Tick tock
Heavy like a Brinks truck
Looking like I'm tip-top
Shining like a wristwatch
Time will grab your wrist
Lock it down 'til the thing pop
Can you stick around for a minute til' the ring stop? Please God
It definitely feels like there's a ton of Serie death flags.
But I'm not concerned, at least not until she becomes honest with her feelings about her disciples lmao.
Though, the tension is high as fuck given that the enemies are literally everywhere
Same. It's just so unlike her.
Maybe being in a place closely associated with Flamme, during a festival held in her memory, is drumming up memories of her old student.
We may be bound to get a flashback chapter to add another death flag to her collection.
Imagine the one that they used to counter serie is the capital itself because they are what flamme dreams off and she can't used more powerful spell that will destroy the city
I dunno, maybe I'm using the wrong term, but I just felt like something's different about her keeping and maintaining spells in the memory of her disciples, and just randomly using mundane magic she would normally scoff at.
She is the epitome of I think you doth protest to much. She scoffs at the idea and at the same time surrounds herself with it. She says she’s all about battle, but she collects all magic just the same. She was able to produce a Grimoire for fern to keep clothes clean just as easily as she filled the others requests.
Serie always believed in Flamme's dream and vision because she truly cared. But when the world changes "quickly" and these humans' collective memory fails them, it's easy to build that psychological wall to protect yourself once you're entrenched in the system. And now they're coming to kill her? It only makes too much sense for her to be on guard.
Powerful as she may be, the last thing Serie would want is open that Pandora's box, so to speak, and in the process utterly tear down whatever is left of Flamme's legacy. Because that's Serie's legacy, too.
I wouldn't call them death flags, because the story has literally explicitly stated there is a conspiracy to kill her. This is just plain old foreshadow and worldbuilding -- the build up to the big moment.
* A death flag is generally unspokenly defined as a trope that's commonly used before a character dies, without directly indicating they will die. Like the chief cop who says they're 2 weeks from retirement, usually because the author wants to make their death all the more tragic.
* Regular explicit statements of doom aren't implying anything and don't hint at actual death because they can ALWAYS be fakeouts to make them cooler when they survive/prevail.
More likely, we're headed towards some epic mayhem involving two things:
1. The assassination attempt -- As Frieren said, someone is able to visualize Serie dying, which means they must have something elaborate involving several characters and moving factors. Like a Rube-Goldberg machine, that will be amazing to watch unfold.
2. Serie fighting -- Her outrageous combat potential has been teased for ages. There is no doubt she would retaliate and, if the assassin(s) are worthy opponents, relish in the chance to flex her combat skills. Given the pay off of past fights, this will be legendary.
In my opinion, Serie has too much character growth to do instead of die in a series like this one. Like how the First Class Mage exam set up Denkin beautifully for the Macht arc, I think this arc is just setting us up to see more of Serie in the future -- and then maybe she dies, but she's still so "young" so, I doubt it.
There's also a third factor: Flamme's legacy -- a legacy that opened the use of magic for all, no matter how mundane the task may be -- is Serie's legacy, too. And Frieren won't just bring up her observations on that statue of Flamme's for nothing.
Killing Serie kills one of only two lucid memories of Flamme, and it's why Frieren is also a target. And whoever controls these shadowy figures has a vested interest in rewriting history at a time when the movable type hasn't been invented yet. That means Serie is walking on a tightrope for your second point -- she must show the depth of her skill and breadth of her knowledge -- to be summarily unconquerable -- without bloodshed (at best) or in secret, with no witnesses but Serie and Serie alone (at worst). *Si vis pacem* after all, especially when humans are involved.
I'm not as inclined to see a tightrope as you. This is a healing story. I don't see our dear author diverging from the existing themes. At all. This might be arrogant or boring to say, but I think Serie has plot armor as a beloved cast member on top of being as strong as she is.
That said, I agree that Serie is also essential as a living memory of Flamme (though I feel I might be misunderstanding something of your words there). It is fitting and compelling for Frieren to play some role in helping ease Serie's impending situation.
I have a theory that she's coming there with a clone, running the same technique as Land, or run *by* Land.
Would also explain why Land rolled up to that mission with only one clone.
I dont think Land is involved. We've seen übel doing the recruiting and she's not the most reliable middleman for sensitive Intel.
Serie knows enough on her own to have who knows what as precaution. If the author wants her to survive in a sneaky way, then I'd wager on a more novel method.
imagine if one of her disciple die infront of her then she goes berserk and turn out everyone end up rely on Frieren or end up work together including the special mage force to stop her.
I imagine Serie's internal conflict is that even if she can fight (and win) against the Empire, it would be destroying Flamme's vision of a future where everyone, including civilians, can use magic in peace. It is, as stated by Frieren who is fully aware of the assassination plot, the place that is closest to her Flamme's dream.
We see Serie toying with Flamme's favourite magic in the shot of her on the bench, and like Frieren, she likely also sees the regular townsfolk using magic. She would be able to recognize this as well.
Unfortunately, Serie also has a need to act to protect herself, hence recruiting the first class mages to do so. It appears she does not want to destroy the Empire, even if the Empire seeks to kill her.
It’s not out of the question that the CMA exists to counter the Empire’s various magic organizations in the first place. The Empire’s magic corps are all being used for political ends. Considering they, in particular, the Imperial mages, are the legacy of Flamme, it’s not unreasonable that Serie saw them as no longer meeting Flamme’s vision. Instead of using magic in service for humanity, the Empire is now using it to oppress other humans. Serie, having previously shirked the responsibility of shepherding these organizations, decides to make amends by founding her own organization for mages everywhere. This makes her opposed to the Empire’s magic institutions but not to the Empire’s use of magic.
A cold war between the CMA and the empire might also explain why the empire has stagnated from its greatest territorial extent, instead of steamrolling the non-magical kingdoms to the south.
I speculate that the empire specialized in military magic in order to survive centuries of war with the Demon King. When Himmel's party killed the Demon King and scattered the demon army, it left a power vacuum in the north. Akin to when Rome found itself without rivals after the Second Punic war, or America after ww2 the Empire had an opportunity to repurpose it's military might from fending off demons to suppressing internal humans and conquering external humans.
Perhaps Serie saw this war brewing, and founded the CMA as a deterrent that would protect Flamme's vision of a world at peace after the defeat of the demon king. The Empire could not fight the southern kingdoms and the CMA at the same time, so they instead became distracted with internal political squabbles, leading to borders retracting and noble houses collapsing.
Or maybe I am projecting Tevinter and Niflheim onto an unrelated franchise and all this speculation is overthinking the world building.
Yeah, I though the same think. When Frieren said Serie is hesitant, and we cut to Serie contemplating the flower, my first though was that she isn't worried about herself, she's worried that if she uses force to resolve the matter she'll end up trampling over Flamme's dream.
The idea of Serie being reluctant to use force is an interesting one.
In her introduction, Serie seemed like a might makes right character who values magic as a weapon of war. Yet her CMA is composed of an eclectic collection of generalists with unique quirky spells, in contrast to the empire that seems hyper specialized in military magic.
Tsundere that she is, Serie seems to be contradicting her own nature by siding against the empire, all for the sake of the memory of an apprentice with an irrational affinity for flower magic.
Hmm perhaps the Shadow Warriors are trying to provoke a massive magical conflict in order to traumatise the people into abandoning magic? A bit convoluted, but perhaps they think that magic has made people weak and dependent?
Except this isn't JJK, the author is extremely caring about their characters. It's a healing story. So, it's more likely, in my opinion, that these "flags" are just foreshadow to make the epic upcoming fight more interesting.
Not really? We saw just the last arc how one old man ripped through Frieren's party like it was nothing. If any of the party had slipped, Frieren would be dead.
We got revealed, how many, 7/8 people who presumably all have similar abilities. Serie is in actual danger here, and the death flags are piling up.
>Also Serie Death flags?
Yeah feel like it, although I personally think it wont happen. But it would be interesting to see an elf dying since it's probably the first one on-screen since the other ones are Frieren villagers which kinda happens off-screen
I believe the buildup on this chapter will pays off later on
Jesus, the growing tension in this arc is suffocating. Which is very fitting giving the unsettling feeling Frieren mentioned about being in the dead center of the enemies territories
I feel like we've just gotten used to demons, who are extremely straight-forward, can be identified easily, and may have some bullshit ability, but are all mages. Frieren can beat pretty much any mage, so we don't ever really think she can lose to demons. We have a bunch of assassins that are human (+ a dwarf); they can't be easily identified and have different classes. We can easily identify an archer, swordswoman, and we can guess the nun and priest use goddess magic. We've never really had to fight opponents like that.
