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

The unfamiliar voice made him turn his head in confusion.

Just like the voice, it was a completely unfamiliar boy, but for some reason, his expression was even more shocked than Ash's when his name was called.

"....What?"

"You...no, you, you really are...Mr. Ash?"

"My name is Ash, that's right. Who are you?" Ash couldn't help but frown as he looked at the stammering boy.

Because the other person's expression clearly didn't resemble that of Frank and Shurahart, who seemed to possess the magic of foreseeing the future.

But if it's not like that, then it becomes rather intriguing.

"Ah, ah... I am, I am Anderson! My mother is..."

The flustered boy rattled off the names of his entire family, but Ash seemed completely oblivious to the situation and instead warmly invited him into the room.

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

Anderson led Ash into the living room, and finally searched through his parents' room, finding the exquisite wooden box hidden deep inside the wardrobe.

The wooden box was clearly protected by magic, and the magic stones were replaced every now and then. It had also undergone special anti-corrosion treatment, and the materials used were quite exquisite.

The box contained a palm-sized magical artifact, which, when opened, revealed a portrait of him... or rather, a magically preserved image, depicting him in military attire.

It is obvious that it was "photographed" 500 years ago.

The magical artifacts depicted in the image have clearly undergone multiple repairs and have a sense of spanning considerable years.

"Could this be... left by Cathy? No, that can't be, right?"

The overly familiar scene brought back memories of the past when the photos were taken, but now he wondered if he had been subjected to some kind of psychological attack.

After all, five hundred years have passed, which is countless generations for humankind.

Seeing his incredulous expression only made Anderson even more excited: "You really are Mr. Ash—?! You actually exist!?"

"...No? This...?"

“I don’t know! I don’t know anything, Grandma just told me to do this! If I see anyone in the video, I have to say hello, and then…” Anderson paused for a moment before staring into his eyes and slowly saying:

"'We will meet again, even if it's not me. As long as my bloodline continues and my descendants exist, there will surely be people who remember your existence.' — It seems like there were some words they wanted us to convey to you?"

"Uh... what is this?"

"I don't know either, but it's written like this below, and that's what Grandma said too?" Anderson flipped up the red cloth under the magical tool, and there really was that line of words underneath.

This left him momentarily speechless, yet he couldn't help but recall his adjutant when he became a general, who, while stroking the wooden box, unconsciously shook his head and said:

"...To actually do something like this, but what's the point? By the way...how did you manage to preserve this box until now?"

"Well, actually, my father and grandmother both said that if I encounter any trouble that I can't solve, I'll definitely get help if I find the person in the picture... They told me to keep it safe in the future."

"Are you... passing down me as a get-out-of-jail-free card??"

The truth that Anderson carefully revealed left him momentarily speechless, unsure whether to be angry or amused.

But a strange sense of nostalgia lingered in my heart, as if the last scene before our parting was about to resurface in my mind.

He was supposed to leave immediately, but he was allowed to stay at the boy's home that night and received a warm welcome from the family.

According to his father, Cathy seems to have said that he was accidentally hit by a sealing spell, so his descendants might encounter this powerful mage... It seems that her decision to settle here was also because she thought he might come.

Ash felt somewhat uneasy, sensing that he had been tricked, but he didn't expose the lie.

After settling there for a while and leaving some money to care for the descendants of his deceased loved ones, he temporarily bid farewell to Cathy's descendants.

But when he suddenly looked back and saw those figures waving to him in the distance, he inexplicably had a feeling that there might be a chance to meet them again.

Although their next meeting might be with their descendants.

The Burial of Frilian: A Thousand Years Later: Chapter Fifty-Eight - Five Hundred Years Later, Making a Wish Upon a Shooting Star Once Again

Frillie and the others' adventure continued, and when they met Ash again, compared to his lingering grief over the loss of his friend and the passing of his loved ones, the expressions on the faces of the team members were all increasingly solemn.

"What's wrong?" Frillie noticed his unusual demeanor and couldn't help but ask with concern, "You found out too? The news of the Southern Hero's death?"

"Yes." He gazed into the distance and sighed softly for no apparent reason: "Life is truly... unpredictable."

"really."

As Frilian gazed at his slightly melancholic back, a strange thought suddenly arose in her mind that perhaps she should say a few more words to him, because she remembered that their relationship seemed to be quite good.

