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

"...Why are you looking at me like that?"

He glanced at Awula again as he spoke, and Awula turned away to avoid his gaze, as if silently telling him not to take the blame upon herself.

This convinced Ash that the large size was indeed useless.

But now he put the child in his arms down, strode forward, and slapped Aura on the head, making her look at him, and said, word by word:

"I'm just asking you to find a teacher for this child! Don't refuse such a thing! Also, I have to go out tomorrow, so remember to find a good teacher and keep him under control... I probably won't be back for a while, so the kingdom and Line are in your hands after that, understand?"

"Don't you trust me?"

"...It's you I can't put my mind at ease." Although he was worried about Aura, he was equally worried about others. At this moment, he could only place his hand on her head and shake it for a while before sighing as if giving up, "But...I really have to ask you for help."

"Ash has always been so long-winded, how come he hasn't changed in five hundred years?"

"...Do you think I wanted to become like this?"

"Don't you... Never mind, I'll handle it properly, is that alright?"

Aura frowned, but gave up on further rebuttal.

This surprised him somewhat, and as he tidied her messy hair, he smiled with satisfaction and said:

“Awula, you finally understand a little bit about how I, as an elder, feel.”

"...Feelings of bullying a junior?"

"Don't talk nonsense. Have I ever bullied you?"

"..." Aura didn't say anything, just stared at him expressionlessly.

That's all it took to make him raise his hands as if forced to surrender:

"Okay, maybe a little bit, but you can't just learn the bad things from me, right? The good things should always be there too..."

"—What is 'good'?"

"Uh...let me think about it..."

He believed that he had once been somewhat of a role model, but this sudden change... was truly unexpected.

It must be because there wasn't enough time, right? — With this certainty, he gave an awkward yet polite smile, stood up again, and patted Aura's head.

"Anyway, it's getting late, you should go to sleep early, otherwise you won't grow tall."

Having said that, he turned and left without any hesitation.

But Aura suddenly reached out and grabbed his sleeve, saying with a forced smile, "Don't rush me, I'm already five hundred, it's okay. But aren't you going to talk about what your strengths are?"

“......别逼我在离开前揍你。”他收敛了笑容，面无表情的回头瞪去，让阿乌拉被迫放手，还不悦的咂舌：“切....结果还不是武力？”

"As long as there's a result, the process doesn't matter."

"Isn't this usually something the villain says?"

"—Stop nagging! I have a ton of work to do, I don't have time to argue with you!"

Not wanting to say anything more to this rebellious child, he grabbed Linne, who was still quietly listening to their argument, and quickly left.

Aura was left alone, staring at his disappearing figure with a malicious smile.

"You're so busy, so eager to be a good king, and lack capable people... of course you need a loyal executioner! Linne just happens to be a good girl~ Hmm! I'm so considerate of others~!"

To avoid being scolded, she decided to complete the task but not in a proper way.

Get a loyal executioner, but... there's no need to train him in politics or anything like that. Just say he's a demon who only knows how to fight.

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

The next morning.

Having long since lost the will to work and wanting to have some fun, Ash left the royal city as soon as dawn broke.

"...Although there's already an old elf, and I heard there's another one who looks like a dwarf? But according to the established tropes, there'll definitely be a beautiful girl hero! A gentle older sister monk! And a dwarf loli too! I'm really looking forward to it~!" He smiled unconsciously as he muttered to himself, and even quickened his pace without realizing it.

It's not that he's vulgar; at least he thinks he's perfectly normal.

For so many years, he hasn't had the chance to meet any pretty girls, or even a decent girl... He really wants to experience the taste of youth.

Therefore, when he left the royal city and Aula, he was in a very good mood, and even his steps became lighter, as if the air was filled with the belated breath of youth.

The Burial of Frilian: A Thousand Years Later: Chapter Fifty-Two - The Sudden Truth

The thought of going back to find Frillien, joining the Hero Squad, and playing together for a while made Ash, who was full of excitement, leave much faster than when he left after making arrangements for the kingdom.

After working so hard and striving for so long, he felt that it wouldn't be unreasonable for him to relax for a while.

