Chapter 38

Meteoric Iron Bird, Stille is the thirty-eighth chapter of Yamada Kanehito & Abe Tsukasa's Sousou no Frieren.

Summary
Right after the events of the previous chapter, Frieren and Fern are in the Grube Basin, the location of the first stage of the first-class mage examination. Genau explains the exact rules of the first stage. First, each party must possess a cage with a bird native to the area, the "meteoric iron bird" called the "Stille", by sunset the next day. Secondly, all party members must be present and cannot leave the boundaries of the examination area, which has been demarcated with an impenetrable barrier spell. After explaining the rules, the exam commences. Frieren's teammates introduce themselves as Lawine and Kanne. Lawine spots a Stille in the middle of a lake, and though Kanne and Lawine coordinate their magic perfectly, it easily escapes. They proceed to observe more Stilles for the rest of the day. That night, Kanne is attacked by a bird monster but saved by Frieren who appears and restrains the monster. Frieren asks Kanne about her relationship with Lawine. Kanne recalls her first time learning flight magic and tells Frieren that Lawine is the one who showed her how to overcome frightening things. This causes Frieren to remember a moment with the Hero's Party and Heiter's words that adventurers overcome their fear in different ways. Kanne then points out something that may help them catch a Stille. Meanwhile, Fern returns to her party, having already captured a Stille, and Übel indicates that the first stage will soon turn into a battle royale.

Plot Details
Right after the events of the previous chapter, all the first-class mage examinees are in the Northern Lands, specifically the Grube Basin. The region is heavily forested with a lake in the middle and surrounded by a large barrier. All the examinees are gathered with their party members and each party is shown holding a small cage.

The proctor of the first exam, Genau, proceeds to explain the rules of the first stage. He holds up a cage with a small bird inside, which he introduces as the "meteoric iron bird", otherwise known as the "Stille". In order to pass the first stage of the exam, Genau says that each party, to which he has distributed a cage, must fulfill two conditions: they must possess a caged Stille by sundown the next day, and all three party members must be present. This means that leaving the examination grounds will result in the disqualification of a party. Frieren's teammates question the necessity of Genau's warning when he has put up a powerful barrier spell that completely prevents passage in or out of the examination grounds, even by a spec of dust. After his explanation, Genau announces that the first stage examination will now begin.

As the different teams begin to scatter, Frieren's teammates continue to fight over the cage and the team's priorities. One of the mages indicates that they should form a plan before they do anything, while the other argues that until they find a Stille, they can't make any plans to capture it. Seeing that there is no end to their fighting, Frieren tells her teammates to settle the matter of who holds the cage over rock-paper-scissors and directs everyone to introduce themselves as they walk. Frieren's teammates introduce themselves as Lawine and Kanne, both third-class mages who went to the same Academy of Magic.

After introductions, Frieren asks the two if they know anything about their target, the Stille. Both of them do not and Frieren admits that while she knows of the Stille, she has never seen one in person. She thus decides their first goal should be to find a Stille and observe it. The Second Party proceeds to traverse through the heavily forested Grube Basin in search of a Stille, all the while Kanne and Lawine continue to bicker and fight. Later in the day, as they walk into a clearing, Kanne begins to complain that she is tired. Though Lawine chides her, Frieren sits down on a log and asks if the party would like to take a break. Kanne is quick to sit down opposite Frieren but Lawine states that she isn't so tired as to need rest yet and decides to scout ahead. This incites another argument between her and Kanne, with Kanne saying they should stick together for safety and Lawine arguing it will be more time efficient if she goes ahead. Exasperated, Frieren asks Lawine whether she is powerful. Lawine quickly says that she is more powerful than Kanne, nearly causing another fight between the two, but Frieren interjects and asks Lawine if she is powerful compared to Frieren herself. This causes Lawine to grow serious and she tells Frieren that she would not want to fight her. Hearing this, Frieren tells her she is free to go scout, but to come back immediately if there is danger. As Lawine departs, Frieren advises her to be careful of the sky, which Lawine responds dismissively to as she was already aware of potential danger above them. However, Kanne reacts with confusion at Frieren's warning.

Left alone with Kanne, Frieren slumps on the log, wondering if their party will be alright. Kanne tells Frieren that she seems like a professor and that Frieren would make for a good leader, but Frieren refutes her by saying she is only stepping up because Kanne and Lawine keep fighting amongst themselves. This causes Kanne to apologize, and she mentions that she and Lawine have been this way since long ago. Kanne then asks Frieren what she meant when she told Lawine to be wary of the sky. Frieren tells her that her advice was literal, then questions whether Kanne has trouble sensing mana. Kanne wonders why Frieren wants to know, but before Frieren can reply, the two of them are interrupted by Lawine, who returns and reports that she has found a Stille.

Frieren and Kanne join Lawine by the lake, where a Stille is splashing in the shallows. Frieren praises Lawine and tells her party members to carefully observe the Stille, but she is cut off by Kanne casting water manipulation magic with her staff. Sensing the disturbance in the water, the Stille soars upwards, and Kanne manipulates the lake water into a spiral that follows it. However, Frieren notes that the Stille will be able to escape the water's reach. Lawine contradicts this as she casts her own magic, which freezes the Stille in the air within Kanne's water.

