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

"No, no, no!—You've come at the perfect time! In fact, it couldn't be better!"

Faced with the silent pressure exerted on him by the unspoken Philen, Ash quickly stood up and rushed over.

"Huh, is that so? I wasn't planning to start the comparison later..."

"It'll be too late if you come back later! Hurry up and get out of here! You need to talk to me, right?"

"Ah, it's something Father promised... Is it really okay?"

"Don't be so polite! We're like family!" As he spoke, Ash put his arm around his shoulder and patted it hard.

But Hugh Tortz looked confused and blurted out without thinking, "But...didn't we just start talking?"

"How could that be? In my eyes, you're already a friend!"

"That, that's really...an honor?" Although Hugh Tortz was a little at a loss, he still nodded blankly.

Just as the two were about to leave, Philen spoke slowly in a detached tone: "Please wait a moment, Lord Ash."

"What? I can't even go out with my friends?"

"...A friend?" Philon stared into his eyes as if trying to read his mind and asked, "So, what's your friend's name?"

"I'm not trying to be mean, Philon, but do friends really care about names? Like you, can you even remember all your friends' names?"

"I only have two friends, of course I know them, Connecticut and Labine... and it was only because Lord Ash insisted on moving and wanted to abandon me that we separated."

"Oh...I'm so sorry..."

The revisited old story left him utterly embarrassed and disoriented, and all he wanted was to leave as quickly as possible.

But Philon had already come up behind him, placed his hand on his shoulder, and asked again expressionlessly, "And then? What's this friend's name?"

"A friend is not such an inconvenient thing?"

"Are they still friends? We don't know the outcome yet."

"Just friends I haven't had a chance to get to know yet... Is that not allowed?"

"Of course not."

"Okay... actually his name is Mond."

"Just a random name I made up."

"I'm sorry... I was wrong."

Despite his desperate attempt to struggle, he gave up his futile resistance under Philon's stern gaze and silently bowed his head in apology.

That's all. He thought Philon would be very angry, but in reality...

"Sigh... Well, since Lord Ash has admitted it, I won't say any more. Be careful when you go out."

Philon sighed softly, his gaze softening unexpectedly as he admitted his mistake. He straightened his clothes, gave him another word of advice, and then smiled again: "Don't get your clothes dirty, okay?"

"Ah, okay, I understand perfectly..."

Ash nodded subconsciously, a mixture of relief and bewilderment in his eyes, before carefully following Hectors out of the room.

Hectors, however, kept turning back to look at Ash and Philon, seemingly unsure... was this his mother or his newlywed wife?

Frilian lay on the bed, rolling around and muttering to herself, "As expected, Philon really spoils Ash. He's only so strict with me... It's definitely differential treatment, isn't it?"

"Please, please don't say strange things!" Philon tried to keep a straight face and scolded, "Isn't it because Lady Frilian never learns her lesson!"

"...I've made changes!"

"So tomorrow morning, will you be able to get up and eat by yourself? Or will you only need to be called once to get up? Will you be able to comb your hair, wash your face, and tie your hair by yourself?"

"...There are no clouds tonight, tomorrow will definitely be a good day, right?"

"...Why imitate Lord Ash?"

Seeing Frilian stiffly turn her head to look at the sky outside the window, giving up on the debate, Philon couldn't help but sigh softly and also gave up on saying anything more to her.

After all... saying it for so many years has been useless.

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

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

The village road under the moonlight.

Hectors looked at Ash with the same hesitant expression he had when he first entered the room.

Ash noticed this and couldn't help but speak up, "Mond, if you have something to say, just say it."

"Excuse me, Lord Ash, I was just a little curious... no, I should say you have a nice wife."

“That’s not quite right. Philon is a descendant of my friend.”

"Huh? Is that so? Sorry, I thought..."

Still not quite used to it, the fact that he was actually over 90 years old made Hugh Tortz immediately bow his head and apologize when he came to his senses.

