Frieren: Serie's Apprentice

"Goddess above, please protect your faithful believers."

"Grant us victory over powerful enemies."

"Grant us protection for the safety of those behind us."

"Grant us marriage to our beloved after the war."

Before the troops departed, the guard captain with braided hair stood before a portrait of the Goddess, hands clasped together, praying devoutly.

"Come on."

Saidat beside him curled his lips, complaining about his old friend's prayer, "Your children are already seven or eight years old, and you still want another wedding?"

"Can't I?"

"After all, no one has decreed that you can only marry your wife once."

Two days later, at the camp on the Kastel border.

Before the troops departed, Denken gave the soldiers a pre-battle speech according to custom, and invited Saidat, the Battle Hero revered by the soldiers, to take the stage for a speech.

This was inherently a battle to defend home and country, so no rhetorical skills were needed to stir the soldiers' emotions.

Simply recounting what the demons had done in the past, then describing the different outcomes of victory and defeat in this battle, the soldiers below naturally became filled with fighting spirit.

After his speech ended, Saidat walked down from the platform amid the soldiers' triumphant cheers, returning the spotlight to Denken.

But after coming down and looking around, Saidat couldn't find his old friend.

He immediately guessed that the guard captain had probably gone to the room with the Goddess portrait.

Sure enough, after Saidat quietly slipped away from the mobilization scene, he saw his old friend praying devoutly in that room.

"Goddess above, please protect your devout believer."

"..."

"Grant marriage to my beloved after the war."

Saidat couldn't help but complain about his old friend's prayer.

Hearing the quiet grumbling of the "single dog" behind him, the guard captain wasn't angry. He temporarily interrupted the ceremony and smiled as he reasoned with Saidat.

"My girl loves me deeply and enjoys romantic ceremonies like weddings; as her husband, I should naturally try my best to satisfy her."

"When we win this tough battle, come be my best man again?"

"I can do that, I've already done it a dozen times anyway." Saidat didn't refuse his old friend's request, but immediately added, "But let's agree beforehand - I won't give a wedding gift this time, I can't afford it anymore."

"Ha-ha-"

"That kind of thing doesn't matter, just having you there is enough."

After speaking, the guard captain continued reciting the remaining prayers, until several minutes later he ended with his head deeply bowed.

"You two, the mobilization ceremony is over. Get ready to depart with the main force."

Denken's calm voice came from outside the door.

Obviously, this commander had discovered these two "deserters" and come looking for them.

"Mm."

Saidat and his companion had no objections, nodded and walked out of the room.

But just as they passed each other, Denken suddenly called out to the guard captain and asked.

"Does your pre-battle prayer work?"

"Of course." The guard captain patted his chest and said quite confidently.

"Every time I face a difficult battle, I pray to the Goddess, making a wish to return alive and remarry my wife."

"Perhaps it's the Goddess's protection, or perhaps it's the vow to return alive and marry my wife;"

"I've faced countless dangers on the battlefield, but I've survived them all. After every war ends, I can return home standing to face my wife's loving embrace."

"That effective, huh."

Denken looked toward the Goddess portrait in the room, hesitated for a moment, then stepped inside, clasped his hands together, and began praying.

"Goddess above, I hope you can bless Lektüre's health to improve."

After speaking, Denken bowed deeply, showing respect to the Goddess.

"Won't you ask for a few more things? The Goddess is very generous."

"No."

Denken shook his head, "With so many believers praying every day, if my wish is shorter, the Goddess can see it sooner."

"As for my remaining wishes, I'll handle them myself."

"After all, a military commander cannot place hope for victory on divine protection."

That night.

The dim moonlight left the wilderness pitch black, but a village not far from the border was brightly lit.

However, living in the various houses in the village were not the original villagers, but well-trained soldiers.

Two days ago, after finalizing the battle strategy, Denken had sent people to gradually relocate the village residents, progressively replacing them with elite warriors from the advance guard living in the houses - partly to maintain the village's original signs of habitation, and partly to dig some ambush fortifications in advance.

Now, the main force from the camp had reached the snowy plains around the village. They just needed to suppress their movements and magical responses, waiting silently for the demons to take the bait.

