What if you are reborn as a demon after a funeral?

"Is this really that simple? This is the first time I've ever seen someone so sleepy." He turned his head and saw an elven girl, dressed simply but draped in a dark cloak, who looked more mature than Frilian, standing in front of the door.

Image: "Miriarde and Florian", Location: "Images/1720881521-100409035-111887888.jpg"

"Is this the first time I've met someone? A newcomer?" The girl observed him curiously.

"I guess so. My name is Ash. What's yours?"

"Hello, Miliearde."

"Really? Your name is a bit too long. Could you just call me Millie?"

"It's not long, is it? It's your name that's too short."

"By the way, do you know magic?"

"Huh? Isn't this topic jumping a bit too fast?"

"I think it's okay."

“But before we talk about that…” Millie tilted her head, looking at Frillie, who was being held upside down by his ankle and had her eyes tightly closed, and couldn’t help but ask, “Before that, shouldn’t we put Frillie down? Her face is all red.”

"His face is flushed red; he should be awake by now, right?"

"She's awake, but doesn't want to get up."

"Why? I can see your underwear!" As he spoke, he continued to shake the girl hanging upside down in his hand, like a rabbit being casually picked up.

Millie, however, pointed out the problem with a blank expression: "She's never left here, so she's a bit slow on the uptake, and you're no different from a three-year-old in our eyes."

"What a hassle... What a strange person."

“Indeed, as a human being, she might be a bit strange.” Millie glanced at Frillian in his hand, then quickly looked back at his face. “But as a human being, your behavior is also a bit strange, isn’t it?”

"By the way, do you know magic?"

"...We've come full circle again?"

"Because this is very important."

"You're really interesting."

"Can we not change the subject?"

"Hmm... Anyway, let's put her aside for now?"

..............

In the end, Ash casually tossed Frillie back onto the bed, temporarily ignoring the girl who, even with her skirt exposed, still refused to get up.

The Burial of Frilian: A Thousand Years Later: Chapter Eighteen - The Emperor's Wine - Frilian's Regret

After giving up on waking Frillie, Ash followed Millie out of her room, Millie's wine cellar... no, her residence.

Just looking at the densely packed wine barrels inside the stone house gave him a chill down his spine.

"...Why is there so much alcohol here?"

"Hmph~" Millie didn't answer his question, but instead took out a bottle of wine and proudly introduced it: "Do you know? This is Emperor's Wine~?"

"do not know."

"Emperor's Wine is a wine offered to the emperor of a vast empire that rules over most of the continent, you know?" Millie explained to herself with a sly smile, and handed over the wine directly: "This is a supreme nectar, don't you want to try it?"

"Want to try some? Then... I'll treat you first!"

He opened the bottle in confusion, but suddenly pinched the elf's mouth shut, pouring the drink into her mouth as if to refuel her. The next moment...

"Pfft!!" The elven girl choked and spat out a mouthful of wine.

In an instant, the entire room was filled with the smell of cheap alcohol.

Just smelling it makes one doubt the quality of this wine.

Millie, her face covered in alcohol, glared at him resentfully: "...You actually made me drink this awful stuff again...You brat, have you ever drunk Emperor's Wine before?"

"My sister usually has a similar expression to yours when she has some kind of wicked idea."

Although he didn't quite understand why Aura was so emotional when all the other demons were expressionless... was it really his doing?

Even now, he still can't figure it out, while Millie looks annoyed: "...Did someone beat me to it?"

"And then? It really tasted awful?"

"Regardless of the taste, this is truly precious! And it's practically Emperor's Wine!" Millie emphasized angrily.

This made him hesitate for a moment, and he still looked hesitantly at the wine in his hand: "...If you put it that way, I'm a little interested."

"Quickly, give it a try!"

"...Won't people die?"

"Didn't you just force-feed me? Do you think I'm dead?"

"Right."

He nodded slightly, not paying much attention, and then tilted his head back and drank it down.

