"Don't say such dangerous things while smiling.... Your personality really isn't cute at all," The strong contrast made Ash click his tongue, but after a moment of deliberation, he still nodded, "Fine, since you've said that much, I can't really refuse. I'm the type who can't help but want to give a hand when I see someone fighting with all their might."
"Your mouth says that, but the real reason is because I'm cute, right?", Seeing Ash agree, Ariel let out a breath of relief, but she couldn't help poking his side with her elbow and grinning, "It's fine~ There's no one else here. If you say it, no one will know."
"Why is it that when I try to be a good person, I get misunderstood to this extent?"
"Just tell me if I'm cute or not!", Ariel pressed on relentlessly.
"Your personality isn't cute," He rubbed his throbbing brow, beginning to suspect he might have accidentally gotten involved with a troublesome person, while Ariel blinked and grinned, "Don't let my appearance fool you. I'm actually quite shy~ And it's precisely because I have quite a bit of feeling for you that I proposed these terms, you know?"
"Then show more of that shy side."
"Oh, but wouldn't that mean I lose?"
"What exactly are you fighting against?"
"Wouldn't it be you?", Ariel pointed at him with a perfectly natural expression.
".Is that so? Then....", Ash paused for a moment, then suddenly reached out, slipped his arms under Ariel's armpits, and with ease lifted the small girl onto his lap.
"Eh?", Ariel's body went stiff for an instant, but Ash casually patted her head and asked with an innocent look, "What's wrong?"
"Wh-what do you mean what's wrong... Ah!", As if suddenly realizing something, her face turned red.
"Aren't you mine now? What's wrong with a little patting?"
"I'm not mentally prepared for this!", Ariel's face flushed as she turned her head to glare at Ash.
"That's your problem," Ash completely ignored Ariel's discontent. Holding the girl in his arms, a strange feeling welled up inside him, as if.... he had come home. He couldn't help but murmur softly, "It's really good to be home..."
"This is technically my home, you know?", Ariel was completely baffled.
"It's mine now too~ In every sense."
"H-haa...", Ariel was at a loss.
Though Ash had given her at least a minimal explanation, she still didn't understand.
And being surrounded by this unfamiliar yet familiar scent made her head feel fuzzy.
Though the initial feelings had come from the parallel consciousness of Kumoko, that part of the soul had long since merged with her completely, leaving no distinction between them, which meant now, she couldn't bring herself to hate this situation at all.
Even so, being treated like a body pillow still made her feel, incredibly embarrassed.
———
After acquiring a legitimate body pillow, Ash felt as though he had truly found a sense of home in this unfamiliar place. Though no one around him could understand his peculiar way of thinking, he still lived here with utter ease.
Ariel had said she needed to prepare the army for war, but not much of that preparatory work actually got done. After all, she was never good at handling such tedious affairs, so before long she was acting like a detached boss, legs crossed, dumping everything onto one person.
That person was a bespectacled fellow who always had a group of attendants following behind him. He looked like a big shot, with a perpetually stern, unsmiling expression on his face.
After handing him the outline of the task and dismissing the kneeling man, Ariel happily started drinking, completely set on wasting away her days.
Sophia, who was wiping sweat nearby while receiving healing magic from Kumoko, couldn't help but shoot her a look of disgust.
"I finally understand what people who hold both power and violence are like," After the outsiders had left, Sophia muttered quietly, her voice so low that no one else could really make it out, "She dumps everything on others and just lazes around here every day. Mr. Ash would never do that."
Kumoko heard this and nodded vigorously in agreement, though inwardly she felt a bit relieved, relieved that she hadn't said anything envious out loud.
But Ash simply pretended not to hear, because the truth was, he was actually quite envious of Ariel's situation. Having subordinates who could handle everything while he just ate, drank, and had fun, what a comfortable life! It was practically his dream.
Though Ariel had heard Sophia's words clearly, she acted completely unbothered, continuing to carry on with her lazy, carefree attitude in a way that left people unsure what to say about her.
Still, the three of them, Ash, Kumoko, and Sophia, all lived off Ariel, so they had no grounds to complain.
Ash even flicked Sophia's head and then squatted down to lecture her seriously, "Sophia, how can you talk about others behind their backs like that? You should be an upright person of good character, that is, you should learn from me."
"S-sorry..."
Sophia rubbed her head pitifully, but surprisingly listened, like a good child who knew she'd done something wrong.
'This guy really can say such shameless things so easily. Even I have to admire that! Though I do want to say the same things too! But I can't bring myself to say them, so that means I'm a more noble person than him, right?', Kumoko shook her head repeatedly, and to avoid getting caught up in trouble, she silently walked over to Ariel and reached out to grab some wine.
But... her hand had barely reached out when Ash, using high-speed movement magic, chased after her and slapped her hand down.
"Wh-what?", Kumoko looked at him with a pitiful expression, but he was surprisingly serious.