Following Denken's instructions, the soldiers had made special gaps and "oversights" in the border defenses.

The demons could only break through toward the current village to quickly penetrate the border defenses.

If the demons sensed something amiss and didn't choose to break through at this point, the thick and tight border defenses in other directions could hold until the border troops returned to defend.

At that point, they would simply lose the ambush advantage and fight an encounter battle.

On the snowy plain, Denken commanded the soldiers to reach their corresponding ambush points in batches according to the tactical deployment.

Denken's tactics were actually quite simple - first lure the Demon General and its subordinates all into the village.

As long as the elite advance guard and ambush fortifications in the village could withstand the demons' first wave of assault.

Then the main force ambushing around could complete the encirclement, divide these demons one by one, have corresponding units deal with the Demon General's subordinates, while the main force led by Denken and Saidat would attack the Demon General with concentrated firepower.

After seeing all the soldiers quietly positioned around, Denken, as the army commander, turned and walked toward the village below the snowy plain.

"Lord Denken, what are you doing?!"

The braided guard captain was startled and wanted to catch up and ask, but was firmly held down by his old friend.

"Saidat, what is Lord Denken doing?" The confused guard captain could only ask his old friend.

"The first wave assault pressure from the Demon General and its subordinates is too great. Denken was worried the advance guard in the village couldn't withstand it, so after making all arrangements as commander, he added himself, a court-level mage soldier, to the mix."

"I see."

"Really didn't expect that."

Time passed minute by minute in this quiet atmosphere, and the prey they were all waiting for finally emerged from the dark night waters, bit the hook, and launched a surprise attack on this heavily fortified village.

"Boom!!!"

With a violent blast that shattered the village gate, several demons charged straight into the village under cover of darkness.

However, reality was beyond their expectations.

After breaking down the doors of houses, what they saw was no longer the terrified expressions of humans as before, but elite soldiers in armor wielding spears.

What they heard was no longer screams of fear, but the whistling of spears piercing air, and the sound of mechanisms tightening after accidentally stepping on traps.

For a moment, multiple demons were wounded, and one demon that had entered the house where Denken was ambushing had already turned to ash and dispersed.

"Should we attack?!"

The soldiers ambushing outside the village immediately became excited upon seeing the scene below.

They all looked toward the still-hidden guard captain, waiting for him to give the attack order.

"No, don't rush!"

Though the guard captain's posture was steady, his voice revealed a trace of anxiety.

Of course he wanted to immediately lead the soldiers in an attack, but there was one target he still couldn't find among the demons invading the village below.

That was the elimination target of this encirclement operation - the Demon General.

"Damn, where is it?"

The guard captain angrily pounded the ground. Every second the main force delayed, their comrades below faced greater danger.

But if they couldn't encircle and eliminate the Demon General, no matter how much they achieved, it would be failure.

Summoning subordinates wouldn't take long, and the Demon General's fury after being ambushed would be repaid multiple times over on this land behind them.

One strike must kill, or suffer the consequences.

Therefore, especially in this situation, the guard captain and other unit officers had to control their emotions and restrain their subordinates who wanted to charge.

"Such patience, still won't show yourself?"

Several more minutes passed, and the guard captain watching the situation below grew increasingly anxious. The situation for their comrades below was becoming difficult.

After getting through the initial confusion, the demons who had reacted had stabilized their footing and gradually regained control of the battle.

If this continued, it wouldn't be long before the demons gained the upper hand and began slaughtering the warriors in the village.

Suddenly, the guard captain observing the situation below felt his heart go cold, all his hair standing on end.

Looking up, he suddenly discovered that in the deep night sky, an inhuman figure had already leaped into the air, about to swing its blade down toward his location.

The Demon General was here!!!

No time to think about how the Demon General had discovered their ambush position.

With adrenaline surging wildly through his body, the guard captain's breathing rate increased, breathing deepened, and massive amounts of oxygen were rapidly delivered to his lungs, providing all metabolic needs for his emergency state.

Dilated pupils allowed more light into his eyes, and with increased visual sensitivity, everything around seemed to slow down.

