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

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Having passed through the bustling city center, walked along the commercial streets, and even glimpsed the slums, Linne, who was visiting this city for the first time, seemed to be in a particularly pleasant mood as she looked around.

Although Ash couldn't quite understand it due to the lack of facial expressions, the joyful atmosphere was obvious enough.

Although he knew a little about this land, he wasn't good at finding his way around, and he was always very busy, so he wouldn't wander around aimlessly. As a result, there were many places he hadn't been to, and his knowledge seemed somewhat insignificant at this moment.

Soon, Linne led him through the market, into a maze of paths... leading him into a challenging labyrinth.

As far as the eye could see... the destination was nowhere to be found, yet the path beneath their feet was as unpredictable as a maze. Linne seemed to be searching for something in a market, constantly wandering around, so he could only hold Linne's hand to prevent her from getting lost.

Not long after, he was still holding Linne's hand with one hand, but with a large bag of apples in his other hand. Two wooden boxes were floating beside him, seemingly the food she had prepared for later.

"Lord Ash, is this the way back?" Lina grabbed his hand and followed beside him, but couldn't help but ask, "Why do I feel like we've been here before?"

"...How would I know?"

"Lord Ash, surprisingly useless?"

"If you say that again, I'll beat you up."

"I'm sorry, Ash-sama, I was wrong." Linne, who had been actively apologizing, apologized to him without hesitation. Her attitude was so good that he felt like... himself when facing sincerity.

"...Is this karma?"

Whenever he was around Linne, he couldn't help but think like this, even though he wasn't really willing to admit it.

Before they could even leave, he spotted Connie, who was alone, on the other side. Connie clearly noticed him too, and his eyes lit up as he ran toward him.

At that moment, Corinne narrowed her eyes, raised her hand and poked his waist with her fingertip, asking in a calm and even tone:

"Lord Ash, this person's companion stepped on your foot yesterday... May I kill her?"

"No, that doesn't count as an attack. It's just playing around and joking around... Girls shouldn't be fighting all the time."

"...So, Ash-sama likes being stepped on?" Lina nodded thoughtfully, then lifted her foot and stepped on his instep, tilting her head and asking earnestly, "Does it feel good?"

"...Huh?"

Being stepped on by a little girl and asked such a strange question left him completely stunned, his head buzzing.

When Connie arrived beside them, he was even more dumbfounded: "Uncle...does he actually like being stepped on?!"

"...How is that possible!" He grabbed Linne by the back of her collar, lifting the strange little girl off the ground and suspending her in mid-air, glaring at her with displeasure.

"...Line, don't step on my feet in the street and ask such strange questions."

"I'm sorry... I'll definitely be more careful next time." Linne looked very guilty and skillfully bowed her head to admit her mistake.

"...Tell me then, what did you pay attention to next time?"

"Have I done anything bad before this?"

"Good grief, you forgot in the blink of an eye?" He kept staring at her, then pinched and pulled her cheek: "If I don't teach you a lesson this time, what are you planning to do? Don't you understand that you can't just step on me like that?"

"Everyone else stepped on it yesterday... Is Lord Ash being biased?"

"Is this the main point right now?"

Should I step on somewhere else?

"That's not it either!"

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Faced with this child who always talks a good game but never corrects her mistakes, Ash, despite his lecturing, has no confidence that he can change her ways.

Connie quickly stepped forward to stop him, advising, "The child has already admitted his mistake, uncle, please don't bully him. Act like an adult!"

"That's what she says... but just like when I apologize, she will never repent."

"You can't say that, can you? You have to trust children enough. The more you say that, the less likely they are to change!"

As she spoke, she pressed down Ash's hand, making him put down Linne, and then smiled as she took an apple from her basket and handed it to him.

She even gently rubbed Linne's reddened cheeks as soon as Linne took the gift:

"Does it hurt a lot? Let me rub it for you~ Uncle, you're so rude, bullying such a cute child like that!"

“…” Lina, who never lets anyone touch her, even if they are of the same sex, perhaps because she felt that the other person was harmless and had even helped her, and even given her an apple, unexpectedly did not slap the other person away directly. Instead, she turned to Ash and said expressionlessly:

"...Lord Ash, this woman is surprisingly good."

"What woman? My name is Connecticut. What's yours?"

“Line”.

