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

Therefore, despite the harsh environment, they both felt quite good. However, the presence of a certain figure of Philon behind them was too obvious, making him somewhat uneasy. Also...

"Speaking of which, I seem to have forgotten something?" Ash unconsciously realized that the surroundings were too quiet and the atmosphere too harmonious, and instinctively looked around.

"What's missing...?!"

"—Did we lose Frillie!?"

Just as Philen seemed to snap out of her daze, Ash also instantly realized that he had inadvertently forgotten someone.

Frillie, who should have been calling for a replacement long ago, fell completely silent as if she had encountered a disaster. But when he looked back, he couldn't find any familiar figure.

Philon looked around anxiously, trying to find any clues in the vast white expanse, but finding nothing, he was on the verge of tears.

"—What do we do! Lord Ash! Lady Frillien must be collapsed somewhere!"

"Calm down, Philon. Although that guy is very sensitive to the cold, he shouldn't die so quickly!"

"Please don't say such things at a time like this!—Lady Frillien! Where are you? Answer me immediately if you heard me!"

Philon called out anxiously, but the howling wind and snow seemed to swallow up all sound; their calls were like stones sinking into the sea, receiving no response.

The intense blizzard reduced visibility to a minimum, making it almost impossible to see anything more than a few meters away.

This made Ash unconsciously consider whether he should use some extreme methods to search for those who might be in trouble... He stopped and turned around, but suddenly something hit his stomach.

When he looked down in surprise, he noticed that Frillie, who was already short and could not be seen without looking down, was bent over and bumped her head on his stomach, her trembling fingertips tugging at his clothes intermittently.

"...So that's how it is. It was here all along. The wind was so strong that I thought it was snowing that was hitting my clothes."

"W-why..." Frillie trembled as she raised her head, her expression so stiff it was almost unrecognizable, her teeth chattering as she uttered incoherent words: "Why...you..."

Why don't we abandon you?

"...Huh??" He had only meant to ask, "How could you forget me?" Frillie was stunned by his righteous words, blinking blankly for a long time without uttering a sound.

With great difficulty, Ash managed to suppress his seriousness and try to correct her, but then he slapped her on the head again, saying sternly:

"What are you talking about! How could we possibly leave you alone!"

"...No, no...!"

"Alright, alright, don't worry! We won't abandon you! You don't need to worry!"

"No...wait, wait?!"

Before Frilian could finish speaking, she scooped him up in her arms and gave him a bright, sunny smile.

"It's alright! Let's leave here together!"

"....call....."

The strange encounter, coupled with the half-culprit's cheerful smile, made Frillie feel she should be angry, but she still took a deep breath, tried to calm herself down, and slowly said:

"What I wanted to say was... there's a small house nearby... could we please stop... stop... stop... stop circling around here..."

"I don't want to keep going in circles either, but we're lost."

"...At least I know there are cabins nearby...so...please! Stop turning around!"

She had been wanting to tell him about this for a while, but Ash was carrying Philon and spinning around in front of her, still lost in their own world. She couldn't catch up with him, and the snow covered her words, making her almost freeze on the spot.

To be honest, she had a strong urge to use offensive magic to intercept them, disregarding the risk of triggering an avalanche.

"No, you knew there was a place nearby where you could take refuge, why didn't you say so sooner?"

"...Do you think I don't want to talk about it? You're walking so fast, I can't keep up at all...! And...you've all completely forgotten about me! You're ignoring me completely!"

Frillie looked quite resentful towards him at this moment, and was even about to give him a hard time.

"...Is it possible that because you are too short and walk too slowly, this tragedy occurred?"

"Is it possible... if you keep dragging this on, I might lose control and kill you...!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry... Please calm down and tell me which way to go..."

He still felt somewhat guilty for accidentally forgetting Frilian, so he told him to shut up and not say anything more, following the direction of Frilian's trembling fingertips.

Meanwhile, Philon, who had been feeling guilty for forgetting Frillie the whole time, buried his face behind Ash without saying a word, looking like a giant hand warmer.

Held in his arms, Frillie felt some warmth, but she shivered and curled up in his embrace, staring up at him with a gaze that seemed to hold a tangible resentment, asking in confusion:

"What are you and Philon... talking about...? Why have you forgotten me so completely??"

"I was thinking about some complicated things..."

"So what is it?!"

"...I'll have a proper talk with you when the opportunity arises, but I hope that opportunity never comes..."

"?? When did you... start saying such strange things...?"

This was such a deliberately mysterious explanation that Frillie was completely baffled and couldn't help but want to take out her wand and whack him on the head.

After all, they've already gotten themselves freezing, and now they're not even giving a reason?

Philon's growth has brought him some trouble. Ash really can't discuss it with anyone, otherwise he would worry about being seen as a pervert... especially with the other party involved now living behind him.

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

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

Despite being lost, Frilian's memory was surprisingly good, and she even pointed them in the right direction through the snowstorm.

At Ash's pace, it didn't take long for him to bring the two of them to the foot of the mountain, where they soon spotted a solitary little wooden cabin.

