The Himmel in Frieren’s memory was someone who liked to sit with a cold expression and read.
After ten years of traveling together, he’d gradually learned to read the emotions beneath that expressionless face.
And Frieren wasn’t without her breaking points.
Under the right circumstances, she would cry for three days and three nights straight , a sight that chilled even Himmel to the bone.
The elf sat curled against the same tree trunk, knees drawn lightly together, a small grimoire spread open across her lap.
Her silver-white hair slid down her shoulders and back.
Pale, delicate cheeks.
Fingertips turning pages without any urgency.
“No.” Himmel laughed softly.
“I just missed talking to you like this.” “?” FLIP!
Frieren turned another page and murmured.
“What does that mean…” Silence settled between them again.
Himmel knew this was a ‘memory’ granted by the Goddess.
He wasn’t sure what purpose it served, so he waited and watched.
Frieren wasn’t the talkative sort, anyway.
That was how it should have stayed.
“Himmel — after we defeat the Demon King, what do you want to do?” Less than a minute in, and Frieren spoke first.
That was unexpected.
This memory was ancient.
Old Man Himmel couldn’t recall it clearly, but the words came out on instinct.
“That’s quite a sudden question…
Are you already thinking that far ahead?” “Hmm?
Is that strange?
Isn’t it just talking with a friend about something that’ll happen in a while?” “Well…
Frieren, it’s going to be at least ten more years before we defeat the Demon King.” “Hmm.
That’s ‘a while.'” This woman.
Himmel didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
He remembered now.
This was from the very beginning of their journey.
Frieren’s most inhuman period.
She didn’t understand people.
Didn’t understand feelings.
Did whatever she liked , but she still had plenty of charming moments, somehow.
“Himmel, will you raise children?” Ah.
So that’s where this is going.
He understood.
It was because he’d taken in two children that this particular memory had surfaced.
“Why do you ask?” “Isn’t that what humans do?” “Is that so…
I suppose it is.
I’d like to raise children someday.
But without a wife to grow old with, someone to face life alongside , none of that can even begin.” Himmel said it plainly, his gaze drifting to Frieren’s profile as he spoke.
The elf girl looked puzzled.
“What are you saying, Himmel?
That doesn’t sound like you at all.” Frieren ran her fingers through her bangs, expression flat, though the hand movement itself was deliberately theatrical, a little sweep across her forehead.
“Usually you’d at least follow that up with ‘But I doubt anyone could refuse me, anyway.'” “….” The curve of Himmel’s smile narrowed slightly.
It stayed within the range of a smile.
Barely.
“Ha….” He sighed.
Even a man with his patience could only manage so much.
“Just whose fault do you think that is?” “Hmm?” Himmel looked at the elf tilting her head in genuine confusion and, from the bottom of his heart, prayed for her.
He hoped that after he was gone, this oblivious woman would come to understand human feelings , even just a little…
………
…..
The next day.
Himmel was up early.
And he finally met the teacher Yaga that Suguru Geto never stopped talking about.
“Hello.
I’m Masamichi Yaga.” The man was powerfully built, his eyes steady and sharp, dressed in the standard black uniform of Jujutsu High.
An aura of stern authority radiated off him without effort.
He also, incidentally, had very little hair.
“Hello!” x2 After a full night’s sleep, the Kaba Sisters had recovered some energy.
They sat up straight together in the center of the dojo, side by side.
“Hello.” Himmel smiled the same way he always did.
Warm.
Easy.
“So you’re the Shikigami these sisters called…” Yaga studied Himmel, thoughts turning behind his eyes.
A combined Jujutsu Technique between two individuals was exceptionally rare.
It only worked cleanly if the pair were twins.
In the jujutsu world, twins were considered ‘one person’ in a technical sense , which meant they robbed each other of their individual talent as Jujutsu Sorcerers.
But these two couldn’t even confirm whether they were twins.
And even if they were, they clearly weren’t identical.
He let it go.
The technique would make sense the moment his genius disciple took a look at it.
That wasn’t his job today.
“Then let’s begin the interview.” Yaga said it in his usual low voice , then caught sight of two little girls staring straight up at him with enormous, unblinking eyes.
