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

"What do you mean by 'cultivating both skills'! Village Chief, you seem obviously very strong, but you only managed to do it in one move... no, did that even count as one move?"

Recalling the previous duel, Philon is now starting to doubt whether it even counts as a duel. It was more like an adult bullying a child.

"Actually, he has already retired, and his strength is not what it used to be."

Even so, he should be pretty strong!

"Well... it's alright?"

"Then why did you win in one move!?"

"Wait a minute, Philon, why do you seem so angry right now? Shouldn't we be celebrating and feeling proud of this?"

"Because I always thought you were weak!" Philon exclaimed, looking utterly incredulous.

"I've worked so hard to learn magic all these years, mostly to protect you and prevent you from being bullied anymore! But now you're telling me you're so powerful?"

"...Ah~ Is this like a wealthy person deliberately hiding from their daughter that they actually have a huge fortune?" He nodded thoughtfully, but said helplessly, "But, Philonise, I don't think I've ever said that I'm weak?"

"But didn't you get beaten up and have your head bleeding before?!"

“There’s a reason for that, and actually I only have a tiny bit of that feeling…” He held up his hand and gestured with his index finger and thumb to indicate a tiny bit.

Then, to comfort the girl who seemed to have lost all hope and was almost devastated, Ash smiled and stroked her hair: "And let me be honest with you, I only know a little bit of magic. I mainly practice martial arts, so I'll still have to rely on you, Philon, to protect me from now on~"

Although that's what he said, it was the first time Philon had discovered that the man who raised her seemed to have far more secrets than she had imagined.

Chapter Six: Philonise: Don't I always wash your underwear? · Men should like eighteen-year-olds.

Despite having known each other for a long time, or even to exaggerate a bit, having been by each other's side since I can remember, this person is hiding quite a few secrets from me.

This made it difficult for Philon to control the strange, aggrieved feeling of being kept in the dark. She tilted her head back and stared at him intently for a long time before closing her eyes, letting out a long sigh, and slowly saying:

"....Master Ash."

"Ok?"

"What else are you hiding from me? Can you tell me everything?"

"Well... normally, it's better for men to have some secrets, right?"

He has so many secrets about himself that he can't even count them all, and many of them are things he can't tell others.

Just like those who teach him magic or martial arts... there are only a few things they can say, and far more things they can't say than they can.

For example, there's the corrupt sage Guval, the bloodstained war god Livale, the all-knowing Shurahat, and now there's also Solitaire.

But when Philon puffed out his cheeks in dissatisfaction and glared at him angrily, Ash could only slightly adjust his words and carefully craft his response:

"Actually... it's not that exaggerated. It's just a little secret at most. You can't strip me naked and study me thoroughly, can you?"

"...I washed all of Ash's underwear, and I even bought them!"

"Uh, how should I put this..."

Faced with a child who was originally being cared for by him but is now being cared for in his daily life, and the fact that the underwear incident was brought up, he really didn't know how to react.

After rubbing his face in annoyance for a long time, he finally looked at the sulking girl and tentatively asked, "Right now... let's put this aside for now, okay?"

"why?"

"Look behind you..."

"Behind me??"

He had originally decided that if he wanted to change the subject, he would have to bring Frilian along and have a good talk with him about his half-believing, half-doubting turnaround.

She was shocked when she looked back and realized that most of the villagers were watching them with curiosity.

There was no way around it; in this village that highly revered martial prowess, the villagers couldn't help but be curious about who this boy was who could defeat the village chief with his bare hands without even soiling the chief's cloak.

However, before they could see anything important, they first heard the girl talking about washing his underwear, while the boy was patting her head to comfort her.

The conversation, their actions, and their stances gave the impression that they were more like a couple having a tiff than lovers. Although Ash had previously said he was over ninety, they found it hard to accept such an outlandish statement.

But the moment Philon turned around, they realized that their behavior of watching was not good, so they all turned around in unison and pretended to have just passed by.

Realizing that she had seemingly made an inappropriate remark in front of everyone without even noticing, Philon froze on the spot as if struck by lightning, her cheeks flushing red at a visible speed.

After the crowd dispersed, Frillie, who was too small to be seen, was revealed.

But compared to the villagers who could at least read the atmosphere, Frillie was full of question marks.

"What's wrong? Is it something to be ashamed of?" She looked around, observed Philon covering her face for a while, and finally couldn't help but look at Ash, puzzled, "What is Philon shy about? It's a very ordinary thing."

“In the past, Haita and my clothes were handled by women hired from the suburbs, but now it’s all done by Philon… If we were really father and daughter, it might not be strange, but consider my appearance and Philon’s actual relationship.”

"Hmm?? It's normal, what's wrong?" Frilian stared at his face, tilting her head unconsciously, but she couldn't figure out what was wrong no matter how hard she tried.

"...Just pretend I didn't say anything."

Forced to realize just how oblivious Frilian was in this regard, he simply ignored the slow-witted elf and pulled Philon away from the corner behind the building.

Only Frillie remained, still confused and troubled, and finally—she simply put the question she couldn't understand out of her mind and quickly caught up with the two people ahead.

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

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

Village Chief Eustace initially harbored resentment towards Ash, but after suffering a complete defeat, despite being deeply hurt, he unexpectedly swallowed the bitterness of the crushing loss quickly.

Although Ash lacked the pride and composure of a warrior, and didn't even consider himself a warrior, he treated their insistence on keeping their white cloaks spotless as if he were watching a spectacle... While he didn't show any contempt, he certainly didn't show any respect either.

But Eustace felt he could tolerate all of this when it came to a strong opponent... After all, the opponent was far superior to him, and even in his prime, he didn't think he could win.

