"...", She lowered her head slightly, seeming to think about something, as if weighing the pros and cons. After a while, she looked up again, "I still know a little about you."
"You don't understand humans enough."
"You're a demon, right?"
"Now that you mention it, yeah. I am actually a demon," He knew he had gone a bit too far, but seeing this strong-willed girl like this now, he felt that even if time went backward, he still wouldn't be able to stop himself from wanting to "bully" her a little.
But because of the difference between their races, he really shouldn't do things like this. He should try hard to hold himself back, otherwise...
Before Ash could finish worrying, Ubel directly climbed onto his lap and looked up at him. The corner of her lips curled into a mischievous smile, "That's your problem to worry about. I'm an idiot anyway, I don't understand troublesome things~"
Since she had never been good at thinking things through, the girl simply gave up thinking entirely. As she spoke, she leaned in to kiss him again, trying to take back the dignity she had lost.
But just as her counterattack began, the window suddenly shattered with a loud bang.
The huge noise was like thunder, instantly breaking the silence in the room and the ambiguous mood.
A small pink-haired girl with twin tails, dressed in a gothic dress, Linie, burst through the broken window together with a shower of glass fragments.
Like a nimble little leopard, she had already summoned a longsword the moment she saw the situation in the room and slashed straight at them.
"Oh?", Ubel was startled for a moment, but then seemed to think of something. Her eyes filled with amusement, and with a mischievous mindset, she ignored everything else and continued kissing him.
The scolding Ash was about to say got blocked before it could leave his mouth. He could only instinctively raise a hand and catch the longsword.
But the moment he grabbed the sword, Linie abandoned it entirely and charged at them herself, clearly trying to force the two apart.
Her movements were firm and decisive, as if protecting something precious to her.
Ash could only hurriedly throw the sword aside, use one hand to push the girl on top of him away, and use the other to catch Linie's head.
Under the strange situation, he barely managed to stabilize things.
———
Even though the situation was especially strange, before Linie could speak, Ash first asked why she had appeared here.
Actually, there was nothing strange about it. He had been the one who gathered everyone here in the first place. He was supposed to have everyone go to the imperial palace, but this child had always liked sticking to him, so she came looking for him and happened to catch him during his good moment.
"You really are something. What am I even supposed to say to you?"
Ash softly scolded her while unconsciously and habitually pulling Linie onto his lap.
After all, earlier he had already been worried about losing control by accident. But with Linie barging in unexpectedly, hugging her helped him calm down mentally.
Otherwise, with so many people around, if something really happened by accident, everyone would definitely hear it.
But just this action alone made Linie, who had originally been sitting properly with both hands on her knees, slightly raise her chin toward Ubel sitting nearby, full of obvious pride.
She looked like a proud little peacock showing off her special position.
She had already kissed him twice herself, yet this girl came in and immediately occupied the main spot. Ubel found herself doubting life again for the second time.
She narrowed her eyes slightly and smiled without really smiling, "Didn't you say you wouldn't hold children outside of public places? Then what's this now? What else do you want to explain?"
Ash calmly answered, "It's different. I've been holding this child since she was little."
"Isn't Fern the same? Do you want to hold her too?"
"I do, but I can't. She's already a big girl," Ash did not hide his thoughts. He gently stroked Linie's hair, his movements full of affection. He even started lecturing her instead, "But this child is still young. The situation is different. You can't treat children with the same standards as adults, right?"
"But this girl has cognitive interference magic on her. Looking at your situation, she's a demon too, right?"
"Do you discriminate against demons?"
"No, I'm curious how old she is."
"Is that the point? The point is, she's still a child!"
Like an overprotective father defending his kid, Ash hugged the girl in his arms and delivered the standard line of parents with spoiled children.
Hearing this, Linie proudly snorted, "Understand now? If you do, hurry up and step aside, human auntie."
"A-a-a-auntie?", Still a young girl herself, being called auntie by a "child" who was definitely older than her made Ubel's smile gradually crack apart.
But now she completely understood, 'Sure enough, just as Ash.'
Still, Ash did not blindly indulge her. He pinched Linie's cheek and softly scolded her, "Linie, no matter what, Ubel isn't old enough to be called auntie. Hurry up and apologize to this big sister."
"Shouldn't Lord Ash be helping me instead?", Linie looked unwilling. Her small lips puffed out slightly, making her look cute and playful enough that the strength in his fingers unconsciously loosened.
"You're both my people. Of course I can't favor one over the other. Hurry and apologize, or I won't hold you anymore."
"Cheapskate...", When Ash deliberately put on a serious face, Linie quietly complained, but still lowered her head unwillingly, "Sorry, human."
