So he immersed himself in the Imperial Capital's royal library, studying all kinds of magic day and night that he had never had the chance to understand before. At the same time, he established new mechanisms and systems among the two nations and the demon race, making sure the operation of the two countries and the demons would not be disrupted when he was absent.
During this process, everyone was actively thinking of corresponding countermeasures. Even the lazy Frieren and Milli, who was usually so idle and lazy it was outrageous, were flipping through the Empire's ancient books, searching for magical secret arts that might be useful, along with traces related to the Goddess hidden in those old documents.
However, unfortunately, even though the Empire's history stretched for a thousand years, records related to the Goddess, after discarding all the praising parts, were extremely few. It was basically the same as having none at all.
After all, a thousand years, in the eyes of beings like Frieren and Solitar, was only the blink of an eye. It was far from enough to carry too many secrets about the ancient Goddess.
———
[Imperial Capital, a Corner Of The Palace Library]
Ash was completely focused on reading a thick magic book, while Frieren quietly stood beside him. Then, without warning, she suddenly muttered softly, "If I had known earlier, I should've brought that stone monument back."
"There's no such thing as knowing beforehand in this world. Better not dwell too much on the past," Ash didn't raise his head. He only answered lightly, his eyes still fixed on the pages.
"True," Frieren nodded lightly, then suddenly turned around and looked at Ash with a serious expression as she abruptly said, "If after some more time, there's still no news about that Hero, then you should leave as soon as possible."
"Talking about this again?", Ash paused slightly and unconsciously put down the book in his hands, shaking his head helplessly, "What about you all then?"
"No matter what, it's still the Goddess. As long as we stop following you, she probably won't attack us," Frieren spoke calmly, but Ash frowned.
"Honestly, I don't understand her intentions."
"I don't know either, but the Goddess's target should only be you. After all, according to the records in the rumors, everyone killed by that Hero were people standing in her way."
"If someone else suddenly said this, I'd probably think they were afraid I'd drag them down."
"I didn't mean that," Frieren tilted her head with a troubled expression, looking somewhat at a loss.
"I know," Ash smiled and rubbed her head. His gaze slid down to the silver hair hanging over her shoulders, and he couldn't help asking, "Not tying your hair today?"
"Because Fern is very busy. I woke up early for once, but nobody praised me," Frieren pouted, her face full of slight grievance.
That made him rub her somewhat messy silver hair and sigh.
"You should start becoming independent little by little. What if one day I'm really gone, and Fern grows old too? What will you do then?"
Hearing that, Frieren fell silent for a while with a complicated look in her eyes, as though thinking about something. In the end, she only softly said three words, "I don't know."
"If it were you, you'd definitely cry, right?"
"I wouldn't," Frieren firmly shook her head, but the faint flicker deep in her eyes seemed to reveal her real feelings.
"Liar. You're obviously a crybaby," Ash teased her half-jokingly, trying to ease the heaviness with a relaxed tone.
But Frieren lowered her head, and even her shoulders seemed to tremble slightly, "How could I? If all of you are gone.... how could I still cry?"
"Don't say things like that," Ash looked troubled as he gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her beside him with a smile, "Aren't you good at the lifestyles of long-lived races? Just find another disciple when the time comes."
"I don't want to. In the end, all of this is your fault."
"Huh? It's my fault again?", Ash, who always ended up taking the blame at times like this, truly felt innocent.
However, this really was his fault.
"Fern is my only disciple. You're half of one. The reason I never wanted to teach disciples was because I didn't want to get too involved with humans. Humans die if you stop paying attention for even a moment."
As an elf with a long lifespan, the first time Frieren broke her own principles was also because of Ash and Heiter's scheming.
Considering Fern's situation, he really did bear full responsibility for this. But what could he say now?
He couldn't even protect himself, much less take responsibility for others.
"Somehow... sorry," Ash's voice was low, his eyes full of guilt, "Thinking about it seriously, this really is my fault."
"What's the point of apologizing now?", Frieren lightly shook her head, a complicated emotion flashing through her eyes.
"I don't know. I just wanted to say it," Ash's answer was simple and direct, but the struggle and apology in his heart were hard to hide.
"Just think about how to stay alive instead. If you really die, then I'll carry your memories into the future and spread stories about your embarrassing moments," Frieren suddenly brought out a strange threat, leaving him blank for a moment.
"No, I should..."
"The first thing I'll tell Sense is how you secretly sneaked into the Emperor's harem before."
"Ah! I was wrong! Please spare me, if you tell people that, how am I supposed to keep my image?"
Ash hurriedly begged for mercy, his face full of bitter laughter. But warmth rose in his heart. At least at a time like this, they could still tease each other and support each other this way.
Seeing Ash like that, some of the gloom in Frieren's heart also faded slightly. She gave a light snort and proudly raised the corners of her mouth.
