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

Page 104

"I just want to tell you that being eager for revenge or being blinded by anger and hatred will not end well; even if you want to deal with me, calm down, okay? In the end, when will this cycle of revenge end? Why not be more magnanimous and just forget about the past conflicts?"

"...Although you look like a teacher and what you say seems to make sense, why are you grabbing my hair and saying these things?"

Yubel forced a somewhat terrifying smile.

"Isn't this convenient? Like...right, like a handle."

"Hey...?" Yubel struggled to maintain his crumbling smile, and in the next instant, he swung his fist at his face: "--Die!"

However.....

Before the fist could land, Ash had already grabbed her wrist, then took the opportunity to hold her ponytail with one hand and control her wrist with the other, thus pinning her to his lap.

"—Ugh! Let...let me go!!" She tried to struggle, but to no avail.

"No~ You've walked right into my trap, so don't blame me."

Ash simply pressed Yubel down on his lap, casually patting her bare, smooth back with one hand, while his other elbow rested on her soft buttocks. He then rested his chin on his hand, watching the busy crowd in the distance, and lazily yawned.

"...What a beautiful day! The sun is shining, the blanket is warm, and the mattress is soft...How about we find a place to take a nap later?"

"......"

Yubel, who had been used as a free self-heating blanket and also as a support pad to relieve elbow pressure, could not break free no matter how hard she struggled. She wanted to ask for help but hesitated... after all, she looked too pathetic.

Beside the two, the stubborn old woman stared at them with her mouth agape, her expression one of shock... she had truly shocked them from the very beginning until the very end.

At first, she just found it hard to believe that young people these days could be so outrageous and wild... In the end, when Yubel was used as a tool, she unconsciously moved to the side, afraid of getting involved with them.

Or perhaps they'll be drawn into a strange dispute by this odd couple.

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As the sun began to set and the stone statues were mostly finished, Philon finally couldn't contain himself any longer and walked up to the two of them, coldly staring at Ash:

"...Lord Ash, what are you doing? Are you bullying me? Can you explain?"

"She wanted to hit me, but I subdued her. I was just afraid of being hit and retaliated against, so I kept suppressing her like this... That's roughly the situation."

"Excuse me... what are you saying? I don't understand at all. Could you explain it in more detail?"

Ash smiled slightly and patted Yubel on the back of the head: "By the way, in this process... you were dealing with the statue, while I was dealing with her filthy heart, teaching her the principle that revenge only leads to more revenge, and also guiding her to let go of old conflicts and embrace a new life."

Although Philon looked angry, Ash, with the air of a wise monk, gave a fairly clear explanation... at least that's what he thought.

This humiliation only strengthened Yubel's resolve to take revenge one day, though he still wore a sinister smile on his face.

"...When you were teaching me these things, I actually wanted to know from the very beginning whether you would forgive those who caused you such great humiliation?"

“You still don’t understand, Yubel.”

"what?"

"You probably know what a business teacher is, right? Although they teach business, guess why they don't go into business themselves? Of course, some of them might already be in business, but among their students, there will always be those who surpass them... Do you understand what I mean?"

"don't know."

"What I mean is, I actually have high hopes for you."

Ash smiled kindly and gently stroked the hair of the girl on his lap.

Judging from his expression alone, he seemed to be a kind and virtuous elder who hoped that the younger generation could surpass him.

But... we need to ignore Yubel's murderous expression for now.

Felen's expression was chillingly cold, prompting Zain and Frilian to decide not to get involved, lest they be dragged into the mess by his recklessness... that would be a huge loss.

Just as the atmosphere was becoming increasingly tense, the stubborn old woman finally couldn't hold back any longer and clapped her hands to interrupt their strange conversation:

"It was already agreed that this is the final request... If you are still interested in the whereabouts of the gorilla warrior, I will tell you."

"—Of course I'm very interested! Tell me quickly, you stubborn old woman!"

Ash, who was at the center of the storm, stood up without thinking and pulled the stubborn old woman away with an urgent expression.

The girl who was originally on his lap was thrown off as he stood up, rolling around and falling to the ground with a scream of "Whoa!"

The terrible treatment made Yubel lose control, and with his lifeless eyes, he stared intently at his back as if he were a vengeful spirit.

