I was re-reading Frieren, and isn't Himmel a little too perfect? And he never asks Frieren to stay with him (that we know of - yet) after they return from defeating the Demon King, even though we know that was his greatest desire (at least at one point during their journey).
I posit that Himmel was purposely delaying their journey so as to maximize his time with Frieren. Really, ten years to go defeat the Demon King? Did they need to stop at every single side quest along the way? Seeking out even more things to do and explore when there wasn't a villager to give them an odd job?
Maybe Himmel justified it as, well, the Demon King's been around for like a thousand years already. He even predates Frieren. And what are the odds of their little party succeeding when so many others, including the Hero of the South, have failed? And here they are, directly helping people in need right now. Perfectly justifiable; in fact, it's a good thing that they're being so thorough.
Then they get to the farthest reaches of the Northern Continent and it turns out Frieren's spent her entire life practicing to defeat the Demon King specifically. They win. And everyone's alive and happy! ...Right?
Humans live in the North, even in the coldest places where a wrong step might get you killed by a demon before you've even finished setting your foot down. And someone's parent/spouse/child/friend was murdered a week before the heroes arrived. Or a village that had hung on for hundreds of years was slaughtered just last month. Deaths that could have, would have been prevented if Himmel hadn't been dilly-dallying in every dungeon he could find for the last decade.
He's already stolen years with Frieren at the expense of people's lives. He can't ask for more. So he just lets her go and doesn't even remind her what fifty years means to a human like himself. It's penance.
Maybe Frieren & company find some of this out when they get to Ende and there's a bitter survivor there vandalizing Himmel's statue, much to Fern's shock. Said survivor also hates Frieren on sight. Why? Flashback to the survivor as a young child, watching Himmel apologizing tearfully to a body he's just buried. Or perhaps the survivor heard the story from a grandparent and carries a grudge on their behalf.
And now history is repeating itself. Just before Frieren showed up this time, there was another death(s) at the hands of demons that could have been avoided. Of course, if they'd hurried to prevent that death, then how would the rest of their journey have changed? What about the other lives they saved over the course of it?
If Himmel's soul is actually there in "Heaven," maybe what he really wants to hear is not (just) that Frieren loves him but that it's okay that he "stole" that time with her during their journey. That he wasn't just a hero, but a good person.
or, idk, something like that
titsay
germansingergirl
jacobvanloon
dailybridgerton
dededos
