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

Ash and his eccentric sister spent another year happily together in the great forest.

Despite lacking sufficient combat power and being unprotected, Aura, with the help of Ash and the beasts and monsters he controlled, built a servant army of nearly a hundred at an astonishingly rapid pace.

Having figured out the layout of the forest over the years, the two traversed the dense jungle and soon arrived at a human village near the mountains.

There was no resistance whatsoever. The manipulated servants, with the force of an avalanche, occupied the village almost effortlessly and without bloodshed.

Looking at the villagers, who were gathered in the center of the village, trembling with fear, Aura said with undisguised pride:

"—From today onwards! We are your masters!"

"Starting today! You guys have to cook for us!" Ash immediately said, revealing his biggest wish.

This left Aura somewhat dumbfounded: "...Ash, aren't you being a bit too unambitious? Shouldn't you have killed him?"

"What are you talking about? Isn't it good to have someone else cook for us? Or do you want to cook for me yourself?"

"--Let's keep them after all! Although they are barbaric humans, they still have some value."

Although her instinct was to kill, the thought of not wanting to work, along with the memories of being bossed around and treated roughly by Ash over the years, instantly made her forget her instinct.

Upon seeing the demon leading nearly a hundred wild beasts and magical creatures, about a dozen hunters initially wanted to resist, but the gravity created by Ash's raised hand caused them all to fall to the ground, and the others could only give up in despair.

However, their conversation gave them a glimmer of hope, and Ash stepped forward again at the opportune moment.

"Don't worry, everyone. We are good people... no, good demons... no, well... anyway, we are good demons."

Speaking of which, how do the humans of this world view the demon race? — This was Ash's first encounter with humans, and looking at the people below, he felt a little troubled.

Despite the ridiculous system that allows one to become stronger through killing, the actual effects of making wishes are baffling. Moreover, such massacres could easily turn him into a demon king, and he doesn't like indiscriminately killing innocent people. Therefore, he chooses to develop cautiously for now.

The Burial of Frilian: A Thousand Years Later: Chapter Five - Taking Over the Human Village

The villagers were skeptical of Ash's story, as he suddenly appeared and led a large number of monsters and beasts to besiege the village. They found it hard to believe that Ash, a "human" who was mixed up with demons and claimed to be a demon, was saying such things.

Indeed, in terms of appearance, he looks exactly like a human, without any demonic features, making it difficult to distinguish between the two.

Unless one is a mage with a deep understanding of demons and can distinguish them by their aura, ordinary humans are basically unable to tell the difference between the two.

Ash also realized this, and originally it might have been more convenient to say that it was a human.

But there was Aura beside him, and rather than expose himself and break trust later, it was better to be honest from the start. So he didn't bother to pretend and simply shrugged and said:

"Don't judge a book by its cover. I am actually a demon, but we don't intend to kill anyone, so we hope you will cooperate with us."

"You mean... cooperation?"

An elderly man, presumably the village chief, stepped out from the crowd.

"Yes, as long as you take care of us, we can protect you from monsters and wild beasts. How about that? It's a good deal for you living on the edge of the forest, isn't it?"

"...Really, that's all?" The old man asked, half believing and half doubting.

"You can learn about this in the course of our cooperation. Of course, you are not allowed to leave here and go to other villages or inhabited places."

Actions speak louder than words, so he didn't explain much and forced a cooperation between them on his own.

And led by the trembling villagers, they went to the best house in the village.

Soon, under the monster's supervision, the villagers served them food.

On the table were cheese, bread, soup with milk, and even meat that had been seared and was dripping with oil, while roasted chestnuts emitted a sweet aroma.

The various aromas wafting around them were so enticing that the two, who had spent their childhoods like wild men in the mountains, exchanged a glance and reached out in unison, vying for the food without any regard for their past relationship.

They didn't need to worry about being poisoned. Based on their own understanding, ordinary toxins were ineffective against demons, and even if there were toxins that could poison demons, they couldn't possibly be found in this village.

It was the delicious food that made Aura completely trust Ash's judgment after the meal, and they decided to settle down here together.

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

For a while, the villagers were filled with fear, but with the help of magical beasts and wild animals, their success rate in hunting in the mountains increased dramatically, and the probability of injury decreased linearly. They even stopped facing external threats, just as Ash had said.

The controlled wild beasts and magical creatures could also help with farm work, greatly improving efficiency and helping them cultivate new fields.

In the first winter of that year, no one starved to death in this impoverished border village for the first time.

This quickly changed their mindset, and in the third year, they even built stone statues for them, treating them as guardian deities... However, to avoid being considered heretics, they quietly removed Aura's horns.

With the villagers' support, Ash and Aura were able to focus on their magic studies and enjoy delicious food every day.

