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

Although they couldn't understand the principles, and even Frilian didn't, they could still use the remaining control methods to operate it from the inside, allowing residents to enter and exit normally.

This allowed Ash's highly deceptive appearance to directly infiltrate the inner side of the barrier, manipulating it to bring Aura inside.

"Although this isn't my first time visiting a human city, it's actually my first time in a place like the royal capital with a barrier. You're quite capable!"

Inside the carriage, Aura quietly opened a crack in the door, peering out to observe the surrounding streets, and even kicked the man playing the role of the coachman in front of her.

This made him somewhat impatient, so he grabbed her ankle and tucked it under his arm, too lazy to say anything more.

I closed my eyes to rest the whole way, and then I arrived at the entrance to the royal city within the capital...

"Who goes there!"

At the entrance to the royal city, a row of knights clad in heavy armor drew their weapons in unison upon seeing the strange carriage that had arrived at the city but still hadn't stopped.

The driver merely glanced at them, yet an invisible impact stirred up dust and paving stones, lifting their legs off the ground and slamming them against the wall like fish being battered by waves.

The tightly closed gates of the royal city were rendered almost useless by the magic attached to them, which burst open like paper in the purple light of the murderous magic.

The carriage, however, ignored the tense guards who had gathered around and continued leisurely toward the castle that served as the royal palace.

Other raids might be difficult to succeed, but relying too much on the barrier from a thousand years ago has resulted in the kingdom's main force and elite troops being either fighting against the demons or the empire.

The kingdom's higher-ups could never have imagined that their proud ancient barrier would be breached.

This resulted in the capital having only two capable individuals. Therefore, Ash did not intend to let this opportunity pass and decided to replace the king, making the country his own, thus laying an important foundation for all future actions.

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

Royal Palace, Audience Hall.

While the king and nobles were in an emergency meeting discussing the unusual situation encountered at the front lines via magical communication, the door was suddenly pushed open.

The soldiers, clad in heavy armor, scrambled and stumbled, barely managing a few steps before collapsing to their knees, desperately shouting:

"—No, it's terrible! Your Majesty! Invaders! There are invaders!!"

"Intruders? What...."

Before the king on his throne could finish speaking, two "people" stepped into the audience hall. His pupils constricted sharply: "Guards!! Seize these two..."

Before the king could finish speaking, Ash raised his hand and swept it away without warning.

boom--! ! !

The powerful repulsive force sent the soldiers who had just surrounded the king flying backward at an even faster speed, and the voice calling for the king also came to an abrupt end.

"Your Majesty...!" The nobleman's face was deathly pale, looking like a king huddled up and shivering as if he had been chilled by a cold wind.

"Who...who are you people?!"

Facing Ash, who looked no more than eighteen, somewhere between a teenager and a young adult, the king, who appeared to be over seventy and had a bloated physique, desperately suppressed his trembling, trying his best not to show his fear, only wanting to buy time, but...

"Go in peace. I will take over the protection of the kingdom and keep the people safe from the threats of the empire and the demons." Ash glanced at the high-ranking officials but had no intention of speaking to them. After making his own announcement, he gestured for them to look at Aura.

Just as everyone noticed her horn and gasped in shock, Aura showed no pity and directly took out the scales.

Everyone immediately thought of that strange and domineering magic that only existed in rumors, and they scrambled to escape, but... everything was too late when the scales appeared.

"Obey the magic." Aura uttered the syllables with a malicious smile, sending chills down one's spine.

Everyone's bodies stiffened instantly, and everyone's magic was put on the scales at once, but the result was—despair.

It was a hopeless situation, at least for them.

The Burial of Frilian: A Thousand Years Later: Chapter 49 Ash Also Wanted to Be a Hero

Under the influence of the magic of obedience, not a single one of the pampered nobles was able to put up any resistance.

The only exception was probably the bishop, who, with the goddess's blessing, collapsed to the ground and died without warning the moment he was controlled.

"As expected, I have no way to become a hero." Looking at the nobles and royalty who soon knelt before him, Ash couldn't help but think of Frillie, who should be embarking on her journey, and muttered to himself:

"...Although I really can't envy Frilian and her friends."

It's not that they're sour grapes, but according to what Frank once revealed, the team had only just met the king of a country when their impolite language displeased him. The hero and the dwarf were tied up and forced to kneel on the ground, just one step away from being beheaded.

They clearly have the ability to break through by force, yet they do not resist the king's arbitrary power... And if they want to become heroes, they must be forced to accept the shackles and constraints imposed by the king, who represents the law. He would rather not be a hero.

He prefers to make rules rather than follow them, given the opportunity.

So he wasn't really envious, he just felt... that playing the hero occasionally might be quite fun.

