She Who Became Immortal

"It was my first time witnessing Junos in combat, and he proved to be stronger than I expected.

Yunofeliza's tribal chief, Janus, was a muscular, rugged man who demonstrated reckless swings that felt like they could punch through my abdomen.

With him, even if you lined up a hundred knights from the Grimwood family, it seemed they would be unable to break through. Of course, if powerful nobles were to participate, Janus would have no chance. However, considering just raw strength, in terms of knights among the human race who could rival Janus, I could only think of one.

That would be Craig Escard, the strongest knight in the kingdom. Born in the Escard frontier, he distinguished himself at the Royal Academy and rose to become the commander of the kingdom's knights. How did the son of a frontier count become the commander of the knights in the heart of a kingdom rife with intrigue? The answer was simple: he was too strong. Everyone deemed him indispensable. There were talks that he should not be left at the frontier but should be stationed at the heart of the kingdom.

He might, perhaps, be able to survive facing Janus.

Though, it seemed quite difficult to defeat him.

Anyway, it was Junos.

The chief of the werewolf tribe, Zamba Broad, was indeed inferior compared to Junos, but he possessed extraordinary speed and strength. Moreover, he had fangs and claws, weapons that Janus lacked.

However— it was hardly a match.

The movements of the first exchange, to be honest, were difficult for me to follow. They both dashed at high speed and in the blink of an eye, they collided, with Zamba seemingly suspended in midair. Somehow, straight up.

With the kind of momentum that even gymnasts wouldn't achieve, he twirled and ascended upward, following the laws of physics, then descended... just before hitting the ground, Junos's kick plunged into Zamba's abdomen.

Zamba rolled along the ground like a strong second bounce. However, midway, he forcibly adjusted his posture, used his limbs to kill the momentum, and sprung forward like a spring.

Then, two, three, four, five... six exchanges.

Junos handled them all, consistently landing strikes on Zamba. Chest, shoulders, back, then again the abdomen, abdomen. He used not only kicks but also elbows and the hilt of his sword. The black sword, still drawn, never slashed the werewolf beast.

—Should I leave one alive?

That seemed to be the case. Junos had such confidence. Indeed, while the first exchange was a blur of attacks and defenses, from the second exchange onwards, Junos's movements visibly slowed. Yet, despite this, Zamba's attacks couldn't land, while Junos's did.

He's seeing through them, isn't he?"

---

"Wha... what the... hell are you...?"

Breathing heavily, Zamba muttered. It wasn't anger or hatred, just a simple question mark devoid of any extras. Perhaps that's all the exhaustion he could muster.

In contrast, Junos remained half-cocked, his black sword aimed towards Zamba, exhaling with a slight frown.

"I've already introduced myself. If you have something to say, admit defeat first. You're planning to kill me, aren't you? Even if by some chance—"

His words halted momentarily, Junos's gaze momentarily drifting away from Zamba.

Taking advantage of the opening, Zamba didn't attack.

"Kirina...,"  Serena murmured.

Come to think of it, it seemed Serena had pulled Kirina out from the burning village chief's house... But how on earth did that woman end up in a place like this?

Well, never mind that.

More importantly, three figures were approaching from the direction of the granary. Maya and Katarina of the demon race, accompanied by Kirina, led by Katarina.

While I knew the two were close, seeing Katarina and Kirina walking from afar gave off more of a comrades-in-arms vibe than just friends. Maybe they made some kind of vow under the blooming peach blossoms.

"Stella and Zamba are Kirina's parents."

Serena said.

"Hmm..."

So that meant, ten years ago, Serena had entrusted Kirina to an old friend... Was it an old friend? It felt like it. In the first place, the foxkin like Serena were disbanded by the Lion King's decree, weren't they? Dissolved?

...Huh?

If that's the case, wasn't something off from the beginning?

Hmm.

Perhaps the situation was bigger than I thought.

"Lady Euphemia!"

This time, a voice came from a different direction.

With the sword dancer Jade at the forefront, about half of the demon races were heading towards us. Presumably, the rest were guarding the assembly hall.

"We're done here. We've killed eleven werewolf kin. One of them told us what we wanted to know, and he's undoubtedly the last one."

Jade reported as if it were nothing.

Serena frowned slightly. On the other hand, Katarina and Kirina's expressions hardly changed, almost indifferent. A feeling of discomfort arose. 

Kirina's mother, Stella, looked at Jade with a puzzled expression, seeming to grasp the situation... well, she probably didn't understand anything.

And Zamba.

The tattered werewolf kin chieftain trembled—now more vigorously.

