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

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The Burial of Frilian: The Official Beginning of the Journey: Chapter Twenty-Nine - Connecticut's Way of Repaying Kindness - The Unfortunate Ubel Duncan's Last Stand

Instead of the friend who would suddenly appear to save her in her fantasy, it was the uncle who had been cheating on her at noon who replaced her imagined best friend and stood beside the Corpse-luring Bird.

Before she could even express her surprise...

boom--! ! !

“—Ugh!?”

As Ash regained her footing, the terrifying sonic boom exploded a beat late, causing her to instinctively cover her ears, close her eyes, and gasp in surprise.

When he opened his eyes again, the pressure on his body had disappeared.

The Corpse-luring Bird, which had been oppressing itself, had collapsed to the side, its heart gone, and its enormous body was gradually dissipating into magical particles.

But she had no idea what exactly happened during the whole process, nor did she see it clearly.

But the moment that figure appeared like a whirlwind, vanishing the threat and giving way to despair, the feeling of liberation was so intense that she stared at it in a daze, a figure she should have resisted.

"Um...sorry I'm late?" Noticing the tears glistening in her eyes, and roughly understanding that the child was frightened, Ash shook his head helplessly, then smiled apologetically and extended his hand to her: "...Can you get up?"

"Of course..."

Connie wiped her tear-filled eyes hard, hesitated for a moment, but still carefully grabbed his hand and used it to stand up.

Although she had grabbed his hand, the girl still looked shaken, which annoyed Ash for a moment. He then reached out and stroked her soft orange hair: "Good girl, good girl~"

“...I’ve already said, I’m not a pet…” The strange treatment made Connie immediately show a sullen expression.

"Don't worry about the details, I just want you to calm down."

"Thank you... but that's not the point."

Although the conversation overlapped with what happened at noon, Connie's dissatisfaction was not as intense as before. He didn't even push his hand away, but instead tried to refute him. He sat on the edge of the forest, on the edge of the jutting cliff, with a frustrated expression.

With a helpless sigh, the girl muttered to herself:

"Uncle...you're really amazing, aren't you?"

"It's alright." He hesitated for a moment, then sat down next to Connie. Remembering the name she had mentioned earlier, he couldn't help but sigh, "But no matter how much you fight, your relationship with Rabinha has always been very good."

"...Because I've always been a coward, and I'm always helpless at crucial moments... Rabindranath, though harsh, has always guided me."

Perhaps because he wasn't present, or perhaps because he had been unconsciously calling out the name of his friend with whom he always fought, Connie had already given himself away and didn't hide anything, saying directly:

"...It was thanks to Rabindranath that I realized that as long as you keep moving forward, no matter how terrible the situation is, there will always be a way to solve it."

"That's great~ What an enviable friendship."

"...Don't Uncle and Frillie have a good relationship too?"

"Because we've known each other for a long time. Although he's a troublesome guy, he can be cute at times... It's just that he holds grudges too much, which is a problem."

"Hey~ Isn't Frillie quite mature?" Connie turned his head in surprise, but Frillie just shook her head with a sneer.

"What are you thinking? She's much more childish than you think. If you call me 'uncle,' I might just flick your belly at most, but if you call her 'old,' she'll cry for three days and three nights. She'll drive you crazy."

"You're kidding, right? That old man is definitely lying!"

"Why would I lie to you? Besides, didn't I already say that I'm already being kind and gentle? It's Frilian who's the real troublemaker."

He spoke ill of Frillie behind her back without any mercy... or perhaps it wasn't really speaking ill of her, but rather revealing the unknown truth.

But just as Connie completely forgot her previous troubles and showed a curious smile, he couldn't help but grab her ponytail:

"Speaking of which... I didn't hold it against you for not being in a good mood earlier, but now you're calling me an old man, aren't you?"

"That's so mean, uncle! Who would just grab a girl's hair like that!"

"It's okay, I didn't use any force."

"It doesn't hurt, but it's strange! And my mood is strange too!" This unchanging, odd treatment made Connie wonder, "Uncle...you're not really treating me like a pet, are you?"

"No, that's not true, it was just funny..." He mumbled, turning his face away.

This attitude troubled Connie for a while, but he couldn't help shaking his head and chuckling, "Thinking about it now, the old man is surprisingly interesting~"

"...Don't call me 'uncle'."

“Speaking of which, uncle…” Connie’s gaze swept around him a few times, then looked around again, and he couldn’t help but ask in confusion, “Where’s your cage?”

