Frieren: Understand Humans, Aura!

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"My horns are not for eating!" Aura shouted angrily, using telekinesis magic to fetch bread from her bag and stuff it into Frieren's mouth. Her cheeks were bulging, and she looked like a little hamster. Finally, her horns were freed from the hungry Frieren's mouth. Aura could hardly believe the situation she was in.

Like a child, when hungry, Frieren would grab anything nearby that looked like food and eat it. How did this elf, who acted like this, manage to lead two human kids to the Northern Lands in the future? Did they expect this elf, who couldn't even take care of herself, to look after them? More likely, they were the ones taking care of this waste elf!

Having resolved the crisis of her horns being treated as food, Aura sighed in relief, but it wasn't over yet. She still felt a burning gaze on her back, fixated on her horns. Frieren seemed interested in strange, unusual things.

To prevent her horns from being taken off by a casual remark from Frieren due to the obedience magic, Aura started explaining the principles of demon magic as she walked. She needed to find something captivating enough to distract Frieren's attention away from her horns. It was like coaxing a child to sleep—finding the right story to keep them engaged.

"…Although it differs greatly from human thought patterns and foundational structures, demon magic is also based on imagination. However, because of the emotional differences between demons and humans, our imagination tends to be more rational, more objective and realistic…"

The effect was immediate. Frieren's ears perked up, her usual impassive expression replaced by one of keen interest. Aura knew well that Frieren was always most interested in magic, her curiosity insatiable when it came to learning about new spells and systems of magic. Even when she was fooled by mimic monsters countless times, it was because, in her imagination, every mimic monster contained a book of lost magic that might be revealed.

As Aura continued her explanation, she began to see the stark difference between herself and Frieren, or rather, the difference between normal mages and Frieren. Normal mages typically had a goal in mind when they created magic; they sought the effect, the purpose that magic could achieve for them. To them, magic was a tool, a means to an end.

But Frieren was different. She had no such practical purposes. She loved magic itself, the way a painter loves color or a musician loves sound. For her, magic was not merely a tool; it was an art, a passion, something to be explored and enjoyed in its own right.

As Aura explained the various aspects of demon magic, whether it was life magic, combat magic, complex and difficult magic, or simple and fun magic, Frieren listened intently. Her ears moved up and down, occasionally tapping Aura's back in what seemed to be a gesture of encouragement. Aura couldn't help but think, 'No wonder you've accumulated over a thousand years of magical power, Frieren.'

Aura considered herself diligent among demons, which is why she had accumulated mana nearly equal to her age. Under normal circumstances, humans who could spend one-third of their lives on magic were already outstanding, while demons could generally spend half of their lives. After all, whether humans or demons, in addition to magic, they all had their own lives or careers, and it was impossible for them to spend all their time on practicing magic.

For most, magic was just a tool. For Aura, it was a tool she was gifted with. But for Frieren, magic was her life, her... everything?

However, this wasn't the Frieren of now. Aura glanced back at the elf on her back. The silly and cute elf gave her a pure and wise expression in return.

"Tch—" Aura clicked her tongue, showing nine parts of disgust.

The current Frieren is not the carefree wandering magician of the future. She had a hometown and family in the elf village. Expecting this Frieren to dedicate her life to magic research was impossible. She was tethered by her obligations, her attachments, and her emotions.

"So, emotions only make people weaker." Aura couldn't see any good in them. Many great demon scholars, even the Demon Lord, were interested in human emotions and wanted to understand them, believing there was some hidden power or wisdom within them. But Aura had no such desire. It was impossible for her to understand humankind.

Aura didn't want to become weak and turn into a weird being constrained by emotions. She valued her strength, her independence, and her clarity of thought, all of which she believed emotions would cloud and corrupt.

They walked and stopped along the way, sometimes spending time climbing to higher ground to overlook the surrounding environment. Although Aura had a sharp memory and was not like a certain idiotic elf who couldn't recognize directions, she had only been to the vicinity of the elf village once by chance. Retracing her steps was proving to be more challenging than she had anticipated. The terrain was tricky, full of hidden pitfalls and dense foliage, and navigating through it required more effort and patience than she had expected.