"Kids can't drink alcohol."
"I'm already," Kumoko tried to defend herself, but he said with seriousness, "Your physical age is only a year old, maybe two at most. No."
"I'm a demon—"
"Doesn't matter if you're a demon."
"Mmm!", Kumoko puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction, staring hard at him to vent her frustration.
"Staring at me won't work either. I've already decided, I'm going to be a strict father! I'm not going to raise any more strange kids!"
'You're not my dad! Why should you boss me around? In fact, my grandmother-in-law Ariel is right over there! And she hasn't said a word! I'm angry! Seriously angry! Apologize now and I might forgive you! Otherwise I'm going to roll around on the floor right here! Get dust all over myself! Then hug you tight so you get dusty too!', Facing Ash's lecturing, Kumoko fumed silently in her head.
And then.... she actually did start rolling around on the floor, acting just like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum.
Ariel, who was drinking and snacking, saw this and treated it as entertainment, clapping and laughing so hard she could barely keep her mouth shut.
Sophia shot Kumoko a contemptuous look at her bizarre behavior, her eyes practically saying "how childish."
But then, Kumoko suddenly lunged like a hungry tiger, tackling Ash to the ground and hugging him tightly.
This caught Ash off guard for a moment, but he quickly recovered and said helplessly, "Even if you hug me and act cute, it won't work. I'm a man of principles..."
'Who's hugging you! Who's acting cute! This is punishment! This is mutual destruction!,' Kumoko retorted silently in her mind, deliberately rubbing her face against Ash's chest.
But when she looked closely, she realized... there wasn't a speck of dust on her.
She unconsciously looked around and noticed there was no dust anywhere. The carpet beneath them was luxurious beyond anything she had ever seen, top-quality stuff.
'Dammit! I forgot this is the Demon Lord's castle! Now this really does look like I'm being cute! But I'm so adorable! So pretty! What's wrong with me having a little drink?'
At first Kumoko had just wanted to get back at Ash, but gradually, her behavior really did turn into acting cute, and she even shook her head more vigorously, her pouting expression looking more like she'd been wronged than anything else.
Sophia, seeing this, burned with jealousy. Grumbling something under her breath, she reached out and grabbed Kumoko's back legs, trying to pull her off Ash, and the scene descended into chaos.
For a while, the reception hall was as lively as a comedic stage.
———
After a long while, lunchtime arrived. The master and disciple pair were so hungry they could eat a horse, and in the blink of an eye they were gone, finally restoring peace to the reception hall.
Meanwhile, Ariel, who had been eating nonstop and bingeing, was still leisurely drinking on her own, the wine in her cup seemingly holding endless charm that she couldn't bear to put down.
Ash walked over and sat beside her, which made Ariel curious. She tilted her head and asked, "You want some too?"
"No, it just suddenly occurred to me, even counting humans, demons, and elves together, this planet might be beyond saving," Ash said with a thoughtful expression.
"But there's nothing we can do about that now," Ariel lowered her gaze, a trace of helplessness in her eyes, "You know I don't have much time left."
"Come to think of it, you've been deliberately bingeing and wasting money, haven't you? And I've noticed recently that you're not close with any of the demons, in fact, you seem to be deliberately keeping your distance from them."
"What are you trying to say?", Ariel furrowed her brow, a hint of confusion in her eyes.
"You really are the type who likes to take the short end of the stick," Facing the puzzled girl, Ash simply wrapped his arm around her slender shoulders, gently pulled her into his embrace, and somewhat roughly ruffled her hair before continuing, "You really are a gentle but clumsy person... Because you know you're going to send the demons to their deaths, you use this method to deliberately keep them at a distance. Then, by presenting yourself as a tyrant who doesn't inspire any fondness, you shoulder all the demons' resentment alone, right?"
"What nonsense are you talking about? What's the point of that?", Ariel's voice came out a bit muffled, and she tried to break free from his embrace, but he held her tighter.
"There's no point. You just treat this as punishment for yourself. That's why I was thinking, aren't you a little too kind? In the end, you're still going to send the demons to their deaths, so you're not exactly a good person either. But from your position, you do have your reasons and standing to act this way. Still, if you're going to call yourself the Demon Lord, this is too gentle, and too much of a loss for you....."
After saying these words, Ash noticed Ariel's expression wasn't looking great, so he used his other hand to pinch her cheek and teased deliberately, "It's definitely because you've been influenced by me, right? So~ I have a duty to care about the person I've made kinder, don't I? I don't really know how to comfort you, but when you're feeling down, having someone hold you always makes it a little easier, doesn't it?"
"Don't be so full of yourself... You're just a creep. This has nothing to do with you," Ariel stubbornly turned her face away. Being seen through to this extent was embarrassing even for her... and now she was even being held.
"How could it have nothing to do with me? You're my possession, aren't you? Of course I have to care."