After all, there's still a long way to go. If he doesn't play around and work and exercise every day, he'll start to doubt whether he'll really become a standard demon... although standard demons probably don't work on their own.

But it was precisely because of that anticipation that, although it took him three months to come here, he only took two months to return, thanks to his high-speed flight.

After making a few more inquiries, he initially thought it would take another month to find Frillie, but...

Using the extremely rare and striking elf, Frilian, as a guide, he inquired and discovered that the hero's party that Frilian had joined had unexpectedly not yet left the country where Frilian originally lived.

Therefore, in just three days, he easily spotted that familiar figure in a village... but for some reason, Frilian was using magic to help the farmers pull up radishes.

The beautiful, petite, loli-like silver-haired fairy girl quickly noticed him while he was dumbfounded. She unconsciously stopped what she was doing, stared in surprise, and walked quickly toward him.

"Ash, why... are you here?" Frillie looked at him in confusion.

"Hmm... I heard you finally went out, so I came to check on you because I was a little worried."

He couldn't very well say, "I want to see what the King's Hero Squad is like," could he? So he just smiled vaguely and patted Frilian's head.

"Really? Thank you... But I'm fine. You are. Where did you come from? Where have you been all this time?" She thought he was nearing the end of his life and might never see him again, but she never expected to meet him here again, which made a smile unconsciously appear on Frillie's face.

"Me? Ah~ Actually, I just want to find a warm and pleasant place."

"For retirement?"

"Huh? Retirement??"

"Um... I mean, preparing for retirement."

Remembering that he seemed reluctant to mention his age, Frillie awkwardly tried to brush it off.

Ash would normally never be fooled by her, but this time he didn't care about such things and even looked around curiously, trying to find her interesting teammates.

But instead of the expected group of beautiful girls, lolis, and mature women, a young man whose age was hard to discern was walking towards them.

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

The man with green hair slicked back, wearing narrow-rimmed glasses and a black monk's robe with gold trim, walked over as Ash was sizing him up.

After giving Ash a similarly curious look, he asked Frillie before he could speak:

"...How strange, Frilian, you're actually smiling at someone else."

“Just friends…no.” Frillie started to say, but then shook her head, carefully choosing her words, and said seriously:

"Ash is a good friend I've known for a long time...and we have quite a few complicated relationships."

"Uh? So suddenly...formal? Are you alright?" The overly formal introduction made Ash, who was being introduced like this for the first time, feel a little uncomfortable. He couldn't help but reach out and press his hand on her forehead, then, under the girl's displeased gaze, he hesitated and said, "I don't feel sick..."

"—It really is just an acquaintance, isn't it?"

Frillie slapped his hand away, immediately regretting why she had thought so much.

For someone as thick-skinned as him, worrying about hurting feelings in the end would be a waste of her own emotions... She couldn't help but feel this kind of trouble.

"Haha~ Looks like you two have a good relationship!" The bespectacled monk chuckled as he looked him up and down, and couldn't help but add, "But speaking of which, you really are Frilian's friend... You're quite something."

"Well... I guess I'm just getting by, aren't I?"

"...No, even though your magic power is quite immense, before we get really close, our magic detection can barely sense your presence. Normally, it's impossible to achieve this level of magic control."

As the bespectacled monk finished speaking, he gazed at the boy's face with an unconscious look of admiration: "Especially since you are so young, I really can't imagine what level you will reach in the future."

"Really? Thank you. You're not bad either. Humans these days... cough... are even the monks in the countryside this capable?"

"A country monk?" The bespectacled monk looked surprised, which suddenly made Ash think of a possibility, and his expression became very subtle: "Hmm? Could it be...?"

"Huh?" The bespectacled monk was completely confused, but then he quickly realized something and shook his head with a smile: "You've probably misunderstood. Actually, I'm not from this village... Let me introduce myself. I'm Frilian's companion, one of the heroes who are going to fight the Demon King together. You can call me Haita."

"...Really?"

"What's wrong? Am I too weak? Don't I seem like it?"

"No... normally speaking—shouldn't the monks in the hero's party be women? And mature women at that?!" Ash blurted out instinctively, looking betrayed.

But this made Haita look troubled: "Excuse me... normal women can't become monks, right?"

"real or fake??"

"do not you know?"