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

When their eyes met, Ash smiled like an older brother, which gradually relaxed Zanze, who was standing next to him. Zanze even felt a little like taking a nap together.

After dinner, the two, who had spent the whole day in a relaxed and peaceful atmosphere, went up to the rooftop terrace together to drink tea and read books at the tea table. From the terrace, they could also enjoy a direct view of the city's beautiful nightscape.

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Countless magic stone lamps shone with various colors, illuminating the dim city like a galaxy, making it difficult to look away.

Zanze didn't have much of a reaction to this commonplace scene.

At that moment, Ash subtly shifted his position, successfully shortening the distance between them, and casually touched his own hair, making her slightly annoyed.

Her usually listless eyes, flushed red by the sunset, seemed much softer at this moment.

Feeling the warmth on the top of her head, with a smiling boy beside her, and her hair swaying gently in the cool night breeze, she felt a strange feeling that was not quite the same as usual.

It's hard to describe her; she seems to be treated like a child, but surprisingly, she's not unpleasant... or rather, that's how it was from the beginning.

Feeling ripples in the calm lake of his heart, Zanze shifted his gaze from the night scene, simply watching him, his eyes subtly narrowing:

"Lord Ash, you really... haven't changed at all from the beginning until now."

"Isn't Zanze like that too?"

"...I am different from you."

"You have a scent reminiscent of Lady Celie."

"Old people smell bad?"

“…” Zanze ignored his joke, paused for a moment, and then spoke as if he had made up his mind:

"Even if I really die of old age, you will probably live on and on, just like Lady Celie."

"...Why would you think that?"

"I can still tell from Lady Celie's attitude... She's never been good at hiding anything; she always says what she thinks. Although she didn't explain, I was only suspicious at first, but you... it seems you didn't intend to hide anything either. Is that really the case?"

“…Selie is such a troublesome person.”

Although he should have denied it at this point, he was still troubled and directly pushed the problem onto Celia.

Looking at his face and receiving such an answer, Zanze seemed somewhat surprised, his eyes widening: "...You really don't intend to deny it?"

"I don't think you would casually tell others," he replied calmly, making no attempt to hide his feelings, his hand still resting habitually on her head.

"...To be honest, I was very surprised."

"It's not something to worry about that much, is it?"

"...Perhaps that's true, but..."

"Don't overcomplicate things." He smiled and shook his head, then casually slipped his hands under her armpits, lifting the petite girl high into the night sky. He gazed calmly at the slightly flustered girl in his arms.

"No matter how much time passes, I will definitely watch over you during your limited time. Just because we can't live in the same time doesn't mean that the time we experienced is fake."

"However, even so... one day, you'll surely forget I exist, won't you?"

The girl, who was still struggling, unconsciously stopped struggling and subconsciously looked at what he said... but she did not receive the response she deserved, and just gradually disappeared into the air.

Although Ash felt he should give a positive answer at this moment, he couldn't help but think of the dwarf guarding the village.

Celia and Frillie may be different, having a different concept of time than humans, where hundreds of years can pass by in a daze.

He was just a human being and didn't have that special sense of time, so he couldn't be sure what he would be like a thousand years from now.

Perhaps a thousand years from now, this fleeting feeling and friendship will be completely forgotten without a second thought? — He couldn't be sure now.

Zanze noticed Ash's distress, and it would be a lie to say that she didn't feel even a little bit lonely.

But Ash also noticed her loneliness, and he slowly put her down again, placing her beside him and slightly bending his knees to bring his gaze level with hers. He smiled, a hint of guilt in his eyes, but true to his feelings:

"A thousand years is too long for me to guarantee, but at least for the next hundred years, I will remember that you are my important junior sister and junior."

"...I know that."

"Is that alright?" He gently stroked the girl's hair, but Zanze removed her hand from her head, staring intently at him, and softly asked in return:

"You are clearly the same as Lady Celie, yet different... Being so close to us, won't you be lonely later on?"

"...Speaking of which, someone said something similar to you a long time ago?" He lowered his eyes in distress, and after much thought, he finally came to a conclusion: "It was probably one of Philon's ancestors?"

"Really? But... judging from your expression, it seems you don't quite remember her anymore?"

"...I still remember some of it." He muttered the answer, then smiled and cupped Zanze's face in his hands, saying confidently:

"But it's alright. I will remember everything about Zanze from beginning to end."

"What you're saying is... my last moment, isn't it?"

Zanze didn't know what to say, and just lowered his eyes with a hint of loneliness.

The conversation suddenly fell silent.

There was no way around it; Zanze wasn't good at chatting, and even Ash wasn't good at this topic. He even stopped, looking troubled, and started touching his hair.

