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

Page 107

And what she needed to do was very simple: she just extended her not-cold hand and tested it on Philon's head, and that was it. She pondered for a moment and said:

"Hmm~ You have a fever, don't you?"

"...I knew it! But is it just a simple case of catching a cold or something else?"

"How would I know?" Yubel helplessly spread his hands; leaving him with no other option but to reach out...

"Wait—! I'm awake!"

His hand would touch Frilian's face, and Frilian would suddenly open her eyes and grab his wicked, icy hand.

Although she was a little annoyed to be woken up so early in the morning, ... in her drowsy state, she heard the two talking and was actually a little worried about Philon, so she couldn't fall back asleep.

With a sigh, she was forced to get out of the not-so-warm bed, and picked up the holy book she had used to line the pot last night. Using simple goddess magic, she diagnosed Philen's condition.

"...It's really just a common cold, but I need to move to a warmer place, otherwise the symptoms will worsen, and I'll need to take some medicine..."

The goddess's magic could not cure diseases, only diagnose them, but as Frilian spoke, she seemed to remember something, turned to look at Ash with a nostalgic expression: "Speaking of which, I think I was sick here before, and you took care of me back then."

"Hmm...it seems so."

"I remember back then, I accidentally caught a cold around here, and then... I woke up in a daze and found myself in the magical city."

"......"

"But how exactly did I get to the magical city?"

When he fell silent for some reason, Frilian couldn't help but ask the question that had been troubling her for so long.

This also unconsciously reminded Ash of those long-forgotten memories.

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

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

About 80 years ago.

Faced with Freyren's sudden cold and fever, the hero team was completely at a loss.

After all, no matter how much the goddess favored Haita, healing magic could not cure diseases.

Since none of them were familiar with the area, they started discussing whether it would be better to find a place to warm up first and then slowly look for medicine, or to carry her on their backs for a while and then find medicine in the magic city.

Although it's not appropriate to march with a feverish patient, what if there are no medicines or residents nearby? Wouldn't that be disastrous?

Just as everyone was racking their brains and hadn't reached a suitable conclusion, Ash silently reached out and picked up Frilian, who was curled up in the portable blankets.

"Ash...you...what is this...?" Frillie weakly opened her eyes, wanting to say something, but he gently comforted her: "It's okay, close your eyes and rest for a bit, you'll be fine soon."

"....??"

Frillie wasn't quite sure what he was trying to do, but trusting him, she obediently closed her eyes, and then...

Amidst the astonished gazes of the crowd, the unsuspecting girl in his arms was instantly petrified, turning into a stone statue in the blink of an eye.

Simmel seemed to be petrified, almost speechless for a moment; even the taciturn Azer was so shocked that his head was buzzing.

"You, what is this...?" Haita stared in disbelief.

Their strange reaction prompted Ash to complain:

"What kind of reaction is this? Since the situation is uncertain, why not just take the safest approach? This way, Frilian won't feel unwell, and we can find medicine directly in town later. Isn't that the most convenient and effective way?"

"It's convenient, but there must be some problems with doing it this way...?" Simmel rubbed her forehead with one hand, trying to hide her headache.

"To be honest, even though we're almost there, it'll still take us several days to get to the magic city, right? Carrying a stone statue will probably make it even slower." Haita's expression looked very strange.

Ash countered with reason and evidence: "If we go at full speed, half a day should be enough."

"—That's a warrior like you or Azer, right?! A monk like me couldn't possibly get here in half a day! Besides, I still have to carry a stone statue on my back..."

"look."

Before Haita could finish speaking, Ash threw his hands up and used magic to levitate Frilian in mid-air. Then, with one hand pushing the floating Frilian, he quickly rushed out of the cave.

Seeing this, everyone could roughly guess what method he intended to use for transportation, but their expressions were all incredibly strange...

However, from a rational perspective, this is indeed the safest and most effective way to reduce Frilian's suffering from illness... it's just a little bit unattractive and a little bit inhumane.

But since the petrification had already occurred, everyone silently turned their backs, neither opposing nor agreeing.

Ash, with tacit approval, pushed the levitating Freylian away quickly, disappearing from everyone's sight in the blink of an eye.