Yet, the magic lessons never stopped. Aura treated it like explaining popular science, not putting much effort into it because, judging by Frieren's intense mana, the elf already had a solid foundation, likely taught by other elves. Still, she offered a mix of practical demonstrations and theoretical explanations, elaborating on various aspects of demon magic that she thought might interest Frieren.

"A mage with a fixed foundation's imagination would be constrained, making it hard to learn other magic systems," Aura explained as they trudged through the dense forest. "That's why demon magic, which relies heavily on the flexibility and adaptability of the mind, often seems incomprehensible to other races."

"..."

"Aura, thank you."

"Thank me for what?"

"A large part of the magic you talk about is something I have never come across."

"Oh."

—Aura did it on purpose, choosing obscure, difficult spells to tell Frieren about.

"That's the elf village ahead."

"I've walked quickly."

"You can put me down; I can walk too."

"Your feet?"

"I don't need to walk; I can use flight magic."

"Huh?"

Did elves of this era already have flight magic? It was supposed to be a demon-exclusive spell until the Demon King was defeated. Aura had a very bad feeling.

"When... did you learn it?"

"Just recently," Frieren replied nonchalantly.

"Who taught you?" Aura's voice grew sharper, filled with a mix of suspicion and fear.

"Wasn't it you, Aura?"

Frieren looked puzzled. Hadn't Aura explained demon magic in great detail?

"I'm not, I didn't, don't talk nonsense!"

Aura was horrified: "How could you possibly master it?! Even with a little human magic foundation, mages can't imagine themselves performing demon magic! Even if you can understand it and force yourself to analyze it, you can't cast it at all... Wait... Wait..."

Aura's eyes widened as she realized something, trembling as she asked: "Frieren, who was your first magic teacher?"

"It was you, Aura."

The cute white-haired elf tilted her head and smiled softly, but in Aura's eyes, this smile was more ferocious and terrifying than the sword that Himmel had used to hack her.

How is it possible that an elf who has never learned magic has already possessed the same magical power as a human mage who has practiced magic for a hundred years? Is her mana innate? Or did she subconsciously start practicing magic without realizing it?

'Goddess, why did you let this freak appear in front of me, Aura?!' 'Isn't this forcing me to nip this great enemy of the demon in the bud, even if it means dying together with me?'

Aura was filled with resolve. The resolve to fight with her life!

"Aura, tell me more about magic."

"..."

Click—

Obedience spell activated. Tears streamed down Aura's face as she continued to explain. She couldn't control her body, entirely manipulated by the white-haired elf's will.

The secrets of demon magic spilled out, and the pure Frieren absorbed them like a sponge, quickly filling her blank magical knowledge with demon magic.

'I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Demon King-sama! Aura can't go back! This body… my body, doesn't belong to me anymore, wuwuwuwu…'

Aura dropped pearls of varying sizes, wiping away tears as she could not control her behavior and betrayed the demons. Although she was loyal to the demons in her heart, she was controlled by obedience magic and kept doing things that violated her bottom line.

"Aura, why are you crying?"

"Did something sad happen? How pitiful—"

"Who made you cry? So awful—"

"Tell me, let me hear it."

There was obviously nothing wrong with these words, but why did Aura always feel that she was being ridiculed by Frieren?

Aura was about to cry: "I... I'm probably not a good demon anymore..."

From a demon's perspective, Aura's actions were unforgivable.

"Is that so?" Frieren's eyes dimmed, not understanding why Aura suddenly became so sad. Perhaps she had been tortured extremely cruelly during the month she disappeared and recalled bad memories—in any case, it should have nothing to do with her, Frieren. But she still tried to comfort her:

"But Aura, you're a good teacher."

"..."

"You taught me magic and allowed me to take the first step on the path of magic."

"..."

"If I become a great mage in the future, it will be thanks to you."

"..."

"I will be forever grateful to you, Aura."

"...Please, stop talking, Frieren."