Frieren appears impressed by their teamwork, but she quickly kneels and tells her teammates to take cover. Shortly after, the Stille bursts out of its ice restraints and soars away at supersonic speeds. Frieren explains to her teammates that the Stille is highly robust and can fly faster than the speed of sound which makes most physical restraints meaningless for it. As a result, the best course of action for them to take would be to spend the rest of the day observing a Stille. Kanne and Lawine acquiesce, both of them commenting on the chance the party has wasted. Behind them, Frieren stands lost in thought about Kanne and Lawine's display of magic, noting that the two girls' timing and coordination could not have been achieved overnight and that with this, their team had potential in capturing a Stille. However, Kanne and Lawine begin arguing again, which causes Frieren to abandon her train of thought.

The Second Party continues to search the Grube Basin for Stilles. They find and observe a Stille by a pond and another perched atop a rock, though ultimately they capture neither. As night approaches, the party sets up camp in a clearing. Sometime later during the night, Kanne awakens to an unidentified sound. She notices that Frieren is gone from their camp and goes searching for her. As Kanne walks, she confirms that the sound that she has been hearing is rain, but to her confusion, there is nothing falling from the sky. Staring skyward, Kanne seems to realize the reason behind the rain not falling, but distracted by her own thoughts, she is caught by surprise when a large bird monster strikes her on her shoulder using its sharp tail.

Kanne is quick to summon her staff, but the bird monster strikes at her with its talons and knocks her down. Unable to reach her staff and with the bird monster looming over her, Kanne calls out for Lawine. She is saved by Frieren appearing from the sky and subduing the bird monster with magic. The two begin to walk back to the camp in silence, which Frieren eventually breaks to ask Kanne if she has calmed down after her ordeal. Frieren proceeds to ask Kanne why she called out for Lawine, since she had thought Kanne and Lawine hated each other based on all their fighting. Kanne agrees with Frieren, saying that she does hate Lawine, which leads Frieren to ask how Kanne and Lawine were able to synchronize their magic so well.

Kanne admits that she can freeze up at crucial times due to her cowardice and recalls an instance of her freezing up during her first flight magic training. During her training, she is sitting at the edge of a cliff overlooking a lake. Lawine is standing beside her while the rest of their classmates successfully practice their flight magic far off in the distance, a fact that Lawine points out in order to encourage Kanne. Lawine continues by saying that if Kanne does not have the courage to fly, then she can kick her off the cliff for a boost. This leads Kanne to say that she hates Lawine because she is always saying mean things and Kanne is the type who improves with praise. Lawine calls Kanne spoiled and says that she will praise Kanne when she is actually able to fly. Undeterred, Kanne tells Lawine to talk about her good points, to which Lawine at first responds dismissively, but after seeing Kanne's despondency, she admits that Kanne is a hard worker. Kanne prompts her to say more, so Lawine talks about the secret effort Kanne puts in, her attentiveness and care towards her peers, and that Kanne is cute when she laughs. Upon hearing this last quality, Kanne flat out refutes Lawine's words, saying that she is wrong, which causes Lawine to kick her off the cliff as she had earlier promised. Kanne, despite her screaming, is able to arrest her fall with her flight magic near the water. She is shortly joined by Lawine, who smiles and says that Kanne is able to use flight magic after all, so she won't be kind with her anymore.

Back in the present day, Kanne tells Frieren that despite Lawine's harshness, she has always led Kanne properly. She reveals the lesson she learned from Lawine: that even frightening things can work out well if left to impulse. This causes Frieren to recall a memory of the night before the Hero's Party confronted their first dragon, where Himmel notices Eisen's shaking and asks him if he is scared. Eisen quickly replies that he is, in fact, scared, and surprised, Himmel cuts his planned speech short. Himmel tells Eisen that he too is scared. Frieren calls out how strange their conversation is and Himmel apologizes, as he had intended to encourage Eisen by acting as another adventurer, but his plan didn't work as intended. Eisen refutes this and tells Himmel that because of his words, he is no longer nervous, and Heiter tells Himmel to just act as himself, since the way each adventuring companion deals with their fear surely differs.

Recalling these words, Frieren casts a glance at Kanne behind her and notes that Heiter was correct in his inference. As they continue to walk back, Kanne brings up the reason for the rain not falling within the examination grounds that she earlier deduced, and asks Frieren if it could be useful for capturing a Stille. Hearing this, Frieren begins formulating a plan to easily catch a Stille.

Meanwhile, Fern returns to her party with a Stille in a cage and tells them that they can relax since they have captured a Stille at last. However, her teammates warn that the first stage will only get worse from here, as their main objective must shift from catching the Stille to protecting the Stille. Übel smiles and declares that it's time for the battle royale to begin.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Richter
 * Denken
 * Laufen
 * Fern
 * Land
 * Übel
 * Lawine
 * Kanne
 * Frieren
 * Genau
 * Heiter
 * Eisen
 * Himmel

Locations

 * Grube Basin

Battles

 * Lawine & Kanne vs. Stille
 * Kanne & Frieren vs. bird monster

Events

 * First stage rules are introduced
 * The members of the Second Party are introduced as Frieren, Lawine, and Kanne
 * Fern, Übel, and Land catch a Stille

Spells

 * Unnamed magic used to cast impenetrable barrier
 * Unnamed magic used to manipulate water
 * Unnamed magic used to freeze water
 * Unnamed magic used to restrain monsters
 * Flight magic (used by Lawine and Kanne in a flashback)

New Tools Used

 * Kanne's Staff
 * Lawine's Staff

Chapter Notes

 * The Stille's alternate name, the meteoric iron bird, is derived from its qualities of being robust and able to fly faster than the speed of sound.