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

"I'm different. You'd probably... give it to me?"

"Should...?" Zanze looked at him blankly, his mind unable to process what he was seeing for a long time.

But Ash didn't answer. He patted her head, stood up, and walked out of the ruins.

This made her instinctively reach out her hand, trying to stop him: "Wait, wait a minute! Lord Ash, are you leaving already? But your injury..."

“I suddenly remembered that I haven’t fed the pets at home yet. You can tidy up the site yourself... just make sure it’s close enough, anyway, a professional construction team will be here soon.”

Ash, realizing he'd rushed out and forgotten to give Philon money for dinner, left with only an ambiguous farewell, and was already starting to worry about how to rebuild the destroyed part of the branch.

In addition, how to avoid the need for secondary expansion as much as possible is also a key project he is considering.

The girl, whose age was unknown and who had no personality traits, remained slumped in place, staring blankly at his back.

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

Inside temporary housing within the city.

When Ash returned, he immediately saw the little girl busily cleaning the room with a wet rag.

She had washed all the bedding that had been sitting there for a while, and it was now drying in the courtyard.

The weather in the north is different from that in the south. The girl's tender little hands had already turned bright red, but she silently and diligently did things beyond her responsibilities.

"It's like being adopted, afraid of not doing well, forcing yourself to work hard, perform actively, and try to prove your worth..." Ash couldn't help but sigh as he watched Philon's hard-working figure.

And the reality is clearly not much different.

Although he couldn't hear his mutterings clearly, Philon heard the voice and instinctively looked up.

"Welcome back, Ash... Lord Ash?! -- What happened to you? Did you encounter any robbers?"

Only when they could clearly see his figure and noticed that he was covered in dirt and blood, as if someone had hit his head with a hammer, did they panic and run over quickly.

"It's just that I ran into some bullies." Recalling Celia's smug face, he was a little annoyed, but he had long since stopped caring. However, Philon's worried expression made him subconsciously add, "...I'm pretty much used to it by now. It's okay, don't worry about it."

"A bully who preys on the weak?? Just? Is it a habit??" Philon grasped the key point in those words, but he nonchalantly wiped the blood from his forehead: "It's really nothing, it happens all the time."

This casual attitude made Philen unable to contain himself and shout, "This isn't some trivial matter, is it?! We need to find the guards right away... no, we need to get to the church right away...!"

"Speaking of which, I forgot to leave you money for dinner. I'm sorry. I'll give you more next time. If you need more, just ask me."

Compared to Philon's tension, Ash, who was already used to battle, didn't care at all and even took out two gold coins from his pocket with a sense of guilt.

But compared to his indifference, Philon felt an indescribable emotion welling up in her heart because he was still thinking of her at this moment and completely disregarded her appearance. A warmth spread through her heart, but at the same time, she was on the verge of tears as she pushed him to go outside.

"—This isn't the time to worry about these things! Blood is dripping again, hurry to church!"

"Ah, don't push me! I'll go, but..."

"No, but! Please act quickly."

......

Amidst the clamor and urging, Ash was forcibly pushed into the church.

That night, Ash's blankets smelled of sunshine, a scent he hadn't experienced in a long time, and a little head nestled beside him.

The day after their first night together, Philon was initially quite shy and barely dared to look him in the eye.

But after that night, although she was still restless and unable to sleep, whenever Ash held her hand, Philon would feel a warmth in her heart and feel inexplicably at ease.

After a long day of housework, the exhausted girl collapsed and fell asleep on his shoulder.

It was probably after their first night that their relationship became a little closer, and on this day, their relationship seemed to have taken another step closer?

To be honest, Ash wasn't really sure either. He just touched Philon's hair, then closed his eyes and let exhaustion drag him into sleep.

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

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

In the blink of an eye, Philon had been living in this magical city for more than half a year.

During this period, Ash went out early and returned late every day, presiding over the reconstruction of the Magic Association branch, and incidentally spending time in Seria's library. Then he would go out for a few days to fight with the so-called Bloodstained God of War, Levalle.

After all, if we don't fight a berserker like Livale for too long, he'll probably go out and fight other people for no reason, and then... we'll probably all be slaughtered.

"Go out and get something to eat on the street. The country is very safe. As long as you don't leave the city, you don't need to worry."

As Ash said this, after appropriately increasing the amount of money he gave Philon... although he also hired a maid to take care of her, Philon ended up doing the housework without him even realizing it.

Although she was only six years old, she was much more responsible than Ash, who was completely indifferent to these things.

One day, as the gentle morning light awakened Philon, she rubbed her eyes and stretched lazily.

