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

Remembering his ascetic training, Frillie could now somewhat understand him, but...

“Actually, dwarves don’t mine; we’re mainly warriors.” A dwarf uncle with an extremely long yellow beard, wearing a horned helmet and carrying a double-edged axe on his back, walked up to him from behind.

"Is this a lie? I've been fooled by that bastard Vlame again...?!" With just one glance, he instantly understood the harsh reality—fairy tales are indeed all lies.

However, the stark contrast between the loli and the middle-aged man made him feel dizzy for a moment.

He couldn't help but turn his back, squat down with his hands on his head, and try to make sense of the huge gap between this and his expectations, a reality that was bizarre and outlandish to him.

Of course, he had to admit that his desire to become a hero in the past was mainly because he wanted to encounter all sorts of beautiful girls... which is why he believed Vlame's dubious story.

After all, humans are like this: even knowing they might be fooled, they still can't help but believe in the beautiful dreams others have created.

Unfortunately, after having so many expectations and being betrayed so many times, he finally felt that even a loli dwarf could barely make up for the huge gap between his expectations and reality.

Although he wasn't a lolicon, he simply felt that... at least there was a loli who wasn't an overly mature one like Frilian, so he could at least have some fun with her, right?

Even though I won't actually do anything—after all, as a respectable person, I'm really... well, teasing a little girl occasionally is quite fun, right?

but.....

"You're... alright?" The dwarf uncle stood before him, scrutinizing him curiously. Even the usually taciturn man couldn't help but ask, "By the way, are you a warrior or a mage?"

If you look closely, the dwarf uncle's entire body below his eyes is covered with an excessively thick beard that reaches his chest, and his helmet completely blocks the area above his forehead, so that only his two eyes are visible.

"That beard, so much... Is this really reality? Cruel and ruthless, with no beauty to speak of..."

He completely ignored the other person's question and unconsciously reached out to tug at the thick beard in front of him.

The strange sensation convinced him that this guy was definitely an older man, not a little girl...

Although the beard is so thick and long that only the eyes are visible, other features are not discernible.

However... even if we take a step back and assume that such a loli really exists, he would absolutely not accept such a strange loli.

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

The gap between his ideals and reality plunged Ash into a state of self-isolation, and he would unconsciously tug at his overly long beard.

This made the dwarf warrior look somewhat troubled, and he subconsciously turned to look at Frilian:

"Is this your friend? What's wrong with him? Could you ask him to let go of my beard?"

"Sorry, Aize, this guy is a bit strange... but I'll have a good talk with him."

Although she wanted to pretend she didn't know him, she couldn't just leave him there. So, Frilian slapped his hand away from where he was playing with his beard, grabbed his hand, and dragged him away.

Only when they were far enough apart did Frilian turn back to look at him again with a sigh:

"Ash, what exactly are you doing here?"

"Well..." He hesitated for a moment before saying, "...Actually, I'm worried about your safety. After all, the Demon King and such are quite dangerous, aren't they?"

"Stop lying, you just want to find a girl, don't you? But as you can see, there aren't any pretty girls here except for me. Go back now, go away." Frillian waved her hands repeatedly, as if shooing away a small animal.

"I won't criticize your self-definition, but you can't stop my yearning for stories."

"A story about an encounter with a beautiful girl?"

"I'm drawn to that, but I'm also interested in serious adventures."

He solemnly stated his thoughts, and behind him came the curious voice of the dwarf uncle—Aize:

"What? You want to join too?"

"......I think I'll think about it some more."

He glanced back at the dwarf uncle, then at the two remaining boys who were far from meeting his expectations, and silently resumed his worries.

Because he always felt that something was off about the script. After all, compared to a classic adventure story, wasn't this team a bit too much like a motley crew that could die at any moment?

Neither of the two people who could foresee the future told him which team of heroes would defeat the Demon King, which made him genuinely worried that Frilian might die halfway through.

Judging from his words, Frank's claim of paving the way sounds more like the one who will ultimately win.

In other words, did this team fail halfway through? Or was the Demon King defeated halfway through their journey? — He couldn't help but feel a little worried.

"What's wrong, Ash? Why...?"

Noticing the genuine concern in his eyes, Frillie was slightly surprised, but then something occurred to her, and a warmth spread through her heart. She unconsciously smiled faintly: "I didn't expect... you were really worried about me."

