The different feeling behind him, unlike Fern's, strangely drew his attention. Even if compared to Fern's overwhelming presence it wasn't that big of a challenge, it still had weight that couldn't be ignored, and it was a girl.
And not like Fern, a beautiful girl he had watched grow up from childhood.
"Ah! No! She's not a beautiful girl. Her personality is pretty weird. No wonder I can't get excited at all."
He had just tried to make himself a little happy in his heart, but quickly felt that if he actually got happy over it being Ubel, then he would be the one who lost.
Ubel chuckled right by his ear, "You say that, but you're actually very happy inside, right? Getting close contact with a beautiful girl like me~"
"You think that's possible?"
"Of course it's possible. On our first meeting, didn't you lift my skirt?"
"Can you stop bringing that up? How many times have I said it, that was just… sigh! Forget it."
Feeling that no matter how he explained it would be useless, Ash simply gave up talking and wanted to free one hand to smack her hard on the butt.
But he figured that might cause unnecessary trouble while flying, so he postponed it for now. Though the octopus-like way Ubel was clinging to him to avoid falling still felt very strange.
———
Even so, after resting twice along the way with Frieren, he still arrived at the magic city by evening.
"Come to think of it, since she's already turned to stone, why were we in such a hurry to get here today?"
After jumping off his back, Ubel pressed a finger to her chin and asked a question that made both of them freeze.
Because they had only been thinking about treating the illness quickly, and forgot that since she was already petrified, there didn't seem to be any need to rush that much.
So now…
"Let's just find an inn first. I wonder if the last one we stayed at has closed down."
Feeling that his own residence here had probably become unusable after being left empty for so long, Ash silently carried the statue and walked ahead, pretending he didn't hear the girl behind him.
Frieren also pulled out a book and followed quietly, acting like she hadn't heard anything either.
The two of them playing dumb in perfect sync made Ubel smile unconsciously, as if she was getting to know them all over again, and she skipped after them.
Ash skillfully found an inn, bought medicine, had it boiled, and finally placed the statue into the bedding.
After adjusting the blankets, he covered the statue with the quilt and then silently removed the seal.
From the moment of petrification until now, more than half a day had passed. With all the running around for medicine, it was already near dusk.
But for Fern, burning with fever and drifting in and out of consciousness, only that brief instant between being carried and being told to close her eyes had passed. Just that one closing and opening of her eyes…
"Huh?.The ceiling?"
As soon as she opened her eyes, the ceiling in her sight made her suspect she was hallucinating. She stared upward blankly, unable to sort out her thoughts for a long time.
Ash adjusted his mood at the side and smiled, "Fern, you're finally awake."
"Lord Ash?", Fern shifted her gaze and turned her head, murmuring in confusion, "I… what exactly…"
"You've been asleep for three days. We're already at the magic city," He directly reused the old line, and naturally grabbed the girl's little hand inside the blanket, burning hot from fever.
"S-So cold!", Fern quickly pulled her hand back from the chill and looked up at him with grievance, forgetting for a moment to question why she had suddenly appeared here.
"Sorry! Sorry! I actually made the same mistake twice…"
"Twice? What are you talking about?"
"Ah… no, it's nothing. Don't worry about it."
Remembering that saying too much leads to mistakes, he forced himself not to speak further and quietly moved to help her sit up.
At the side, watching this scene, Frieren's thoughts drifted back to when she herself had been sick long ago.
Looking at Ash's cold hands, Frieren finally understood. Back then, he hadn't been taking advantage of her while she was ill. He had simply been too busy to notice such details.
He had just wanted her to feel at ease, forgetting her physical condition, even rushing all the way while carrying a statue, without even taking proper rest himself.
He had clearly been thinking so much for her, yet she had kept looking at him with old assumptions, suspecting bad intentions and even getting angry at him.
It was like a sudden shock of realization. Frieren lost her words for a moment, and a faint blush, unclear whether from shame or emotion, crept onto her cheeks.
She gently bit her lower lip and lowered her head, letting her long hair fall to cover half her face and hide the complicated, subtle expression that had surfaced. Her fingers unconsciously fiddled with her ponytail.
