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

"Your gaze is rather rude," Solitaire said, noticing his gaze but smiling with annoyance.

This made him cough lightly, and then silently look away: "...Don't misunderstand, this is an inquiring gaze, without any ulterior motives."

"Really?"

"If I had to say, I'd say I'm a little bothered by it."

"You're so frank."

"I didn't mean anything strange, don't misunderstand."

Although he was praised, he couldn't be happy about the content of the compliment.

After all, he understood that Solitaire actually knew what he wanted to express... she was just saying it that way on a whim.

Therefore, he did not intend to continue on this strange topic, shook his head helplessly, and quickly walked ahead.

Although he was not good at finding his way around, he managed to get back to the city gate after only going back and forth once, and then walked straight to the golden lord's mansion.

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

Mahat, who already knew they were coming, was standing at the gate of the courtyard.

This time, however, Mahat's gaze fell on Solitaire, and he even frowned slightly:

"Solitaire, what are you doing here?"

"I'm just curious, after living among humans all these years..." Solitaire smiled and asked in return, "Have you found those feelings that you discussed with me a century ago?"

"......"

"Ah, looks like it failed." Just by looking at the way Mahat's brows furrowed slightly, Solitaire made her judgment with a smile before he could even answer.

Of course, there was no sarcasm in that smile from Solitaire; she simply seemed to feel a slight regret, and continued to herself, "Just as I predicted back then, things have turned out exactly as I predicted."

"No, you're wrong."

"Wrong?"

“Just a little bit more, I felt something surface in my mind… or rather, in that instant of golden transformation, I definitely felt something.” Surprisingly, Mahat shook his head slightly at the end, denying her assertion. “Over the years, I’ve been wandering around this city thinking about what surfaced in my mind at that time.”

"But in the end, it still doesn't make sense?"

"...Perhaps with more time, I'll be able to figure it out. Anyway, we have an endless amount of time, but people keep coming here to disturb my thinking."

Mahat shook his head with obvious annoyance and changed the subject, saying, "You didn't come here specifically to ask this question, did you?"

"I wanted to try to change your mind."

"Change?"

"Compared to simply understanding humans and feeling their thoughts, coexisting with humans in this way is wishful thinking." While Solitaire denied it, her smile was still without malice, but rather full of the desire to dispel his worries.

She crossed her fingers over her chest and spoke gently:

"Even if you feel uncomfortable about this fact, you cannot deny that the Demon King before you had the same thoughts as you, and in the end, he launched a full-scale war against humanity, wiping out two-thirds of humanity, and almost causing the demon race to become extinct."

"It's all because of you guys who never participate in wars, otherwise how could things have turned out like this?"

"There's no way around it, because... for me, that war was too boring, but all my friends died in that war, so... I've always thought that coexistence is a very dangerous idea."

As Solitaire spoke, she nodded to herself, seemingly to reinforce the concept.

But Mahat didn't agree with her words, and just stared at her expressionlessly: "That doesn't count as an answer. You said before that you wanted to coexist with humans, so stop beating around the bush and just say it... what exactly do you want to do?"

“I’m not lying. I really do want to coexist with humans, but the way we do it is wrong and too dangerous, so I chose to suppress that thought… until this child made me discover a more peaceful, practical, valuable, and meaningful way to coexist!”

As she talked, she became more and more excited, even panting with excitement. Her flat chest heaved up and down, and her cheeks flushed as she gazed at Ash with fervor.

The beautiful girl, so excited she was breathless, looked at him with a flushed face... This bizarre situation was something Ash, who had lived for so many years, had never seen before, but...

“This child?...Me?” He hesitated, pointing at himself. Solitaire, however, smiled serenely and assured him, “Don’t worry, I will definitely raise you into an outstanding adult.”

"...You want to play the role of a nurturing character? Have you chosen the wrong target? Besides, this kind of behavior is a bit unhealthy, isn't it?"

"Oh my god, you're talking about this too?"

"What do you mean?" The strange question left him, who had once again been innocently dragged into the fray, somewhat puzzled, while Solitaire's smile deepened:

"Weren't Aura and Linne both influenced by you as they grew up? And didn't you deliberately mold them into the kind of people you liked?"

"Good heavens, what kind of karmic retribution is this? Is my retribution you?? By the way... you actually think those are the ones I like? They just grew up crooked, okay? -- I ruined them!"

There were so many things he wanted to complain about that he couldn't keep up with them all at once.

Solitaire, however, just smiled and remained silent, not arguing with him about it at all, which made him feel even more frustrated.

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

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

Despite being in the enemy's stronghold, the things they were discussing were strangely astonishing.

Ash himself was quite astonished and even frustrated, to the point that he couldn't help but want to take action against his own people first.

The demons' unique concept of time kept Mahat in no hurry, and he simply listened quietly to their conversation.

Even after they finished their conversation, Ash was still racking his brains trying to figure out how to deal with Solitaire, this "internal threat," when Mahat, leaning against the golden wall, slowly spoke:

"So... Solitaire, you came all this way just to persuade me to give up my previous ideal of coexistence between humans and demons?"

"Yes."

"Why do something so unnecessary? Our relationship isn't that good yet, and this isn't something you would do."

“Well…” Solitaire smiled and pondered for a moment before explaining, “It must be because I see the shadow of an old friend in you… After all, I couldn’t stop the Demon King back then either.”

“If you really want to change my mind, wouldn’t it be more efficient to just kill me? After all, you should understand how difficult it is to change a demon.” These words, seemingly full of remembrance and friendship, failed to move Mahat in the slightest. He simply retorted coldly, “And your so-called efficiency is just because your obsession has been transferred to someone else.”