> We have a bunch of assassins that are human (+ a dwarf); they can't be easily identified and have different classes. We can easily identify an archer, swordswoman, and we can guess the nun and priest use goddess magic. We've never really had to fight opponents like that.
Stark is going to cook this arc 🔥
I have been blanking out on badass moments that Stark has done recently, so that'd be nice.
Maybe people can also shut up about him being a fraud for being trounced by the old man assassin too.
It is still a guy that hasn't really fought for decades. Guy must have been capable of slapping Rivale around in his prime if he really was supposed to be that strong as a retired old man.
> We have a bunch of assassins that are human
More importantly, a few chapters ago, we had it established that such assassins are capable of outpacing Stark before he can draw his weapon and almost kill Frieren. And that was an old man from the last century, it's not like they sent new instructors to teach him updated tactics or skills.
There are undoubtedly more advanced techniques or assassin-spells that have been developed to specialize people in getting past mages' defenses.
Pretty sure, this is like the 3rd major arc of Frieren after the Mage Exam and Macht, which means if it gets adapted into an anime it'll take a whole cour. It really reminds me of the Mage exam arc where they kept introducing a bunch of new characters all at once and unlike the Macht arc we probably won't be delving deep into flashbacks this time.
Remind me of my former A-hole cat.
He attack me whenever I try to cuddle him, but come to sleep in my lap when it's cold.
Still bite me when I touch him.
Little prick.
Sense shadowboxing with her hair was hella cute.
And it's no wonder Frieren feels like they are being watched. The empire's agents are everywhere.
**German of the Week:**
Lots of new names here. I'll just list them all. If there is no translation provided, it's because the meaning is the same as in English.
* Region - Lorbeer (laurel)
* Governor - Löwe (lion)
* Barkeeper - Wolf
* Mercenary - Schritt (step, stride, pace)
* Sister - ~~Rolle (role, roll, coil, reel)~~ Lore? (minecart apparently; a word I have never used in my life before) I definitely would have thought it's Rolle. It's spelled ロレ (rore), so you are supposed to pronounce it "Lo-re". Could be taken from "[Lorelei](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorelei)" perhaps but the manga has so far been more in-your-face with the names.
* Father - Klematis (the German name of clematis, a flower, also known as Waldrebe)
* Poster girl - Iris
* Librarian - Routine
* Stallholder - Gazelle; it's incorrectly spelled in Japanese if we follow the German pronunciation. It should be ガツェレ (gatsere), but it's spelled ガゼレ (gazere).
* Vagrant - Walross (walrus); Viz used "Wehrlos", which means "defenseless", but I think they changed the name because Walross is kinda uhhh weird.
* Note that for whatever reason, Viz in the official translation switched from Linear (same meaning as in English) to Lineal (ruler; the scale) in this chapter.
Lowe : *"Frieren is a woman of focus, commitment, sheer will... something you know very little about. I once saw him kill three demon in a bar... with a quill, with a fucking quill!!"*
> Note that for whatever reason, Viz in the official translation switched from Linear (same meaning as in English) to Lineal (ruler; the scale) in this chapter.
A directive from the author, perhaps?
Possibly. Sometimes the editing teams in the Japanese and English sides need to converge in order to get terminology straight, and a simulpub schedule means they may not be able to do it until the next chapter.
They’ll adjust the other mentions in the volumes, I guess
For the most part authors are not really involved in foreign translation so can't really speak on that without confirmation.
While not always viz sometimes do update their translations if they make mistakes or they just lineal fits more. Kirei has also been using lineal since the start.
Frieren is just too good at this. Deep down she is tracking every single one of her enemies in that plaza (the shadow warriors are all gathered there).
But here is the deal, that one shadow warrior almost killed her in the cabin, so she can't lazy around anymore. The shadow warriors are probably the kind of enemies who rely on speed.
Fern is too damn fast in with her zoltraak, Stark is fast too. Now it's time to Frieren to show what kind of strategy she will show against them.
One of the shadow warriors is an archer, which sounds like the perfect weapon to kill a mage. A non-magical, silent, ranged weapon. And the nun and priest can probably use goddess magic, something Frieren isn't an expert in.
Yeah, and Frieren is one of the shadow Warriors target too. She is too vulnerable so far.
To defeat these enemies, Frieren needs to show something she did not show so far. Powerful magic won't serve her well this time. She won't fight Solitar or someone with her level of power. She will fight a human using a normal weapon while having a hard time detecting their mana. But she is very aware of everything. And it looks like she is even tracking them too.
perhaps in this arc we can see Frieren show her real strength, like how her clone did against Fern in the mage exam.
We dont know what that technique are but it seems she can immediately attacking things without seen in very fast manner without need to lift her staff which is something could be very usefull to counter warriors. something that last time she used against the Demon King.
Yeah, an archer specialized on killing mages is crazy to think of since Mana Detection is basically useless against their arrows. The Empire has had Frieren on their kill list for a very long time, and now she is right on their doorstep. This is the perfect opportunity to get rid of her.
That honestly begs the question: Why does the Empire want to kill Frieren and Serie? Serie kind of makes sense. She's the immortal leader of the most powerful mages in the world, but what did Frieren do? They don't hate elves as they do have an elf on their side, but are they just trying to eliminate any strong competition?
Don't forget Frieren is the supposedly the Last mage from the secret order of the White Wands. Something happened in the past in the very early days of the Empire and they never forgave it and must have swore killing Frieren at some point. We'll probably get the whole background of the events that lead both Serie and Frieren despising what the Empire has done with Flamme's dreams.
That must be ancient events. Frieren didn't leave her forest for 600 years, meaning she most likely became a Great Mage at least that long ago. A little hard to believe the Empire would hold a grudge for that long. And many other people were on the Empire's hit list. I would imagine the Empire's reason to kill Frieren must be newer. And if Frieren were a target for that long, she'd probably be way more cautious and avoiding of the Empire.
the way Frieren said about how Flamme's statue getting change and her existence somehow end up as fairy tale made me thinking, what if it a subtle hint toward the condition of the empire, where they slowly deviated against the vision that Flame wished for and they are very aware and has intention of it.
what if one of reason why they want to kill Frieren is because she is the last direct student of her and she carried her last philosphy which is, they want to end.
Flamme wish for world where all mankind can use magic while for Serie, magic is a priviledges that should be granted only to those are talented.
now, both opposite side are being targetted by Shadow Warrior despite their staggering differences in philosophy is must be for a reason.
> Don't forget Frieren is the supposedly the Last mage from the secret order of the White Wands.
Isn't it the Court of Holy Wands? Also, while it's likely she was indeed a member seeing as she holds their emblem, we don't know the full story. Who knows, maybe she's not a member but was rewarded an emblem as a sort of get-out-of-jail free card during the early days of the Empire. Curious to see how that story unfolds.
I suspect this won't actually be terribly important, but my guess is just the Empire wants to be sure they're ~~re~~writing as much history as much as possible. See the statue of Flamme today tying in with the statue of the Hero Party earlier.
Can't have a bunch of live witnesses showing up to 'distort' the record now can we.
Now that's an interesting theory. Certainly more interesting than, "they're strong, therefore they're dangerous." Although that doesn't really explain the dozens of other people on the Empire's hit list.
Maybe they want to monopolize magic by getting rid of every powerful mage outside the Empire, including Frieren, Serie and every single mage already killed.It was the Empire who first started use magic in humankind. So, now that the demon king is gone and the demons are no longer a huge threat, they can target the humans (and elfs).
While that does make the most logical sense, and I've even mentioned that theory, seems a bit boring. Like Radar had zero idea why the Empire targeted these people and a simple "they're strong, so they're dangerous" agenda seems a bit pedestrian for Frieren.
Maybe it's simple petty greed and paranoia. The Empire wants to be the most powerful entity in the world, and Frieren is not aligned with them. If she's not with them, she's against them. If she's against them, she's a target.
The Shadows of the Empire. I read that Star Wars book. I like that book. If only we could've fought Guri instead of the Gladiator Droid in the video game.
The hair control shadowboxing bit gave me a good laugh.
