"Oh, how did you two get here?"

After getting up from the sofa, Gut followed the sound toward the entrance and immediately saw Lernen and Hafka standing at the door.

After a brief exchange, he learned why they had come.

So Gut took the housewarming invitation intended for him from Hafka's hands and indicated he'd come over early in the afternoon.

Hafka thanked him, then gently nudged Lernen beside him with his elbow.

Since they'd already gotten positive responses from both teacher and Senior Brother Gut.

Having achieved their purpose, there was no need to continue staying at teacher's house and disturb their private time together.

Fortunately, Lernen caught on this time and bid farewell to the elf together with Hafka.

Serie nodded in agreement and instructed Gut to see his junior brothers off.

From Hafka and Lernen's somewhat hasty departure, Gut guessed they'd probably misunderstood something.

Even teacher specifically having him escort them out had the meaning of taking the opportunity to explain to his junior brothers.

But...

Such things usually became darker the more you tried to explain them - where was the possibility of clarifying anything?

Besides, sooner or later it would develop into reality in the future.

Therefore, while escorting Lernen away, Gut didn't try to argue anything, just chatted casually about daily matters.

Only after seeing his junior brothers off to an intersection and watching them walk away did Gut return to his teacher's house, looking at the elf wearing an apron.

Thanks to this unseen "new skin" enhancement, Gut couldn't help but look at his teacher a few more times.

Indeed, after putting on this apron, his usually strong-willed and carefree teacher actually had a somewhat virtuous and gentle aura.

It truly could be called quite a contrast.

Unfortunately, before Gut could appreciate it much longer, the elf took off the apron.

While putting it back in the kitchen, she informed him that since she'd forgotten to stock ingredients at home, they'd have to go out to eat.

"Alright." Hearing he couldn't taste his teacher's cooking, Gut sighed with regret.

He could only go wash up in the bathroom and prepare to go out with his teacher later.

While Serie took advantage of Gut's washing time to go to her bedroom and return the shoes she'd hidden last night to the entrance.

Some time later.

Continental Magic Association · Äußerst Branch.

Looking at the large lump of tomato pasta and several pieces of dry bread on his plate, Gut felt somewhat helpless.

"Teacher, this seems quite different from the feast you mentioned."

"I didn't expect the branch's cafeteria wouldn't be operational after construction." Serie shrugged, using her fork to roll up some pasta and placing it on dry bread before putting it in her mouth.

"Be content - being able to prepare this food on short notice already exceeded my expectations."

The elf had no excessive demands regarding food.

Although when encountering delicious cuisine, she would happily eat a bit more; but if there were no choices, Serie would calmly accept the only available food.

Seeing his teacher's attitude, Gut couldn't complain further.

With a sound of "metal clashing," Gut used his fork to stab a piece of dry bread and put it in his mouth.

After chewing slightly, it crumbled into pieces and powder.

Serie: ...

"Your bread is indeed quite hard."

"Bear with it a bit. We'll eat more at Hafka's place later."

"Fine..." Gut responded, then forked several more pieces of dry bread into his mouth, treating it like eating chips.

While taking advantage of this lunch opportunity with his teacher, Gut wasn't idle either, asking the elf about doubts he'd accumulated while reading last night.

Although thanks to the Magic Transcender talent providing extremely high aptitude enhancement, Gut's speed in understanding magic was astonishing.

But compared to his teacher Serie, who had thousands of years of magical accumulation, Gut still lacked considerable foundation.

Therefore, when reading the annotations the elf had left in books, there were parts where he couldn't keep up with her thought process.

But fortunately, the author was right beside him.

Whatever he didn't understand, he could ask her directly face-to-face.

While Serie answered his questions, she was also somewhat surprised by her disciple's learning progress.

For Gut to have such magical talent was truly...

Fantastic!

As long as he maintained this momentum, sooner or later she'd see him break through limitations and reach that height no mage had ever achieved.

