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

After finishing her own words, she nodded happily to herself and walked away without waiting for a reply.

"...Is Philen still a little angry, that's why she said that? But I don't like being forced to take responsibility..."

Although taking care of children sometimes means having to put up with their whims, he was somewhat aware of that.

Philon, with her smile back, is also adorable, and it seems there's not much to complain about anymore.

However, his gaze quickly turned to the two first-level mages watching from a distance, and among them was the small figure of Zanze.

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

The man, who wore glasses, looked to be in his thirties, and had his hair slicked back, seemed somewhat puzzled by Falshu's gaze, who was in charge of assisting with the exam.

Meanwhile, Zanze, one of the examiners and mainly responsible for the second round, abruptly turned his head away, avoiding his gaze.

"There are quite a few strong contenders this year..." As the bespectacled man, who looked like a researcher, scanned his surroundings, he unexpectedly noticed Zanze's unnatural behavior and asked in confusion, "What's wrong? Do you know that young man?"

"...This isn't a matter of knowing each other." Recalling someone's seemingly deliberately difficult and capricious behavior, which forced him to secretly manipulate the bracelet, Zanze felt somewhat guilty and casually replied:

“You were one of the people who passed the previous session... and you probably haven’t seen Lady Celie’s meeting since two years ago.”

"Is he a formidable fellow? Speaking of which... Lady Celia actually meets with outsiders? Doesn't she even ignore nobles?" Upon hearing this, Falshu stared at Ash in confusion, observing his magical fluctuations while assessing the situation: "...The fluctuation in magical power definitely indicates that he is hiding his strength, but strangely, I can't discern his original magical power. Is he using some kind of special magic?"

"...You'll find out soon enough. If you can't wait, you can ask others; most people know."

Facing Ash's gaze, Zanze, feeling guilty and looking down, had no interest in chatting with this "new" colleague.

It is worth mentioning that Celia is one of the very few people who are not afraid of authority, while the elderly court mage Duncan, a second-level mage, who is participating in the exam in this venue, is a typical power worshipper. He has seen many mages who are more outstanding than himself, and even comparable to first-level mages, being persecuted, imprisoned, and executed.

But there was nothing they could do. Most of the powerful in this world obeyed the nobles and the state, and would not resist even if they were persecuted. Under these circumstances, such rules could not restrain the eccentric, self-centered, and willful Celia. Therefore, the court magician who had gained power could only obediently come to take the exam.

Because at the very beginning of the Magic Association's establishment, Celia, who had just left the mountains, had clashed with the Goddess Cult and nobles of the Holy Capital, and even almost destroyed the Holy Capital.

The Holy City kept this matter a secret out of consideration for their reputation, which is why Ash only learned about Celie's unconventional ways of doing things later on. This finally made him understand Celie's personality and how she established the Magic Association.

Specifically, it roughly means directly using force to establish status, causing laws and rules to fail under the power beyond reason, leaving nobles powerless even if they hate such rule-breakers... After all, Celia won't obediently go to jail like other magicians.

Therefore, when Ash got to Celie, he immediately granted her special privileges—not because he was particularly filial to his master or wanted to protect Celie, but simply because he was worried that his own people would suffer and didn't want anyone to be foolish enough to provoke her and cause trouble for him.

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

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

The first round of exams was held in a suburban basin, far from the magical city.

A massive, city-sized magic array enveloped a lake in the basin, along with a large surrounding forest.

"...This examination area is home to a small bird called the Meteorite Bird." The examiner explained, picking up a small cage and showing the bird inside to everyone.

"The birdcage has already been given to you. Its targeted barrier can seal the meteorite bird. There are only two conditions for the test: first, capture the meteorite bird and put it in the cage, and bring it back before sunset tomorrow; second, the entire team must survive."

After saying all that, the examiner paused for a moment and then distributed a bunch of magical signal transmitters, which were also like signal guns, to everyone.

Each gun can only fire a signal flare once; both firing and missing it count as a failure. Each gun has a specific magical mark as its unique identifier, and once fired, it can be displayed in front of others, preventing them from attacking it.

