Chapter 21

Coward is the twenty-first chapter of Yamada Kanehito & Abe Tsukasa's Sousou no Frieren.

Summary
Right after the events of the previous chapter, Lügner lays on the verge of death. He realizes that Frieren and Fern have been limiting their mana levels, a despicable and cowardly act. Fern concurs, then finishes Lügner off. The story then flashes back to Frieren's past, where she encounters Flamme after her village was destroyed by demons. Flamme finds Frieren on the verge of death and decides to make Frieren her apprentice. The pair are accosted by demons in pursuit of Frieren, who judge Flamme to be weak based on her mana and call for her to leave Frieren behind if she wishes to keep her life. Flamme calls the demons arrogant and careless, before releasing her limited mana and destroying the demons. After Frieren heals, Flamme teaches Frieren how to limit her mana, and tells her to keep up her mana limiting for her entire life to deceive demons. The flashback ends with Frieren facing off against Aura. Aura's mana output is visibly greater than Frieren's, and Aura questions if it was the right call for Frieren to expend so much mana.

Plot Details
Right after the events of the previous chapter, Lügner lies against the walls of the city. Fern's magic has left a large hole in his chest. Lügner observes that the bleeding will not stop, and that it is the end of the line for him. Fern prepares to finish him off, and tells him that their plans have failed, but Lügner tells Fern that she is not wrong, but Frieren will not survive unscathed against Lady Aura. Without the Hero Party to protect Frieren, Lügner believes Frieren's mana to be no match against Aura's in a head-on fight. Fern tells Lügner that in that case, Frieren will surely win, for she would never fight a demon without some sort of trickery.

This is incongruous with the Frieren the Slayer that Lügner is familiar with. He recalls facing off against a Frieren floating atop a mountain of dissolving demonic corpses when he was much younger, and claims that Frieren the Slayer would always face demons head-on. Fern is silent, and Lügner begins to feel that something is off. He observes Fern's mana signature, which is weak, and concludes that rather being overpowered in mana, he was overpowered by the quantity of Fern's swift blows. Lügner wonders how Fern was able to deal so many blows without running out of mana. As he ponders, he abruptly realizes the truth of why Fern won, and that Frieren must utilize the same tactics. He calls them cowards and disgraces. Fern agrees with his assessment, then proceeds to finish him off with a blast of offensive magic.

In a flashback, the Great Mage Flamme is walking through the ruins of a village. Elven corpses lie in piles amidst razed buildings. She calls the scene before her absolute hell, and wonders if the establishment was once an elven village. Further into the village, Flamme comes across the disintegrating corpse of a large, armored demon who has been blown several meters backwards against the wreckage of a house. She notes that it is Basalt the Throne, one of the generals of the Demon King's army, who must have been sent to destroy the village with his troops. She then notices Frieren, the only survivor of the massacre, sitting at the edge of the blast zone. Flamme tells Frieren that she is an impressive mage, and asks her if she fought the demons face-to-face. Frieren's mana is significantly greater than Flamme's. Flamme calls Frieren a fool, telling her that there are innumerable other ways she could have faced the demons rather than fighting them head-on. As Flamme turns away, claiming that she cannot understand the mindset of strong mages, Frieren tells her that she should, for Flamme is a far greater mage than Frieren herself.

Impressed that Frieren would say that despite the clear advantage in mana that Frieren seemingly possesses, Flamme kneels and asks Frieren why she thinks so. Frieren tells her that it is just a hunch, and Flamme asks Frieren what her name is. She then puts Frieren on her back and the pair begin to trek through the forest. Frieren asks Flamme what happened to the village, and Flamme honestly replies that the entire village, women and children included, were massacred. Frieren tells Flamme that she was unable to protect the village, even though she was the strongest, and Flamme calls her an idiot once again for not fleeing. Frieren then requests Flamme to put her down, but Flamme rejects this. She tells Frieren that she has talent and that she will be Flamme's apprentice. To drive her point home, she tells Frieren that she had been on the verge of death when Flamme found her; not only did she fail to protect the village, but if she died, all her efforts would have been in vain.

