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

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Zain never expected, nor could he understand, how Ash could be so good at playing cards on his first try.

But... Fellen and Frilian only knew a little about the situation, and based on their understanding of Ash, they could probably figure out that he had probably cheated.

After all, Ash would normally lose at the beginning, but he certainly wouldn't accept defeat. With the ridiculously fast speed he used to kill the mountain lord, he could easily cheat openly when playing cards in the village, right?

It would be strange if he didn't dominate the field; even the gambling king didn't have that kind of hand speed.

As a warrior standing at the pinnacle of "humanity," playing cards with the villagers wouldn't result in anything other than bullying, as Philon mentioned.

Normally, a warrior that skilled wouldn't gamble, but...

"Lord Ash, really... what am I supposed to say to you?" Although the pat on the head had calmed down most of his anger, Philon was still quite troubled by the fact that Ash not only played cards but also readily admitted to cheating with his speed when he returned.

He should have been an extraordinary person, but not only did he play cards with the villagers, he also cheated...

But he just lay silently on the bed, pulled the blanket up and pretended to be asleep. Even when Philon said a few words to him, there was nothing they could do.

I could only remind him to brush his teeth before going to bed before I went back to my room to pack my luggage.

Frillie was still sitting on the chair by the bed, swinging her legs freely. After a long while, she looked up at him and lifted her leg, unceremoniously inserting her cold little feet into his blankets, even placing them directly on his stomach.

"Wake up, Philon is gone. I have something I want to tell you."

"Are you being polite? Just say what you want to say. Who sticks their feet into someone else's bed? And..."

"I took off my shoes, and I had just washed them before going to bed."

He opened his eyes and launched into a string of complaints, but before he could finish, Frilline, expressionless, retorted with a single sentence.

This silenced him for a moment before he couldn't help but let out a long sigh. Although he had no intention of getting up, he lay down on his side and stared at her seriously.

"While I want to commend you for taking off your shoes, you lack common sense and may not realize that your behavior is still extremely impolite."

"Really? But didn't you say before that friends shouldn't worry about small things? We've known each other for thousands of years, haven't we? And to be honest, the first time you woke me up, it was always by..."

"—Very well! Let's put this topic aside for now, you win!" Frillian's sudden mention of the past made him sit up quickly, interrupting, "Let's discuss what you really wanted to say!"

"What? Why are you suddenly so guilty..." After spending so much time together, even the usually oblivious Frilian could roughly figure out what he was thinking.

But with other things to do, she didn't say much. She simply put her feet in his blankets to warm them, looked into his eyes, and slowly said, "Whether Zain can become a partner or not is another matter, but I think he should become an adventurer."

"...Because you see your past self in him, right?" Ash, lying on his side on the bed, opened the covers and glanced at the girl's little feet, which were now covered by black stockings again as she hurried downstairs. He was too lazy to say anything more.

He simply sighed and lay back down, casually resting his chin on his hand, his tone slightly unintentional: "It's because you seem to see a reflection of your former self that you dislike him, which is why you had that 'hatred of one's own kind' that's hard to explain before, right?"

"Huh? How did you know?"

"...How many years do you think we've known each other?" He smiled calmly, yawned, then lay back down on the bed, closed his eyes, too lazy to look at the person in front of him who was all too familiar: "Maybe... I might even know you better than you know yourself."

"Really? Hmm, that's certainly possible... Although I'm a little annoyed that you saw through me." With no room for rebuttal, Frillie muttered with a hint of disdain.

But beneath that disdain, a smile quietly blossomed, prompting her to retort in a tone that seemed both provocative and inexplicably gentle: "Don't underestimate me. I might not be as slow-witted as you think."

"...How do you know?"

"You're hiding something from me, something very important."

"...Is that what you think?"

“That’s right, but I won’t ask. I’ll wait… because you’re my most important friend.” Frilian gazed at his reopened eyes and then gave a faint smile.

"This surprised me a bit."

"Be surprised, and then... until your life comes to a complete end, I will wait for the day you confess to me."

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On what seemed like an ordinary night, Ash and Frillie finally had a long-awaited open and honest conversation—albeit only the tip of the iceberg.

However, the next morning.

Perhaps feeling a little ashamed of her remarks last night, Frillie chose to act as usual, as if the profound conversation of the previous night was just a dream and had never happened.

She naturally pulled Philon and Ash together to join in the harvest festival celebrations, and spared no effort in lobbying Zain.

Although Zain was an even more extreme version of a drunken monk, not only drinking, eating meat, smoking, and gambling, he was surprisingly diligent in the village, doing all sorts of odd jobs such as preparing decorations and helping farmers harvest vegetables.

Meanwhile, the monks, who were busy preparing for the harvest festival, invited Ash and Philon to join in as well. Frilian then pulled them in to work as well, and kept persuading them along the way.

Even though Zain tried to persuade them to give up, it was to no avail. He couldn't even ignore the dreams and hopes that he had once longed for in their eyes.

Those eyes, so different from his current self, like those of an old friend, were so dazzling that he couldn't look directly at them.

However... there was one person who was different, and that was Ash.

Ash didn't have the same sense of dreams and hope that the two of them shared. In fact, during their time together, he unconsciously recalled the strange sense of unease he felt when Ash left the church, but it quickly disappeared, making him wonder if he was just imagining things.

