She Who Became Immortal

"Wrong. That's not it. Watch. Like this."

The red-hot iron was struck with a hammer. Hammered, stretched, folded, heated, then struck again. Over and over, countless times.

Forging.

In the midst of hammering, the blacksmith imbued it with magic.

Clang, clang, clang, clang—.

It was an endless task. The thick arms of the dwarf raised the hammer, brought it down, and sparks flew from the heated iron.

Raft Grimoire watched with widened eyes.

It's not just about hitting it hard. But hitting it lightly serves no purpose either.

It's said that by melting the ore in a furnace from its mineral state and then striking it before it cools, impurities are removed. In the case of iron ore, because the iron and stone are melted together, by striking, the stone is ejected, simultaneously making the iron stronger... it seems.

The part about why wasn't understood. But comparing what was struck and what wasn't, the difference was clear. Furthermore, magic is infused when forging metals.

Dubil does it that way, and it's said that many other blacksmiths do it unconsciously.

"Do you understand? Well, I don't think you do. Anyway, keep hitting. Infuse it with magic. In that aspect, you're superior to me."

Taking the handed hammer, sitting in front of the anvil. Supporting the red-hot iron with tongs, Raft infused magic into the heated hammer gripped by Dubil, then struck the iron.

Clang.

A sound rang out, and sparks flew.

Repeat.

Repeat.

Repeating—it wasn't unpleasant.

"Wrong. That's not it. But it's better than before. Do more."

---

Raft Grimoire had probably only spoken with Euphemia Grimwood a few times, and since they began to call themselves "Grimoire," they probably hadn't spoken at all.

Partly because Euphemia rarely came to the forge, and Raft didn't actively engage her in conversation.

If asked if he disliked her, Raft would shake his head. On the contrary, he liked her. And he respected her. He felt indebted to her.

When Raft's parents, brothers, and the Yunofeliza tribe, who were close and familiar, volunteered to attack the human territory, it felt like a huge, unfathomable chasm had opened. He couldn't forget, and that chasm still lay before Raft.

Because he couldn't understand their feelings at all.

To obey unjust and irrational orders, to attack humans knowing they would die and without any resentment, it seemed insane to him. Yet the people around Raft, just because they were Yunofeliza, chose to charge into the human territory.

Everyone he had been on good terms with, trusted, and opened his heart to— for incomprehensible reasons, they chose death.

Raft didn't want to die.

Especially not for reasons that doesn't make sense.

While fleeing from the human territory, walking through the thick and tall forests of demon realm, Raft had spoken to Euphemia about something like that—vaguely, of course.

It was said that she had heard about Raft, a boy she didn't have much acquaintance with, from the central figures who had fled.

Whether out of consideration or simply out of curiosity. Raft didn't know, but Euphemia had said it anyway.

"It's your life, isn't it? At the very end, you should be free to use it as you please. Of course, you'll do things you don't like in your daily life. Work, deal with unpleasant people without causing trouble, wake up even though you're still sleepy."

It's unavoidable to live like that.

That's what Euphemia said.

"But when you're really cornered, you don't have to choose the 'unpleasant things.' After you've lost everything else, after everything else is gone, you shouldn't let what's left of yourself be washed away by someone else's something."

Well, if you want to be stubborn, you can do that—Euphemia said, uncharacteristically without a smile, but with a serious expression.

"If it's in exchange for your life, it's okay to be selfish."

In the deep forest, where hardly any sunlight penetrated, Euphemia Grimwood, who spoke so decisively, somehow seemed to sparkle. Bathing in sunlight, her smile radiated, and seeing her, he felt an indescribable warmth in his chest.

---

"And, you know, Kirina and I took down the skeleton by ourselves. Compared to Junos, who trained every day, it was like they were standing still."

By the time the sun had set, the group led by Junos returned to the forge, placing today's 'harvest' there before returning to the makeshift lodging located somewhat away from the forge.

They would have their meals there, hold a reflection session on their labyrinth exploration, inspect their equipment, take rests, and spend their time as they pleased. Taking more rest was also Euphemia's intention and aligned with Junos's policy.

"It wasn't in vain. We're getting stronger, you know. Stronger and... we'll definitely be useful to Lady Euphemia!"

During that rest period, the one who came excitedly to Raft and chatted away was Kirina Grimoire, daughter of Serana, the fox spirit. Though most of the talking was done by Katarina, Raft found it a bit annoying to be approached during his precious self-training time.

In the first place, Raft was already well aware of the 'labyrinth.'

For instance, creatures like skeletons. They were said to be creatures that wouldn't normally exist in this world. Skeletons were created by necromancers flipping over battlefield remains to gather bones and then summoning them.

It seemed that creatures of that sort, the kind that wouldn't normally exist, often appeared in the 'labyrinth.' Conversely, creatures like quadrupedal beasts that naturally occurred in places with dense demon elements like the demon realm rarely appeared. If they did, they would be unnatural synthetic creatures like chimeras.

And the most prominent unnatural occurrence was the 'harvest.'

For some reason, when creatures were defeated in the 'labyrinth,' they would disappear without leaving corpses. Occasionally, they would drop 'harvest.' So, a few members of entire village considered calling it a "dungeon" rather than a labyrinth.

Eventually, everyone adopted the term due to the said place being somewhat special on its own.

Because for some reason, the creatures dropped ores.

"...Oh, right. I was actually thinking of giving this to you."

As if she remembered, Katarina took out a fist-sized stone, and with an indifferent expression, tossed it to Raft.

Raft, who was in the midst of practicing infusing magic into the hammer, hurriedly cut off the flow of magic to his body and caught the stone with his left hand. Though he felt like complaining, he realized that he should be able to handle this level of magic manipulation effortlessly, even while humming a tune.

"This... is it, a magic ore?"

Gazing at the stone in his hand, he muttered,

Magic ores, when melted and alloyed, produce metals that are easy to infuse with magic. Magic iron and magic silver are well-known, and craftsmen sometimes alloy them with complex compositions.

"During the exploration, I heard it from Jainos. He said you're good at infusing magic into metals. So, I'll give it to you. Then, eventually, it'll come back to us—a good weapon."

Katarina raised the corner of her mouth defiantly, while Kirina smiled normally beside her.

Two girls of about the same age made Raft feel like they were in a very distant place—but upon further thought, the distance was there from the beginning.

Undoubtedly, they had talent.

One day, they would shine brightly beside Euphemia Grimwood.

"Effort is needed," Raft replied.