Moreover, when they were actually opponents, Ash felt that even the strongest warrior he knew, the dwarf warrior Azer who had passed through the village and stayed overnight, was more difficult to defeat.

Therefore... he naturally had some other ideas.

After setting out the finest wine and food, he changed his previous attitude and his usual sternness towards the villagers, trying his best to be hospitable, pouring him wine while subtly probing:

"Lord Ash, you mean... you're actually over ninety, aren't you?"

"Perhaps it is?"

Do you have any disciples?

"No."

"Then why not settle down and retire in our village? With a warrior like you joining us, if you can teach these good-for-nothing kids a move or two, it would be a huge contribution to our village, the kingdom, and even humanity. Moreover, this way, the legacy of the Southern Warriors will not be cut off."

Eustace's eyes burned with passion as he toasted him while earnestly holding his hand, as if he wouldn't let go until he agreed.

As expected, whether human or demon, people's attitude towards strangers is basically based on the other person's strength. The only difference is that the 21st century values ​​money, while this village values ​​force? — That doesn't seem strange, but he didn't know how to evaluate what the other person said.

Because even if everyone in the village dies of old age, I won't die.

Even if the village's traditions were broken and the country it belonged to disappeared, he would still be able to survive... At least he doesn't think that the village and the country will still exist a thousand years from now.

Therefore, his expression was naturally quite subtle when faced with the village chief's enthusiastic invitation.

Meanwhile, Frillie, who was freeloading on the sidelines, suddenly chimed in: "Ash doesn't have that kind of sense of righteousness. Instead of trying to seduce him this way, you might as well just find him a decent pretty girl."

"A beautiful girl? Huh... a beautiful girl?" Eustace initially agreed when he heard this, but he quickly started thinking about other things, and his mind couldn't quite process it.

After all, if the person is actually over ninety years old and a warrior with superb martial arts skills... from a conventional point of view, wouldn't it be somewhat insulting to use a beautiful girl to seduce someone?

But this elf seems to be his companion, or rather, his frenemy? — Eustace couldn't help but think to himself.

But Frillian could tell he didn't believe her, so she silently put down the chicken leg in her hand, wiped her mouth and said, "This is what he said himself. More than seventy years ago, when shooting stars appeared, the wishing girl didn't ask for anything, she just wanted a normal girl, hoping that a girl could accompany her to watch the shooting stars."

“Ah, ah... I see, more than seventy years ago.” Eustace understood in an instant.

But Philon, who was thinking about other things, was shocked when she heard this. Her purple eyes widened and she stared intently at Ash, who was still drinking beside her.

"...What's wrong? Is there anything strange about this?" Ash awkwardly turned his face away, not wanting to discuss this issue further at this time and in this setting.

But then Frillie remembered how he had been criticized for being too old and liking young girls, and couldn't help but say:

"That's true, there's nothing strange about it, right? Even if someone in their nineties likes someone who's eighteen, isn't that normal? After all, men will always like eighteen... Well, that's what Ash said."

"Master Ash...!"

"Don't look at me like that... It's a fact, isn't it?" Feeling a little intimidated by Philon's gaze, Ash silently looked at the village chief Eustace, hoping to get his support.

Although Eustace had some reservations about his disrespectful behavior, he was forced to speak up for him because he needed his help.

“Yes, indeed, that’s normal for men, even I… uh… I also…” Eustace started to say, but then noticed the shocked expressions on his two sons’ faces. Always a strict father, he couldn’t continue, his face turning red as he couldn’t utter a sound.

Even if he needed someone's help, he couldn't bring himself to say something that would make his son look down on him.

Seeing her troubled expression, Frillie couldn't help but laugh as she took another bite of her chicken leg, casually saying, "...Look at others and then look at you, I suddenly understand why Haita called you shameless on his deathbed."

"That's mainly because I hold Philon in my arms when I provoke him, right?"

"As expected of you... you always manage to easily push the limits of my imagination." Even Frilian was dumbfounded at this moment.

"Lord Ash... is terrible." Philon stared at him with the same disdain, but it seemed that her anger was directed at something else entirely, something that had once been used as a shield when joking with Haita.

However, Ash could only ignore his companions' reproaches and look at the village chief, who looked hesitant, before solemnly patting him on the shoulder:

"Don't care about other people's opinions or gossip. You must know you are a man! Eustace! A man should not be bound by the world's views, nor by age! And as a warrior, you should not care about formalities!"

"...Soldiers shouldn't care about formalities?"

"Just like your concern about the white cloak, if you are too obsessed with not getting the cloak dirty, doesn't that mean you can only fight against opponents who are far inferior to you? That's like bullying children. You'll either bully children or be bullied like children. All these kinds of formalities are unnecessary!"

.......

Ash began to coax the village chief, connecting their concern for the cleanliness of the white cloaks with the idea that men always prefer eighteen and that their own age is completely unimportant.

Eustace's two sons, the younger one, Shutark, looked like he'd swallowed a fly: "Big brother, what this person is saying to Father seems to make sense, but it also seems like he's talking nonsense and something strange... Shouldn't we stop him?"

"Ha, ha... You can't stop him, can you? Father only believes in strength. If you can defeat this person, you can give it a try."

Eustace's eldest son, in his spotless white cloak, made his father, Hugh Tortz, who was so proud of him, smile wryly. Although he was patting his younger brother's head, his gaze never left Ash... as if he had already made him the target of his pursuit.

Although he was in his twenties and had almost reached his peak as a warrior, he was about to start declining within two years.

Because he at least agrees with the statement that "men should not be bound by age".

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

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

After the banquet, Eustace, with a sudden realization, led the three to the house used by the guests.