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

Philon's growth has brought him some trouble. Ash really can't discuss it with anyone, otherwise he would worry about being seen as a pervert... especially with the other party involved now living behind him.

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Despite being lost, Frilian's memory was surprisingly good, and she even pointed them in the right direction through the snowstorm.

At Ash's pace, it didn't take long for him to bring the two of them to the foot of the mountain, where they soon spotted a solitary little wooden cabin.

"...It seems like there are people inside?" From a distance, Ash could sense some movement inside.

Philon was still clinging to his back, clearly ashamed to be seen like this in public. Upon hearing this, she immediately jumped off his back.

Frillie had recovered quite a bit in his arms along the way, however... she really didn't want to experience that feeling of being dragged out of bed in the dead of winter again. She didn't intend to move at all, and even wanted to just fall asleep right away.

Just as Ash stepped forward, eager to go inside and warm up, he let Frillie grab the door and pull it open.

"—Hmph~! Hmph~! Hmph~! Hmph~!—Good!! Very good!! It's getting warm!! Hmph~! Hmph~! Hmph~! Hmph~! Hmph.... Hmm?"

The strange noises were coming from a middle-aged man who was shirtless and doing squats.

Judging from the voice talking to itself, it seems to be trying to warm up through exercise, but...

"...If the indoor temperature is very low, doing deep squats while shirtless may cause your body temperature to drop rapidly. It's only suitable to do shirtless when the indoor temperature is moderate or slightly high, right? But it's obviously very low now. Are you cold or just cold?"

He casually asked the middle-aged man who was looking at him, causing Frillie, who was still observing inside, to look up with a speechless expression: "Why are you still analyzing? Hurry up and go in."

"Sorry, sorry, I forgot you were still cold..." He casually apologized, and subconsciously took a step towards entering the room, but...

Before he could even step inside, Philon grabbed him by the back of his collar, dragged him back, and slammed the door shut, giving him a stern lecture:

"—Lord Ash and Lady Frillien! Let's go find somewhere else!"

"why?"

"Because there's a pervert inside!"

"...Sometimes, even when you're not talking to me, you still say really hurtful things. Is it really a lack of proper upbringing?"

Ash silently lowered his head, looking at the elf in his arms, only to be met with a cold stare: "Why are you looking at me? Isn't this your problem?"

"Never mind, let's do this first..." Before he could finish speaking, the door reopened.

A shirtless middle-aged man appeared in the snowstorm, scanning the three who hadn't gone far: "—I didn't expect to be mistaken for a pervert! By the way... are you an elf?"

"Hmm?" It was only at this moment that Frilian noticed the other's long ears, while Ash's face showed obvious curiosity: "I'm also quite surprised... that elves have an old man."

"Because I've lived quite a long time. Speaking of humans and elves... I always feel..."

The elf uncle sized him up, then looked at the Frilian in his hand, and unconsciously frowned: "...It's better to separate sooner rather than later. If things continue like this, neither of us will be happy."

"Separate?...You're surprisingly old-fashioned."

“I don’t want this to happen either.” The elf uncle came out of the room, looked at the two of them with a serious expression, and said, “But I don’t want to see my people suffer for the next thousand years.”

"But isn't it a bit impolite to say that so suddenly?"

"Because you're leaving, aren't you? If you don't speak up now, you'll never have another chance."

"That's true, but..."

"What? You still don't want to separate? Aren't you planning to think about the future?"

"...No, what I mean is, Frilian and I are not in that kind of relationship."

"...Why didn't you say so earlier??" The elf uncle's mind went blank for a moment, and he felt like a fool for taking this conversation so seriously. He couldn't help but shout, "Shouldn't you have just denied it from the beginning?! Why are you arguing with me like this?!"

"Because it's quite fun! Also, I was just about to say, aren't you cold being so shirtless in the snow? Your sweat must be freezing!"

"—Do you even need to ask? Of course I'm freezing to death!"

.........

Facing the composed Ash, the elf uncle's scream, which he instinctively shrank back in, echoed through the blizzard.

Frillie and Philon silently closed their eyes and sighed softly... but they never intended to join the conversation between the two.

If possible, they were even less inclined to have anything to do with these two people, whether it was the guy earnestly advising against something that didn't exist, or the guy seriously arguing about something that didn't exist.

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Inside the cabin in the woods, whose identity as the builder is long lost to history.

Frillie squatted down beside the roaring fireplace, looking quite content.

