Shichen scheduled his movie date with Elaina for tomorrow for a reason.
He couldn't leave Frieren and the others during the day, so the only option was to make sure they slept until the afternoon.
That was simple enough—he just had to keep them up late at night.
Once night fell, Shichen and the others made camp beside a small grove.
The villa was set up, the rooms were assigned, and everyone went about their own business.
Übel had already gotten used to this kind of thing. But when she first saw it, she'd been completely shocked.
This wasn't traveling at all—it was basically a luxury vacation everywhere they went.
It had only taken a few days for her to totally give in. There was no helping it. It was just too comfortable.
Thinking back on the rough sleeping and miserable travel she used to do made her not want to remember it at all.
Fern was making dinner. Frieren was in her room reading manga. Serie and Übel were taking turns in the bath.
Outside, Shichen was continuing Stark's training and setting up a barrier around the area.
He had made eight horned puppets for Stark this time—more than enough for him to cut to his heart's content.
Stark really seemed to have grasped the essence of horn-breaking by now. Even with all eight puppets surrounding him from every direction, he could still move calmly among them and break their horns.
He just couldn't beat them outright.
The puppets were still set at just a little stronger than him.
Against eight at once, there was no way he could actually win yet.
Still, the fact that he could break their horns so easily, and in all kinds of different ways, was already impressive.
After all, the way he broke horns was incredibly creative. The puppets had no minds of their own, so they couldn't adapt.
Shichen didn't intentionally make them any stronger than necessary. They just had to stay slightly above Stark's level.
And they weren't allowed to kill him.
This little brother of his was a good one. Shichen genuinely liked him, so naturally he wanted to train him well.
Watching Stark spend all his time cutting horns wasn't exactly the most exciting thing, though, so after a while Shichen headed back to the villa.
Quietly, he slipped into Frieren's room.
She was lying on the soft bed, her short legs wrapped in black stockings and slightly raised, completely absorbed in the manga she was reading.
Shichen didn't hide his presence. He climbed onto the bed, lay down beside her, and glanced at the contents of the manga.
It was an adult one.
"You're reading this?" he asked, raising a brow.
"Why can't I?" Frieren replied without even turning her head, clearly enjoying herself.
"Well, it's not that you can't…" Shichen said. "But how did you fall this far?"
"Reading something like this counts as falling?" Frieren shot back. "Then what about you and Eriri making stuff even worse than this?"
"…Fair point."
Shichen nodded, then turned her over and pulled her into his arms, sitting with his back against the headboard.
"So what—this got you thinking?"
"I've been reading this kind of thing for a while already." Frieren sat obediently on his lap, still holding the manga.
"You've been reading this for a while?" Shichen looked genuinely surprised.
"What? I'm not a child."
"Is there really a difference?"
"…Annoying."
"There's something even more annoying." Shichen slid a hand over her short, stocking-covered legs. The fabric was smooth and slick beneath his fingers.
"Don't bother me!"
"Really? You read stuff like that and feel nothing?"
"I'm perfectly calm."
"I don't believe you. Let me check."
"What are you doing?!" Frieren froze.
Shichen checked, then nodded. "Yeah, pretty calm."
"Of course I'm not going to react just from reading something!" Frieren snapped.
"It's fine. I can help with that. If you're reading this kind of thing, you should let it out a little."
"N-no, that's not necessary…" Frieren's voice started failing her.
"Really?" Shichen asked with a grin.
"Wait… dinner's supposed to happen later…"
"Good. You'll need to replenish your energy and fluids."
"Fern will notice!"
"She won't. Trust your acting. You're good at that."
"Trust my ass!"
In the end, Frieren still ended up singing.
Shichen stayed with her, listening to that sweet little voice while waiting for Fern to finish cooking.
It took a while, but Frieren really did sound lovely.
By the time she finished, she was already half asleep.
"Don't go to sleep yet. Eat first," Shichen said, tidying her up a little before picking her up and carrying her out.
"You… you're a demon…" Frieren muttered weakly.
"Really? You were pretty into that song just now."
"Get lost!"
"Look at that, plenty energetic after all. Sounds like you could keep singing."
"Go to hell!" Frieren finally swore at him.
Shichen rubbed her head to soothe her. He had been a bit too rough just now.
When they got to the living room, he set Frieren down first, then helped Fern lay out the dishes.
Frieren flopped over the table and yawned, clearly on the verge of falling asleep.
Serie didn't think much of it. That was just how Frieren always was—looking half asleep all the time.
Übel was helping lay things out too, and she didn't think much of it either.
She hadn't experienced anything yet, so she didn't know.
Fern didn't even glance at Frieren. She was already used to this.
Once everything was ready, Shichen went outside to get Stark.
The moment Stark came back, he started shoveling food into his mouth without a word, like he hadn't eaten in days.
He didn't want to, but eating together felt weirdly intense to him.
None of the girls ever started eating right away. They'd all wait for Shichen to serve them something first, and then they'd glance provocatively at the others depending on who got served first.
Stark wanted no part of that.
So he ate as fast as possible and ran back out to train again.
He'd just come up with a new technique and couldn't wait to try it on the puppets.
Shichen didn't stop him. He just kept eating with the others.
Frieren didn't eat much, but she drank a lot of soup. After she was full, she went back to her room and passed out.
She was already the type to oversleep, and after what Shichen had just done to her, there was no way she'd be waking up before noon tomorrow.
Too bad she didn't need to use the bathroom anymore. Otherwise she'd definitely be waking up several times during the night after drinking that much soup.
For some reason, Shichen found himself regretting making her this way.
Not because it let her sleep peacefully.
It was more that a Frieren who never had to "deal with normal bodily needs" felt a little… off.
Had he changed?
Back then, he used to think a cute, pretty girl not needing the bathroom was the ideal.
Now he didn't think so anymore.
That sort of realism was more interesting.
But there was no point regretting it now.
Not long after Frieren left, everyone else finished eating too.
Serie and Übel went back to their rooms to watch a movie and relax.
Once Fern finished washing the dishes, Shichen took a bath with her.
It wasn't especially long, but it wasn't short either.
Mostly because Fern had tied her hair into a very cute pair of twin-tails.
Time passed quickly.
When Shichen came back out, he was carrying Fern in his arms.
She couldn't even walk anymore. She probably couldn't have stood up on her own.
Her twin-tails were still in, though they were a little messy now.
Shichen carried her back to the room, untied her hair for her, tucked her under the blankets, and left her to sleep peacefully.
He didn't go back to his own room.
He was too busy.
One after another, all day long.
Instead, he went to Serie's room.
After watching part of a movie with her, he started helping her "work out."
Serie was a mage, so her stamina was terrible. It didn't take long before she was whining and on the verge of tears.
Shichen didn't let her off easily. He worked her until she was drenched in sweat, crying plenty, and so tired she was barely conscious before finally letting her rest.
It wasn't that he was heartless—he was just used to seeing her like that by now.
And Serie herself liked it too. If she really didn't, she would've protested long ago.
As compensation, he stayed and held her until the two of them fell asleep together.
That night was very quiet.