This made Ash wonder if he should be a little gentler with the child. But... if he thought about it from the beginning, did he really do something wrong?

He was somewhat unsure, feeling that he wasn't wrong, at least as a champion of gender equality, he should be absolutely right.

And so, after a brainstorming session, he simply gave up on the matter of Yubel and happily listened to the story of the gorilla warriors.

Although... he actually had no interest in that gorilla at the moment.

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

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After receiving the necessary information, the pedestrians did not immediately leave the village.

They bid farewell to the stubborn old woman, arrived at the village entrance, but paused for a moment before continuing their journey.

When Zain learned of his best friend's whereabouts, he showed none of the joy he had felt when he first received the clue; instead, he appeared somewhat sorrowful.

Unfortunately, although the gorilla initially headed north, roughly following their route, according to the stubborn old woman, he started from this village, which was like a crossroads, and went to the trading city in the central part of the northern kingdoms.

They were heading to a magical city in the southern part of the northern continent, while the trading city was located in the central north.

In other words, if you want to catch up with the gorilla, you have to head east from here, which means...

“…What should we do?” Zain sat at the fork in the road at the entrance of the village, looking at the roads leading in two different directions.

This monk, who indulged in wine and meat, unusually displayed a sorrowful side.

However, Yubel seemed somewhat puzzled: "What's there to worry about? It's just a choice between two options, you can easily give an answer, right?"

"Shut up... I've never met anyone more clueless about the situation than you."

Ash slapped Yubel on the head, pinning the strange girl behind him.

Honestly, sometimes when he looked at this girl, he wondered whether she was a demon or he was.

Although no one knew why, as soon as he drove Yubel away, everyone's eyes were immediately focused on him, as if he had said something strange.

But in the end, they said nothing. Only Philen sighed and shook her head, breaking the strange atmosphere, and softly parted her cherry lips:

"...The sun is about to set now, so let's stay in the village for the night and make a decision tomorrow."

“Hmm? The sun hasn’t set too far yet, if we keep going, we might still reach the next…” Before he could finish, Philon interrupted him, emphasizing his words:

"—Lord Ash, please come with me for a moment. I have something I'd like to discuss with you."

"Why? You usually care about time the most, right? Ultimately, these kinds of things require decisive action to avoid confusion; hesitation only leads to trouble. It's better to make a decision immediately than to suffer in anxiety. Otherwise, we'll have to..."

"Lord Ash! This is not the time to reason with you... Although what you say makes sense, now—please shut up and come with me, okay?"

Philon forced a smile, but his eyes held no hint of amusement, making him inexplicably want to flee the scene.

Unfortunately, before he could even take any action, Philon forcibly dragged him away from the scene.

The remaining people at the scene didn't say anything more.

Frilian simply patted Zain on the shoulder before following the two with Yubel.

Zain was left alone, still sitting on the rock, staring at the fork in the road, blowing smoke rings, and remaining silent for a long time.

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As night fell, the air suddenly turned cold.

Zain borrowed an empty house from the village chief, while Ash went with Philon to buy ingredients for dinner.

But when he returned carrying the ingredients, Philon, who was in charge of selecting them, couldn't help but sigh and lecture him:

"Lord Ash...could you sometimes be a little more tactful and consider other people's feelings?"

"I have been considering it, which is why I came to that conclusion, isn't it?"

"...So you dislike Lord Zain?"

"How could that be? Isn't he quite interesting?"

Ash wasn't lying, and Philon could tell he meant no harm; what he said earlier did seem quite reasonable.

But precisely because of this, it gave her an even bigger headache.

She wanted to say something more, but Ash smiled and freed one hand to stroke her hair: "But Phyllen has grown up too. Now she knows how to consider other people's feelings. That's really amazing~"

"...Please don't treat me like a child, it makes me sleepy...Wait, wait a minute?"

Before Philon could finish speaking, Ash suddenly grabbed her hand, causing her to instinctively flinch: "W-what are you doing?"

"Of course I'm checking if your hands are cold, what else would I be doing?" Ash didn't let go, but felt the temperature in his palm and nodded unconsciously: "They are indeed very cold... Your skirt doesn't have any pockets, why don't you put your hands in my pockets?"

"...Wouldn't that position look weird?"

"That seems to be true... Otherwise, one hand holding my hand, and the other hand in my pocket?"

"Thank you for this."