Chapter 26

Twenty-nine years after Himmel's death, the party rests at an inn in the Appetit Region, where Frieren remembers it is Stark's eighteenth birthday. Fern panics over having no gift, and Frieren offers a potion that dissolves clothing, claiming men adore such things; Fern promptly empties it over Frieren instead. Left to find another present, Frieren spots a slip of paper and hatches an idea.

Fern sets out to learn what Stark wants, and the townsfolk recount his many small kindnesses, from helping a merchant push her wagon to freeing a child's stuck cat. When she finds him pointing out crude shapes in the clouds, she sees Frieren had a point about him. Still, she draws him into choosing a gift. Stark admits he never received birthday presents, even from his family, because his hometown prized warriors and scorned the weak.

He remembers his brother Stoltz, the village's finest fighter and the only one patient and kind to him, and the shame of fleeing while Stoltz faced the attacking demons. Fern tells him she only knows the Stark who stands and fights, and they pick out a bracelet. Back at the inn, Frieren serves enormous hamburger steaks from a recipe Eisen taught her. Eisen made them every birthday and throughout the Hero Party's journey to thank warriors, defining a warrior as anyone who gives their best. Stark recalls Stoltz secretly cooking him the same dish and urging him to live, and his spirits lift.

The party celebrates Stark's eighteenth birthday. Frieren's clothes-melting potion gift is rejected and dumped on her. Fern learns of Stark's harsh childhood and his guilt over fleeing the demon attack that he faced alongside his brother Stoltz. Fern buys him a bracelet. Frieren serves Eisen's hamburger steaks, revealing the custom's meaning as gratitude toward warriors.

Eisen defined a warrior as anyone who puts forth their utmost, which is why he counted the whole Hero Party. The hamburger steak custom comes from Eisen's region as thanks for a warrior's effort and strength. Stark's brother Stoltz wore a spotless white cloak as proof he never took a scratch in battle. Eisen's recipe and Frieren's cooking are expanded in the non-canonical spin-off Frieren in the Kitchen. The chapter is set in a village of the Appetit Region.