Even if she felt he had been a bit too rough and careless, even Frieren understood, though the transport method was impossible not to complain about, that was still his way of caring for her. Even if it didn't look gentle in action, completely denying it wouldn't be right either.
Just as she sorted this out in her mind, even though she had originally planned to lecture him properly, now, Frieren let go of those complaints. With a hint of hard-to-hide embarrassment, she turned her face toward the wall and spoke in an almost inaudible voice, "Um… Ash."
"Hm? What is it?"
"Thank you."
"Huh? What are you suddenly saying?", Ash, still holding the medicine, looked completely confused.
After all, eighty years had passed since that incident. Even he couldn't easily connect the two events.
In his impression, Frieren wasn't someone especially sensitive. Though he wasn't entirely sure if his impression of her was accurate.
But even if nearly a century had passed for him, it hadn't been that long for Frieren. Though she knew Ash didn't understand what she meant, she didn't plan to spell it out. While he was still dazed, she quietly added:
"Don't worry about it. And… sorry."
"What? You're suddenly thanking and apologizing, I'm kind of scared here? Did you eat poisonous mushrooms during the noon break?"
"Hey!"
His clueless guess made Frieren imitate Fern's occasional angry kick and swing her leg to kick him in the shin.
"Why are you suddenly attacking me? I believe in gender equality!"
"Gender equality, right? I know! I'll let you kick me later too, okay?"
"H-Huh?"
She cut him off before he finished, leaving him full of question marks. Frieren didn't plan to explain. She grabbed the medicine from him and turned to the equally confused Fern, feeding her while saying without looking back, "I'll feed the medicine… you just do that thing you did before. It's a bit embarrassing, but… it works."
"That thing from before?"
Frieren's overly strange attitude confused Ash for a while before he finally realized what she meant.
Though there were still many things he didn't understand, he gave up thinking about it for now. He held a cup of hot water to warm his hands a bit, then held Fern's hand with one hand and gently stroked her head with the other.
"Lord Ash… I'm not a child anymore…", Though Fern was extremely shy, her cheeks flushed, she obediently swallowed the bitter medicine, still casting him a resistant look.
"I know. But at times like this, you'll still feel uneasy, right?"
"That's true… but…", Fern hesitated, about to assert her independence again, but Ash spoke first, rubbing the soft little hand in his palm even more gently, "If possible, one day in the future, I'll probably need this kind of comfort too. When that time comes, I'll count on you to hold my hand the same way, okay? Even adults feel uneasy sometimes."
"That… seems true? Then, it's a promise?"
Hearing that, a warm feeling rose in Fern's heart. All resistance disappeared instantly. Her tense body relaxed unconsciously, her expression softened, and she nodded with a weak smile.
After Ash nodded in confirmation, and as Frieren carefully brought the medicine to her lips, Fern quietly closed her eyes and simply enjoyed the gentle touch.
Even though the high fever still plagued her body, she only felt warmth in her heart, as if all illness and worries had drifted away, leaving behind this pure and beautiful feeling flowing slowly within her. She almost didn't want to recover.
But…
"Is this a family of three? Father, mother, daughter?"
Ubel watched from the side as the two took care of Fern, her expression very subtle.
She wasn't just teasing. She genuinely felt the picture fit. A rather happy family of three.
Though all three of them had something to say about that remark, for now they chose not to respond to someone who clearly couldn't read the mood.
.
.
.
After resting for a day, and then sleeping through the entire next day, when Fern woke from the gentle embrace of dreams, the sky outside had already put on a brilliant sunset.
She slowly sat up, stretching her limbs, feeling the vitality flowing through her body. An indescribable happiness and satisfaction rose in her heart.
Looking around, the two people most important to her were quietly sitting nearby, immersed in their books.
The overwhelming sense of happiness made her almost want to rush over and hug them tightly without caring about anything else.
"All better?", Ash looked up, walked to the bedside, and reached out to touch her forehead to check her temperature. Then, uncertain, he also placed his hand on Frieren's forehead, who had followed over.
"Why are you checking mine too?", Frieren didn't resist but looked a bit annoyed.
"Because you're both girls. Your body temperatures should be about the same. Just checking, It seems fine?"