There was no smoothness on the palate; a bitter, unpleasant, and pungent taste instantly assaulted his throat. The acidity was excessively high, and the pungent aroma was off-putting. Just drinking it was unpleasant, causing him to involuntarily frown: "This is awful..."

"Yes, I think so too. That's why I had a stone tablet carved before I came to this village, praising the taste of the Emperor's Wine."

"...Your personality is terrible, even worse than this wine."

"Thanks for the compliment, but you don't look much better." Millie nodded nonchalantly, offering an approving smile. "I think we might get along well."

"...I just wanted to learn magic."

"It's alright, there's still plenty of time."

"Don't apply human time to me."

"Alright, then we'll officially begin in a few years..."

"Goodbye to the New Year! Today! Now! Right now!"

He couldn't stand the elves' sense of time, so he grabbed the elf in front of him and shook her until she couldn't take it anymore and was forced to surrender.

However... even after agreeing, Millie's slow pace made Ash a little anxious and frustrated.

After much urging, I reluctantly made the preparations... which meant eating breakfast and mentally preparing for the lesson, but the magic I was going to teach was—to make the wheat grow better.

This magic seemed utterly useless to him, which infuriated him. He chased after Millie, who had somehow managed to escape, intending to tie her up and teach her properly.

But before he could catch Millie, around noon, he saw Frillie walk out of the room and lazily stretch in the sunlight.

"...This lazy feeling is just like that of an elderly woman..."

"—?!" His subconscious retort made Frilian turn her head sharply to look at him.

His expression clearly showed dissatisfaction, even a hint of anger, but he decisively ignored it, only...

"...What's wrong? Shouldn't young people go to bed early and get up early?"

They're not like the young people of the 21st century who stay up all night playing on their phones and computers, so why are these medieval villagers so lazy when they're bored out of their minds? Ash really didn't understand.

Frillie, however, kept a straight face and said unhappily, "Anyway, there's time, what's the big deal?"

"...Okay then."

He had originally intended to say that she had a lot to do, but after thinking it over carefully, he realized that he needed her help, so he stopped talking.

This left Frillie, who was prepared to have a fight and then properly accuse him of the atrocity of lifting her up, feeling like she had punched a cotton ball, and she didn't even have a chance to say anything more.

It was in this atmosphere that Ash's life of studying in the elven village continued in an orderly manner.

...........................

The elves' lives in the village can be described as mundane.

It was all so bland and uneventful. Every elf had a lazy, unmotivated feel to Ash, and even to Serie A, they all seemed to lack motivation.

Although she had been sitting there getting moldy, at least Celia still had the idea of ​​causing trouble... Of course, she had magic to clean clothes, so she didn't actually get moldy.

In comparison...

"...It's already late, aren't you going to rest?"

Seeing Ash skillfully break down the door and stand brazenly in front of her bed, Frillie, who had already covered herself with a blanket, looked completely bewildered and began to regret ever agreeing to teach him magic.

The Burial of Frilian: A Thousand Years Later: Chapter Nineteen - The Secret to the Longevity of Elves - The Demon Outside the Village

Compared to Frilian and the village elves, Ash's proactive approach made Frilian start to wonder if humans died before reaching the age of one hundred due to overwork.

But now, even though she realizes the problem, Ash... won't let her back out.

She wasn't the only one complaining; Ash was also furious: "It's barely dark now, and you're telling me I need to rest??"

"...Go find Millie, she'll probably still be drinking tonight, she'll definitely have time."

"No, I refuse!" He rejected the idea without hesitation, causing Frillie to throw off the covers and sit up, glaring at him angrily: "Why?! Didn't she travel around? Shouldn't she know quite a bit of magic?"

"...Yes, but for some reason she especially liked planting wheat, making it grow better, and the magic that made it grow quickly after planting. She also told me that I had to learn these magic spells before she would teach me anything else, and she wouldn't budge even if I drank all her treasured wine."