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People always arbitrarily beautify Heroes.
Because they feel Heroes don't need embarrassing stories, Heroes are perfect.
But gradually, under people's arbitrary beautification, the Hero's original appearance will also gradually disappear in this false beautification.
Frieren quietly listened to Fern and Stark's discussion, her expression slightly moved, but she never opened her mouth to explain.
She just quietly followed Kohara Konomi's steps until entering the house.
"Because of the Lord of the Mountain, we only have these."
Kohara Konomi brought out a large plate of fresh fruit and bread, saying awkwardly.
After all, in her opinion, greeting the world-saving Hero who came to clear the demons and Mistress Frieren in this way was very impolite.
"It's already great, thank you!"
Yulian's face showed a smile, wanting to pat Kohara Konomi's little head, but she flexibly dodged it.
"Even if I'm a child, I'm still the village chief!"
Under Yulian's surprised gaze, Kohara Konomi puffed out her little cheeks, showing sweet dimples as she smiled.
"Uh..."
"Sorry."
Yulian smiled awkwardly, nodded, and withdrew his hand.
After all, the premise of something like head-patting is that the other party doesn't resist.
"Mr. Yulian, you need to change your bad habits."
Fern covered her mouth and smiled, but the next second Yulian's hand reached towards her head.
"Mr. Yulian!"
Fern puffed out her cheeks and shouted angrily.
Only then did Yulian chuckle, withdraw his hand, and dodge to the side.
You little rascal!
She's the village chief and needs to maintain her proper dignity, so she can't be touched, but you little girl can still dodge!
Yulian's expression showed a posture of being wrong, but inwardly he was smug.
"So warm."
Unlike the liveliness of the others, Frieren quietly squatted beside the fireplace, warming herself by the fire.
Looking at the roaring flames beside her, Frieren's eyes looked almost as if she had seen the only glimmer of light in the dark night.
"You're making things very difficult for me, Mistress Frieren!"
"Didn't we agree you would come back in half a century?"
Kohara Konomi's gaze turned to Frieren, clenching her small fists tightly and saying the above words with a hint of warmth and anger.
After speaking, Kohara Konomi returned to her cute appearance and said with a smile.
"This is the last wish left by the village chief before the last one, who was my grandmother."
"I said, it doesn't matter even if I come back in eighty years."
"After all, the previous Lord of the Mountain has already been eliminated by us."
Frieren squatted by the fire, saying with her head lowered.
"Furthermore, for you who have guarded the Hero's Sword for generations, self-preservation should be quite easy, right?"
She didn't really like these so-called responsibilities and obligations.
Because of this, she always felt constrained and not free.
"Although that's what you say, please still properly fulfill your duty."
Kohara Konomi nodded gently, but still reminded her.
Reminding Frieren to remember to clear the demons around the sanctuary was considered a task for the village chiefs for generations, starting from the term of the village chief before the last one, who was Kohara Konomi's grandmother.
After all...
"Mm."
Frieren replied softly and didn't speak again.
"Duty?"
Stark, however, asked curiously.
"The duty to eliminate demons."
Frieren replied casually.
"Demons always appear regularly around the sanctuary."
"Especially with the Lord of the Mountain rampaging recently, it's making things very difficult for us."
Kohara Konomi said helplessly.
"Can't you recruit adventurers for assistance?"
Fern was also gradually drawn into their conversation, or perhaps she wasn't angry with Yulian at all and asked curiously.
However, Frieren and Kohara Konomi just smiled slightly at each other, neither speaking, understanding each other implicitly.
"In that case, let's start clearing the demons tomorrow..."
"It'll be a good opportunity for Fern and Stark to train."
Yulian, who was listening to the conversation from the side, also had his memories about this matter gradually becoming clearer.
Back then, Himmel pulled out the Hero's Sword.
So, to prevent this "scandal" in the eyes of the nobles and the church from spreading, they prompted Frieren and the Village of Swords to reach an agreement.
Which was Frieren's duty - to periodically clear the demons.
The Village of Swords' duty - to reduce the possibility of the event "the Hero's Sword being found not pulled out by Himmel" happening.
Speaking of which, the Village of Swords benefited.
Because Yulian pulled out the Hero's Sword, they no longer needed to work hard to cover up the truth.
The Hero's Sword is gone, so Himmel must have pulled it out!
After all, who pulled it out doesn't matter, right?
Yulian lowered his head and smiled slightly.
It seems things like the world-ending catastrophe weren't taken seriously at all.
But then again, how could there be a so-called world-ending catastrophe out of nowhere?
That was something even Lilian didn't know about.
...
The next day.
The few of them woke up early, quickly ate breakfast, and then set off on the road to the sanctuary.
On the way, one or two wolf-shaped demons would occasionally dart out to ambush them, but they were all easily dealt with by Fern.
The aura of the wolf-shaped demons was quite similar to what Yulian had felt around the wooden house before.
Looking at how easily Fern dealt with these demons, Yulian gave Stark a strange glance.
Because this made Yulian greatly doubt his answer about how he got injured protecting Fern, and how scared Fern was, and how hard he struggled to defeat the demons - it was completely contrary to the truth.
However, when Yulian looked at Stark, he also found that Stark was full of shock!
What the hell?
A big question mark popped up in Yulian's mind.
Then, Yulian hesitated for a moment, stopped Fern who was leading the way at the front of the team, and instead let Stark go up.
"Fern, I'll leave the rest to Stark."
Yulian gently patted Stark's shoulder, showing a smile full of expectation.
"Okay, Mr. Yulian."
Fern took a slight breath, then smiled slightly and came to Kohara Konomi's side, putting away her staff.
Stark, on the other hand, looked at Yulian in confusion.
"No, Mr. Yulian!"
"I!"
"Stark, you're not scared, are you?"
Yulian's lips curved slightly.
This is in front of Fern and Kohara Konomi, saying a man is...
"Yes, Mr. Yulian!"
Stark cried out loudly.
"The wounds from fighting the demon wolf two days ago still hurt!"
"An injured me definitely won't be a match for the demon wolf, Mr. Yulian!"
"Wahhh~"
Yulian's smug smile froze on his lips.
He... seemed to have underestimated Stark...
"Stark, lead the way."
A calm female voice sounded.
Compared to Yulian, Frieren seemed unusually calm, as if she had predicted everything.
"Mistress Frieren!"
"Let's go."
Frieren interrupted Stark's crying complaint.
Frieren had discussed it with Fern when they slept together last night.
Absolutely must not let Stark see even a glimmer of hope that he doesn't have to fight!
Only this way can he truly grow and become less afraid of fighting!
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