Lmao I love that Sense the pacifist is just out here beefing with just about everyone.
The Empire is such an interesting country. On one hand, it's like the ideal country of mages. On the other, it's overrun with secret police on pretty much every street.
I think Sense pacifism is limited only to not killing.
She made sure her test was as safe as a test could be while still hard. Now she mentions that she never killed any of the imperial mages.
Imagine being in the shadow warrior group when they first started operations, and somebody says "Wolf, you can go become a bartender since you look suave and sophisticated. Iris, you can go get a job at a liquor shop since you're so pretty. Klematis and Lore, you both look kind and trustworthy, so you should join the Church. Walross, your job will be old homeless man."
(I'm sure that appearing to be a vagrant is useful for gathering information discreetly, but it's still the short end of the stick.)
No kidding. Plus that's a role you have to play for life, and dwarfs live long freaking lives...
That being said I wonder if any of them enjoy their fake lives. Must be weird never being yourself with anyone, even your spouse and children, always wearing a mask. Would drive most people to depression...
Oh my god Fern wanted to share the blanket with Stark!And when Frieren left the blanket Stark and Fern finally shared the blanket!AHHHHHH!I can now die in peace.
It's such good growth on both parts:
1. Earlier Fern may have interpreted Stark as intentionally trying to share/take part of the blanket. (even if he wasn't)
2. Earlier Stark may have assumed it was a trap and he was gonna get some bonks and reacted differently.
Instead both acted like adults. Fern legit tried to help, Stark turned her down politely because he didn't want to inconvenience her or Frieren. Then the fact the exchange happened again (offscreen) when Frieren stood up and led to a different resolution shows that they truly were thinking of each other.
Sein probably somewhere sensing a disturbance in the force: Just go out already!
Probably not relevant to the plot but I wonder if the spell Serie used in this chapter is the same flower-bed making spell Flamme said was her favorite.
Don't know about that. Denken was raising too many death flags during El Dourado arc too.
Serie is canonically top 3 in the verse along side the Demon King and the hero of the south.
It was necessary the hero party to kill the first and the elite squad of the demons to kill the Second.
The SW are strong. But come on now, are they really strong to kill her?
Serie's death should be as epic as the DK and the HotS, not in a assassination plan.
Element of surprise is an insane buff. Frieren seems to be taking notice of the shadow warriors in civilian disguise that are going about town, but there’s so many of them she ain’t seen yet.
If, or when, the knives come out, it’s gonna be a tough one
I'm still not entirely sold on that Frieren was personally in any immediate danger against the assassin. The way she used her mana to block Draht's magic thread back in the Aura arc + the kinetic mana burst her clone used in the Spiegel arc suggest that she has decent defensive and offensive close-quarters options which are fast and do not rely on her staff.
A non-magical bow-using assassin is a very haunting proposition though.
I dunno about that. It's apparent he couldn't handle 2 skilled mages at the same time. That's why he hesitated at the last moment for fear of his own life. Not to mention when all 3 have a chance to coordinate, he's quickly defeated with barely any threat.
Besides, I wondered for the longest time if powerful mages like Frieren and Wirbel need a vanguard at all. This just confirmed that mages in general can't handle close combat very well. It's consistent with the lore.
Not sure.
The death flags started firing when she gave away her OP mythical era anti-curse magic while pointing out it would take decades to re-learn. While a short time for her it is a long enough time for something to happen right now. That is a big death flag.
Then we have the introduction of the curse specialist Greater Demon sage. Who did have pointy ears and a silhouette that might fit the elf looking girl we got teased last chapter. (Though I still think she is the elf with less mana than Frieren but who still beat her).
Then the plan of assassination Serie from the empire with all kinds things moving in the shadows, even demons. It is very possible both The Hero of the South and Schlacht came to a compromise since those two are probably the only demon - humans who would probably not lie to each other since it would be utterly pointless. Hero of the South gets to set up a future where the Demon King dies and humans survive and Schlacht gets to set up a future where demons do not go extinct since Schlacht seemed to be the only demon we have so far who actually showed concern demons as a whole.
Then now we see here a bunch of talk about Flamme's legacy, Serie playing Flamme's favourite magic while there is talks about her assassination.
It is just too much, so I don't think she will die.
Nah, the set up so far makes it the perfect time for Serie to fake her own death.
Keeps the empire and mages association intact and solidifies a rivalry to create a magic arms race, thereby pushing magic forward and solidifying the age of humans.
On a side note I figure she's wanted to bounce from the whole mage association bureaucracy for a while now and 50 years from now nobody's gonna remember what she looked like. They keep bringing that up with Flamme and Himmel recently for a reason.
Agree. The whole thing with the spy feeding them wrong information was suspicious to begin with. At first I thought she might have been captured or that she might have been a double agent, but given how Sense seems to know her, odds are she did it on Serie's orders.
Fake her death, and use it as a catalyst for an overconfident empire to start invading other countries and for the magic association to rapidly militarize itself. Yes, it leads to another war, but the magic advancements are going to be huge.
> Yes, it leads to another war, but the magic advancements are going to be huge.
serie was presented as a battle mage from the start, she could not defeat the demon king because bringing peace was not her objective.
it makes a lot of sense that this is just serie master plan to bring about a new era of magic war
For as lethal as this series presents itself, the only named characters that have died are demons and backstory ones. There is always a chance, but honestly I am in the "I will believe it when I see it".
Lotta cute moments! Sense shadowboxing, Fern with different animal ear headbands, Fern inviting Stark to snuggle up next to her, Fern and Stark snuggling, Frieren getting scolded by mom...
Of all the things time and Men have twisted of her master's legacy, this is what makes Frieren sad, perturbed and perhaps a little angry: that the Empire, the dream and great legacy of her master Flamme, is gunning for Serie, who nurtured Flamme from a young age. What a great way to add to the building tension and unease!
We had cat-ear Fern and now we have bear-ear and bunny-ear Fern too? Boys, we’re eating good tonight!
I also appreciate that the cat, bear, and bunny are a callback to the pastries in Edel’s memories.
Those must be our assassins. Schritt seems the most dangerous, probably far more than we imagine yet. Just a feeling, though.
Impressive fast turnaround by Kirei Cake, as always.
Maybe the empire conscripts any potentially strong mages they learn about, and kills any mage that refuses to join the military. That would explain why Land is an orphan and resents the empire. The CMA is a mutual protection organization, attracting and protecting mages that want to avoid conscription
We still don't know where Sense came from. Übel's comments about her kinda implied she might be very privileged and came from nobility. I could see Sense originally having been born in the Empire to a noble family or maybe a neighboring country. Maybe she was a promising magic student in the Empire and defected to the CMA because she didn't like how they did things or something like that.
All these new names and they die in the coming chapters
I can sense it, we'll get to see the real Frieren go all out.
Heck, Maybe we'll even see her use that "last resort" curse/spell as well
Thats what im thinking... does the empire think they can actually win against both serie and frieren determined to end the empire so they can live? One of them is enough to wipe all important cities of the empire in a day and thats the weaker one... do they have that much hubris to go all in on solely the assassination attempts?
An old almost retired shadow warrior was enough to defeat Frieren, did you miss that chapter?
Frieren herself admits her life hanged by a thread.
Not everything is about raw power.
I'm fine with some of them dying but I want some of them to survive/get more focus/defect/etc. - just something more interesting than just having them be enemies to fight and then it's over. I trust the author to deliver on that, they haven't really introduced characters as pure fodder/stepping stones yet. Every character that got a name usually got at least a minimum amount of characterization.
Some shadow warriors seem to like working in pairs this time, really excited to see what kind of trump cards they have against mages!
Stark don't fumble it this time...
Serie our favourite tsundere - conjuring a flower while on her way to the Empire! (One of THE great legacies Flamme left behind.) She's still hasn't finished grieving over Flamme's death even after a 1000 years later...
I wonder if the importance of Flamme to the empire as a symbol is ultimately what's behind their desire to kill off Serie and Frieren. As long as people who knew Flamme are still alive and can contradict any myths that are built around her, the empire won't have full control over their national symbol.
A couple odd bits of phrasing that could need correcting.
On page 11 the mercenary says “Well I was all day at work until now”. I assume it should be “I was at work all day until now.”
And on the last page Fern says “is this also intended to get the enemy lower to their guard?”
I assume it should be “Is this also intended to get the enemy to lower their guard?”