Even though Ash was a demon, and even though they often argued and schemed against each other, at this point, she truly could no longer obey her master's teachings.
Because, no matter what, she didn't want this friend to die just because he touched a taboo for the sake of his ideals.
———
Not long after the national celebration ended, deep winter completely covered the entire Empire.
The inconvenient transportation made Ash silently come to a decision on this snow-covered day.
Inside the reception room beside the Emperor's bedroom, Aura was still lazily lying around in a rocking chair by the fireplace, reading a book like usual.
Ash looked through the recently delivered intelligence reports, while Linie sat in his arms facing the fireplace, so comfortable she was practically about to fall asleep in his embrace.
But while habitually stroking the hair of the girl in his arms, he suddenly spoke without warning, "Tomorrow I'm going to the royal capital. I'll take some people and look for where that Hero is. If I can't find her, then I won't come back for now. I'll hide for a while first."
"I'm going too," Even though she was drowsy, Linie immediately raised her little head without thinking. But he directly pressed it back down with his hand.
"No. You have to stay here."
"Take the undead army with you. There are already many strong people inside it. Even as cannon fodder, they should at least be able to wear her down a bit."
"No need. They're pretty good, but moving a large force there would waste too much time and effort. If the vessel really hasn't fully obtained her power yet, she might directly run away. It'd be more convenient for me to go alone instead. If I really need help, it'd be easier to mobilize local soldiers directly."
"Is that so? Then do whatever you want," Aura acted like she was sulking as she directly grabbed one of the carefully selected apples beside Linie and bit into it.
At this moment, Solitar interrupted with her silly-looking smile, "Rather than that, once this war ends, let's get married."
"Pfft! Cough! Cough! Cough!"
Aura had only just bitten and crushed the apple in her mouth before she got so shocked she suddenly sat upright in the rocking chair, spraying apple bits straight into the nearby fireplace while coughing painfully.
Noticing some apple scraps had splashed onto the back of Ash's hand, Linie clicked her tongue in disgust, flicked them away with her finger, then wiped his hand clean with her sleeve before complaining, "Lady Aura, so dirty."
"Aura, what are you even doing?", Ash also complained once before speechlessly looking at Solitar, "And you too. I'm still alive here, why are you raising a red flag for me?"
"That's right. Even if we're talking about marriage, Lord Ash would definitely want to marry a refined lady like me," Linie nodded along, then twisted her body closer to Ash's ear and softly said with unusual seriousness, "Lord Ash, once you come back, marry me first, okay?"
Honestly, hearing that soft and cool voice by his ear made anyone soften up. There was really no way to scold her. He didn't know how many times he'd already lost to this girl, and could only rest his chin on Linie's head and sigh, "Whether we get married or not aside, can I ask you all not to say things like this at times like these? You know, in storybooks, lines like this are usually used right before the speaker immediately dies."
"Why?"
"Because in stories, having that kind of person die is more dramatic. It creates contrast, emotional impact, and tragic effect."
"I see. I roughly understand," Linie slowly nodded. But right after saying that, she reached for another apple, casually wiped it against his body, and bit into it. Clearly, she didn't actually understand.
But Linie was still young and didn't care much about this kind of thing, so it was understandable if she didn't get it. However...
"I'm different. I know this isn't something auspicious," Solitar didn't hide it at all and directly admitted it with a smile.
"Doesn't that make you even worse?", Ash couldn't help rolling his eyes at her, "I'm amazed you can say it so openly."
"But even if it isn't auspicious, isn't having something to look forward to better? There are also lots of stories where someone fights desperately because they miss their lover and can't stop worrying about them, then they break through their limits and really come back, right?"
Expectation shone in Solitar's eyes, as though she truly had great hopes for him in this regard. That left him covered in black lines as he repeatedly shook his head.
"Stop thinking so much. I don't think I can."
"Don't say things like that. You need confidence in yourself," Solitar held his hands as though trying to give him courage and confidence.
But at this moment, faced with these strange expectations, all he wanted was to pull his hands away as quickly as possible.
Linie bit into her apple while watching the show. Aura didn't know what else to say, but she was too lazy to interfere and simply went back to rocking in her chair while worrying to herself.
Everything seemed no different from those past days before.
A little noisy, yet ordinary.
———
That same night, when darkness fell, after properly dealing with all those troublesome matters and giving instructions to those troublesome people, Ash quietly stepped into another study room where the human girls often gathered.
And once again, he explained his plan to temporarily leave first, take the initiative to search for that Hero, and hide away if he couldn't find her.
"Lord Ash, I...", Fern's soft voice sounded out. She unconsciously opened her mouth with a trace of longing, hoping to follow him.
But the words she had started saying suddenly stopped halfway.
Because she knew very well that even if she followed him, if they really had to fight the Hero, and the Hero had already fully grown, then there would definitely be no chance of victory.