The guard captain immediately prepared to roll aside to escape the Demon General's attack range.

But just as he was about to move, he caught sight of Saidat beside him, also within the Demon General's attack range.

The guard captain gritted his teeth, chose not to leave himself, but kicked away the strongest mage in the unit and his good friend Saidat, then drew his sword and held it overhead to directly face this terrifying downward strike.

"Bang!!!"

A massive vibration spread from the snowy plain, shaking a large area of ground into scattered fragments.

Fortunately, it wasn't winter now and there was no accumulated snow on the plain, otherwise this strike might have triggered an avalanche, causing a natural disaster.

Saidat, who had been kicked away, was thrown several more meters by the aftermath of this strike, spinning twice in the air before landing on the ground.

In an instant, heaven and earth spun, sun and moon rotated. Saidat, who had fallen to the ground, struggled two or three times before painfully climbing up from the ground.

"Pah"

Spitting out a pool of blood accumulated in his mouth, Saidat looked ahead with vision still clouded by shadows.

At the ambush position where their group had been hiding, now only a patch of dark blood color could be seen.

Not even a single cry of anguish.

This meant that besides himself, perhaps no one else was left alive at the previous ambush position.

Saidat summoned his staff, desperately suppressing his magical response, and retreated backward.

As a battle hero who had experienced hundreds of battles, Saidat wasn't blinded by hatred at this moment.

He clearly knew that going up in his current state would be suicide.

Only by maintaining a safe distance could a mage exert their effectiveness.

Only by demonstrating a mage's proper effectiveness would he not disappoint his old friend's life-saving sacrifice just now.

"Perhaps..."

"Perhaps he's not dead yet."

"That guy has always been tough, didn't he pray to the Goddess for protection before departure?"

"And he promised to return and get married."

Saidat controlled the turmoil in his heart and walked toward a nearby comrade's ambush point.

"Maybe he was just blown away by the demon, just fell off a cliff, like that time before, and in a few days he'll climb out of the rock pile himself..."

"I have to win this battle and survive."

"After the war, I still need to go dig him out of the rock pile as soon as possible."

"Patter-"

Saidat, who was struggling to retreat while supporting himself with his staff, seemed to step on something.

Instinctively looking down, it was a section of braided hair, wet at the top, with a cute pink candy ornament at the end.

He had shown it off to him for a long time, saying that when they parted, he had secretly taken it from his wife's dressing table.

Whenever he missed her in the unit, he would touch it a few times, as if he could feel her hair.

Looking at this section of braid under his foot, Saidat kept swallowing, wanting to speak, but his vocal cords were choked with blood, making it difficult to make any sound.

Crouching down to pick it up and hold it to his chest, Saidat took a few more steps forward and finally met up with comrades from another ambush point.

The unit stationed at the border had extremely rich combat experience against demons after all.

Even though there were some new recruits, under the command of squad leaders or experienced veterans within the team, after initial confusion, they all made optimal responses.

Those whose ambush points were close to the village immediately went to support Lord Denken in the village, to free up this court mage's powerful fighting capability.

Those whose ambush locations were too far from the village, or too close to the Demon General's position, believing they couldn't provide support, immediately drew their swords toward the Demon General, to pin it down here and buy time for other comrades' actions.

These people were prepared to fight the Demon General to the death, but the moment they saw Saidat, a sturdy soldier immediately carried him on his back, indicating they were ready.

"Good."

Saidat nodded, waved his staff, channeling all his rage into surging magical power, and blasted it straight at the Demon General in the distance who was slaughtering soldiers.

The strong soldier carrying Saidat immediately ran toward the bottom of the mountain.

In the distance, the Demon General who was about to swing its blade down on several human soldiers immediately stopped.

It held its blade horizontally in front of itself, barely managing to block this long-range attack from the mage.

But even so, the aftermath of the magical bombardment still left it disheveled, no longer maintaining its previous unstoppable war god appearance.

"Interesting, couldn't find your location, but you delivered yourself to me!"

The Demon General roared and no longer paid attention to the surrounding human soldiers' attacks, charging straight toward Saidat's direction.

After all, even if these human soldiers were brave, they could only make small cuts on its body.