"Alright, alright, don't worry about these little things. Your dad asked me to guide you, so let's get straight to it, Mondstadt."

"Actually... my name is Hectors."

"It's so long, it's hard to remember."

"Feel sorry....."

"It was just a joke... Hmm, are young people these days so clueless about jokes?"

Ash couldn't help but feel quite troubled by the rather rigid and inflexible boy.

But like him, Hugh Tortz was also at a loss with this powerful figure, so different from the serious people in the village.

However, he quickly regained his composure through deep breathing, drew his sword in the moonlight, stared intently at Ash, and calmed himself, thinking:

"...Let's begin, Ash-sama. It doesn't matter if you tarnish my purity."

“Uh, I know you’re referring to the cloak, but isn’t that a bit odd?”

"strangeness?"

"Strange, and why is it defilement?"

"Because this is proof of the village's strongest warrior, a symbol of the village's pride... But rather than being humbled by pure white, I hope you will allow it to be tainted, for this will become our driving force."

Hugh Tortz spoke his thoughts in a deep voice, which Ash could agree with, but also felt was a little strange.

Of course... compared to studying all this nonsense, he'd much rather go back to sleep, so he didn't say anything more and simply waved his hand, saying:

"Okay, let's just get straight to it."

"...Aren't you going to draw your weapon?"

"unnecessary."

"...Really?" Schultz looked somewhat disappointed.

This reminded Ash that the other party had just "saved" him, so he added, "I can tell you've never killed anyone, and... you've never even left the village, have you?"

"Yes, monsters occasionally appear in this area, so unless there are special circumstances, I won't leave easily. After all, if something happens while I'm not here, it will be troublesome."

“Well, if you want to go further, you can leave here and go out to see what's going on... just a suggestion, of course.” He added at the end:

"By the way, I'm different from you. I'm very good at fighting humans and humanoid creatures. Just bring it on."

"Then... I won't stand on ceremony!"

"Ahh, come on."

Ash simply chuckled and waved at the overly young man, and then...

The battle between the two sides was still a one-sided affair.

Even though Ash slowed down his movements and restrained his strength, fighting with an equal level of physical ability, Hugh Tortz, who lacked experience in fighting people, still unfortunately fell to the ground amidst a series of muffled punches, splashing mud and water everywhere.

He himself was bruised and battered, lying on his back in a muddy puddle, unable to stand up for a long time. His once pristine white cloak was now filthy, with almost no white remaining, and the sword in his hand had disappeared without a trace.

He could feel the same frustration as when he was a child, being knocked down by his elders, and the earthy smell of the night wind, yet he gazed at the bright moon in the sky and unconsciously let out... a heartfelt laugh:

"Haha! Haha, amazing... really amazing! I still have a long way to go... I'm quite a distance from being one of the strongest in this world."

Even though his opponent was clearly holding back, it was still an unavoidable and crushing defeat, which unexpectedly ignited Hugh Tortz's fighting spirit.

Even with longing in her eyes, she turned her head to look at Ash's departing figure, feeling a deep regret that she could not see him in his youth, in his prime, and resolved to share the long-awaited joy of their crushing defeat with her brother when she got back.

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

The following day, due to the lack of any tourist attractions, as well as the absence of magic books and ruins, the area was deserted.

The three of them did not linger. After the village chief and the villagers tried to persuade them to stay in vain, they left the village with regret, intending to go and play with the dwarf warrior Azer.

During the process, even Philon could clearly feel the overly intense gazes behind him, and couldn't help but mutter to himself:

"That's wonderful, Lord Ash... The people in this village like you so much, and the girls don't even mind that you're over ninety years old—that's truly wonderful!"

"What's so good about it? They only like my appearance, they're not attracted to my inner qualities. How can I be happy in this situation?"

Noticing Philon's unhappiness, Ash tried to distract her with a joke.