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

Although Si hadn't joined in, Rabine, who was eavesdropping, glared at her displeasedly: "You old man, you're really outrageous, dodging the question at a time like this?"

"...You're so long-winded, don't talk to me like that."

"Huh?? You were the one who spoke to me first, weren't you?!"

......

As expected, Rabinhae got angry in no time. Despite being dressed very ladylike, she rolled up her sleeves and was ready to fight him.

But Ash casually remarked something and then silently walked out of the shop, pretending nothing had happened, completely ignoring Rabine's anger, leaving Rabine with nowhere to vent her rage.

Seeing his expression, everyone knew that continuing to ask would be pointless... or rather, the answer was already given, and there was no need to ask any further.

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Although he really wanted to slip away, Philon gripped his sleeve tightly, pulling Ash along to go home with him.

In Philon's room, Connie and Labigne brought Frilian a basket of cookies and various desserts.

The girls sat around the soft bed, their laughter mingling with the crispness of cookies and the richness of black tea, weaving a warm and harmonious melody of life.

However, outside of this warmth, Ash seemed to be in another world. He sat quietly at his desk, the sound of turning pages contrasting sharply with the laughter around him.

He strives to keep his mind calm, unmoved by the joy around him, and immersed in the ocean of knowledge.

It was during this process that Connie's gaze inadvertently fell on Ash's focused figure, and he couldn't help but ask curiously, "...Uncle, are you always working this hard? At a time like this, most people would probably join us in chatting, right?"

“Maybe he’s just putting on an act in front of the girls, hmm… all those childish guys in the academy are like that, especially now that there are four beautiful girls here~” Rabine said with a playful smile, his words carrying a hint of teasing, and he proudly puffed out his chest as he spoke.

but.....

"......Oh."

Ash merely raised his head slightly, his gaze sweeping over the four people, before letting out a faint sneer and burying himself back into his book.

That composure and focus seemed to ignore the surrounding discussions.

This action naturally made all four of them feel a sense of condescension and disdain at the same time.

It was as if Asia was observing them with an detached attitude, regarding them as little kids who hadn't even grown their first hairs yet.

"Although I admit that I said that on purpose just now, and he shouldn't be that kind of person, this attitude... is really infuriating!" Rabinhee was so angry that she couldn't help but roll up her sleeves and skirt to fight him again.

"So that's not really what they think..." Philon, who had originally intended to talk to Ash, felt a mix of emotions upon hearing this.

She had originally planned to say a few good words for Ash, but now it seems that Rabine's dissatisfaction with Ash is not mainly due to past negative influences, but rather to issues like personality clashes? Or perhaps a deeper emotional entanglement?

"Is this what Ash used to call tsundere?" Frilian didn't complain to Ash for the time being, but was just curious about Rabine's condition.

"Tsundere? What the heck is that?"

Rabindé didn't understand at all, but he sensed... it probably wasn't a good word.

After all, I simply don't get along with Ash, but I do respect his abilities... There shouldn't be any particular conflict between the two, right?

She was annoyed for a moment, then stopped worrying about it, because before they could even retaliate against Ash for belittling them... a bluebird kept by the Magic Association flew in through the window.

After the bluebird let out a sharp cry, it threw in a roll of paper, on which was written the time and place of the second round of exams, as well as the names of the examiners.

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

The arrival of the bluebird immediately shattered the relaxed and pleasant atmosphere.

The atmosphere became particularly tense when everyone saw the examiner's name on the notification letter.

“…Zanze? What bad luck.” Rabine felt a headache coming on just seeing the name, and even Connie's expression darkened. He muttered under his breath, “It’s a miracle I passed the first round of exams…”

Connie's sullen mutterings sounded somewhat pitiful, and if no one else were around, Ash would have been tempted to tease him.

Unfortunately, there were too many people at the scene, and when Philon noticed that the two looked unwell, he looked worried and asked, "What's wrong?"

“Zanze has been in charge of the exams four times in the past, but the number of people who passed was zero each time.” Rabine couldn’t hide the bitterness on her face, and couldn’t help but look at Ash: “I heard you have a good relationship with her, could you ask her to give us an easy one this time?”

“I respect Zanze’s choice.”

“But that guy chose the Fallen King’s Tomb as the meeting place, so the exam must be inside.” Rabine couldn’t help but advise, “My brother went there before. The Water Mirror Demon dwells deep within the King’s Tomb and can create perfect clones. Even you will face an opponent who is exactly the same as you. Are you really confident that you can deal with him?”

"What are you thinking about?" Ash couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle upon hearing this.

"There is no perfect magic in this world, and there is no absolute thing. Just like that mercenary mage in the exam hall, his restraint magic could suppress magic power, but it still had its limits. So no matter what kind of magic it is, it has its limits."

"But will you be that boundary? And how can you be sure that the boundary really exists?"

"Because it is ultimately a living being, not a god."

If it were possible to perfectly replicate all life forms, the Water Mirror Demon would have already been used to deal with the Demon King or by the demon race to deal with the Goddess.

But even though he said that, the others seemed a little skeptical of his judgment, after all... at least according to Rabine's understanding, no one had been able to conquer the royal tomb so far.

Because so far, no one has been able to reach the limits of that mythical monster—the Crystal Demon.

But he just shook his head and sighed, explaining, "Think about it yourselves. It was imprisoned there by someone, existing as the guardian of the lowest level of the royal tomb. Or do you think it went there voluntarily to guard the tomb? If the replica had no flaws, how could it have been put down there?"

