Chapter 30

Mirrored Lotus is the thirtieth chapter of Yamada Kanehito & Abe Tsukasa's Sousou no Frieren.

Summary
Frieren's Party arrive in the Bande Woods and catch a ride on a wagon. Frieren discuses the bracelet Stark bought Fern for her birthday, which shares the same mirrored lotus flower design as a ring Himmel previously purchased for Frieren. Their discussion is interrupted by an attack from a bird-like monster, who lifts their wagon in the air. Frieren jumps out of the wagon and blasts the monster in midair, dropping them to the ground and damaging the wagon in the process. While the party works on reparations, Frieren realizes she has lost Himmel's ring. Meanwhile, Sein reveals that the mirrored lotus represents eternal love, much to Stark's dismay and Fern's annoyance. After the wagon is fixed, Fern realizes that Frieren has lost her ring and assists her in searching for it. With the aid of magic that seeks out lost accessories from the merchant, they locate the ring. As the party proceeds onwards through the woods, Frieren reflects on how she obtained the ring and that she is happy she did not give up on it.

Plot Details
Twenty-nine years after Hero Himmel's passing, Frieren's Party arrive in the Bande Woods of the Northern Lands. They travel in a horse-drawn wagon, and Frieren thanks the driver for taking them along as wagons weren't common in the area. The driver reveals that he is also looking for help: he is a merchant for the next village, and since his family runs a shop, he asks if the party would be interested in checking it out. Frieren responds that she herself is not interested but directs him to Fern, who is more well-versed in the field. She looks over and spots a new bracelet on Fern's wrist and comments on the design, as she has a ring gifted from Himmel that has the same decoration, and her ring and the bracelet are likely part of the same set.

Frieren begins digging through her luggage in search of the ring, but she is unable to find it due to the unkempt state of her luggage, which Fern chastises her for. She finally finds the ring, and immediately after, the wagon is lifted by an enormous bird. Frieren apologizes for being distracted and not detecting it earlier, commenting on the ability of bird monsters to adeptly mask their mana. Stark suggests they fight the bird and use flying magic to safely land the wagon, but Frieren asks if he has ever seen a wagon fly and begins to point out that humans have only recently been able to fly in the last forty years from copying flying magic from demons. Stark requests she go directly to the point, and she states flying magic cannot be used freely like he requested as its principles are still not known. Thus, objects larger than humans can only be made to fly for a short period of time, which is not enough to safely land.

With their options limited, Frieren proposes they simply escape and asks Fern to take Sein while she herself takes the merchant. Stark asks what he was supposed to do, and Frieren tells him to fly down, but Stark reminds her that he will fall to this death. Frieren comments that he, a warrior, wouldn't die from falling from that height, which Stark vehemently disagrees, and Frieren mentions she finds that strange, as Eisen would always survive free falls without injuries no matter the height, which even Heiter was shocked by. Fern brings up the option of levitating the wagon right before it hits the ground and calculate if they can break their fall, and Frieren, deep in thought, mumbles that they must break the momentum or they will be crushed, much to Stark's dismay.

Sein points out that they should make their decision soon, as the bird monster hunts its prey by dropping it. Frieren agrees and immediately heads out and blasts the monster, decapitating it. Subsequently, the wagon begins falling and Stark screams at Frieren to not make them suddenly drop. They crash into the ground, but everyone, including the horse, manage to survive the fall without any prominent injuries. Sein heals the horse and Frieren apologizes to the merchant for getting them into the situation, but he tells her not to worry and thanks her instead as he would've died if he had been traveling alone.

The group begin reparations for the wagon, and as Frieren goes through her luggage, she realizes her ring from Himmel is missing. As others set up camp and discuss the warmer weather, Sein notices the bracelet again and Fern reveals it was a birthday gift from Stark. Stark pitches in and laments how it took him three hours to pick out, with Fern stating that she had let him pick freely. Sein listens in and comforts Stark about how painful of a situation he must've been in, and Stark complains to him about how he had to try and read Fern's face for three hours while picking out the gift. Fern listens in on them and internally tells them she can hear everything they are saying. Nevertheless, Stark expresses relief that she ended up happily accepting the gift.

Sein compliments Stark's nature, as he had expected him to be much less charming. With his floriography knowledge, he reveals to Stark that the mirrored lotus flower on the bracelet's design means eternal love, and a gift with the flower is meant for those he loves. Fern, listening in, questions him, and Stark asserts that he wasn't aware of its meaning. He exclaims that he has no knowledge on floriography and that everything was a misunderstanding, and Fern bitterly calls him an idiot. He points out that Fern was unaware of the meaning too and asks if she would like a different gift instead, but Fern rejects the idea, given the amount of time Stark had put in to finding the gift, and she tells him never to bring up such an idea again. As Stark apologizes, an amused Sein looks on.

The group camp out for a couple of days as they make reparations on the wagon. Every night, Frieren leaves the campsite to search for something, which Fern picks up on. On their last night at the site, Fern asks what Frieren was looking for and she tells her the ring that Himmel gifted was missing. Fern offers to help look and tells her that they can delay their departure, but Frieren explains that she is used to losing things and Himmel has given her other gifts, so she will give up on searching if she isn't able to find it that night. As they look, Fern points out that if the ring has the same design as her bracelet, it would also mean eternal love. Frieren discloses that she was not aware, and Himmel was likely unaware as well, as she doubted he was interested in floriography. However, Fern expresses that it must be important to her and gathers the rest of the group to aid in their search.

After learning about the missing ring, the merchant gives Frieren a spell for magic that finds lost accessories, a spell that was frequently used in his village, and a reward he intended to gift after their ordeal. Frieren accepts it and flies through the sky while using it, eventually detecting it in the forest. She think back to when Himmel first offered her a gift as a reward for her hard work in one of their quests at an accessory shop, even though she would rather receive something from a magic shop. She quickly picks out a ring and Himmel observes it for a while, smiling and thanking the shop vendor. As they continue walking, he hands the ring to her, kneels down, and slides it onto her finger.

With her lost ring found, Frieren happily reflects on the memory and Fern mentions she must be glad to have it back. Frieren asks Fern about the bracelet and Fern calls Stark an idiot for it as he pouts.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Merchant
 * Frieren
 * Fern
 * Stark
 * Sein
 * Eisen
 * Heiter
 * Himmel

Locations

 * Bande Woods

Battles

 * Frieren vs. birdlike monster

Events

 * Frieren finds her lost ring

Spells

 * Offensive magic (possibly Zoltraak)
 * Flight magic
 * Unnamed magic that levitates objects
 * Goddess' magic
 * Magic that seeks out lost accessories

Chapter Notes

 * Himmel has displayed interest in flowers and floriography numerous times, implying he understood the meaning behind the ring he bought for Frieren.