"He always acts all high and mighty, bullying me!"
"As expected, I hate demons the most!"
"I'm running away! Even if it means going to Serie, I don't want to stay with him anymore!"
"That's not happening."
Lying on her master's lap, endlessly venting her frustrations, Frieren froze.
Flamme flicked her lightly on the forehead.
"Mm, my foot! You are absolutely not going to Serie's. She'll spoil you rotten."
"But I don't want to keep learning magic from Agusheed. His standards are impossible!"
Frieren hugged Flamme's waist, burying her head against her master's belly, pouting in protest.
Flamme gently stroked Frieren's white hair, comforting her like a child.
"Didn't he already tell you the key to mastering flight magic?"
"You mean that thing he calls a 'mindset'?"
"That sounds completely unrealistic…"
Frieren rubbed her head against Flamme's stomach, mumbling in muffled frustration.
Flamme ruffled Frieren's hair with a resigned smile.
"Agusheed actually taught you the exact method to learn and decipher the unreasonable magic of demons."
"Can't you at least try it his way for once?"
Frieren shook her head stubbornly, grumbling as she did.
"Yada (I don't wanna)."
Flamme reached out, pinching Frieren's cheek, looking at her with a chuckle.
"You really are… still such a child…"
"Oh right, Flamme! The gift! My birthday present!"
Frieren swung her legs back and forth eagerly, asking for her present.
Flamme, as if expecting this, conjured two spellbooks out of thin air.
"Here, these are your birthday presents from me and Agusheed."
"The two spellbooks are Earth Manipulation Magic from me…"
"And Magic to Phase Through Clothing from Agusheed."
Frieren rolled over, and the two spellbooks Flamme handed her blocked her view.
She reached up to take them.
"Actually, both of these are from you, right, Flamme?"
"Why do you think that?"
"Because there's no way he would actually remember my birthday. If he did, he wouldn't have made things so difficult for me today…"
"Fine, you guessed it. Both are from me."
"I knew it… I really hate Agusheed!"
Frieren hugged the two spellbooks tightly to her chest, and with her view unobstructed, she saw only half of the ceiling remaining, obscured by Flamme.
So she rolled back over and returned to lying on Flamme's lap.
"What's wrong? Isn't lying down comfortable?"
"…Like that, I could only see half of the ceiling."
"Alright, are you done sulking? It's getting late. We should go down for dinner."
"I'm so sleepy… I just want to sleep…"
"Dinner's going to get cold—"
Seeing Frieren half-asleep on her lap, Flamme sighed again.
"Fine, but you can only sleep for ten minutes. Any longer, and Agusheed will get angry."
Frieren turned to her side, snuggling closer to Flamme's hand.
"Who cares if he gets mad…"
Frieren's own words were interrupted by the sound of her soft snoring.
Unconsciously, she held on tighter to Flamme.
"I said, it's Master…"
"Honestly… silly disciple…"
Come to think of it, ever since the village was destroyed by demons—
This was the first time she'd celebrated her birthday.
After all… she was the only one left. Birthdays didn't mean anything when you were alone.
When everyone was still around, Milliarde would always pull out that dreadful 'Emperor's Wine' that tasted like poison.
Whenever Kael returned from his travels, he would sit by the fire with that ancient sword of his and boast about his made-up adventures.
Sarah would bake a huge cake, big enough to fill everyone's stomachs.
Evelina would dance under the tree alone, performing the latest steps she'd learned from the humans while everyone watched.
There were so many memories… so many of them—
At least she had Flamme this time.
Come to think of it, this was probably the first time Flamme had celebrated her birthday with her.
In those early years, when she first started training under Flamme, her master spent most of her time researching magic and exploring ruins.
Except for the gifts that were always delivered right on time…
Flamme had never actually been there to celebrate with her.
"Well… just for Flamme's sake, I guess I can reluctantly let him join the celebration too…"
As she was being carried by Flamme, descending from thousands of meters up on the back of the Heavenly Dragon, Frieren looked up at the stars glittering above.
"It's not like I forgave him—I'm only doing this because of Flamme."
Frieren repeated this in her heart again and again.
But when she came back to her senses, they were already at the door of the little house.
The sound of the Homecoming Signal chimed again.
Flamme and Frieren pushed open the door.
"You're late… did you get her to calm down?"
Agusheed's voice was as steady as always.
Drawn by the sound, they first saw Agusheed standing in the kitchen, his back turned to them.
And as their gaze slowly shifted down—
Spread across the entire table were nearly thirty different dishes from all across the Unified Empire…
And at the center of each place setting, a Crystal Pudding and a Berry Sundae rested, gleaming beautifully.
The first to freeze was Flamme, but it only took her a moment to realize what she was seeing.
Flamme's eyes softened, her voice dropping to a whisper.
"I guess… he remembered after all…"
Frieren stood there stunned for a while before turning her gaze to Flamme.
"After I mentioned your birthday to him half a year ago, I never reminded him again."
Flamme gently stroked Frieren's head, her voice tender.
When the two finally sat down at the table, looking at the familiar dishes from different regions of the Empire—
Frieren couldn't shake off a feeling of surrealness.
"What… what is all this, Agusheed…"
She turned her gaze toward Agusheed, who was just about to carry something large out of the kitchen.
"Isn't today your birthday?"
As he carried out a massive platter, Agusheed turned back, casting Frieren a curious glance.
Before she could finish, Agusheed brought out a towering giant cake, and the words died in her throat.
Flamme noticed her reaction and asked Agusheed curiously:
"What's that? It looks like Frieren seems familiar with it."
Agusheed gently placed the enormous cake in the center of the table, then responded to Flamme:
"Centuries ago, I saved an elf named Minus by chance."
"As a token of gratitude, she shared with me all the magic and knowledge she knew."
"And among those things was this…"
"Apparently, grand cakes like these are an absolute must for elven birthdays. They're traditionally prepared by friends or family as a special birthday gift."
Agusheed walked over to Frieren, standing beside her with his usual calm expression.
"Even if I'm not your master, you are still my disciple."
"I've always found you to be rather troublesome, and I know you don't like me."
Agusheed looked down at the silent Frieren and continued:
"You're important to Flamme…"
"Happy birthday, Frieren."