Although the Magic Association's headquarters is in the Holy Capital, with only its branches established in the Kingdom of Oisast, in essence, whether in stance or otherwise, it leans quite a bit toward the Kingdom's side, yet it has not openly become hostile to the Empire.
Therefore, Denken, who is participating in this First-Class Mage Exam, though he is a court mage of the Empire, was not prohibited. But it's obvious that once he passes this exam… and becomes, in name, Serie's disciple, his position will turn delicate. His authority within the Empire will likely drop significantly, and at the same time, the Association won't be able to fully trust him either.
He himself knows this as well, it's just, his obsession with returning home seems to be truly strong.
Meanwhile, Sense, as a core member of the Magic Association, compared to someone like Denken, an ordinary First-Class Mage, could be considered a direct disciple. She can fully grasp the Association's intelligence, and naturally has a sufficient understanding of the tense situation between the two nations.
Because of this, she feels somewhat worried about the route Ash and Frieren seem to be planning, heading toward the Imperial Capital.
"Judging from the current situation, the Holy Wand Court and the Mage Special Forces will likely join this border conflict. There's even a chance the Empire will be the one to strike first."
"Is that so? Well, even if there's war or whatever, I'll be fine," He chuckled carelessly, and casually ran his fingers through the girl's long hair again, "More importantly, don't go running around recklessly, okay?"
"I have a feeling that after some time, I might also have to go to the Imperial Capital. If Lord Ash is going as well, shall we go together?"
"I'm fine with that, but when will you—"
Before he could finish, Linie finally couldn't hold back any longer. She grabbed the hand he was using to touch Sense's hair and cut him off seriously, "Lord Ash, this woman's hair smells like blood. It's better not to touch it."
"Huh?", The sudden slander made Sense pause mid-sentence. Somewhat displeased, she looked at Linie beside them and refuted seriously, "That's not true. I washed it properly. It should smell nice."
As she said this, her hair floated right in front of her. She sniffed it to confirm, and for the first time, it even floated over to Ash, as if to prove her innocence.
Even though her cheeks were slightly red, she still lifted her chin and said earnestly, "I have indeed gone through quite a few battles, enough that the smell of blood could seep into my hair. But that's just a metaphor… there shouldn't actually be any blood smell, right?"
"It's fine, there's a nice fragrance… I already confirmed it before…"
Under Linie's gaze, to avoid ruining his clothes again, he didn't actually lean in to smell it. Instead, with an awkward yet polite smile, he gently stroked her hair, trying to comfort the slightly worried girl.
But even so, Linie was clearly displeased. She directly reached out and pried his leg apart, then sat on his other leg, placing both hands on his thigh. Leaning forward slightly, she stared expressionlessly at Sense, who was right in front of her.
Linie's silent hostility was practically spilling out.
In contrast, Sense tilted her head with a soft "Huh," showing a troubled expression, and looked toward Ash for help.
"Alright, alright, Linie, don't stare at people like that. It's rude."
"No… it's because Lord Ash actually put me down."
"Isn't it because you keep wiping your hands and mouth on my clothes? I have to teach you a little lesson, right?"
"I don't care. Anyway, it's all Lord Ash's fault."
Faced with a clearly sulking Linie, Ash had no choice. He could only comfort both of them at once, Linie with his left hand, Sense with his right, soothing these two expressionless yet completely troublesome girls.
On the surface, he looked quite helpless, but inside, 'It actually feels unexpectedly good?'
The warm sunlight of the morning poured over him. On both sides were soft, fragrant, adorable girls, giving him double the happiness. His mood unknowingly became cheerful, and he even felt like he had grasped what true heaven was… even though the atmosphere between the two of them wasn't exactly great.
And although the two girls looked soft and cute, that was only in front of him. In reality, neither of them was harmless. Whether it was Linie or Sense, both were the type who wouldn't show mercy to humans and had killed quite a few people.
Or rather, in this world, anyone with ability who leaves the city or travels far will inevitably run into trouble. People who haven't killed are instead the minority. Even Sense inevitably faces all kinds of conflicts.
Even so, these dangerous yet soft, expressionless and troublesome girls, for some reason, Ash felt like they were even more fun to pet. It made him wonder if something was wrong with him.
Although Ash felt like he could just stay here, petting the two expressionless girls and enjoy the peace, spacing out for an entire day. Unfortunately, after only enjoying a refreshing morning, Sense ultimately couldn't withstand the gazes of passersby, her own sense of embarrassment, and Linie's sharp stare. Using the excuse that her stomach was already fine, she hurriedly left.
However, having clearly noticed the presence of a cognitive disturbance, Sense still turned back to glance at Linie in the end. But since she was someone Ash brought, she naturally wouldn't use dispelling magic on her, simply treating her as a child with some hidden circumstances.
