Journey to Godhood Begins in Frieren

"Hey—!"

They hadn't even walked that far when Yui Kotegawa nearly jumped out of her skin.

Right after they got through the first section with those wooden spike traps, a bloodied samurai suddenly leapt out of the bushes—arrows sticking out of his body, head covered in fake blood. And thanks to the spotlight behind him, they could all see him clearly.

Yui didn't really believe in ghosts or anything like that, but still—she couldn't help but scream a little. The guy looked way too realistic.

But the rest of the group? Totally unfazed. Shichen even gave the staffer a little wave like, "Nice work."

This courage test event was kind of fun. And seeing how tightly Yui was clinging to his arm, Shichen figured he owed the staff a thank-you for making it so entertaining.

"I'LL KILL YOU—!"

The staffer didn't give up, either. He tried to scare them with a dramatic line.

Still no reaction. Lala even stepped forward, all curious. "Whoa, is this supposed to be a samurai? Is it based on a real one?"

"Totally fake," Shichen said, pulling her back while gently tugging Yui along. "Don't mess with the staff, okay?"

"Okay~!"

"W-Wait, slow down a bit—no, actually, speed up!" Yui stammered, clearly overwhelmed.

"So which is it?" Shichen laughed.

Having Yui around made this whole thing worth it. If it were just Lala and the others, the event would've been way too chill.

"F-Faster!" Yui said with a shaky voice, hugging Shichen's arm tight and hiding her face in his sleeve, refusing to look up.

"Alright. Yami, Est—you two, keep up."

Shichen wasn't trying to scare Yui too much, so he called the other girls and picked up the pace.

They ran into more creepy stuff—mask-wearing axe guys, people in weird teddy bear costumes. Combined with the dim forest setting, it actually was kinda creepy.

But not for them. Yui stuck to Shichen's side, and somehow, it made everything feel safer.

They passed a bunch of other students, some of whom had totally passed out from fright.

It wasn't a big deal. The whole place had cameras, and staff would come help anyone who needed it.

Shichen had already double-checked this whole area beforehand. He was the school principal, after all. No way he'd let anything unsafe slide.

"HELP! SOMEBODY—!"

"RUN!!"

Halfway through the trail, a group of students came sprinting back, clearly freaking out.

"What's going on?" Lala asked, tilting her head.

Nobody answered—they were too busy running for their lives. But soon enough, they saw why.

A creepy monster with red skin, fangs, and spots came shuffling toward them, radiating spooky energy.

For most people their age, yeah—it'd be terrifying.

"What is that?" Lala let go of Shichen's arm and walked up for a closer look.

"Huh? You're not scared?" the monster asked in a low, gravelly voice.

"Nope!" Lala circled him, examining his costume.

"What?! This is my best work! How are you not terrified?" the guy was genuinely shocked.

"It's just cool. You did a great job!" she beamed.

"Ugh... It took me six hours to get this look right..." His voice slipped into something older and more tired.

Defeated, he slumped to the ground like his soul had left his body.

"Hmmm..." Lala ignored him and tapped her chin. "Being the ghost sounds like way more fun. I wanna try it!"

"For sure!" Peke chimed in from atop her head. "Adults aren't meant to get scared—they should be the ones scaring people."

"Shichen~ I wanna try too~!" Lala ran back, hugging his arm and swaying it back and forth like a child begging for a toy.

"Knew this was coming." Shichen smiled, a bit exasperated.

"Can I? Pretty please?"

"Sure, just don't go overboard," he said, doting on her.

"Yay~!"

"And no skimpy outfits," he added.

"Got it! Peke—give me something like Oshizu-chan's look, but a bit longer."

Oshizu was the old-school ghost rumored to have died 400 years ago.

"Oshizu? No problem!"

With a flash of light, Lala's outfit transformed instantly.

Now she wore a long, white kimono that flowed to her ankles, with a big ribbon tied at her waist and a triangle-shaped headpiece—classic ghost getup.

She did look like a ghost... but honestly? A really cute one.

"How do I look, Shichen?"

"Adorable."

"Adorable? I'm supposed to be scary!"

"Not much you can do. You're just naturally cute."

"Shichen~!" Lala blushed.

"You two done flirting yet?" Yui finally peeked up and deadpanned.

"Wait—you're not scared anymore?" Shichen asked.

"How could I be at this point?!"

"Huh?"

"Lala, I'll show you something," Shichen said, grinning.

"What is it?"

"Peke, remember those glowing lights and ghost flames from Oshizu?"

"This?" Peke lit up with a faint glow, two little ghostly flames flickering beside her head.

"Ooooh~" Lala spun around in delight.

"Alright, go scare some people—but take it easy, okay?"

"Okay!" Lala floated off and darted after the fleeing students.

"She really went all in, huh..." Yui shook her head.

"What, jealous? Wanna join her?"

"No thanks! Let's just keep moving!" Yui said, pushing him forward.

"Est, hop on."

"Okay, Onii-chan~" Est gently jumped up and wrapped her arms around Shichen's head, her short legs locking around his neck.

Shichen felt the soft rub of her stockings against his neck, took Yami's hand, and led the group onward.

Before long, they came across a familiar face leaning against a tree.

"Sairenji-san?" Yui called out in surprise.

"Huh? Kotegawa-san... and Principal." Haruna Sairenji stood up slowly, looking a little pale.

"Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah... I just got spooked, that's all," Haruna said, clearly still shaken.

"You sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine…" she nodded softly.

"Hey, wanna come with us? Shichen, is that cool?" Yui asked.

"No problem. Although… I don't think we need to."

"Huh?"

"Sairenji-san!"

A familiar voice called out as a brown-haired boy came running up.

"Yuuki-kun!" Haruna's eyes immediately lit up.

"Are you okay? Here, let me help you."

"Th-Thanks…"

"Oh! Principal! And Kotegawa-san…" Rito finally noticed them as he helped Haruna up.

"It's all good," Shichen waved. "You two go ahead. The rest of the course is safe."

"Really? Thanks, Principal! Let's go, Haruna." The two walked off together.

"They're definitely dating," Yui muttered.

"Not sure," Shichen replied.

"You don't have a thing for Haruna?" Yui raised an eyebrow.

"Of course not!"

"Hmm…"

"Anyway, let's go wait for Lala at the finish line."

"Okay…"

Shichen held Yui's hand on one side, Yami's on the other, Est riding piggyback, and headed to the goal.

There were no more scares after that. By the time they arrived, Yuuki and Haruna had already crossed the finish line.

But Shichen stopped just short of the goal.

He wanted to wait for Lala so they could all finish together.

He didn't care about traditions much, but sometimes it was nice to be a little romantic.

Yui was confused at first—why hadn't he crossed yet? Then she remembered what Momioka Risa and the others had said at the hot springs—about the summer camp tradition of finishing together.

And then it hit her.

He's planning to finish with all of them?!

So shameless!

Still… she didn't pull away. She stayed there, hand in hand with Shichen, waiting.

Before long, Lala came flying back.

"Shichen, I'm back~!"

"Welcome back. How'd it go?"

"So fun! I scared everyone!"

"No trouble?"

"Nah—well, someone did faint."

"Eh, small stuff. Let's wrap this up."

"Yup!"

~~~

Patreon(.)com/Bleam

— Currently You can Read 180+ Chapters Ahead of Others!