Frieren: Serie's Apprentice

[Sinseki Era - 21 Years Prior]

[Central Nations · Holy Capital Strahl]

One morning.

The elf who was enthusiastic about skipping work and slacking off had rarely appeared at the Association early in the morning.

She had even arrived earlier than her other disciples.

However, this sudden diligence wasn't because Serie had suddenly awakened and resolved to no longer be lazy;

It was simply because today was already the final day of the association's examinations.

Although she could slack off freely during the process, at the two important nodes of beginning and end, Serie, this "magical old-timer," as the face of the Continental Magic Association, still had to appear personally.

Inside the hall.

The elf, accustomed to staying in bed in the morning, was now sprawled ungracefully in her soft chair, yawning.

Although she very much wanted to lean back directly and sleep peacefully while resting on the chair.

But...

With the examination about to begin, having come personally herself, it wouldn't be appropriate to have her disciple host in her place again.

Considering she would need to divide her attention to control magic for the examination, Serie sighed helplessly, gave up the idea of sneaking in a nap, and turned her gaze to the small round table beside her chair.

On the round table sat a pot of fresh tea that association staff had just brewed, as well as a bag of breakfast that Gut had just bought back.

"Never mind."

The elf, who hadn't eaten breakfast due to getting up early, reached out her hand. Since she couldn't restore her energy through sleep, perhaps drinking some tea and eating something to recover her strength wouldn't be bad either.

But unexpectedly—

The elf's outstretched arm couldn't reach the teacup.

Serie: ...

Perhaps the Association staff had made some oversight in their work, pulling the distance between the chair and small round table a bit too far.

Therefore, the elf couldn't reach the teacup from her chair as usual.

Getting off to a bad start, Serie first glanced below and found Gut was distributing breakfast to the other disciples below the platform.

After confirming everyone's attention wasn't directed toward her as their teacher, Serie leaned her body to one side, her entire center of gravity shifting toward the small round table, trying to extend her arm's reach to get the distant teacup.

But unexpectedly—

Even though she had gone this far, she still couldn't get the teacup.

Even though her slender fingers had already touched the cup wall, even though she could feel the heat rising from the tea water, but...

It was still just a little bit short.

Just then, Gut, who had finished sharing breakfast with his junior disciples below, happened to turn around.

Seeing this, Serie quickly straightened her posture and continued sitting in her chair as if nothing had happened.

After all, as a teacher, she had to maintain some dignity in front of her disciples.

"Tsk-tsk—"

Gut held back his laughter. When he returned to stand behind teacher Serie, he inconspicuously used his foot to lightly push against the small round table, kicking it even further away from his teacher's chair.

Serie: ???

The elf's gaze looked directly at her disciple, her golden eyes containing pure, undiluted threat.

Seeing this gaze, Gut snorted defiantly, showing no intention of kicking the small round table back.

Instead, he directly picked up the tray under the teacup and placed it on the armrest beside his teacher's chair.

"Mm~" Only then did the elf nod with satisfaction, not forgetting to say "thank you" verbally.

Facing the elf's unconscious thanks, Gut had wanted to respond with the clichéd line, "With our relationship, there's no need for thanks."

But unexpectedly, the system notification sounded as the elf's words fell.

[Ding!]

[Daily Task: Daily Good Deed completed]

[Random reward drawing in progress]

[Drawing complete]

[Congratulations, host has obtained special item—[Poverty Air Conditioner (Mobile Version)]]

"Hm?"

Gut made a surprised sound, looking at the elf in amazement.

Generally speaking, only heartfelt sincere gratitude could complete the Daily Good Deed daily task.

Were his teacher's emotions this serious?

Just verbal thanks were already at the level of coming from the heart?

Or was there some weighting in the system's judgment that he wasn't yet aware of?

Gut couldn't figure out the answers to these questions for the moment. Instead, Serie noticed her disciple's gradually vacant gaze and was the first to voice her confusion.

"What are you thinking about, Gut?"

"I'm thinking about what exactly I should do to hear a 'thank you' from teacher every morning when I wake up."

Serie: ...

Sure enough, she shouldn't have asked.

Heaven knows how many outrageous fetishes this perverted disciple actually has.

Although by now, Serie thought she should have gotten used to it.

But when actually facing it again, she still felt her eye corner twitching.

"Don't even think about it, there's no such possibility."

"Oh." Gut simply responded and ended the topic, because at this moment his full attention was focused on the special item he had just obtained in the system space.

[Item Name: Poverty Air Conditioner (Mobile Version)]

[Item Description: Small mobile air conditioner, big temperature control ability; low operating noise, high energy consumption rating; (Mobile air conditioner requires no external ventilation or drainage ports, as long as you can afford the "electricity bill," you can freely control temperature)]

[Temperature Adjustment Range (Limit): -30°C to 100°C]

[Pricing Plans:]

[Basic Plan: Can freely adjust Level I temperature range (16°C to 26°C), monthly fee 1 gold coin/month]

[Elite Plan: Can freely adjust Level II temperature range (10°C to 35°C), monthly fee 3 gold coins/month]

[Gold Plan: Can freely adjust Level III temperature range (0°C to 45°C), monthly fee 10 gold coins/month, includes choice of one mysterious gift when signing up]

[Diamond Plan: ...]

[(Fine Print 1: Monthly fee is only air conditioner usage permission, not actual usage costs. Users paying any amount are deemed to have known and agreed to this clause)]

[(Nearly background-colored fine print 2: Monthly fees are non-refundable, auto-renewal by default; if overdue, user talent traits will be frozen, long-term arrears will result in frozen traits being recovered for debt settlement)]

Gut: ...

With this pricing structure, using it really could make you "poverty-stricken."

And this "mobile"—is it the "mobile" from "mobile air conditioner"?

Why does it always have a weird taste, and quite familiar...

Although he really wanted to take it out from the System Space right now and say "TD" to it, to see if this Mobile Air Conditioner would have any reaction.

But the current setting wasn't quite appropriate, so he'd better wait until tonight to experience it properly.

With such anticipation, Gut stood behind the elf for the entire day.

During this time, he flipped through magic books, meditated on magical power, and took opportunities to secretly touch the elf's head. The day was quite pleasant.

After all, it was already the last day of examinations.

Mages with some ability had either already participated in the second round of examinations, becoming Gut's junior disciples or registered association personnel; or they had already given up after repeated setbacks, no longer thinking about this matter with microscopic probability.

As for mages having breakthrough moments, or some chuunibyou teenager making a last-minute appearance on the final day...

The probability of such things was even smaller than that of old mages passing the examination.

Mages weren't warriors—where would sudden breakthroughs come from?

Even if you injected a liter of adrenaline into a poor student in the college entrance exam room, could they solve the final problems on the math test paper?

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Powerstones?

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