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"We’ve lost Stark," Fern said. Frieren turned to look and realized that was indeed the case. All she could see was the grayish white bark of the trees surrounding them and the fog that filled the ghastly forest, which they'd been traveling through.
The situation felt somehow familiar, but before Frieren could grasp that memory, Fern shook her out of her thoughts.
"This is bad. There must be some magic at work if a coward like him strayed away from us," Fern pointed out, clearly startled. Her words were harsh, but Frieren could feel the slight shaking of Fern's hands that were still gripping her shoulders too tight. The area they were in was not safe, and it was obvious that Fern cared about Stark even if she'd never admit it out loud.
"Let's look for him," Frieren decided. "Stay close to me. It would be a problem if all of us were split up."
Fern nodded, but there was a slight hesitancy as she did.
Frieren wasn't sure why but that too felt all too familiar.
*
"We lost Himmel," Eisen said. Frieren turned around, but couldn't see him anywhere in the thick fog surrounding them. Still, he was the hero. It was hard to imagine he’d be taken down by a regular monster.
"Let's just continue ahead. He will probably catch up to us later," she decided.
"We can't!" Heiter protested, grabbing Frieren by the shoulders. "Himmel hates being alone! Some foul magic must be at play if that narcissist disappeared without a word."
It had been a while so Frieren forgot just how anxious Heiter could get when Himmel went missing in circumstances like these, and Heiter was sober enough to overthink the situation.
"Fine. Let's look for him," Frieren said, turning around and taking a step into the cold embrace of the everpresent fog.
*
"Have you traveled through here in the past?" Fern asked.
"Yes, though I don't remember much," Frieren admitted. She'd been trying to remember for a while, but all that had come to her was a vague recollection of Himmel getting lost in this forest.
"So the hero party passed through here safely," Fern stated, clearly trying to encourage herself.
That would be the logical conclusion and yet…
"I think so," Frieren said, her voice lacking confidence.
"Are you saying you had to back down and go around the forest?" Fern asked, slightly waving her staff as though trying to chase away the deepening fog.
"I don't remember," Frieren repeated. It was strange just how much this memory kept eluding her. "I'm sorry Fern. I wish I could recall, but it feels like there's some sort of spell placed on these woods."
There was no response. It was only when Frieren turned around that she realized Fern was no longer there.
*
"Heiter is gone too," Eisen said, at the same time as Frieren realized something was wrong.
Frieren was silent for a second before calling out. "Himmel! Heiter!"
There was no response. Neither from the two missing people, nor any nearby monsters. It was almost as if the thickening fog had been absorbing sound together with all living beings.
She closed her eyes and tried to sense the magical energy of her companions, but the whole forest seemed to be filled with magic to the point that locating an individual was impossible.
"This forest is strange," Frieren finally said, as she opened her eyes.
When she turned her head towards Eisen, he too was gone.
*
"I can't detect Fern," Frieren muttered to herself. Despite that, she kept walking forward even as the fog kept getting thicker and thicker.
She wasn't sure why, but she had a feeling she shouldn't stop no matter how difficult it was.
She was close to getting answers.
Suddenly the fog seemed to solidify, gently blocking her path. Frieren stopped.
She had reached this place yet again.
Again?
*
The voice was cold as it spoke but not hostile. It was ever present, seemingly coming from all directions at once.
"Why have you entered the Forest of Solitude?"
"I just wish to pass through here," Frieren replied, calmly.
"This forest is the space where the border between the land of living and the dead is the weakest. Isn't there someone you wish to see again?"
"No," Frieren responded without hesitation.
"Not even your teacher?" the voice asked, as if testing her.
"No, I don't have anything I want to ask her right now," Frieren explained.
There was a moment of silence as the entity (or were they entities?) seemed to weigh Frieren's words.
"You shall return back to the land of living."
Before the voice even finished the proclamation, the fog disappeared completely, and Frieren was back in the forest. In the distance, she could see the silhouettes of her companions.
*
"Why did I forget what happened the last time I was here?" Frieren asked.
"Because this place is close to the land of the dead, the living will subconsciously deny its existence. The fact you forgot is the proof of your vitality," the voice explained. Frieren was glad it was so accommodating.
"I remember coming here, but not what happened. Did I take some sort of a test?" Frieren asked. It all felt so familiar yet so distant.
"You were given a choice. And now you shall decide again. Do you wish to cross through the boundary into the land of the dead to see someone you lost?"
Frieren didn't respond, but a face appeared in her mind. A proud yet kind smile of one who was called a hero.
"So there is someone this time."
"Wait," Frieren said. "If I cross that border I won't be able to come back, will I?"
"You won't," the voice confirmed. It was nice that it was honest.
"Then I don't want to meet him. I haven't grown bored of living yet," Frieren explained.
"Are you sure?"
Frieren smiled slightly this time. "Yes, besides I'm not alone on this journey. My companions are waiting for me on the other side of this forest."
There was a moment of silence, as if her answer was being evaluated, before the fog suddenly lifted.