"Wow, I thought she was a spoiled brat, but unexpectedly she's actually a good chi—", Ubel stretched out a hand in surprise, wanting to pat her head too, but before she could touch her, Linie's gaze sharpened. With a backhand motion, another purple ball of light gathered in her palm, as if a magic weapon would appear there the next moment.
Ubel wisely withdrew her hand and looked up at Ash in frustration, "Sure enough, a child you raised wouldn't be a good child."
"Isn't it normal to keep proper guard against strangers?"
"With this kid's skills, inside this room... other than Sense and Falsch, those two melee specialists, the others would probably die before they could even use magic, right?"
"It's always good to stay cautious. Especially for girls, necessary vigilance is important," Ash gently stroked Linie's head. The affection in his expression was obvious, making Ubel helplessly shake her head, "Just spoil her all you want. One day you'll definitely suffer for it."
The atmosphere in the bedroom gradually became subtle. Ash sat between Linie and Ubel, carrying both affection for Linie and complicated feelings toward Ubel in his heart.
And before the small conflict between Linie and Ubel could develop into a second round, the unlocked bedroom door, was opened from outside.
———
The noise of Linie breaking through the window had actually been pretty noticeable, but since it came from Ash's room, nobody paid much attention.
After all, it was hard for normal people to imagine someone capable of suppressing the imperial capital alone running into any trouble, so it took everyone a while before they came over.
Still, they originally thought it was some petty thief or something, but the scene in front of them left everyone confused.
On the other hand, Ash very naturally introduced Linie's situation.
"A child you also raised... the child from that relative's family you mentioned before... the one who likes apples?", Fern slightly frowned, and a strange sense of competition unconsciously rose in her heart.
While Ash was introducing her, Linie had already casually started biting into an apple. Sitting on his lap, she swung her legs back and forth while expressionlessly commenting, "Lord Ash, I really dislike this woman."
"From the perspective that I'm your guardian, you should call her big sister... no, actually she should call you big sister. You're almost a hundred years old already. As the older sister, don't be so petty."
"I actually have a demon older sister? And, so tiny?", Fern's face filled with disbelief.
As a bystander, Frieren instead looked troubled and corrected him, "Don't get it wrong, Fern. Ash isn't your dad. This child is at most the mistress."
"No, I'm Lord Ash's lover," Linie naturally said the shocking statement she had said before.
"Lover?", Fern shouted in shock, even her fingertips trembling wildly.
Meanwhile, the way Frieren and Ubel looked at him was full of disgust. Perhaps disgust toward the way he educated Linie.
"....", Sense silently blinked and stared at him without moving her eyes away. After quite a while, she finally asked, "Lord Ash, this child won't grow anymore, right?"
"Sadly, there's probably no hope," Ash sighed lightly, carrying a trace of regret in his eyes.
"Sadly?", Sense slightly frowned, while Linie puffed out her lips unhappily. Ash quickly changed his words, trying to ease the awkward mood, "Ah, but being this small is also very cute. I like it too."
"Saying you like her in public," Frieren wore a strange expression, as if she had seen something weird.
"I've already explained many times. I don't have weird thoughts. Don't pin strange crimes on me. Like you, Frieren, you also don't like people saying you always look like a child, right?"
"That seems true too. Then I'll go rest first. You all can keep chatting," Having her sore spot hit, Frieren immediately became honest and silently turned around to leave, no longer wanting to stay involved in the topic.
Ash also waved his hand, saying he wanted to properly talk with Linie, while driving out the people who had barged into his room without permission.
Because a certain outsider interrupted them, they continue continue smooching. Ubel temporarily gave up on her previous plan, but she shot him a glare, silently telling him this matter would not end here so easily, before quickly skipping away.
Sense always listened to him well. This time, she only hesitated and left after Fern firmly refused to leave the room.
———
[Ash's Room]
Linie stared at Fern, who refused to leave, and unhappily frowned her little brows, "Why are you still here? You're annoying."
"I should be the one saying that. You're already so old, yet you keep clinging to Lord Ash. Aren't you afraid people will laugh at you?", Fern crossed her arms in front of her chest. Her tone carried dissatisfaction and a clear edge.
"I like staying here. Why should I care what others think?", Linie's expression did not change at all. She simply replied with a matter-of-fact question that directly left Fern confused, "Eh? Th-that... shame?"
"What's the meaning of that kind of thing?", Linie tilted her head slightly, her face indifferent.
Fern choked on Linie's words and did not know how to answer for a moment. She blankly stared at the girl before her, complicated emotions rising in her heart.
There was surprise at her completely unconcerned attitude, and there was also a jealousy spreading inside her.
"Y-you can't be this willful," Fern tried hard to adjust her mood and make her tone sound more serious, "Lord Ash has his own things to do too. You can't keep sticking to him all the time!"