There is a small safe zone set up at the edge of the examination room. People who surrender can go there first. Going to the safe zone is considered as giving up.

Upon hearing this final rule, everyone seemed somewhat surprised, especially Frillie.

Another friend of Philon, who was on the same team as Connecticut, was Rabinhee.

The girl had long, silver hair that reached her waist, beautiful blue eyes, and wore a carefully chosen blue dress. The skirt swayed lightly, complementing her over-the-knee white boots perfectly.

As for her clothing, it was full of Gothic Lolita style, but... Rabine had an unexpectedly beautiful figure - her breasts were surprisingly full, with full lines that were elegant, and her posture was upright and her curves were exquisite, perfectly interpreting the essence of "gap moe" (a cute contrast between a girl's appearance and her appearance). She could be described as a beautiful girl with the air of a young lady from a wealthy family.

But right now... Rabinhee, who clearly gives the impression of being a young lady from a wealthy family, is roughly pinning Connie to the ground and seems to be fighting with her.

But just like most of the time at Ash’s house—Rabindranath, as usual, held the upper hand and suppressed Connie.

"...They never cared about human lives in the past, so what's going on this time? By the way...!"

Because her brothers were all members of the Magic Association, Rabindranath knew something about the past and the exams. But she was only halfway through wondering when she pressed down hard on Connie, who was struggling desperately below, and demanded through gritted teeth, "Connie! Give up resisting! Hand over the cage to me!"

"No! I should keep this—! Rabindran should be the one to give it up!"

Despite being physically weaker than his opponent, Connie was still unwilling to admit defeat and used all his strength to try to push back down.

The strange conflict between the two left Frillie watching with a peculiar expression, unsure of what to say.

But these two were like that at Ash's house too... so there's no need to try to stop them?

But just as she decided to let it be, Ash was already walking towards them.

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

Frillie gave up resisting, and Ash took the opportunity to squat down beside them. As the two girls, locked in a love-hate relationship, looked on, he suddenly smiled and said:

"I know you two like to argue, which should be considered proof that you have a good relationship, but... wouldn't it be better if you two made up for the time being? After all, you have exams coming up soon, don't you?"

“It’s three to one now… Shouldn’t you, the lone wolf, run away first?!” Rabine turned and glared, his blue eyes filled with barely concealed hostility.

"...Why are all the kids these days so unfriendly?"

"Because that person is you."

"Let bygones be bygones. We should look to the future. People who are stuck in the past will never make progress."

Ash, with an expression of someone who's been there all along, smiled and reached out to pat Rabine on the head.

"...What? This uncle is so familiar with everyone?" Rabine looked displeased. If he weren't currently dealing with Connecticut and not making a move, he would have given him a good thrashing first.

"We weren't exactly overly familiar with each other, were we? Didn't you guys stay at my place last night?"

"That's Philon's house!"

"It's also my home."

“Now that I’ve killed you, you’ll be Philon’s.” A dangerous smile appeared on Rabin’s face.

But Ash remained unmoved, shaking his head indifferently.

"Is this how you treat your friend's parents?"

"Are you the kind of friend who treats the children at home like this?"

"Because they are my children's friends, I want to try to build a good relationship with them. Otherwise, every time you come to visit, you only have a sour face when you see me, which makes me feel quite uncomfortable."

"I hate adults who don't respect children."

"Because you're a child, right? I've already explained that matter; I had my own difficulties... and in the end, I still fulfilled my responsibilities as a guardian, didn't I?"

“…What difficulties could you possibly have? Don’t think I’m like them, knowing nothing; I know your true identity!” Rabindranath narrowed his eyes: “I can’t imagine what difficulties someone like you could have.”

"That's just a child's perspective. To be honest, I'm very busy. Taking care of children is really... Sigh, never mind, I'll go now."

Although the special identity of "daughter's" friend made him a little excited, and he also wanted to tease them a bit, because... for some reason, teasing these kinds of girls had a strangely stimulating effect.