After all, the opponent was a monster capable of easily killing the Demon King and many great demons. It might even be the Goddess herself. And if the Hero hadn't fully grown yet, then Ash moving alone would be faster for discovering her and searching.
As for why he wouldn't bring them along while hiding away, Ash didn't need to say it for her to understand. He simply feared accidentally dragging them into danger. And, no matter the situation, it would be more convenient for him to act alone.
Frieren, Sense, and Ubel also understood this, so they truly didn't know what to say at a time like this.
Meanwhile, Frieren couldn't help feeling that his current decision was because of what she had said before, making her emotions even more mixed.
That subtle feeling left her hesitating to speak. In the end, she still gathered her courage and slowly opened her mouth, "Ash, what I said before..."
"You don't need to worry about it. I understand all that reasoning too," Before she could finish, Ash raised his hand and stopped her from continuing, "This decision has nothing to do with you. I was already thinking this way from the start."
"Then.... then when are you leaving?", A trace of reluctance and hesitation mixed into Frieren's voice, while Ash's answer was very simple, "Tomorrow."
"Is that so? Then I'll come see you off too..."
"In the morning."
"Uh... I-I'll try my best. Please help too, Fern...", Even though Frieren really wanted to wake up early, she always struggled to do it. Embarrassment appeared on her face as she looked toward Fern for help.
"Alright, alright. I was just joking. Noon is fine. Anyway, there's no rush right now," Ash smiled and casually agreed, patting her head like usual.
But everyone fell into brief silence. The air itself seemed to grow heavy. Only when Ash stood up and clapped his hands, having the maids outside push in food carts and piles of desserts, did the atmosphere become lively again.
At least, lively on the surface.
———
The next day, after finally getting a proper night's sleep for the first time in a while, before the noon even arrived, Ash had already woken up when the sky had only just started brightening.
But the moment he opened his eyes, he strangely felt his body was quite heavy, almost like sleep paralysis.
However, after lifting the blanket, that pink-haired girl, Linie was curled up half on top of him like a kitten.
Maybe because she carried no hostility, he hadn't noticed at all, and had even slept very soundly. The only downside was probably that in his dreams all night, he felt like apples were pressing on him.
"Seriously, sticking to me all day long. What are you going to do in the future?"
Even though he should've scolded her now to stop things like this from happening again, Ash was never able to properly scold her. Now he even secretly hugged the kitten on top of him, and couldn't resist kissing that soft pink cheek once.
By now, he was somewhat aware that he would accidentally spoil this girl too much. Unfortunately, even if he wanted to change, at this point it was already pretty difficult.
So after hugging Linie for warmth a little longer, he reluctantly climbed out from the blanket filled with sweet fruit fragrance.
"But once I solve this problem soon, it probably won't be too big an issue."
During these recent days, he had already used most of the accumulated souls to strengthen his body and mana, only leaving behind some necessary reserves.
But just as he carefully walked out of the room, and quietly closed the door to avoid waking the girl, he suddenly felt two cold gazes.
Turning his head instinctively, he saw Fern and Frieren standing around the corner, staring directly at him with burning eyes.
Frieren had her hands on her hips, obvious dark circles hanging under her eyes. She glared at him with grievance and dissatisfaction while speaking to Fern, "Fern, you even said we shouldn't go in because you were worried about disturbing his rest. Look at this guy. He just became Emperor and already learned how to hide women in a golden house."
'First of all, let me clarify, I didn't become Emperor. And besides.... I was already raising Linie at home before this!', Although Ash really wanted to honestly say that, in the end he still felt, there was no need to bring trouble onto himself.
It wasn't good to upset them further right now, so he only quickly walked over, placed both hands on his knees, bent down so his eyes were level with Frieren's, and righteously declared, "Don't sow discord and judge me with your dirty thoughts. I was just putting a child to sleep."
"Really?", Frieren narrowed her eyes, her face full of suspicion.
'Half of it's fake, but I seriously don't even know when Linie showed up!', How could he explain something like that? He couldn't say it out loud either. Ash muttered beneath, while outwardly only vaguely half-nodding. Then he stared at her dark circles and changed the subject, "What's wrong with you? Didn't sleep all night?"
"How long do you think I've known you?", Frieren asked back, her tone carrying deeper meaning.
"What do you mean?"
"You were absolutely going to run away before we even reacted, right?"
"That didn't happ—Cough!", He subconsciously wanted to deny it, but now that he'd just been caught red-handed, denying it would only be slapping himself in the face.
The facts right in front of him left him unable to argue. He could only awkwardly clear his throat and turn his face away, planning to buy himself some time before thinking of a solution.
[🙇🏻 You Can Support the Story Through P@tr3on—AmbitiousTranslator. It also has 40+ Chapters of all the novels and fanfics. Thanks for reading~]