In the leaf-falling autumn season, inside the royal capital, leaves dyed with a vivid crimson drift gently and slowly through the air. On the stone-paved road, Solitar happily spreads her arms and keeps spinning around, "Really, it's just too wonderful, Ash. I think I might really end up falling in love with you~"
"This is the first time I've heard love described so casually."
"The coexistence of humans and demons fits perfectly together in this royal capital~"
As she spoke, Solitar suddenly threw herself straight into his arms, then tilted her head up and narrowed her eyes with a bright smile, beaming with heartfelt joy, "Coming to you really was the right choice."
"Then as a reward for moving you so much, how about you teach me that magic that can conjure up a whole pile of swords later?"
"Eh~ Eh~ of course I can. As long as you can learn it, that's not a problem. But in return..."
"I'll teach you magic too."
"Ah~ then it's a deal~"
Solitar nodded to herself, her face filled completely with happiness, "A cooperative relationship like this is really wonderful~ How did I never think of working together with you before? I guess the longer you live, the higher the chance you run into good things."
"As long as you're happy, that's what matters most."
With the cooperation terms temporarily settled, Ash casually went along with it and did not plan to say much more.
Not far away, Aura did not care about their conversation at all. She was still recording the gains from this trip in her notebook, muttering to herself, "This time was a pretty good harvest too. As expected, autumn really is the season of harvest."
"Don't treat people like wheat. Honestly, you... sigh, whatever, I can't even be bothered to lecture you anymore," Ash glanced at Aura, then at Solitar. His mood naturally grew heavy, and he could not help but sigh, "You lot really are something else. Not a single one of you is easy to deal with."
"Ash-sama, what about me?", Linie, who was obediently following by his side, heard this and tugged lightly at the corner of his clothes with a blank expression.
"You just ate an apple again, didn't you?"
"Yes."
"You ate it with this hand, and you didn't wash it, right?"
"Sorry."
Linie, who had been waiting to be praised, immediately drooped her little head again, looking pitiful.
Every time she got scolded, she was like this. She really did look quite miserable, strongly triggering one's protective instincts. But... every time she spoke nicely and apologized right away, yet she never actually changed.
She perfectly embodied what it meant to actively admit mistakes and absolutely refuse to correct them.
"Why is it that not just one or two, but even three of you aren't easy to deal with? Is it that the smaller you are, the fewer scruples you have, and the more trouble you cause?"
"Who are you calling short!", Aura twisted her head around fiercely with a look like she wanted to bite someone, glaring over, but then...
"I'm talking about you," Ash very naturally grabbed her horn and casually dragged her forward, "It's about time to rest anyway. Don't make such a fuss."
"I told you, don't grab my horns for no reason!"
"Sorry, it was just convenient. I'll try to pay attention next time."
"You think I haven't heard that line for years? Five hundred years! Five hundred years ago you said the exact same thing!"
That overly perfunctory attitude made Aura, whose dictionary did not contain the word "tolerance," lift her leg and stomp hard on the top of his foot in anger.
She even deliberately aimed for his toes, grinding down repeatedly with force. Ash did not really feel much pain, but still helplessly let go and muttered, "Was that really a thing? Then I'm really sorry."
Before he could finish speaking, his gaze unconsciously shifted to the side, toward Linie, who was staring at him.
At that moment, he finally understood why Linie actively admitted mistakes yet never corrected them.
'So she learned it all from me?'
"What's wrong, Ash-sama? You're staring at me like that..."
Linie raised her hand in confusion, then quietly pulled back the hand she had been wiping on the hem of his clothes, still wearing an innocent expression.
"Does something hurt?"
"It's nothing, just a bit of a stomachache. But thinking about it carefully, you really are a good kid."
"Is that so?", His sudden 180-degree change in attitude made Linie tilt her head in confusion. She could not understand at all how she had suddenly been praised again.
'Could it be that...'
'Ash-sama says he doesn't want me to wipe on him, but actually he's happy when I wipe my hands?'
