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

"That immortal magic."

"—How could such magic possibly exist?" He had barely uttered the question when Celia rolled her eyes and retorted, "If it were possible, would humans still be dying?"

"...Oh, right." He closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then remembered the biggest problem he had encountered on the battlefield—his body was too weak as a mage!

So he asked, "Is there any magic that can make my body as strong as a warrior's?"

"The magic you desire truly existed in the mythological era."

"really?"

"It really is. It allows magicians to freely convert magical power, unleashing the combat power of warriors of the same level. It's quite a useful spell, and its surprise attack effect is excellent in crucial moments, but..."

"only?"

"I can't." After a long pause, she finally spread her hands out in a very nonchalant manner, almost making Ash want to hit her: "Wait a minute? Aren't you supposed to be able to do everything?"

“I have mastered almost all human magic, but that’s almost all. Moreover, this magic itself wasn’t invented by humans; it was invented by a great demon. I’ve been researching it for thousands of years but still haven’t succeeded. But I can give you all my achievements through ‘transfer magic’.”

Transferring magic means giving away a spell entirely to someone else... even if the spell is incomplete, Celia can still transfer it.

Although Ash initially wanted to complain again, since it was magic from the Great Demon Clan, he couldn't say anything more.

After all, the unique magic possessed by any great demon race is fundamentally something that humans cannot learn, because—the magic of other races and demons is actually not the same thing at all.

Humans, including elves, are merely trying to simulate the spellcasting effects of the demons, but the spellcasting process is completely different for both sides, and many aspects have been altered and cannot be reproduced.

In layman's terms, even if the principles of spellcasting could be studied, there are no magical organs like those of the demon race, let alone those of the great demon race. Their uniqueness makes it completely impossible for humans to reproduce them.

(PS: This point is specifically mentioned in the original work, which also emphasizes that murder magic is an exception. Murder magic is too efficient and too simple, which is why it is excellent, but it also makes it extremely easy to use, even humans can use it.)

Chapter Fourteen: Master and Disciple Sharing Hardships

At first, Ash thought that becoming an apprentice might involve some strange tests, but the result was... surprisingly simple.

He unexpectedly and easily became an apprentice, unexpectedly and easily obtained the magic of the great demon race from the mythical era, and even stayed here, browsing through Celie's other books.

The reason for this... isn't anything particularly special.

Celia has the ability to end the war, but she is unwilling to do so, and she will generally not take action against the demons unless absolutely necessary.

According to Ash's research before his arrival, the elven race's consciousness is actually quite weak. They prefer maintaining a state of war rather than world peace, and they will only choose to stop a major disaster if it occurs, depending on the situation... or they may not stop it at all.

Ash only dared to come to this place because he was quite confident. She simply found Ash interesting and took him on as a disciple, and...

"Ash, now that you've become my apprentice and I've taken on a new disciple, hurry up and prepare a big meal to celebrate!" Celia, who had actually been longing to be freed from the kitchen, waved her hand and unhesitatingly ordered her new apprentice around. However...

Ash, who was still looking at her treasured collection of books, looked up and stared at her blankly, showing no sign of taking any action.

This immediately annoyed her, and she said, "Didn't you hear what I said?"

"No, I was just wondering, are you serious, Celia?"

"What do you mean? I teach you magic, but you won't even cook for me?"

"It's not that I'm unwilling, it's that I don't know how. Of course, if you want to try the specialties of the demon race, I wouldn't mind showing off my skills."

"Special characteristics of the Demon race?"

“We actually eat raw food, but can your stomachs really handle it? If you can, I don’t mind giving you some.”

Ash spoke in a serious tone, even though he himself didn't know the truth. He then silently stood up and prepared to prepare some pork sashimi for her.

This made Celia only think about it; the taste of raw meat made her face scrunch up: "Never mind... I'll just handle it myself!"

"By the way, I'm actually a little different; I like to eat cooked meat."

"Who asked you? Get lost! Go eat your demon specialties outside!"

"No, I can also eat barbecue."

"...You're not just too lazy to do it, are you? You're just lying to me on purpose!"

"Believe me, I'm doing this for your health."

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

Celia really wanted to get Ash to do chores, but unfortunately... even when she tried to get him to cook, his cooking was absolutely terrible.

I tried to teach, but three years passed in the blink of an eye...

"...Seria, add some spice! Trust me, this meat tastes better with chili!"

"No, I don't eat spicy food." Celia snapped without turning around as she tossed the food in the wok. "And what's wrong with you?! I'm the one teaching you, so why are you the one giving me instructions?"

"Don't say that. Why should we care so much about things between master and disciple?" He readily ignored Celie's dissatisfaction and said to himself, "Put less salt in. Your taste is too strong."

"...A mere demon is quite picky."

"I'm worried that you're getting older and eating too much strong flavor can easily lead to high blood pressure."

"...I've lived like this for thousands of years and I'm fine! On the contrary, you've only been here for three years, and my blood pressure has already risen quite a bit!"

Why did teaching become my own culinary skills, improving through teaching, and then... I ended up taking charge of the catering business?

Although she was usually quite bored, and Ash had a lot of good ideas, a strange sense of emptiness still made her quite unhappy, and she turned her head to glare at Ash fiercely.

