Chapter 9

Phantom Corpse is the ninth chapter of Yamada Kanehito & Abe Tsukasa's Sousou no Frieren.

Summary
Twenty-eight years after the Hero Himmel’s passing, Frieren and Fern are in Wille Region. They reach a village whose people are disappearing after going over the mountain pass, supposedly taken by ghosts. The next day, the duo investigates and finds out Einsam the Phantom Demon is causing the disappearances. Frieren and Fern find and defeat him, and continue their voyage towards Aureole.

Plot Details
The chapter begins with a flashback of Heiter telling Fern to be a good girl and abide by everything Frieren says, jokingly saying that otherwise, he will materialize after his death. Fern then asks if he would materialize if she became a bad girl. Heiter notes her having grown cunning, wondering who she takes after. He states that if Fern remained good, he could materialize to see her for a bit. Fern then wakes up from her dream.

Twenty-eight years after the Hero Himmel’s passing, Frieren and Fern are in the central provinces, specifically the Wille Region. Frieren and Fern reach a village where a villager warns them not to attempt the path on the mountain pass, saying people have gone missing, supposedly taken by ghosts. The duo asks around and finds out that the villagers saw ghosts of their deceased relatives, just as if they were alive. Frieren states that this couldn't have been done by the undead, as they would look like corpses, and says this was done by a completely different monster, calling it a vulgar being and showing that she has some knowledge about the truth of the matter. Frieren and Fern decide to leave town first thing in the morning, going over the mountain pass.

When they reach the location where the disappearances were occurring, Fern notices traces of phantom magic, stating that she read about a monster that lures prey in through the use of phantoms. As the duo continues through, Frieren affirms that it is Einsam, the Phantom Demon, which lures people in by showing them phantom corpses of people beloved to them. She states that the phantoms are no threat to mages, as they readily disperse when hit with a high concentration of mana. Frieren asks Fern if she will be able to fire at them, to which Fern replies in the affirmative since she knows they are imposters. Frieren then states that she had to fire upon the phantom of her master who was begging for her life, which astonishes Fern. Frieren states that she had gotten used to her master's begging so she did not feel particularly guilty. However, it was still unpleasant. As they get closer, the duo enters a fog. Frieren tells Fern to fire without hesitation if a phantom appears. Suddenly, Fern hears Heiter call her name from behind her. As she prepares to shoot him, Heiter tells her that she has become more of a mage now and that he has chosen to materialize for her as she has been a good girl. Fern is stunned, thinking of how these are her own beloved memories, and she is unable to hear Frieren. Suddenly, Himmel appears behind Frieren. She thought her master would appear again, noticing how she might have also changed a little. As Frieren prepares to blast Himmel away, Himmel tells her to shoot him, causing Frieren to state that this is certainly something Himmel would say. The blast wakes up Fern from her daze, and she also fires at Heiter and Einsam (which had appeared behind Heiter), disintegrating it into black dust. As Frieren and Fern continue onwards, Frieren opts to meet Heiter for real the next time, as they are heading for Aureole, the land where souls rest.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Frieren
 * Fern
 * Heiter
 * Himmel
 * Einsam

Locations

 * The Wille Region

Battles

 * Frieren & Fern vs. Einsam

Spells

 * Unnamed magic that shoots a high concentration of mana (possibly Soul Track)

Tools

 * Fern's Staff
 * Frieren's Staff

Chapter Notes

 * Undead is a general term that is used to describe corpses controlled by magic, like zombies or skeletons
 * Fern felt concerned for the villagers because, according to her, she is a good girl
 * Fern read about Einsam in a book about magic ecology