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

"Hey~ You've heard of it?"

"Having prospered for the last century, it shows signs of challenging the empire and emerging as a dark horse among the nations?"

Although she didn't understand what an empire was, Philen still recounted what she had heard.

But these words immediately made Ash smug, saying, "Impressive, isn't it?"

"...I don't know, it must be really amazing."

"That's right!"

"All these years of hard work in handling state affairs have not been in vain," Ash said with pride, his heart filled with a sense of accomplishment.

Over the years, he has carried out a series of modernization reforms suitable for the local areas. Of course, it is not about promoting democracy in this era. Instead, he has strengthened central authority, but the systems in various places have still undergone considerable changes.

They even used Aura to annex two neighboring kingdoms, carrying out a peaceful conquest.

In the process, he also used the various long-lost agricultural magic techniques he had learned from that drunken elf a thousand years ago to train a group of agricultural magicians, making it the first country among all nations to sweep away hunger.

When the nation was prosperous and strong, the Magic Knights Order was established, and the army spared no expense in training mages and knights in an organized manner. In the disputes with neighboring countries, they demonstrated a record that was no less than that of the Empire's elite forces.

Although Philon didn't know the details, the fact that even the children in the far south knew about his achievements made him want to boast about it again, but...

"what happened?"

With an expressionless face, Philon didn't seem to have much interest in the country.

This made him feel a strange emptiness, and then he shook his head and led the way: "...It's okay, let's go in first anyway."

"Huh?" Philon tilted her head in confusion, but quickly jogged to catch up with him.

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

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

Before long, the two arrived at the residence in the city where Ash occasionally stayed... it wasn't a noble mansion.

After all, a house that is too big, if no one cleans it, can feel like living in ruins.

Therefore, it was only a relatively good house, and there were only three rooms, but only one room was actually used.

"It feels like...no one's used it in ages?" As she ran her fingertips across the coffee table in the living room, Philon frowned slightly, looking at the dust on her palms.

He didn't seem to care and simply pushed open his door.

"...You can stay in my room tonight, and I'll have someone clean it tomorrow."

“Okay.” Philon nodded gently, then curiously peeked into the room, which was mostly sparsely furnished with only a simple bed and blankets. She couldn't help but ask:

"Is this Lord Ash's house?"

"Let's say that for now."

"tentatively?"

"I don't have a fixed address."

"I see."

For Philon, this "evil magician" held too many secrets... at least there were many she didn't understand, but she didn't ask any more questions.

On the contrary, she was very sensible and took the initiative to go inside and awkwardly wanted to air out the quilt.

"You don't need to do it. I'll find someone to do it tomorrow... no, I'll find someone to do it later."

"It's okay, I'm free right now."

"...Whatever you want. I'm going out for a bit, I should be back before tonight."

"Okay, be careful on the road."

Ash, unsure how to interact with the child, scratched his head and left on his own. The child behind him, however, was well-behaved, bowing his head slightly with a blank expression as he watched him leave.

After he disappeared, Philon glanced around and then rolled up his sleeves to get busy with the unfamiliar housework.

On the other hand, Ash only remembered when he arrived at the Magic Association that it happened to be the time when Celia was staying in this magical city and giving lectures to the nominal disciples, the first-level mages.

He quietly went up to each person and asked if anyone wanted to adopt a child... After all, it was definitely better to be raised by humans than to be adopted by a demon like him.

He could even provide lifelong child support if someone was willing, but unfortunately... none of the level one mages really wanted to raise children.

When afternoon arrived and the crowd dispersed, he looked up at Celia and asked bluntly:

"Selie, aren't you planning to have a child? It must be so lonely being alone all the time, right?"

"What... what are you suddenly calling an idiot?" Celia looked at me like I was a moron. "Do you think I'm going to raise a human child so I can be the one to see that child to their end?"

"...So it really won't work?"

"If you know the answer, don't ask."

“You have to try everything. Even if the chances are slim, you might just decide to take it on a whim.” After saying that, he couldn’t help but add, “After all, didn’t you adopt Volame before? And the child I met seemed to have good magical talent. Aren’t you really going to consider it?”

“Volamey was just acting on a whim, I have no intention of raising him again.” Celia refused without thinking, then looked at him and couldn’t help but sneer, “But, to actually take the initiative to help orphans, that’s really not like you.”

"What strange things are you saying? I'm not as cold-blooded as you. Of course I would lend a helping hand if I saw a child who might starve to death on the roadside."

"Cold-blooded and heartless? Is that how you think of me?"

"...Just kidding, don't do anything reckless."

"It's alright, I won't do anything reckless, but now it's about time... let me see how much you've improved lately!"

As Ash showed a wary expression, Celia's smile turned terrifying.

What happened next was not surprising at all.