"A cage? Uh...?" Only after being reminded did he touch his waist and realize that the thing that should have been hanging there was missing. He couldn't help but cover his mouth and mutter, "Damn... I came in too much of a hurry, I completely forgot about this thing?"

"How could you forget something like this?! Hurry up and go back to find it!" Connie tried to get up urgently, but Ash pressed her shoulders down and pushed her back down.

"Forget it, there's nowhere to go now in this dark; anyway, you don't have anything to do right now, so this is acceptable."

"...Can something like this really be let go like this??"

"I don't care."

"This is the exam for a first-level mage! What are you even here for?!" Despite being somewhat speechless at his attitude, Connie felt a surge of warmth in his heart when faced with that warm gaze and remembering his words.

But in his line of sight, she unconsciously turned her face away and whispered, "But... no matter what, I still have to thank you, Uncle."

"No... before that, shouldn't you apologize to me first? You're calling me 'uncle' again!"

"Yes, yes, then..."

Connie shook his head and chuckled at his strange focus, but then grabbed the hand that was on his shoulder.

After a period of annoyance, he braced himself with his hands behind his back and leaned his body slightly backward.

Under Ash's questioning gaze, she shyly turned her face away, her voice barely audible:

"...If it's just a light touch, it's not...completely unacceptable..."

"What? Does this mean?"

"You...you've always wanted to touch my belly, haven't you? So...so..."

"Huh? Is this really possible?"

Although this was indeed the idea I came up with at noon, after all, rubbing a pet's belly while playing with it is a very common thing...

But he never imagined that Connecticut would actually agree, because even just now, Connecticut had been objecting to the treatment of pets.

Now, not only are they willing to expose their bellies to apologize? They're even... willing to touch them?

"After all... didn't Uncle save me? So... it's better to repay that favor quickly... otherwise, who knows what strange requests you might make?"

Ash was bewildered in the wind, while Connie had his eyes tightly shut, his heart pounding, nervous about the intimate contact that was about to take place.

Her cheeks had quietly blushed, giving her a shy yet innocent beauty that was irresistible.

The girl's flushed cheeks looked even more charming in the moonlight.

It was this unexpected cuteness that made Ash, who was about to refuse, reach out his hand as if possessed.

His hand gently landed on her flat and warm abdomen, his fingertips feeling the delicate and smooth texture, while his other hand involuntarily stroked her head along her soft orange hair.

Although he felt happy and curious as he touched her, as if he were opening the door to a new world, and could even feel her body trembling slightly.

But... the girl whose stomach was being touched also began to breathe rapidly and shallowly.

Connie tried hard to control his inner turmoil and to appear calmer.

However, behind those tightly closed eyes lay an indescribable and intense sense of shame.

She could feel the warmth of Ash's palm, a warmth that seemed to penetrate her skin and reach her heart, making her heart beat even faster.

...To be honest, although it was her own proposal, it felt more like a polite gesture. I thought it would be a matter of mutual polite deference, followed by a laugh and that's it.

But she really didn't expect that Ash would actually make a move? There was no hint of politeness or refusal, which left her feeling rather awkward and unable to back down.

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

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

The surrounding air seemed to gradually become more subtle as time passed.

Just as Connie was so ashamed that he wanted to find a place to crawl into, Ash also realized that he might have accidentally gone a little too far with his touch.

Although it was indeed someone else who invited him, he shouldn't have any responsibility, right? Probably... is that right? — To be honest, he himself was a little unsure of himself.

As Ya Xiu pondered how to peacefully end the strange situation, a sudden voice shattered the delicate balance:

"...I say, it's really strange for you guys to be doing this in the middle of the night. Shouldn't you be going to sleep?"

"—?!"

They were both startled and turned to look.

But then they saw Frilian appear behind them at some point, squatting not far away with her arms wrapped around her knees, observing them expressionlessly.

His expression was just like when he watched Zain sink into the swamp that day, but compared to his indifference back then, a faint, malicious smile seemed to appear on his lips now.

This made Connie's cheeks turn red instantly to her ears. She sat up abruptly, hurriedly clutching the hem of her clothes, trying to hide her embarrassment.

Ash quickly withdrew his hand, stood up, and put on a slightly awkward smile, trying to ease the sudden and strange atmosphere.

"Ah... cough, Frilian, the weather is nice tonight, it'll definitely be nice tomorrow!" Ash broke the silence first, trying to change the subject with small talk.