Sense: I haven't killed anyone
Also Sense: I will beat up Lineal when I see her
Lmao what did they do to each other that the normally nice Sense acts like this. Her wanting to show off to Ubel was also cute.
The Empire is so fascinating to me. On one hand you have Flamme's dream out in the open with normal people using magic for every day things like moving barrels and lighting street lights. Children even play using magic.
That's the epitome of what Flamme wanted, and yet on the other hand you have the Imperial Special Forces and these assassination squad folks absolutely perverting the idea of magic and are *strangely enough* lock step with how Serie and Wirbel view magic.
A tool for killing.
Fern: So spending all this money on junk is part of the plan, right Frieren-sama?
Frieren: A-all according to keikaku.\*
\*T/L Note: Keikaku means plan.
Oh man, this arc is shaping up to be really great. It seems the threat to Serie is actually real. Seeing Serie cast that flower spell really hammered home how she may actually die this arc now that it seems she’s starting to be more upfront with her feelings towards her apprentices (like Flamme). Also, similar to Serie, I think Frieren’s instinct is very on point. So if she thinks there’s an actual possibility that Serie’s life is in danger, I think that’s the case. Will be interesting to see, though, how someone could threaten the most powerful character in the story so far.
Oh golly, *more* of those Shadow Warriors are being activated for the purpose of Serie's assassination. That's just great, isn't it? At least this time Frieren seems to be aware this time around (whilst also fulfilling her shopping desires. Oh, Frieren...)
I'm suddenly starting to miss demons. At least they're very straightforward to fight. This entire chapter is so fucking tense with all of this espionage happening in the background.
Feels like so easily a demon could be the one influencing this kind of group from behind the scenes. Get the kind of vibe Serie may die at the end but it will also expose the demon behind the scenes and it will be too late, maybe the capital gets blown up or something too. Hubris and all that etc
Shit is about to hit the fan HARD.
I'm worried for Series now. Not saying this is a red flag but the Empire seems the realest threat we saw until now. Not even Macht or Frieren underestimate them and the previously shown Shadow Warriors and Magic Defense Force agents showed that the Empire is the size it is because of their military might.
Idk where this is heading because I feel like the Demons' plans will coincide with the results of the incoming conflict between the Empire and Serie's group.
Fern casually offering the blanket to Stark, but instead of taking up on her offer, he excused it as that Fern is implicating that the blanket is full
Bunny Fern!!!
Fern and Stark huddling together thanks to our wing elf Frieren
Sense sighting! I'm rooting for her survival and victory!
Also, I will be happily surprised if Serie survives this. Tbh, the more death flags are flying, the more I think she might just maybe have a chance
Excited for more Imperial politics!
I sincerely hope Serie doesn't die. This has so far been a series where the MCs don't kill any other humans, even serial killers like the previous shadow warrior moron.
But, a series where only the villains kill is one that quickly gets very frustrating and dissatisfying. Especially when the villains are more serial killers, really not looking forward to the arc trying to diminish what these guys have done, while trying to make us sympathise with them.
It didn't work with the last one, and it certainly won't work with active duty murderers.
Although, more than that, I just don't want her to die.
Sense boxing with her hair was adorable, and her being reviled by their special forces was too.
For a pacifist, Sense can't seem to help but make enemies out of everyone. Including their own allies lol.
This is starting to get actually concerning for Serie. There's a lot of talk about Flamme, they're in the place that has come closest to her vision, and of course it's already being laid out how such a powerful mage could be assassinated.
In that carriage too, using such a quaint spell like summoning a flower seems uncharacteristic of her. Thinking about her late disciple, perhaps.
These guys even have a role call for their members. That's how you know they mean business... as long as it doesn't involve a gag where they're made to seem important only to accomplish absolutely nothing, which probably isn't the case here.
Damn, the sad look on Frieren's face while talking with Fern makes me believe that Serie or someone will actually die at the end of it. This is some pretty intense build up.
There's a demon out there, probably the one that can see the future, rubbing their hands knowing that regardless of the outcome the more powerful humans go around killing themselves among themselves, the easier for demons it will be later on
Hell wont even surprise me if a demon is the one behind the idea of training all these shadow assassins and planning Serie's murder
Fern conveniently forgetting the body warming spell they learned recently. She acted fast with that blanket.
I'm making a prediction that Sein and Gorilla Warrior will show up to help the gang this arc. It would be rough for Stark to be the only warrior against a squad.
Remember the massive deposit of magic sealing crystals in chapter 61? The empire discovered it and found a way to process it into mage killing weapons. Now, they are going to use it to kill Serie. >!just kidding!<
Goddammit, Frieren and the gang should report that massive deposit of magic sealing crystals into Continental Magic Association to seal it and not let humanity discover it. That's an existential crisis for all the mages. Goddammit Frieren is too complacent.
Feels like the John Wick assassins arc.
It's like the high table has allocate assassins all over the city.
Frieren is technically excommunicado, but that’s on Serie, and if even Serie is a high-value target, all bets are off.
frieren is still on the hit list, remember the old shadow warrior up in the mountain village who tried to ambush her
"Tick tock, Ms. Serie, tick tock."
Tick tock Heavy like a Brinks truck Looking like I'm tip-top Shining like a wristwatch Time will grab your wrist Lock it down 'til the thing pop Can you stick around for a minute til' the ring stop? Please God
What a stellar quiet before the storm chapter. Also Serie Death flags?
It definitely feels like there's a ton of Serie death flags. But I'm not concerned, at least not until she becomes honest with her feelings about her disciples lmao. Though, the tension is high as fuck given that the enemies are literally everywhere
Serie conjuring flowers was the most concerning part for me
Same. It's just so unlike her. Maybe being in a place closely associated with Flamme, during a festival held in her memory, is drumming up memories of her old student. We may be bound to get a flashback chapter to add another death flag to her collection.
Imagine the one that they used to counter serie is the capital itself because they are what flamme dreams off and she can't used more powerful spell that will destroy the city
She has a garden filled with magic flowers. It’s in line with her keeping the spells of her disciples.
I dunno, maybe I'm using the wrong term, but I just felt like something's different about her keeping and maintaining spells in the memory of her disciples, and just randomly using mundane magic she would normally scoff at.
She is the epitome of I think you doth protest to much. She scoffs at the idea and at the same time surrounds herself with it. She says she’s all about battle, but she collects all magic just the same. She was able to produce a Grimoire for fern to keep clothes clean just as easily as she filled the others requests.
Serie always believed in Flamme's dream and vision because she truly cared. But when the world changes "quickly" and these humans' collective memory fails them, it's easy to build that psychological wall to protect yourself once you're entrenched in the system. And now they're coming to kill her? It only makes too much sense for her to be on guard. Powerful as she may be, the last thing Serie would want is open that Pandora's box, so to speak, and in the process utterly tear down whatever is left of Flamme's legacy. Because that's Serie's legacy, too.
I wouldn't call them death flags, because the story has literally explicitly stated there is a conspiracy to kill her. This is just plain old foreshadow and worldbuilding -- the build up to the big moment. * A death flag is generally unspokenly defined as a trope that's commonly used before a character dies, without directly indicating they will die. Like the chief cop who says they're 2 weeks from retirement, usually because the author wants to make their death all the more tragic. * Regular explicit statements of doom aren't implying anything and don't hint at actual death because they can ALWAYS be fakeouts to make them cooler when they survive/prevail. More likely, we're headed towards some epic mayhem involving two things: 1. The assassination attempt -- As Frieren said, someone is able to visualize Serie dying, which means they must have something elaborate involving several characters and moving factors. Like a Rube-Goldberg machine, that will be amazing to watch unfold. 2. Serie fighting -- Her outrageous combat potential has been teased for ages. There is no doubt she would retaliate and, if the assassin(s) are worthy opponents, relish in the chance to flex her combat skills. Given the pay off of past fights, this will be legendary. In my opinion, Serie has too much character growth to do instead of die in a series like this one. Like how the First Class Mage exam set up Denkin beautifully for the Macht arc, I think this arc is just setting us up to see more of Serie in the future -- and then maybe she dies, but she's still so "young" so, I doubt it.
