The day after Aura was beheaded...
At the crack of dawn, a hardworking old farmer shouldered his hoe and prepared to head to the fields.
The old farmer was 62 this year. He lived with his wife and had one son.
The son had made something of himself, becoming a guard for Count Granat in the city. With a good income, the family had always lived fairly comfortably.
"This year's harvest looks good. Once I bring in the crops, I can give the house a nice renovation." The old farmer showed a simple smile.
Once the wheat is sold, I can enjoy some city folk treatment too. I hear they don't even use hoes for plowing.
I bet they use ones made of gold.
If I buy one then, just thinking about it gets me a little excited.
Then he recalled the flash of sword light from last night's dream and began pondering. "That's strange. What did that dream mean? For some reason, I have this feeling—if I don't hurry to the fields now, the crops might all be ruined!"
With that thought, the old farmer unconsciously quickened his pace. Along the way, he passed a mountain range and curiously lifted his head to stare for a moment.
The next instant, the old farmer's smile froze. What lay before him was an enormous, deep trench. The edges were smooth and flat, like a mirror.
"What in the world? The whole mountain looks like it was sliced by something—the rocks all fell down… Oh no! My wheat!"
As an ordinary person facing such a sight, the old farmer was momentarily at a loss. Panicking, he rushed haphazardly toward the foot of the mountain.
Rumble…
Most of the crops at the mountain's base had been crushed under massive falling boulders. The old farmer stood stunned, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks as he watched more mudslide from the rocks, burying the last untouched wheat.
"My wheat!!" Coming back to his senses, the old farmer let out a anguished cry.
A sixty-year-old farmer's hard work destroyed overnight—the perpetrator bold and brazen, still at large after committing such a heinous crime. Will the culprit ever be brought to justice? Stay tuned for today's episode of Diego's Bizarre Adventure.
(Due to the lost income, the old farmer gave up on the idea of a gold hoe and dutifully renovated the house instead. Congratulations, congratulations.)
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Stark returned to the battlefield where Aura had fallen. He rescued the undead soldier corpses buried under the fallen rocks, dug several large pits, buried them properly, and knelt to offer prayers.
The undead army Aura had controlled consisted of heroes from the northern nations—some from the era of subjugating the Demon King, others who had paid with their lives to try to kill Aura.
They had fought the demons for humanity's survival and happiness. They deserved a proper burial.
"Stark, you defeated Aura. That's really impressive." From the distance, a carriage slowly approached. Frieren hopped down carrying a small bag, her calm tone laced with a touch of surprise as she fondly ruffled his head.
꧞ ʘ̥﹏ʘ꧞!!
It wasn't me, I didn't do it, it really wasn't!
Stark's body stiffened abruptly. He turned his head with great difficulty, like a lagging frame, not daring to meet Frieren and Fern's eyes. He lowered his head guiltily. "Y-Yes… it was me…"
Fern narrowed her eyes, pulled the crouching Stark to his feet, pointed at her now-clean face, and asked with a dark look, "Then, the little turtle you drew on my face—was that you too, Lord Stark?"
"N-No—yes, it… it was me!" Stark instinctively tried to deny it at first, but then seemed to remember something and immediately admitted it loudly.
Thump thump thump...
"That's really mean. Pranking a girl while she's unconscious is the worst."
Fern's small fists landed on Stark's shoulders again, eliciting a string of miserable cries from him.
"Stop… I'm sorry, Fern! I was wrong! I won't ever do it again!"
While begging for mercy, Stark's peripheral vision kept drifting toward the new dinosaur mark added to the handle of his battle axe.
Master o(╥﹏╥)o, I took the fall for everything for your sake.
...
Time rewinds to last night...
After Aura's defeat, Stark returned to the city and placed Frieren and Fern in their room. Worried about his Master's safety, he planned to find Count Granat, report the plan's failure, and seek help.
On the way to the Granat residence, a claw landed on Stark's shoulder. He was stopped by a dragon—it was Diego, who had already killed Aura.
Stark's pupils dilated in joy. "Master! You're okay?!"
"How could anything happen to ko no Dio?" Diego replied smugly. Then he clenched one fist, brought it to his mouth, coughed twice, and spoke seriously. "Stark, there's something extremely urgent I need to ask of you. Ask yourself—how has this Dio treated you normally?"
"Master has treated me…"
Stark fell into recollection.
