Frieren in Danmachi

The next morning, I had breakfast with Ryuu and Serie before Ryuu left. When it was time for her to depart, I said to her, "If anything happens, contact me."

Even though I wasn't strong enough, I felt obligated to say it.

"Don't worry, my Queen. I'm sure everything will be fine."

"Don't say things like that. It might bring bad luck."

"Haha." Ryuu let out a small laugh. From her slightly forced smile, I could tell she wasn't used to laughing anymore. This wasn't the same Ryuu from Frieren's memories.

She used to be a lovely woman who found joy in many things.

Now, she's a completely different person.

But I didn't say anything. I didn't want to ruin the mood.

With the cheerful atmosphere still lingering, Ryuu left. The village quickly fell silent again after her departure.

"Did you have fun?" Serie asked.

"She's different from how I remember."

"Isn't she? I noticed that too. I wonder what happened."

"I don't know… But I feel like something's wrong…"

"Well, she can handle herself. Ryuu is strong. I'm just happy to see her doing well. It's been so long since I last saw her."

"…"

I didn't say anything and stood up to head back to the tree. Just as I was leaving Serie's house, she asked, "Going back to your training?"

"Yes, I'll spend a few days training. If anything happens, come find me."

"Alright. I'll bring you food. Don't forget to eat."

"Got it."

I left Serie's house and returned to the tree. Since I hadn't converted my primordial elements yesterday, I had accumulated quite a lot. Every three or four hours, I would go to the tree to collect more primordial elements.

Elements collected: 938

I approached the tree and placed my hand on its trunk. There were 200 more primordial elements ready to harvest, so I collected them. Now, I had 1,138 primordial elements available.

"Once I convert all of this, I'll be very close to reaching the sixth layer."

Satisfied with that, I sat down and began the conversion process.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. System messages appeared before my eyes, and I was just about to begin the conversion when suddenly, my eyes widened.

There's something out there.

I have excellent hearing, so I can pick up sounds clearly.

Was that… the sound of a horse? Or something similar?

It was the sound of hooves, very much like a horse's.

Could it be a monster that came down from the mountain?

I stood up and approached the door. Slowly, carefully, I opened it just enough to peek outside. As the door creaked open, my eyes met someone else's.

My heart skipped a beat. The man standing there stared at me with pure terror in his eyes, as if he were looking at a monster.

"You're awake…" he said, fear in every word.

How? When? I had never seen this man before. I didn't know him.

But he certainly didn't seem friendly.

The man wore heavy iron armor with a strange emblem on it.

"Who are you?" I asked, staring directly into his eyes.

My nervousness faded the moment I noticed his fear. An icy calm settled over me.

"Monster! Monster! They told me you were still asleep!" The man screamed and stumbled backwards.

I stepped towards him, and he tumbled down the stairs.

Reaching for his fallen sword, he grasped for it with his trembling hand.

Without saying a word, I unleashed an invisible blade of pure mana. It shot through the air at high speed, slicing clean through the man's wrist. His hand fell to the ground along with his sword, and he screamed in agony.

I looked deep into his eyes and recalled a spell stored in Frieren's mind.

"Who are you?"

The man stopped screaming, and his eyes became glassy.

"My name is Souldrad, from Rakia."

"Rakia? What are you doing here?"

"I came to check the body of the Elf Queen."

Check my body?

Just then, Serie appeared.

She saw the bleeding man on the ground and froze in shock.

"Queen? What happened?!"

"This man appeared out of nowhere. He was about to enter the tree when I caught him. Apparently, he came to 'check my body.'"

"Check your body?" Serie heard that and clenched her teeth. Without thinking, she kicked the man hard in the face, knocking him unconscious. Serie started yelling all sorts of things at the man, though he could no longer hear.

"It's alright, Serie."

"Of course it's not alright! This man had the audacity to come here and try to steal your body! He deserves death!"

"Yes… he does."

I stared at the man and raised my hand.

Then, a mana blade severed his head.

I felt nothing as I watched it happen. I did it with my own hands.

"Get rid of his body. I don't need any more information."

"I'm sorry, my Queen. I was careless. I didn't expect more of these people to show up. It's been almost three years since the last time."

"Three years?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Hmmm… Why send someone now? Rakia, huh? I'll remember this."

What the hell is Ares thinking?

Feeling extremely irritated, I sat down and resumed the conversion.

####

I'm not sure how much time passed, but I finally completed the conversion.

[ Mana +1,138 ]

[ Magic Proficiency +1,138 ]

Before getting up, I checked my status.

Name: Frieren

Cultivation: 1st Magic Circle – Fifth Layer (Conversion Bonus: +50%)

Magic Proficiency: 1,444/1,600

Mana: 1,464/1,600

"I'm almost at the sixth layer. Once that happens, the mana I can store will increase a lot."

I stood up and walked to the tree's door.

When I stepped outside, the man's body was already gone. The only thing left behind was his horse, which Serie had tied to a tree a few meters away.

"So you came from Rakia?" I approached the horse and gently petted it. "Unfortunately, your master was a bad man. How about becoming mine from now on?" The horse looked at me but, of course, didn't answer.

I smiled and turned around.

There was Serie.

"Finished your training?"

"I'll get back to it soon. First, I need to think more carefully about what just happened."

"You mean the man? It's been three days already."

"Three days?" I guess I did have a lot of primordial elements to convert… "All I know is that he came from Rakia and was after my body. He didn't expect me to be awake. He was terrified when he looked into my eyes."

"That's how weak people feel in your presence, my Queen. They can't handle your pressure."

"Am I really that scary?" I let out a faint laugh.

"You have no idea… The look on your face right now…"

"Hm?"

"You're planning something, aren't you?"

"No, of course not."

####

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