Chương 55: How Time Stands Still

Haita is turning 100.

Frilian suggested eating cake, Philon suggested eating a big cake, and Shane suggested that we shouldn't just eat cake.

The birthday boy, Haita, suggested, "Let's go camping."

"???"

Three question marks on one's face.

"Since retiring, I've been stuck at home all the time, it's so boring. I really miss those days when we were fighting the Demon King. Back then, we slept in the wild almost every day. Why don't we go and experience that again?"

"Why would you choose to sleep on sand and moss instead of a soft bed... You haven't been drinking, so why are you talking nonsense?"

Frilian didn't hold back in criticizing Haita.

Haita laughed heartily, "When people get old, they always like to reminisce about the past."

"Alright, you're the birthday person, so you get to decide."

Xia En glanced at the weather outside the window. It was late autumn, the perfect season for outdoor camping and barbecues.

He immediately suggested that he show everyone his honey-glazed roasted meat skills.

"I guarantee it will be the best barbecue you've ever eaten in your life!"

Frillie remained silent.

Haita's smile faltered on his face.

Only Philen calmly spoke up: "Mr. Shane accompanies Mr. Haita to bask in the sun every day, it must be hard work. Leave the barbecue to me."

"... Are you disgusted by my cooking skills?"

"No, Mr. Shane."

I think so!

"Really, no."

To take care of Haita's health, the group didn't go too far.

They chose a relatively open cliff in the forest.

As far as the eye can see, there is the distant city of Stuttgart, ablaze with lights.

Haita pointed to the blurry outline of the city and happily introduced it to Xiaen, proudly describing how much people missed him when he chose to retire, and how they saw him off all the way to the city gate...

Frillie expressed her doubts about this.

Haita insisted it was true, and many beautiful women stopped his carriage, crying their hearts out.

Shane expressed his doubts about this.

…………

Philen's cooking skills are good; the honey-glazed roasted meat is very flavorful.

The group ate and chatted leisurely, though most of the time it was Haita and Frilian making fun of each other.

Frilian disliked that Hightot's previous private life was quite casual, especially his unrestrained drinking. He was a pure wine-drinking monk who would get a hangover once a week on his expeditions, and even during his adventures, his combat power would be reduced to zero due to a hangover.

Haita complained that Frillie always overslept.

"That 10-year trip, at least a third of the time was spent waiting for you to get up."

"Don't exaggerate, you wine-and-meat monk. I've wasted far less time than you."

"hehe."

During their bickering, Xia En heard many more secrets about the battle against the Demon King.

It has to be said that a team like that, in the end, was able to defeat the Demon King; they really have something special.

Swah—— A dazzling streak of light flashed across the sky.

It's a shooting star!

Haita gazed at the sky, lost in memories of the past, and the smile on his face softened.

He remembered the movie "Half-Century Meteor Shower" that he had watched before.

"After all these years, that shooting star was still the most beautiful."

Frillie seemed to recall the past as well, and a smile slowly appeared on her face.

"However, that elf really has no concept of time at all, making a promise 50 years from now without considering whether others will even live to see it."

"I'm really sorry, I'll consider it next time."

Just as Haita and Frilian were about to start another round of mutual teasing, Philon carefully moved next to Shane.

First, she proactively shared the grilled meat skewers she had with Xia En.

Then he solicitously asked Xia En if she wanted some juice.

The words "I need your help" were written all over his face.

Xia En was speechless.

"Tell me, what do you need me to do?"

The little girl asked somewhat shyly, "Could you use the [Photo Capture Magic] to take a picture of me and Mr. Haita?"

oops.

Xia En slapped his forehead; how could he have forgotten about that?

He fell into a hole and discovered the treasure of a princess from a fallen kingdom, which allowed him to successfully obtain a [Image Recall] spell.

For this, Frillie harbored resentment towards him for several days.

Because they felt that the Sage's training was too unfair, as he could learn magic so quickly just by observing others.

Xia En couldn't explain to her that this wasn't actually the effect of the Sage, but rather the effect of his term "Great Wisdom Appears as Foolishness," which could quickly simplify magical theories and knowledge, forming easily understandable terms that he could directly grasp.

Not only Frilian, but also Philon, who immediately grasped the magic upon seeing Shane, harbored even greater resentment.

When they discovered that Shane had no magical power whatsoever, they were even more shocked and directly called the "Sage" the "Cheater".

For several days in a row, I added cilantro to his soup.

You know, he hates cilantro the most...

what-- Xia En shuddered as she remembered.

"Sure, but you have to promise that there will never be any cilantro in my soup again."

The little girl's face turned slightly red, and she nodded obediently.

So, at Xia En's suggestion, everyone took a group photo.

To make the photos even more beautiful, Frilian used the magic of creating a flower field, covering the entire cliff with colorful flowers, like a dreamlike paradise.

Philon added a few shimmering blue magical butterflies to this sea of flowers.

This is her favorite [the magic of conjuring butterflies].

Haita stood in the middle of the flower field, as happy as a 100-year-old child.

He made a flower wreath for everyone, and everyone happily huddled together, striking all sorts of strange and funny poses.

Finally, at Haita's insistence, Frilian used [Levitation Magic] to send him flying once.

He said he had wanted to experience it for a long time.

He was always afraid that Aize would laugh at him for being "unserious," but now his wish has finally come true.

But this kind of unrestrained behavior...

This terrified little Philon, and she gave Haita a very serious scolding.

…………

The days that followed were like those that had been put on fast-forward.

Autumn is followed by winter, winter by spring, and spring by summer.

Four years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Under Frilian's tutelage, Philon has grown rapidly and has already become an excellent mage.

Although she never managed to break through the "target rock" that Haita had set for her, in Frilian's view, it was only a matter of time.

Frillie's interpretation of the forgery, "The Notebooks of the Sage Evie," is also coming to an end.

Everything seems to be moving in a positive direction.

But Xia En's mood grew heavier with each passing day.

Because of the gray label on Haita's body, its description is getting worse and worse...

One day after a snowfall.

Shane and Haita sat in the house, drinking hot tea while watching Frilian and Philon practice their attacks with the snowman.

Philon has grown quite a bit taller in the past few years.

Originally small, it now stands next to Frillie, looking like a sister.

Using the magic taught by Frilian to teach a snowman to do somersaults, Philon brought a snowman shaped like Shane to life.

She turned back to look at Haita with delight.

Haita understood, and the two looked at each other and smiled.

Xia En raised an eyebrow and pretended to glare at Philon.

Philon smiled slyly, completely ignoring Shane's "painless" warning.

Xia En thought to himself, "This little girl has become quite cheerful in recent years."

Just then.

Haita looked at Xia En seriously, then suddenly spoke up and sincerely thanked him.

"Thank you, Shane. It was so kind of you and Frilian to come see me back then."

Xia En didn't know what to say for a moment.

He suddenly realized that Haita might not simply want to express his gratitude...