But Frank didn't explain anything. Instead, he packed up his belongings on his own and said without even turning his head, "I should be setting off about no. Three years from now, let's meet in the central part of the continent. Have you heard of Raniel Fortress?"
"What are you suddenly talking about? Though I have been to Raniel Village before."
"That's the place. There's a Raniel Forest over there, right?"
"Seems like it?"
"Looks like with the passage of time, it's changed from a village into a fortress," Frank sighed lightly, then continued, "When the time comes, go into that forest. You'll see a surprise."
"Seeing an old man doesn't count as a surprise."
"Haha~ of course it's not me. But, yeah, you'll know when the time comes. For now, just focus on properly controlling your demonized state. Ever since you gained the ability to change forms, your control has been slipping. Even without seeing the future, I can tell you're a demon."
"There's nothing I can do about it," He spread his hands gloomily, "I want to suppress it properly too, but ever since I demonized once, the demonic aura has been way stronger than before."
"Take it slow," Frank didn't say much more. With a mysterious smile, he added, "Someone will come tomorrow. You can accept his advice, because we've already 'talked it through."
"Huh?"
"You'll find out tomorrow. For now, let's part here. Farewell, my friend."
Saying this without any intention of explaining further, Frank picked up his bag and left on his own.
That left him living here with just two female servants. Even though they were aunties from a nearby village, he really couldn't bring himself to feel happy about it.
But that wasn't all. The next morning, both servants were gone as well. Only then did he realize Frank had already dismissed them yesterday.
Feeling speechless, he was just about to go hire someone to take care of him when he pulled open the door of the mansion and saw a male demon standing in front of the door with his arms crossed. He wore a hood and mask, long bangs covering his right eye, and had large horns.
The demon looked him up and down for a moment, then slowly spoke.
"This should be our first meeting, right? Ash."
"That's right. Or rather, from my perspective, it is."
The moment he recognized who it was, or rather, who had come, Ash's mood became subtly complicated.
Ash might not recognize other demons, but he had definitely heard of the one before him.
He was the Demon King's confidant and the second-in-command of the demon race, the great demon known as the "Omniscient", Schlacht.
And like Frank, he also possessed magic that allowed him to foresee the future.
Schlacht was straightforward. Seeing that Ash already seemed to grasp the situation and was used to talking with people who could see the future, he silently nodded, "Next, I will teach you the future magic of a thousand years from now. Do you have any questions?"
"Uh, no, wait a second. Frank actually has demon friends too?"
"No. I haven't met him before. We simply reached a tacit understanding on certain matters. Teaching you benefits both humans and demons, so both he and I chose to help you."
"Pushing me to become the Demon King? A coup?", He said it casually, but didn't really hold much hope.
Schlacht shook his head expressionlessly, "I will not betray the Demon King."
"Even though you're training the next generation?"
"That's a different matter. This is preparation for after the current Demon King's death."
"So this is preparing the Demon King's funeral arrangements? Seriously, you people who can see the future, are you all a bit loose in the head?"
Aside from envy, all he felt toward people who could see the future was baffled helplessness.
He really couldn't understand what went on in their minds. And moreover. Demons preparing the next Demon King in advance could be called unprecedented. This was not something normal demons would do at all.
After all, demons didn't care about their race. They only cared about themselves. The next Demon King had always risen purely through personal strength.
"You'll understand in the future," Schlacht didn't answer further, simply closed his eyes, "For now, become my disciple."
"Wait! Shouldn't we normally discuss conditions or something first?"
"Human lifespans are limited. Even if they avoid death, the future they can see is at most a hundred years. I can see a thousand years ahead, so I already know everything about what you will do in the future. There's no need to worry."
"What will I be like in the future?"
"Saying it out loud could cause new changes. Are you sure you want to hear it?"
"Let's forget it."
Even though he was a cold person, honestly, no matter the personality, talking with someone who could see the future always felt strange.
Especially when the other party had no intention of hiding the fact that they had seen the future and even experienced similar conversations there.
Facing these two people who knew the future, Ash felt as though his life had been arranged by powerful parents. It was extremely odd.
But he understood perfectly well why the two of them had chosen him. If life could truly go smoothly, he didn't really have much to complain about.
No, there actually was one thing he wanted to complain about.
Other people who reincarnated would probably already have harems by their teens. He, on the other hand, had spent decades either fighting or training.
Since reincarnating, the people around him were either a weird shorty (Aura), or aunties, or extremely elderly elves, or middle-aged men.
The closest "young girl" he'd known was a consort from an emperor's harem nearly a thousand years ago, which meant she was married. A proper young maiden, there really wasn't a single one.
Thinking about this made him want to beat his chest in frustration, but Schlacht merely glanced at him and walked ahead on his own.
"Stop thinking about strange things. Hurry up."
"Huh! Wait, you know what I'm thinking?"
"I don't know. But I know you better than you know yourself. It must be something boring."
"Where are we going?"
"A training ground you used to go to often. I'll teach you killing magic, and defensive magic that's further improved six hundred years later, based on defensive magic from several decades after now. Of course, these are all demonic. Only we can use them perfectly."
Schlacht didn't hide anything, directly stating that the killing magic he intended to teach was the killing magic of the great demon, the Sage of Corruption Qual.
It was extremely simple, efficient, and practical. Later, humans deciphered and imitated it, eventually modifying it for human use, turning it into ordinary offensive magic.
Of course, the difference in structure between humans and demons meant that this magic was far stronger when used by demons. The "ordinary attack magic" used by humans and the "killing magic" used by demons were fundamentally different.
There was no special reason for that, just bodily differences.
