"This is a bit of a misunderstanding. I didn't lie to you about anything. You asked me whether I was a high-ranking official of the kingdom, and I really am not. I'm just a royal advisor."
"How is that just an advisor? On the surface, he looked exactly like a real king, even more imposing than most kings. But when he turned around, I realized it was just an act! You're the real king, aren't you?"
Thinking back on it, Frieren's face filled with indignation.
But Ash simply spread his hands, looking innocent, "But what's so bad about that? Or are you saying this counts as 'evil'?"
"It doesn't exactly count as evil. In a way, it is doing good. But you understand the danger of demons, right?"
"I do. But humans kill just as easily. The number of humans killed by other humans isn't any less than those killed by demons," Facing Frieren's doubt, he calmly argued back with reason, "If you can't find a specific group, you could designate nobles as one. Many of them don't even consider themselves the same species as commoners. Are you going to kill them? Have you ever thought about creating a world without nobles, where everyone is equal? Or separating them from humanity altogether?"
"Th-this…"
"By the way, the empire you once helped is now planning to kill you and Serie. Are you going to wipe out the entire empire?"
"….", The sudden information left Frieren stunned, her mouth hanging open. After a long pause, she asked blankly, "What are you even talking about? And where did you hear that?"
"From the Magic Special Forces side. And Serie already knows. Her source is a spy she planted in the empire."
"The empire has lasted this long largely thanks to Master, and yet they want to kill her benefactor and adoptive mother?"
"Yeah."
"If that's true, I really can't laugh about it."
"No, didn't you just laugh?"
"That was a bitter laugh… you idiot who can't read the room."
Shaking her head with a bitter smile, overwhelmed by the shocking news, Frieren had already forgotten what she originally wanted to say. She just walked silently toward the annex, not even turning back as she said, "I don't know what you're planning, and I can't control you... just be careful. I don't want to hear news of you dying from playing with fire. And the only things that could kill you and Serie are either a top-tier warrior's surprise attack… or a Great Demon's unpredictable 'fairy tale.'"
———
After leaving those words behind, Frieren sighed and walked off alone, her back carrying a faint sense of gloom and loneliness, leaving only Fern and Ash standing there.
"Lady Frieren… she looks really down. The last time I saw her like that was when Lord Heiter passed away."
Fern watched the small figure receding into the distance and murmured in concern.
"It's fine. She may be like that, but she's still an adult. She can handle it herself."
"What are you even saying? Of course Lady Frieren is an adult," Fern turned back with a slightly pouty expression, then puffed her cheeks in dissatisfaction, "More importantly, don't you have anything you want to say to me, Lord Ash?"
"If you ask, I can tell you."
"You…"
'What exactly is this kingdom? What's your relationship with demons? You said before you wouldn't die of old age… is it because… you're a demon?', Fern stared straight at him, but no matter what, she couldn't bring herself to ask. [T/N: Fern is Doakes here.]
She couldn't ask, couldn't say it out loud. She even knew that if she did ask, Ash would definitely answer.
But in the end, she gently shook her head, "Never mind."
"You're not asking?"
"What does it matter what kind of person you are, Lord Ash? Whether you're poor or rich, or have something special about you, it's all the same to me. You're just you. So… does the truth really matter?"
"I didn't expect that move," The unexpected answer caught Ash off guard. He had already prepared how to respond, even braced himself for relentless questioning.
Although she already had an answer in her heart, Fern closed one eye playfully, giving a sly smile. She grabbed his hand and pulled him along in the direction Frieren had gone, "Let's catch up to Lady Frieren first. She's sharp sometimes, but actually hopelessly slow when it comes to a lot of things. She can't figure things out on her own, so we should go check on her. And… that annex looks pretty interesting. Come along too, Lord Ash~ Oh right, are you staying there tonight as well?"
"Uh… yeah, if you want, that's fine."
With things developing in a way he hadn't expected, Ash followed along, slightly troubled, letting himself be dragged by Fern to the annex used for receiving foreign guests.
At the moment, there were no visitors from neighboring countries staying in the annex inside the royal castle.
Or rather… because of this country's special nature, this annex hadn't been used much for a long time. Foreign guests usually stayed in a newly built annex outside the castle.