Therefore, after the first year, they basically lifted the restrictions, or rather... allowed the village chief and a few villagers who voluntarily accepted control to move around freely after being subjected to obedience magic by Aura and unable to betray them. They were free to go out and buy things.

However, aside from the order that betrayal would result in suicide, their activities remained exactly the same as before unless additional orders were issued, except that they could not disobey Aura's orders or betray them.

For ordinary villagers, the choice between a life of basic sustenance with mental constraints and the possibility of spiritual freedom that could lead to starvation for themselves and their families seems to be something they don't need to agonize over.

Despite the presence of a yoke, in these impoverished border villages during the Middle Ages, people often went hungry or even starved to death.

Their kingdom was still at war with neighboring countries, and the various taxes were quite heavy.

It was through these human villages that Ash learned about the structure of this world, and now they are among the southern kingdoms.

This place is quite far from the northern continent, the stronghold of the demons.

Therefore, only scattered demons are here, and the demon threat they face is much smaller, which also leads to wars breaking out between the countries here from time to time.

Everyone wants to annex the other, but no one can swallow the other. They are constantly waging war against each other, and the recent fighting seems to be quite intense, resulting in two war orphans being stranded in this remote village.

...It was those two orphans who came to escape the war who gave Ash a lot of information about the outside world.

"Humans, no matter which world they live in, ultimately all enjoy killing each other, don't they?"

In his spare time from practicing magic, Ash looked at the wheat field in front of him and briefly reflected on the current state of his country, but he quickly put those boring philosophical questions out of his mind.

The setting sun cast its light on the golden wheat fields beside the building. As the wind blew across the land, the wheat rippled like waves, like a golden ocean rising and falling in the breeze.

Everything in sight was so peaceful that it didn't seem like a border village in a war-torn country. It was so peaceful that it made people want to be lazy. Ash lay down on the grass by the village, leaned against a tree trunk, and quietly closed his eyes, wanting to take a good nap.

Unfortunately, before he could fall asleep, in his hazy state, he heard a hesitant, aged voice beside him:

"Lord Ash...it's almost dinnertime, and Lord Aura is still in his room. This is the third day already. Why don't you go and check on him?"

"It's alright, a demon won't starve in three days. She's probably just focused on studying magic." He turned around and saw the elderly village chief with a hesitant expression.

He found it more interesting than Aura's secluded research into magic, which he found fascinating about human interest in the demon race.

This is not surprising, though. They have now reached a wonderful understanding with the village, and for the time being, no one can leave the other... Moreover, humans cannot live without them—or rather, they cannot live without Aura.

The Buried Frilian: From a Thousand Years to the Present: Chapter Six - The Shattered Daily Life

Ash's nonchalant attitude meant he simply didn't want to deal with Aura anymore, which left the old village chief in a dilemma, hesitant to speak.

He didn't pay much attention and stood up, walking straight into the village without turning his head, saying, "Don't worry about it, that guy will come out on his own if he's really hungry."

"is that so?"

"That's it."

He shrugged nonchalantly and offered no further explanation, heading to the room that the villagers had voluntarily built last year.

The villagers we encountered along the way all greeted us with smiles.

Inside the house, food was already laid out on the dining table. The middle-aged woman who was cooking was about to leave, and he nodded with a smile as he watched.

"The weather has turned cold lately, so Lord Ash and Lord Aura should take advantage of the warmth."

"Thank you."

Ash simply nodded slightly and sat down at the table to eat alone in silence, too lazy to call Aura... after all, disturbing him would only make that guy throw a tantrum.

Simple food was laid out on the rough wooden dining table.

The rough bread, homemade cheese, freshly roasted meat, and fresh vegetables were not exactly delicious, but they were still much better than the primitive life of the past.

Ash quietly enjoyed his dinner, his face expressionless, but his eyes revealed a sense of satisfaction and tranquility, suggesting he was relatively content with the current situation.

However, amidst this peaceful and serene atmosphere, dusk quietly crept into the depths of the room, subtly revealing a sense of impending storm.

A gentle breeze began to blow outside, rustling the leaves as if nature were whispering something to the world.

He now understands that coexistence between humans and demons will inevitably lead to some problems, but when those problems will occur... no one knows.

Therefore, he didn't think too much about it and remained immersed in the peaceful dinner, enjoying this moment of tranquility and peace.

The problem he feared finally occurred one late autumn afternoon, but... the problem was not quite what he had imagined.

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

On a late autumn afternoon, the sunlight became soft and warm, and there was a slight chill in the air.

The sky was a deep, clear blue, with a few white clouds drifting leisurely by. In the distance, farmers were busy harvesting, while nearby, cattle and sheep grazed peacefully, accompanied by the occasional chirping of insects and calls of birds.

Everything was so peaceful that Ash couldn't resist lying on a haystack made of wheat, basking in the sun and taking a nap.

However... in his half-awake state, he was inexplicably kicked on the shoulder.