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

Although it is a mud-brick house like those in the village, and the style is quite old, it has a considerable thickness.

Its unique building materials and structural features ensure that it is warm in winter and cool in summer, which is a better choice than modern houses made of concrete and stone. In Ash's opinion, it is a very good choice.

The roof is supported by carefully constructed horizontal and diagonal beams, and is covered with a thick layer of thatch.

After talking to him in a corner, the village chief Eustace thanked him profusely after he agreed to something before temporarily leaving.

Even after Eustace left, Philen's expression showed no sign of improvement; she remained sullen and even turned her back with her cheeks puffed out.

"...Ah, you're the one who made me angry. You'll have to deal with it yourself. I'm not going to help you."

After changing into her pajamas, Frilian lay on the bed, swinging her legs and casually flipping through a book. She even nibbled on a cookie given to her by the village chief's wife, enjoying this rare moment of leisure and free food, clothing, and shelter.

This made Ash, who was still somewhat troubled about how to appease Philen, notice a mischievous smile unconsciously appear on his face, and he suddenly said without warning:

"Philan, look!—Frilian is eating on the bed!"

Chapter Seven: Are Friends Such Inconvenient Things? Life Becomes Painful Because of Imagination?

"Huh? Oh no...!?"

Despite being an old maid over a thousand years old, Frillie was quite agitated by Ash's betrayal, which resembled a child tattling on her. She jumped up from the bed with a start, intending to hide the biscuit behind her back.

Philen, who subconsciously turned her head to look, noticed these things first and immediately said unhappily, "--Lady Frillian!"

"As expected, they switched targets..." Even though she had been taking care of the child all along, Frillie had no temper with her. She lowered her head in embarrassment but then glared at Ash: "...You tricked me again!"

"It's all your fault for eating in bed." He unconsciously felt triumphant and gloated slightly.

But that was all it took for Philon to glare at him again: "Lord Ash is about the same!"

"...Did I do something wrong?" He looked completely innocent.

"A grown man like that, still liking young girls, teaching others strange things, even corrupting other villagers—what are you expecting the villagers to think of us?!"

"If this leads to bad behavior... shouldn't it be the people who are easily led astray?"

"Lord Ash—!"

He instinctively retorted, which made even the anger in Philon's eyes disappear.

Frillie, standing nearby, couldn't help but chuckle softly, "From now on, you'll have to wash your own underwear~"

"Ah... cough, speaking of which, there are no clouds in the sky tonight, tomorrow will definitely be a good day, right?"

Faced with the girl who cared for him like a mother, and whose gaze was somewhat frightening, he could only lean against the window, look up at the sky, and mutter to himself, trying to change the subject and ease the atmosphere. However...

"..."

Unsurprisingly, Philon remained unmoved, pouting and staring intently at him without uttering a word, making him want to flee the scene.

But experience told him that if he just ran away, Philon would probably only get angrier.

Therefore, he could only endure the tingling sensation on his scalp and the inexplicably oppressive gaze of Philon, all under Frilian's gloating stare, and then...

"—Excuse me, Ash... uh?"

The village chief's eldest son, the village's strongest warrior, Hugh Tortz, appeared at the door like a savior.

But when he took a clear look at the situation inside, his expression turned somewhat awkward. He hesitated for a moment before cautiously asking, "Did I come at the wrong time?"

"No, no, no!—You've come at the perfect time! In fact, it couldn't be better!"

Faced with the silent pressure exerted on him by the unspoken Philen, Ash quickly stood up and rushed over.

"Huh, is that so? I wasn't planning to start the comparison later..."

"It'll be too late if you come back later! Hurry up and get out of here! You need to talk to me, right?"

"Ah, it's something Father promised... Is it really okay?"

"Don't be so polite! We're like family!" As he spoke, Ash put his arm around his shoulder and patted it hard.

But Hugh Tortz looked confused and blurted out without thinking, "But...didn't we just start talking?"

"How could that be? In my eyes, you're already a friend!"

"That, that's really...an honor?" Although Hugh Tortz was a little at a loss, he still nodded blankly.

Just as the two were about to leave, Philen spoke slowly in a detached tone: "Please wait a moment, Lord Ash."

"What? I can't even go out with my friends?"

"...A friend?" Philon stared into his eyes as if trying to read his mind and asked, "So, what's your friend's name?"