His voice softened without him deciding to.
In truth, he hadn’t been serious about enrolling these children in Jujutsu High.
This was a high school.
It was meant for high school students.
But the two of them were so unbearably pitiful.
Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer Suguru Geto had shown up in the middle of the night and put himself forward as their guarantor, asking the school to take them in temporarily.
Yaga had gritted his teeth and shouldered it.
The interview, for the most part, was meant for the Shikigami , the one who’d introduced himself as the Hero, Himmel.
The early questions were routine.
Going through the motions.
Things like ‘protect your comrades,’ ‘work together,’ ‘prioritize safety’ , the standard common sense, which the Kaba Sisters answered without difficulty.
Then, at the very end , “A Jujutsu Sorcerer’s work is to exorcise Cursed Spirits.
That said, we are still required to protect ordinary people.” Yaga chose his words with care.
“So.
What are your thoughts on non-sorcerers?” Nanako: “They’re all bad people!” Mimiko: “Kill them all!
Kill them all!” The sweet, mild-mannered little girls from two minutes ago were gone.
Their faces had gone dark, filled with something cold and loathing.
Yaga covered his face.
There it was.
Children who had suffered real persecution would carry that resentment.
And children this young couldn’t separate the specific from the whole.
He’d known it going in.
He’d still been hoping, just a little, since everything else had gone so smoothly.
But…
“Hmm ,” In front of Yaga, Himmel let the sound stretch out for a moment, then answered.
“I think that’s a very hard question to answer.” “Sorcerers, in my view, are just people with a particularly unusual line of work.” He was resting one hand on each of the sisters’ heads, voice unhurried.
“Knowing who you love and who you hate , that’s not wrong.
Knowing your enemy is correct.
But if it’s possible, I’d rather the children had a little more time to think before they had to give an answer.” Himmel’s words went in circles.
Yaga went quiet, something working behind his expression.
The Kaba Sisters understood none of it , only that Himmel seemed to disagree with what they’d said.
They immediately reversed course.
Nanako: “It’s , it’s not like they’re all bad people!” Mimiko: “Save them all!
Save them all!” Ha.
Himmel laughed before he could help it.
He quickly moved to reassure them , he wasn’t rejecting their original answer.
But what the sisters had just done proved exactly how direct and uncomplicated a child’s decision-making could be.
As he soothed them, he glanced up at Yaga.
“As adults, we’ve walked through the world longer than they have.
That gives us the ability to protect children , not just the responsibility.” “And I made my choice.” “I was the one who reached out to them.
That means whatever they seek — including revenge — it becomes my concern too.
Whatever they choose when they’re older, I will answer for it.” That included the possibility of the grown-up Kaba Sisters going back to take revenge on the villagers.
Repay kindness with kindness.
Repay hatred with hatred.
In Himmel’s world , where the law was what people might charitably call ‘underdeveloped’ , that was simply how things were done.
On the condition that they reached adulthood and made that choice with clear eyes and no regrets.
Yaga held his gaze for a long moment, then looked away.
He pinched the bridge of his nose.
His trigeminal nerve was throbbing.
He agreed with what Himmel had said.
He knew that as well.
He also knew exactly where these two children were headed if nothing changed.
There was a real chance they’d become Curse Users.
Once they had the power, they might slaughter every last person in that backward little village , it wouldn’t be fair, but it would feel deeply, terribly satisfying.
The question was whether they could raise two children who hated non-sorcerers into something other than misanthropic killers.
That was the responsibility of adults.
Of teachers.
It was a heavy thing to carry.
But.
“Understood.
I’ll approve the enrollment.
Of course, these two cannot be visible to anyone higher up the chain.
Nominally, you’ll be the one enrolling as a student , Himmel.” “Sure.” Himmel agreed without hesitation.
He was almost looking forward to it.
His physical age right now put him exactly at the time he’d first set out as the Hero.
[Sixteen years old.] First year of high school, as it happened.
Come to think of it…
I’ve never actually been to school before.jpg ➤ Next: First Mission —
The story is already written.