Although the situation was a bit strange, Ethan politely invited Frieren into the carriage to go to the royal capital with them.
He had some questions to ask, and it seemed Frieren didn’t mind spending time with him.
Frieren readily agreed, looking as though she’d been waiting for him to ask for a long time.
This made Ethan even more suspicious.
Where did this old lady… no, this elder elf, know about him?
He was sure that after he transmigrated, he hadn’t done anything earth-shattering in this world.
After staring at Frieren for a while, Ethan finally recalled something from deep in his memories.
Back when he was still living on Earth, he had indeed watched an anime like this.
The protagonist of that anime seemed to be the elf before him.
He couldn’t blame himself for not remembering immediately.
Before he transmigrated, he was already semi-retired from being a geek.
Besides the three major long-running manga series he grew up with, he hadn’t sat in front of his computer watching anime for years.
Life smooths out everyone’s rough edges, and memory is much the same.
He couldn’t remember the details of that anime, but he could recall a rough outline of the main plot.
However, for Ethan now, having lived in this world for about ten years, he naturally couldn’t just treat it like an anime, especially the young woman before him, Frieren.
The hero’s party defeating the demon king had brought over ten years of peace to his small village.
This was an undeniable fact.
Only by personally experiencing life in this world could one understand the significance of “the demon king is dead.” Ethan respected the hero’s party from the bottom of his heart.
It’s just that, in Ethan’s impression, Frieren from the hero’s party was likely more of a lone wolf.
Collecting magic was her interest, and teaching magic to others was troublesome.
She would only take responsibility if she was paid satisfactory compensation.
This was his personal understanding of Frieren, combining the anime and village legends.
But the Frieren before him seemed quite different from this understanding.
The carriage moved slowly.
At this pace, they would likely arrive at the royal capital on the first day of the magic school’s enrollment period.
There were seven days in total, so they had plenty of time.
“Hmm, let me think, what type of magic item do you like?” As Ethan was driving, he heard Frieren’s voice from inside the carriage behind him.
Her tone was as calm as water, just as he remembered, but her words were quite proactive.
He looked back and saw the elf rummaging through her trunk, trying to find something that might interest Ethan.
As for Übel, from the moment Frieren got into the carriage, she had been watching Frieren’s every move with a look of keen interest.
“Ms.
Frieren, what exactly are you trying to do?” Ethan couldn’t help but ask.
The situation was too strange, and he felt like the woman’s character had completely changed.
“Uh, ah… this…” For some reason, Frieren’s body trembled.
She stammered, fidgeted, and Ethan could even see cold sweat on her forehead.
Ethan had only asked one question, and she was already showing cracks?
Her gaze was even drifting elsewhere!
And, are we really so familiar that you would react like this?
“I’m numb.” Übel-chan made her classic summary of the situation.
“Uh, Übel, don’t learn things you shouldn’t.” “Sigh, indeed, such a role doesn’t suit me.
It would have been better to leave it to Heiter.” Frieren sighed deeply, as if she had been released.
“You’re right, I do know… no, I ‘know of’ your existence, Ethan.” Just as he suspected.
Ethan’s expression stiffened, becoming serious.
“I’m eager to hear more.” After the confession, Frieren’s expression relaxed considerably.
“However, I must explain that my waiting here for you was not a coincidence.
Only the appearance of the treasure chest monster was accidental.” That explanation was worse than no explanation at all.
He remembered.
Mimics were indeed Frieren’s bane.
She always fell for them the first time she encountered one.
Wasn’t that the definition of a weakness?
Even an immortal would know to take a swing at it before opening the chest!
“Actually, it was the ‘Southern Hero’ who told me about you.
Yes, about seventy years ago.” The Southern Hero…
Having lived in this world, Ethan naturally knew of this person.
He was known as the strongest hero of the current era.
“He knew about me that long ago?” “Well, he could see the future, so it’s not that strange.” Did this person just casually reveal something terrifying?
Was it wise to blab about the Southern Hero’s abilities like that?
Ethan believed him.
Based on his understanding of Frieren as the protagonist, she wouldn’t lie to him about something like this.
“So, in his words, I’ll become a great figure who surpasses Flamme in the future?” Flamme was the great figure who enabled humans to learn magic.
Without her, humanity might have been wiped out by demons long ago.
She was also the magic tutor of the elf standing before him.
Frieren had been deeply influenced by her since studying under her.
Ethan felt that his cheat ability shouldn’t result in him being weaker than Flamme in the future, right?
However, Frieren just looked at him quietly.
There was no mockery in her eyes, nor any approval, just a serene calm.
“Lol.” Even Übel turned her head away, adopting a “can’t bear to watch” pose.
“Then what does that mean?!” “You should know that humans store magical knowledge through grimoires.
They record everything from magical principles to mana manipulation and casting methods.
Even a minor spell with very little effect might require a very long passage to record completely.” As she explained, she casually took out a stack of grimoires, piled up to about human height, from her trunk…
Wait, what kind of trunk is that?
Before Ethan could comment, Frieren handed him the topmost book.
“Open it.” Ethan didn’t suspect anything and opened the book.
However, he found that the pages were quite damaged.
The material seemed different from the manufacturing process on Earth.
“While it’s convenient and quick to record magic with grimoires, their shelf life is quite limited.” Frieren’s expression was tinged with sadness.
“This situation has caused countless magics created by humans to disappear completely with the flow of history.” “Then why not simply copy the grimoires?” Ethan asked.
“Copied grimoires will also eventually perish.
Books that were bestsellers in the unified empire a thousand years ago are now lost.
This is the power of time.” It was then that Ethan finally saw Frieren’s side as a mage.
She truly was a great mage.
Ethan felt like he understood why Frieren was telling him all this.
As expected of the Southern Hero who could see the future, he had even seen through Ethan’s abilities.
“Therefore, your extremely special magic is the perfect vessel for these crystallized fruits of human wisdom.” Frieren looked at Ethan with utmost seriousness.
“To ensure that Flamme’s efforts, and humanity’s efforts, are not destroyed by time, would you be willing to accept my lifelong learning?”