"Lord Ash was mine to begin with. You're the later one clinging to Lord Ash," Linie bit into her apple and did not even bother looking at Fern, "Besides, I want to cling to Lord Ash, and Lord Ash likes me too. That has nothing to do with you."
The moment she said that, Fern puffed up like a pufferfish from anger, "How does it have nothing to do with me? I care about Lord Ash too!"
Linie slightly raised her chin, carrying a trace of contempt in her eyes, "So what? Anyone can say things with their mouth. Can you stay beside Lord Ash all the time like I can? I even heard that you won't let Lord Ash hold you on his lap anymore."
"Th-that's because I grew up! So, so of course," Fern stuttered, but before she could finish, Linie threw out a short and direct question.
"Can you be older than me?"
"Ugh!"
Fern was instantly speechless. She really could not stay beside Ash without restraint like Linie could. That made her feel extremely down, yet she was unwilling to be suppressed by Linie like this.
But Linie completely ignored Fern now. She casually tossed aside the half-eaten apple, wiped her hands on Ash's clothes, then freely swung her legs while smugly curling up the corners of her lips.
Seeing her relaxed and comfortable appearance, even slightly lofty, the jealousy inside Fern exploded even harder. Annoyed, she turned toward Ash instead and bit her lip unwillingly, "Lord Ash! Why aren't you saying anything?"
"What do you want me to say? You're both children I watched grow up. What can I even say?"
'What can I do? I am helpless too!', Both sides mattered equally to him. Ash was even forced to bury his face into Linie's hair just to avoid the conflict between the two girls.
But when Fern saw that, she became so angry that she simply... stopped leaving.
That very night, because Linie refused to leave and Fern refused to back down at all, the two directly trapped Ash in the middle.
On the left was a cute girl. On the right was a girl with the body of a mature beauty. It should have been double happiness, so why couldn't he feel happy at all? Ash lay stiffly in the middle while each girl hugged one of his arms and glared at each other across him, making it impossible for him to enjoy the blessing of both sides.
Linie's side was flat and peaceful, but Fern's side was like a mountain pressing against the back of his hand... seriously testing his self-control.
If not for the special identities of the two girls, along with the fact that Fern's head pressed against the wound on his shoulder, Linie's legs squeezed the wound on his leg, and even the wound on his back hurt while lying down, leaving him barely able to focus away from the pain, together with his unshakable moral bottom line, he estimated he would no longer be able to control himself.
Even in the middle of the night, after Fern had already fallen asleep, Linie quietly held his face. While he looked at her in confusion, she silently pressed those soft pink lips against his again.
After satisfying herself with the kiss, she laid on his chest, swayed her head around, wiped her mouth with his clothes, and only then happily fell asleep.
———
Using the stimulation from the pain, Ash successfully endured a happy yet torturous night, otherwise he truly worried he would suffer social death.
The whole night, he even relied on the pain to keep seriously thinking about matters like the Holy Sword and the Hero, because those two were his biggest problems right now.
But with no clues at all, he could only think of ways to prepare for the possibility that he might accidentally end up being hunted down.
And on the next day, Frieren, still groggy after waking up, finally decided to go meet the Emperor of the Empire. After all, this matter had already been delayed long enough.
A lot had happened in the imperial capital this time too. She was afraid the Emperor would think the kingdom was responsible, causing the conflict to fester.
So, under Sense's hesitant and repeatedly questioning gaze toward Ash, she brought everyone together to the gates of the imperial palace.
At the palace gates, the new guards originally just stood there routinely, their expressions serious and cold as they accepted Frieren's request for an audience.
However, when their eyes accidentally swept across Ash among the crowd, their eyes suddenly widened. Their pupils filled with shock and disbelief, and even their bodies trembled, as if they had seen something terrifying.
All of them unconsciously straightened their backs. Respect and fear appeared on their faces. They exchanged looks with each other, communicating the shock in their hearts through their eyes, not daring to make a sound. Only after Ash reminded them did they tremblingly go inside to report that the mage from the Hero's party had arrived.
"How strange... Why did they all seem... afraid of me after I only reported my identity?"
The guards' strange reaction made Frieren tilt her head in confusion. Her gaze moved back and forth between the guards, trying to find the reason.
Seeing that Frieren seemed to notice something, Ash quickly stepped forward. With his usual smile, he interrupted her suspicion.
"It must be your past reputation making them nervous, right? After all, you're the mage who defeated the Demon King. Such an incredible figure, even if I were a guard, I'd definitely be scared too."
"That does sound reasonable?"
Without doubting him, Frieren subconsciously nodded. It did seem to make some sense, yet she still vaguely felt... like something was not quite right.