"...It seems like there are people inside?" From a distance, Ash could sense some movement inside.

Philon was still clinging to his back, clearly ashamed to be seen like this in public. Upon hearing this, she immediately jumped off his back.

Frillie had recovered quite a bit in his arms along the way, however... she really didn't want to experience that feeling of being dragged out of bed in the dead of winter again. She didn't intend to move at all, and even wanted to just fall asleep right away.

Just as Ash stepped forward, eager to go inside and warm up, he let Frillie grab the door and pull it open.

"—Hmph~! Hmph~! Hmph~! Hmph~!—Good!! Very good!! It's getting warm!! Hmph~! Hmph~! Hmph~! Hmph~! Hmph.... Hmm?"

The strange noises were coming from a middle-aged man who was shirtless and doing squats.

Judging from the voice talking to itself, it seems to be trying to warm up through exercise, but...

"...If the indoor temperature is very low, doing deep squats while shirtless may cause your body temperature to drop rapidly. It's only suitable to do shirtless when the indoor temperature is moderate or slightly high, right? But it's obviously very low now. Are you cold or just cold?"

He casually asked the middle-aged man who was looking at him, causing Frillie, who was still observing inside, to look up with a speechless expression: "Why are you still analyzing? Hurry up and go in."

"Sorry, sorry, I forgot you were still cold..." He casually apologized, and subconsciously took a step towards entering the room, but...

Before he could even step inside, Philon grabbed him by the back of his collar, dragged him back, and slammed the door shut, giving him a stern lecture:

"—Lord Ash and Lady Frillien! Let's go find somewhere else!"

　 "why?"

"Because there's a pervert inside!"

"...Sometimes, even when you're not talking to me, you still say really hurtful things. Is it really a lack of proper upbringing?"

Ash silently lowered his head, looking at the elf in his arms, only to be met with a cold stare: "Why are you looking at me? Isn't this your problem?"

"Never mind, let's do this first..." Before he could finish speaking, the door reopened.

A shirtless middle-aged man appeared in the snowstorm, scanning the three who hadn't gone far: "—I didn't expect to be mistaken for a pervert! By the way... are you an elf?"

"Hmm?" It was only at this moment that Frilian noticed the other's long ears, while Ash's face showed obvious curiosity: "I'm also quite surprised... that elves have an old man."

"Because I've lived quite a long time. Speaking of humans and elves... I always feel..."

The elf uncle sized him up, then looked at the Frilian in his hand, and unconsciously frowned: "...It's better to separate sooner rather than later. If things continue like this, neither of us will be happy."

"Separate?...You're surprisingly old-fashioned."

“I don’t want this to happen either.” The elf uncle came out of the room, looked at the two of them with a serious expression, and said, “But I don’t want to see my people suffer for the next thousand years.”

"But isn't it a bit impolite to say that so suddenly?"

"Because you're leaving, aren't you? If you don't speak up now, you'll never have another chance."

"That's true, but..."

"What? You still don't want to separate? Aren't you planning to think about the future?"

"...No, what I mean is, Frilian and I are not in that kind of relationship."

"...Why didn't you say so earlier??" The elf uncle's mind went blank for a moment, and he felt like a fool for taking this conversation so seriously. He couldn't help but shout, "Shouldn't you have just denied it from the beginning?! Why are you arguing with me like this?!"

"Because it's quite fun! Also, I was just about to say, aren't you cold being so shirtless in the snow? Your sweat must be freezing!"

"—Do you even need to ask? Of course I'm freezing to death!"

.........

Facing the composed Ash, the elf uncle's scream, which he instinctively shrank back in, echoed through the blizzard.

Frillie and Philon silently closed their eyes and sighed softly... but they never intended to join the conversation between the two.

If possible, they were even less inclined to have anything to do with these two people, whether it was the guy earnestly advising against something that didn't exist, or the guy seriously arguing about something that didn't exist.

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

Inside the cabin in the woods, whose identity as the builder is long lost to history.

Frillie squatted down beside the roaring fireplace, looking quite content.

Even the elven uncle from before, having put his clothes back on, stood trembling on the side, glancing at Philon who was unpacking his luggage, and thanked him somewhat haltingly:

"Little girl... thank you for helping me start a fire; I lost my fire while climbing the mountain. If I hadn't met magicians like you, I don't know how long I would have been stuck here... I might have frozen to death."

"You're welcome..." Philon, who harbored some prejudice against the uncle who had made the strange noise earlier, quietly moved away from him, using Ash to avoid his gaze.

Ash couldn't help but laugh and patted him on the shoulder:

"You, you look like you're really strong, why didn't you just start a fire by rubbing sticks together? Why did you get yourself into this mess?"

"Drill wood to make fire? What is that... By the way, who do you think caused this?" The elf uncle turned around with a frustrated look, but Ash just looked at the heavy snow outside the window as if nothing had happened: "It's the weather's fault, and you were shirtless, running outside in a blizzard."

"...There must be another very important question here, why don't you say it?"

"Really? Ah~ You mean you start lecturing others without even asking questions first?"

"I do have my own problems, but you should have told me clearly from the beginning..."