Chapter 386: Aura: I Will Do Anything!
In an abandoned hut under the cover of night.
Frieren leaned against the wooden wall, looking outside through a broken hole. Only after confirming no one was around did she lower her staff.
She hadn't been this tense for a long time—not because she encountered dangerous existences during her adventures, but because she needed to evade pursuit.
Wanted Order.
These words spun in her mind a few times, still carrying a sense of unreality.
She was wanted.
More accurately, she was wanted by an entire kingdom.
The Magic Association's news was a bit outdated. The current Frieren was wanted not for crimes like being a dangerous mage, but for the suspicion of harboring a demon.
This charge was arguably a first on the continent.
The official Wanted Order issued by the southern Kingdom of Lota had reportedly been transmitted to three neighboring kingdoms.
The bounty wasn't high, but it was enough to tempt money-strapped adventurers or mercenaries.
Although Frieren wasn't afraid of these people at all, she wanted to avoid escalating the situation, so she had been hiding with Aura.
It had been three days.
She and Aura passed through forests, nearly encountering mercenaries head-on several times.
Although breaking through frontally wasn't difficult given Frieren's strength, it would only make things worse.
She just wanted this troublesome matter to quiet down.
Even if only temporarily.
A campfire flickered weakly on the other side of the room. Aura barely maintained it with a few gathered dry branches.
She curled up by the fire, knees against her chest, eyes closed tightly, lost in thought.
Frieren didn't look at her.
She just stared out the window, thinking—If I had just handed her over back then, it would have been fine.
This wasn't the first time she had this thought.
There were so many people in the mine back then, the crowd enraged. Even those adventurer teams stood on the opposite side.
She could have said nothing, pushed Aura into the center of the crowd, turned around, collected her reward, and left.
With her strength, no one would dare stop her. Given her usual style, that would have been the best choice.
But she didn't.
Frieren lowered her eyelashes, re-examining herself in that moment in her memory.
Was it because of Aura's subconscious act of protecting her? Or because she was annoyed by the decisive hostility when an adventurer in the crowd pointed at her and said, "You are the demon's accomplice too"?
She didn't know.
She just felt it was troublesome.
"Lord Frieren?" Aura spoke cautiously, clearly understanding their current predicament was due to her rash action back then.
Frieren didn't turn her head.
But Aura keenly read something from the silence. Her sixth sense was screaming; clearly, the elf before her was thinking about something bad.
For the sake of her own life, she felt she had to speak up.
"Lord Frieren," Aura called again. "What are you thinking about?"
"...Thinking." Frieren finally spoke, her tone flat as usual. "That it would have been better to hand you over back then."
As expected!
After spending this time together, Aura understood this elf well. For her to say this meant she had seriously considered it, and might even be considering handing Aura over to those adventurers right now.
"Lord Frieren." Aura scooted a bit closer from the fire. "Back then... back then, I had no choice!"
Her speech sped up involuntarily, afraid that if she didn't speak in time, Frieren would make up her mind directly.
"Under the effect of Obedience Magic, once the master dies, the servant dies too."
"And that monster lurking in the rock wall... its ambush trajectory was too tricky. If I didn't release my full mana to intercept, its attack might have hit you directly—"
Frieren turned her head, looking at her seriously. "My defensive magic has a passive trigger effect. That monster's sneak attack couldn't possibly penetrate it." She paused. "I did not need you to act."
All this trouble was caused because Aura acted on her own initiative, not trusting Frieren's defensive magic.
However, it was also possible Aura truly didn't know. After all, she had never fought a mage before, so she naturally didn't know how advanced defensive magic had become.
"I... I didn't know..." Aura's voice lowered, carrying a defense even she felt was weak. "I didn't know you had defensive magic on you."
"Besides, if not for the effect of Obedience Magic, I wouldn't have acted!" She lowered her eyes as she said this, daring not look at Frieren.
But Frieren looked at her.
"Then I understand. Since it was due to the contract, if I dissolve the contract now and hand you over to those pursuers, you should have no objections."
Aura snapped her head up. "Lo... Lord Frieren—"
Frieren stood up. A magic circle unfolded in her hand. Aura recognized it instantly as the precursor to the spell for dissolving a contract.
She hadn't expected Frieren to have already figured out how to dissolve the contract of Obedience Magic. Truly incredible.
However, Aura felt no joy at this moment.
"Those people outside want you." Frieren continued. "Giving you to them means they won't bother me anymore."
Aura's mind went blank, but her body reacted faster than her thoughts.
Almost instinctively, she jumped up from the ground, pounced over, and hugged Frieren's thigh tightly with both hands.
"Lord Frieren!!! Please don't dissolve the magic!" Her voice was almost a wail.
Are you kidding?!
If Frieren stopped protecting her now, she would be killed by those adventurers and mercenaries outside in minutes. Aura had at least that much self-awareness.
Frieren looked down at her.
The demon's beautiful eyes were filled with tears. Although it was hard to tell if they were real or fake, judging by the strength of her grip on Frieren's thigh and her humble posture, she seemed serious.
"Please don't hand me over! I will do anything—" Aura's voice trembled. "I don't want to die."
Frieren remained silent, looking at Aura's face.
That face was covered in tears and snot, expression twisted. The majesty belonging to a demon was gone, leaving only the most wretched desire to survive.
"I am your servant! The contract is still there, I will be your servant forever! I will kill whoever you want me to kill! I will absolutely never betray you!"
To survive, Aura truly would do anything.
Frieren looked at her for a long time. The light of the magic circle in her hand flickered uncertainly.
"...So troublesome." Frieren said.
Her voice was soft, and the magic circle vanished.
Aura froze.
" Causing me so much trouble," Frieren withdrew her hand, looking down at her, "and now crying like this. Don't you think it is disgraceful?"
Aura looked up, tears still clinging to her eyelashes, not yet reacting to what Frieren was saying.
"You have utterly disgraced the Demon Race."
Frieren said flatly, then turned and sat back in her original spot by the window, looking outside again.
Hearing Frieren say this, Aura didn't dare speak. She just silently returned to the fire, stoked the dying flames, and added a few branches picked from the corner.
"...So what if it is disgraceful," she mumbled softly, her voice so low it was almost inaudible. "Living is better than dying."
Frieren didn't answer.
Perhaps she didn't want to answer, or perhaps she felt there was no need.
Tomorrow, they might have to continue fleeing.
But tonight... she still didn't hand over this trouble.
Perhaps she never would.
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