To be fair, even setting aside the stirring jealousy—
Frieren would still be surprised by Agusheed's evaluation of Heiter.
Because Agusheed doesn't speak in pleasantries.
And he himself has no habit of mentoring juniors.
Precisely because of this, his evaluation was so high that the white-haired elf could only envy it.
"You're completely just trying to deliberately suppress me, so you're forcibly praising the alcoholic monk this highly, right?"
The stubborn magic little elf turned around amid her three teammates' face-palming,
Then habitually climbed onto Agusheed's leg—
She pointed her finger, questioning her old father's fairness with reason and evidence:
"Agusheed, I remember very clearly..."
"Even Dante and Makarov, who working together nearly killed Macht of the Golden Land—"
"Never received such high praise from you from beginning to end, right?"
Dante, Makarov...
The unified empire's first court mages, two of the seventeen founders of the Holy Staff Court.
Legendary combat heroes of the early human-demon thousand-year war.
Great mages recorded in history as having individually defeated Grand Demons in direct combat.
Hearing these familiar names,
The legendary deeds of these two flowed through the minds of Himmel, Heiter, and Eisen.
Because before the unified empire split, these two were great nobles in what is now the Central Lands.
They were the ancestors of the current royal families.
So the legends of these two great mages have a long history in today's Central Lands.
It could be said that Himmel, Heiter, and Eisen had all seen puppet shows with them as protagonists.
Therefore, even with just fragments—
They couldn't help but be shocked by the information contained within.
But recalling that Agusheed was the husband of that great mage Flamme,
The group felt somewhat relieved.
However, Heiter, coming to his senses, finally clearly recognized the value of Agusheed's earlier praise.
"Dante, Makarov..."
"Both are figures recorded in the first volume of 'The Thousand-Year Human-Demon War History.'"
"And working together, they nearly killed that legendary strongest Sage of Destruction—"
"If I remember correctly, this is probably a feat that was never recorded in history..."
"Being praised to this extent really makes one feel embarrassed."
Heiter, who was observing the father-daughter exchange without daring to speak, pushed up his glasses and thought this in his heart.
Thud—
The dull knocking sound awakened the three from their thoughts.
What came into view was the white-haired elf holding her head repeatedly after being knocked by Agusheed.
"After my targeted training, two-on-one barely managed a draw with Macht—"
"In your eyes, is this something worth praising?"
"So even now, I still think you're completely inadequate, Frieren..."
The white-haired elf, who had once almost been killed by Macht's distant glare, had all her intended words stuck in her throat by Agusheed's gaze.
In the end, she could only bump her head against her old father's chest, venting her dissatisfaction.
"Hmph, Agusheed, just keep deliberately attacking me—"
"I'm not as bad as you say anyway."
After lightly bumping Agusheed, Frieren ignored her messy, fluffy hair.
She just looked up unhappily, grumbling about her old father's favoritism while huffing.
Even after a thousand years have passed—
She still likes to act spoiled like a child...
"Flamme was right in her prediction after all..."
Gently putting down the comb in his hand,
Facing his child's pouting, Agusheed calmly reached out and pinched her chin.
He repeated the words his wife used to say while gently rubbing:
"Frieren..."
"Even after another thousand years, you'll still look like you never grew up."
"Whether in body or mind—"
Never grew up?
Although the white-haired elf was quite dissatisfied with this evaluation, she didn't follow Agusheed's lead to argue.
Because Frieren's clever little brain told her this was definitely Agusheed's way of changing the subject.
So the magic little elf straightened her flat chest,
Continuing to persistently expose her old father's suppression of her.
"Hmph—"
"Agusheed, you must be feeling guilty, right?"
"Admit it, you praised the alcoholic monk like this just to suppress me."
Being pinched on the cheeks by Agusheed, but still refusing to admit the facts, Frieren began talking nonsense.
Watching their team's mage already showing signs of fabricating facts,
The three members of the hero party surrounding them silently exchanged glances and sighed wordlessly.
"Frieren, you can't let jealousy cloud your eyes—"
The blue-haired hero, who had always doted on the white-haired elf, shook his head helplessly.
"Although the fact that Heiter is more excellent than you is hard to accept, don't be so unreasonable."
He reached out to pat Frieren's white hair as usual, earnestly advising her to accept reality.
But—
Himmel, who did this unconsciously, forgot one very important thing...
Now was not usual.
And Agusheed's acceptance of the blue-haired guy wanting to steal away his white-haired daughter was far lower than he imagined.
When that cold gaze, almost icy, fell on Himmel,
He, who constantly felt chills down his spine, looked at his future father-in-law's eyes that wanted to throw him off the Heaven Vein Dragon—
Almost embarrassed enough to dig out a three-bedroom apartment with his toes.
Seeming to hear 'Favorability -100,' Himmel regretfully withdrew his hand.
After struggling for a long time,
To salvage his first impression, he still showed what he thought was a kind smile to Agusheed.
But obviously, this smile appeared more like provocation in Agusheed's eyes.
—'Old man, here's the ultrasound report, you handle it.'
Having some fragmented memories from his previous life triggered by this scene, Agusheed pressed his brow.
Looking at his daughter's eyes that showed no resistance to this—
The old father, foreseeing some bad future, lowered his eyes, his right eyelid unconsciously twitching.
Understanding how Serie felt when she saw Flamme and himself together—
At this moment, Agusheed clearly felt some kind of boomerang hitting his head across a thousand years.
But Frieren was completely unaware of her old father's mood.
Under Agusheed's pained expression,
Frieren, who completely ignored Himmel's advice, continued to complain about his 'unfair' evaluation.
Finally—
The white-haired elf, whose face seemed to write 'praise me quickly, or I'll cry for you to see,' pouted her lips,
Quietly looking up, waiting for Agusheed's answer with expectation.
"I never take back what I've said."
"And given your insufficient talent and level, I really can't think of how to praise you."
The strongest Grand Demon, gently pinching the magic little elf's soft cheeks, said thus.
"As stubborn as always—"
If Flamme were still here...
She would probably still tease her husband's tsundere nature with a light laugh.
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Powerstones?
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