In the morning, Shichen opened his eyes, looked at the strange yet familiar ceiling, and slowly sat up.
"Haaah~"
He yawned, twisted his somewhat stiff body, and raised a hand to massage his shoulders.
He had been sleeping on a soft bed every day before, so last night's wooden plank bed made him a bit unaccustomed.
Although he didn't really need to sleep much now, a habit of over twenty years had already formed, and his thoughts had matured from innocence, making it hard to change.
But it wasn't a bad thing; sleeping was the best way to rest.
After a bit of stretching, Shichen felt refreshed and got out of bed to change.
He had arrived wearing a T-shirt and shorts, but today he would change into the coarse linen clothes belonging to this world.
It was quite something that Frieren and the others hadn't reacted to his clothes yesterday.
He wondered if they didn't care or weren't interested, or perhaps they thought they weren't good-looking, since they were just men's clothes.
He planned to bring some modern women's clothing for them next time he returned; he really wanted to see what elves looked like in modern attire.
Lolita, Gothic Lolita dresses, princess dresses, JK uniforms, leather clothes and pants... Shichen couldn't help but feel a little impatient to see Frieren wear them just by thinking about it.
This made him even more eager to find a way to take others to other worlds. Putting aside everything else, just imagining them in the distinctive clothes of other worlds filled him with anticipation.
After changing, Shichen first used cleaning magic to clean himself, then brushed his teeth and washed his face.
In reality, he was naturally free of dirt and didn't need to clean anything.
After washing up, Shichen went to Frieren's room and knocked on the door.
Thump-thump-thump~
He waited for more than ten seconds, but no sound came from inside. Shichen knocked again while calling out, "Master, are you awake?"
Still no response from inside. Now he knew Frieren wasn't in there.
Since Frieren wasn't there, Shichen didn't care; he pushed the door open directly.
Frieren was indeed not there. Inside were two beds; Frieren's bed was already made, but Frieren's bed was a bit messy.
Half of the quilt was off the bed, and she herself had only her calves hanging off the side of the bed.
A familiar scene. Shichen couldn't help but smile. It was really hard to imagine that Frieren would be such a restless elf when sleeping.
He walked around to the other side of the bed and clearly saw Frieren's current appearance. The sheet was pressed beneath her, and she was still sleeping soundly, though her sleeping face was a bit unsightly, as she was breathing with her mouth open.
It was only because she was cute and delicate; if it were a normal person, male or female, they would definitely be disliked in this state.
Except for those with special preferences.
Shichen squatted down beside her, then reached out, helped her close her mouth, and pinched her nose.
After a while, Frieren frowned, her expression as if she was having a nightmare and was uncomfortable.
Immediately after, she instinctively swatted away Shichen's hand, rolled over onto the floor, and opened her eyes, breathing heavily.
"I... I'm going to... going to die!" "Haha~ It's not that exaggerated."
"Why are you still like this?!" Frieren glared at him, annoyed.
"Isn't this me waking you up?"
"Why wake up so early?"
"To eat breakfast. I'm about to make breakfast."
"Then can't you make it first and then call me?" Frieren looked at him expressionlessly.
Shichen was unmoved and replied with a smile, "Breakfast tastes best when it's hot."
"How long does it take me to wake up?" Frieren asked.
"A minute?"
"Then do you think breakfast will get cold in a minute?"
"No, that won't do. How can you eat right after waking up? You need to let your stomach wake up earlier, otherwise you won't have much appetite."
"I think I'll have an appetite."
"I don't care what you think, I care what I think," Shichen said domineeringly.
"You... you treat me like this as soon as you get back!" Frieren pouted, expressing her dissatisfaction.
"Wasn't it like this before too?"
"Didn't you say you liked me? Is this how it is? Shouldn't you treat me gently?" Frieren suddenly said.
"But you haven't given me a reply yet," Shichen said, spreading his hands.
"Didn't I say I don't like you?" Frieren replied calmly.
Such a direct rejection, even with Shichen's strong inner resolve, made him feel a little hurt.
"What's wrong?" Frieren looked at him, puzzled.
"Nothing...."
Shichen could only console himself that Frieren was just emotionally dull and didn't understand him yet. After all, the elves in this world were long-lived, and it was normal for their emotional growth to be slow since they lived for an unknown amount of time.
There was plenty of time.
"Then go make breakfast quickly. I'm not sleepy anymore."
"Not yet."
Shichen picked up Frieren like a child, sat on the edge of the bed, and placed her on his lap.
"..." Frieren had her back to him, expressionless. She naturally knew what he was going to do.
Shichen smoothed Frieren's soft silver hair, then used magic to retrieve the hair tie and comb from the table by the wall.
"Do you want a single ponytail or pigtails?"
"Whatever you like..." Frieren remained still, allowing him to comb her hair.
"Don't be so casual. This is your own hair."
"Then I like it loose like this."
"No, that won't do. Let's go with pigtails."
Shichen spent ten minutes tying Frieren's pigtails, then happily went to make breakfast.
Frieren was no longer sleepy. Still unaccustomed to her pigtails, she went to watch Shichen make breakfast.
Frieren's return time was uncertain, so the two didn't wait for her. They ate breakfast as soon as it was ready.
Their breakfast was a bit quiet, but it wasn't bad.
After breakfast, Shichen no longer mindlessly washed dishes by hand, but directly used magic to clean them.
Frieren still focused on cultivating her magic power. Shichen, having nothing to do, stayed by her side watching her cultivate, not feeling bored. When she finished cultivating, he would ask her to teach him magic.
It was a pity that magic in this world relied on imagination and couldn't be improved, so there was no point in tinkering with it, which meant it couldn't pass the time.
The uneventful day quickly ended. Frieren didn't return by evening, but Shichen and Frieren weren't worried about her.
Frieren often didn't come home at night.
The next day, the two were still alone, and Frieren still hadn't returned by evening.
However, on the evening of the third day, Frieren returned and said something that made Shichen anticipate for three days.
"Tomorrow, let's set off to see my Master."
Shichen had long looked forward to meeting that arrogant elf, but Frieren was a bit reluctant.
The journey was a bit long, and she found it troublesome.
However, her opinion didn't matter. The next day, Shichen and Frieren set off with her, while she was still asleep.
When she woke up, they had already been traveling for a long time. If the road hadn't been so bumpy, she might have slept a bit longer.
Frieren had a somewhat resigned personality. After waking up and understanding the situation, she could only accept it.
Shichen amusingly picked her up and placed her on his lap, began tying her pigtails, then knowingly asked Frieren, "Master, what kind of person is your Master?"
"My Master, she..." A look of admiration appeared on Frieren's face. "She is a Great Mage born in the Age of Myths, a mage closest to the omniscient and omnipotent Goddess. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she is a grimoire that encompasses almost all of humanity's magic."
"That amazing?" Shichen said, feigning surprise.
Frieren also looked at her; she was interested too.
"Hehe~ My Master has countless spells, you know. Perhaps the two of you can ask her to teach you a rare spell."
"Just one? Grandmaster is too stingy, isn't she?" Shichen couldn't help but say.
"Have you forgotten what I said about being content with what you have?"
"Alright."
"Frieren, Master should be interested in you. You two are both elves," Frieren said, looking at Frieren.
"Oh." Frieren, sitting on Shichen's lap, nodded indifferently.
"What? Not interested?"
"So-so."
"Haha~ That's just like you."
"Master, what about me? Will Grandmaster be interested in me?" Shichen asked.
"You..." Frieren paused, then smiled, "Master might want to spar with you."
""