But they could see from afar at the cave entrance that, because he was rushing too fast, the suspended stone statues would occasionally fly up at the end of the uphill road due to the force of his running, but he would quickly catch them and then continue to push them out... pushing them along the way.

Considering that Hyta's pace was too slow, Simmel and Aize were unable to keep up and instead stood on the ground watching the comical scene that was both amusing and strangely resembling someone running while popping a giant balloon.

"...Now I finally understand why Ash, despite being good-looking, strong, and having many admirers, didn't succeed with any of them..."

Haita pushed up his glasses and silently looked away from Ash's back, feeling as if he had finally understood the mystery that had troubled him for many years.

The remaining people also silently lowered their heads, no longer looking at the strange scene in the distance.

The three of them reached a tacit understanding: for the sake of Frillie's feelings and their friendship, it was best to keep the truth to themselves.

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

On the other side, away from the three people.

No longer needing to conceal his flying ability, Ash simply carried the petrified Frilian into the sky, arriving at the magical city in just over an hour.

They found a hotel, put down the stone statue, bought the medicine that Haita had mentioned, and asked the pharmacist to brew it.

Upon his return, he removed Frillie's petrification.

"This is...wait, the ceiling??"

In her feverish, delirious state, Frillie stared blankly at the ceiling above, her already struggling mind completely blank.

"Oh dear~ Frillie... you're finally awake?" Ash feigned concern and grabbed her burning hot hand.

"So...so cold—!" Frillie instinctively withdrew her hand, feeling the cold, and glared at him with a rather helpless and resentful expression:

"You rascal... just you wait... next time you're sick... I'll grab your hand with my cold hands too...!"

"Ah, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..."

He rushed to the city without resting and got involved in a bunch of messy things. Only now did he realize that his hands were as cold as ice, and he couldn't help but give a frustrated, embarrassed smile.

His appearance left Frillie speechless, and she sighed softly, "...I should have just closed my eyes for a moment...Where am I?"

"Actually, you were unconscious for three days, and we have already arrived in the magic city."

Three days...? You must be kidding me.

"Do I need to lie to you?"

"But... I should just... sigh... never mind... as long as you don't do anything reckless at this time..."

The girl, her head spinning, was completely confused by his serious expression. In the end, she just sighed softly, closed her eyes again, and gave up on caring about these things at this moment.

She didn't even realize that, apart from her own portable bedding, the bedding in the hotel rooms was unusually cold... as if she had just gotten into bed.

Ash hesitated for a moment, then brought the medicine he had just prepared to her side: "I won't do anything reckless, anyway... drink some medicine first?"

"Um... Ah, thank you."

Taking a deep breath, Frillie tried to sit up, but with his help, she was finally able to half-lie down against the bedside.

It was only then that Frillie realized he seemed to be cold all over, and she was somewhat puzzled:

"You... just to make me feel cold... did you go out for hours just to walk around outside?"

"No, it's just that something came up... By the way, why do you think of me like that?"

"Because you usually... when you grab my hand, it's on purpose... to freeze me."

“This time is different. I heard from Simmel that grabbing someone seems to be very useful at this time, right? He did the same thing when Haita was sick last time, didn’t he?” He reminisced about the past while bringing the pot to her lips with a smile. “Haita wasn’t very happy, but it was quite effective… well, at least he didn’t object as much as you did?”

"Because...your hands are so cold...how do you manage to make them so cold?"

"Well, let's drink the medicine first, shall we?"

“Afterwards…” Frillie took a small sip of the medicine, her brow furrowed at the bitter taste, staring intently at him as she muttered softly, “You need to explain things to me properly…”

"what?"

"I have a feeling... you're hiding something from me..."

"Alright, alright, take your medicine first, come on... good girl." Before handing over the medicine, he blew on it, which made Frilian gasp slightly and show a displeased expression: "Are you... treating me like a child?"

"It's a little hot, so..."

"I've never seen you so gentle before." After so many years of friendship, Frillie had reason to suspect that this guy must have done something to wrong her.

He surprisingly shrugged, revealing his honesty: "Because I was worried you'd be angry later."

"....What?"

"Let's talk about this when you're better."

He didn't intend to reveal that he had petrified her for the time being, so when faced with Frilian's gaze, he simply continued to vaguely offer her the potion.

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