After they reached the inn, Shichen booked two rooms—one for himself, Frieren, and Fern, and a separate room for Stark.
He was treating his little bro really well, letting him enjoy the same kind of spacious room they had. You don't find many great big brothers like that.
After a quick unpack and setup, Shichen took the three of them out to find something to eat.
The town was incredibly peaceful. Street snacks, elderly folks, kids—signs of a stable, quiet life were everywhere. And there were no demons in sight.
If Shichen hadn't changed the timeline, this town would've been approached for "peace talks" by demons… which would've turned out to be a trap.
Demons were humanity's natural enemy—untrustworthy, and something that needed to be wiped out.
Back then, when Shichen spared Aura, part of it really was because he wanted to leave some demons alive as a common enemy for humanity.
No outside threat means internal conflict is inevitable.
Of course, with the Demon King gone, the biggest enemy was already removed. Once society develops far enough, internal strife is bound to happen eventually.
But an external enemy could delay that for a long time.
Shichen felt he'd already done all he could for this world. When the time came, he'd take Serie and Flamme with him and let the world develop on its own.
That said… the reason it ended up being Aura was also partly because she was a cute girl.
He didn't have a bad impression of her, and the way she played the violin had actually looked pretty good.
Back then Aura had been scared into tears, begging in a pitiful voice. That sobbing, whiny sound—oddly similar to Kotori Itsuka's voice—had made Shichen hesitate to kill her. And since he already needed demons to remain alive anyway, he let her go.
Himmel and the others had been watching. At first they didn't understand Shichen's choice, but they still trusted him.
Later, he explained his reasoning.
They couldn't live long enough to imagine how the world might change, but the idea of someone with a long lifespan planning ahead made sense.
They weren't idiots—once they thought about it a little, they could see the possibilities.
More than anything, they simply trusted Shichen unconditionally.
And Shichen didn't have any "ideas" about Aura, either. Demons in this world didn't think like humans—and changing them was extremely difficult.
Even if someone looked cute or felt familiar, he couldn't truly like a species like that.
After wandering the town for a bit, Fern picked a restaurant, and the four of them went in to sample the local food.
Shichen ordered a lot. They had plenty of money, and Stark was a growing young man—no risk of leftovers.
The food was genuinely good: color, aroma, flavor—fully developed, not inferior to modern cooking at all.
They'd been drawn in by the smell in the first place.
No one disturbed them either; Shichen had set up a barrier to conceal their presence—just in case.
The town was peaceful and probably didn't even have troublemakers, but better safe than sorry.
Shichen didn't want his meal interrupted.
And besides, Frieren and Fern weren't the type to enjoy "hero saves the damsels" theatrics.
Shichen himself had long since grown out of that show-off phase too.
After they finished eating, they left the restaurant and headed back to the inn—only they hadn't walked far when a group of guards surrounded them.
Behind the guards was a middle-aged man who clearly carried high status.
He wasn't eyeing Frieren or the others; his gaze stayed fixed on Stark—especially his face.
Even though Stark was full and half-drowsy, he could tell he was the target, and he got nervous.
"B-Bro… someone important is here. Why is he staring at me? I'm scared…"
"Relax. He's not 'interested' in you like that," Shichen said calmly.
"Interested? What do you mean?" Stark didn't understand.
Shichen leaned in and explained in a low voice.
"Eek—That's terrifying!" Stark's face went pale and he yelped.
So the adult world had that kind of thing too?! That was way too dangerous for a guy like him!
The idea of being seized by some powerful noble and forced into that kind of situation made his skin crawl.
Terrifying.
"Um…"
The guards and the high-status man stepped up in front of them.
"What can I do for you?" Shichen stepped forward, calm as ever.
"Are you Frieren-sama?" The man finally pulled his eyes off Stark and looked at her.
"See, Shichen? I'm pretty famous~" Frieren said smugly.
"Obviously. This town has statues of us."
"Shichen-sama, I want to see your statues," Fern chimed in.
"No problem. I'll take you tomorrow."
"Um…" The man tried to speak again, since Shichen's group had started chatting among themselves.
"Oh, sorry. Go ahead," Shichen said.
"…If that really is Frieren-sama, then are you the 'Mysterious One'?"
"You're pretty sharp," Shichen didn't deny it.
"I never imagined the Mysterious One would still look so young after all these years… No wonder you kept your face hidden." The man sighed in amazement.
"I've heard that a million times. Just tell me why you're here," Shichen waved him off.
"…Right." The man turned back toward Stark.
"Y-You… what do you want?" Stark demanded nervously.
"You really do look exactly like him," the man said, eyes distant with memory.
"Huh? What—exactly like who?" Stark froze, his paranoia instantly switching tracks.
"My son," the man said softly. "You're almost identical to my son who died."
"What?! You meet me once and call yourself my dad?! Don't push it!" Stark shouted.
Now that he knew the man wasn't "that kind" of interested, he had his bravado back.
After all, his big bro was here.
"It's true. You're exactly like my late son. When the guards told me, I didn't believe it—until I saw you myself…"
"Guards?"
"Probably at the city gate," Shichen explained. "The gate guards were staring at you pretty hard."
"What?! You noticed that and didn't tell me?" Stark whined.
"Tell you what?" Shichen shot back.
"…Yeah, fair." Stark realized it himself. Shichen couldn't have known this "dead son" connection from a glance.
"Who are you, anyway? Why are the guards being so respectful?" Stark pressed, not intimidated by status at all.
"I forgot to introduce myself. I'm the lord of this town," the man said, then immediately got to the point. "And I'd like to ask you for a favor."
"A favor?"
The lord's request was simple: he wanted Stark to pretend to be his son and appear at an upcoming ball.
The ball wasn't about flaunting wealth—it was meant to proclaim peace.
In truth, this town had been fighting demons for a long time, and the lord's son had died in that conflict.
But aside from the lord and a handful of soldiers, no one knew.
To reassure the public, he needed proof that the situation was stable—and having his "son" appear would be the best proof.
Hearing the lord's explanation, Stark felt sympathy and agreed to help.
Shichen didn't stop him. He and Frieren's group would attend the ball as guests too.
With Frieren—the famous mage—present, it would look even more like things were safe.
Shichen, however, decided not to reveal his own identity.
Of course, a ball meant dancing. Stark, as the lord's "son," would have to dance, but he had zero training.
Luckily, the ball was still a few days away—enough time for some crash-course practice.
Shichen also planned to dance—with Fern and the others.