"Hiss..."

Miss Fremay, did you eat the Ice Ice Fruit?

What a grand display!

Finally feeling the astonishment in Herbert's heart, the mermaid lady behind him smiled smugly.

"Heh heh~"

Another person present, however, looked somewhat puzzled. Sofia frowned slightly as she looked at the frozen lake.

Herbert noticed her expression and asked, "Did you remember something? Do you know it?"

"...No, I don't know it now."

Sofia tried hard to think, but in the end, she said regretfully, "But I feel like I should have known it before?"

"Do you have any impression of it? Feelings work too."

The centaur Heroic Spirit touched his chin and said uncertainly, "I feel that it... seems familiar?"

"Even though I'm a bit annoyed by it, it's not hatred, just that it's bothersome... Deep down, there's more of a reliance, as if it once gave me a very warm feeling."

She tried her best to organize her words, describing this special feeling in her heart.

Although it seemed to have helped her a lot, sometimes it was a little annoying, as if their surface relationship wasn't very good.

But still, deep down, she was dependent on it.

"Listening to your description, it sounds like the troubles between a mother and daughter."

Herbert laughed and sighed, intending to joke, but to his surprise, Sofia's expression changed.

"It really does feel like that..."

Hmm?

"Really?"

Herbert was taken aback, looking at Sofia's tall and graceful figure, and recalled the childish cry of pain he heard from the Holy Grail earlier.

… Could it really be a loli mom?

Hmm?

No, that's not right.

The "Holy Grail" is supposed to be an octopus at the moment… right?

So far, he hasn't truly seen the complete form of the Holy Grail, only a few tentacles.

Is its current appearance really just a big octopus?

Octopuses don't cry out!

As Herbert thought about these things, his expression suddenly froze.

He looked at the lake and frowned, then shook his head somewhat regretfully and said softly, "Fremay, undo the magic."

Fremay: Hmm?

The mermaid lady blinked in confusion, not understanding why Herbert suddenly said this: "Huh? It's not back to normal yet; releasing it now means we'll have to suppress it again."

Heavy-handed action was necessary when suppressing the Water Elemental Spirit the first time.

She, a kind-hearted fish, didn't want to beat up the Water Elemental Spirit a second time; that seemed... a bit too inhumane.

"No need, it's not necessary anymore."

Herbert waved his hand and said, "Trust me, just unravel it."

Since Herbert insisted, Fremay didn't persist further.

After all, she had already gauged the Water Elemental Spirit's strength and could easily suppress it.

"Alright then..."

But when Fremay proactively lifted the Sorrowful Ice River, her expression froze for a moment, and she let out a soft "huh."

"Eh? What happened... how did it disappear?"

Herbert was surprisingly calm at her reaction, shaking his head and saying, "No need to look for it, it's already run away."

Earlier, he was too preoccupied with strategizing with Sofia to notice, and by the time he sensed it again, the position of the Holy Grail was no longer there.

It slipped away.

Herbert wasn't surprised by this; after all, the Holy Grail wasn't truly a Water Elemental Spirit, but rather a creation of the Divine Spirit.

"This…"

Herbert was unfazed, but some people cared a lot.

!!!

Upon realizing the opponent tricked her and fled, Fremay turned visibly red with warmth.

"It dared to run!?"

I'm kind-hearted, unwilling to hurt you, and went to great lengths to help suppress you.

And you, ungrateful, ran away?

Run!

Where do you think you can run to!? Don't let me find you again!

The mermaid princess was extremely furious, snorting angrily.

"Hmph!!!"

If only the Holy Grail understood Fremay's nature, perhaps it would've considered running a bit farther before escaping…

"Don't be angry, we'll have a chance to meet it again, haha."

Herbert comforted the enraged Fremay gently, saying, "However, its personality is quite timid, we probably scared it this time."

Having encountered it twice and scared it away both times... I wonder if this clumsy and playful creature will come looking again.

It probably will.

But this third time, Herbert won't give it another chance to escape.

"Be good, don't be angry."

Honestly, after getting used to Valentina's terrifying oppressive aura when she's angry, Herbert now found Fremay's angry demeanor more like a tantrum…

"By the way, it left something behind to fool you."

Trying to escape quietly isn't that easy, after all?

To escape, the Holy Grail purposefully left some aura to cover its tracks.

Not long after Herbert said this, a large golden bubble floated up from the bottom of the lake.

The bubble was filled with a liquid that looked like wine, which, though in contact with water, didn't mix, and lightly bounced on the lake's surface.

"What's that?"

"Wine of Oblivion, the favorite drink of Heroic Spirits." Herbert motioned for Fremay to pull the wine bubble over.

"Wine of Oblivion? That is... oh! Wait, how could something like this appear here?"

Having received an education, Fremay quickly recalled what the Wine of Oblivion was, and was quite surprised.

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