Even though he was no longer the same person he was a thousand years ago, Ash still encountered Celie's "unreasonable" violent attack once again in the magical city.

Of course, it wasn't a purely violent attack. It was just that she had been trying to get Ash to take over all these years, and she deliberately made her subordinates owe him favors so that his rise to power would be smoother in the future.

With this in mind, whenever Celia wanted to renovate the neighborhood, she would choose to attack Ash when he was speaking recklessly. Of course... she might also attack him when he said nothing at all.

So, the chaotic dance of light, the flying rubble, the collapsing beams, and the crumbling side hall all unfolded at almost the same time at this branch of the Magic Association.

This situation, which happens once every ten years or so, means that the older mages have long since fled, and those who are slower to escape... have to be rescued by Ash.

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

After Celia's relentless bombardment, the site slated for demolition was reduced to rubble.

Amidst the billowing dust, Ash, his back bent and his body bent, was flanked by a trembling mage.

Ash, his face covered in blood, shielded her in front of him, ensuring she was unharmed. However, upon seeing the girl's appearance beneath him, a look of frustration crossed his face:

"What exactly is this? By the way... Zanze, you should be able to protect yourself, right?"

"No...no! My hands and feet are shaking..."

With her super long brown hair, she looks like a young girl but actually has a loli-like feel. Her age is a mystery. Zanze is a loli-type girl. Her face, which is usually expressionless, is now filled with undisguised fear.

Despite Ash's warm blood dripping onto her face from time to time, causing her pupils to tremble slightly, she was still unable to move.

It was at this moment that Celia's dissatisfied voice came from within the smoke and dust: "Zanze, do you even qualify as a first-level mage?"

"...Wasn't it because you used too much force and accidentally let the child feel your magic?"

"But you also sensed that you could not only escape, but also protect others in the process, right?"

Celia glanced at the trembling Zanze, her expression one of utter disdain, and left with the words, "Even though you've become a first-level mage, this is all you're capable of in the end." Then she swaggered away.

It was precisely this disdainful attitude that unsurprisingly caused Zanze to hang his head in frustration, feeling severely defeated.

This was like Ash being forced to clean up Celia's mess in utter helplessness. He pushed aside the collapsing wall behind him, wiped the blood from his face amidst the deafening crash, and squatted down beside Zanze:

"Don't worry about it too much. Although Celie has a sharp tongue, she actually approves of you... otherwise she wouldn't have made you a first-class mage."

"Really?"

Even though he said that, Zanze's face still showed an undisguised wavering, but when he looked at Ash, his eyes unconsciously revealed longing and yearning.

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Completely Opposite Goals

Just by noticing the unspoken longing in Zanze's eyes as he sat on the ground, Ash was basically certain that Celie's plan, though old-fashioned, was indeed very successful.

Even though he was being respected, he couldn't feel happy for some reason... He still felt like he had been tricked by Celie.

However, looking at the girl in front of him, who seemed to be on the verge of becoming withdrawn after being so disheartened by Celia, he still sighed softly, gently stroked her overly long hair, and solemnly told her:

“I have no reason to lie to you, right? And then... you were obviously scared and almost got hurt. I think you should rush up to her and demand compensation.”

"Is...is that so?" Zanze stared blankly, yet hesitated greatly, even unable to resist asking, "...If that's the case, why don't you ask for compensation, Lord Ash?"

"...Because even if I asked, she definitely wouldn't give it to me."

"Huh? Then why do I have to go..."

"I'm different. You'd probably... give it to me?"

"Should...?" Zanze looked at him blankly, his mind unable to process what he was seeing for a long time.

But Ash didn't answer. He patted her head, stood up, and walked out of the ruins.

This made her instinctively reach out her hand, trying to stop him: "Wait, wait a minute! Lord Ash, are you leaving already? But your injury..."

“I suddenly remembered that I haven’t fed the pets at home yet. You can tidy up the site yourself... just make sure it’s close enough, anyway, a professional construction team will be here soon.”

Ash, realizing he'd rushed out and forgotten to give Philon money for dinner, left with only an ambiguous farewell, and was already starting to worry about how to rebuild the destroyed part of the branch.

In addition, how to avoid the need for secondary expansion as much as possible is also a key project he is considering.

The girl, whose age was unknown and who had no personality traits, remained slumped in place, staring blankly at his back.

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

Inside temporary housing within the city.

When Ash returned, he immediately saw the little girl busily cleaning the room with a wet rag.

She had washed all the bedding that had been sitting there for a while, and it was now drying in the courtyard.

The weather in the north is different from that in the south. The girl's tender little hands had already turned bright red, but she silently and diligently did things beyond her responsibilities.

"It's like being adopted, afraid of not doing well, forcing yourself to work hard, perform actively, and try to prove your worth..." Ash couldn't help but sigh as he watched Philon's hard-working figure.

And the reality is clearly not much different.