"Uh... Come to think of it, that seems to be an underground royal tomb built during the Great Unification period?"

It was only after his reminder that Rabindranath realized there must be some loopholes in this situation.

Otherwise, how could a demon be willing to be imprisoned at the lowest level to guard the burial goods of a deceased king? You must know that it is a well-constructed tomb. It's impossible that the demon was originally there. It must have been built and then imprisoned inside.

After figuring this out, she looked at Ash again with a surprised expression: "Uncle... you're surprisingly smart."

"This is not surprising, and if you want to praise me, just praise me properly, okay?"

"No, it feels like I've lost."

"...So you know, kids these days are just...sigh."

He sighed and shook his head, not really caring about the matter, and then went back to reading the book.

The girls started chattering away again about the exam content, trying to find a way to conquer the royal tomb.

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On the day of the official exam.

In the early morning, the familiar little girl appeared, but she stood alone at the entrance to the huge royal tomb.

On either side of the four massive entrances to the royal tomb are five enormous stone sculptures, with the one in the very center being an old man holding a scepter and wearing a crown, who may be the owner of the tomb.

Each entrance and the statues beside it are over twenty meters tall, making them quite spectacular from a distance.

In comparison, Zanze looked excessively small standing to the side, making Ash want to go up and pet this fluffy, legal loli.

Unfortunately, considering the impact, he only went up to say hello.

In contrast, Zanze lowered his head in shame and whispered in a voice loud enough for two people to hear:

"I'm sorry, Lord Ash... I already informed Lady Celie about the exam content beforehand, but when she heard you were here, she absolutely refused to allow any changes to the content..."

"This is exactly the kind of thing Celia would do, but you don't need to worry about it. I can handle this level of situation."

He chuckled and waved, but quickly returned to the ranks of the examinees... intending to at least put on a show.

His words finally put Zanze at ease. He let out a slight sigh of relief to calm himself down, then looked at the people gathered there and slowly began to speak:

"The second round of the test involves conquering the Tomb of the Fallen King; there's only one condition for passing: reaching the deepest part of the tomb... I'm a pacifist and dislike conflict, so reaching the deepest part is enough to pass,"

In his speech, Zanze emphasized that the time limit was tomorrow's dawn, and after some other specific details, his lively hair produced from nowhere a series of glass bottles containing small golems.

She did it in a very businesslike manner, giving each person one of the little golems and informing them that they were experimental escape golems developed by the first-level mage, Lylene.

As long as the bottle is broken, the golem will automatically expand to protect them and take them away from danger... After all, they are mages, and if they have a warrior-type golem protecting them, their survival rate will be much higher.

"Something new that Lylene made?"

Lylene's most proficient magic is golem magic, on which she has devoted her entire life. Ash knew something about this, but he only glanced at her curiously before casually stuffing her into his pocket.

Without waiting for anyone's reaction, he walked past Zanze, who was still answering questions for everyone, and quickly stepped into the underground city.

This scene surprised everyone, especially Philon and others who knew about the desolate royal tombs because of Rabine.

"Ash...!" Philon instinctively tried to chase after him and dissuade him.

But Frillian raised her hand to stop her, and as Frillian looked back in surprise, she slowly shook her head: "That guy is definitely going to take care of himself, there's no point in you going."

"How could this be! At least..."

"The difference in magic power is too great. If you release your full power, he can deflect your magic with just the overflowing magic power... To be honest, I have only seen that level of magic power before with the Demon King and Celie."

Frillian tried hard to find an analogy, ignoring the astonishment of her companion beside her, and continued, "Although Ash hasn't reached their level yet, he's far beyond your limits. Deflecting and neutralizing ordinary magic is still very simple, just like I told you."

"...If we encounter a great demon, we must flee immediately without hesitation. I have no chance of winning in my current state?"

"Yes, and ordinary Great Demons aren't as exaggerated as Ash." Watching the figure disappear into the darkness, Frilian couldn't help but murmur a sigh of admiration.

"Why are you putting in this much effort...? The Demon King has already been defeated, are you trying to deal with that mastermind hiding somewhere?"

"Is Uncle really that amazing?" Connie, who had been quietly listening from the side, couldn't help but ask.

Rabind watched the disappearing figure and couldn't help but mutter, "I know he's impressive, but is this person... really that gentle?"

"...It's hard to say exactly how gentle he is, but Ash has always had a strong sense of responsibility and is really not a bad person."

Frillie, who actually hoped that Rabine and Ash's relationship could be normalized, spoke up for him with a slight smile, but then added in a low voice at the end, uncertainly, "...although he may have done some bad things too."

"...Do you believe him or not?" Rabine was both amused and exasperated by his words.

"At least I believe he'll be alright... He's certainly trustworthy in important matters—at least that's what I think."

"...Really? Well, things have certainly improved somewhat, but..."

Because things had come to this point, frankly admitting defeat would feel like a loss, which made Rabinhei somewhat irritated. So, after hesitating to speak, he ultimately chose to remain silent.

The group of people started discussing how to conquer the royal tomb in twos and threes, but most of them planned to wait a while... Even if they didn't know anything about the royal tomb, it was always good for someone to go and scout ahead.

After all, the goal is just to get to the deepest part, so it's okay to be a little late, right?

Zanze, the examiner, kept staring at the intersection, his expressionless face revealing neither worry nor anything else.

But in the end, she chose to trust Celie's judgment, and before long, people began to enter the royal tomb in twos and threes. She also chose to follow Frillian... After all, apart from Ash, this mage who had defeated the Demon King in legend was certainly trustworthy enough.

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