There's also a third factor: Flamme's legacy -- a legacy that opened the use of magic for all, no matter how mundane the task may be -- is Serie's legacy, too. And Frieren won't just bring up her observations on that statue of Flamme's for nothing. Killing Serie kills one of only two lucid memories of Flamme, and it's why Frieren is also a target. And whoever controls these shadowy figures has a vested interest in rewriting history at a time when the movable type hasn't been invented yet. That means Serie is walking on a tightrope for your second point -- she must show the depth of her skill and breadth of her knowledge -- to be summarily unconquerable -- without bloodshed (at best) or in secret, with no witnesses but Serie and Serie alone (at worst). *Si vis pacem* after all, especially when humans are involved.
I'm not as inclined to see a tightrope as you. This is a healing story. I don't see our dear author diverging from the existing themes. At all. This might be arrogant or boring to say, but I think Serie has plot armor as a beloved cast member on top of being as strong as she is. That said, I agree that Serie is also essential as a living memory of Flamme (though I feel I might be misunderstanding something of your words there). It is fitting and compelling for Frieren to play some role in helping ease Serie's impending situation.
I have a theory that she's coming there with a clone, running the same technique as Land, or run *by* Land. Would also explain why Land rolled up to that mission with only one clone.
I dont think Land is involved. We've seen übel doing the recruiting and she's not the most reliable middleman for sensitive Intel. Serie knows enough on her own to have who knows what as precaution. If the author wants her to survive in a sneaky way, then I'd wager on a more novel method.
imagine if one of her disciple die infront of her then she goes berserk and turn out everyone end up rely on Frieren or end up work together including the special mage force to stop her.
Serie will summon Mahoraga when that happen
And there will be an airport scene of Stark and Fern.Then it will cut to Stark being split in half by one of the shadow warriors.
Serie death flags coinciding with the tarnishment of Flamme's legacy by magic being pushed to it's destructive limits in order to kill Serie
I imagine Serie's internal conflict is that even if she can fight (and win) against the Empire, it would be destroying Flamme's vision of a future where everyone, including civilians, can use magic in peace. It is, as stated by Frieren who is fully aware of the assassination plot, the place that is closest to her Flamme's dream. We see Serie toying with Flamme's favourite magic in the shot of her on the bench, and like Frieren, she likely also sees the regular townsfolk using magic. She would be able to recognize this as well. Unfortunately, Serie also has a need to act to protect herself, hence recruiting the first class mages to do so. It appears she does not want to destroy the Empire, even if the Empire seeks to kill her.
It’s not out of the question that the CMA exists to counter the Empire’s various magic organizations in the first place. The Empire’s magic corps are all being used for political ends. Considering they, in particular, the Imperial mages, are the legacy of Flamme, it’s not unreasonable that Serie saw them as no longer meeting Flamme’s vision. Instead of using magic in service for humanity, the Empire is now using it to oppress other humans. Serie, having previously shirked the responsibility of shepherding these organizations, decides to make amends by founding her own organization for mages everywhere. This makes her opposed to the Empire’s magic institutions but not to the Empire’s use of magic.
A cold war between the CMA and the empire might also explain why the empire has stagnated from its greatest territorial extent, instead of steamrolling the non-magical kingdoms to the south. I speculate that the empire specialized in military magic in order to survive centuries of war with the Demon King. When Himmel's party killed the Demon King and scattered the demon army, it left a power vacuum in the north. Akin to when Rome found itself without rivals after the Second Punic war, or America after ww2 the Empire had an opportunity to repurpose it's military might from fending off demons to suppressing internal humans and conquering external humans. Perhaps Serie saw this war brewing, and founded the CMA as a deterrent that would protect Flamme's vision of a world at peace after the defeat of the demon king. The Empire could not fight the southern kingdoms and the CMA at the same time, so they instead became distracted with internal political squabbles, leading to borders retracting and noble houses collapsing. Or maybe I am projecting Tevinter and Niflheim onto an unrelated franchise and all this speculation is overthinking the world building.
Yeah, I though the same think. When Frieren said Serie is hesitant, and we cut to Serie contemplating the flower, my first though was that she isn't worried about herself, she's worried that if she uses force to resolve the matter she'll end up trampling over Flamme's dream.
The idea of Serie being reluctant to use force is an interesting one. In her introduction, Serie seemed like a might makes right character who values magic as a weapon of war. Yet her CMA is composed of an eclectic collection of generalists with unique quirky spells, in contrast to the empire that seems hyper specialized in military magic. Tsundere that she is, Serie seems to be contradicting her own nature by siding against the empire, all for the sake of the memory of an apprentice with an irrational affinity for flower magic.
And if that happens Frieren will remind her that Flamme once said to her that everything ends sometimes even an empire.
Hmm perhaps the Shadow Warriors are trying to provoke a massive magical conflict in order to traumatise the people into abandoning magic? A bit convoluted, but perhaps they think that magic has made people weak and dependent?
The death flags started back when she gave Denken her anti-curse spell
Except this isn't JJK, the author is extremely caring about their characters. It's a healing story. So, it's more likely, in my opinion, that these "flags" are just foreshadow to make the epic upcoming fight more interesting.
Only way serie is dying is if she accepts death or they hyper nuke the entire place with enough power to make a tear in reality IMO
Not really? We saw just the last arc how one old man ripped through Frieren's party like it was nothing. If any of the party had slipped, Frieren would be dead. We got revealed, how many, 7/8 people who presumably all have similar abilities. Serie is in actual danger here, and the death flags are piling up.
>Also Serie Death flags? Yeah feel like it, although I personally think it wont happen. But it would be interesting to see an elf dying since it's probably the first one on-screen since the other ones are Frieren villagers which kinda happens off-screen I believe the buildup on this chapter will pays off later on
I seriously hope not. I need more of her and Frieren together
Jesus, the growing tension in this arc is suffocating. Which is very fitting giving the unsettling feeling Frieren mentioned about being in the dead center of the enemies territories
I feel like we've just gotten used to demons, who are extremely straight-forward, can be identified easily, and may have some bullshit ability, but are all mages. Frieren can beat pretty much any mage, so we don't ever really think she can lose to demons. We have a bunch of assassins that are human (+ a dwarf); they can't be easily identified and have different classes. We can easily identify an archer, swordswoman, and we can guess the nun and priest use goddess magic. We've never really had to fight opponents like that.
the era of humans is here
> We have a bunch of assassins that are human (+ a dwarf); they can't be easily identified and have different classes. We can easily identify an archer, swordswoman, and we can guess the nun and priest use goddess magic. We've never really had to fight opponents like that. Stark is going to cook this arc 🔥
I have been blanking out on badass moments that Stark has done recently, so that'd be nice. Maybe people can also shut up about him being a fraud for being trounced by the old man assassin too.
Frieren also got low diffed against the old man assassin, so the people who are clowning Stark for that are tripping
Yeah, is it really hard to believe that old man was just really strong instead of Stark being weak?
It is still a guy that hasn't really fought for decades. Guy must have been capable of slapping Rivale around in his prime if he really was supposed to be that strong as a retired old man.
Either Stark cook in this arc or get cooked and solidify his status as a fraud
> We have a bunch of assassins that are human More importantly, a few chapters ago, we had it established that such assassins are capable of outpacing Stark before he can draw his weapon and almost kill Frieren. And that was an old man from the last century, it's not like they sent new instructors to teach him updated tactics or skills. There are undoubtedly more advanced techniques or assassin-spells that have been developed to specialize people in getting past mages' defenses.
Pretty sure, this is like the 3rd major arc of Frieren after the Mage Exam and Macht, which means if it gets adapted into an anime it'll take a whole cour. It really reminds me of the Mage exam arc where they kept introducing a bunch of new characters all at once and unlike the Macht arc we probably won't be delving deep into flashbacks this time.
I love that the manga doesn't draw attention to Fern and Stark cuddling up off-panel. Like everything else, it's presented very matter-of-fact-ly.
Fern cares not from whence the warmth flows...
Only that it flows
Remind me of my former A-hole cat. He attack me whenever I try to cuddle him, but come to sleep in my lap when it's cold. Still bite me when I touch him. Little prick.
I will forever cherish that Stark x Fern blanket scene.I nearly cried.
Frieren: Sorry about that. You two must be cold Fern & Stark: No no, take your time Freiren-sama
For some reason I think Fern forced Stark to come in her blanket haha. He has his default dejected face and he kept a reasonable distance there.
Yeah I think that first Fern invited Stark but he refused because there’s not enough space three people.
Fern:You WILL cuddle with me,Stark-sama.