"Oh dear... Demons are such a troublesome race. Is this the obsession of the immortal race?" Solitaire wasn't surprised. She smiled and continued, "But actually, I was lying to you. I came here with the intention of killing you. After all... your coexistence is based on the hope of understanding human emotions, right?"

"Your magic has no advantage against mine."

"Yes, that's why I gave up. I'm not as obsessive as Shurahart. Although I'm willing to contribute to the continuation of the race, willingly risking my life... that's a bit... huh?"

Solitaire, who habitually crossed her fingers in front of her chest, tilted her head and didn't care about his unanswered question. She just whispered with a regretful smile, "No matter how strange or extreme we are, we are still demons after all. And I'm a coward. How could I easily risk my life to engage in unnecessary battles?"

"—You're such a frank coward."

Realizing that the negotiations had broken down, Ash finally interrupted their conversation, sighing softly as he reached out and rubbed her head.

Solitaire looked up with a sweet smile: "Although I'm a coward, if you were to give me a deep kiss right now, maybe I'd find the courage?"

"...How do you say it?"

"Think about it, when people face death, don't they often kiss their lovers to muster up courage? Don't you think that's wonderful?" With an expectant blush on her cheeks, Solitaire looked up at him intently. "So, I want to try it too. Will it really help me muster up courage?"

"...Forget it, it's unnecessary to make people who have no power fight."

"I...have no power?" This was the first time in thousands of years that someone had said this, which surprised Solitaire.

"As for compatibility, you don't have the means to prevent everything from turning into gold. You could easily run into big trouble if you're not careful."

"I see... But I really appreciate your thoughtfulness!"

"...Just don't cause me any trouble." Ash had no intention of getting entangled with her and looked back at Mahat, who was silently waiting for something.

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

Given the demons' pride in magic, Mahat would never resort to sneak attacks, and his overly lenient time management meant he didn't mind taking a few days off.

Compared to Mahat, who was already prepared for battle when they appeared, Ash was still somewhat troubled.

Because if possible, he doesn't want to engage in meaningless battles, especially when the opponent is strong.

Although he could use the spell to counter Wanwu Chengjin, he also possessed human magic. Despite being a member of the Great Demon race, his magical power, even though he was relatively young compared to Frilian and Solitaire, was still much stronger than that of the young Aura.

He wanted to reduce pointless battles, so he gathered his thoughts and said, "Anyway... let's talk one last time."

"What's there to talk about?"

“I don’t like pointless battles. In the end, your magic has been broken, so there’s no point in you staying here any longer.” He calmly stated, “If possible, I hope you will join us and work together to make the world as peaceful as possible, so that the two races can truly coexist.”

"Speaking of which, I haven't heard Solitaire mention how you actually do coexistence," Mahat raised an eyebrow slightly, showing some interest.

"Simply put, it's about integrating humans and demons and ruling both races simultaneously."

That's just domination.

"It is coexistence, and it is beneficial to both sides."

“Say what you will, I have no interest in false peace, and such behavior does not help me understand human emotions.” Mahat looked at him coldly, completely uninterested in his advice: “If you want to play house, that’s your business, don’t drag me into it.”

"...While I might indeed be considered a dominant type of coexistence, it's still more reasonable than your coexistence based on understanding emotions. Ultimately, your way of understanding it is too strange." Unable to resist turning the tables on him, Ash finally let out a long sigh and issued his ultimatum:

"It's okay if we can't cooperate, but could you please find a quiet corner to stay in? After all, my kingdom will be liberating this place soon... To be honest, you'll be in the way if you stay here."

“Impossible.” Mahat made his final decision in a concise manner.

Rather, he knew that someone would come to attack him when his memories were read, but he didn't care.

Ash was actually very clear about this when he learned about his memories, but he didn't know what Ash was thinking.

Because this kind of memory only includes sounds and images, and does not include the mental activities that are happening all the time.

So this unique way of coexisting... to be honest, he couldn't quite understand it. He thought about it for a long time but still couldn't figure it out. Why did Mahat and the former Demon King have to understand human emotions in order to coexist?

Is this a unique way of thinking among demons? Solitaire, though she also had this idea of ​​coexistence, chose to suppress it before she knew herself, and began to change her approach after she did. Only these two are extremely obsessive... This should be considered their unique characteristic, right?

As Ash pondered, he slowly unleashed his magic, causing two horns to sprout from his head, and allowing the surging magic to resonate within the great barrier.

"...Since you insist on going your own way, there's nothing I can do. Although I didn't want it to be this way, I have no choice but to kill you now." Ash slowly raised a foot, sighing softly with a sense of pity: "Killing such an outstanding member of your race is truly regrettable."

"Don't lie. When have we ever regretted killing our own kind?"

"That's true... So, killing a skilled mage would be a regret for me, wouldn't it?"

"Hmm... As expected, turning everything into gold is useless."

Knowing that he had come prepared, after he unleashed his power, Mahat tried to cast the magic of turning everything into gold, but it had no effect. Instead, the soles of his feet turned gold first, which surprised Mahat.

However, the gold color immediately faded, returning to its original hue... Clearly, he had anticipated this.

"I can turn everything into gold while resisting for three days and three nights. What about your strange magic?"

"If we use the curse to reverse the current state, it doesn't matter if we maintain this state indefinitely, no matter how long it lasts."

“It seems so,” Mahat laughed.