But if this mage wasn't dealt with quickly, he really might be able to kill it.

Along the way, warriors from other ambush points saw this situation and rushed forward, desperately trying to block the Demon General's advance.

They succeeded. Although the cost was considerable, the Demon General's advance speed was indeed slowed down, even slower than the soldier running while carrying Saidat.

With his comrades' life-and-death efforts, Saidat no longer needed to worry about anything. He bombarded the Demon General with spell after spell. Under such intensive attacks, even the Demon General couldn't handle them all, and soon had a hole pierced through its body.

The wounded Demon General roared, planted its feet on the ground, leaped high into the air, and delivered a terrifying strike toward Saidat's direction.

"Roar——!"

Before the Demon General's strike could land, from the village below, a thick beam of magical power shot straight at the Demon General who could no longer change direction in mid-air.

Although due to the angle, this magical beam didn't hit the demon's vital parts.

But with this interference, the Demon General's strike was greatly affected, missing Saidat's position by several meters.

"Well done, Denken!"

Taking advantage of this perfect opportunity, Saidat raised his staff high, desperately squeezing out all the magical power in his body, leaving not a drop for the next attack or defense.

Thus, a Hell's Inferno Magic that he had learned from Serie, fully charged with all his magical power, gushed forth!

Flames so hot they turned black burned fiercely on the Demon General's body. Amid its intense wails, it would probably be burned to ash in just a few more seconds.

"Humans, your schemes are truly malicious!"

"There was no turncoat informant, you..."

"Are all in this together!"

With those words, the Demon General's body was completely burned clean, meaning the ultimate target of this operation - the Demon General - had been eliminated.

However, at this moment, there was no trace of joy or relief on Saidat's face.

"A turncoat informant from the human side..."

Repeatedly mulling over the Demon General's dying words, some of Saidat's doubts were instantly answered, but at the same time, new doubts were planted.

The demon General was not a demon Sage. Its magical accomplishments relied entirely on racial talent.

Though not weaker than a human apprentice mage, that was about all.

Being able to detect distant targets deliberately hiding their magical power and lying in ambush in the darkness was already beyond their expected capabilities.

Moreover, the inherently arrogant demons rarely engaged in such behavior.

The same behavior, even if applied to a Demon Sage, even though they had such capabilities, they would rarely be so cautious.

This point was the foundation upon which Denken and he had based their ambush plan.

Therefore, when suddenly confronted by the Demon General, Saidat's first feeling wasn't panic or fear, but bewilderment!

His mind went blank, not understanding how it could find them.

And now, the informant from the human side had answered this doubt for Saidat.

But the new question that followed was:

Who was this informant? Or rather, did this informant really exist?

Was there even the slightest possibility that it was just the demon's dying attempt to sow discord among humans?

Saidat sat in place, his mind in complete chaos.

Just then, Denken, who had resolved the other demons in the village with the ambush unit's support, walked over and extended his hand to Saidat who was slumped on the ground.

Looking at this battle commander who knew all the deployments of this operation and who specifically went to guard the theoretically most dangerous village, Saidat fell silent for several seconds before grasping his hand and standing up.

One day later, the cleanup of the battlefield and search for fallen soldiers was nearing completion.

Besides the blood-stained hair that Saidat had found, the soldiers had also recovered the guard captain's broken sword, severed hand, and a section of arm.

Apart from these, no complete body had been found yet.

Upon hearing this news, Saidat, who was already part of the search team, fell silent for a long time and nearly fainted.

Later, after regaining consciousness in the afternoon, he went to clear every boulder visible on the battlefield until he collapsed from exhaustion multiple times and completely lost consciousness.

When Saidat woke up again, he found Denken standing by his bedside with his back to him, looking out the window, seemingly lost in thought.

"You're awake."

Sensing movement behind him, Denken turned to look at Saidat, who was pointing a large staff at him, showing no surprise on his face.

"Ever since I heard the Demon General's dying words from the other soldiers, I guessed this scene would come."

"So Denken, do you want to explain yourself to me again?"

"Like last time, it was those forces opposing you again, and to completely eliminate you, they even colluded with demons?"