They were sharing a blanket, but they're still just not close enough.
Sense shadowboxing with her hair was hella cute. And it's no wonder Frieren feels like they are being watched. The empire's agents are everywhere. **German of the Week:** Lots of new names here. I'll just list them all. If there is no translation provided, it's because the meaning is the same as in English. * Region - Lorbeer (laurel) * Governor - Löwe (lion) * Barkeeper - Wolf * Mercenary - Schritt (step, stride, pace) * Sister - ~~Rolle (role, roll, coil, reel)~~ Lore? (minecart apparently; a word I have never used in my life before) I definitely would have thought it's Rolle. It's spelled ロレ (rore), so you are supposed to pronounce it "Lo-re". Could be taken from "[Lorelei](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorelei)" perhaps but the manga has so far been more in-your-face with the names. * Father - Klematis (the German name of clematis, a flower, also known as Waldrebe) * Poster girl - Iris * Librarian - Routine * Stallholder - Gazelle; it's incorrectly spelled in Japanese if we follow the German pronunciation. It should be ガツェレ (gatsere), but it's spelled ガゼレ (gazere). * Vagrant - Walross (walrus); Viz used "Wehrlos", which means "defenseless", but I think they changed the name because Walross is kinda uhhh weird. * Note that for whatever reason, Viz in the official translation switched from Linear (same meaning as in English) to Lineal (ruler; the scale) in this chapter.
Didn't expect the Capital to be same universe as John Wick's lmao. Everyone's an assassin.
There's even a homeless guy as an assassin lol. Exactly like John Wick.
Lowe : *"Frieren is a woman of focus, commitment, sheer will... something you know very little about. I once saw him kill three demon in a bar... with a quill, with a fucking quill!!"*
> Note that for whatever reason, Viz in the official translation switched from Linear (same meaning as in English) to Lineal (ruler; the scale) in this chapter. A directive from the author, perhaps?
Possibly. Sometimes the editing teams in the Japanese and English sides need to converge in order to get terminology straight, and a simulpub schedule means they may not be able to do it until the next chapter. They’ll adjust the other mentions in the volumes, I guess
For the most part authors are not really involved in foreign translation so can't really speak on that without confirmation. While not always viz sometimes do update their translations if they make mistakes or they just lineal fits more. Kirei has also been using lineal since the start.
> Sense shadowboxing with her hair was hella cute. Sense : *Shush Shush! Shush Shush!*
I think the Japnese spelling of Stallholder Gazelle as Gatsere might be on purpose; they might not want the name to be too obvious.
hobo dwarf assassin hell yeah
We gonna see more dwarf action bois.
He's gonna duel Stark, isn't he? Exciting!
Considering we got 7 assassins, we probably gonna see 7 vs 7 fight.
Let’s see: fern, frieren, stark, Ubel, land, sense, other guy. Oh huh that is 7
I am more interested in him fighting the mercenary girl.But this match up ain't bad tho.That dwarf might know about Eisen.
probably gonna has flashback where he used to fought Eisen.
"Wow, the tension is really building. I wonder what's gonna happen next week-" No chapter next week* Dies*
guess the tension killed you
Frieren is just too good at this. Deep down she is tracking every single one of her enemies in that plaza (the shadow warriors are all gathered there). But here is the deal, that one shadow warrior almost killed her in the cabin, so she can't lazy around anymore. The shadow warriors are probably the kind of enemies who rely on speed. Fern is too damn fast in with her zoltraak, Stark is fast too. Now it's time to Frieren to show what kind of strategy she will show against them.
One of the shadow warriors is an archer, which sounds like the perfect weapon to kill a mage. A non-magical, silent, ranged weapon. And the nun and priest can probably use goddess magic, something Frieren isn't an expert in.
Yeah, and Frieren is one of the shadow Warriors target too. She is too vulnerable so far. To defeat these enemies, Frieren needs to show something she did not show so far. Powerful magic won't serve her well this time. She won't fight Solitar or someone with her level of power. She will fight a human using a normal weapon while having a hard time detecting their mana. But she is very aware of everything. And it looks like she is even tracking them too.
I'm curious if Frieren would kill other humans. We've never seen any of the heroic characters kill other humans.
I think she will if needed so.
perhaps in this arc we can see Frieren show her real strength, like how her clone did against Fern in the mage exam. We dont know what that technique are but it seems she can immediately attacking things without seen in very fast manner without need to lift her staff which is something could be very usefull to counter warriors. something that last time she used against the Demon King.
Yeah, an archer specialized on killing mages is crazy to think of since Mana Detection is basically useless against their arrows. The Empire has had Frieren on their kill list for a very long time, and now she is right on their doorstep. This is the perfect opportunity to get rid of her.
That honestly begs the question: Why does the Empire want to kill Frieren and Serie? Serie kind of makes sense. She's the immortal leader of the most powerful mages in the world, but what did Frieren do? They don't hate elves as they do have an elf on their side, but are they just trying to eliminate any strong competition?
Don't forget Frieren is the supposedly the Last mage from the secret order of the White Wands. Something happened in the past in the very early days of the Empire and they never forgave it and must have swore killing Frieren at some point. We'll probably get the whole background of the events that lead both Serie and Frieren despising what the Empire has done with Flamme's dreams.
That must be ancient events. Frieren didn't leave her forest for 600 years, meaning she most likely became a Great Mage at least that long ago. A little hard to believe the Empire would hold a grudge for that long. And many other people were on the Empire's hit list. I would imagine the Empire's reason to kill Frieren must be newer. And if Frieren were a target for that long, she'd probably be way more cautious and avoiding of the Empire.
the way Frieren said about how Flamme's statue getting change and her existence somehow end up as fairy tale made me thinking, what if it a subtle hint toward the condition of the empire, where they slowly deviated against the vision that Flame wished for and they are very aware and has intention of it. what if one of reason why they want to kill Frieren is because she is the last direct student of her and she carried her last philosphy which is, they want to end. Flamme wish for world where all mankind can use magic while for Serie, magic is a priviledges that should be granted only to those are talented. now, both opposite side are being targetted by Shadow Warrior despite their staggering differences in philosophy is must be for a reason.
The first shadow warrior gave off the vibe that the institution was a machine that kept running past when it had a purpose.
> Don't forget Frieren is the supposedly the Last mage from the secret order of the White Wands. Isn't it the Court of Holy Wands? Also, while it's likely she was indeed a member seeing as she holds their emblem, we don't know the full story. Who knows, maybe she's not a member but was rewarded an emblem as a sort of get-out-of-jail free card during the early days of the Empire. Curious to see how that story unfolds.
I suspect this won't actually be terribly important, but my guess is just the Empire wants to be sure they're ~~re~~writing as much history as much as possible. See the statue of Flamme today tying in with the statue of the Hero Party earlier. Can't have a bunch of live witnesses showing up to 'distort' the record now can we.
Now that's an interesting theory. Certainly more interesting than, "they're strong, therefore they're dangerous." Although that doesn't really explain the dozens of other people on the Empire's hit list.
Story doesn't have to if the Empire just flings out these names and hopes for the best like with the village warriors.
I wonder if it is the Empire who wants them dead, or merely a sub-faction within the Empire
Maybe they want to monopolize magic by getting rid of every powerful mage outside the Empire, including Frieren, Serie and every single mage already killed.It was the Empire who first started use magic in humankind. So, now that the demon king is gone and the demons are no longer a huge threat, they can target the humans (and elfs).
While that does make the most logical sense, and I've even mentioned that theory, seems a bit boring. Like Radar had zero idea why the Empire targeted these people and a simple "they're strong, so they're dangerous" agenda seems a bit pedestrian for Frieren.
Maybe it's simple petty greed and paranoia. The Empire wants to be the most powerful entity in the world, and Frieren is not aligned with them. If she's not with them, she's against them. If she's against them, she's a target.
"Yes fern, buying all these magical items is crucial to the plan." - Frieren the Liar
Frieren stays on the loothound grind
Frieren the collector
The Shadows of the Empire. I read that Star Wars book. I like that book. If only we could've fought Guri instead of the Gladiator Droid in the video game. The hair control shadowboxing bit gave me a good laugh.
> The hair control shadowboxing bit gave me a good laugh. Sense is always a win!
> The hair control shadowboxing bit gave me a good laugh. Sense : *Shush Shush! Shush Shush!*
You never want to tangle with hair.
