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

"what happened?"

Philon looked up, puzzled, while he fiddled with the tomato, muttering to himself, "...How strange. I shouldn't have taught you these weird and complicated etiquettes, should I?"

“This is very common sense.” Philon unconsciously emphasized her words, and couldn’t help but add at the end, “Even a seven-year-old like me understands this.”

"No, normally they shouldn't understand, right?"

He felt helpless with this precocious child and reached out to rub her head.

But it wouldn't be appropriate to say anything to her, so I simply handed her the leftover tomato.

"What... what is this?"

Philon instinctively took the gift, wanting to ask what it was for, but before she could get an answer, Ash had already walked back to the hut and was casually banging on the door.

"Haita~ Haita! I've come to play with you, hurry up and open the door!"

"...Here it comes."

Footsteps soon came from inside the door, accompanied by an old voice.

The old man, leaning on a cane and walking slowly, quickly pushed open the door. When he saw Ash, his eyes widened, and a nostalgic smile unconsciously appeared on his face.

"I thought I misheard... I really didn't expect you to come looking for me."

"Hmm~ There are some things."

"Haha, didn't you just say you came to have fun?" Haita laughed and shook his head, not really caring about the purpose of their visit, and stepped aside: "Anyway... come on in?"

"Then I won't be polite!"

When have you ever been polite to me?

“That’s true.” Ash smiled as well, but he didn’t go in. Instead, he turned back to look at the little girl who was still standing by the vegetable garden, staring at the tomatoes with a troubled expression.

"Philan, stop eating tomatoes and come in quickly."

"Yes! Coming right away." Philon paused for a moment, then ran over and stopped in front of Haita, bowing his head very politely: "Nice to meet you, Lord Haita. I have heard Lord Ash talk about you before."

"Oh my, what an adorable child! He doesn't look like you at all." Haita chuckled as he squatted down, looking at Philon with a kind smile.

But when she noticed the half-eaten tomato in her hand, she couldn't help but turn to Ash and shake her head, saying, "...You must have learned this rudeness from you, right?"

"Ah, this...this..." Philon looked at the tomato, then at Ash, appearing extremely embarrassed, but then obediently lowered his head to Haita, apologizing guiltily:

"I'm sorry!...I ate the tomato without permission."

"Oh? Ah... It's nothing, it's just a joke. Pick whatever you want to eat, don't be shy."

Haita smiled and waved his hand in surprise, then looked at Ash teasingly and said, "Let me correct you, this child is completely different from you. He's a polite and well-behaved child."

"Uh...actually, I wanted to say..."

"what?"

"Those tomatoes... I actually picked them, but I didn't like them, so I gave them to Philon." Feeling it wasn't right to let his child take the blame for him, he hesitated for a moment before finally telling the truth.

Haita's expression froze, and after a long while, he couldn't help but break the silence, forcefully criticizing the previously kind old man's attitude:

"—Have some decency! How can you make a child take the blame for you?!"

"No...you're the one who misunderstood?"

"—It was the child who said it!" Haita retorted excitedly. Ash then came to his senses and said thoughtfully, "It seems so?"

"This is definitely your problem!"

"No, no, no, this is a huge injustice! I never made that request of her, much less did I cultivate that kind of behavior in her." Ash spread his hands innocently, but even he couldn't believe him at all: "How could a normal child do that, voluntarily taking responsibility for someone else?"

"Perhaps it was influenced by my excellent character that made him a good child."

"—How could that be! It must be... cough!... cough cough!!"

"Oh dear, why are you so agitated? Calm down first."

"You... cough... you think... cough cough! Whose fault is this...!"

He was so engrossed in criticizing him that he almost couldn't catch his breath. The prematurely deceased Haita kept patting his chest to catch his breath, and his eyes were full of frustration as he looked at him.

Ash acted innocent, but still patted him on the back as if afraid he might accidentally die.

This scene left Philon somewhat confused – was their relationship good or bad?

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

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

Upon entering the room and sitting at the very simple wooden dining table, Haita still seemed unable to fully recover.

He rested his hand on his forehead for a long while before shaking his head and sighing repeatedly.

"I've been a bishop for so many years, playing the role of a composed person for so many years, and you've ruined it all..."

"Actually, he's just pretending to be innocent, isn't he?"

"...Look at you, what are you saying to an old man? It's natural to become like this as you get older, who's like you?"

"Is that right?"

"Although I want to say that, in fact I..." Haita stopped midway through her sentence, glancing at Philon sitting next to Ash, as if he had something to worry about.

"what happened?"