"Hmph! One day, someone who talks like that will find themselves turned around and ridden by me."
"I'm very much looking forward to that," Noticing the girl's red ears and flushed profile, Ash didn't say anything more, simply gently stroking her hair.
The reception hall grew quiet again, with a warm atmosphere filling the room.
Held in Ash's arms, Ariel was unusually docile, which he found surprisingly pleasant.
Much later, after the sun had fully set, Ash felt it was about time to go eat dinner and finally broke the mood, "Hey... shouldn't we go eat soon?"
"Wait a little longer," Ariel kept her eyes closed, just shaking her head slightly to get more comfortable, showing no intention at all, contrary to his expectations, of escaping the situation.
"Come on, they're probably coming back soon."
"Then we'll deal with it when they get back," Ariel mumbled.
"Fine, fine..."
Faced with the suddenly docile girl, Ash just shook his head with a wry smile and continued stroking her black hair.
In the days that followed, life carried on much as it always had, with only one difference. Whenever no one else was around, Ariel would quietly walk over and sit beside Ash, and Ash would silently pull her into his arms, sometimes even lifting her onto his lap.
———
Time flowed on. In the blink of an eye, over a decade had passed like a fleeting white horse, and for the reincarnators, it was already the eighteenth year since they had come to this world.
Perhaps because they were in demon territory, during this time they had unexpectedly suffered no harassment at all.
Though Kumoko thought that living peacefully under Ariel's protection was a pretty good option too.
Still, she remained deeply interested in training various skills, happily improving her abilities every day.
Ariel was occasionally quite busy, seemingly doing all sorts of random things, but what she wanted to do rarely met with any obstacles.
After all, neither demons nor humans combined were stronger than her, so if any problem arose, she could just go punch her way through it.
The most noteworthy development was that Ash's injury, inflicted by the goddess, had been fully overcome and healed through his own persistent efforts. Dustin had also kept his promise and handed over the processed holy sword.
Somewhat unexpectedly, Dustin had also joined the Demon Lord's army for reasons unknown. Though he probably wouldn't participate in combat directly, he was decent at handling miscellaneous tasks.
In Ash's spare time from studying magic, he occasionally helped Kumoko and Ariel educate Sophia, who had now grown into a striking young woman.
After all these years, at least in appearance, Sophia had fully transformed into a remarkable young lady.
She was dignified and beautiful, like a brilliant rose blooming in the dark night, exuding charm with her tall figure. Her curves were full in all the right places, the perfect example of a top-tier "big sister" type.
At least... in appearance.
Today, during a tense moment when Ariel was in a meeting room announcing a full-scale war against humanity, Ash was still outside the meeting room, immersed in a book as usual. But soon, someone even less attuned to the mood than him appeared.
"Mr. Ash, I got first place in the academy again this year!"
Sophia spotted him and slid down to sit beside him in one smooth motion, with an urgency about her.
Her blood-red pupils locked onto Ash like a predator eyeing its prey, her anticipation nearly spilling over.
"I told you, you can bite. If you can break the skin, then go ahead and suck as much as you want?", Ash didn't even look up, speaking casually.
"Ah! You're cheating! That's too much!", Ash's words hit like a bomb, and Sophia's expression instantly twisted as though she'd been betrayed, "I kept my promise! I didn't drink any blood before graduation! How could you trick me like this? You'd even lie to me?"
She said this while pressing her hand against her overly prominent chest.
Even through her clothes, its impressive size was unmistakable, and it even jiggled slightly with her movement, making one's eyes widen.
Glancing unconsciously at that overly mature figure, Ash couldn't help wondering, was this kid really only eighteen? Or is the demon realm's food just that good, making her develop so well?
But Sophia, looking utterly wronged, continued her complaint, "I'm a true ancestor! You said I couldn't bite people, so I've never drunk blood my whole life! Now I've graduated and grown up, and you still won't let me have a sip of blood? This is definitely abuse!"
"But... you said it yourself, you're a true ancestor, and true ancestors don't need blood to survive anyway," Facing the persistent girl, Ash felt quite innocent and helplessly spread his hands, trying to reason with her, "You need to learn to control your desires. Only by overcoming them can you become better."
"Is someone like Mr. Ash, who cheats when it counts, really better?", Sophia retorted defiantly.
"Now you're talking back to your elders?"
"I don't want to talk back! I want to suck!", Sophia, as if she couldn't take it anymore, suddenly shouted out, loud enough that the people in the meeting room could probably hear. It was a rebellious and wildly inappropriate remark for such a tense atmosphere.
"Huh?"
'What do I do? It looks like I've raised another weirdo without noticing? Ah, no! When I think about it, most of the raising was done by White and Ariel. So that means.... it's definitely their fault, right?', Ash froze, his mind buzzing, and instinctively shifted the blame to the spider grandmother and granddaughter.
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