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

Finally, unable to withstand the pressure of gravity any longer, he reluctantly took a few steps back and left the Sanctuary.

He casually used magic to tidy up the scene before leaving with regret.

The next day, the village, which had not noticed anything unusual, happily waved goodbye to them as they left.

Even at the very end, the young village chief clung to Ash, wanting to keep him in the village so he could stay with everyone and protect the holy sword.

Even if the other party was a child, Philon couldn't help but pull them apart and drag Ash away quickly.

This left the young girl dejected, like a wilted eggplant. Comforted by the village elders, she could only temporarily abandon her goal, and they instructed Frilian to be on time 50 years later, and also...

"—Please remember, Ash-sama! I will look forward to your return whenever you return! Especially the reunion ten years from now! By then, I will definitely be a beautiful young woman, and I will be able to greet you in my most beautiful form!"

The young village chief skipped merrily at the back of the group, waving her little hands and speaking in a clear voice full of anticipation for the future.

"Okay, okay, if I remember, I'll definitely reply... Uh, why are you all looking at me like that? I was just joking with the kids..."

He noticed the subtle glances directed at him by the girls on either side of him halfway through his sentence, so he quickly coughed lightly to try to ease the awkwardness. After giving a brief explanation, he quickened his pace to avoid further misunderstandings.

Seeing this, Philon's lips curled into a barely perceptible smile. He muttered to himself softly, a murmur that only he could hear, before temporarily abandoning his lecturing and quickly catching up with the two.

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

After leaving the village of swords, they continued their journey north, crossing towering mountains to reach the magical city.

Along the way, as the seasons changed, the harsh winter gradually faded, and the forests along the route donned a new green coat, becoming lush and verdant, radiating new vitality.

And so it went... Frillie, however, was out gathering herbs and did not return for a long time.

This prompted Ash to urge Philon to go find someone, but they hadn't gone far when they saw her by a small swamp. There she was, Frilian, sitting expressionlessly with her knees drawn up to her chest, looking at an old man talking to her in the distance.

"…I used to have a good friend who was always going on little adventures. He was very intelligent but physically weak, like a gorilla, but he was also a good gorilla who cared about his friends." A middle-aged man with brown hair tied in a small ponytail, a beard, and dressed in monk's robes, gazed at the distant sky and slowly recounted the story with a nostalgic air.

"But as I grew up, and those dreams from the past were gradually left behind... that guy suddenly came to me and asked if I wanted to become adventurers together; if I had held his hand back then, things would definitely have been different, right? But..."

Finally, the monk lowered his head sadly and sighed deeply, "That was all ten years ago, but... I still regret it to this day."

"Hmm..." Frillian didn't move an inch, remaining seated with her knees drawn up to her chest, and calmly asked without expression, "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because... my village is holding a harvest festival, and my older brother asked me to go into the forest to pick some edible wild vegetables. And then... just like you see, I'm now trapped in this bottomless swamp, and there's no hope of saving me..."

As the monk narrated, he sank down, reaching out his hand to Frilian with a smile that seemed to be seeking redemption: "However, if you could hold my hand now... things would definitely change, just like 10 years ago when I could hold my friend's hand."

"...Wait a minute, I'm a little conflicted."

"At this point, is there anything left to hesitate about?"

“Your hands are dirty.” Frilian gave her answer without thinking, which made the monk’s smile freeze: “...How do you think this is the time to worry about whether your hands are dirty or not? Besides, Miss...the adults are all dirty guys.”

"But this is the first time I've encountered something this dirty in a physical sense."

Frillie watched the sinking man before her, showing no interest in his trembling, dirty hands. After calmly retorting, she looked away, gazing into the distance as she reminisced:

"Wait a moment, let me think of a magic spell that can pull a person out of the swamp."

"Is that so? Then... please hurry... please hurry..."

"I will try my best."

"...Speaking of which..." The monk, with a tearful expression, turned to Ash, who had casually sat down next to Frilian during their conversation, and couldn't help but say, "Hey handsome young man...what about you? Why are you just standing there watching?"

"I watched it because it was quite interesting."

"Really? That's wonderful..." The monk, whose life was hanging by a thread, was about to burst into tears at the sight of two strange fellows. "But... is this the time to watch the show?"

“Indeed, I still have something Philon asked me to do. I’ll get scolded if I go back too late.” He stood up as if suddenly realizing something.

This strange focus of attention made him slap the swamp in front of him, splashing up a lot of mud, and he exclaimed excitedly: "—Compared to the life in front of you! You actually prioritize trivial matters?! It's one thing for the elves to be indifferent, but you've just been watching the show from the sidelines the whole time, is that really okay?"

"Many lives are lost every second in this world. If we care so much about death, it must be exhausting, right?"

"—That's right! That's absolutely true! But hey! I'm right in front of you! You could just reach out and solve it, right? The reason why relationships between people are so cold is because there are too many of you!"

After a furious outburst, the monk forced a smile and, having calmed himself, reached out to him again: "Don't you want to make the world a better place? For example... starting by holding my hand? As long as you make that choice, the world will definitely become warmer because of you! At least, at least I can feel that precious warmth!"

"Your hands are too dirty... I don't really want to wash them."

"I'll wash it for you! I promise you won't leave a single speck of mud! So hurry up..." the monk shouted, on the verge of tears, as he made his best promise to him.