"All... all of them... killed...?"

Zamba's tone murmured differently from before.

Until just now, he seemed desperate. He had attacked to kill Junos, received a counterattack, yet remained alive, being spared. That was the situation. It was humiliating.

But now, it transcended such dimensions.

Junos, facing him, must have sensed it—perhaps even more clearly than me, watching from the sidelines—his black sword's tip quivered slightly, no longer standing rigidly but slightly lowering, showing signs of readiness for the first time.

"Ah, we killed them. You killed the orc tribe too, right? Since you came to invade, that's what you get. You might be called in as reinforcements and get killed too. Did you not know even that much?"

Jade retorted as if it were obvious.

However—did that statement get through?

Zamba's body, which had been trembling, now shook even more strongly. Rather than trembling from fear or anger, it seemed more like a physical reaction. It was as if he had taken some dangerous drug or had electrodes attached to his body, causing a reflex.

"...I see. So this is what werewolf kin are like."

I couldn't help but let out an astonished voice.

Zamba's body, which had been spasming, began to swell rapidly. In just five seconds or so, his height of about 180 centimeters exceeded two and a half meters, his appearance similar to a human but now covered in fur, resembling a hairy monster. Yes, it was what you often saw in fiction—a 'werewolf.'

Honestly, what did he think the law of conservation of mass was? No, in a world with magic like this, there's no point in thinking about that. If we think of it not as the law of mass but as the law of energy conservation, the answer becomes clear.

Magic.

He was transforming using magic.

"――Grrrraaaawwrrr!!"

A truly beast-like roar echoed. Maya stepped forward with her spear, standing in front of Katarina and Kirina. Jade also drew his curved sword and crouched down.

And then, in an instant, it was over.

Junos, who had approached the werewolf with a single hop without any preparatory movements, seemed to have moved his black sword... or so I thought. Probably.

Even from where I was watching, Junos had somehow closed in, and by that time, he had already severed Zamba's right leg.

Zamba's body swayed.

Of course, one of the two supporting his body had been severed. There was no way he could stand properly.

While the werewolf's howl still echoed, Junos utilized the inertia of swinging his sword, spun around on the spot as gracefully as a figure skater, adding centrifugal force, and delivered a left hook-like blow to Zamba's head, which had fallen into just the right position.

Thunk, it sounded like a massive hammer striking.

Zamba's body hit the ground with the force of falling from the third floor of a building.

After that, he didn't move a muscle.

No—there was some movement. What was once a werewolf was now transforming back into a beast-man. Looking closely, the fur covering his body seemed to turn into shiny particles, dispersing into the atmosphere.

"Stop it!"

Stella... Kirina's mother cried out, almost in a scream.

Because Junos had thrust his black sword into Zamba's unconscious right arm.

It was stabbed in such a way as to pin him to the ground like a stake to fasten something down.

"Don't kill the father in front of the child!!"

Kneeling on the spot, Stella shouted again.

The plea itself was perfectly reasonable. However, her motherly...nonsense was so out of place. It could be described as an infinite source of absurdity. I couldn't help but laugh.

"What's so funny!?"

She glared at me with all her hatred, but I couldn't hold back my laughter, nor did I particularly want to.

"Hehe... Well, isn't this laughable? It's rather too late to preach morals, isn't it? You could've yelled morals when I was being killed. You stayed silent while Zamba was getting beat up by Junos, didn't you? Do you want to look good in front of your daughter? Look at her."

Behind Maya, who hadn't let her guard down yet, I pointed at Kirina, who was holding hands with Katarina.

Her expression—was indifferent.

She seemed uninterested in the woman in front of her.

"Kirina...?"

"That werewolf over there is supposed to be my father, and you're supposed to be my mother. Isn't that what you said?"

"Yes! That's right! That's why I came to pick—"

"I don't care. It doesn't matter."

With the coldness of a college student rejecting the advances of a middle-aged man she didn't know, the ten-year-old girl interrupted her mother's words.

Ignoring Stella's astonishment, Kirina turned her gaze towards me and continued.

"Lady Euphemia. My parents are Serena. I don't know anything about these people. Please kill them here and now."

With those words delivered calmly, I couldn't help but laugh again and a feeling of pain roused within my chest.

Honestly, isn't this world just one hell after another? Dying, killing, being killed, dying, being made to die, being abandoned, being forsaken. Being picked up. Following. Being together. Becoming one.

After grinning for a good ten seconds, I said,

"No, I won't."

Humans?  Demons? Beastmen?  In all honesty, for all who I met... 

One thing I learned at this very moment... 

.. you all are hypocrites.