"I'm not trying to be mean, Philon, but do friends really care about names? Like you, can you even remember all your friends' names?"

"I only have two friends, of course I know them, Connecticut and Labine... and it was only because Lord Ash insisted on moving and wanted to abandon me that we separated."

"Oh...I'm so sorry..."

The revisited old story left him utterly embarrassed and disoriented, and all he wanted was to leave as quickly as possible.

But Philon had already come up behind him, placed his hand on his shoulder, and asked again expressionlessly, "And then? What's this friend's name?"

"A friend is not such an inconvenient thing?"

"Are they still friends? We don't know the outcome yet."

"Just friends I haven't had a chance to get to know yet... Is that not allowed?"

"Of course not."

"Okay... actually his name is Mond."

"Just a random name I made up."

"I'm sorry... I was wrong."

Despite his desperate attempt to struggle, he gave up his futile resistance under Philon's stern gaze and silently bowed his head in apology.

That's all. He thought Philon would be very angry, but in reality...

"Sigh... Well, since Lord Ash has admitted it, I won't say any more. Be careful when you go out."

Philon sighed softly, his gaze softening unexpectedly as he admitted his mistake. He straightened his clothes, gave him another word of advice, and then smiled again: "Don't get your clothes dirty, okay?"

"Ah, okay, I understand perfectly..."

Ash nodded subconsciously, a mixture of relief and bewilderment in his eyes, before carefully following Hectors out of the room.

Hectors, however, kept turning back to look at Ash and Philon, seemingly unsure... was this his mother or his newlywed wife?

Frilian lay on the bed, rolling around and muttering to herself, "As expected, Philon really spoils Ash. He's only so strict with me... It's definitely differential treatment, isn't it?"

"Please, please don't say strange things!" Philon tried to keep a straight face and scolded, "Isn't it because Lady Frilian never learns her lesson!"

"...I've made changes!"

"So tomorrow morning, will you be able to get up and eat by yourself? Or will you only need to be called once to get up? Will you be able to comb your hair, wash your face, and tie your hair by yourself?"

"...There are no clouds tonight, tomorrow will definitely be a good day, right?"

"...Why imitate Lord Ash?"

Seeing Frilian stiffly turn her head to look at the sky outside the window, giving up on the debate, Philon couldn't help but sigh softly and also gave up on saying anything more to her.

After all... saying it for so many years has been useless.

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

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

The village road under the moonlight.

Hectors looked at Ash with the same hesitant expression he had when he first entered the room.

Ash noticed this and couldn't help but speak up, "Mond, if you have something to say, just say it."

"Excuse me, Lord Ash, I was just a little curious... no, I should say you have a nice wife."

“That’s not quite right. Philon is a descendant of my friend.”

"Huh? Is that so? Sorry, I thought..."

Still not quite used to it, the fact that he was actually over 90 years old made Hugh Tortz immediately bow his head and apologize when he came to his senses.

"Alright, alright, don't worry about these little things. Your dad asked me to mentor you, so let's get straight to it, Mondstadt."

"Actually... my name is Hectors."

"It's so long, it's hard to remember."

"Feel sorry....."

"It was just a joke... Hmm, are young people these days so clueless about jokes?"

Ash couldn't help but feel quite troubled by the rather rigid and inflexible boy.

But like him, Hugh Tortz was also at a loss with this powerful figure, so different from the serious people in the village.

However, he quickly regained his composure through deep breathing, drew his sword in the moonlight, stared intently at Ash, and calmed himself, thinking:

"...Let's begin, Ash-sama. It doesn't matter if you tarnish my purity."

“Uh, I know you’re referring to the cloak, but isn’t that a bit odd?”

"strangeness?"

"Strange, and why is it defilement?"

"Because this is proof of the village's strongest warrior, a symbol of the village's pride... But rather than being humbled by pure white, I hope you will allow it to be tainted, for this will become our driving force."

Hugh Tortz spoke his thoughts in a deep voice, which Ash could agree with, but also felt was a little strange.

Of course... compared to studying all this nonsense, he'd much rather go back to sleep, so he didn't say anything more and simply waved his hand, saying:

"Okay, let's just get straight to it."

"...Aren't you going to draw your weapon?"

"unnecessary."

"...Really?" Schultz looked somewhat disappointed.

This reminded Ash that the other party had just "saved" him, so he added, "I can tell you've never killed anyone, and... you've never even left the village, have you?"