She Who Became Immortal

Katarina Grimoire wakes up early.

In a house prepared for the Grimoire tribe in Sutin Village, Katarina yawns after pulling off her blanket in one room. Next to her, Kirina, the daughter of the fox spirit Serena, also yawns similarly. They've been spending most of their time together lately, and their relationship feels so natural that it's almost as if they've been doing this for ten years.

"Good morning, Kirina," Katarina says, having finished her yawn slightly ahead. Kirina, who is still sleepy, smiles with narrowed eyes after twitching her fox ears.

"Good morning, Katarina," Kirina replies with a smile so gentle, so different from her own. Katarina can't help but return it with a wry smile. After all, she can't smile like that.

The two tidy up their sleeping quarters, finish their morning preparations, and head out of the village. Sutin Village lies along the foot of a hill towards the demon realm, with wheat fields plowed by orcs on the other side. Yet, instead of heading towards either, the village stretches along the foothills.

It has been over ten days since Euphemia Grimwood set off. Yet, as Katarina walks through the village, she can't help but envision the shimmering golden hair swaying in the distance. Katarina vividly imagines Euphemia leisurely strolling around, engaging in conversations, smiling, and nodding—she can picture her so clearly.

When Katarina mentions this to Kirina, the fox girl nods in agreement.

After a while, they arrive at a square with only a well standing alone. There stands Junos Grimoire.

Perhaps because it's still early in the morning, he rubs his forehead sleepily. Junos possesses an aura of dignity and presence that wasn't present back when he was part of the Yunofeliza tribe, which sends shivers down Katarina's spine.

"Good morning, Junos."

"Good morning, Sir Junos."

Junos acknowledges the greetings with a simple nod and gestures towards a wooden sword lying beside the well. Since Serena, the fox spirit who taught magic—or rather, foxcraft—left to serve as Euphemia's guard in the capital, sword training has become their main focus.

Katarina and Kirina pick up wooden swords and lightly spar. They've become accustomed to this practice, being able to exchange blows now without hesitation, knowing that a hit could result in a broken bone.

Thunk, thunk, thunk.

The sound of wooden swords clashing echoes, gradually warming up their bodies. However, this is still just practice. From above, from the side, from below, diagonally—repeating the sword swings and defenses they were taught.

"Alright, that'll do," Junos says.

Without Katarina realizing it, people have gathered around the well, and scattered applause is directed towards Katarina and Kirina after they finish sparring.

---

It was Katarina who first brought up the topic.

Feeling useless because she couldn't fight, Katarina felt she didn't belong here. Even though she was once part of the Yunofeliza tribe, she couldn't do anything just by being there—of course, nobody asked her to be useful. But she couldn't forgive herself.

This uselessness.

At first, it was just her whispering to herself.

Why can't I be of use?

Of course, she also strongly wished to be of use to Euphemia Grimwood. She wanted to stay by her side. So she needed strength.

"Now, today we've gathered like this. We're going to learn your secrets," Jade, the swordsman, initiated, with Jainos, the axeman, nodding beside him. For some reason, a boy named Raft, who is a bit older than Katarina, stood next to them.

Raft Grimoire.

Even when he was part of the Yunofeliza tribe, and even now, he was a boy who didn't interact much with Katarina. Partly because their parents didn't have a deep relationship, and partly because Raft, a quiet boy, and Katarina, a relatively lively girl, didn't get along very well.

Come to think of it, she had become friends with the quiet Kirina, so maybe their compatibility wasn't that bad... Maybe, she just wasn't interested in Raft.

"Hey, are you going to learn from Junos too?" she asked curiously.

"Sir Dubil and Senior Jainos told me to," Raft replied. It seemed he hadn't come voluntarily, which made Katarina lose interest in him even more. Unlike herself, this boy didn't seem to feel frustrated. He just existed there, accepting it.

Anyway.

Today's agenda was as Jade had said.

How did Junos become so strong?

He's too different from when he was part of the Yunofeliza tribe. Junos wasn't that strong before, no matter how you looked at it. This opinion wasn't just Katarina's; it was shared by others in the tribe.

Since meeting Euphemia Grimwood, Junos has clearly changed.

From the moment he stormed into the human realm until now, he naturally had no time to hide in the mountains for training. In other words, there was no way he could have become dramatically stronger. Yet, Junos has clearly changed.

Among those gathered is Astra Ignia, a lizardwoman. Even to Katarina's eyes, Astra's spear skills were excellent. For example, even Maya, who is Junos's childhood friend, wouldn't have been able to overwhelm Astra. Or perhaps even Jade or Jainos wouldn't have had such a disparity.

"So, what's the deal?" Maya says, and others nod in agreement.

Junos, the one being questioned, lets out a wry smile at the attention he's receiving and slowly draws the sword at his waist. It's a realm that Katarina still can't reach, something so incredibly natural, as if raising a hand, yet still beyond her grasp.

"I asked Euphemia a bit about how to use magic. I just tried practicing it," Junos says while magic flows from his arms to the sword. He's intentionally making the magic visible to make the flow more noticeable.

"According to her, when we move 'fast' and 'strong,' we unconsciously use magic. When she mentioned it, it made sense. Don't you feel the same? So, I became aware of it."

This time, the magic gathered around the sword flows to his feet.

And in the next moment, Junos leaps forward in a single bound.

Fast. Abnormally fast!

Without any preparatory movements, without even bending his knees much, he kicks off the ground and jumps to a considerably distant position in an instant. If this were done in a real battle, only a master could keep track of Junos.

"In short, it's about being conscious of the magic circulating in your body. That's really all there is to it. Nothing else. Be aware of magic in every movement," Junos explains.

"...Wait, did Euphemia say that?" Maya asks, furrowing her brows skeptically. Junos smiles wryly again and sheaths his magic sword.

"She said, 'Using magic isn't just about casting spells. You should be able to handle your abundant magic more precisely. Work harder. I'm actually making a bit of an effort too. There's no progress, though,'" he recounts.

Come to think of it, Katarina recalls.

While they were fleeing from the border near human realm... or perhaps while they were walking through the demon realm. Euphemia Grimwood called herself 'untalented.' But she didn't belittle or become despondent about her lack of talent.

I have to live with this myself.

Katarina felt dazzled by Euphemia saying such things.

---

That day, inspired by Junos's demonstration, those gathered continued to experiment with "how to use magic."

Everyone who tried it immediately realized that consciously and precisely performing what they were doing unconsciously was extraordinarily difficult.

"Try being conscious of it in every aspect of your daily life. You'll get used to it eventually," Junos said. It sounded absurd.

Upon closer inspection, it seemed that when Junos entered the territory of the beast people from the demon realm, he was hit by Serena's illusion. And apparently, it could have been prevented by "circulating magic throughout the body."

After all, demon illusions and mental interference are nothing but the effects of "magic." So if one put up his or her own magic, interference by magic can be prevented――that was the trigger for Junos.

Manipulating magic.

Despite being a demon being with abundant magic, they hadn't made any effort in that regard. In fact, they hadn't even noticed it.

Even though they were on the brink of destruction due to their powerlessness.

That's what it boils down to.

Katarina feeling unsettled by Junos is because of that.

Junos is more of a help to Euphemia Grimwood than I am. ...At least for now.

---

As the sun sets, after finishing dinner and bathing in demonly warmed well water, Maya says with a nonchalant expression,

"Oh, right. Katarina and Kirina, both of you are going to the 'labyrinth' tomorrow."