However, since there were plenty of staff, they still needed something to do, so the place was regularly cleaned and kept ready at all times.
———
It was clearly Fern's first time visiting a high-class place like the royal annex.
With a strange sense of excitement, she pulled him into a room and pointed at the freshly replaced bedding, "Look, Lord Ash! This seems like really high-end stuff. The people here said it's specially supplied, not even sold on the market, only used by great nobles. It feels amazing to the touch. And the bed is unbelievably soft. Is it really okay for us to be this extravagant?"
"What's not okay about it? If you want, you can take everything here with you," Ash, who had been occasionally thinking Fern had grown a bit rebellious, now looked at her with a doting gaze as she seemed to discover a whole new world.
"R-really? No… that's not okay," Fern's face lit up for a moment, then she suddenly frowned, rubbing her chin, "If we just take someone else's things like this, wouldn't people laugh at us?"
"It's fine. Everything here is new. It's only meant for single-use by guests, so it won't be reused."
"That wasteful?", Sitting on the bed, feeling the softness of the mattress while running her fingers over the sheets, Fern looked utterly amazed.
"Because the people who stay here aren't minor nobles. They're usually envoys from other countries or major nobles from enemy nations. For the sake of the country's image, there's no way reused items would be acceptable. It is a bit wasteful, but it's a necessary expense. You probably just haven't seen how wasteful high nobles can really be."
"But we're not nobles."
"Don't worry about that. If you want, you could even stay in the royal court, once I deal with a few troublesome people first."
"Even if you have a lot of influence, I haven't contributed anything. How could I accept something like this?"
Even though he treated these things casually, Fern was unusually serious and refused to accept them outright.
'Such a good kid, and I actually thought she was rebellious before… as expected, Fern is the one who inherited my good traits,' Thinking about rebellious Linie and useless Aura, Ash was so moved he almost couldn't help but hug her and rub her head.
But considering she had grown up, and there was still Frieren's situation to deal with, he forced himself to hold back and decided to do it later. After calming himself, he set the topic aside and asked:
"Even if these things are nice, Fern, didn't we come here to comfort Frieren?"
"Ah, I almost forgot!"
She had just passed by her room and gotten too excited to share her discovery with Ash, nearly forgetting their original purpose. Snapping back to her senses, Fern quickly stood up and dragged him toward the next room.
Although the soundproofing here was excellent, the door hadn't been closed, so Frieren in the next room had heard everything clearly.
At the moment, the silver-haired twin-tailed elf was squatting in the corner, hugging her knees, pouting and looking away, clearly sulking.
"Lady Frieren is sulking again… what should we do, Lord Ash?", Feeling guilty, Fern looked to him for help.
"Give her something good to eat. That should work."
"If you think I can be bought with desserts, you're seriously underestimating me. I'm—", Frieren turned her head with obvious displeasure, but before she could finish complaining, Ash cut in, "How about a royal special dessert feast?"
"Since you're showing sincerity, I won't hold it against you this time. Let's go eat now. It's unlimited, right?"
Her dissatisfaction vanished instantly. She stood up like nothing had happened, brushed herself off, and walked ahead on her own.
The speed of her emotional shift was astonishing. Seeing the two of them still standing there, she even turned back and urged them impatiently, "What are you standing there for? Hurry up?"
"See? I told you a long time ago, she's basically a kid," Ash glanced at Fern, who responded with a knowing, helpless smile.
"I know that. Aren't I always the one taking care of Lady Frieren?"
Even as she said that, Fern didn't lecture her. She just reminded Frieren not to run too fast and quickly followed after her.
———
Royal special desserts, of course, were served inside the royal court.
So even though Ash was somewhat concerned about Aura's presence, he still brought them along into the court and entered an overly large dining hall within the castle.
"Come to think of it, being treated to royal-exclusive food by someone who isn't royalty… it feels pretty strange…"
Still not used to demons being here, Frieren sat in her seat looking around restlessly, unable to sit still as she waited.
Ash, meanwhile, stood by the wall explaining the origin of the murals to the even more uneasy Fern, occasionally glancing back.