But saying that he was too busy to take care of the children now would probably only anger them, so although he was a little regretful, he still silently turned around and left.

That solitary figure, compared to the groups of people in the hall, appeared inexplicably desolate and lonely, making even Connie feel a little sorry for him.

"Is this really alright? Although that old man did have moments of wanting to shirk responsibility... in the end, he still raised Philon and even apologized... What if he gets attacked here..."

“Connie, this kind of adult needs to be taught a lesson, otherwise what if he tries to abandon Philon again next time? And have you forgotten that Philon said he wanted to find someone to adopt him back in the Holy Capital?”

“This…” Connie hesitated, and Rabine watched the departing figure before adding at the end:

"In the end, that guy won't be taken down so easily... Although he's a terrible old man, he's actually a terrifying one."

"That's really impressive, but there are plenty of those here too..."

"That guy is more powerful than you think. Instead of worrying about him, let's worry about ourselves first."

Before Connie could finish speaking, Rabinhae shook her head, interrupting her worries.

Meanwhile, Frillie watched the two with a strange expression that was hard to describe, because—even while discussing Ash, the two girls were still pushing and shoving each other.

"Is this team... really alright?" Frilian looked at the two of them, then at Ash who had disappeared, and the other teams that were gradually moving away, and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

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

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

Not long after he left the starting point, a man was strolling leisurely through the forest.

As Ash was still pondering where to get a meteorite bird, a loud roar began to echo from the sky.

Looking up, they saw that the source of the roar was actually just a small orange bird.

Of course, this is not surprising, because those are small birds that inhabit this basin area. This time, the target is the meteorite bird, whose body is exceptionally hard and whose flight speed can exceed the speed of sound.

There was even a meteorite bird that flew right past him while it was fleeing.

Under normal circumstances, this would definitely not be a problem, since a normal mage cannot catch an object that is already moving at high speed, but... just as the meteorite bird was about to pass by him, he raised his hand and slapped it.

BOOM—!!

With a deafening roar, Ash's palm collided with the meteorite bird, sending up a cloud of dust and scattering fallen leaves everywhere.

When the smoke cleared and the fallen leaves drifted back to earth, people who had been drawn by the commotion finally saw...

The meteor bird that flew past him was smashed to the ground like a tennis ball in the blink of an eye.

From the outside, it looked as if he had simply slapped the ground, creating a crater that looked like it had been hit by artillery fire, making one doubt their own eyes.

After all, a bird flying at supersonic speeds is basically no different from a cannonball.

The meteor bird unleashed its power; the exaggerated roar accompanying its supersonic flight far surpassed that of artillery shells and ordinary experimental electromagnetic guns. It could probably pierce through the armor of a tank with a single flight.

But Ash really did slap it to the ground, seemingly without using any magic at all.

This made some people who hadn't gone far from the starting point look as if they had seen a ghost when they noticed this scene.

"...Is this guy even human? Just how strong is his body?"

The second-level mage and court mage who led a small team, the seemingly short old man Duncan, wearing a monocle and sporting a large beard, had his eyes so wide that his monocle almost fell to the ground.

The level 3 mage girl next to him, wearing a dark blue slit skirt and a bun hairstyle, couldn't help but mutter, "...If he accidentally slapped me, I'd definitely be covered in bruises, right?"

"...It should be pieces of this and pieces of that, right? By the way, is this guy really a mage?" Duncan turned his head speechlessly, unable to help but correct her strange confidence in her own body.

Beside them stood a well-dressed, impeccably dressed, middle-aged man in a neat suit, who looked rather old-fashioned. The second-level mage, Lishita, couldn't help but ask:

"He's probably the first person to capture the Meteorite Bird. So, shall we make a move?"

"I never imagined you'd be so bad at choosing your opponents... Even if you're just being impatient for quick success, this is incredibly unwise." Duncan silently walked away, and Laofen quickly followed, waving her hand without turning back: "I'll pass too~"

"What... I was just joking, did you guys really take it seriously?" Lishita shook her head helplessly and quickly followed after them.