Even now, he still can't figure out what caused Ash's awkwardness in the church.

Ash is particularly unique among the three. He is neither like Frilian and Philon, whose eyes sparkle with pure adventure and dreams, nor like a free-spirited adventurer.

Although he was indeed the most free-spirited in his actions, Ash always maintained a subtle tension, as if he were always on the verge of battle.

He seemed to do whatever he wanted, but unexpectedly he was still diligently practicing every day. This self-discipline made Zanyin feel ashamed of himself.

Just being with the three of them gave him a strange feeling—they were not on the same wavelength. The difference in their atmosphere was too great, and each of them gave off a different feeling.

However, to everyone's surprise, the two trusted Ash more than anyone else... which made him curious about their past.

But days passed, and he still hadn't received an answer.

Similarly, Zain's firm refusal left Frillie with no suitable solution.

Finally, in his distress, one evening, he couldn't help but look at Ash, who was practicing his magic day after day by the river near the church.

Frillie plopped down next to him and gave him a little push.

"You and Zain seem to get along surprisingly well, so you should have a general idea of ​​how to get him to join, right?"

"He likes older sisters."

"I already knew that, but he seems to be like you, not really accepting that I'm the older sister, even though I'm older than all of you... It's so strange."

Frillie crossed her arms and tilted her head, looking utterly bewildered by the two of them.

Is there really anything hard to understand about this? I don't understand why you can be so lacking in self-awareness! Ash glanced at her flat, unassuming chest and overly petite figure, but when Philon looked at her, he tried hard to suppress the urge to speak out.

But Frillie truly noticed nothing. After racking her brains for a solution, she simply stood up, revealing an inexplicably resolute expression, as if preparing to unleash her ultimate weapon, and sighed:

"There's no other way. Although I don't really want to do this, it's the only option I have now."

"...Based on my understanding of you, that's definitely not a good choice."

"Trust me! And... leave it to me, I'll show you my charm as an older sister~!" Frilian looked down at him, a confident smile on her face.

But he didn't flatter him at all, only covering his face, shaking his head and sighing softly: "I can already imagine the scene of you ruining your reputation in your later years."

"Lord Ash, what are you talking about?"

You'll find out soon enough....

"Hmm~" Philon was a little unhappy, but he just followed the two without saying a word.

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After staking out the river near the church for a while, Frillie spotted her target.

She quickly emerged from the bushes and suddenly called out to the monks who were walking into the church: "—Zan!"

"Huh?" Zain mistakenly thought she had some other trick up her sleeve, and turned around warily, then...

Frillie extended her right hand from her lips, pursed her lips and made a kissing motion, deliberately making a "chu~" sound at the end of the gesture.

The air suddenly became still at that moment.

After a while, Zain finally snapped out of his daze, looked at Ash blankly, and asked in confusion, "What is this guy doing?"

"...As you can see, it was probably a flying kiss." Ash covered his forehead with one hand, avoiding her gaze, while Frilline stood with her hands on her hips, oblivious to her own smug expression: "Hmph~"

"I can see that, but why the sudden flying kiss?" Zain looked like he'd swallowed a fly.

"...Simply put, it's about using this method to showcase your charm and get you to join us." Ash was so embarrassed that he couldn't help but dig a three-bedroom apartment out of the ground and run away from this incredibly awkward scene.

Zain, with an expression as if he had just swallowed a fly, waved his hand and said, "I'm begging you, please take this child away quickly."

"...I was thinking the same thing." He sighed softly, grabbed Frilian by the back of her collar, and turned to leave the scene to prevent her from continuing to embarrass herself.

However... as soon as he turned around, he saw that Philon was covering his mouth with a flushed face, seemingly greatly shocked by Frilian's behavior.

"...What are you doing?"

"Lady Frillian... is too mature! Too sexy~!"

"Ha, ha?"

Ash was also shocked.

The child he raised was so... How could he call him naive or what? Ash couldn't figure it out either, and all he felt was a headache coming on.

Could it be that he was the only normal one among all these people? — He couldn't help but ponder this question.

While being pulled backward by him, Frillie stroked her chin and muttered to herself, "How strange... It worked so well before, and Simmel even fainted, but Haita, Aize, and Ash didn't react at all..."

"...Don't you really consider the possibility that you might be being scammed?"

"Master said that those who are too young are useless, which means..."

"I'm not young, to be honest! You look like a little girl, so you have no right to call others young, right? It would be strange if anyone could fall for your tricks under normal circumstances!"

"Wait a minute...!" Frilian broke free from his hand, pouted her lips and made a kissing motion again, then kissed his left hand, giving him a super close flying kiss, and even adding a "chu~" sound at the end.

"........."

"So it really is a matter of distance? This unprecedented distance even hurts Ash?!"

Seeing his petrified silence, Frillie couldn't help but break into an overly bright smile; however, her smugness lasted less than three seconds before Ash punched her on the head, causing her to clutch her head in pain and squat on the ground, complaining, "...What are you doing!?"

"I'm sorry... I felt looked down upon, and I couldn't help myself for a moment."

"...You don't have the slightest bit of sincerity in your apology!"

"Because I really didn't have any sincerity, and I felt justified in doing so."