Chapter 112: Faith

A fresh village offers no answers about its stone monument, and as the worn-out group camps for the night Eisen grumbles over the endless chase. Himmel refuses Frieren's apology, holding that even this kind of wandering has its charm. Heiter points out that records on the monuments are bound to be scarce, since they reach back to mythic times and their ciphers have resisted reading precisely because so little survives.

Mulling whether any writings remain, Frieren warns that paper rots in time, a loss she knows well from the grimoires slipping through her own hands. Heiter suggests a monastery, recalling that monks copy manuscripts as part of their discipline, so the party doubles back to ask a village church where the nearest one stands. The father warns that the place is hard to reach, but Heiter cuts in with calm certainty that the Goddess will see them through.

The monastery clings to the lip of a sheer precipice on a barely held scrap of cliff, and when Eisen asks why anyone would build there, Heiter notes that harsh surroundings suit a monk's training. Unwilling to be spotted in flight, Frieren joins the others in a long, punishing climb, and during a fireside rest at dusk Himmel and Eisen cheerfully relish the rock faces still ahead.

The pause turns reflective when Heiter mentions that he and Himmel grew up in the same town, a fact Frieren is startled to realize she keeps forgetting despite being told often. Heiter describes his friend as relentlessly hopeful, a man who has disproved his every doubt, and confesses that even though his own cynicism tells him the Demon King cannot be beaten, he places his trust in Himmel the Hero all the same. The party finally scales the heights only to find the archives barren, and as Himmel breezily declares their next destination, a book-buried Frieren questions his boundless optimism.

Issue 42 carried this 112th chapter on September 13, 2023, sixteen pages set within the twelfth volume and the Goddess's Monument arc. The journey threads through Kino Pass to a village and the cliffside monastery, with flight magic only referenced rather than used. The cover features Himmel and Heiter, and the Goddess of Creation and the Demon King are both mentioned.