As for Linie, she raised her head proudly at this moment, like a victorious little hen. She smugly pulled out another apple from the side and wiped it on him, seemingly planning to eat another one to celebrate.
But he reached out and pressed down on the apple, saying helplessly, "Stop eating apples. Wouldn't it be better to eat something else?"
"Apples are better."
"Apples have a limited range of nutrients. How are you going to grow taller like this?"
"I probably won't grow anymore. Lady Aura is over five hundred years old, and she's only a little taller than me."
"But at least her chest is bigger than yours."
"Lord Ash likes small ones," Linie lifted her head, nodding seriously to herself, "That must be it."
"Don't decide my preferences on your own," He rubbed her head, sighing for who knows how many times today.
But since he had already decided, he didn't plan to change it. He directly dragged Linie to a nearby restaurant and, despite her reluctant protests, fed this overly picky child a bunch of meat.
"Lord Ash, don't tell me you like that purple-haired woman whose chest is all fat? That's why you want to turn me into that too?", While enjoying being fed, Linie still couldn't help but mutter resentfully.
"Fern is not a woman whose chest is all fat. She's a very cute girl. Stop saying weird things. Of course, you also have your own cute points," Ash shook his head while lecturing her, and to avoid making her angry, he also praised her a bit.
And after finishing the meal, he planned in the afternoon to temporarily leave the magic city with the Imperial Guard and Linie, heading to the border checkpoint near the Empire to observe the situation.
But before leaving the magic city, he planned to go home and hand over the statue to Linie, letting her go ahead and deliver Sense's statue to the royal capital.
'However, Linie doesn't seem to like Sense very much. What if she just casually buries the replica somewhere?'
Thinking about this, he carefully pushed open the front door, wanting to see if Lawine and Kanne were around.
Fortunately, the two boxes of apples he had bought were still placed by the living room, but there was no sign of the two girls. They had probably come by once and already gone back.
And in fact, they had already left an hour ago. Fern and Frieren also had no idea what he had been doing during this time.
———
[Inside, in Frieren's Room]
Fern, who was always busy, wiped the table while asking without turning her head, "Lady Frieren, tomorrow is Lord Ash's birthday. Have you prepared a birthday gift?"
"Have you prepared yours, Fern?"
"Of course. I can't be sure if Lord Ash will like it, but it should be useful… probably."
As she spoke, the purple-haired girl looked a bit worried. Meanwhile, Frieren smugly pulled out a bottle of magic potion from the bedside cabinet, "Is that so? Then you really should, but what I prepared will definitely—"
"It's not another weird thing, is it? I'll get angry!", Before Frieren could finish, Fern had already turned around. With a "whoosh," Frieren immediately hid the gift behind her back.
Under that scrutinizing gaze, she really couldn't judge whether her gift was appropriate. To avoid being scolded, she chose not to give it after all, but couldn't help muttering gloomily, "I'll just make hamburger steak as a gift."
"You really prepared something strange again, didn't you?", Fern unconsciously narrowed her eyes, making Frieren's scalp tingle. She could only give an awkward laugh and change the topic, "Mo-more importantly, since tomorrow is his birthday, you might as well give the gift to Ash earlier. No matter what you give, he'll definitely be happy."
"But I haven't had the chance. Lord Ash seems very busy. After dinner yesterday, he disappeared somewhere, and this morning he was gone early as well. Kanne and Lawine are also looking for him for some reason. When I asked, they didn't want to say. I don't understand what's going on with them."
"Isn't that normal?", Frieren casually complained, but soon thought of her own issue. She unconsciously lowered her head again, poking her index fingers together in front of her chest, looking especially dejected, "Anyway, you'll have plenty of chances. It has nothing to do with me, who's just making hamburger steak."
"Why do you look so down? If you want to give a gift, just choose one properly."
"How could I… kneading meat is pretty fun too… I mean it," Her words carried a bit of helpless self-mockery. She acted like she didn't care much, but Frieren's expression clearly showed she was sulking.
Seeing this, Fern also revealed a troubled look. While organizing her thoughts, she gently patted Frieren's head, trying to comfort this sulking elder.
"Lady Frieren, I do understand your feelings, but you also know that giving gifts is no small matter, especially for Lord Ash. We must ensure the gift is appropriate and sincere, and most importantly, that it won't cause unnecessary trouble for the recipient," Fern's tone was full of helplessness, yet firm, "Therefore, I sincerely ask that if you really want to give a gift, you carefully consider it and let me take a look. Otherwise, if it contains something inappropriate, not only will it make Lord Ash uncomfortable, it might even affect your relationship. I believe you wouldn't want to see that outcome, right?"
"He's not that delicate of a person…"
"How could he not be? When Lord Ash is serious, he's actually very considerate and attentive."
"Really?", Frieren leaned forward with a subtle expression that was hard to comment on, narrowing her eyes as she pressed, "You really think that?"
