Chapter 17

Frieren the Slayer (のフリーレン) is the seventeenth chapter of Yamada Kanehito & Abe Tsukasa's Sousou no Frieren.

Summary
Right after the events of the previous chapter, Fern and Stark sneak into Graf Granat’s mansion to rescue him. Meanwhile, Lügner tries to get Graf Granat to tell him how the barrier magic works, but to no avail. He leaves him to think over it carefully while trying to find a grimoire about it in his mansion. Stark enters the room and tries to free him, but Lügner and Linie return. Stark attacks Lügner but is unable to kill him. However, he gives an opening to Fern who was outside the window to shoot Lügner with magic. Stark and Fern escape with Graf Granat, and Lügner decides they will go after them as soon as he heals.

Plot Details
Right after the events of the previous chapter, Fern and Stark sneak into Graf Granat’s mansion to rescue him.

Upstairs, Lügner tells Graf Granat how demons devote their lives researching one particular magic throughout their life spans, and after years their magic becomes far more superior and further strengthens them. He says that to prevent demonic invasion, a protective barrier conjured by the Great Mage Flamme protects the town, and magic conjured by a prodigy from a millennium ago can still surpass the magic of today. He states that he despises prodigies, as they lack the beauty that comes form enhancement. Lügner turns around and asks Granat how the magic to control the barrier works, but he stays silent. He gives him time to think over it carefully and leaves the room with Linie, threatening the Graf with further torture if he refuses to tell them. Lügner then tries to find a grimoire relating to barriers in the mansion.

A while later, Stark enters the room and tries to cut the ropes which bind Granat to a chair. Granat notices him trembling, and calls him brave, saying his deceased son also trembled before he went off to the frontlines. Stark is unable to cut the ropes as magic has been cast upon them. Graf Granat tells Stark to forget about him and says the townspeople must be evacuated. He tells Stark that if he shows the sentinels the Granat family crest which is on his neck they will abide by anything Stark tells them. Stark refuses and is about to destroy the chair with his battleaxe but Lügner and Linie return to the room.

Lügner asks the Graf if Stark is his acquaintance, and he tells him that he’s one of the adventurers from the morning, and lies that he came to negotiate without realizing his mage companion had already escaped from prison. Lügner lets Stark off, but Stark stands in his way. He quickly gets behind Lügner and attacks him, managing to cut his shoulder. Lügner does a counterattack with his blood magic from the blood of his shoulder and subdues him, but Stark manages to protect his vitals. Lügner praises his reflexes. Stark smiles as he realizes Lügner and Linie did not notice Fern outside the window. He tells Fern he has given her the opening, and she uses it to blast Lügner, cutting his arm and part of his torso off. He is shocked that a human mage could slip past Linie’s mana detection. Linie is about to face off against Fern, but Lügner stops her and asks Fern what magic she used. Fern replies that it was typical offense magic, which demons call Soul Track. Lügner thinks she’s being absurd, saying demons conquered Soul Track over half a century ago. He then asks who she learnt the magic from, but Fern realizes he is stalling for time and aims to finish him off quickly, but Stark suggests they withdraw as the Graf is gravely injured.

Lügner tells Linie they will go after them after his bleeding stops, and that his blood is on them so they will not lose track of them. Linie suggests that Lügner doesn’t need to get involved, but he tells her that if she had been hit by Fern’s magic she would be dead. Lügner states that that magic has specialized to kill demons now. Fern’s conduct reminds him of someone and he says he was once inflicted with the exact same magic. Suddenly, Lügner remembers a scene from his past. Frieren is looking down on him from the top of a pile of demon corpses. He realizes the mage from the morning was Frieren, saying that she greatly contributed to the humans’ research of Soul Track, and is known as the mage who sent the most demons to the grave in all of history.

Lügner recalls Frieren's nickname: Frieren the Slayer, the kind of prodigy he despises.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Fern
 * Stark
 * Lügner
 * Graf Granat
 * Linie
 * Frieren
 * Aura

Locations

 * Graf Granat's Domain

Battles

 * Stark vs. Lügner

Spells

 * Unnamed magic that allows one to fly
 * Unnamed demon blood magic used by Lügner, allowing him to manipulate his own blood, sharpening and moving it in different ways
 * Soul Track

Chapter Notes

 * Stark and Fern snuck into the mansion by going over the premises’ wall and entering a window, and note how silent it is
 * It seems Graf Granat was badly tortured by Lügner, as he is bleeding from many parts of his body
 * Lügner did not even look at Stark when he entered the room
 * After Lügner subdues Stark, he states that whether it be demon or human, the young ones are always imprudent, aimless, and reckless
 * On the last page, the scene cuts to Frieren floating in the air, facing off against Aura and her undead army