The Burial of Frilian: A Thousand Years Later: Chapter 55 - Temporarily Joining the Hero (Sightseeing) Party as a Tourist

Frillie's smile seemed to be full of unspoken trust.

But only now did he begin to trust his instincts, leaving Ash, who was genuinely worried about her, with very mixed feelings:

"That's what you said from the beginning, right? You only believe me now? What about our friendship?"

"It's alright, I have some ability to protect myself."

"...Are we avoiding talking about the friendship aspect? But who can guarantee they won't encounter unexpected situations?"

“You weren’t this worried before.”

His old-fashioned worries made Frillie chuckle.

Of course, she didn't reveal her true thoughts, but hesitated before looking up and asking, "While I'm glad you're worried, but... are you alright?"

"Health? I think you're pretty healthy?"

"If it's only for a short period of time, that's not impossible... but it's really unlikely that I'll encounter the good things that Vlame mentioned, right?"

Thinking about it, she felt that Ash's claim of wanting to see the "luxury" squad that Vlame had mentioned was probably just an excuse.

At her age, she shouldn't have the strange ideas of young people, but Frilian still jokingly gave her a word of advice while compromising.

"What are you talking about... I really did want to be a hero before, please don't think of me as someone like Vlame, okay?"

To be honest, not only did Frilian misunderstand him, but he also had a considerable misunderstanding about the team.

After all, this slow-moving team doesn't look like a team that can save the world at all; instead, it looks like a tourist team that's swindling money from the king.

If we wait for them to defeat the Demon King, the war in the North could last for who knows how long.

Keep in mind that when he arrived, the kingdoms on the left side of the empire had already been destroyed. If they were to save the world... the rest of the north, except for the empire, would probably be doomed.

Moreover, judging from the strength of these people present, they really don't seem capable of defeating the Demon King, so it seems like there's no harm in just playing around for a while.

Anyway, he had way too much time. If he didn't find something to do and just cultivated every day, who knows how long it would take to cultivate for thousands of years... he felt he would go crazy.

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

While Ash and Frilian reached an agreement, the other three were curiously observing them.

“I never expected that Frilian would still have old friends…” Simmel nodded with a smile, “And she seems quite happy about it? I thought she would be more aloof.”

"However, their acquaintance, that Vlame, shares the same name as the legendary progenitor of human magic. He must have been an extremely powerful person, right? To think he could teach someone so amazing." Aize stroked his beard and sighed.

But like everyone else, no one believed that the Vlamé they were talking about was the legendary Vlamé.

Haita unconsciously stared at Ash's back, a hint of worry on his face: "His strength is undeniable, but... he smells of blood."

"Perhaps a mage from the battlefield?"

"If that's all there is to it, it's not so bad..."

“Frilian’s friend must be a good person.” Simmel believed this for no reason.

When the two returned, Simmel, in order to allay her companion's concerns, asked directly:

"Ash, it may be a bit abrupt, but may we ask what you did before?"

"Me?...A hardworking civil servant, right?"

His feelings became somewhat complicated when he thought about how he had worked in place of the king for a long time recently.

Frilian seemed to realize that they had noticed something, and she looked at Ash with a questioning look.

But he just shook his head slightly and then confessed on his own initiative: "There's nothing to hide. Actually, I used to be a deserter."

“A deserter…?” Simmel seemed somewhat surprised.

"I am tired of the endless struggle between humans."

"So you ran away? But is it really okay to say this out loud? Won't you be executed if you're found out?"

"It's not a big problem. I don't think they can beat me."

"Ha, ha, it's just a matter of winning or losing..."

This was unlike the common human mindset, and it seemed to have no intention of obeying the law, which made Simmel smile wryly.

But Ash added, "In the end, no one in that country will remember me."

"Forgot?" Simmel was somewhat surprised, while Haita asked in astonishment, "They were so powerful? Could it be... that country has already perished?"

“Recently, countries in the north have been on the verge of being destroyed at any moment.” The dwarf Azer picked up the conversation, sighed softly, and closed his eyes. “That’s why I said we should speed things up. If this continues, who knows how many more countries will be destroyed? The strongest human warrior in the south is almost to the north, and we haven’t even left a single country yet.”