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

"You bastard...!"

His honest statement infuriated Frillie so much that she wanted to jump up and give him a good whack on the head.

But Ash shook his head as if giving up, then left her and strode towards the uncle who was still having a headache... about how to get rid of them.

Chapter Fifteen: The Journey Begins Again - The Curse of Sleep - The Unexpected Awakener (9K)

Despite being suddenly hit on the head, Ash's actions made Frillie place high hopes on him.

...After all, she had been the one putting in the effort all this time, and even if she didn't want to admit it, she knew that Ash was at least a little better than her in terms of emotional intelligence.

She was full of hope, but Zain's feelings were quite the opposite.

The playful, almost comical kiss made him almost certain... that these guys were just messing around with him for no reason.

Seeing Ash approaching him for the first time, a rare occurrence for him, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, took a deep drag of his cigarette, and chuckled:

"Are you finally tired of playing house and planning to give up on their behalf?"

"...That's not it."

"What? You're still not planning to give up? You seem... at least to me, like you don't care whether I join you or not? You're just playing house with them, aren't you?"

"It doesn't matter, but Frilian can't stand you being like her, holding back for some reason. So I can only lend a hand, can I?"

Ash didn't deny playing house, but what he said made Zain smile wryly: "What? You really spoil her? Even though you two are always arguing?"

"After all, we've known each other for a long time, so it's normal to have a little argument, right?" He shrugged helplessly. "We're all men, so I'll cut to the chase without further ado."

What are you trying to say?

"Stop hiding it. Just tell me the real reason why you don't want to leave the town. Of course, 'it's too late' won't do, since that's not the real reason. At least I don't think so at the moment."

"...You really are more troublesome than Frilian."

Seeing his determined expression, Zain couldn't help but sigh and scratch his head vigorously. However, in order to get rid of them and stop being harassed, he was forced to tell them the truth.

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

In reality, the reason Zain was unwilling to leave wasn't that complicated, but the cause of the matter was somewhat distant.

When he was a child, Haita came here and invited his brother to the Holy City.

For the rural priests of the northern kingdoms, this was an opportunity to leap over the dragon gate, a once-in-a-lifetime and extremely rare chance. They even promised to let Zain live with them in the holy city.

This would lead to a qualitative leap in salary, living conditions, and social status. However, Zain's brother refused this opportunity that no normal person could refuse.

"...I happened to be by the door at that time and heard it. My elder brother chose to stay here and be a village priest for the rest of his life so that I wouldn't lose my parents and then this hometown."

Zain looked at the drifting white smoke in front of him, and at the end of his words, a bitter expression appeared on his face: "How can you expect me to leave my brother and the village just to chase some dream?"

"...I see, I understand."

"If you understand, hurry up and leave. I can't..."

"I personally understand, but your older brother certainly won't agree with your thinking; also, I understand that you might doubt how an outsider like me could come to this conclusion, but think about it yourself, he also actively encouraged you to join us, right?"

Ash calmly interrupted Zain, and while Zain was still in shock, Ash stared expressionlessly into his eyes and spoke accusingly in a low voice:

"Your older brother is so considerate of you, yet you have a different understanding of his ideas. To some extent, it could be described as an arbitrary and one-sided 'I'm doing this for your own good,' right?"

"I'm the one..."

Why don't you ever ask what kind of person he actually hopes you will become? And does he really want to see you constantly regretting your actions?

Ash's words left Zain speechless, and the cigarette in his hand slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground.

Just as his lips twitched slightly, as if he wanted to do something, the priest who had appeared beside him at some point strode over and, with a furious expression, raised his hand and slapped him across the face.

"—Zain! You've been worried about this all along!"

"I just..."

"Don't compare me to you! I've never regretted my choice back then, and you!? How long are you going to keep regretting it!?"

"Big brother..."

Zain covered his face in a daze, angrily rebuking his brother, his face full of disbelief and astonishment.

At that moment, Ash silently turned and left, returning to Frilian and Philon's side, intending to let the two brothers talk alone.

He thought his easily achieved breakthrough should have earned him the respect of both Frillie and Philon, but...

"...It's really amazing that you can say it's a one-sided 'I'm doing this for your own good' argument." Frilian looked at him speechlessly. "You used to think it would be more appropriate to give Philon up for adoption, right?"

Philen pursed his lips, his face full of displeasure: "Lord Ash, please reflect on your actions!"

"...It's been so long, why do you still remember things from when you were little?"

Why do I hurt myself when I'm lecturing others? Shouldn't this be the time to compliment me? It's so strange... so strange! He covered his mouth, looking puzzled, and lowered his head, so frustrated that he wanted to squat down and escape this harsh reality.

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

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

As the sun sets, along the riverbank next to the church.