But he looked troubled: "...But the scene you described is disgusting just thinking about it. I don't want an older man touching my hand so carefully. At least it would be a pretty older woman, right?"

Frillie, who hadn't moved an inch from beginning to end, glanced at him sideways upon hearing this and said without hesitation, "...I'm not going to help you wash, okay?"

"...Stop being so narcissistic. Before you say that, take a good look at yourself and see where you resemble an older sister?" Ash was pretty used to her self-praise, so he just gave a disdainful remark.

The middle-aged man, unexpectedly, revealed an expression as if a goddess had been desecrated, pointing at her excitedly and saying:

"—That's it? You call yourself an older sister?! Don't insult the term 'older sister'!"

"Ash's rudeness is one thing... but do you even know your situation?" Frillie raised an eyebrow, quite surprised. "Now you dare talk to me like that? You still want to be rescued??"

"...If you were to ask me which is more important, life or faith, the answer would definitely be..."

"life?"

"No, before answering that question, can you tell me if you remember... that demon—Guwa! Help, help...!"

.......

The poor monk, trapped in the swamp, hadn't even finished saying what he wanted to say before his mouth sank into the swamp, and he kept blowing bubbles.

"—Lord Ash, why did you... eh?"

The people who called for help had all disappeared, forcing Philen to come looking for them. But before she could finish speaking, she saw a rather bizarre scene in the open space among the bushes.

With a blank expression, Frillie hugged her knees and squatted beside the swamp. Ash was also sitting cross-legged beside her. The two of them, one indifferent and the other curious, looked ahead... They were basically completely submerged in the swamp and looked like they were about to drown, but surprisingly, they showed no intention of offering a helping hand.

This bizarre scene made Philon doubt his own eyes. For a long time, his mind was blank; he couldn't understand what they were doing. ...A tacit agreement to let someone drown? Or were they trying to see how long it would take for someone to drown?

"Ah... I remember now."

Before Philon could ask, Frilian suddenly remembered the magic she had accidentally forgotten and grabbed the wand that was lying to the side.

The monk, who was struggling in the swamp, was suddenly pulled out of the mud like a lotus root being forcibly uprooted, and then... casually tossed aside.

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

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

ten minutes later.

The monk, who had been vomiting for quite some time, finally recovered somewhat.

"I'm so sorry, Lady Frilian and Lord Ash, I've troubled you quite a bit." Philen glared helplessly at the two people behind her who were looking around and pretending to be busy, then bowed to the monk uncle who called himself Zain and apologized: "I will give them a good scolding later."

".....?!" Frillie's expression turned strange in an instant. Ash, on the other hand, stared at the village not far away, seemingly deep in thought.

"It's alright, you saved me after all..." Zain shook his head with a wry smile, then pointed to the village not far away: "By the way, won't you come and visit our village? Although we're busy preparing for the harvest festival, we can still entertain you."

“No need, we still need to go to a nearby town… What are you doing?” Frilian tried to refuse on behalf of Philon, but before she could finish speaking, Ash reached out and pressed her head down, forcing her to lower her head.

Ash, however, ignored her displeasure and said to Philon with great interest:

"The harvest festival sounds wonderful! Philon! Let's go to the village and have some fun!"

"...What are you suddenly talking about? Don't we still need to resupply from the town?" Philon frowned, staring at him suspiciously. "You're not thinking...that if we go to a crowded place, I won't say anything to you, are you, Lord Ash?"

"No, that's not true... I just want to experience local customs, and since we're not in a hurry, why rush?"

"Yes, yes! Philon, I really want to go see it too!" Frilian seemed to understand Ash's intention and immediately tried to show an expectant expression.

"Lord Ash, Lady Frilian...you..." Looking at these two troublesome fellows, Philon was at a loss for words.

But they seemed genuinely looking forward to it, making it hard for her to refuse them outright. So she hesitated for a moment, then gave up and said, "Fine... if you insist... but don't think I won't say anything to you. When no one else is around tonight, you'd better wait in your room. I won't forget what you did."

"Of course, we also felt we were wrong and deserved to be told off, but we just wanted to see the harvest festival too..."

With a strange expression, Frilian kept waving her hands to defend herself... But when Philon turned his head away, she couldn't help but nudge the man next to her with her elbow and whisper without looking at him, "...Ash, your tricks aren't working either."

"...I guess I'm really unhappy."

"Let's think of another way."

"Don't force her, okay? It's hard to coax an angry Philon."

.....

The two followed behind Philon, discussing in hushed tones how to avoid the reprimand that seemed so difficult to escape.

Philen, who was walking ahead, could hear some of their strange discussion, but she sighed and decided not to talk about them in front of outsiders for the time being.

Hearing the conversation behind him, Zain couldn't help but ask curiously, "What exactly is your relationship? It doesn't seem like you're just teammates...?"

"...Lady Frilian and Lord Ash have raised me." Philen paused mid-sentence, then suddenly turned to the two of them, earnestly instructing them:

"—Lord Zain just said that there are many dangerous and poisonous species in this area! Be careful, everyone, and make sure you don't get bitten!"

"Uh, are you sure it's not because you raised them? And..." Philon's worried and admonishing look made Zain doubt the true nature of their relationship.

"No, I'm not lying, and they just mess around occasionally, but they're actually very reliable people."

"...Is that so?"

Considering their previous actions, Zain found it hard to understand Philon's description of "occasional fooling around" and "reliability in critical moments," and even couldn't help but show a sympathetic expression.