That kind of doubt naturally surfaced in her small head.
But just as she was starting to believe it, Ash slapped the top of her head with a palm, "Even if you're a good kid, don't wipe apple juice on me! How many times have I told you already?"
"Yes. Sorry. I'll definitely be more careful next time."
Although Linie looked very guilty and immediately lowered her head to admit her mistake, and even spoke nicely.
It was just like Ash with Aura, Linie really only said it with her mouth.
No, maybe she genuinely wanted to change a little in her heart, but that feeling only existed at the moment she was being scolded, and then she would "accidentally" forget it right away.
In this regard, she was exactly like Ash. He always said he would pay attention next time, but once the habit kicked in, he could not help grabbing Aura's horns again.
There was no helping it. The height and shape were just too convenient.
Perhaps because of this habitual issue, the strange cycle among Aura, Ash, and Linie seemed impossible to break for the time being.
———
When the setting sun had quietly sunk into the shadows of the mountains, and a full moon leisurely rose, hanging high in the low-hanging sky and scattering countless threads of silver light...
Inside the castle, in Ash's study—
Aura had occupied Ash's rocking chair. She lazily swayed back and forth while staring blankly at the ceiling.
Not far away, Linie lay sprawled on Ash's desk. Watching the absent-minded Aura, she unconsciously wore an innocent expression, and a random sentence suddenly broke the silence of the study, which until then only had the sound of turning pages, "Ash-sama, Aura-sama looks like a useless person."
"Don't say it so loudly. That useless person will get angry if she hears you."
"I already heard you!", Aura glared fiercely at Linie and at Ash, who clearly thought the same thing. But at the moment, she did not have the energy to get angry with them.
After all, in her current lazy state, even trying to argue would lack any persuasiveness. She was not in the mood for that either. She just sat up and looked seriously at Ash, "Solitar is dangerous. You know that, right?"
"No need to worry. I know very well how dangerous she is. But cooperation is still possible."
"Oh? Really? I thought you saw how small she was and couldn't help feeling tempted~"
Hearing him say that, Aura relaxed a bit and instinctively covered her mouth as she teased him with a laugh.
This made him sigh helplessly, "Don't really treat me like some kind of pervert. If anything, I should like big ones. And even if I liked small ones, I wouldn't like someone that old. Besides, you're a demon too, so why are you even talking about liking people... don't you find that strange?"
"Not at all. But speaking of which, this rocking chair is really nice~"
"As long as you like it."
Looking at Aura swaying lazily on the chair like a useless person, Ash held back from commenting.
After all, he had been like that in front of her before. He was even a little worried that Aura had learned to become useless from him.
Now he could only lower his head again and deal with the documents, casually patting the head of the expressionless l0li beside him.
Although Linie was often not very well-behaved and spoke without much restraint, at times like this she was exceptionally obedient. She even swayed her head comfortably under his hand.
Lazy Aura, obedient Linie, a pile of not very important but still undecided documents. Everything seemed peaceful, no different from usual.
Normal matters could be left to the subordinates. What he was mainly handling now were decisions related to national transformation and reform that could be taken slowly but required his input.
"Life, why is it so painful?"
Glancing at the documents in front of him, then at the two troublesome ones beside him, Ash almost felt the urge to grab Linie's horns and shake her head hard to vent.
But he could not quite bring himself to do it when this expressionless l0li had not done anything wrong yet.
At that moment, the door to the study was suddenly knocked on lightly, and the familiar ghost-like great demon girl entered with a smile, stepping lightly into the room, "Good evening~ It's time to study magic now. Are we all studying together?"
"Forget it. I'm not interested in learning that much random stuff," Aura wore a thoroughly unlucky expression the moment she saw Solitar, stood up from the rocking chair, and strode out.
Linie also followed without a word, quickly leaving the scene.
The carriage situation had been an exception, but here there was space and opportunity to leave, and she naturally did not want to stay.
After all, in the cruel demon society, aside from Ash and Aura being very special cases, a young demon like her would naturally avoid someone far stronger if possible.