Ash lay on the lawn by the river, gazing at the sunset as he reflected on life.

But suddenly a foul smell of smoke wafted by, followed by Zain's melancholy voice:

"You're right... I apologized to my older brother."

"is it?"

“But don’t misunderstand, he’s a very gentle older brother, he’s never hit me once in my life.” Zain sighed with guilt, “But… I let such a gentle older brother hit me.”

"What a peaceful family."

Comparing Zain's family to his own past with Aura, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly at the difference between humans and demons.

Despite believing himself to be a good person, he felt it was hard to accept that he couldn't even be treated as well as a monk who indulged in wine and meat.

Zain, who was sitting beside him watching the sunset, couldn't help but ask curiously when he heard this:

"...Speaking of which, you seem to have a younger sister. How do you get along with your sister?"

"Of course I am also a very gentle older brother. When we were little, we depended on each other for survival. She would do all the chores herself. She was so sensible that it broke my heart. I couldn't even stop her."

"What a good sister."

"Yes, that's the kind of sister I'd want."

"Hmm? What you expected?"

"It's okay, don't worry about it."

"I see..." Zain felt there was something that bothered him, but after hesitating for a moment, he gave up and said, "Never mind... Anyway, I've decided to become an adventurer... I'm going to chase after that guy."

"is it?"

"My travel goal is to find that guy... and fulfill my silly childhood dream with him, so before that, I'll just travel with you guys."

"is it?"

"Shouldn't this be the time to be moved?! Why are you still as cold as before? Can't you at least show some of the necessary emotion?"

"Because I'm not really interested in that kind of thing, but I'm also somewhat interested... I guess I just spend time with the kids and kill some time between my cultivation sessions?"

Faced with the indignant Zain, Ash nonchalantly voiced his thoughts.

This left him completely bewildered: "...Seriously, what exactly is the purpose of your trip?"

"I already said, it was just a walk."

"And you were just talking about me? You made me sound so bad?"

"...I wanted to show off in front of the kids, but it seems to have backfired."

He sighed rather dejectedly, and shut his mouth when Philon sat down on his other side, remaining silent and saying no more.

This made Zain pause for a moment before remembering something and asking, "...Speaking of which, what is your purpose?"

“Let’s go to the capitals of the two largest countries in the vicinity.” Frillian, still flipping through a book, said casually as she sat down on the lawn above Ash, “If possible, I also plan to take a trip to Heaven.”

"Heaven? Do we really need to go to a place like that? We just die and we get there!"

"Can Lord Zain go too?" Philon asked a rather pointed question without looking up, while urging Ash not to wrinkle his clothes.

This prompted Zain to cautiously ask Ash, "Um... does this child dislike me?"

"Isn't that normal? Kids certainly won't like an old man like you. You should learn from me."

"No, no, no, you're just being taken care of by this child right now, aren't you?"

Zain looked at the lazy Ash beside him, and then at Philon, who seemed a little unhappy but not at all impatient, as he straightened Ash's clothes... Even though they had known each other for a while, he still couldn't figure out what the relationship between the two was.

But in the end, he decided not to delve into these matters any further. Instead, he looked up at the sky, reached out to grasp the setting sun, and murmured to himself:

"Although it's a little late, I still need to take action now... to seize the last bit of youth and dreams."

"...What is this person doing? So childish." Ash glanced at him and couldn't help but complain. Philon frowned slightly and gently reprimanded him, "Lord Ash, even if it's true, you can't just say that. It's very inappropriate to criticize someone in front of them."

"Ash is so immature~ Adults are all like me, keeping things to themselves." Frilian above flipped through her book, a gloating smile on her face.

Although both of them were saying Ash was wrong, the strange conversation between the three of them made Zain blush and withdraw his hand, glaring at the three of them with a mixture of shame and indignation:

"...Now I finally understand why the three of you are teammates!"

"Speaking of which, Philon, I'd like to have barbecue tonight."

"Grilled fish? Sure." After a moment's thought, Philon smiled. "We're leaving tomorrow anyway, let's go get something nice to eat before we go."

Ash didn't care about his embarrassment at all, Philon readily ignored him, and Frilian kept her head down reading, not intending to respond to Zain's complaints.

"Your personalities... are so wonderful...!"

As a middle-aged man, Zain had never felt so ashamed, even when he was stripped down to his underwear. Yet now, he managed to squeeze out a sound through gritted teeth, already regretting... why he had joined this strange group in the first place.

But now, it seems he has no other choice.

They were the only team in the village, and their strength was very reliable... Apart from their personalities, they didn't seem to have any flaws.

Therefore, despite his reluctance, Zain left the village where he had lived since childhood with the three of them the next day amidst the smiling blessings of the villagers and his brother, embarking on a journey that was ten years overdue.

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