However, none of these issues mattered to Ash. Schlacht had only one requirement of him, he must not teach it to anyone.
As for the reason, perhaps it was fear of disrupting the future, or perhaps some other concern. Ash didn't really know, and didn't really care, so he agreed.
And so, the days that followed once again became a repetition of a life no different from before.
———
When exactly he became an ascetic practitioner, even Ash himself wasn't sure.
Compared to Frank, Schlacht was even colder, but his teaching was extremely serious.
Aside from teaching magic, there was almost no extra conversation. The two of them didn't even eat together, because Schlacht, wearing a mask, always went somewhere with no people to eat by himself.
"Are all demons like this? It feels really strange," Aside from Aura, whom he had raised himself, this was his first real interaction with another demon, and he couldn't quite figure out what was going on with this guy.
And just like that, three years passed in the blink of an eye.
Ash planned his route in advance and arrived at the appointed place at the agreed time, Raniel Forest.
But not long after arriving, Schlacht, who had accompanied him all the way, disappeared just as suddenly.
In the end, he didn't even leave a single word of farewell.
"That guy is cold to an excessive degree, isn't he?"
Even if the other party was cold, they had still spent three years together. Parting like this left him feeling somewhat regretful.
Still, after brooding for a bit, he stopped expecting anything and stepped into the forest.
He even prepared himself to see an old man when, an unexpectedly familiar figure entered his sight.
An elf shorty with silver hair, wearing a gray cloak and a simple white dress, squatting lazily on the ground and picking something in the bushes.
When she noticed his gaze, the elf instinctively turned her head. Upon seeing who it was, she froze on the spot as if she'd seen a ghost.
———
No matter how Ash looked at it, the person picking wild vegetables in the bushes was clearly the old friend and niece-in-discipleship he thought he'd never see again, Frieren.
A reunion after a thousand years, that overly expressive look on her face when she saw him, everything made him unconsciously smile knowingly.
As her uncle-in-discipline, he felt he should be magnanimous. He spread his arms, ready to accept the probably tearful Frieren as she rushed over for an emotional reunion.
However… reality differed from his imagination by "a little."
"Long time no see, Frieren. You're still so small, still so cute. Your uncle really—"
He had just spread his arms when Frieren, who'd been squatting, stood up and slowly raised her hand.
"Hellfire of Karma."
Crimson lotus flames bloomed instantly in the silver-haired elf's palm, surging toward him like a tsunami.
Before the heat even touched them, the surrounding grass and trees were swallowed by the heat wave and burst into flames.
Ash, frozen in shock with his arms still open, was engulfed by the raging inferno in the next instant.
But—
Boom!
An invisible repulsive force erupted with overwhelming impact, instantly dispersing the approaching flames.
"What are you doing?", Ash stood there unscathed, still maintaining his earlier pose, though the smile on his face had grown stiff.
Frieren's expression, however, became solemn.
"So illusion demons nowadays can even block Hellfire of Karma? And even simulate the abilities of the imagined person?"
"Illusion demon?", Her strange words left him dumbfounded, "Are you serious or messing with me? That kind of monster only creates illusions. It has no combat ability at all! Normally your attack just now would've wiped it out. Why are you acting like you're trying to—"
"Normally that would be the case, so this is mental interference?"
"It's really me!"
"Shut up. Humans can't live that long."
No matter what, Frieren refused to believe that the person before her was her old friend from a thousand years ago.
After all, it was far too against common sense.
"Is it possible that I accidentally fell into some strange trap, and when I woke up, it was already now?"
"You're saying you were frozen, or trapped in some kind of stasis?"
"That's it!"
"You're lying to me, aren't you?"
He punched his palm without thinking and nodded emphatically, but Frieren narrowed her eyes, magic gathering in her hand once more.
This situation, completely different from the emotional reunion he'd imagined, was driving Ash crazy.
"Why? Can't you trust me just a little?"
".Evidence."
"All of a sudden I… ah, the emperor's wine tasted awful? Only a few of us should know that."
"Hallucinations in mental attacks are based on one's own memories. Tell me something I don't know."
"No, wait, you!", Looking at the girl on full alert, he was utterly dumbfounded.
"Are you serious? If I tell you something you don't know, what good does that do? If I say that when you were bitten by a mimic before, I actually slapped your butt, will you believe me or not?"
"Die."
The girl's voice suddenly turned colder than ever before.
The once-peaceful forest erupted again with abnormal light.
BOOM!
With a deafening explosion, the air of the entire forest shook.
Massive smoke and dust spread instantly, covering nearly half the forest under the overwhelming saturation bombardment of magic.
———
The sudden war-like magical bombardment in the forest immediately threw the fortress at the foot of the mountain into an emergency state.
However… as the smoke gradually dispersed with the breeze, the land lay ravaged beyond recognition before the two of them.
Yet Ash was still standing there, not even a speck of dirt on his clothes. His expression, however, was as strange and indescribable as Frieren's had been when they first met.
"What are you doing, Frieren? If it weren't me, I'd be dead by now!"
"But you didn't die, did you?", Frieren was exceptionally cold, her gaze practically asking, 'Why are you fine even after that?'
This made his stomach ache inexplicably.
"You could've gotten hurt!"
"There's a church at the foot of the mountain. The priest can heal you right away," Frieren casually pointed toward the fortress below, which had gradually evolved from a village over a thousand years, her attitude bordering on disdain.
"In the end, I targeted the surroundings more. Normally, if it really were you, you should've been able to defend against it. At most you'd be covered in ash. If anything, it would've been better if you couldn't defend."
"Wait, hold on! You've already figured out that I'm me, right?"
"Yes."
Faced with his accusation, Frieren simply nodded expressionlessly.
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