to transport her, but their expressions grew even stranger.
From a rational standpoint, it was indeed the safest method and the one that minimized Frieren's suffering from illness. It just looked a little bad. A little bit like not treating her as a person.
But since she was already petrified, no one objected or supported it. They simply turned their backs silently.
With their silent consent, Ash pushed the floating Frieren and ran off quickly, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye.
From the cave entrance, they could still see in the distance that because he was running a bit too fast, the floating statue would occasionally fly up at the crest of a slope due to his momentum. He would quickly catch it and continue pushing it forward, hurrying along like that.
Considering Heiter's pace, Himmel and Eisen did not follow. They simply stood there watching that ridiculous scene that somehow looked like someone running while pushing a giant balloon.
"I finally understand why, even if Ash clearly looks good, is strong, and has plenty of admirers, not a single relationship ever worked out."
Heiter adjusted his glasses and quietly looked away from Ash's back, feeling that he had finally solved a long standing mystery.
The others also lowered their heads silently, no longer looking at the strange sight in the distance.
The three of them reached a silent agreement in their hearts. For Frieren's feelings and for the sake of their friendship, it was better to keep the truth buried.
———
Meanwhile, after getting far away from the three of them.
No longer needing to hide his ability to fly, Ash simply picked up the petrified Frieren and soared into the sky. It took just over an hour to reach the Magic City.
He found an inn, put down the statue, bought the medicine Heiter mentioned, and even had the pharmacist boil it.
After returning, he released Frieren from petrification.
"This is... huh? The ceiling?"
Frieren, still in a feverish daze, looked blankly at the ceiling above. Her already sluggish brain froze completely.
"Ah~ Frieren... you're finally awake?", Ash put on a worried expression and grabbed her burning hot hand.
"So... so cold!", Frieren instinctively pulled her hand back and glared at him weakly.
"You jerk... just you wait... next time you get sick... I'll grab your hand with cold hands too!"
"Ah! Sorry! Sorry!"
He had rushed to the city without resting and handled a bunch of things. Only now did he realize his hands were like ice. He could not help giving an awkward smile.
Seeing him like that, Frieren lost her temper and sighed softly.
"I think I only closed my eyes for a moment. Where is this?"
"Actually, you were unconscious for three days. We're already in the Magic City."
"Three days? You're lying, right?"
"Why would I lie to you?"
"But... I should have just... sigh... forget it... as long as you didn't do anything strange during that time..."
The dizzy girl looked at his serious expression and genuinely could not figure out what was going on. In the end, she just sighed and closed her eyes again, giving up on thinking about it.
Right now, she did not even notice that aside from her portable bedding, the inn's blankets outside were unusually cold. As if she had just gotten into bed.
Ash hesitated for a moment, then brought over the freshly prepared medicine.
"I won't do anything strange. Anyway... drink some medicine first?"
"Mm... ah, thank you."
Taking a deep breath, Frieren tried to sit up, but with his help she could only barely lean half reclined against the bed.
Only then did Frieren notice that he felt cold all over. She could not help asking in confusion,
"You... did you go wandering outside for hours just to freeze me once?"
"No, I just had some things to take care of. Why would you think that?"
"Because usually... when you grab my hand... you do it on purpose... to freeze me."
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