Our heroes had set out on a long journey toward Mikail II's Spear.
Days passed.
Then weeks.
Footsteps, campsites, evening fires...
They all began to blur together.
The heavy aura radiating from Aurelia kept the surrounding creatures away.
Monsters would not come close; they changed direction instead.
Because of that, the journey was strangely peaceful.
They were starting to lose track of time.
Shinju... had begun to grow used to it.
To the quiet.
To having friends around.
At the start of the journey, Shinju woke up the same way every morning:
Is there a threat?
Is a sound too close?
Is something wrong?
But as the days passed...
that reflex began to fade.
Without Shinju even noticing.
The nights were even stranger.
Once, sleep had been a luxury.
Closing your eyes... had been a mistake.
But now—
while the fire burned,
while Swen stirred something,
while Koharu talked about meaningless but strangely comforting things...
Shinju sometimes found themself just listening.
Thinking about nothing at all.
And then—
without realizing it,
they would fall asleep.
Deeply.
Quietly.
Real sleep.
That... was unfamiliar.
Throughout the journey, Shinju tried countless times to use Yang energy.
Sometimes at sunrise...
Sometimes after everyone else had fallen asleep...
They changed their intent.
Steadied their breathing.
Kept their hands still.
But the result was always the same.
Instead of Yang, Yin energy answered every attempt.
That used to make Shinju angry.
Now it only left them tired.
And yet... there was something strange about it.
They couldn't use Yang.
But they didn't feel incomplete, either.
That evening, the campfire was a little smokier than usual.
As always, Swen was conducting one of those experiments nobody could ever make sense of.
The expression on her face was familiar.
It was the "This time it's definitely going to work" expression.
Koharu had been suspicious from the beginning, watching with hands on hips.
"I'm telling you," Koharu said,
"if this one blows up too—"
"It won't blow up," Swen said confidently.
At that exact moment, the fire made a small poof sound.
Koharu stared without blinking.
"...It blew up."
Swen didn't even flinch.
"No. This time, it was a flavor explosion."
Aurelia was leaning against a rock, arms crossed, expression calm.
"You were making food with that thing?" Aurelia said.
"It would've been better if I'd burned it with dragon breath."
Swen turned immediately.
"Our supplies might start running low soon. It's better if we can make use of everything we have."
Koharu tilted their head.
"Why are we still keeping this woman with us?"
Swen wasn't offended in the slightest.
"In this barren wasteland, you wouldn't be able to find your way or find food without me."
Shinju had been silent the whole time.
They were staring at the fire.
But their mind wasn't there.
Moments like this used to be dangerous.
Now, though...
they were only listening.
And that still felt strange.
At last, Swen held out the mixture.
"This time, I did it," she said.
Without thinking, Koharu turned to Shinju.
"You eat it."
Shinju raised an eyebrow.
"Why me?"
"You're immortal."
Shinju sighed.
They took one bite.
Stopped.
Took another bite.
"...This is good."
Swen froze.
"Are you serious?"
"I'm serious. It's better than I expected."
Swen's eyes widened.
"One year..." she said slowly.
"It took me a year, but I did it."
Aurelia turned her head slightly.
"Shinju," Aurelia said.
"Do you know what that is?"
Shinju lifted an eyebrow.
"What?"
Aurelia answered in a calm voice.
"What she used... normally isn't edible."
Koharu had already started grinning.
Shinju turned slowly.
"...How not edible?"
Aurelia replied without blinking.
"The kind even monsters won't eat."
Silence.
Shinju forgot to swallow.
"...You're joking."
"No," Swen said.
"I mean... technically, no."
"Once alchemy gets involved—"
Aurelia cut in.
"—she turned feces into something edible."
One second.
Two seconds.
Shinju's expression changed.
Their shoulders trembled.
"Wait..." they said.
"So I just—"
They couldn't finish the sentence.
They leaned back and grabbed their stomach.
"I... ate shit."
Koharu stifled a laugh.
"Bon appétit."
Swen lifted her chin proudly.
"Don't worry. Its molecular structure has been completely altered."
A short pause.
"It's not feces anymore."
"This is the pinnacle of alchemy.
Turning even the worst thing... into something you'd want to eat again."
Shinju shook their head.
"This is ridiculous..."
And then...
they started laughing.
Actually laughing.
Laughing until tears came to their eyes.
"I think..." Shinju said between breaths,
"I could eat another bowl."
A short pause.
"This shit is actually good."
For a moment, there was silence.
Then everyone lost it.
Koharu nearly collapsed to the ground.
Swen completely lost control.
Even Aurelia's lips twitched.
"I don't often see people laugh this much," Aurelia said.
"They usually scream."
That completely finished Koharu off.
Shinju was still laughing.
But then they noticed something.
That burning in their chest was gone.
That voice shouting inside their head was gone.
There was only...
lightness.
Fire.
Voices.
People beside them.
The feeling was unfamiliar.
But for the first time...
they didn't want to run.
That night, as Shinju's eyes closed, a thought passed through their mind:
So this is what laughing feels like.
So a person really can laugh together with others.
And for the first time in their life—
as they drifted off to sleep,
they found themselves curious about tomorrow.