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.

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