Speaking of which...

Yesterday in her dream, hadn't she accepted a disciple whose talent might not be inferior to Gut's?

She remembered her name seemed to be... Fern?

Thinking of this, Serie temporarily interrupted her theoretical discussion about Soul Magic with her disciple and asked Gut about yesterday's sweet dream.

After some exchange, the elf's expression gradually became serious.

"So, Gut, you're saying..."

"The scenes I saw in yesterday's dream might be the future?"

Thinking of "Flamme" and "Body" appearing in the dream, Serie's breathing became slightly rapid.

"Not necessarily, teacher."

Although according to the system's notification, Gut knew his teacher had successfully triggered a beautiful dream from the future.

But dreams were ultimately just dreams, even if they came from the future.

If the scenes in the dream really occurred in future reality, then it wouldn't be his own future sweet dream.

After Gut explained the effects of the Good Dream Pillow to his teacher in detail, Serie gradually calmed down.

She even proactively shared her dream with Gut, seeing if they could analyze some useful information from the dream together.

After hearing the elf's one-to-one recounting of her dream, Gut, who knew future plot developments, immediately identified which time period his teacher had dreamed about.

The twenty-ninth year after the Hero's death, the third examination of the First-Class Mage test held in Äußerst.

In this examination, both Frieren and Fern refused Serie's invitation.

This was probably why the elf, dissatisfied in reality, dreamed of both Frieren and Fern becoming her disciples.

She even included some personal emotional bias, creating the scenario of stealing Frieren's disciple.

As for the final gathering of all disciples...

Perhaps that was the core of this sweet dream - the scene teacher most hoped to see.

Thinking of this, Gut couldn't help but sigh.

Though teacher wouldn't express it, she loved every disciple.

Combining his knowledge of the future, Gut systematically analyzed the future sweet dream his teacher had experienced.

Finally reaching conclusions that "Frieren and Fern both refused your invitation," "deceased disciples' resurrection is probably false," and "there should really be a mage named Fern in the future."

After listening, Serie acknowledged Gut's judgment.

Then she closed her eyes, recalling Fern's appearance in her mind.

Moments later, a photo generated by Photography Magic slowly appeared in the elf's palm.

"Impressive."

Looking at this detailed headshot of Fern, Gut was completely convinced.

As expected of his teacher - she could use Photography Magic to this extent.

"My idea is to gradually distribute this photo to branches below."

"Since Frieren's future disciple is exceptionally talented, she'll inevitably have contact with the Continental Magic Association."

"I'm thinking - could we snatch her before Frieren takes her as a disciple."

Gut: ...

"Teacher, your relationship with Miss Frieren is truly... 'delicate.'"

"Heh." Serie chuckled. "I won't deny that wanting to recruit Fern first has vengeful motivations."

"But the main reason is not wanting to watch a child with such aptitude be buried by Frieren's wrong training philosophy."

"Gut, do you believe it or not?"

"If this child follows Frieren, she'll probably end up washing her teacher's face, dressing her, even braiding her hair?"

Gut: ...

"I do believe that."

"Teacher, I feel you really understand Frieren well."

"Of course." Serie said confidently. "I've observed that child carefully."

"Never mind, why mention her."

"Let's talk more about dreams. Speaking of which, I also made a discovery, and..."

The elf's expression showed rare awkwardness.

After a brief pause, she continued:

"This discovery relates to you."

Gut paused, then said with feigned casualness: "Teacher, you actually dreamed about me!"

"Could it be that in the future, you want to marry me?!"

However, after Gut finished these slightly teasing words, he found the elf's expression hadn't become angry, but rather showed some confusion.

"I didn't dream about you."

Serie took a deep breath, then slowly said: "This matter is extremely, extremely strange."

"Although I remember every disciple's name and the magic they love."

"But a disciple like you who had designs on me from the start and repeatedly teases me - my impression should only be deeper."

