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

Looking at the letter and then at his beaming face, Celia was so angry she almost twisted her mouth in disbelief. In the next instant, she tore the letter to shreds, threw it on the ground, and angrily shouted:

"What have you been doing for the past thousand years? Did you spend your time learning aristocratic hypocrisy? What kind of nonsense is this? Say it to my face!"

"Then I refuse."

"You, you bastard...!"

Celia's face instantly turned incredibly gloomy.

Sensing danger, he quickly got up from the ground and knelt down in front of Celia, placing his hands on her shoulders, and solemnly said:

"Actually, we can have a good talk, or... how about we calm down first and then talk?"

"Alright, I'd like to hear what else you have to say."

"...Normally, isn't it because you have something to say?"

"What do you mean?"

"Of course I refused! Why should I take on this mess? And that suicide note wasn't written for me, was it?" Facing Celia's warning gaze, he remained nonchalant, even lecturing her:

"It's not that I wanted to criticize you, but isn't this really inappropriate? It's not right to just casually shift Vlame's wish onto someone else! And what if it gets ruined? Her spirit in heaven..."

"I just tested your abilities. An ordinary level one mage would have died by now. This is definitely not casual. You have the ability, believe in yourself."

"...Aren't you afraid I'll die too?" He asked, but then seemed to want to hear no answer, letting out a long sigh and continuing, "Let's put that aside for now. To be honest, I have my own things to do, I really can't help it."

"Tell me first? What exactly do you want to do?"

Seria, who was annoyed by having to personally teach people and build her own power, had casually postponed Vlame's will for a while. Now that she saw Ash as a free source of labor, she naturally didn't intend to let him go easily.

But since he was so unwilling, I relaxed my attitude a little and didn't intend to force him. I just urged him to tell me his reasons with my eyes.

However, it's clear that she won't let Ash go easily without a suitable reason.

Even though he admitted to controlling the kingdom and intending to manage the country well and accumulate strength, Celia's attitude remained ambiguous, both agreeing and disagreeing. She probably didn't intend to continue pressuring him, but...

"You've really made something of yourself, managing to control the entire kingdom. So, I'll leave the reconstruction and expansion here entirely to you." On a wooden chair amidst the ruins, Celia crossed her legs without any regard for appearances and grinned mischievously. "Let me see how sincere you are in showing your respect to your teacher."

"That's all the people's hard-earned money! I can't do something like sucking the blood of ordinary people!"

"Commoners? What money could commoners possibly have? Go find the nobles and have them donate, right? You control quite a few nobles anyway, right? In the end, this place will all belong to you anyway, so what's wrong with you making it look good?"

"But I don't want to take this thing at all, it's just..."

“I won’t force you, but you should think it through.” Though she said this, Celia raised her voice, causing him to sigh deeply, “I mean…you’re a devil.”

"Ha, a demon who controls others, telling me this?" Celia retorted with a look of disdain, leaving him speechless.

There's no way around it; whether it's his body or his behavior, he seems to be the more demonic one.

Left with no other choice, Ash, who had only come to expose frauds, ran into a brick wall and was forced to temporarily settle in the magic city, where he also organized the construction of a branch of the Continental Magic Association.

Those he saved within the Magic Association saw this and seemed to genuinely regard him as Seria's future successor and branch manager, or even a very generous "donating" nobleman.

Aside from the empty titles, he also gained the opportunity to continue reading Seria's collection of books... Faced with the ticket to freely browse all the magical knowledge in the world, money really didn't seem that important compared to that?

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

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Several years passed in the blink of an eye as I studied and dealt with Celia.

Ash also took over the Demon King's castle, which had lost its master, but only in the first year of his occupation... he encountered the challenge of the strongest warrior of the demon race—one of the oldest living demons, the bloodstained war god Livale.

"What a promising young talent! No wonder they dared to occupy this place!"

When the demon uncle with a slicked-back hairstyle and thick eyebrows with horns saw him, he laughed heartily and gathered magic power into a giant sword between his hands. Without saying a word, he slashed at him head-on.

Bang——! ! !

The greatsword and the longsword clashed, sparks flying everywhere, and Ash, who was already off-balance, was moved backward at an alarming speed.

In the instant when it suddenly takes a step forward to stabilize itself while moving backward uncontrollably, the shockwave still lifts the ground behind it, creating a magnificent inverted waterfall-like spectacle.

This made Livale grin from ear to ear, smiling so happily:

"Not bad! You're really good! That dwarf Aize couldn't stop himself after taking a punch from me, but you managed to control your body after taking a sword from me?"

"...I've heard of you, but you're actually stronger than the rumors say." Ash looked utterly frustrated, while Levalle seemed to genuinely enjoy fighting, his eyes burning with fervor as he looked at him.

"Come on! Young man, if you can defeat me in strength, this old man will acknowledge you as the new Demon King!"

"Wait a minute... are you serious? I'm a mage, you know. You, a warrior, want me to fight you hand-to-hand?"

Ash stared blankly at Livale, utterly bewildered as to how he could have the audacity to say such a thing.

"A mage? I feel you're more like a warrior, and a mage couldn't possibly block my sword!"

"My main profession is magician, and I also know a little bit of martial arts. Ah...right, how about this! You teach me how to fight? That way, I can improve and better deal with you."

