Chapter 84 — Leave Not a Single Scale Behind!
Aside from Yuna—who was deathly afraid of snakes—the other three were in high spirits, each holding a stack of snake scales.
The palm-sized scales of the serpent monster shimmered with a faint violet glow in Frieren's hands.
"These can be used not only to forge armor," she said thoughtfully,
"but also as materials for alchemy…"
"Good! A very good start!"
"For the sake of rare magic tools, we press onward—just like we did with this giant snake—"
"We'll slaughter them down to the last scale!"
"—Well said! Down to the last scale!"
A loud voice suddenly rang out from behind them.
Everyone turned around to see a tall, slender figure approaching.
"It's Leiya."
This time, even Elias and Brian hadn't been able to stop her.
Brian, that little rascal, had halted the moment he spotted the massive serpent corpse from afar.
"Miss Leiya… I, uh, suddenly have a stomachache…"
"I'll come back later to protect you!"
He ran off surprisingly fast.
Leiya, however, walked forward with firm steps—clearly determined to place herself in danger once more.
An encounter with her was inevitable.
Elias immediately raised his guard.
Leiya's appearance plunged the red, blue, and yellow sisters into silence, their eyes filled with quiet pity.
Especially seeing her clad in elegant battle gear—it stirred memories of the past…
A serpent like this?
Back then, Leiya could have slain it alone without breaking a sweat.
But now…
All that remained was a silent sigh.
Leiya approached and offered a brief greeting.
Her gaze was instantly drawn to the serpent's corpse.
"…Incredible," she murmured.
"Striking straight for the serpent's heart, concentrating firepower, and finishing it in the shortest possible time…"
"This was a clean kill."
She looked up.
"Who did this?"
The moment the question was asked—
Frieren immediately puffed out her chest!
She was just about to speak when she suddenly remembered Flamme's warning before leaving:
[Do not get close to Miss Leiya.]
[Do not come into contact with unknown stones.]
…Oh no.
Frieren's face went pale.
Alarm bells rang wildly in her head.
But before she could stop it, the three beside her spoke in unison:
"It was Frieren!"
There was no time to dodge.
Leiya's gaze had already locked onto her.
Frieren could only nod awkwardly.
"H-hello… Miss Leiya."
"—Frieren!"
Leiya's eyes lit up with excitement.
The instant she reached out toward Frieren, a sharp glint flashed through Elias's eyes.
In that split second, he made a silent decision—
If he sensed even the slightest trace of mental magic,
he would sever Leiya's hands without hesitation.
"Frieren—at last, I finally get to meet you!"
Leiya excitedly clasped Frieren's hand and looked up at her hair.
"Hah—so you dyed your hair green. I almost didn't recognize you!"
"I didn't get the chance to properly speak with Lady Flamme before," she said warmly.
"Luckily, I was able to meet her disciple."
Frieren forced a polite smile.
"I… I'm honored to meet you as well."
Leiya's face flushed with excitement as she stared straight at Frieren, words pouring out nonstop.
"To instantly slay such a massive serpent—Lady Flamme's disciple truly lives up to her name!"
"Frieren, you have no idea…"
"Lady Flamme has always been my role model. I dreamed of becoming her disciple, of standing beside her on the battlefield and slaughtering demons together…"
Halfway through her speech, Leiya's excited voice abruptly faltered.
She lowered her head.
The atmosphere turned heavy.
At that moment, Yuna stepped forward, her expression gentle.
"Leiya… we may not know what caused your illness," she said softly,
"but we do know that what happened to you wasn't your fault."
"Birth, aging, sickness, death—these are things humans cannot escape," Yuna continued.
"But as long as we're alive, there's still hope."
Zanni and Camilla nodded firmly.
"Yuna's right!"
"As long as you live, there's always a chance!"
Faced with the sisters' sincere gazes, Leiya gave a weak, exhausted smile.
"Thank you… truly."
"Even though I can no longer fight," she said quietly,
"I hope you'll kill monsters for me as well."
"Slaughter them—leave not a single scale behind!"
"—Hahahahaha!"
Everyone burst out laughing at once.
"That's right!"
"Leave not a single scale behind!"
Amid the cheerful voices, Elias stood out starkly—expressionless, detached.
Once again, the terror of words revealed itself.
Even Frieren had lowered her guard, offering Leiya sympathy and encouragement.
She had no idea—
—that this was a demon exploiting the host's memories to deliberately draw close.
Frieren…
was still far too young.
Now six of them moved forward together.
Elias quietly spread his mana, keeping close watch on Leiya's every movement.
---
Thirty minutes passed.
Not a single monster appeared.
Zanni scratched her head in confusion.
"What's going on? Why haven't we seen even one monster?"
The moment she finished speaking—
A flash of blood-red streaked across the front!
"What was that?!"
—BANG!
Brian, right in front of everyone—
face-planted spectacularly.
Leiya: (''≖_≖)
"Oh? Young Master Brian, you're back."
Brian sprang up instantly, hoisted his sword, and flicked his red hair dramatically.
(¬‿¬)✧
"Sorry I'm late."
"The reason there were no monsters along the way…"
"Must be because I'm just too strong—they were scared off~"
Everyone: (''≖_≖)
So… face-planting is also a monster-repelling technique now?
How rare.
Brian's words sounded ridiculous, yet the green-haired elf suddenly frowned.
"…Wait."
Frieren turned toward the dark figure behind them.
"It was you, wasn't it, Elias."
Everyone's gaze snapped toward him.
Frieren took a deep breath.
"I felt something was wrong earlier."
"You've been releasing threatening mana this whole time, scaring away nearby monsters—haven't you?"
Elias: (ᇂ_ᇂ|||)
Damn it…
Frieren really is unbelievably clueless!
No one else had noticed—
Why did she have to say it out loud?!
Leiya suddenly realized the truth.
"Oh… so that's how it is!"
"No wonder we didn't encounter even a single weak monster!"
"Elias, you really went to great lengths to protect my safety."
Elias replied calmly,
"My apologies."
"It's simply my duty."
Frieren rolled her eyes hard.
"But if you scare away all the monsters," she said,
"how are we supposed to earn any rewards?"
Elias had no response.
He genuinely hadn't considered that.
Leiya seized the moment, smiling mockingly.
"No monsters in a hunting lesson—are we just wasting time then?"
"My wooden guardian…"
"You can stop showing off now~"
Elias met her gaze.
That look—
Was she provoking him?
"—Impossible."
Elias answered sternly.
"The lady's safety takes priority over everything else."
"—Heh… hahaha!"
Leiya's smile twisted unnaturally.
"Safety, safety…"
"That's all you ever talk about!"
"Elias…"
"I'm so sick of you!!"
The instant her words fell—
Time seemed to freeze.
Just 0.05 seconds earlier, Elias sensed a massive impact force entering his mana detection range.
He used 0.05 seconds to trace the source with Far Sight—
An iron meteor bird with dark-purple eyes!
Just like the crystal turtle—
It was being controlled.
Another 0.05 seconds to deduce the cause—
Leiya was manipulating it using a mana core, deliberately engineering an injury at maximum speed.
Another 0.05 seconds to calculate—
His mana field extended 100 meters.
At sonic speed, the bird would strike in—
0.3 seconds.
That left him—
0.1 seconds to react.
Absurdly short.
But enough—
Enough to protect Leiya.
Elias instantly spent 0.05 seconds deploying a barrier, wrapping Leiya completely within it.
And then—
His heart sank.
The meteor bird's trajectory suddenly shifted.
Its true target was—
Frieren.