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

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"You suggested it yourself, so you can't blame me, right?"

"Would anyone normally lift up another person's skirt?"

"So, this was your suggestion." Ash had no intention of taking responsibility, since he had indeed only listened to the other party.

This made Yubel's smile twitch: "...Where did your gentlemanly manners and the composure of a strongman go?"

“I am a gender equality advocate, so this is just a normal exchange of equal value.”

"Is simply stating a name as important as a young girl's purity?"

"This is your suggestion, not mine. You should ask yourself this question."

Ash's casual answer left Yubel speechless.

Finally, they suffered a complete defeat in magic, hand-to-hand combat, and verbal sparring.

For the first time in her life, she even regretted her actions...regretted why she had started talking to him in the first place.

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

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

When Zain returned after asking around and getting some clues, he saw a strange girl standing next to Ash from afar.

The girl, who had her back to him and seemed to be talking to Ash, was still swaying her skirt and saying something, when Ash apparently lifted her skirt.

Yes, that's right, it just seems so.

There was nothing he could do... The other person had their back to him, and Ash's calm expression didn't suggest that she was lifting her skirt.

However, the girl's subsequent actions, which seemed somewhat excessive, led him to roughly guess that Ash had probably actually lifted her skirt.

This left him stunned for a long time before he finally couldn't help but step forward and stare at Ash, who had instinctively turned his head to look at him, with a serious expression:

"I really... misjudged you!"

"What are you suddenly saying?"

"I thought you were like me! You only liked older women!"

Zain looked betrayed and angrily denounced his companion for harming the girl.

But this strange remark only made Ash cover his face, looking like he was enduring a headache.

Yubel, who was already quite eccentric, was caught off guard and paused for a moment—even though she had met many strange people on her travels, she had never actually met a monk who liked her older sister.

"Your friend is really interesting, and... you actually like older women? No wonder you've been so cold to me."

"...Compared to this, aren't you planning to leave?"

“Actually, I really enjoy chatting.” Yubel was completely unfazed by his coldness, continuing to speak with a beaming smile, ignoring Ash's completely unasked questions.

"Because a person's signature magic is often closely related to their life and character, and if I can 'resonate' with their life, I can basically use their special magic. You must have some incredible magic. Don't be so stingy, tell me quickly what you're thinking and what kind of life you've experienced."

"...The type of magic that you control based on intuition?"

Ash was slightly surprised to finally understand why the other person was still bothering him when they couldn't beat him.

Because her ability requires not only considerable talent, but also a solid theoretical foundation and magical power, in order to resonate with a person's personality and life without knowing the underlying principles, thanks to her exceptional sensory abilities and exaggerated imagination.

In this way, she would gain insight and roughly understand the entirety of the magic... thus completing the entire replication process.

Such people are all extremely rare geniuses.

Linne, on the other hand, is an upgraded version of this type, which doesn't require such trouble. She can use other people's martial arts techniques simply by watching them.

However, this kind of replication has a drawback—if the replica itself is not powerful enough, it's hard to say how accurate it will be.

But Yubel is clearly very strong among humans, and he should be able to completely replicate and recreate most of them, right?

Of course, none of this mattered to him, because for a great demon like him, magic was useless, let alone letting her understand him or have any resonance with him. Even if he explained it to her little by little, it would be of no use.

After all, even if humans could learn it, they wouldn't be able to use the magic of the Great Demon Clan.

"Don't be so stingy~ It won't hurt to chat, and I can also tell you about my life~" Yubel completely failed to understand his true feelings, instead acting as if he had discovered an unprecedented treasure, displaying a persistent spirit on the spot.

"not interested."

"My older sister is a seamstress. I often watched her when I was little..."

Although Ash didn't intend to pay attention, just as she herself said, Yubel, who liked to chat and talk, continued talking on her own.

Zain, listening from the side, was speechless: "...He actually continued talking on his own."

"Don't make a fuss. I'm still somewhat interested in her cutting technique. Why not take free knowledge? I'd like to try to resonate with it too... If it doesn't work, I can just kick her out later."

"...I've always felt that your personality is really terrible." Zain was speechless at this point.

Yubel swayed her body, revealing a bright, almost frightening smile: "How outrageous! You were planning to throw me away after using me from the very beginning? You weren't even going to hide it?"

"Of course, we're not even close. You came all this way on your own. What's the point of keeping you around after you've used you? Am I supposed to support you?"

"...Although I don't know you didn't mean it that way, why does this conversation sound so strange?"

