Some more time passed. Seeing the sky gradually darken, and having exhausted a considerable amount of stamina from her scuffle with this idiot goddess, Fíliya's stomach chose this moment to protest.
Fortunately, Miss Fíliya had a sense of shame. She quickly pressed a hand to her stomach, preventing the sound from escaping.
"I'm hungry."
"Oh."
"What do you mean, 'oh'? Stop the carriage, I need to get something to eat. A great goddess can naturally subsist on the wind and dew, but I'm a mere mortal."
"...So annoying."
Serie shot her an impatient glare, then raised a hand, conjuring all sorts of food that flickered and changed in her palm.
"What do you want to eat? Pick one."
Watching this, Fíliya immediately sighed.
"This isn't right! You can't just conjure food with a thought! There's no soul in it! I refuse!"
If it wasn't food cooked with heart, like the kind Solitär makes, she wouldn't eat it.
"Is that so? Then starve."
Seeing her act like this, Serie couldn't be bothered to say more and simply dispelled her food-conjuring magic.
"...At this rate, how long will it take to reach the Empire?"
Fíliya asked tentatively.
"Two weeks."
"Ugh."
Fíliya felt her scalp tingle. It was still going to take that long... If she didn't do something, she would definitely starve to death. But she would rather die than bow her head to Serie.
And so... she instantly vanished from the carriage.
Seeing this, Serie subconsciously raised an eyebrow and turned her head in a specific direction.
Yes, in that single instant, she had already tracked Fíliya and knew what that girl was up to in the distance.
But while she waited, Serie was surprised to find that she felt a bit... empty.
How is that possible... That girl is so noisy when she's around, I wish she'd get lost. How could I possibly feel this way?
Serie quickly shook her head, forcing her mind to calm down.
After another period of time, Fíliya's figure returned, once again taking a seat beside Serie.
"Tsk, why are you back again... Do you have nowhere else to be?"
Serie immediately fired off a merciless taunt, but her tightly knitted brows had clearly relaxed.
"Mhm... Just assume I have nowhere else to be. Here, this is for you."
Fíliya chuckled lightly and handed one of the two meals to the goddess.
"What is this?"
Serie looked at the strangely shaped food before her, a puzzled expression on her face.
"I don't know either. I heard it's a new invention... But it's really creative. First, you take a baked bread roll, slice it in half, then stuff a meat patty, various vegetables, and sauces in the middle. Then you press the two halves of the bread together to eat it... It's very convenient to hold... It's just a bit too thick. You have to open your mouth really wide to eat it. For that reason alone, it could never appear on a noble lady's dinner table... But I quite like it."
As Fíliya spoke, she smiled, opened her mouth wide, and took a bite of the strange food.
"Junk food..."
Serie, however, curled her lip in disdain.
"Are you going to eat it or not? If not, give it back."
Hearing Serie's words, Fíliya's expression soured a little.
And here I was, kind enough to bring one back for you, you clueless elf idiot, she thought.
Hearing that Fíliya was going to take it back, Serie reluctantly took a bite.
"How is it?!"
Fíliya immediately asked with excitement, eagerly awaiting the goddess's review.
"Disgusting... Who do you think I am? What kind of delicacy have I not tasted... How could something like this possibly appeal to me?"
A look of contempt washed over Serie's face.
"...Tch, boring."
At this, Fíliya turned her head away, feeling like she had courted a rebuff. But she wasn't actually disappointed; she was just using the moment to think about something else.
What she was contemplating was the food-conjuring magic Serie had casually displayed earlier.
That's no simple thing... Fíliya mused inwardly.
Although she knew some folk magics like [Magic to turn black bread into white bread] or [Magic to turn green apples into red apples], these were, to put it bluntly, transformations of matter—a process of [from something to something else].
But what Serie had done just now... was clearly a process of [from nothing to something].
And what she herself had comprehended in a flash of insight from spells like [Magic to clear dust] and [Magic to clear copper rust] was the power of the [Magic to Disintegrate All Things]—a process of [from something to nothing].
If the complete form of her [Magic to Disintegrate All Things] was a [World-Ending Magic] representing the power of [Destruction]...
Then Serie's little trick just now was, to some extent, touching upon the power of [Creation].
I thought that kind of power was exclusive to the [Creator Goddess]...
Still, [Creation] and [Destruction]... It suddenly feels like destiny is at play, doesn't it?
Thinking this, a faint smile graced Fíliya's lips.
"Can you sit further away? I need to meditate."
Suddenly, Serie's voice pulled Fíliya's mind back to reality.
"What? You need to meditate?"
Fíliya looked surprised.
"...Do you really need me to spell it out? I just don't want to sit next to you."
Serie said impatiently.
"Tch..."
Fíliya immediately got up and moved her butt elsewhere.
"Hm?"
But in the process, she noticed something.
That girl Serie... had a single white sesame seed stuck to the corner of her mouth...
As a [Goddess], she didn't even notice... Could you be any cuter?
Besides, you said it was disgusting... but you still finished it all, hmph.
After discovering this, Fíliya's mood instantly improved.
For the next two weeks, Fíliya spent her time just like this with Serie. And Serie, too, began to grow accustomed to the feeling of having this young girl by her side.
Until one day, Serie guided the carriage to a stop at an outpost, just a half-day's journey from the imperial capital.
Fíliya followed Serie out of the carriage and immediately saw... a group of strange figures.
"Falsch, Sense... I told you there was no need for you to come."
Serie's expression was slightly cold. When speaking to people other than Fíliya, she still carried the dignified air of a superior.
"This was our own decision... If you wish to blame us, please wait until the dust has settled."
Sense was the first to step forward, bowing to Serie.
"...Do as you please."
Serie naturally understood her disciple's intentions, so she said no more, casually shifting her gaze elsewhere.
"Then... Frieren, why are you here again?"
"We were just traveling through here... Falsch found Fern, so as her guardian, I had to come along."
Frieren's face clearly showed a reluctance, as if she were being forced to work overtime. But upon seeing Fíliya behind Serie, her expression became even more intrigued. She tried to catch Fíliya's eye for a greeting, but Fíliya's attention was clearly not on her at that moment.
"..."
Even back in the carriage, Fíliya had sensed that presence.
So when her gaze met Sense's, her expression, for once, held a trace of guilt.
She shyly approached Sense's side and began to speak nervously.
"Um... I'm sorry, for not coming back to see you for so long... It's just that various things got tangled up... How should I put it..."
Just as Fíliya was struggling, at a loss for what to do, Sense slowly took half a step forward. Not with her hair, but with her arms, she embraced Fíliya.
"As long as you're alright."
The moment she heard those words, all the excuses Fíliya had prepared lost their meaning. She could only stare blankly and reply with a single syllable.
"...Yeah."
____
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