"Yes! I've fully recovered. Thank you, Lady Frieren, Lord Ash."
Though the urge to express her feelings was strong, Fern restrained herself and thanked them both with a perfect smile.
"That's good," Frieren smiled back, while Ash gently patted Fern's head and said in a doting yet slightly worried tone, "Still, you need to rest a bit more. The First-Class Mage exam is still a long way off."
"But we can already register. By the way, I've registered," Ubel, who had been watching, sat cross-legged and reminded them, "Normally, it's better to sign up early."
"Then let's at least go register and lying here all the time makes my body feel stiff," As Fern moved her hands, she suddenly looked at them with concern, "Lord Ash, Lady Frieren, you didn't secretly register ahead of me, did you?"
"Why do you suddenly sound like a child worried about going to school alone?"
"Of course I'd worry alone. And, when I went to the magic academy before, Lord Ash only walked me there once," Even though she felt embarrassed bringing it up, Fern couldn't help looking at him and softly complaining, "I was really scared back then!"
"Ash!", Frieren also lifted her gaze to stare at him.
The accusing looks from both of them felt like being hit by a boomerang thrown more than ten years ago. He clutched his stomach in pain, "You never said you were scared, how would I know? Ah, yes, I know that's my fault, but… fine, it's my fault anyway, but…"
"What? Are you trying to make excuses?", Frieren's gaze suddenly turned sharp.
"Of course not. It's not that I don't want to register. It's just, to take the exam you need to be at least a Fifth-Class Mage, and I've never taken any qualification exams."
"Now that you mention it, I haven't either," Frieren was stunned by that condition and turned to Fern, "Fern, you go by yourself. For now it depends on you or Ubel. As long as one of you passes, we can still head north."
"No! Lady Frieren, I definitely can't do it alone, and Lady Ubel might fail too!"
"No, you can."
"No! If I don't pass, the next chance will be three years later."
"Then we'll just hire a First-Class Mage. We don't have the qualifications anyway."
"No! Then we'll have to live every day without snacks again! If it really doesn't work, there's still Lord Ash. Doesn't he know some big figures in this country?"
Fern, who had a special obsession with sweets, refused to compromise. She grabbed the unwilling-looking Frieren and then glared at Ash, who was already preparing to jump out the window to escape.
"Lord Ash, what are you doing? Why are you so resistant to the exam?"
"I'm not resisting the exam, it's just…"
"That's enough! You're coming too. Let's go to the Magic Association together!"
Fern didn't listen to his explanation and quickly grabbed his hand.
Holding Ash with one hand and Frieren with the other, she forcibly dragged them toward the Magic Association.
Ubel, who had watched the whole thing from her chair, saw them off with a gloating smile and thought to herself, "Feels like the roles switched again~ These guys... really are getting more and more interesting."
———
[Magic City, Central District]
The branch of the Magic Association occupied a vast area. A grand flight of wide steps led visitors into a magnificent hall that felt like an ancient temple reborn.
Behind it stood a pure white tower rising proudly into the sky like a guardian's blade, adding to the grandeur and symbolizing the endless pursuit and exploration of magical knowledge.
Even the door leading into the world of mysteries resembled the gates of an ancient castle. The carvings were intricate and detailed, every line showing extraordinary craftsmanship and presence. One glance was enough to know this place was no ordinary building.
The entire branch looked magnificent and imposing. Even compared to the Holy Capital headquarters, it was not inferior, shining in its own right.
"Unexpected, this branch really does receive a lot of support from the kingdom, just like the rumors say?"
Looking at the branch she had never had the chance to visit before, Fern couldn't help confirming in her heart that the Magic Association must have an unusual relationship with the higher-ups of the Kingdom of Oisast, and she subconsciously glanced at Ash again.
But Ash didn't notice her gaze. He just looked at the grand building and shook his head with a sigh, "Spent a lot of money, so of course it looks impressive, and since it's not her own money, she wouldn't think about saving."
"Why do you make it sound like it was your money?", Frieren turned her head curiously.
"Uh… let's just get this over with," Realizing he had said too much, Ash silently quickened his pace, climbed the steps, and left the two behind.
But before he could shake them off, at the corner he almost bumped into a familiar girl.
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