"Listen to yourself. The only time you were probably invited by royalty was in the unified empire, thanks to Flamme, right? Once in a thousand years. Even if a royal family invited you now, it'd still feel just as strange, wouldn't it?"
"How could that be? Lady Frieren was part of the Hero's party. She must have been invited to banquets by kings, right?", Fern said, but Frieren shook her head with a slightly subtle expression.
"No, that didn't happen."
"Huh? It didn't? Why?"
"They did put up a bronze statue, and drinks were free that day."
"What about rewards? It seemed like Lord Heiter only had savings from his work?"
"How could there be something like that? That king was stingy as hell."
With a blank face, Frieren complained about the miserly king who had almost killed two members of their party at the start and only gave them ten copper coins.
Hearing this, Fern, who had once admired the Hero's party, ended up with a rather strange expression.
But just as they were chatting and the atmosphere was good, the dining hall doors were suddenly pushed open, the person Ash dreaded most at the moment, Aura, strode into the hall with an almost provocative attitude, a bold smile curling on her lips.
The heavy doors of the dining hall were suddenly shoved open with a loud bang, making the surrounding air tremble.
The sound of firm footsteps stepping inside seemed to become the accompaniment to the arrogant aura of the uninvited pink-haired girl, Aura.
As the doors fully opened, Aura's figure was completely revealed before everyone. Frieren and Fern, who didn't know her at all, looked confused, but the clearly visible horns made both of them instinctively raise their guard.
"Hmph!"
As all three looked at her, Aura let out a disdainful snort, the sound echoing through the empty hall.
It felt as if the very air in the room tightened with her arrival. Her smile wasn't warm or friendly, but carried a trace of provocation.
She took another step forward, moving slowly like a queen inspecting her territory.
Each step carried its own rhythm and presence. Her arrogance, her domineering attitude, her overbearing aura, it was like the word "villain" was written all over her face. Her sharp gaze swept across everyone.
'Why is the kid I raised with so much care turning out like this?', Ash, secondhand embarrassed for Aura to the point he felt like he could dig out a three-bedroom apartment with his toes, slammed his head onto the table, unable to look straight at this villainous small fry.
The thud of his head hitting the table made Fern instinctively look back, reaching out in concern.
"Lord Ash? What's wrong? Is your head okay?"
"It's fine, but… why do I feel like you're insulting me?", Ash turned his head slowly, looking annoyed.
"Insulting you?", Fern looked confused, then quickly realized something and waved her hands, "N-no! I didn't mean that! I was just worried if it hurt…"
"It's fine."
"Why bother with him?", Frieren waved dismissively, "He's half a warrior. Even if he fell from a hundred meters in full armor, he'd be fine."
"That's Eisen."
"You can't do it?"
"I mean… I probably could…"
"Then what's the problem?", Frieren waved again indifferently.
Even though he really was fine, Ash still couldn't help but grab her shoulders and shake her, "Show a little concern for me! I need care too!"
"You're already grown, what care do you need? Aren't you embarrassed?"
"You're the last person I want to hear that from."
"By the way, are we really just going to ignore that girl? Leaving her standing there feels kind of pitiful," Frieren let him shake her while pointing at Aura, whose smile was starting to stiffen.
"Just ignore her. The more attention you give her, the more she gets carried away. She's even more troublesome than you," Ash tried his best to ignore Aura, deliberately distracting everyone, hoping she'd get bored and leave.
But that remark made Frieren's lips dip slightly, her eyes narrowing, "So you've always thought I'm troublesome?"
"You weren't aware of that?", Ash was genuinely surprised.
That reflexive question made Frieren's eyes narrow even further.
Sensing this, Fern finally couldn't hold back and interrupted before things escalated, "S-speaking of which, Lord Ash, I almost forgot. You mentioned having an apple orchard before, right? We've already arrived in the kingdom, but where exactly is it? I haven't seen it at all."
"Ah, well…", The offhand answer he'd given before now came back to haunt him, making him visibly awkward.
"Actually, the orchard I mentioned is this kingdom. I've been managing it all this time."
"I see. I did consider that possibility," Fern nodded as if accepting the explanation, but before he could relax, she suddenly asked again, "Then where does the apple scent on you come from?"
[T/N: Ash: Sweating Bullets]
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