After a long time, Zanze, who always used silence to avoid problems, took the initiative to break the silence:

"I'm sorry... You've always been very gentle with me at crucial moments, but... I think I've been a little too willful without realizing it."

"How could that be... Rather, the fact that you were able to break through on your own initiative is already a sign of growth."

As he spoke, he smiled and squinted, gesturing with his fingers above the girl's head as if deep in thought, and said, "You have indeed grown a little taller than before?"

"...I think that's it?"

Zanze nodded vaguely.

The previous conversation seemed to be forgotten by the two of them, and they rediscovered the warm atmosphere of the past.

Trivial matters intertwine to form conversations and laughter over tea and meals.

As night fell and the stars twinkled, Ash reluctantly bid farewell to the place.

After all, he would never stay overnight at a girl's house without permission... especially when her elders were around. Otherwise, he would have liked to give it a try.

On the terrace, the girl watched his figure gradually disappear into the boundless night. Zanze's heart, which had returned to tranquility, found that familiar loneliness was inexplicably replaced by a strange desolation as the surroundings returned to emptiness.

Like a shooting star streaking across the sky, it eventually disappeared into the vast night sky, leaving behind an indescribable sense of loneliness and reluctance.

This made her inexplicably concerned about the traces Ash left behind, always feeling as if that warmth still lingered in her hair.

Especially the gentle touch that lightly brushed her head made her unconsciously raise her hand to touch the ends of her hair, as if to confirm whether that warmth was still there.

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It wasn't far from Zanze's home.

In a dimly lit corner, Ash unexpectedly spotted Yubel, who had his hands behind his back, leaning closer with a smirk and a malicious grin on his face.

Suddenly, a girl with a side ponytail appeared in the darkness. Although she was a beautiful girl, her smile was... rather strange.

"...I saw it. You weren't secretly plotting with Zanze to cheat or something, were you?" Before he could speak, Yubel gave a strange guess with a mischievous grin.

"...Do you think I need to do this?" Without thinking, he slapped her on the head, pressed her down, and quickly walked ahead.

"Just kidding, I'm just curious about your relationship."

"...Zanze is my junior."

"When you came, you two seemed to have a good relationship~ Are you really just juniors?" Yubel asked curiously, quickly following behind him.

“I didn’t say I was just a junior; after all, we’ve known each other for over a decade.”

"More than ten years? You must have known quite a few people for more than ten years, right?"

"Well... it was a bit of a coincidence that our communication deepened? So we're the juniors I'm closest to."

Ash didn't mind at all. Under the girl's persistent and curious questioning, he casually talked about how they met, and then headed home with this strange girl by his side.

Although he really wanted to complain, what was this guy doing standing here all day? Could it be that he'd been squatting on the side all day...? If it was Yubel, then that was quite possible.

They chatted casually like this, and before long they returned home, only to find that Frilian and Philen had already fallen asleep.

Although Yubel clearly wanted to enter his room and continue to ask him about his past, he turned around and slammed the door shut, leaving her with no chance to enter and nearly hitting her nose on the door.

But Ash himself just lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, troubled by what Zanze had said... and couldn't sleep all night.

Fortunately, he had plenty of energy, so even if he didn't sleep all night, it wouldn't matter.

And before dawn, he quickly left home, temporarily avoiding Philon and Frilian.

After wandering around the city for a while and playing with the lost child in the park to kill some time, I took the child home.

After doing all that, he still went to the Magic Association.

But as soon as they stepped onto the stairs, they saw a lively girl with orange twin ponytails, looking like a little puppy, perched on the railing of the high platform outside the gate above.

When he subconsciously looked up and met his gaze, Connie seemed inexplicably embarrassed, but still raised his hand and waved it at him.

As he ascended the steps, he leaned against the railing of the platform, glanced at the girl beside him who seemed somewhat uneasy about his presence, and then spoke first:

"what are you doing here?"

"Actually, I'm waiting for Rabine... then we'll go find Frilian to thank her, and then play with Philon... or something?"

"Really? How youthful! You should get along well with her." Upon hearing this, Ash couldn't help but chuckle and casually touched her hair.

Connie didn't resist, but seemed a little itchy, and shrank back slightly.

"I always felt... that uncle was like that, he liked to touch other people's hair..."

"After all, I can't touch your stomach in public, can I?"

"Huh? -- Normally, even if there's no one around, it's still not okay!!"

The unexpectedly regretful remark startled Connie, who shrank back to the side, his face turning red.

"...I was just saying, I wouldn't actually touch her, right? Besides, the only thing you can touch a girl is her head... Hmm, I think I already said that before?"

"...Isn't there an option where you don't touch it at all?"

"The sense of distance between people is the same as the physical distance, so I only touch people I want to get closer to."

"I feel like I can accept it, but I can't accept it either..."