Listening to their conversation, Zain felt that if he hadn't heard clearly, he probably would have been tempted to judge Ash, that heartless man.

But she still lowered her voice and whispered in his ear, "This person seems very difficult to deal with. She's the kind of woman who will pester you relentlessly. It's probably better not to get too involved with her."

"What a coincidence, I thought so at first too, but..."

"I think it's too late~ I'm not the kind of person who can just abandon things so easily~"

Before he could finish speaking, Yubel leaned in and joined them, offering a smiling answer on their behalf.

Zain was startled and took several steps back, while Ash remained calm and unconcerned. He simply listened to Yubel's seemingly accelerated retelling of the past in an attempt to deepen their "feelings," while gazing silently into the distance, wondering why there were so few normal people around him and why he was being harassed by strange individuals.

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

After Philon and Frilian helped out in the village, they returned with some food they needed.

But as soon as he got close to them, he saw Zain looking at Ash with a troubled expression, and... a strange girl who had somehow appeared next to Ash.

"Lord Ash, who is this person...?" Philon stared at Yubel, his brows furrowing unconsciously.

"Someone I don't know."

"Ugh~ That's so mean. We've been chatting for so long and have such a 'close' relationship, and you're saying you don't know me?" Yubel said with an ambiguous smile, leaning her body so much that she almost leaned on his shoulder.

"Hey~ Are you close?" Frillie found it amusing and couldn't help but ask, "Who are you?"

"Yuber, hello~" Yubel smiled and extended her hand, but Frilian, like Ash before her, did not extend her hand, but just stared at her: "You killed those bandits, didn't you?"

"It was just self-defense."

"...Just as I thought."

"what happened?"

"No, it's nothing." Frillian didn't want to say more, but simply asked expressionlessly, "What are you doing?"

"This person is interesting, but after chatting with him for a while, I found out that he's even more interesting than I imagined!"

"Really?" She nodded slightly, seemingly unconcerned. "Are you traveling too? Where are you planning to go?"

"The magic city of Oisaster is about to hold its Level 1 Mage exam. I was just looking to see if I'd seen anyone interesting. But I never expected to run into such an interesting fellow before even arriving!"

"...We were also planning to go there."

"Oh my gosh! What a coincidence! Can I come along? I'm a little scared traveling alone."

"Whatever." Frilian stared at her for a while, too lazy to expose her, and casually agreed.

After all, it would be helpful to have someone to look after her on the way, so she had no reason to refuse. However, Philon's expression seemed a bit strange, and she hesitated before finally saying nothing.

Zain, unable to bear watching, covered his face and said, "I don't care what happens next..."

"Lord Zain, have you ever been in charge of anything?"

"...Although I don't actually have any, why are you angry with me?"

Philon's displeased gaze made him immediately turn to Ash with a bitter expression, intending for him, the person who had attracted the strange man, to resolve the issue, but...

"Let's hurry up and try to reach the new village before nightfall... Although at this point, I don't mind sleeping in the wilderness."

Ash completely ignored his gaze, silently got up from the fence, patted his butt, and walked ahead.

Just like Frillian, after thinking about it seriously, he didn't object anymore. After all, he was just idling around anyway, and the journey could be quite boring at times. Having another strange guy to pass the time seemed like a good idea.

He was even somewhat looking forward to seeing what kind of interesting expression Yubel would make after realizing he couldn't replicate his magic and had already wasted a lot of time.

The Burial of Frilian: The Official Beginning of the Journey: Chapter Nineteen - The Education of Yubel - Philon's Accumulated Feelings - The Moment of Parting

Even after Yubel joined, the journey remained surprisingly peaceful.

However, Yubel would occasionally ask the three of them about Ash, trying to see if he could resonate with some powerful magic without having seen his magic before.

But Philon seemed to have misunderstood her intentions, so he basically didn't want to pay her any attention... And while Zain and Frilian could provide some information, it was only what they knew... and actually not a comprehensive picture.

Even if it were comprehensive, it would be meaningless, because the very nature of the structure dictates that there is no hope, and even an existence like Celie cannot be an exception.

Unfortunately, the group continued their journey for some time after nightfall, but ultimately failed to reach a new village, leaving them with no choice but to camp near a grove of trees on the plain.

It was on such a night that Ash sat reading by the newly lit campfire. Philon was much closer to him than usual, puffing out her cheeks and staring at him, as if she wanted him to pay more attention to her.