"No, it's nothing." Haita smiled and shook his head, then looked at Philon again, asking curiously:

"Speaking of which, Philon... right? What a lovely little girl, it's such a waste for her to be with Ash~"

"N-no, that's not true!" Philon's face immediately hardened as she retorted with all her might, "Besides... please don't speak ill of Lord Ash!"

“Yes! Philon, that’s the momentum! Let’s have a good talk with this drunken monk!” Ash nodded repeatedly as he listened from the side, and then he started to instigate him.

This made Philon turn around immediately, looking troubled, and say, "Lord Ash, and Lord Haita is a bishop, right? This... I feel very uncomfortable."

"Haha, what an interesting child!" Haita laughed heartily, like an old man teasing a favorite junior. He then practically lay on the table, observing the child, and asked:

"Philan, what's your relationship with this guy? Are you his daughter? But judging from how you address her... it doesn't seem like it?"

"Huh? Me... me and Lord Ash?"

The sudden question plunged Philon into distress, because she had been pondering this question for a long time but had not been able to come up with an answer.

But now Ash reached out and placed his hand on her head, seemingly lost in thought, and said:

"Actually, it wouldn't be a problem to treat her as a great-granddaughter or something."

"Great-granddaughter? When did you get married?" Haita was somewhat taken aback.

"No, actually I want Philon to be your granddaughter."

"Be my grandson... um? Wait a minute? What—what do you mean?!"

His solemn words caught Haita off guard, and when he came to his senses, he simply grabbed the cane next to him.

But Ash casually pulled Philon onto his lap, instantly immobilizing him and preventing him from striking. Philon was both amused and exasperated, saying:

"How can you act like an elder? Using your own child as a shield?"

"What shield? You're such a grown man, how can your thoughts be so dangerous? I was just trying to show you my compassion."

He spoke in a serious tone, while casually patting Philon's head and saying with a smile, "Right, Philon!"

"Yes...that's how it is."

To be honest, being used as a convenient shield by these two adults during arguments was a bit of a headache for Philon, and he didn't even know what to say.

She didn't protest, but nodded with a distressed expression and sat obediently on his lap.

This look made Haita reveal a thoughtful expression: "Ash, let's talk alone, old friends?"

"what happened?"

"...This is a rather serious topic." Haita lowered his head and gently adjusted his frameless glasses.

"That's quite rare." He didn't seem to care much, and casually nodded before looking at the girl on his lap: "Philan, why don't you go outside and play for a bit?"

“Okay.” Upon hearing this, the exceptionally sensible Philon immediately nodded and climbed down with his help. He even jogged to the outside and considerately closed the door behind him.

Chapter 71: Using Philon to Order Haita to Escape Responsibility? (4K)

After the door closed again and the interior returned to silence...

Haita didn't speak immediately. Instead, he turned and added a piece of firewood to the fireplace beside him. Then, he turned to Ash, who was observing the interior of the room, and pondered:

"Although I think it's unlikely, this child...you haven't abused him, have you?"

"Uh... what are you suddenly talking about?" Ash was completely dumbfounded by the abrupt suspicion.

"No matter what, even if it were you, I would still be angry if you did this to a child like that, and I would kick you out immediately."

"...So, what kind of person do you take me for?"

"Just kidding, I don't think you're that kind of person." Haita chuckled and shook his head, then looked puzzled.

"To be honest, I don't think you're the kind of person who would just pick up a child randomly, and... that child must have had a terrible experience before, right?"

"You can even tell that?"

"After all, I'm getting older, so I have some experience in judging people, and I work in a church, so I often encounter kids like this."

"is it?"

Ash nodded silently, but he was unsure whether he should bring up Philon's matter directly.

But upon closer reflection, there doesn't seem to be anything particularly that needs to be hidden, and the extra groundwork doesn't seem to be very necessary.

So, after considering his words carefully, he asked directly, "Are you aware of the war that happened in the south before?"

"Of course, I heard that the fighting is very fierce over there, and many refugees have fled here, and some have even gone north."

"Actually, this child is from the South, and is a descendant of my old friend. Her family all died in the war..."

Philen's family used to be quite well-off. Although they weren't nobles, they were well-fed and clothed, and their children were well-educated. They even hired a magician as a tutor.

However, it seems that her family had only mentioned that her elderly great-great-grandfather knew a mysterious magician. As for Ash's appearance, it was only when he handed her the family heirloom box before he died that she saw this person who appeared on the heirloom for some unknown reason. They knew nothing else.

As for whether her parents and family were attacked by soldiers or bandits... Ash didn't say anything, since he couldn't ask them about such things, so he didn't know what Philon's family had to say.