Having become quite familiar with the habits of this loli elf teacher, Ash naturally raised his hands, smiled, and silently retreated away from the spot, trying his best not to let the teacher, who was in a fit of rage, knock him away.

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

There's always a limit to how easy it is to live off others. Although elves are generally very patient and their time dimension is different from humans, in this third year, Celia finally couldn't take it anymore and decided to force him to cook.

And she changed her approach, taking the initiative to guide him from the sidelines, even secretly vowing to teach him to become an excellent cook so that she would no longer have to cook.

"...Yes! Flip it like that, and add plenty of seasoning! Hey! Don't think I didn't see you! No chili peppers allowed! If you dare to put chili peppers in when I'm not looking, I'll shove them all into your mouth!"

"You're really rude! But do you think it's acceptable to roast a whole lamb without adding any spice?"

"I am the master, and if I say no, then no! No talking back is allowed."

Seeing her disciple squatting in front of her turning the grill, Celia lifted her leg and lightly kicked his butt, and also slapped away the chili powder he had just picked up.

"Tsk, these old folks these days really don't understand anything..." Ash muttered under his breath, then casually broke off a leg of lamb, wanting to taste it without chili first.

But as soon as she managed to pull it off, her hands were burned and she couldn't stand it. While constantly switching between her hands to avoid getting burned, she instinctively turned around and threw it over: "—Quick! Quick! Celie!! It's hot!! Take it!"

"Huh? Uh—it's so hot!! So hot!!"

Cerriel, caught off guard, instinctively took it, only to be immediately burned and her face changed color. She quickly switched hands between them and reflexively pushed it back.

Based on the principle of not wasting anything, he subconsciously took it again, but quickly stuffed it back into his hands:

"No! Don't give it to me! It's too hot!"

"—It's hot!! Hot?! You little brat...you think I'm not afraid of getting burned?!"

After another cycle, Celia finally realized what was happening and, while switching between her left and right hands, quickly threw the frozen lamb leg onto the ground.

After successfully handling the scalding hot lamb leg, Ash couldn't help but wipe the cold sweat from his forehead: "Phew...that was close, my hand almost got blisters."

"...Yes, you're alright, but..." Celia's face was full of speechlessness, her two small, red hands hanging in mid-air, her eyes looking at him as if she wanted to strangle him on the spot, she gritted her teeth and said, "—My hands are about to get blisters!"

......

...

..

(PS: The last chapter won't be until around midnight.)

Chapter Fifteen: Celia Refuses to Be Mooched Off Her Parents

Celia's whispered curse made Ash glance at his reddened hands, then silently look away, pretending nothing had happened, and change the subject:

"...Ah, speaking of which, can roasted lamb leg still taste good after it's frozen?"

"I haven't tried it myself, so I don't know, but I know you're in for a world of hurt if you don't give me an explanation today." Having lived for thousands of years, Celia smiled, showing no intention of ending the conversation so easily, forcing him to surrender: "Okay... actually, I feel like I'm burning my hands."

"Am I not afraid of getting burned?!"

"People say that old people have thick calluses on their hands and are not afraid of pain."

"Ah, what a coincidence... I've also heard that demons are thick-skinned and not afraid of being hit." Seria's face broke into the brightest smile she'd ever shown:

"How about we change today's lesson to a magic defense class, the kind where I attack and you run away?"

"I refuse!"

“State your reasons.”

"Because you'll definitely use this opportunity to settle personal scores!" He pointed at Celia as he backed away, trying to reason with her to stop her revenge. "And think about it! Celia, your obedient disciple worked so hard to cook for you. Shouldn't you be touched at this moment?"

"Well-behaved? Haha! Haha! You're really funny! Although I don't know how you have the nerve to say those two words, I'm genuinely touched now. As a reward for guessing correctly, here you go..." Celia's hands, following the emergence of dark flames, grinned with a ferocious smile: "—Hellfire!"

Boom—!!

The makeshift barbecue stalls outside the ruins were instantly engulfed by fire.

Ash managed to escape in the chaos, but Celia, still harboring resentment, unleashed a barrage of attacks.

In the blink of an eye, the surrounding forests were completely destroyed.

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

Another half month has passed in the blink of an eye.

After finishing the meal that Celie had reluctantly prepared, Ash decided to go out to explore the neighboring elf village that Celie had told him about, in order to find out what powerful elves still existed in this era. He wanted to see the elves of this time.

"Seria, I'm going on a long trip, so you don't need to prepare my meals for a while."

"...Am I your mother? I've always wanted to get rid of you, you freeloader who never does any work! Rather..." Celia on the throne first showed displeasure, then a look of joy appeared on her face: "—Now that you're out, don't come back!"

"Don't say that! A teacher for a day is a mother for life. In my heart, you are—Waaah?!"

Before he could finish speaking, a powerful hurricane interrupted him, blowing him out of the hall.

Using magic to lower his weight, he rolled over, getting covered in dust but without sustaining any injuries.

He stood up easily, dusted himself off, and couldn't help but complain, "Wasn't I studying diligently? To be kicked out like this is a bit much, isn't it?"

However... Seria, deep inside the main hall, completely ignored him, leaving him feeling awkward. He then carried the large bag of ancient magic books he had taken from Seria and leisurely left the place temporarily.

On his way to find the elven village, Ash hadn't found any elves yet, but he did encounter someone who looked vaguely familiar.