To Saidat's cold laughter and questioning, Denken shook his head, "I have nothing to explain."

"As I said before, I'm never willing to explain things that have already happened, because no matter how good the explanation, it can't change anything."

"Even if I could now provide solid evidence proving someone colluded with demons, your suspicions about me would still exist, and the fallen warriors cannot be resurrected."

"Moreover, I have no evidence."

Saidat: ...

After a long silence, Saidat put away his staff and lay back down on the bed.

Seeing him calm down, Denken stepped forward and handed over two documents.

"What are these?"

"One is the appointment document for the Imperial Magic Academy headmaster, and the name on it isn't mine. Although the official appointment document was issued recently, it records the voting time. Due to petitions from many professors and student groups, the election voting was moved up and decided before this battle even began."

"The other is the battle report for this engagement. News of this great victory has already reached the Imperial Capital. His Majesty has ordered that participants in this battle be rewarded according to merit, and this battle report is the basis for those rewards."

"So Denken, are you trying to prove to me that you had no reason to do this, while also using this battle report to silence me?"

"Let me see - the battle report actually credits me with the primary achievement. Denken, you're really generous."

Denken stood aside, still maintaining the same level gaze at Saidat as before, without guilty evasion or the urge to clear his name.

There was only calmness.

"Denken, as a fellow Battle Hero in the Imperial Army, I've heard some things about you."

"Besides descriptions of your ambition and cunning, there are also some that say you're quite grateful and repay kindness."

"These years, using your military achievements and position, you've done quite a bit to take care of the Weiße region, haven't you?"

"Lord Glück raised me and is also my father-in-law. Doing what I can is only proper."

Denken replied, though this time there was a slight emotional fluctuation in his voice, no longer as calm as before.

"I see." Saidat nodded, "Then I'll sell you a favor, and you remember to repay this kindness."

"I promised Serie that after resolving this matter, I would resign from military affairs and return to be her disciple, serving by my teacher's side for life."

"Military honors are of no further use to me, and glimpsing a corner of the aristocratic class through you also makes me feel uncomfortable and disgusted."

"Rather than give the primary achievement to me, you might as well take it to advance further in your career."

"I only hope you can take care of my old friend's widow, and this land where he and countless comrades sacrificed themselves."

"Alright, I promise you."

With Saidat's permission, both sides modified the battle report to be submitted to His Majesty regarding the battle results.

The strategic planner, battlefield commander, and final killer of the Demon General in this Demon General elimination battle were all Court Mage - Denken.

The next day, the discharged Saidat returned to his hometown, paid respects to his deceased parents and relatives, and told them that the Demon General who had previously slaughtered his hometown had now been personally eliminated by their son.

Everyone, including myself, can now rest in peace.

From then on, for decades afterward, there was no war in the North.

[Complete]

Side Story within the Side Story

On the night after Saidat finished paying respects to his parents, in a naturally formed cave.

"Drip-drop-"

"Drip-drop-"

Water droplets fell on his forehead. The guard captain, who had been unconscious for three days and nights, shivered and suddenly woke up.

Then, pain and emptiness hit him, and it grew stronger and stronger.

"Hiss——!"

"Damn, that hurts!"

Although the pain in his body grew increasingly intense, even drilling into his heart, the guard captain's mouth couldn't help but curve upward.

"No way, I actually survived!"

"Although I lost an arm, hiss——, and maybe some of my scalp was shaved off?"

"But my life really is tough - I didn't die even from this."

The severed arm wasn't bleeding continuously, the exposed wound wasn't infected, and he faced no danger while completely unconscious...

"Incredible, that Goddess portrait in the unit was really too effective."

"But my leg seems somewhat fractured, and I'm hungry and thirsty inside. I need to think about how to escape."

"It would be too unfair to die here after not dying to the demons."

"Woof! Woof! Woof!"

Barking suddenly came from outside the cave. The guard captain looked down and guessed that the bloody smell on his body had been detected by the dog.

Now he could only pray that this was a domestic dog, not some wild dog.

Fortunately, the Goddess once again answered the guard captain's wish - it was a domestic dog!

And he had even met its owner before!

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Powerstones?

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