[Master! Stop, stop! I think I'm gonna die!!]
[Huh?! We're just getting started. Today you have to last three moves under the Freeze God Sword. If you can't, make it four. Try this one!]
[Nooo—]
"…Not very well, apparently."
Stark reached his conclusion.
"Cough, redo." Diego realized the issue, coughed again, and said, "Even though ko no Dio hasn't treated you that great normally, who was it that taught you your superb martial skills?"
"You did, Master." Stark answered instantly, then shifted tone. "If it weren't for you, Master Mabel wouldn't have kicked me out either."
"Cough, fine. Master also got you beaten. But now it's your turn to repay evil with kindness." Diego's expression turned serious. He swept his bangs aside, leaned close to intimidate Stark, and said, "You'll help Master, right~"
"…Yes (extremely reluctant tone)!"
Diego raised an eyebrow, unable to hide his excitement. "That's great. Remember—Aura and the demon allied army were all taken down by you. Silently repeat it three times in your heart."
"M-Me…?" Stark grimaced, weakly pointing at his own nose.
"Yes, you can definitely do it. Because you're this Dio's disciple—nothing can stump you."
Diego nodded in approval. Then he took the battle axe from Stark's back, transformed his hand into a dinosaur claw, and stabbed it into his own neck.
Under Stark's shocked gaze, Diego's body first shrank to the size of a five- or six-year-old, then gradually transformed until a dinosaur mark fused into the axe handle.
"This is what's called 'protective coloration.' I'll travel with you guys, so protect me well, Stark." The voice came from the battle axe. "Well, you don't have to try too hard. If real trouble comes, just throw me out."
Stark picked up the fallen battle axe and slung it back on his back. Tilting his head, he asked, "Why is Master hiding from Frieren?"
After a brief silence, Diego's voice sounded again. "…It's not exactly hiding from her. I just said something embarrassing once, and I don't want to face her yet. She should have noticed I'm back by now anyway."
It's absolutely not because I said something like "I'll always love you all" and feel ashamed!
Stark blinked and asked, "What did you say?"
"Hmph. You wouldn't understand even if I told you."
"Huh?! That's not fair!"
"But even if I'm found out, it doesn't matter. Maybe… I'm actually hoping for it…"
What the hell am I even doing? Didn't I swear…
I'd never hide or sneak around…
...
The recollection ended. Stark returned to the carriage and slowly slumped down.
He hadn't slept all night. His injuries from yesterday hadn't fully healed either. After simple treatment, he had dragged his wounded body to rescue the heroes' corpses. When Frieren and the others arrived, the tension Stark had held all night finally relaxed.
"Hmm, these corpses are pretty badly damaged. I went out of my way to use dispelling magic to prevent this." Frieren sat in the carriage, carefully observing the guards handling the heroes' bodies.
Stark looked up at the sky, clenched his fists, and let out a long sigh. "There's nothing we can do about it. No one wanted this. After all, the intelligence was wrong—the Demon King army remnants showed up together with Aura. There was no way to protect the heroes' bodies. Being able to recover all the ones buried under the boulders is already lucky."
"But it's still strange. I suddenly passed out for no reason. My neck and cheeks still hurt even now." Frieren glanced at Stark with an indescribably odd expression and said quietly, "Stark, do you know something?"
"I don't know anything." Stark shook his head frantically.
"Hmm~ Is that really true?" Frieren leaned closer, gave him a meaningful stare, then pulled her head back into the carriage and muttered, "I see. Then let's get ready to leave."
After Frieren returned to the carriage, Stark wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed in relief. "Phew—good. I managed to fool Frieren…"
"Lord Stark."
"Eek!"
Fern's usual low presence worked perfectly here. She suddenly appeared beside the carriage, cutting Stark off.
Stark turned stiffly, his body rigid and words tumbling out. "F-F-F-F-Fern!! Are you still mad?"
Fern silently sat down next to Stark. The wind stirred her hair. She tilted her head slightly, looked down for a moment, then spoke. "No, I'm not mad. I'm just thinking… you lied, didn't you? I'm not as easy to fool as Lady Frieren."
"I…"
Hearing Fern's words, Stark's eyes widened slightly. He lowered his head like an ostrich and fell silent.
"When I woke up today, something felt off. Even if you succeeded in the decapitation and took down Aura—solving her undead army—what about the Demon King army remnants?" Fern continued, voicing her doubts. "And most importantly, the Lord Stark I know is a bona fide coward. There's no way he'd do something like drawing a turtle on my face."