"Logically, even in dreams, you should appear immediately, or at least show up when Flamme and Body appeared."

"However, even at the final reunion banquet, I never saw you."

"At the final dinner, I looked at every disciple's face one by one. I can confirm you weren't among them."

"Moreover, whenever I became conscious of this in the dream, the dream's existence would become unstable."

"Even my first realization I was dreaming came from discovering I'd forgotten your name."

Gut: ...

"What you're saying gives me chills even in broad daylight."

Gut spoke with considerable teasing, deliberately appearing relaxed.

But internally, his heart sank.

Teacher's future dream had no trace of his existence - what exactly was going on?

If it was because his fate wasn't fully anchored in this world yet, causing Serie to dream of a future without him.

This reason would naturally be best.

But... could it be caused by other reasons?

For example, his own death in the future.

No, it shouldn't be this reason.

Even if he died in an accident tomorrow, given his current influence on his teacher, he should still occupy a place in her dreams.

So what other reasons could cause his existence to be erased?

"Reasons for transmigration?" "The Goddess?" "Path to Godhood?" "Some talent or item?"

Or perhaps...

The system that brought him everything?

For a moment, Gut's mind was in turmoil.

Current information was still too limited to make effective judgments.

It seemed he needed to share the Good Dream Pillow's effects with more people, seeing if the futures they could see would be identical to the original plot, and whether they would have his presence in their futures.

But just as Gut fell into contemplation, a staff member in association uniform came running over, stopping anxiously at Gut and Serie's dining table.

"Sorry to disturb your meal, Lady Serie."

"I came to inform you that the temperature-regulating magical device you brought back somehow malfunctioned yesterday."

"We commissioned professional magical device craftsmen for repairs, but the master said it might need to be dismantled for proper fixing."

"Nobody dared make the decision, so I was sent to ask your opinion."

Hearing this, Gut perked up.

"The Poor Man's Air Conditioner broke?"

"Oh, probably the trial period expired."

Thinking of that device that had been fined countless amounts due to its installed Commercial Regulation Compliance Chip, Gut found it somewhat amusing.

If he remembered correctly, his account should still have twenty to thirty thousand in consumption credits. According to the Poor Man's Air Conditioner's monthly rental fees, it would probably last until the end of time.

Thinking this device's effects were quite good and beneficial for meditation states, Gut decided to put it to use, so he stood up and said to the staff member:

"Please take me there."

"Also, no need to trouble the master for repairs. It's not malfunctioning - just hasn't activated the monthly subscription."

"Monthly... subscription?"

The staff member couldn't quite understand Gut's words but didn't pursue it further, leading Gut toward the Poor Man's Air Conditioner's storage room.

Serie also followed with interest, wanting to see what changes the so-called "air conditioner" would show under her disciple's operation.

A few minutes later, Gut's group reached the association's storage room.

From a distance, they could see a group of people surrounding the Poor Man's Air Conditioner, discussing animatedly.

Seeing colleagues leading Lady Serie over, everyone consciously made way for the leadership to inspect.

However, when Lady Serie reached the magical device, she didn't operate it either, instead also stepping aside to let the young man stand before the device.

[Beep!]

[Trial period ended, please select monthly subscription package for continued operation]

Two lines of Chinese text appeared on the Poor Man's Air Conditioner's top screen. Even if this world's magical device repair masters could see them, they probably couldn't understand them.

Gut touched the screen, and after fingerprint authentication, selected the device's monthly subscription package.

With abundant credit balance, Gut directly chose the most expensive Diamond Monthly Package.

[Diamond Monthly Package: Freely adjustable IV-level temperature range (-15°C to 60°C), air conditioning includes air purification and mind-calming effects, 50 gold coins monthly rental, signup bonus includes Mystery Gift Pack x1, Member Package Selection x1]

[Confirm monthly subscription payment:] [Yes/No]

"Yes."