Even the elven uncle from before, having put his clothes back on, stood trembling on the side, glancing at Philon who was unpacking his luggage, and thanked him somewhat haltingly:

"Little girl... thank you for helping me start a fire; I lost my fire while climbing the mountain. If I hadn't met magicians like you, I don't know how long I would have been stuck here... I might have frozen to death."

"You're welcome..." Philon, who harbored some prejudice against the uncle who had made the strange noise earlier, quietly moved away from him, using Ash to avoid his gaze.

Ash couldn't help but laugh and patted him on the shoulder:

"You, you look like you're really strong, why didn't you just start a fire by rubbing sticks together? Why did you get yourself into this mess?"

"Drill wood to make fire? What is that... By the way, who do you think caused this?" The elf uncle turned around with a frustrated look, but Ash just looked at the heavy snow outside the window as if nothing had happened: "It's the weather's fault, and you were shirtless, running outside in a blizzard."

"...There must be another very important question here, why don't you say it?"

"Really? Ah~ You mean you start lecturing others without even asking questions first?"

"I do have my own problems, but you should have told me clearly from the beginning..."

"But you didn't ask in the first place, did you? You only said that elves and humans wouldn't have a good outcome together, and I was just exchanging opinions with you on that point. I never said that I was with Frilian, did I?"

".........really."

It was hard to refute, but the elf uncle, still feeling something was off, unconsciously lowered his head and fell into complete silence, unable to hide his frustration.

Frillie, who had been warming herself by the fire, finally smiled and shook her head, saying, "You don't need to think too much about what he says. Most of the time, he's just bored and wants to have some fun... Actually, this guy is just a little mischievous, so don't take him too seriously."

"...Is it just a little bad?"

The strange way the elf was introduced left the old man somewhat bewildered.

At this moment, Ash squatted down beside them, found two pieces of wood, took out his dagger, and, under the curious gazes of the three, whittled some wood shavings and a wooden awl, then laughed:

"Anyway, as an apology, I'll teach you how to start a fire when you've lost your fire source and don't know magic."

"...Start a fire? With wood?"

"Of course! Look! Like this... it's done!"

He suddenly swung his hands, spinning the wooden awl at high speed several times, causing it to smolder and emit white smoke, charring the surrounding area. Then, after blowing on it a few times, the fine wood chips burst into flames.

This scene left everyone speechless.

"How...how did you do that? Why does rotating it and then blowing on it start a fire?"

"Rapid rotation and friction will raise the temperature of the contact point. When the temperature reaches the ignition point of the wood, that's it... Normally, you would need some tools, but you probably don't. Just rub it like I do."

"I see... I don't quite understand, but are you a genius?!" The uncle, who had initially harbored some resentment towards him, completely changed his opinion of him in an instant.

Meanwhile, Philon was standing to the side, clapping incessantly: "As expected of Lord Ash, he always comes up with some truly brilliant ideas!"

"...Indeed, despite being such an unconventional person, he can come up with strange inventions from time to time, and his mind is surprisingly sharp." Even Frilian admired Ash for always coming up with novel and inexplicably useful inventions.

"...Anyway, let me introduce myself first." Having seen too many similar cases, he didn't intend to offer any further explanation and instead extended his hand to the elf uncle.

"I'm Ash, and you?"

“Monk Kraft, it must be the guidance of the goddess that we met at this time.” As he spoke, Kraft reached out and grasped the goddess pendant hanging on his chest.

This made him feel slightly strange: "A goddess..."

"Don't you believe it?"

"No, I believe it."

“What a surprise. You look at this like it’s scrap metal, with absolutely no respect… To be honest, I’ve never even met anyone more lacking in faith than you.” Kraft touched the pendant on his chest, his face full of astonishment.

But he shrugged nonchalantly: "It's not just what it looks like; in my opinion, that thing is no different from scrap metal."

"Then why...?"

"Because the goddess dislikes me very much."

"How could that be? The goddess is definitely very gentle..."

"Not only can I not use the Holy Scripture, but healing magic only works on me occasionally."

"...In a way, that's quite impressive." The strange situation, which he had never heard of before, left Kraft silent for a long time before he finally showed a troubled expression: "What did you do?"

"I just drank too much when I was a kid and vomited on the statue of a god."

"When you were a child...? If it was when you were a child, shouldn't a normal goddess forgive you?" Kraft frowned unconsciously, staring at him hoping to get a more accurate answer.

"Let's put these unhappy things aside~ Speaking of which, apart from Frilian, I haven't seen any elves in a long time."

"...I haven't seen him in a long time either."

Seeing that he seemed reluctant to talk, Kraft didn't ask any further questions, and everyone introduced themselves.

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The night passed uneventfully amidst the group's self-introductions.