The elf seated in the chair looked over Rowan's group, her gaze sweeping across each of them in turn.
"How interesting. There's no trace of magical power coming from any of you. So you're not mages."
The moment she realized that, an excited smile spread across her face.
"You've caught my interest. You're clearly not mages, and yet you managed to bypass the barrier I set up. Tell me—how did you do it?"
"In exchange, I'll pardon this little intrusion of yours and won't pursue the matter."
Hearing that, Rowan fixed his eyes on the female elf sitting cross-legged in the chair and couldn't help drawing in a sharp breath.
Because he had already recognized who she was.
Her appearance made it obvious enough.
Suppressing the shock in his heart, Rowan slowly said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Great Mage Serie. My name is Rowan, a traveler from another world."
That's right—the elf before them was none other than Serie, the teacher of Frieren, the heroine of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End.
The founder of the Continental Magic Association, who stood at the absolute peak of human mages.
A great mage born in the mythic age, from a past so ancient and terrifying that even the demon race had long since forgotten it.
In the original story, Serie was described as a living grimoire containing nearly every spell in human history—the mage closest to the near-omniscient goddess in all the land.
At the same time, she was unquestionably the ceiling of power in that world.
"A traveler from another world?"
Serie looked at Rowan and the others in surprise.
That answer was far more interesting than she had imagined—almost absurdly so—and it only made her more excited.
"Proof?"
Having lived from the ancient past until now, Serie had seen almost everything.
But people from another world?
That, she had truly never seen.
She had occasionally wondered whether other worlds even existed, but unfortunately, she herself didn't know any magic that could take her there, so it had always remained an unproven idea.
And now a group of people claiming to be from another world had suddenly appeared in front of her.
Even someone like Serie, who had lived for untold ages, couldn't help feeling stirred.
Rowan recalled how Serie had been described in the story.
She was a great mage who liked ambitious people and longed for war.
But in truth, she wasn't a bad person at all.
On the contrary, Serie was clumsy in her own way. Because she only truly understood battle, she couldn't express her feelings properly even to her own disciples.
Even though she disliked the era where everyone could use magic, she still founded the Continental Magic Association.
Even though she herself only loved combat, she still filled her garden with flowers using magic that could make a field bloom.
Because all of that was what her disciple, Flamme, had loved and hoped for.
She claimed that Flamme had just been a pupil she took on in a moment of whim, and because humans could never truly reach her level, she believed she shouldn't have taken human disciples in the first place.
And yet after Flamme, Serie still took in many more human students.
None of those students ever came close to her level of magical mastery after they died, but Serie could still clearly remember each of their personalities and each of their favorite spells.
More importantly, she had never regretted taking them as disciples, even if they had never left their names in history.
And although this woman loved war, she had never once started one herself.
There was no doubt about it—she was someone who could be reasoned with.
No, more accurately, an elf who could be reasoned with.
Thinking that, Rowan broke into a bright smile and made an inviting gesture.
"Great Mage Serie, this door is the bridge connecting two worlds."
"Step through it, and you'll arrive in an entirely new world."
"So—would you like to take a look?"
Serie stared fixedly at Rowan. The magic she used to sense hostility told her that this man held no ill will toward her at all. If anything, he seemed to be hoping for something from her.
"In that case, let me see it. Let me see what this so-called other world looks like."
Tempted by the idea of another world, Serie decided to go take a look.
She floated lightly up from her chair and crossed the dozen or so meters between them, arriving in front of Rowan.
Rowan stepped back a few paces to give her room.
Serie passed through the door in the air and entered the world of One Piece.
"This is… the inside of a ship?"
Serie recognized at once that their current location was the cabin of a large ship.
"That's right. It is a ship's cabin. Please come this way, Great Mage Serie."
Rowan led her out of the cabin and onto the deck.
Serie looked around.
What filled her vision now was no longer wide plains and layered mountain ranges, but the endless sea stretching as far as the eye could see, along with the sea routes scattered across it like stars.
It was a sight she had never seen before—a brand-new landscape unlike anything in her own world.
"The river is flowing upward."
Serie turned her head and saw Reverse Mountain, as well as the river climbing up its slope.
"This is Reverse Mountain. Because of the geography here, the river flows upward."
"A very interesting river."
Serie was genuinely intrigued. At the very least, there was nothing like this in her own world.
"And what place is that?"
At that moment, Serie pointed in a certain direction.
"I can see bubbles rising one after another from the ground."
Hashirama and Minato exchanged a glance, and both saw the surprise in the other's eyes.
Having read One Piece, they naturally knew that there was only one place in that world where bubbles rose from the ground like that.
The Sabaody Archipelago.
But the problem was that this was Serie's first time in this world, and Reverse Mountain itself was blocking the line of sight.
Yet she could still see the Sabaody Archipelago.
That was a little ridiculous.
This woman was even more outrageous than they had imagined.
Rowan, on the other hand, wasn't surprised at all.
This was Serie, after all—a great mage who had lived since the age of myth and had mastered nearly every spell in the world.
For someone like her, using some kind of long-distance vision magic was nothing special.
Rowan remembered that in the original story, there had been a mage who specialized in clone magic and sent a clone to take part in an examination.
Serie saw through the clone instantly and, across mountains and countless miles, saw the real body casually drinking tea in the distance.
"Great Mage Serie, the place you're seeing is called the Sabaody Archipelago. It has a unique bubble culture and, in this world, is known as the island of failure and a fresh start."
"An island of failure and a fresh start. That's a meaningful name."
Serie nodded, then shifted her gaze and continued observing the world.
Then, all at once, she seemed to notice something.
She clicked her tongue and showed a distinctly displeased expression.