Fern paused, cupped Stark's face, and asked solemnly, "So… has Lord Diego come back?"
"…Yes…"
A faint voice answered.
Stark promptly fainted from fright.
"…Maybe we should just leave Lord Stark alone…"
Three minutes later, Fern summoned her staff and cast a spell to wake the unconscious around Stark.
"You have to keep it a secret! If Lady Frieren finds out, Master will eat me alive!" Stark woke up on the verge of tears.
Fern pursed her lips lightly and gave a small laugh. "I have no idea what Lord Stark is talking about."
"But it's good. Lord Stark is still the coward I know."
"Mm… but your injuries really look awful, Lord Stark. Have you been treating them properly?"
"This level is normal for a warrior. Every day during special training was like this." Stark shrugged it off. "Master said talent won't give me knife-carved muscles, so he made me train extra."
"What kind of special training did Lord Diego even do…" Fern pondered for a moment, then smiled helplessly. "I'll go find a cleric to treat Lord Stark."
Fern left with light, quick steps, leaving Stark sitting there scratching his head.
"Master, I'll treat Fern to dinner tonight to apologize."
"Mm…"
On the battle axe, Diego—who had recovered his composure—silently witnessed the entire exchange. His expression twisted through several changes before he inwardly cursed.
What the hell!
If you like each other, just miss your chance already!
Why don't you two hurry up and get married already!
...
So noisy…
Who's making all this racket in this lord's house?
Sniff sniff...
I sense it.
The scents of Takanashi, Dekomori, and Hori.
"Master, Dio-sama isn't dead, right? He hasn't woken up for three days straight death!" That was Dekomori Sanae. "Should I wake him up with my hammer death!"
"Shh shh, Dio's eyelids moved!" That was Takanashi Rikka.
At the same time, Diego's consciousness fully returned to his body. He opened his eyes.
"Huh, you're awake. You've become a proper magical girl now." Takanashi Rikka held a mirror up to Diego, barely holding back her laughter.
"wryyyyyyyyy—!!! What the hell is this outfit!!!"
Diego let out an ear-splitting scream. He shook his head frantically in front of the mirror, examining the bizarre clothes on his body.
Classic Japanese high school girls' uniform, cat-ear headband, pleated skirt, white thigh-high stockings—especially the glaring pink magical girl wand in his hand.
Diego yanked off the headband, his eyes dark. He let out a long breath and asked, "Who did this?"
"Whoa, Dio's mad. His battle power is actually 5.87 million!" Takanashi Rikka held up a peace sign, pretending to be a scouter.
"I think it was me." Hori, sitting on the edge of the bed, silently raised her hand and casually whistled.
A wave of despair washed over Diego.
"I'll never laugh again…" Diego paused, then silently and humiliatingly put the cat-ear headband back on. With a serious face, he asked, "And these clothes?"
"Ah, this? The uniform was brought by Hayasaka Ai-san on the first day. I didn't expect her to be so close to you—she actually came to visit.
The cat-ear headband and white thigh-highs were left by the four from Kessoku Band on the second day after they visited. Gotoh Hitori thought the band was finished and had turned to white ash. We had to explain for ages.
As for the magical girl wand, Kitagawa-san just brought it before leaving. She said she was going to buy meat buns for you, Dio.
The pleated skirt was put on you by me, Rikka, and the others. How is it? Cute, right?"
Hori listed off the treasures one by one and smiled at Diego.
"Well, whatever this Dio wears looks the best." Diego placed a hand on his forehead and struck a proud pose.
Click!
Hori snapped a photo with her phone.
"So cute!" The three girls' eyes lit up instantly. They huddled together, chattering about things like high ponytails with gold-rimmed glasses and suits, or black bodysuits with white pants to show off the figure—all sorts of bizarre outfits.
Suddenly, Hori stopped moving. She lifted her head, stared at Diego for a moment, and asked hesitantly, "Dio, have you lost weight?"
Hearing those words, Diego stared motionlessly at Hori. His blue eyes seemed to peer straight into her heart. His lips moved instinctively in response. "No… I just grew taller…"
"What are you talking about, Dio-sama? At this age, even drinking milk won't make you grow anymore." Dekomori Sanae mocked.
"…It's nothing. I just remembered something trivial."