Frieren: Understand Humans, Aura!

What exactly had changed?

How had the progenitor of human magic from a thousand years ago grown so much stronger than history recorded?

Aura couldn't figure it out no matter how much she thought about it… so she decided to stop thinking about it.

Whatever had happened among humans had nothing to do with her. What mattered was the fate of the demons grand ambition.

She would proceed with the original plan.

Aura took a step back, blending into the shadows in the long corridor of the Magic Association's palace. Her eyes opened silently in the darkness, unseen by all, as she observed the human mages passing by.

When it came to concealing her presence, Aura was confident that not even Flamme could match her ability to suppress her mana completely. If she wanted to, she could even stop her own heartbeat.

Hiding in the dark, Aura carefully watched.

"This one's too easy," she thought, watching a young mage walk by, head down, distracted by a scroll of notes. "They're inexperienced, too green. Easy to handle, but they travel in groups. If I can't silence them all at once, it'll attract attention from the higher-ups."

Aura's gaze shifted to another mage, an older man with graying hair and a slow, deliberate pace. His age suggested wisdom, but his frailty made him an easy target.

"No," Aura decided, her lips barely moving. "He may be weak, but older humans hold more secrets than they let on. They carry years of experience… and with that, a dangerous amount of auto-triggered magic." She watched him, noting how his staff twitched slightly as if responding to a trigger. "They might not react quickly, but that's what makes them so troublesome. I'd need to handle him carefully, and even then, he'd be a risk."

She shifted, her body moving like liquid through the shadows. A flash of movement, a glimpse of someone else. She paused, then narrowed her eyes.

"Not this one either," she muttered. "Too much fat… Too difficult to deal with. If I roasted the body, the grease would splatter everywhere, and the stench would linger for days. Not ideal. Not good for covering up the evidence."

"This one…"

"…"

Aura hadn't forgotten the process of kidnapping, eating, and disposing of bodies.

After a long period of silent observation, she was already certain—Zanze's punishments weren't fatal to her at all.

Without Frieren's orders restraining her, and with Serie too obsessed with magic to pay attention to her, Aura realized that she could secretly eat a human without any real danger!

At most, she'd arouse suspicion.

But so what?

Would Zanze kill her just because she suspected her?

Would Serie discard such a valuable research subject based on mere doubt?

No—they wouldn't. Not a chance.

Aura straightened her back proudly, smiling with confidence. This was a demon's calculation.

Now that she had some understanding of human emotions, she could precisely gauge their limits. She would dance on the edge of their tolerance, using deception, schemes, and emotions to manipulate them… before finally devouring them.

All for the demons!

Aura was willing to offer everything for their cause!

Even betraying Zanze, whom she had known for over twenty years, would be easy!

"I've chosen. It'll be you!"

Aura concealed her presence, lurking in the shadows for half an hour. She wandered through most of the Magic Association, waiting until the busy crowds had thinned. Now, only a few people passed through the hallways.

She crawled down from the ceiling.

Her target was a short-haired girl with messy black hair, wearing thick glasses and carrying a large stack of grimories. Her eyes were dull, dark circles visible beneath them, and she wobbled under the weight of the books—she looked like an easy target.

Aura carefully sensed her mana. A third-class mage at most.

If she fell into Aura's hands, Aura had a hundred ways to make her reveal humanity's secrets willingly.

A pair of white hands stretched out from the shadows, followed by the cruel and bloodthirsty purple eyes of the demon. Aura planned to cover the girl's mouth and drag her into the corner, eating up the secrets in her mind and her body.

But just as she pounced—

Poof!

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Flamme standing right next to her.

Aura's pupils contracted sharply.

Flamme raised her right hand, palm open.

"Ahhh! Please spare me! I won't dare anymore! Don't hit me!!"

Aura crouched on the ground, hugging her head, crying pitifully.

The young black-haired mage ahead turned around at the noise, only to see Flamme scolding another girl around her age. She quickly averted her gaze and hurried away, not wanting to get involved.

She had just been scolded by her mentor for ruining a research project—now, seeing a mage of her mentor's age, she instinctively felt fear.

'Poor girl… did you accidentally break the experiment product like me? Recently, many classmates have been scolded for this because of excessive and unrestrained use of precious materials.'

From the corner of the hallway, she cast a sympathetic glance at Aura before disappearing from sight.

Flamme, meanwhile, tilted her head slightly, shaking her right hand as if confused.

"I was just saying hello…"

She had concealed her mana while approaching Aura, intending to surprise her—nothing more.

"I'll do anything, just don't hit me, don't hit me…!" Aura whimpered.

"Aura, don't misunderstand. I just wanted to say hello. I'm not a violent person."

"You kill demons on sight, and you're not violent??"

"That's just against demons… Aura, don't worry. I'm not targeting you… as long as you don't harm humans. You weren't about to do anything bad, were you?"

"No, no, no!"

Since Flamme had seen her before she could act, Aura felt she had miraculously escaped death.

She scrambled to her feet, turning to flee.

But Flamme caught her wrist.

Aura looked back in despair at the slender fingers wrapped tightly around her arm.

She'd been found out—she was definitely going to be killed!

Or worse—Flamme might turn her own methods against her and eat her!

The mere thought of what she had done to humans happening to her made Aura tremble uncontrollably.

Flamme noticed Aura's expression but didn't comment. Instead, she spoke softly:

"Want to get dessert together tonight?"

"Ahhh, I hate desserts the most!!"

Aura clutched her head, wailing.

No one understood humans better than Aura. Who would talk about eating dessert and just mean desserts? She wasn't familiar with Flamme, who had only taught her some erroneous magical knowledge, sabotaging Flamme's magical foundation. There was no personal connection, just a grudge... This human mage definitely wanted to turn her into a dessert... Aura didn't want to be eaten by humans!

————————

In the end, they still ended up at the dessert shop.

Aura couldn't resist Flamme, and she didn't dare to resist—at least not before Flamme became too old to move.

With her head lowered, nervous and anxious, Aura was led by Flamme to the dessert shop. Along the way, seeing the bustling humans, Aura lost her appetite.

All she could think about was what pose she should adopt to beg for mercy, hoping that the demon-slaying fanatic Flamme would let her go this time.