If the strength gap was not too large, you could chat.
If the gap was too large, then you had better be prepared to be enslaved.
From beginning to end, Solitar never looked at Linie or spoke to her.
Only when Linie passed by her side did she subtly shift away a little, unwilling to stand too close.
Because she could sense that if the distance became too close, Linie might pose a certain degree of danger.
"What an interesting child~"
At the moment they brushed past each other, Solitar's smile deepened. She looked at Ash with an intrigued expression, "That child is so young, yet when she gets close enough, she gives me a feeling that could threaten me. How exactly did you raise her?"
"She's a warrior."
"A child that small is a warrior? And she seems very strong too."
"In any case, don't bully Linie."
Ash did not plan to explain much and casually cut off the topic.
Solitar simply smiled gently and nodded, "I understand. Don't worry. After all, she's a woman you keep, right?"
"What do you mean keep? I admit Linie is very cute, but I'm not so far gone that I'd look at a ch!ld I raised from a y0ung age like that, okay?"
"What's the problem with that? Isn't cute enough? As far as I know, don't many human nobles do exactly this? Training interests and preferences in a direction that suits them from ch!ldhood?"
Faced with this completely natural confusion, Ash replied with a face full of black lines, "Do you think I enjoy being used as a hand-wiping cloth?"
"Oh? So you don't like it?"
"What kind of person do you even think I am?"
"Someone who likes ch!ldren. And as far as I know, among demons, only you and Aura adopt y0ung ch!ldren."
"What I do is called kindness. What Aura does is... probably just following her interests."
"Hehe~ What a huge difference. The affection between you siblings is really heart-stirring~"
At his casual answer, Solitar looked intoxicated, placing a hand over her chest and nodding repeatedly with emotion.
'This one is really strange. Stranger than I am... no, stranger than Aura and Linie. Is this some trait of wild demons?'
Ash did not say anything, just looked at the strange creature in front of him, unable to make up his mind for a moment.
In the end, he still did not say much. Propping his cheek with one hand on the desk, he watched the uninvited guest, "Honestly, I don't really get it. How did what I said make you feel that 'heart-stirring sibling affection' thing?"
"In all sorts of ways."
"If anything, you're the most unique one here."
"Me? I think I'm quite ordinary. Ah! The only special thing might be that I'm rather timid," Solitar clasped her hands in front of her chest as she sat down beside him, then naturally leaned toward him, pressing her soft body against his side. She lifted her head and looked at him with a pitiful expression:
"So, you'll have to protect me from now on."
"You're at least a thousand years old. Do you really need someone else to protect you?"
"No matter how time changes, in essence I'm still just a weak woman~"
"Who did you even learn this from?"
"All of it is... straight from my heart, you know?", Solitar laughed softly, her smile as sweet as a blooming flower.
But Ash knew all too well that this woman had definitely picked up all this nonsense from who knows where, and for some reason decided to use it on him.
And now he truly had no idea what she was thinking.
At the very least, he did not believe she had fallen in love at first sight or anything like that. Even Aura did not believe her words.
"Anyway, let's put all that aside for now. First, we exchange information. You teach me your secret techniques, and I'll teach you the human magic system knowledge, the most comprehensive you can get to date."
"Of course~ Wasn't that agreed upon from the start?"
"Then... take a look."
Ash silently stood up and patted the bookshelf beside him.
"All of this is yours. You can read whenever you want, however you want."
"Books?"
For the first time, Solitar's smile looked like it was about to crack.
This made him immediately add, "Don't underestimate these books. These are treasures most human mages can only dream of. Also, in the royal capital's library, I have access to almost all modern human magic. And any mage in this royal capital you take a liking to, I can have them teach you."
"Are they at your level?"
"Humans have limits. And those who reach those limits wouldn't stay in this royal capital."
"Then as part of the deal, shouldn't it be you teaching me? Or are you... bullying me because you think I'm a weak woman?", Solitar's smile did not change, but there was a faint hint of danger mixed into it.
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