"So then, what exactly are we going to do now?"
Frieren surveyed the sea of people kneeling across the banquet hall floor and found herself at a complete loss.
"Give me a moment... let me catch my breath."
Fíliya's chest rose and fell in shallow rhythms. It was clear she hadn't fully recovered from the shock.
You have got to be kidding me. I, Fíliya, am the one who plays tricks on other people. And today, of all days, I got played by this idiot elf.
But... how did she do it? A reaction like that can't be explained away as mere acting. And I didn't catch a single flaw. Not one.
"Heh... You seem to possess an ability to observe the physical responses and emotional fluctuations of others, don't you? Once I knew that, there were far too many strings I could pull. Youth truly is inexperience."
Serie, looking thoroughly pleased with herself, puffed out her chest with unmistakable smugness.
Fine. You win this round, you ancient hag. Remember this.
Fíliya let out a quiet sigh and decided she was done dwelling on it.
She swept her gaze around the room, then let it drift slowly toward Frieren.
"Hm?"
Frieren tilted her head, clearly sensing the weight of that stare and finding it distinctly uncomfortable.
"Frieren. Get over here. Now."
Fíliya's sharp command made Frieren flinch. She shuffled over with all the enthusiasm of someone walking to their own sentencing.
"What is it..."
Frieren's tone carried a noticeable deficit of confidence.
"Talk. Were you in on it too? I'm starting to think you two were working together the whole time!"
Fíliya reached out with both hands and seized Frieren's cheeks, pinching and kneading the soft flesh into various bizarre shapes.
The more Fíliya thought about it, the more suspicious it all seemed.
Frieren's support had been timely enough, yes — but there were still far too many questionable points.
For instance — why had she bothered deploying Defensive Magic at all?
She had that technique, didn't she? Her secret trump card. Why not just bring it out then and there, pin all three attackers to the ground, and end everything in an instant?
"Mm... my technique can only target a single person."
Frieren quickly offered her own defense — but that only made Fíliya lean in harder.
"Oh? I hadn't even asked yet and you're already confessing... Even if it's only one target, you still could have used it! Things would have improved drastically. Which means you really do have something to answer for! No wonder you've been wandering around the Empire since we arrived like you didn't have a care in the world, dragging Fern all over the city to shop... You didn't take this attack seriously at all, did you."
"Can you really blame me... Honestly, anyone who heard that someone was plotting to kill Serie would have a hard time keeping a straight face. It's simply too absurd. A trump card is meant to be saved for genuine moments of crisis."
Frieren's eyes drifted to the side as she said this.
"Hiss... So getting hacked down to a stump — that didn't count as a crisis?! And in the end, the only one who actually got hurt was me... I'm done! I quit!"
Fíliya released Frieren's cheeks in a huff, then proceeded to fling herself onto the floor like a petulant child and began rolling around.
"..."
The onlookers stared at this display in unified, wordless bafflement, and for a long moment, no one moved a muscle.
Frieren quietly voiced her own private opinion in her heart: Who told you to give away your Self-Gold Transformation? Without it, you wouldn't have taken injuries half as severe.
Only Solitär wore a soft smile. She walked unhurriedly to the girl's side, crouched down, and scooped Fíliya up into a princess carry.
"Are you really done? If you're truly done... then let's go home."
Solitär said it with complete sincerity.
Ah...
Fíliya's expression snapped out of her tantrum-mode in an instant. She gave Solitär a look and gestured for her to put her down.
Solitär set her down with just a trace of reluctance in her eyes. She really would have been quite happy to carry Fíliya straight out the door.
"Alright... let's deal with the actual business."
Fíliya murmured, and began walking slowly toward the Emperor of the Empire.
"Tsk. I gave this Emperor a rather solid kick earlier. Is he going to hold a grudge?"
Fíliya asked to no one in particular.
"Who knows... Should I release him from the control?"
Aura piped up, stepping forward.
"Hold on, let me take a look first..."
Fíliya crouched down and began carefully reaching out with Mental Magic, intending to conduct a thorough inspection of the Emperor's sea of consciousness.
But she didn't succeed.
"Hm? I can't get in."
Fíliya blinked in genuine surprise.
"Naturally. He is the Emperor of the Empire, after all. The most advanced protective blessings the Empire possesses would all be layered upon him. Something as simple as mind-reading wouldn't have any effect."
Serie stepped closer and offered the explanation with a calm voice.
Is that so... Tsk. Mind magic can't penetrate. And yet... Aura's Magic of Obedience worked just fine.
Fíliya turned and fixed Aura with a slow, teasing look.
"Oh my, when you compliment me like that... even I get a little embarrassed."
Aura immediately lit up, reaching back to rub the back of her head with a goofy grin.
"Truly remarkable. I hadn't anticipated she could achieve something of this magnitude..."
Serie nodded with what appeared to be genuine agreement. She turned to face Aura directly, her expression uncharacteristically earnest.
"You are Aura, correct? Would you be interested in spending some time with me? Your magic is of considerable interest to me."
"N-no thank you... I really couldn't... I wouldn't dare be anywhere near you..."
Aura, upon hearing this, promptly bolted behind Fíliya like a startled rabbit.
"Is that so. What a pity."
Serie shook her head once and said nothing more.
"We can't leave things like this forever... Aura, go ahead and release the Emperor from the control."
Fíliya gave the order.
"Sure."
Aura nodded and immediately released the Magic of Obedience from the Emperor alone.
The Emperor's eyes, hollow and glassy moments before, slowly regained their light. He looked first at his own half-kneeling posture, then at the scene surrounding him, and appeared to spend several seconds piecing the present reality back together in his mind.
"What a remarkable sensation."
The Emperor rose to his feet slowly, murmuring the words to himself. Then his gaze went immediately to Fíliya.
It was instinct. Although Serie was the uncontested strongest presence in the room, in the Emperor's eyes, the one controlling the atmosphere of this entire space was unmistakably the young human woman before him — soaked head to toe in her own blood.
"Everything that Lord Levi did... I knew nothing of it. Is that an answer that satisfies you, young one?"
The Emperor met Fíliya's eyes in silence, and made no mention of the kick she had given him moments ago.
"Of course it doesn't satisfy me. You say you knew nothing — am I just supposed to take your word for it? If you and Serie hadn't been drawn to walk toward that specific spot, none of what came after would have happened. From where I'm standing, it looks very much like you were coordinating with them."
Fíliya crossed her arms over her chest and stared back at him without a shred of warmth.
____
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