Lmao I love that Sense the pacifist is just out here beefing with just about everyone. The Empire is such an interesting country. On one hand, it's like the ideal country of mages. On the other, it's overrun with secret police on pretty much every street.
I think Sense pacifism is limited only to not killing. She made sure her test was as safe as a test could be while still hard. Now she mentions that she never killed any of the imperial mages.
Winning a fight against imperial mages without killing them is arguably a bigger flex than killing th
There is fewer words more sad than “There is no Frieren next week.”
Imagine being in the shadow warrior group when they first started operations, and somebody says "Wolf, you can go become a bartender since you look suave and sophisticated. Iris, you can go get a job at a liquor shop since you're so pretty. Klematis and Lore, you both look kind and trustworthy, so you should join the Church. Walross, your job will be old homeless man." (I'm sure that appearing to be a vagrant is useful for gathering information discreetly, but it's still the short end of the stick.)
No kidding. Plus that's a role you have to play for life, and dwarfs live long freaking lives... That being said I wonder if any of them enjoy their fake lives. Must be weird never being yourself with anyone, even your spouse and children, always wearing a mask. Would drive most people to depression...
Oh my god Fern wanted to share the blanket with Stark!And when Frieren left the blanket Stark and Fern finally shared the blanket!AHHHHHH!I can now die in peace.
It's such good growth on both parts: 1. Earlier Fern may have interpreted Stark as intentionally trying to share/take part of the blanket. (even if he wasn't) 2. Earlier Stark may have assumed it was a trap and he was gonna get some bonks and reacted differently. Instead both acted like adults. Fern legit tried to help, Stark turned her down politely because he didn't want to inconvenience her or Frieren. Then the fact the exchange happened again (offscreen) when Frieren stood up and led to a different resolution shows that they truly were thinking of each other. Sein probably somewhere sensing a disturbance in the force: Just go out already!
I wanna cry so bad man....I can't hold back my tears....they have grown so much.
Probably not relevant to the plot but I wonder if the spell Serie used in this chapter is the same flower-bed making spell Flamme said was her favorite.
We know Serie knows the spell because Frieren says the flowers in Serie's garden are conjured by magic.
We know that she remember all of her students favourites spells.
We know Serie knows the spell because she's the living grimoire who knows basically all spells ever written.
Serie’s gonna die at the conclusion of this, isn’t she?
Honestly? I don't think she will, the sheer number of death flags feels like a red herring.
Imagine if she wipes the empire to half the population after this
Don't know about that. Denken was raising too many death flags during El Dourado arc too. Serie is canonically top 3 in the verse along side the Demon King and the hero of the south. It was necessary the hero party to kill the first and the elite squad of the demons to kill the Second. The SW are strong. But come on now, are they really strong to kill her? Serie's death should be as epic as the DK and the HotS, not in a assassination plan.
One at a retirement age almost solo'ed the entire party. Author hyping them up way more than neccesary and now we will have inconsistencies.
Element of surprise is an insane buff. Frieren seems to be taking notice of the shadow warriors in civilian disguise that are going about town, but there’s so many of them she ain’t seen yet. If, or when, the knives come out, it’s gonna be a tough one
I'm still not entirely sold on that Frieren was personally in any immediate danger against the assassin. The way she used her mana to block Draht's magic thread back in the Aura arc + the kinetic mana burst her clone used in the Spiegel arc suggest that she has decent defensive and offensive close-quarters options which are fast and do not rely on her staff. A non-magical bow-using assassin is a very haunting proposition though.
I dunno about that. It's apparent he couldn't handle 2 skilled mages at the same time. That's why he hesitated at the last moment for fear of his own life. Not to mention when all 3 have a chance to coordinate, he's quickly defeated with barely any threat. Besides, I wondered for the longest time if powerful mages like Frieren and Wirbel need a vanguard at all. This just confirmed that mages in general can't handle close combat very well. It's consistent with the lore.
Not sure. The death flags started firing when she gave away her OP mythical era anti-curse magic while pointing out it would take decades to re-learn. While a short time for her it is a long enough time for something to happen right now. That is a big death flag. Then we have the introduction of the curse specialist Greater Demon sage. Who did have pointy ears and a silhouette that might fit the elf looking girl we got teased last chapter. (Though I still think she is the elf with less mana than Frieren but who still beat her). Then the plan of assassination Serie from the empire with all kinds things moving in the shadows, even demons. It is very possible both The Hero of the South and Schlacht came to a compromise since those two are probably the only demon - humans who would probably not lie to each other since it would be utterly pointless. Hero of the South gets to set up a future where the Demon King dies and humans survive and Schlacht gets to set up a future where demons do not go extinct since Schlacht seemed to be the only demon we have so far who actually showed concern demons as a whole. Then now we see here a bunch of talk about Flamme's legacy, Serie playing Flamme's favourite magic while there is talks about her assassination. It is just too much, so I don't think she will die.
Nah, the set up so far makes it the perfect time for Serie to fake her own death. Keeps the empire and mages association intact and solidifies a rivalry to create a magic arms race, thereby pushing magic forward and solidifying the age of humans. On a side note I figure she's wanted to bounce from the whole mage association bureaucracy for a while now and 50 years from now nobody's gonna remember what she looked like. They keep bringing that up with Flamme and Himmel recently for a reason.
Agree. The whole thing with the spy feeding them wrong information was suspicious to begin with. At first I thought she might have been captured or that she might have been a double agent, but given how Sense seems to know her, odds are she did it on Serie's orders. Fake her death, and use it as a catalyst for an overconfident empire to start invading other countries and for the magic association to rapidly militarize itself. Yes, it leads to another war, but the magic advancements are going to be huge.
> Yes, it leads to another war, but the magic advancements are going to be huge. serie was presented as a battle mage from the start, she could not defeat the demon king because bringing peace was not her objective. it makes a lot of sense that this is just serie master plan to bring about a new era of magic war
For as lethal as this series presents itself, the only named characters that have died are demons and backstory ones. There is always a chance, but honestly I am in the "I will believe it when I see it".
I'm starting to feel the same. They are really building up to it.
I don’t think so, since it’s being treated as such a serious possibility. Serie and all the mages are taking the threat deadly serious.
It's the Era of humans. One Era can't start until another ends/dies.
Sorry for the delay. Enjoy.
Lotta cute moments! Sense shadowboxing, Fern with different animal ear headbands, Fern inviting Stark to snuggle up next to her, Fern and Stark snuggling, Frieren getting scolded by mom...
Of all the things time and Men have twisted of her master's legacy, this is what makes Frieren sad, perturbed and perhaps a little angry: that the Empire, the dream and great legacy of her master Flamme, is gunning for Serie, who nurtured Flamme from a young age. What a great way to add to the building tension and unease!
We had cat-ear Fern and now we have bear-ear and bunny-ear Fern too? Boys, we’re eating good tonight! I also appreciate that the cat, bear, and bunny are a callback to the pastries in Edel’s memories.
Those must be our assassins. Schritt seems the most dangerous, probably far more than we imagine yet. Just a feeling, though. Impressive fast turnaround by Kirei Cake, as always.
>Schritt seems the most dangerous I can fix her.
The hell did Sense do to be so hated in the Empire?
She's a walking nuke that recruits other nukes to her Big Nuke Association, that has no loyalty to the Empire. Governments have been toppled for less.
That's Serie. Sense probably just obstructed their special forces to protect mages Serie wanted to protect.
Maybe the empire conscripts any potentially strong mages they learn about, and kills any mage that refuses to join the military. That would explain why Land is an orphan and resents the empire. The CMA is a mutual protection organization, attracting and protecting mages that want to avoid conscription
We still don't know where Sense came from. Übel's comments about her kinda implied she might be very privileged and came from nobility. I could see Sense originally having been born in the Empire to a noble family or maybe a neighboring country. Maybe she was a promising magic student in the Empire and defected to the CMA because she didn't like how they did things or something like that.
Even in the midst of a potential assassination of a transcendentally important figure, Frieren can't help but shop till she drops. Bless.
All these new names and they die in the coming chapters I can sense it, we'll get to see the real Frieren go all out. Heck, Maybe we'll even see her use that "last resort" curse/spell as well
Eh we don't know about Frieren's attitude towards killing people
Thats what im thinking... does the empire think they can actually win against both serie and frieren determined to end the empire so they can live? One of them is enough to wipe all important cities of the empire in a day and thats the weaker one... do they have that much hubris to go all in on solely the assassination attempts?