After leaving the forest, Flamme stops when she notices that they have pursuers. From a glance at their mana output, Flamme observes that each of the three demons are stronger than Basalt the Throne. Flamme then comments on the hilarity of the demons' actions: they had originally completely masked their mana, intending on ambushing Frieren and Flamme, but upon realizing that their adversaries were mages, they instantly showed themselves. Flamme tells Frieren that while demons are cunning and cowardly, they at the same time possess a senseless pride in magic. One of the demons tells Flamme to leave Frieren behind. Their only order from the Demon King is to massacre all the elves, and so they could care less about Flamme's life. Upon hearing this, Flamme lets Frieren off her back. She tells Frieren that she does in fact perfectly understand how strong mages feel, so much so that she can read them like a book. She points out the confidence and faith strong mages have in the magic they devote their lives to studying, and then, directing her attention towards the demons, rephrases: strong mages, in other words, are arrogant and careless.

The demons in pursuit of Frieren react to Flamme's declaration with confusion, but before they are able to move, an enormous blast of mana lights up the forest. It clears away to reveal Flamme as its caster, the demons disintegrated and a large crater the only evidence of their existence. Frieren looks on with shock. Flamme tells Frieren that the demons, despite their skill and unlike Frieren herself, underestimated Flamme's strength, and as a result of their slight carelessness they were now dead. However, Frieren points out that rather than being misjudged in strength by chance, Flamme had limited her mana to achieve that exact effect. Flamme turns around and confirms Frieren's theory. Her mana, now unrestrained, dwarfs the demons' and Frieren's mana. She explains that she kills demons by tricking them into miscalculating the difference in their mana, a cowardly tactic that makes a mockery of noble magic.

Later, at Flamme's home, Flamme enters with a basket of herbs under her arm and observes that Frieren's wounds appear in a much better shape. She tells Frieren it is time for them to begin their training. As Flamme leads them through a forest, Frieren talks with Flamme about her hatred of the demons that took everything from her. Her only wish is to completely eradicate demons. And yet, she still likes magic: left unsaid is the implication that Frieren does not want to make a mockery of that which she loves. Flamme empathizes with Frieren, and tells her that because of their love for magic, they should be the only ones that have to make a mockery of it.

Consoled, Frieren asks Flamme what she must do for her training. Flamme tells her to try limiting the amount of mana her body emits to one-tenth its usual output. Frieren is able to do this with ease, and brushes aside Flamme's complement, stating that any elf could do the same with ease. Flamme then tells her that they will train in the fundamentals of magic at the same time that Frieren limits her mana, which will improve the base of her mana. Frieren wonders if that is all, and Flamme confirms, calling the exercise a piece of cake. However, when Frieren asks how long she must continue to limit her mana, since it's exhausting to limit her mana for too long, Flamme tells her that she must limit her mana indefinitely, just as Flamme does, for Frieren will deceive demons her whole life.

The flashback ends with Frieren facing off against Aura. Aura's mana output is vastly greater than Frieren's. Aura notes that Lügner is dead, and Frieren tells her that with that, all of her executioners have been wiped out and Aura has failed. Aura agrees that it is a pity she has lost her executioners, but if she can have Frieren's head, then that is a worthy prize all on its own. Behind Frieren stretches a graveyard of Aura's animated suits of armor, all disabled by Frieren's magic. Aura wonders aloud if Frieren expending so much mana in front of her was the right call, and prepares to use her Scales of Obedience.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Lügner
 * Fern
 * Aura
 * Frieren
 * Flamme (in a flashback)
 * Basalt the Throne (in a flashback)

Locations

 * Graf Granat's Domain

Battles and Events

 * Lügner vs. Fern
 * Aura vs. Frieren
 * Frieren vs. Basalt the Throne (mentioned)
 * Flamme vs. demons

Events

 * Fern defeats Lügner
 * Flamme teaches Frieren to limit her mana (in a flashback)

Spells

 * Unnamed offensive magic (may be Zoltraak)
 * Unnamed burst of magic

Chapter Notes

 * Flamme, Frieren, Fern, and Lügner all agree that limiting mana makes a mockery of noble magic
 * Flamme's home that she takes Frieren to is located in the Voll Basin. The house remains standing centuries later, guarded by an enormous tree and barrier planted in Flamme's time, and is where Eisen, Fern, and Frieren traveled to in Chapter 7 to locate Flamme's notes on conversing with the dead.