Chapter 31

Chaos Flower is the thirty-first chapter of Yamada Kanehito & Abe Tsukasa's Sousou no Frieren.

Summary
Twenty-nine years after the Hero Himmel's passing, Frieren's Party travels through Laub Hill. Sein is complaining due to the lack of variety in party members. The party soon approaches a village, where they notice the villagers are all sleeping. As Sein examines them, he identifies that the villagers have been cursed by a monster. He asks the party to hurry as the easiest way to dispel the curse is to eliminate it. However, before they leave the village, Stark falls asleep as well, followed by Fern some time later. Sein and Frieren proceed onward, until Sein senses the presence of a monster. Hearing this, Frieren tells Sein to wake her when the monster appears before succumbing to the curse as well. Sein then proceeds to engage in a fight with the monster, a confusion flower that reflects magic. Having trouble against it, he decides to awaken Frieren, trusting in her words that she would defeat the monster, which she proceeds to blast with offensive magic. After awakening, the villagers thank the party, who proceed to head on their way.

Plot Details
Twenty-nine years after the Hero Himmel's passing, Frieren's Party is traveling through the Northern Lands, specifically Laub Hill. While travelling along a path,Sein comments on something lacking in Frieren's Party. Frieren and Fern try to guess what is missing, with Fern thinking it's a theif, since Frieren always falls for mimic traps. Fern guesses wrongly, as Sein says that what they are truly missing is a mature older woman, since he claims a party should at least have one. Stark tells him that Frieren is an older woman, but Sein says that she's no lady. Trying to quickly get this conversation behind them, Stark says that they are almost at the next village.

When they arrive in the village, they notice something peculiar. Everyone in the village seems to be asleep. Frieren and Sein inspect the villagers, and conclude that a curse has been cast on them. Stark asks Frieren what a curse is, with her saying that a curse is a spell employed by a demon or monster, which humanity does not yet understand, which can petrify or put people to sleep. She also says that they still haven't figured out a way to lift them using human techniques, which makes Stark say that the village is done for. Frieren then tells Stark that it only applies to human magic, with the 'Magic of the Goddess' the priests use being effective in lifting them.

While Sein determines what the curse is, Stark asks Frieren what makes the 'Magic of the Goddess' different from others. She says that they are recorded in holy scriptures, with only the ones in possession of those scriptures being able to use them. She also says that the principles of that magic are barely understood, like demon magic, so they don't appeal to her. Besides that, Frieren also tells him that it's hard to handle unless you are a natural talent for them, called 'The Blessing of The Goddess', which also has the added effect of making them more resistant to curses. Stark then asks if even she has a hard time defending against them, she tells him that mages cant sense them, although it does feel like they are being attacked so she can tell that the village is still being effected by the curse.

Sein finishes determining what the curse is, claiming that is is rather unique. He then adds that it'd be quicker to just strike at the source and then says that the source is a monster and that he has figured out its location. While they were talking Stark fell too the curse, Frieren then asks if Sein can lift it, with Sein telling her that he'd only be able to keep him awake for 5 seconds.

They then proceed to travel towards the monster, having to carry Stark along the way. While resting, Fern also falls asleep. Sein and Frieren then decide to just leave them there, putting a barrier to protect them and then go towards the monster. Sein says that they are close, and Frieren then tells Sein to wake her up when the monster appears. Before Frieren falls asleep, she tells Sein to not fight it alone, and that she'll defeat it. Sein tells her that there is nothing she can do, especially in 5 seconds. He then tells Frieren, who is now asleep, that he also has some spells for fighting.

The monster then appears, which Sein identifies as a Chaos Flower. A Chaos Flower puts people to sleep, which become its fertilizer, which it slowly kills by draining their mana. They create subspecies by mating with the native plants of the area. Sein notices that it looks almost like a mirror. Sein then tries to attack it's core, which is a weakness all Chaos Flowers have, using the spell 'Three Spears of the Goddess'. Surprisingly it deflects the spell. He then concludes that if he doesn't strike directly at the core, its mirror like leaves can reflect his spells anywhere. He then considers waking up Frieren, but concludes that her spells are to powerful a risk if reflected and that he can't communicate with her in 5 seconds, and he also does not understand what's going in her mind in the first place.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Sein
 * Frieren
 * Fern
 * Stark
 * Heiter
 * Gorilla

Locations

 * Laub Hill

Battles

 * Sein & Frieren vs. Confusion flower monster

Events

 * Frieren's Party awakens the village under the confusion flower monster's curse

Spells

 * Unnamed magic that levitates objects
 * Unnamed barrier magic
 * Three Spears of the Goddess
 * Uncurse Awakening
 * Offensive magic (possibly Zoltraak)

Chapter Notes

 * Sein has the greatest curse resistance as a priest, followed by Frieren, then Fern, then Stark
 * Mages cannot sense curses
 * Curses must be canceled using rituals and equipment
 * The chapter title was localized from "Confusion Flower" to "Chaos Flower" by Viz Media