Chapter 34

The Statues of Heroes is the thirty-fourth chapter of Yamada Kanehito & Abe Tsukasa's Sousou no Frieren.

Summary
Twenty-nine years after the Hero Himmel's passing, Frieren's Party is traveling along the Rohr Road. Sein stops to talk to a farmer, and reminds the party that his reason for journeying is to reunite with his best friend. The friend's name is Warrior Gorilla, while Sein's nickname is Priest Goatee. They stop by a town before the road forks off into several paths where Sein asks about Gorilla. He is directed to a granny who was close to Gorilla, but she makes the party help with several errands before she tells them anything. The final errand is polishing a statue of some forgotten heroes that look like Sein and Gorilla, but Frieren realizes the Gorilla lookalike is Kraft. Sein, now knowing one of the forgotten hero's names, recalls standing with Warrior Gorilla next to a statue of the same forgotten heroes with Heiter. Gorilla vows to be a hero that is remembered like Himmel and dubs himself Warrior Gorilla, as to not be forgotten, a hero must have an unforgettable name. In response, Heiter gives Sein the nickname Priest Goatee, claiming he will one day match the other forgotten hero. As Sein and co finish polishing the statue, the granny tells them that Warrior Gorilla headed towards Tür, which is the opposite direction of where Frieren's Party is headed and leaves Sein unsure of what to do.

Plot Details
Twenty-nine years after the Hero Himmel’s passing, Frieren's Party are in the Northern Lands, specifically the Rohr Road.

While traveling along the Rohr Road, Sein stops to ask a farmer some questions, and is questioned in turn by the party about why he's on a journey. He tells them that his goal is to reunite with his best friend, who went on a journey a decade ago. He shows them a picture of him and his best friend, which was taken by a mage that visited their village a long time ago. Frieren asks him if he has any leads, and Sein tells them that he has met many eyewitnesses already and that they should be fine if they keep traveling north. Stark finds it odd that there are so many eyewitnesses, but Sein tells him it's because of his friend's distinct name. His friend's name is Warrior Gorilla, which Stark doubts, so he asks for his real name. Sein does not know. He tells Stark that he was always called Warrior Gorilla by the villagers, most likely because he asked them to call him that. Sein then tells them that his nickname is Priest Goatee, prompting Frieren to ask if he was called that even before he grew a goatee. Sein, ignoring this, then says that the party just needs to know his friend's name is Warrior Gorilla since that is the name he goes by. Stark calls this Warrior Gorilla strange, and Sein agrees.

The party then arrives at a bridge which stands atop a great gorge. Frieren tells them that if they continue walking for a week after crossing the bridge, they will arrive at the Magical Town of Äußerst. Fern complains about how long the journey has been, and Sein suggests that they stop by the town next to the bridge since the road branches off. As soon as they get into town, Sein begins asking for clues about his friend. One villager tells him that Warrior Gorilla left an incredible impact on the town because he exterminated the monsters that appeared around the town. Sein asks if the villager knows where Warrior Gorilla went, and he is directed to a stubborn granny who was close with Warrior Gorilla. They meet the granny atop the hill that her house stands on, and she tells them that she will not tell them the information easily - they will have to fulfill a few requests for her first.

The party completes the requests, with Stark complaining to Frieren that they are just running errands. Frieren tells Stark that when she was adventuring with Himmel, this was an everyday occurrence. She adds that those errands would devolve into annoying item searches or monster exterminations. Frieren says that they should try and open up to the granny's heart. They then do many requests for the granny, but the granny still acts coldly towards them. Frieren apologizes and tells them that if it was Himmel or Heiter, she would've opened up in half a day. Fern tells them it's because their group is filled with awkward people. The granny asks them for one final request and tells them to follow her to polish hero statues. She tells them about a stone statue of the Great Heroes who saved the world a long, long time ago, but have since become forgotten heroes whose names are a mystery. She then tells Sein offhandedly that he is Priest Goatee, and Sein asks her how she knew that. They arrive at the statue, which Fern says has a resemblance to Sein and Warrior Gorilla. Frieren interjects that the warrior that is beside the Sein look-alike is likely Kraft. The party then gets started on cleaning the statues, but Sein stands distracted in front of the statue of Kraft. He muses that the hero's name was Kraft all along, and then asks about the name of the other hero. Frieren tells Sein that she does not know.

Sein then recalls a scene from when he and Warrior Gorilla were younger. They are standing next to a statue of the same forgotten heroes with Heiter. Heiter asks who those depicted by the statue are, but Warrior Gorilla just tells him that they look like him and Sein. He then says that according to the mayor, the people in the statue used to be heroes, but no one even remembers their names anymore. Warrior Gorilla then declares that he and Sein aren't going to end up like that and that he is going to become a hero as unforgettable as Himmel. Heiter tells them that any hero will eventually be forgotten and that Himmel will not be an exception. Sein agrees with Heiter. However, Warrior Gorilla is undeterred and says that if he trains, maybe he will become as strong as the forgotten heroes. He also decides to go by the name Warrior Gorilla. Sein asks why, and Warrior Gorilla tells him that if you want to be an unforgettable hero, it's important to have an impactful name. Heiter is amused by this and then tells Sein that in that case, Sein will be Priest Goatee. He tells Sein that he will definitely match the goatee of the other forgotten hero in the future.

In the present, Frieren's Party finishes polishing the statue. Sein says that it was a pain, and Frieren says that if it was bronze she could have used magic instead. The granny tells them that she asked Warrior Gorilla to do the same task, but he couldn't do it as well as them. Sein says that all that Warrior Gorilla is good for is fighting. Though she does not disagree, the granny smiles and says that his name was nevertheless impactful. She recalls sitting with Warrior Gorilla, and tells Sein that Warrior Gorilla often spoke of him and told her that the two of them would engrave their names in history forever.

After talking with Sein, the granny sees them off on Rohr Road. Frieren asks Sein if he found out where Gorilla went, and he tells him that Gorilla went to Tür. Tür is a commercial town in the middle of the Northern Lands. Frieren notes that it is the opposite direction of Äußerst where the rest of the party is planning on heading, leaving Sein unsure of what to do now.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Frieren
 * Fern
 * Stark
 * Sein
 * Warrior Gorilla
 * Village granny
 * Himmel
 * Heiter

Locations

 * Rohr Road
 * Town next to the Rohr Road

Events

 * Frieren's Party arrives at the town next to the Rohr Road
 * The party polishes a statue of the forgotten Great Heroes
 * Sein gets information on Warrior Gorilla's location

Spells

 * Unnamed magic that produces photographs
 * Flight magic
 * Unnamed offensive magic
 * Unnamed magic that de-rusts bronze statues (mentioned)

Chapter Notes

 * The granny's smile when talking about Warrior Gorilla shows he was able to open up her heart, just as Himmel would have been able to
 * Frieren states that if the statue were bronze, they could have cleaned it with magic, referring to the magic that de-rusts bronze statues that Frieren and Fern obtained in Chapter 3