“You will travel with those young people and defeat the Demon King.”
The Hero of the South spoke with absolute certainty.
He had already seen it happen.
“I don’t believe such a thing will happen.”
For some reason, Frieren stubbornly rejected the possibility.
She even turned her head away again.
“You’ll understand once you meet him.”
“He will change your life.”
After saying that, the Hero of the South turned around.
“I should start preparing to leave.”
“Please take care of this friend of mine for a while.”
“He’ll make a good companion.”
“I’m not good at taking care of people.”
Frieren didn’t even look at Yakumo.
At this point in her life, she had absolutely no interest in humans.
The only thing that interested her was magic.
As for taking care of someone?
Sorry.
She was the kind of person who could leave someone alone until they starved to death.
“No.”
“He’ll be taking care of you.”
The Hero of the South smiled.
“And he possesses magic unlike anything else you’ve ever seen.”
“Aren’t you curious?”
He clearly understood Frieren’s interests extremely well.
One sentence was enough to immediately catch her attention.
“Magic unlike anything else?”
“I’ve lived for more than a thousand years as a mage.”
“Do you understand what you’re claiming?”
“Besides, I can’t sense even the slightest fluctuation of mana from him.”
No mana fluctuation?
Yakumo found that unbelievable.
He had MP.
In the game, MP literally represented magical power.
How could there be no fluctuation of mana?
Unless…
Yakumo thought briefly before suddenly realizing a possibility.
He deliberately activated Magic Guard, consuming some MP.
Then he waited.
A moment later, his powerful MP recovery caused the lost MP to regenerate.
“Hm?”
Frieren’s expression changed.
Just now, she had indeed sensed a fluctuation of mana from Yakumo.
It only lasted for a moment.
An extremely brief moment.
Afterward, everything became calm again.
So calm that she couldn’t sense any mana at all.
“This is…”
“Interesting.”
Frieren studied Yakumo with genuine curiosity.
How fascinating.
How exactly was he doing this?
Yet the human standing before her couldn’t possibly be older than thirty.
And he had somehow achieved something she’d spent a lifetime practicing.
When he wasn’t using magic…
She genuinely couldn’t detect even the slightest trace of mana.
“How do you do it?”
For the first time, Frieren was truly interested in Yakumo.
She wanted to learn this magic.
It was something her teacher had instructed her to pursue for her entire life.
“We can discuss the two of you later.”
The Hero of the South seemed pressed for time.
He had already turned away completely, though he looked back toward Frieren.
“Frieren, there’s one more thing I want to ask of you.”
“When you meet that young Hero, please give him this message.”
“‘The road before you will surely be opened.'”
“‘By me, the Hero of the South, humanity’s strongest warrior.'”
“‘Even if I am buried beneath the shadows of history.'”
There was no resentment whatsoever on the Hero of the South’s face as he spoke those words.
Instead, he wore an easy, carefree smile.
Yakumo couldn’t fully describe what that smile contained.
A kind of freedom.
And perhaps a trace of pride.
“You’re really leaving just like that?”
Yakumo couldn’t stop himself from calling out to him.
“If what awaits you really is death…”
“If that fate is already fixed?”
“Perhaps we cannot choose how our story ends.”
The Hero of the South smiled.
“But we can choose how we walk toward that ending.”
“Do I really look like the sort of person who would sit around drowning in self-pity?”
“Hahaha.”
“That would never do.”
“The hymn of humanity is the hymn of courage…”
“And the greatness of humanity is the greatness of courage…”
The quote suddenly surfaced in Yakumo’s mind.
He raised his head and looked seriously at the Hero of the South.
“I have a question.”
“I’m not joking.”
“Oh?”
The Hero of the South’s expression turned serious as well.
“Go ahead.”
“I’ll answer seriously.”
“Do you have at least five gold coins on you?”
The Hero of the South’s expression became wonderfully complicated.
First came shock.
Then confusion.
Then he regained his composure.
“Five gold coins?”
“Perhaps I’ve been rather lucky.”
“I currently have six.”
“After accounting for my remaining travel expenses, I can spare exactly five.”
“Do you need them?”
He had already begun taking out the money.
Yakumo accepted the gold coins.
Yakumo opened the Quick Shop.
Then he purchased a single Power Elixir and handed it to the Hero of the South.
“Before you’re about to die, drink this.”
Yakumo solemnly placed the potion into his hand.
“I don’t know whether it can change your ending.”
“Maybe it’ll only let you hold on for a few moments longer.”
“But I’m certain it’ll help you.”
The Hero of the South stared at the potion in astonishment.
Neither Yakumo nor Frieren knew what future he had just seen.
All they could see was his expression becoming gentler.
His voice remained steady.
“Yes.”
“It will help tremendously.”
“Thank you.”
“Ever since meeting you, my understanding of the future has been overturned again and again.”
“I’m truly glad I came here.”
“I’m glad I turned aside from my path to meet you.”
“Even with this, my ending will not change.”
“But what I can accomplish before that ending…”
“Has increased beyond measure.”
“Even if you do nothing else, this single potion will be enough to alter the course of the future.”
“I see…”
Yakumo finally relaxed.
He had been terrified that the Hero of the South’s five gold coins might go to waste.
That amount of money was enough for an ordinary family to live comfortably for a year while occasionally enjoying a few sweets.
“Once again, thank you.”
“Perhaps the story of the Hero of the South will no longer be buried beneath the shadows of history.”
After saying that, the Hero of the South waved casually to the two of them.
He carefully tucked the Power Elixir inside his clothes and departed.
“What did you give him?”
Frieren stood beside Yakumo and asked in her usual flat tone.
Even when curious, she barely showed any expression.
So this was the personality of the elf whose name served as the title of the story?
“A potion.”
Yakumo watched the Hero of the South disappear into the forest, feeling strangely melancholy.
“I hoped it might allow him to escape his destined ending.”
The Hero of the South had been far too carefree about everything.
So much so that Yakumo couldn’t understand someone like him at all.
He respected the man’s choice.
Admired his composure.
But if Yakumo himself were placed in that situation…
He knew he couldn’t do the same thing.
“Maybe that’s what makes someone a Hero.”
Yakumo gave a self-deprecating smile.
“And I’m just an ordinary person.”
“Hm?”
“That was the road he chose for himself.”
Frieren picked up the basket from the ground.
“If you tried to make him run away from it, he probably couldn’t accept that.”
“Come on.”
“If you don’t follow me, we’ll have to sleep outside tonight.”
“Huh?”
“Where are we going?”
“My temporary residence.”