This left her looking troubled for a while, then she gently patted his shoulder and said, "Um... my condolences?"

"...It's really surprising that you would say something like that."

"Honestly, what kind of person do you take me for?" Frillie immediately became somewhat dissatisfied.

"Haha~ Sorry, sorry~ Just kidding." He chuckled and turned to pat Frillie's head.

Of course, almost as if it were a given, it was simply brushed aside; Frillie, still fixing her hair, said unhappily:

"How many times have I told you, don't touch my head."

"Next time I will pay attention."

"...Completely unreliable."

"Because it's just something to be mindful of."

"He never learns his lesson, no wonder he's a treacherous scoundrel."

"Don't give people nicknames so casually, it's not good, is it? In the end, I didn't do anything indecent."

Without a second thought, he delivered a swift chop to Frilian's head, then quickly left before she could even get angry, sitting down beside the group's campfire.

The dwarf warrior, Azer, looked much more serious than usual: "Ash, have you heard?"

"The matter of the Hero of the South?"

"You said that even the strongest one, who was ridiculously powerful, is dead. Do we really have any hope?"

"Don't say that, Aize." As the "drinking monk" (a term of respect for a monk) that Frilian had chosen, Haita's hand trembled slightly as he poured himself a drink, but as the one who livened up the group's atmosphere, he still managed a somewhat forced smile and raised his voice:

"Although it is very regrettable that he sacrificed himself, he also killed four great demons, leaving behind unimaginable achievements, and creating an opportunity for us descendants to defeat the Demon King, didn't he?"

"...Besides him, is there really anyone who could do that?"

The death of the Southern Hero was a huge shock to the entire human world. Even Aize felt somewhat lost, and his hands, hidden under his cloak, trembled slightly like a tower... He simply lacked the confidence to defeat his opponent.

But at that moment, Haita's gaze fell on Ash, and to dispel the dull atmosphere, he changed the subject:

"Shouldn't you be officially a member of our team by now? We'd feel much more at ease if you were here in a crucial moment."

"Saving the world? Forget it, that's not for me," Ash said with a smile, waving his hand. Aize sighed, unsurprised.

"Give up, Haita. If he really wanted to save the world, he wouldn't be hanging around with us here."

"Although Aize is a bit impatient, in the current situation, it might be necessary to speed up the pace appropriately?" Frilian originally didn't care about time at all, but now that the Southern Hero had died, she was a little worried about the progress.

However... despite thinking this way, the result remained unchanged.

In their first year on the road, despite the devastating news, their pace did not quicken much.

After all, it wasn't just Simmel who wanted to take things slowly; Frilian actually embarked on her journey because she thought she would never see Ash again, so she wanted to try to understand humanity.

But compared to their unreliability, Ash himself would often disappear for months at crucial moments, so he has no right to say that they lack a sense of urgency.

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

Ten years have passed in the blink of an eye, and the Demon King was unexpectedly defeated by this shaky little team.

But Ash had no idea how the Demon King was defeated.

About two months before that, he was summoned by an unnamed great demon named Solitaire, arranged by Shurahat, to help Aura break the seal on the corrupt sage Guval.

By the time he got Aura to control Guvar and wanted to go back, everything was already over, therefore...

In the capital city of the kingdom where they first set out, there was a procession on the streets to celebrate the hero's triumphant return after defeating the demon king.

As the people of the capital lined the streets to welcome them, holding flowers and cheering, Ash took it all for granted, simply blending into the crowd and enjoying free drinks.

but.....

"Hey!" Before he could even offer his congratulations, the silver-haired elf, Frilian, who hadn't changed a bit, walked over and slammed her hands on the table, almost making his wine glass jump.

"W-what?" He was startled and looked up in surprise. "What's wrong? Why do you have such a dark face during this rare moment of celebration?"

"...You ran away during the fight, and now you're here freeloading?"

"I'm getting old, and my health isn't very good. There's really no other way." He made up an excuse on the spot, but it immediately made Frilline's momentum falter, and her expression became somewhat embarrassed: "Is...that so?"

"Huh? You... never mind." Not wanting to bring up the sensitive issue of age, he simply changed the subject with a smile:

"Speaking of which, I should congratulate you. You actually managed to defeat the Demon King and become heroes! Everyone is cheering for you. I heard they're even going to make a statue of you?"

"...Humans are too opportunistic. They were reluctant to accept even 10 copper coins when we set off, but now they're being generous."