Frieren: Demon of Domination

"Really..."

"How does Frieren remember such trivial things that even I've almost forgotten?"

The strongest Grand Demon, who had long since left his seat to sit alone by the cliff, sighed softly.

The white-haired elf behind him excitedly and smugly narrating his own deeds made Agusheed feel somewhat unable to look back—

So today, dressed only in casual clothes, he shook his head and paid no more attention.

Slowly raising his head,

Gently breathing in the fresh mountain breeze mixed with barbecue aroma...

Lying on the moist grass looking up at the starry sky, Agusheed's long hair fluttered,

In silent contemplation, he quietly gazed at the dim silhouette that occasionally flashed before his eyes.

In the dim night sky, faint starlight echoed with the campfire.

The late night mountain breeze also made the grassland and apple tree sway endlessly.

In this waiting before the meteors arrived—

Himmel, the Hero of the South, and the others sat in various positions around Frieren,

Watching the white-haired elf waving a tree branch as if it were a magic sword...

The three heroes, treating all this as entertainment and theater, occasionally let out silly cheers and applause.

Especially when Frieren placed the branch against Himmel's neck,

And with her cute little face tensed, pretending to be calm and serious while reciting—

"'I said...'"

"'This is the bottom line. Cross it and face destruction'"

—During these lines,

The reactions of Himmel, Heiter, and Eisen were extremely intense.

However, whether this intense reaction was due to amazement at Agusheed's deeds,

Or appreciation for the white-haired elf's own acting skills—

That was somewhat difficult to judge.

As for the Hero of the South...

Being a middle-aged man, he naturally couldn't fool around like these children beside him.

He just quietly watched it all,

Listening to stories in this warm and relaxed atmosphere that he had never heard from Agusheed himself.

"Very interesting story..."

"If it were me fifteen years ago, I'd probably savor it for a long time..."

This was his evaluation.

However—

Even amid all the praise, Frieren hadn't forgotten her initial intention of taking turns.

So after agreeing that Eisen would be the next storyteller,

The white-haired elf, beaming with happiness from being praised, began wrapping up her part.

But as the protagonist of her story—

Agusheed sitting alone by the cliff maintained a cold expression from beginning to end.

If Flamme were still here,

She would see at a glance that her husband was currently troubled.

Yes—

Although uninterested in the past events Frieren was telling,

The strongest Grand Demon still inevitably fell into distress.

Because of Flamme—

There was only one day's journey left to reach the Village of Swords.

The journey to find Serie was also drawing closer.

Agusheed judged

That in just over a week,

He would reach the place the Hero of the South mentioned where he could briefly see Flamme again.

And what he was currently troubled about

Was not knowing how to tell Flamme about his changes since her death,

And his actions during times including the early period of the thousand-year human-demon war.

That's right...

Although just as Frieren said—

He had given tremendous help to the Unified Empire at that time.

Without him, the Unified Empire's division and destruction would have come two to three hundred years earlier.

Countless lives were saved because of him,

Flamme's disciples were also able to fulfill their wish to die protecting the Empire because of him...

But—

None of this was actually done by Agusheed specifically to save lives.

At least that's how he felt now.

"If it wasn't because I didn't want to see the scenery Flamme left behind get destroyed..."

"If it wasn't because many of the Demon King's army's attack directions were places that held memories of Flamme and me—"

"Then the me at that time most likely wouldn't have done something as foolish as helping the entire Empire."

Agusheed murmured softly with closed eyes.

In fact, from his current perspective,

If the Demon King's army's attack had been delayed by one to two hundred years at that time,

Until those places' scenery gradually faded and became unrecognizable,

Until when he visited again, he could no longer find the places where he and Flamme once sat—

Then he, focused solely on reviving Flamme, wouldn't have interfered in the war between humans and demons.

Just like now...

Now,

As long as tragedies and slaughter didn't happen directly before Agusheed's eyes—

He wouldn't deliberately try to stop them.

Unless it concerned certain people and things Flamme had left behind...

Otherwise Agusheed wouldn't do anything unnecessary.

Compared to a thousand years ago, his change was too great.

Even Agusheed himself felt he had become more cold.

So...

When he saw Flamme again, what attitude would she have toward his changes?

...

Unbuttoning the second button on his chest, Agusheed visibly became restless.

Once it concerned Flamme—

The strongest Grand Demon would lose his consistent calm and composure.

Agusheed supported his chin, thinking to himself amid the noise behind him.

If we meet again...

What would Flamme's reaction be seeing this ugly me now?

Faced with the changes in me that arose because of her, would she be happy or disappointed?

Would she regret the things she did to help me regain emotions?

Most importantly—

What would her attitude be toward my desire to bring her back to life and have her return to my side?

All the changes I've made over these years to see her again...

Would she hate them?

...

This was what Agusheed was troubled about.

Of course, this was also the only thing he cared about—

From beginning to end, the strongest Grand Demon's heart contained only thoughts of Flamme.

"Flamme..."

"Would you hate me as I am now?"

Under the gradually brightening night sky—

In indescribable distress, Agusheed murmured in a dazed state.

—

The evening breeze blew, and it seemed someone sat down beside him on the empty grass.

Gentle and delicate small hands familiarly fell on Agusheed's hand.

His wife's helpless yet loving laugh once again rang in the strongest Grand Demon's ears.

"Agusheed, I told you before..."

"A husband who only thinks about apologizing will be disliked by his wife."

As always, following the voice and turning his head—

Except for the empty grassland, there was still no one before Agusheed's eyes.

"More and more frequent..."

"Heh..."

"If Flamme saw my current pathetic state, she'd definitely laugh at me..."

His eyelids felt unusually heavy, but a call from behind interrupted Agusheed's drowsiness.

"Agusheed, we're out of grilled skewers—"

"I want more! Hurry up and make them!"

Under her old father's helpless gaze, the white-haired elf by the campfire once again made unreasonable demands.

----------

Powerstones?

For 20 or 10 advance chapters: patreon.com/michaeltranslates