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

"Jackson!"

Although he believed he was indeed contributing to world peace, he couldn't think of anyone who would believe he would fight for it, so he subconsciously blurted out a name.

It's not that he's lying or has bad character; it's just that he simply doesn't have many friends.

Frillie pressed on quickly, asking, "—What do you do? Who's in your family?"

"A singer! There's only one in the family!"

How did you meet?

"That was... a dark and stormy night..." He tried to recall the scene, but Frillie narrowed her eyes and interrupted, "—Ash, you're lying to me, aren't you?"

"Just tell me I didn't mention anyone's name, okay?"

"...When exactly did you start to like lying like your master?"

“I think I should be a little better than Vlame.” Even when Ash was compared to Vlame, his expression became somewhat subtle.

At first glance, Vlame seemed like a pretty decent person, at most someone who liked to play dumb to take advantage of others.

But in reality, even when you train with them, it's really just training. They'll suddenly become shameless and beg for mercy in various ways to make you feel sorry for them.

Perhaps because she had been fooled by Vlame so many times, Frillie had developed some ability to see through scams. Of course... the main reason was that she didn't really believe Ash was that upright from the beginning.

Moreover, even if she did, she didn't plan to let Ash join, after all—her friend was at an age where he should be enjoying his retirement, and she couldn't let him do whatever he wanted.

Go on an adventure? Slay the Demon King? What if my old bones fall apart? It just doesn't seem right.

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

Ash's hand hovered in mid-air, frozen there for a long time, no one willing to take it, causing the atmosphere to gradually become somewhat awkward...

Just as he was about to change his strategy and observe from the sidelines for a while, a hand suddenly appeared behind Haita and firmly grasped his hand.

"Oh, oh...?" He looked up in surprise, only to find...

"I believe you—Mr. Ash, let's fight together!"

A boy with light blue mushroom hair, wearing a white cloak and blue clothes, was giving him a bright smile.

However, Ash stiffened slightly, subtly trying to pull his hand back, while simultaneously asking, "Excuse me, who are you...?"

"I am Simmel."

"...Is that so? That is...?"

“Frilian’s companion,” Simmel replied without hesitation.

"...Really?"

"Really, is there a problem?"

"No... this...?" Ash was dumbfounded again, and subconsciously looked at Frillie.

But this time, Frilian just sighed softly: "If you're expecting a version of Vlamé's story, forget it. The only older sister here is me."

"Ha, haha... You've picked up Vlame's bad habit of boasting too." Ash, exhausted, couldn't help but chuckle and blurt out a sarcastic remark.

This immediately made Frilian's face show displeasure: "...What do you mean? There aren't many older sisters as big as me."

"Big sister... ah."

Staring at the loli-type girl in front of him, who was much shorter than a normal girl, with her hands on her hips and chest puffed out, trying to look mature, he felt an urge to speak out.

Chapter Fifty-Four: The Gap Between Ideal and Reality

Not to mention being an older sister, she wasn't even a young girl; this barren elf, who was actually an old lady, called herself an older sister and even proudly stood with her hands on her hips and chest puffed out.

To be honest... Ash really suspected that this clueless guy was trying to mock his aspirations in this way.

But feeling that complaining about Frillie was too tiring, he looked around and directly changed the subject:

"Compared to that, how about the dwarf lady? If all else fails, I think the legendary dwarf loli... young girl wouldn't be unacceptable either."

"Miss Dwarf? What do you mean 'dwarf'... no, what do you mean 'compared to this'?? You really are looking down on me?"

Frillie was taken aback, and immediately expressed her dissatisfaction with his disregard, about to confront him properly, when a rather gruff voice interrupted from behind: "As for dwarves... I'm already here?"

"That voice... I suddenly have a bad feeling..." The overly rough voice made him instinctively put one hand to his forehead.

"Although I think it's unlikely, maybe dwarves just have rougher voices. After all, mining every day causes them to inhale too much dust, which inevitably damages their vocal cords, right?"

"Why do dwarves mine?" Frilian asked, puzzled.

"Isn't that how it's always described in storybooks?" Ash asked without hesitation, leaving Frillie speechless. "...How old are you anyway, or have you been living in the mountains all these years?"

"Actually, haven't I been mostly cultivating? In the end, I've never actually encountered a dwarf."

"Ah, come to think of it, you're a complete cultivation fanatic... No wonder you fell for Master's tricks in such strange places."

Remembering his ascetic training, Frillie could now somewhat understand him, but...

“Actually, dwarves don’t mine; we’re mainly warriors.” A dwarf uncle with an extremely long yellow beard, wearing a horned helmet and carrying a double-edged axe on his back, walked up to him from behind.

"Is this a lie? I've been fooled by that bastard Vlame again...?!" With just one glance, he instantly understood the harsh reality—fairy tales are indeed all lies.