"Little Linne~ what's your relationship with this old man?"

"I am Lord Ash's lover."

"A lover? Hmm, a lover sounds nice, love—a lover!?"

Connie, caught off guard, was only halfway through her unconscious smile and nod when she suddenly gasped in shock, turning sharply to Ash: "—What, what have you done to this child?!"

"...There's nothing there. This child is just not good at introducing herself. Wait here for a while, and I'll have a good talk with her."

Ash had initially wanted to criticize her for being deceived by the child's cute appearance, but now he just silently held Linne's hand with a blank expression.

He planned to give her a good talking-to, so he left a bag of apples for Connie to watch over and not let her move around. He then took Linne away from the place to prevent her from saying anything strange again.

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Ash, who had no intention of returning, led Lina away while talking to her, but not long after...

He had just turned a corner when he saw the orange-haired girl standing in front of him with her back to him, looking around and waiting for them to return.

“...It’s that woman again.” Lina said, biting into the apple Connie had given her, her tone unusually calm. “Lord Ash, I told you we should have gone this way. Why couldn’t you listen to me? We should have gone the other way... But it’s fine this way, I also really like that bag of apples.”

"Can you stop thinking about apples all the time, and stop being so easily bribed by an apple? Can't you be a little more ambitious?"

"I just think that woman is surprisingly nice."

"...You don't look convincing at all. What if someone tries to bribe you with an apple? I'm very worried!"

“Kill them and take them back, then the life and the apple are both mine, right? Hmm, the money is mine too.” Lina casually uttered the truth of the law of the jungle while biting into an apple.

Although it feels really incongruous for such words to come from a child who looks like a little girl.

This reassured him, but it also gave him other things to worry about.

Before they could say anything more to her, Connie, who had his back to them, noticed the two people who had inexplicably appeared behind him.

This caused her to show a slight look of surprise, but she quickly put her hands on her hips and asked suspiciously:

"Uncle... why are you behind me?"

"Want to give you a surprise?"

"This road leads quite a distance around... You're not planning to abandon me and run away with this child, are you?"

"How could that be? Why would I use this... Linne, don't use me to wipe in front of others, it's rude. Why don't you use this woman to wipe yourself?"

Before he could finish speaking, he felt his clothes being tugged without even turning around, and slapped Linne's little hand away.

"...I'm sorry." Lina, who had just finished eating the apple, pitifully withdrew her little hand.

Upon hearing his words, Connie couldn't help but show a strange expression, pointing to himself: "...This woman? Does using my things make you polite?"

"Ah, sorry, I was led astray by Linne without realizing it..."

He had said it so easily that it gave him a headache. He wanted to explain something, and Connie wanted to say something too, but then he saw... Linne, who was next to him, with a very strong sense of unease, silently put her hand on his clothes again and started wiping her mouth with his clothes.

And less than ten seconds had passed since she was reprimanded.

This left Connie speechless, and even Ash completely gave up on saying anything.

Although Ash occasionally had to scold the mischievous Rine, he still found her appearance very cute. As for her personality... well, he had to raise her himself, even if it was with tears in his eyes.

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Despite his attempts to escape, Ash was unable to do so and was forced to seek help from Connecticut, a true local, before finally managing to navigate the maze-like market.

But as soon as they stepped out and rested on a roadside bench, Connie looked at him with a questioning gaze: "Uncle... what exactly is your relationship with this child?"

"...a relative's child."

"Really not a lover?"

"Just think about it with a little common sense..."

"Isn't this just ordinary? Because the uncle must be a nobleman, right?"

"Hmm...it seems pretty normal?"

This medieval common sense left him speechless for a moment. He then reached out and placed his hand on Linne's head, shaking her body as he asked Connie, "Have you ever seen a lover who would be so rude?"

"It seems so? But... it's incredible that this uncle can take care of children..."

"I have taken care of children before, to some extent."

"Philan's matter? Ah, speaking of which, I just ran into Phyllan. She seemed to say that you didn't come home again last night?" Connie rested his index finger on his chin and suddenly brought up the matter of running into Phyllan.

"...Let's talk about something happier." He silently gazed into the distance, patting Linne's head as he sighed, "Speaking of which, tonight is when privileges are granted, right? Rabine is probably thinking about what kind of magic to use, and what about you? What are you planning to do for these three years?"