Chapter 3

Blue moonweed is the third chapter of Yamada Kanehito & Abe Tsukasa's Sousou no Frieren.

Summary
Twenty-six years after Himmel’s passing, Frieren and Fern are in the Turk region. They have been doing simple jobs for strange magic as rewards. They come upon a village, whose herbalist asks them to clean a statue of the hero Himmel, who once fought for the village when a monster attacked it. After cleaning it up, the herbalist thanks them, and thinks of planting some flowers around the statue to add more color. Frieren almost uses magic that can produce flower beds, but she stops and decides that a blue moonweed flower would be best, although she has never seen it before, as it is the flower of Himmel’s hometown. She asks the herbalist, who takes the duo back to her shop, and explains that long ago, all the flower fields within the forest were destroyed, and there hasn’t been a sighting of blue moonweed for several decades on the continent. Meanwhile, Fern tries to hide a couple of seed rats, which are harmful animals that eat seeds, in her cloak but gets caught by Frieren, so she returns it to the forest. The duo decides to look for some blue moonweed, because if they are able to analyze a life specimen, they will acquire magic that will allow them to make the flowers bloom. Six months pass, and they still haven’t found any blue moonweed. Although a trivial time for Frieren, Fern starts becoming impatient. Alone, she goes to the herbalist and explains that Frieren should not be spending her time on something nonexistent. The herbalist gives her a pouch of seeds of a related species as a substitute and tells Fern to convey her feelings to Frieren. Fern talks to Frieren, who understands and says they will stop after a little more searching. At the same time, a seed rat steals the pouch of seeds and runs away. The duo pursues it and eventually reaches an abandoned watchtower where many seed rats can be seen. Frieren picks up a flower petal that was on the ground near it. She explains that seed rats hide their feed by burying it in a safe place, but they often forget where they hide them. Frieren flies up to the top of the watchtower, and finds a multitude of blue moonweed flowers. She analyzes a specimen and plants the flowers around Himmel’s statue. The herbalist thanks them, and Frieren and Fern continue their voyage.

Plot Details
Twenty-six years after Himmel’s passing, Frieren and Fern are in the central provinces, specifically the Turk region. They help a farmer harvest some pumpkins and get magic that produces warm tea as a reward. Fern comments that they have only been doing simple jobs, and Frieren replies that that is what it means to be an adventurer. She also notes that they have only been acquiring strange magic, such as magic that turns sweet grapes into sour ones and magic that de-rusts bronze statues. Frieren states that it is a hobby of hers.

They come upon a village, whose herbalist asks them to clean a statue of the hero Himmel, who once fought for the village when a monster attacked it. The statue is in terrible shape. The herbalist is too old to maintain it and the villagers are no longer concerned about it either. Frieren believes it is karma, as when the villagers said they could build him a statue, it took him 18 hours to decide on a pose, which enraged the elderly artisan. In the end, he settled with a foolproof pose. The herbalist calls it a curious story and recalls that there was an elven mage in the hero’s party as well, to which Frieren smiles.

After the Frieren and Fern clean the statue, the herbalist thanks them, and thinks of planting some flowers around the statue to add more color. Frieren almost uses magic that can produce flower beds, but she stops and decides that a blue moonweed flower would be best, although she has never seen it before, as it is the flower of Himmel’s hometown. She asks the herbalist, who takes the duo back to her shop, and explains that long ago, all the flower fields within the forest were destroyed, and there hasn’t been a sighting of blue moonweed for several decades on the continent. Meanwhile, Fern tries to hide a couple of seed rats, which are harmful animals that eat seeds, in her cloak but gets caught by Frieren, so she returns it to the forest. The duo decides to look for some blue moonweed because if they are able to analyze a life specimen, they will acquire magic that will allow them to make the flowers bloom. Fern asks if Frieren is doing this for Himmel, but she replies that it is definitely for herself.

Six months pass, and they still haven’t found any blue moonweed. Although a trivial time for Frieren, Fern starts becoming impatient. One day, she goes to the herbalist’s shop alone and asks her if she thinks they will find the blue moonweed. Fern explains that Frieren’s attachment or magic is abnormal and that at this rate they will keep looking for it for years or even decades. She says that Frieren is a mage who has the power to save many people and should not be spending her time on something nonexistent. The herbalist smiles and hands Fern a small pouch, and says she is sure that Frieren will understand if Fern conveys her feelings to her honestly.

Fern goes to Frieren and expresses her thoughts. She shows her the pouch that is revealed to contain seeds of a related species the herbalist stored. Fern suggests planting these around Himmel’s statue instead. Frieren understands and says they will stop after a little more searching. At the same time, a seed rat steals the pouch of seeds and runs away. As the duo pursues it, Fern asks Frieren why she is acquiring magic, to which she again replies that is her hobby. Fern states that it does not seem like it.

Frieren recalls a memory from the past when she was with the hero’s party. She used magic to produce a field of flowers, which excited Eisen and Heiter, causing them to prance around and play in it. Heiter merrily places a flower crown on Eisen’s head, causing Frieren to remark disgusting. Smiling, Himmel places one on Frieren’s head as well.

Frieren then tells Fern that it is because there was a fool who praised her for the magic she acquired. Fern calls it a silly reason, and Frieren concurs. They eventually reach an abandoned watchtower where many seed rats can be seen. Frieren picks up a flower petal nethat was on the ground near it.. She explains that seed rats hide their feed by burying it in a safe place away from enemies, but they often forget where they hide them. As Frieren flies up to the top of the watchtower, she recalls another memory from the same day. Himmel tells Frieren about blue moonweed, the flower of his hometown, and says that he wants to show it to her someday. When Frieren reaches the top of the watchtower, she finds a multitude of blue moonweed flowers, remarking that she didn’t expect there to be this many. She also remarks that Himmel was pretty late.

As Frieren analyzes a specimen, Fern also reaches the top and is surprised that they found it. She says she cannot fathom why Frieren dedicates her entire heart and soul towards magic. Frieren says she is sure Fern understands, as she also has not given up on becoming a mage. Fern disagrees, saying she was simply content with any power with which she could survive on her own. Frieren disproves her, as she did choose magic, and Fern agrees.

Frieren plants the flowers around Himmel’s statue, and the herbalist thanks them, thinking she would never see blue moonweed again. She is sure that the statue will never be forgetten now as well. As the duo leaves, Frieren places a blue moonweed crown on Himmel’s statue’s head, similar to how he did to Frieren in the past. The herbalist remarks that it is lovely, and Frieren and Fern continue their voyage.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Fern
 * Frieren
 * The herbalist
 * Eisen
 * Heiter
 * Himmel

Locations

 * Turk Region

Events

 * Blue moonweed species rediscovered
 * Blue moonweed species restored

Spells

 * Unnamed magic that produces warm tea (mentioned)
 * Unnamed magic that de-rusts bronze statues
 * Unnamed magic that turns sweet grapes sour
 * Unnamed magic that produces flower beds
 * Unnamed magic that analyzes specimens
 * Unnamed magic that produces butterflies made of light (used by Fern it in a flashback)

Tools

 * Fern's staff
 * Frieren's staff

Trivia

 * The herbalist was a young girl when the hero Himmel saved her village
 * Himmel's statue is made of bronze
 * The blue moonweed's related species that the herbalist stored has medicinal properties
 * Seed rats bury their feed in many different places, that is why they often forget where they hid them