"Well... let's leave it at that!" Surprisingly, after only a moment's thought, Livale actually agreed to his outlandish proposal, even muttering to himself with unbridled joy:

"To personally nurture and comprehensively defeat one's outstanding juniors and rivals—that's an excellent idea!"

"Uh... even though it was my proposal, you actually agreed to it."

“Instead of searching for opponents everywhere, it’s definitely better to train one directly, and… I really can’t think of anyone better than you! Although you call yourself a mage, this power—is something no human can even begin to describe!” Rivalei sized him up, raised his greatsword once more, and a bloodthirsty smile gradually crept onto his lips.

"—Come on, let me give you some pointers."

"No, wait a minute, what you're doing doesn't look like guidance, but rather..."

"You can only improve the fastest through real-world practice!!"

The greatsword was swung with great force by Levalle, while Ash could only smile wryly, unsure of what expression to make. But... he had no choice but to bite the bullet and go for it.

And so, the days that followed...

He was learning magic from Celiae almost simultaneously with training as a warrior with Rivale.

Busy days always fly by, and in the blink of an eye, the fifty-year promise is already within reach.

But as he sat on the walls of the Demon King's castle, gazing at the distant night sky during his rest, he remembered the promise he made half a century ago, and was troubled, unsure whether he should keep it.

After all, I might lose some friends this time, and... I'm probably nearing the end of my human lifespan this time, right?

Chapter Sixty-Two: Reunion with an Old Friend (3K)

Ash would be really upset if someone died when he went to keep the appointment, but it didn't feel right not to go either, since it was a promise to his friend.

This made him sigh deeply on the city wall, constantly troubled and torn between two options, unable to make up his mind.

It was at this moment that Livale suddenly appeared silently beside him, before he could react...

"What?! Your martial arts skills have reached the pinnacle of humanity, and you'll catch up with me in a second. Yet you're making such an unwarranted expression!"

Livale slapped his back hard without any politeness, making his back thud loudly, and almost pushed him off the wall.

This made him turn around and look at the old man with a frustrated expression, but the old man was all smiles, leaving him at a loss for words.

For a moment, it just felt like these great demons didn't seem like demons at all... Aura could probably understand, after all, he was the one who raised them, so it was normal for them to be a little different.

But this Livale showed none of the demons' fear of death, only a fanaticism for battle, which was completely contrary to the demons' instincts.

Indeed, Livale has no fear of battle—according to Azer, a dwarf warrior who once fought him.

It could even be said that Livale's strength has reached the pinnacle of martial arts that is beyond human reach. Even though Livale takes care of Aize and uses an axe, it is still a realm that Aize, who has reached the peak, cannot reach.

Although Ash wasn't there when they fought, his teammates said that Levalle was a warrior far superior to Azer, and his martial arts skills were at a terrifying level that humans could never reach.

Even after taking a fatal blow to the face, he only suffered a cut on his face. When Aize's ordinary attacks hit him, he was completely unharmed.

Its body is incredibly tough; even a dragon couldn't be this exaggerated.

However, lacking fear and only focused on fighting, he was caught off guard by Aize, who used his ultimate move to knock him off the cliff... and even slashed his face.

But that's all; nothing else matters. Its strength can only be described as terrifying.

...Of course, this is somewhat irrelevant in the current situation, but it is quite suitable as a teacher.

In terms of appearance, he is a strange middle-aged man with a slicked-back hairstyle, a height of over two meters, and a perpetually smiling face.

Therefore, Ash only turned his head to look at him, and under his curious gaze, he became certain—even if he went to watch the shooting stars with Frilian and the others again, he would never watch them with this strange old man in this castle!

As for Celie... well, maybe we can let that go too. And Aura... wasn't that the initial shadow?

"...Watching shooting stars with Celie or Aura doesn't seem much different from watching them with Rivale..."

"Watching shooting stars? Ah~ It seems like that shooting star from half a century ago is about to appear again? Do you want to watch shooting stars with me?" Livale asked curiously upon hearing his own name.

To him, it seemed like none of this mattered, but... Ash's face was full of resistance: "...No, just thinking about it is disgusting, let's not."

"why?"

"...Two grown men sitting side by side watching shooting stars late at night, what comes to mind when you see that image?"

"The friendship of warriors!" Livale didn't even think twice before falling silent.

After a long while, he sighed, rubbing his forehead with one hand, and said, "...Alright, I was being old-fashioned. Please forgive me."

"Ah! I forgive you, then let's have another round! This time I'll only use one hand! Let's have a full-force battle without weapons!"

"Huh? What are you saying without permission? I was going to—whoa?!"

Before Ash could finish speaking, Livale's fist, as big as a casserole dish, slammed into his face without hesitation.

Caught off guard, he was hit hard in the face, causing his body to disappear from the wall and fall to the ground like a cannonball.

Unsurprisingly, his troubles vanished under that heavy punch.

Although Ash was somewhat helpless against the berserker-like Rivale, he also made up his mind during the brutal fight that took their toll and decided to witness his old friend's final moments.

So, the next day.

With his face bruised and swollen, he flew at full speed to the central kingdoms... There was no other way.

Healing magic is the privilege of goddesses, and normally only those who possess sacred texts (mainly monks) can use it.

Unfortunately, as a demon, he couldn't use the sacred texts even if he had them. The goddess seemed... no, she clearly disliked him and was unwilling to give him even the slightest favor.

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

For Ash, who was still young among the demons, the royal capital, half a century later, felt like a lifetime ago.