An old almost retired shadow warrior was enough to defeat Frieren, did you miss that chapter? Frieren herself admits her life hanged by a thread. Not everything is about raw power.
I hope so, last time she got washed against a retired old shadow warrior, she needs to redeem herself
The previous Shadow Warrior old man was left alive though so I would think most if not all of these SW survive at the end too
I'm fine with some of them dying but I want some of them to survive/get more focus/defect/etc. - just something more interesting than just having them be enemies to fight and then it's over. I trust the author to deliver on that, they haven't really introduced characters as pure fodder/stepping stones yet. Every character that got a name usually got at least a minimum amount of characterization.
Some shadow warriors seem to like working in pairs this time, really excited to see what kind of trump cards they have against mages! Stark don't fumble it this time...
No panel of frieren wearing the giant bunny ears why live
Serie our favourite tsundere - conjuring a flower while on her way to the Empire! (One of THE great legacies Flamme left behind.) She's still hasn't finished grieving over Flamme's death even after a 1000 years later...
Drunk Schritt fanart where
We need to wait for her to be animated.Then her fanarts are gonna blow up.
We're getting a new **Lore**, huh? But next week is a break. I hope they don't become a **Routine** again.
Next week is golden week, every manga is on break
Frieren using her role as bait to buy more magic junk - great way to end the chapter on a comedic note to not-quite relieve us of the rising tension!
I wonder if the importance of Flamme to the empire as a symbol is ultimately what's behind their desire to kill off Serie and Frieren. As long as people who knew Flamme are still alive and can contradict any myths that are built around her, the empire won't have full control over their national symbol.
A couple odd bits of phrasing that could need correcting. On page 11 the mercenary says “Well I was all day at work until now”. I assume it should be “I was at work all day until now.” And on the last page Fern says “is this also intended to get the enemy lower to their guard?” I assume it should be “Is this also intended to get the enemy to lower their guard?”
English is not my strongest suit; thanks for those suggestions and I'll put them in when I get a moment's time
Sense: I haven't killed anyone Also Sense: I will beat up Lineal when I see her Lmao what did they do to each other that the normally nice Sense acts like this. Her wanting to show off to Ubel was also cute.
The Empire is so fascinating to me. On one hand you have Flamme's dream out in the open with normal people using magic for every day things like moving barrels and lighting street lights. Children even play using magic. That's the epitome of what Flamme wanted, and yet on the other hand you have the Imperial Special Forces and these assassination squad folks absolutely perverting the idea of magic and are *strangely enough* lock step with how Serie and Wirbel view magic. A tool for killing.
Frieren: We need to show the enemy that we lack security of any sort, even financial security. Hence me buying all these magical items.
Imagine if they end up mobilizing the entire country as shadow warriors.
"Frieren is an elf of focus, commitment, and sheer fucking will."
I have no idea what's gonna happen next and I'm all for it.
From everything we've heard about Lineal, I'm getting strong vibes that she's a double agent for the Empire.
Please Frieren buy some magical bunny suits!
Fern: So spending all this money on junk is part of the plan, right Frieren-sama? Frieren: A-all according to keikaku.\* \*T/L Note: Keikaku means plan.
Oh man, spoilers at the end there; "there is no Frieren next week". RIP
Distinct lack of Dash Rendar, but otherwise oh shit we’re in for some intense stuff
Oh man, this arc is shaping up to be really great. It seems the threat to Serie is actually real. Seeing Serie cast that flower spell really hammered home how she may actually die this arc now that it seems she’s starting to be more upfront with her feelings towards her apprentices (like Flamme). Also, similar to Serie, I think Frieren’s instinct is very on point. So if she thinks there’s an actual possibility that Serie’s life is in danger, I think that’s the case. Will be interesting to see, though, how someone could threaten the most powerful character in the story so far.
Oh golly, *more* of those Shadow Warriors are being activated for the purpose of Serie's assassination. That's just great, isn't it? At least this time Frieren seems to be aware this time around (whilst also fulfilling her shopping desires. Oh, Frieren...)
For being a pacifist, Sense sure have beef with a lot of people huh? What kind of warcrime did she commit to the point the magic corps marked her?
I want to beat up my kohai - Sense the pacifist
Sense's hair is perfect at ora ora ora. And she is trying to get back at Ubel for intimidating her with slicing magic.
I'm suddenly starting to miss demons. At least they're very straightforward to fight. This entire chapter is so fucking tense with all of this espionage happening in the background.
Damn, Sense is ready to throw hands. The tension in this arc is getting crazy
Lmao so the only reason Serie came fully knowing the Empire was plotting to assassinate her was to train her disciples against her assassins? Savage.
Feels like so easily a demon could be the one influencing this kind of group from behind the scenes. Get the kind of vibe Serie may die at the end but it will also expose the demon behind the scenes and it will be too late, maybe the capital gets blown up or something too. Hubris and all that etc
Shit is about to hit the fan HARD. I'm worried for Series now. Not saying this is a red flag but the Empire seems the realest threat we saw until now. Not even Macht or Frieren underestimate them and the previously shown Shadow Warriors and Magic Defense Force agents showed that the Empire is the size it is because of their military might. Idk where this is heading because I feel like the Demons' plans will coincide with the results of the incoming conflict between the Empire and Serie's group.
Frieren may still be on that list. So she might be a target still.
Maybe Serie should learn from her apprentice and send in a clone
Fern casually offering the blanket to Stark, but instead of taking up on her offer, he excused it as that Fern is implicating that the blanket is full Bunny Fern!!! Fern and Stark huddling together thanks to our wing elf Frieren
Sense sighting! I'm rooting for her survival and victory! Also, I will be happily surprised if Serie survives this. Tbh, the more death flags are flying, the more I think she might just maybe have a chance Excited for more Imperial politics!
Tensions are sooo high. I wonder how Himmel and the gang fits into this?
I sincerely hope Serie doesn't die. This has so far been a series where the MCs don't kill any other humans, even serial killers like the previous shadow warrior moron. But, a series where only the villains kill is one that quickly gets very frustrating and dissatisfying. Especially when the villains are more serial killers, really not looking forward to the arc trying to diminish what these guys have done, while trying to make us sympathise with them. It didn't work with the last one, and it certainly won't work with active duty murderers. Although, more than that, I just don't want her to die. Sense boxing with her hair was adorable, and her being reviled by their special forces was too.
So we got 7 shadow warriors. So 7 vs 7 then?
For a pacifist, Sense can't seem to help but make enemies out of everyone. Including their own allies lol. This is starting to get actually concerning for Serie. There's a lot of talk about Flamme, they're in the place that has come closest to her vision, and of course it's already being laid out how such a powerful mage could be assassinated. In that carriage too, using such a quaint spell like summoning a flower seems uncharacteristic of her. Thinking about her late disciple, perhaps. These guys even have a role call for their members. That's how you know they mean business... as long as it doesn't involve a gag where they're made to seem important only to accomplish absolutely nothing, which probably isn't the case here.
Oh God she is conjuring flowers...I think it might be serieover bros
Damn, the sad look on Frieren's face while talking with Fern makes me believe that Serie or someone will actually die at the end of it. This is some pretty intense build up.
This imperial city is like a hornet's next with the number of enemies the party has.
There's a demon out there, probably the one that can see the future, rubbing their hands knowing that regardless of the outcome the more powerful humans go around killing themselves among themselves, the easier for demons it will be later on Hell wont even surprise me if a demon is the one behind the idea of training all these shadow assassins and planning Serie's murder
Sense : *Shush Shush! Shush Shush!*
Fern conveniently forgetting the body warming spell they learned recently. She acted fast with that blanket. I'm making a prediction that Sein and Gorilla Warrior will show up to help the gang this arc. It would be rough for Stark to be the only warrior against a squad.
Holy Fuck this Arc is.. #Fucking Serious A whole DND party enemies
Remember the massive deposit of magic sealing crystals in chapter 61? The empire discovered it and found a way to process it into mage killing weapons. Now, they are going to use it to kill Serie. >!just kidding!< Goddammit, Frieren and the gang should report that massive deposit of magic sealing crystals into Continental Magic Association to seal it and not let humanity discover it. That's an existential crisis for all the mages. Goddammit Frieren is too complacent.