Therefore, he decided that once he resolved things here, he would go and play with Frillie and her cheerful friends for a while, because...

"When I was little, I also wanted to be a hero." Looking at the kneeling king, he couldn't help but sigh.

Because it should have been the hero kneeling before the king, but now it's the other way around... even though he's not a hero either.

But when Aura, who was playing with the crown, heard this, he turned his head sharply as if he had heard something unbelievable.

At this moment, she looked at Ash with the same expression as if he were looking at some strange object, and after hesitating for a long time, she couldn't help but stare in disbelief and say:

"Hey Ash... are you sure your head's okay?"

"...Don't look at me like I'm an idiot."

"No, we are demons, and right now we're doing villainous things. In the storybooks you forced me to read, aren't we the kind of villains who will be eliminated sooner or later?"

"Please... don't set weird flags." He unconsciously covered his face and shook his head, saying, "I was just saying, after all, everyone wants to be a champion of justice sometimes, right? Like you..."

"No," Aura answered without hesitation.

"Well, I guess so, but let's talk about something happier now."

What do we do next?

"...I told you we were going to talk about happy things, why are we talking about work again so soon...?"

Faced with this guy who didn't even understand basic human relationships, Ash couldn't help but sigh deeply and was forced to accept his fate.

There was no way around it; although he really wanted to slack off, he still had to do his work... At least after controlling the king and the nobles, he still had to continue refining his plans.

At least now, it's not the time to slack off.

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

Although the city's defenders quickly came to its aid and tried to protect the king when Ash stormed the capital, however...

Before they even stepped into the castle, the king came out and told them that the invaders had already retreated and that no reinforcements were needed, so they should leave.

The official explanation was that the kingdom was humiliated and forced to agree to the invaders' conditions, and would no longer forcibly conscript orphans to be cannon fodder.

Clearly, this is a nation's compromise with the strong, although the actual situation is slightly... a little different.

Inside the castle, where the mess is being cleaned up and the damaged areas are being repaired, at the end of the audience hall, between the thrones on the steps.

Just like Ash before him, Aura sat on the armrest of the throne, surveying the kneeling nobles and dignitaries, and inexplicably sighed:

"It's hard to believe. Human generals and heroes, even when they're being manipulated, can put up some resistance from time to time. But... why can't the higher-ups put up any resistance? Why do those guys on the front lines have to obey such weaklings?"

"The social structures are different."

"I just don't understand it~ This guy is mediocre and incompetent, all he thinks about is women all day... Why don't his subordinates get rid of him? Wouldn't it be better to just replace him?"

Aura glanced at the king kneeling before the throne, who had just confessed his situation, his face full of confusion.

"In reality, this is a very standard aristocratic society where everyone is in a similar position, so no one can laugh at anyone else. In addition, one must also consider legitimacy and the support of others. A successful coup is not so easy."

"Hmm... I really don't understand!" Although she was the one who asked the question, she quickly stopped caring and strolled freely between the thrones, laughing like a child who had received a new toy.

"But if this cycle of replication continues, it's only a matter of time before he rules over humanity and then uses them to become a demon king, right?"

"...It's not that simple. You just saw that the bishop is dead. It must be the goddess's blessing that prevents you from controlling these guys." Ash was quite troubled by this demon girl who could easily let loose, and he reminded her:

"Furthermore, the goddess faith is very strong in the human world, so I'm afraid a new bishop will soon come to investigate the cause of the previous one's death."

"Why not just kill them? Kill one if they come, kill two if they come, what's so difficult about that?"

"...Indiscriminately killing high-ranking church officials like this will cause considerable trouble and destabilize the country. It's better to lock him up first, and then come up with a good excuse to appease and control this bishop."

"Is Ash that gentle?"

"While I do dislike senseless killing, it's not a matter of gentleness."

He sighed deeply, resting his chin on his hand on his throne, and, fearing she might do something reckless, began to educate her about the internal workings of the human body, as well as some more crucial questions.

If it were really that simple, the Demon King would have already sent Aura to do it... and he still wanted to go play with Frilian, so he could only explain the various precautions to Aura first.

The Burial of Frilian: From a Thousand Years to the Present: Temporarily Open Extended Monthly Pass Bounty

In conclusion, this is a rather troublesome type of bounty.

Since it won't be available until this Friday, I can only wait until it's released to start adding extra chapters... Of course, if you have monthly tickets, I'll add more chapters even before it's released, but with two accounts running simultaneously, the increase is actually limited. However, I can still guarantee an increase to 6 or 7k chapters from the original 4k, which is quite a significant increase compared to the average update volume of Hedgehog Cat, right? Probably...