"Th-that… he can be a bit willful sometimes?", Fern averted her gaze guiltily, but still couldn't help emphasizing, "B-but! At crucial moments, he's very reliable. Occasional willfulness can't be helped, right? After all, humans sometimes want to be free from restraint."
"If you say that, then maybe he really would be happy receiving a special gift?"
"No! Absolutely not! Even if, in the best-case scenario, Lord Ash is happy, I will definitely be angry. So… anything improper is not allowed!"
Although simply allowing Frieren to give a gift would be the easiest solution, to prevent something strange from being given, Fern absolutely refused to compromise on this point. Even when Frieren hugged her knees and sulked again, she continued lecturing while comforting her, busy beyond measure.
———
Completely unaware of what had happened while he was away, Ash had just returned home and sat on his bed. He planned to rest a little before immediately grabbing his things and leaving, to avoid any unnecessary accidents.
But before he could even stand up, the door was pushed open without warning.
Fern stepped into the room expressionlessly and stood in front of him, staring straight at him as if she didn't intend to say a single word.
Yet her expression carried an inexplicable fatigue, like a mother who had been taking care of a baby all night. It made him feel like running away, but he still asked with concern, "What's wrong? Fern, you look really tired."
"..."
Fern said nothing. After silently staring at him for a while, she suddenly sat down beside him, sitting upright and looking ahead, letting out a soft sigh.
This only made him more confused, and he became even more cautious, "What exactly happened? Did Frieren make you angry? Or…"
"It's both Lord Ash's and Lady Frieren's fault," Fern glanced at him sideways, expressionless.
"I'm involved too? And Frieren… hmm, we haven't really done anything bad together lately, right?"
"Because Lady Frieren wanted to… no, wait?", She was just about to explain after a soft sigh, but suddenly noticed something. Her brows furrowed, and she leaned closer, sniffing around him.
After thinking for a moment, Fern wrinkled her nose and narrowed her eyes, sizing him up, "Why… do you smell like apples again?"
"I think I mentioned before that it's because—"
"Don't tell me you went to help at an apple orchard again?"
"That's indeed the case."
"That's definitely not something you'd get just from helping at an orchard, right? It's obviously much stronger than before. Just how many apples did you eat to get such a strong smell? Did you treat apples as your meals and then wipe them all over yourself?.And… why does your collar also smell like apples? Even if you wipe your hands, you wouldn't wipe them on your collar. Did apple juice drip onto it?"
The girl puffed her cheeks in dissatisfaction, unconsciously twirling the ends of her hair with her fingers, glaring at him as she fired off a barrage of questions.
He understood that it was because his clothes had been washed before, while today's hadn't been, making the smell stronger. But seeing her so angry left him a bit stunned, "No… um… even if I ate a bit more, there's no need to be this angry, right?"
"I don't know! I just feel like… you're definitely hiding something from me," The girl's intuition told her this wasn't simple, "And there's also a girl's… nice fragrance. Please honestly explain, what exactly did you do yesterday?"
"Actually, I have a relative's child who really likes eating apples."
"Weren't you accidentally sealed a thousand years ago, unsealed five hundred years ago, then sealed again five hundred years ago, and only ended up here afterward? Where did these relatives come from?"
"The actual situation is a bit more complicated than you think. Actually…"
Left with no choice, he explained Linie as the descendant of his younger sister. In a sense, that wasn't entirely wrong.
He described his family as a prestigious lineage that had continued to this day. After all, he himself was still alive, so it hadn't really been broken.
His family had long operated an apple orchard. Due to his disappearance, it had been managed by his sister's descendants all the way until now…
"So that child really likes eating apples."
"But if she likes apples, why do you smell like them?"
"Because she likes wiping them on me."
"What? Why? I don't understand at all!", The strange answer left Fern completely baffled.
"Does she do that to everyone every time? You said she's already twelve or thirteen, right? What kind of kid is that big and still so rude?"
"I wouldn't say she's rude. After all, she only wipes them on me. Actually, sometimes she's quite sensible."
"Why are you, the victim, defending her! Isn't that just being rude?"
"Uh… when it's your own kid, you just kind of…"
Although he often lectured Linie himself, when someone else criticized her, he instinctively defended her. Ash's expression turned a bit subtle, just like how he had instinctively defended Fern earlier when Linie spoke about her.
But those words instead earned him a lecture from Fern, "I already knew you're very protective of your own, but there's no need to take it this far, right? This kind of excessive indulgence isn't good for her growth. Just like you and Lady Frieren, don't I often lecture you too?"
"Am I being treated like a child?"
"You're a willful person."
Fern's instinctive reply made her suddenly realize, 'I might actually be quite similar to Lord Ash?'
Unless she was angry, she would also defend Ash in front of Frieren. But when alone, her words would become merciless.
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