However, the stark contrast between the loli and the middle-aged man made him feel dizzy for a moment.

He couldn't help but turn his back, squat down with his hands on his head, and try to make sense of the huge gap between this and his expectations, a reality that was bizarre and outlandish to him.

Of course, he had to admit that his desire to become a hero in the past was mainly because he wanted to encounter all sorts of beautiful girls... which is why he believed Vlame's dubious story.

After all, humans are like this: even knowing they might be fooled, they still can't help but believe in the beautiful dreams others have created.

Unfortunately, after having so many expectations and being betrayed so many times, he finally felt that even a loli dwarf could barely make up for the huge gap between his expectations and reality.

Although he wasn't a lolicon, he simply felt that... at least there was a loli who wasn't an overly mature one like Frilian, so he could at least have some fun with her, right?

Even though I won't actually do anything—after all, as a respectable person, I'm really... well, teasing a little girl occasionally is quite fun, right?

but.....

"You're... alright?" The dwarf uncle stood before him, scrutinizing him curiously. Even the usually taciturn man couldn't help but ask, "By the way, are you a warrior or a mage?"

If you look closely, the dwarf uncle's entire body below his eyes is covered with an excessively thick beard that reaches his chest, and his helmet completely blocks the area above his forehead, so that only his two eyes are visible.

"That beard, so much... Is this really reality? Cruel and ruthless, with no beauty to speak of..."

He completely ignored the other person's question and unconsciously reached out to tug at the thick beard in front of him.

The strange sensation convinced him that this guy was definitely an older man, not a little girl...

Although the beard is so thick and long that only the eyes are visible, other features are not discernible.

However... even if we take a step back and assume that such a loli really exists, he would absolutely not accept such a strange loli.

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

The gap between his ideals and reality plunged Ash into a state of self-isolation, and he would unconsciously tug at his overly long beard.

This made the dwarf warrior look somewhat troubled, and he subconsciously turned to look at Frilian:

"Is this your friend? What's wrong with him? Could you ask him to let go of my beard?"

"Sorry, Aize, this guy is a bit strange... but I'll have a good talk with him."

Although she wanted to pretend she didn't know him, she couldn't just leave him there. So, Frilian slapped his hand away from where he was playing with his beard, grabbed his hand, and dragged him away.

Only when they were far enough apart did Frilian turn back to look at him again with a sigh:

"Ash, what exactly are you doing here?"

"Well..." He hesitated for a moment before saying, "...Actually, I'm worried about your safety. After all, the Demon King and such are quite dangerous, aren't they?"

"Stop lying, you just want to find a girl, don't you? But as you can see, there aren't any pretty girls here except for me. Go back now, go away." Frillian waved her hands repeatedly, as if shooing away a small animal.

"I won't criticize your self-definition, but you can't stop my yearning for stories."

"A story about an encounter with a beautiful girl?"

"I'm drawn to that, but I'm also interested in serious adventures."

He solemnly stated his thoughts, and behind him came the curious voice of the dwarf uncle—Aize:

"What? You want to join too?"

"......I think I'll think about it some more."

He glanced back at the dwarf uncle, then at the two remaining boys who were far from meeting his expectations, and silently resumed his worries.

Because he always felt that something was off about the script. After all, compared to a classic adventure story, wasn't this team a bit too much like a motley crew that could die at any moment?

Neither of the two people who could foresee the future told him which team of heroes would defeat the Demon King, which made him genuinely worried that Frilian might die halfway through.

Judging from his words, Frank's claim of paving the way sounds more like the one who will ultimately win.

In other words, did this team fail halfway through? Or was the Demon King defeated halfway through their journey? — He couldn't help but feel a little worried.

"What's wrong, Ash? Why...?"

Noticing the genuine concern in his eyes, Frillie was slightly surprised, but then something occurred to her, and a warmth spread through her heart. She unconsciously smiled faintly: "I didn't expect... you were really worried about me."

Chapter 55 Temporarily Joining the Hero (Sightseeing) Team as a Tourist

Frillie's smile seemed to be full of unspoken trust.

But only now did he begin to trust his instincts, leaving Ash, who was genuinely worried about her, with very mixed feelings:

"That's what you said from the beginning, right? You only believe me now? What about our friendship?"

"It's alright, I have some ability to protect myself."

"...Are we avoiding talking about the friendship aspect? But who can guarantee they won't encounter unexpected situations?"

“You weren’t this worried before.”

His old-fashioned worries made Frillie chuckle.

Of course, she didn't reveal her true thoughts, but hesitated before looking up and asking, "While I'm glad you're worried, but... are you alright?"

"Health? I think you're pretty healthy?"

"If it's only for a short period of time, that's not impossible... but it's really unlikely that I'll encounter the good things that Vlame mentioned, right?"