The soft bed made her sleep very comfortably, because the mattress was also specially chosen by Ash on the street. It was basically no different from her old home, and she could fall asleep peacefully without Ash holding her hand.

Although this made her somewhat lonely, she didn't want to cause Ash too much trouble, so she never showed it.

When she walked out of the room, she naturally didn't see any familiar figures, even though it was still early and even the maid who lived nearby hadn't come to work yet.

"...Lord Ash's work is really busy." Philon reached out and touched his bed, but could no longer feel any warmth, which made her unable to hide her disappointment.

But soon she patted her face with both hands, forced herself to cheer up, washed her face, and after eating the breakfast prepared by the maid, she hurriedly rushed to school.

Her parents had previously found her magic teachers, so she already had a corresponding foundation in magic. Now, she is naturally studying at a magic academy in the magic city.

She recently made two new friends at school... but they often argue.

"But the teacher said that being able to argue all the time is proof that you have a good relationship... Ash and I have never argued, does that mean we don't have a good relationship?"

The sun had just risen above the horizon, and the air on the street was quite chilly in the early morning. Philon held his hands in front of him and breathed on them to warm them, but he also unconsciously fell into thought.

But she quickly stopped thinking about it, because the little girl with orange hair in pigtails and the little girl with blue eyes and silver hair had already appeared in her line of sight, making her smile involuntarily.

Good morning, Connecticut and Rabindranath.

"Ah, Philon! -- Quick, help me hold her down! This girl is pulling my hair again! She's going to tear it off... This time I'm definitely going to kill her!" Connie, with her orange hair and twin ponytails, shouted excitedly.

But Rabine shoved the silver-haired girl aside without any politeness and gave her a polite smile: "Good morning, Philen, what a lovely day."

"Yes, it's a great day to air out the blankets."

"Airing out the blankets...?" Rabindranath instinctively looked up at the azure sky and couldn't help but agree, "Indeed, but..."

“But shouldn’t this be the perfect weather for going out and having fun?” Connie couldn’t help but interject.

Without thinking much, Philon replied instinctively, "Because Lord Ash likes sun-dried blankets."

"Lord Ash...?" Connie tilted his head dramatically. "Come to think of it, you've mentioned him before, like someone from your family, right? If so, why are you calling him 'Lord'?"

“This…” Philon suddenly seemed troubled, unsure how to explain it.

Rabindranath didn't even blink, and kicked Connie flying with a single kick:

"Don't pry into other people's family affairs, isn't that a school rule? Have you forgotten so quickly?"

"—Waaaaah! You, you bastard! I... of course I remember! But there's no need to kick someone like that!!"

Connie fell and got covered in dirt, his two ponytails getting a little dirty. So even though he realized he had asked something he shouldn't have and his confidence was a bit weak, he still kept complaining on the ground.

At that moment, Philon squatted down and helped her up, pondering her relationship with Ash amidst Connie's gratitude.

So, it really is an adoption, right? But if we don't call him an adult, what should we call him? Great-grandfather? Grandfather? Uncle...?

Judging from his appearance, he's clearly not quite there yet, so calling him "brother" seems a bit inappropriate.

This question had been bothering her until she arrived at the academy and her studies began. Only then was she able to put it aside and focus her attention on the teacher demonstrating magic not far away.

"...I will work hard, so that when I grow up... no one will be able to bully Lord Ash!"

Whenever she recalled his bloodied and battered appearance, Philon felt a pang of sorrow and silently murmured to herself, forcing herself to work harder.

Because—she wanted to become someone who could protect Ash.

Rather than worrying about the nature of the relationship, this is her biggest dream right now.

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

When Ash finished his busy day and returned home... it was already completely dark and late at night.

As he tiptoed into the courtyard, he noticed that the living room was still brightly lit.

Upon entering the living room, I noticed an oil lamp was lit, and a small figure was perched on the desk, with a book about the basics of magic beside it.

"...Was it because you waited for me too long, or were you tired from reading?" Ash wasn't quite sure about this either, but as he picked him up, he couldn't help but sigh softly, "But this can't go on, can it?"

While Philon was constantly thinking about how to repay the kindness of raising her, Ash was constantly pondering who would be the most suitable person to raise her.

It wasn't that he was heartless, but after considering all aspects, and taking into account the situation that had played out countless times tonight, he was convinced that it was better to hand it over to someone else... at least better than himself.

As time went on, he also discovered that in addition to providing food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, he also faced issues such as providing for the other party's old age and offering emotional support.

Although he was somewhat reluctant to part with her after spending some time together, it was still better than raising her and then taking care of her in her old age.

This is also a lesson learned from the past – Celia's advice.