Frieren: I Reject My Humanity!

Chapter 313 313: Wine and Meat Monk

"It worked?!"

Fern couldn't help but feel a surge of joy as she watched her magic successfully pierce through Heiter's shoulder.

She had lost track of how long she'd been fighting him — but she couldn't deny that she was enjoying every second of it.

Fern knew she wasn't the type to be especially passionate about combat. People had always praised her talent, but what she called "training" had never been anything more than answering the expectations others placed on her.

Mr. Heiter, who had taken her in, told her she had a gift for magic and hoped she would walk that path — so she learned magic. Ms. Frieren, and then Fíliya, and Ms. Serie had all said the same thing about her talent… and more recently, Ms. Flamme, Ms. Frieren's own master, had praised her a few times as well.

So she really did have talent, didn't she?

And that last move — that was the proof of it. The fulfillment of her gift, and of everyone's faith in her.

"Well done… Fern."

"…?!"

Fern startled again, then hurriedly cast a dispersal spell she'd only recently learned, clearing away the smoke and dust that her magic had kicked up.

She looked at the figure slumped on the ground — and her eyes trembled, just slightly.

Why…?

Fern didn't understand the mechanics of it, but that didn't stop the wild hope blooming in her chest. After that long war of attrition, and the powerful strike just now — the grip of whatever was controlling her foster father, Heiter, seemed to have actually weakened?

No… wait — not quite —

She'd just started to move toward him when she saw him immediately raise his staff again.

"Oh my… it seems I'm not fully free after all." Heiter said, though the corner of his mouth curled into a satisfied smile as he watched Fern dodge his attack. "But this much is enough. If I can just recover even a little of my awareness… any curse, no matter its nature, can be undone."

And then the holy scripture in his hand began to radiate a pure, clean light — that gentle glow wrapping itself around him completely.

About a minute later, Heiter stepped out of the light, entirely unharmed.

Fern stared at what had just happened, barely able to believe it.

Heiter had indeed broken free of the control entirely — and his injuries had been healed along with it, without a trace remaining.

"You've grown up, Fern."

Heiter murmured softly, looking at her as she stood there, still slightly dazed.

"Are you… really Mr. Heiter? This isn't… some illusion Fíliya conjured up, is it?"

Fern murmured.

"Hmm… that's possible, you know. That girl who brought me back has grown to an unfathomable level of power… perhaps I really am nothing more than a phantom she generated, and I simply can't tell?"

Heiter narrowed his eyes, pinched his chin thoughtfully, and delivered this analysis with every appearance of sincerity — but then almost immediately, his expression shifted back into that familiar gentle smile, and he opened his arms wide toward Fern.

"…"

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Fern understood perfectly what that meant. She rubbed her eyes once — and then threw herself into his arms.

"I missed you so much…"

"Mm. Me too." Heiter said. "Though it's a rather awkward thing for a dead man to admit — but I really did wish I could have lived just a little longer. At least long enough to see Fern grow up… but no matter how many times I combed through the holy scripture, I couldn't find any way to extend a life."

Those words brought a flood of memories rushing back to Fern.

She remembered it clearly — how Heiter, growing thinner by the day, had pushed through despite her and Frieren's pleas, forcing himself up time and again to pour over book after book.

So… that was what he'd been doing. Searching for a way to live longer.

He had seemed so completely unbothered by it all — as if life and death meant nothing to him.

"Oh — that reminds me, Fern."

Suddenly, Heiter seemed to remember something. He gently pushed Fern back a little from his embrace, his expression turning slightly sheepish.

"Mm?"

Fern tilted her head questioningly.

"Well… do you happen to have any wine? I was fine at first when I came to, but it hasn't been long and I'm already feeling the craving come back… My greatest regret when I died was not getting that last sip. The bottle was right there beside me, but by then the pain was so bad I couldn't swallow anymore…"

Fern's eyes went wide. She stood frozen in place as if she'd been hit with a petrification spell.

"You… didn't you just say your greatest regret was not being able to watch me grow up?"

Fern said, her cheek twitching slightly.

"Ah, but those are different things. Not being able to watch you grow up, and not getting that last drink — both of those are my greatest regrets."

Heiter said, scratching his cheek awkwardly.

Fern was, once again, speechless. The thought that her place in his heart had been equated with something as inexplicable as wine made her blood boil just a little.

But… at least one thing was certain now.

The man standing before her was, without any doubt, her genuine foster father — the hopeless drunkard monk, Mr. Heiter.

"You are… completely beyond saving."

In the end, Fern could only shake her head at him with a helpless, rueful smile.

"Well, I was never much of a reliable adult… but funny how an unreliable adult like me managed to raise such a remarkably dependable child."

Heiter continued to look at Fern with that same tender expression.

"Flattery won't work on me, you know. I'm not conjuring wine for you — not until we're outside, at least."

Fern gave him a sidelong look.

"Is that so… outside, huh."

At those words, Heiter's expression grew quietly subdued.

"Mm?"

Fern caught it immediately and pressed him at once. "What's wrong?"

"I was just… thinking about what that green-haired, golden-eyed girl said."

Green hair. Golden eyes.

That had to be Fíliya. What had Fíliya said? Fern's ears sharpened.

"This space… cannot be broken from the outside. Getting out is simple enough, in theory — you just have to reduce the number of living beings inside it to one."

"…"

Fern's eyes went wide again — but this time, she was genuinely shaken.

"In other words… Fern, you have to kill me in order to leave this place."

Heiter's expression was perfectly calm. He looked like a man who had long since made his peace with that conclusion.

"…I don't believe it."

Fern's brow furrowed, and she shot back sharply.

She truly didn't believe it. She refused to believe that Fíliya would trap her in a situation with no way out.

"But it's the truth…"

Heiter continued, pressing her gently toward the decision.

"Will you please be quiet!"

Fern's voice spiked sharply — startling Heiter — but then, just as quickly, his expression warmed with a quiet pride.

His child, Fern, had truly grown into someone who could stand on her own.

The silence between them stretched on for several minutes. But in the end, Fern slowly sank to her knees on the ground, saying nothing at all.

____

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