"Then you shall pass back onto the land of living."
*
"What even was that thing?" Eisen asked.
"No idea," Frieren admitted. It wasn't like any monster she'd ever met. No, in the first place, its complete lack of hostility meant it wasn't a monster. It was definitely magical in nature, but that was as far as Frieren's analysis went.
"Talk about a treacherous shortcut," Himmel said.
Heiter was drinking from a bottle, clearly deciding to calm his nerves in the most surefire way. "I heard from locals that in the past an ancient civilization apparently lived here."
"Really?" Frieren asked. This was the first time she was hearing about it. Maybe Heiter heard about it while drinking in a tavern.
"Yeah, the legend says that they broke a magic taboo and their city disappeared overnight," Heiter continued. "Some people tried to settle there, but they kept going missing, so soon enough this area was left alone. And when a forest inevitably took over, people made sure to avoid it."
"You hadn't heard about that civilization?" Himmel asked, turning towards Frieren.
"No, it must have been really long ago," Frieren admitted.
Everyone nodded in agreement. Frieren could almost hear their assessment that the fall of the mysterious civilization must have been extremely ancient if Frieren hadn't even heard of it.
She was very close to trying to argue that her lack of knowledge had likely more to do with her dislike of harsh Northern winters than the passage of time. Frieren rarely visited areas this far north, so it made sense she probably never came to this village and didn't get to learn the myths passed down here. However, she quickly realized the futility of such an attempt.
Given the lack of information on the ancient civilization, her argument would just sound like an excuse.
"Why did the voice call it A Land of Dead rather than Heaven?" Eisen asked.
"That's probably just semantics," Frieren said. "Different cultures often have different names for the same concepts."
"Frieren is right. Heaven is the name specifically used by followers of the Goddess. Nowadays our faith is spread all over the continent, but it wasn't always that way. In the past there were many smaller religions and some of them shared the elements, like the concept of Heaven."
"So this place is the entrance?" Eisen questioned.
"I think this is more of a backdoor," Frieren admitted. "This is just speculation, but I think that whatever spell they used, it irreparably damaged the border of this world, creating something of a shortcut."
"I'm actually more curious why this place is called the Forest of Solitude," Himmel admitted.
"Oh, that's easy," Heiter said. "Because when death comes, you will be alone."
"Should a priest really say that?" Himmel questioned.
"Oh, Goddess will be there for you too, of course, but it's not like she will show herself," Heiter clarified. "So yeah, it will feel like you are alone."
"Was that why we got split up and had to confront that voice alone?" Eisen asked.
"Probably, yes," Frieren agreed. "If that place really has a weak boundary between the worlds, then it's possible that for a moment we got separated from our physical bodies. If we agreed to venture further into the land of the dead, we'd probably never have returned to them."
"Creepy," Heiter summed her words up, by taking another sip from his bottle.
"That's just the way of life," Frieren said. "Solitude is something that can't be completely avoided, especially at the end of the road."
There was a moment of somber silence, when suddenly Himmel stepped forward.
"That's not true!" he disagreed. "When I die, I will be surrounded by all the people who love and cherish me!"
Somehow his boisterous claim completely dispelled the gloomy atmosphere.
"First, we will have to make sure we come back alive from this journey," Eisen pointed out.
"Yeah, leave this talk for after we've defeated Demon Lord," Heiter added, as he took the final swig from his bottle.
Himmel just smiled at their responses, before turning to Frieren. "Come on, let's go!"
She followed after him, deciding to leave behind what happened in the Forest of Solitude. They had more important things to deal with.
*
"You should have warned us, Frieren," Stark whined. He was still trembling. It seemed the whole experience was rather harrowing for him.
"I have to agree with him. That shortcut was much too dangerous," Fern agreed. "We should have listened to the villagers when they insisted that we should take the longer route."
Frieren realized she was in trouble if Fern was ready to create an united front with Stark.
"But we did get to the other side without losing anyone," Frieren pointed out.
"I was this close to taking this chance to see Sir Heiter again," Fern said, her voice still clearly conflicted.
"But you didn't," Frieren pointed out, feeling a bit proud.
"No, I realized that Sir Heiter would be disappointed in me if I didn't continue to watch over Frieren," she admitted.
"I would still be there, you know," Stark said, deciding to join the conversation.
Fern gave him a cold look, as if offended that he'd ever consider thinking that he was competent enough to look after Frieren on his own.
"What about you, Stark?" Frieren asked, not missing the chance to change the topic. "Weren't you tempted?"
"Are you kidding me?!" He sobbed. "Just thinking how disappointed my family would be if I just appeared before them is terrifying! There's no way I would choose that!"
Fern had a complicated look on her face as though she wasn't sure whether she should be glad or disappointed. Frieren smiled at that. She could already feel their misadventure growing more and more distant in her mind, as they left the Forest of Solitude behind them.
However, she didn't have regrets.
She would meet Himmel again once they reached the goal of their journey. And she would achieve it with her companions by her side.
It was too early for their journey to come to an end.