Chapter 50

Chapter 50: The main trumpet (Aura) is useless, let's practice the trumpet (Linie)

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In this world, which seemed frozen in the Middle Ages from a thousand years ago, with no progress at all, the top leaders of the Goddess Cult held seats of power in various nations.

In such a situation, if the bishop couldn't be controlled, it would definitely cause a major problem.

After all, Aura's magic had a significant flaw—people with strong wills would occasionally resist her influence.

This was why she had taken the heads of those she'd controlled.

Luckily, this particular country didn't have any strong-willed senior officials, and it seemed the same could be said for most of the nobles here.

But after two or three countries, there might appear a rare, determined noble.

If such a person were to make contact with a domestic bishop, it would lead to trouble. Even if they continued to eliminate or detain the bishops of newly occupied territories, they would inevitably attract the attention of the Goddess Church.

And while the Goddess Church might not immediately understand why they were targeting its leaders, with enough cases, the Holy City would eventually organize a crusade.

This was exactly what Ash wanted to avoid. After all, his goal wasn't to spark a large-scale civil war among humans.

Even without one, if humans discovered Aura's existence, they would likely form an elite force to hunt the two of them.

Thus, it made the most sense to stabilize the country first and carefully nurture it, minimizing risks. As for time… they had an abundance of it.

——This was the strategy Ash had taught her. After establishing this chess piece, he intended to move forward, step by step.

Aura, however, seemed somewhat reluctant. But, having lost to him previously, she couldn't object, so she planned to rest and recuperate in the castle for a while.

Soon after, he even brought along the most delicate of his clan, the young Linie, to keep her safe from harm… while the others remained to guard the castle with the Undead Army. Bringing too many demons here would increase their risk of exposure.

...

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye after taking over the kingdom.

Linie, a girl who always preferred dark corners, had been quietly observing Ash since arriving at the castle.

This led Ash, who had been managing government affairs on behalf of the former king—a man who had been consumed by his own vices and negligent in all respects—to pause his work, crouching in front of Linie, studying her closely.

Linie, seemingly unfazed by his scrutiny, merely bit into her fresh apple, returning his gaze with a neutral expression.

After a moment, she paused from eating her apple and asked, puzzled:

"What's wrong, Master Ash? Did I do something wrong?"

"…No, not really."

"Oh?"

"Yes."

"..."

Their conversation seemed to reach a stopping point, but noticing he was still staring at her, Linie instinctively held out the apple to him. "Master Ash, would you like an apple too?"

"No, but… you do seem to like apples."

"Because I was born in an apple orchard, and I ate apples all the time when I was little…?"

"…I see. So, what are you interested in?"

"Interest…? Observation?"

"That's really… quite interesting…?"

Confronted with this child, who tilted her head in innocent confusion and looked at him intently, Ash found himself genuinely uncertain about how to communicate with her.

Ash pondered silently. Was it because Aura was too old to connect with children? Could it be the infamous generational gap? But… Aura hadn't always been this cold, had she? Was it Linie or Aura who was acting strangely? Ash found himself unconsciously patting Linie's head, feeling a mixture of emotions and doubt about which of them to suspect.

There was no helping it; he'd had too little contact with demons, and the ones he had encountered were too extreme.

"So, what kind of magic are you good at?"

"Imitation… Aura-sama said I have excellent perception, so I can observe and remember others' actions, then use them myself."

"That's really… um, sounds impressive?"

In truth, he wasn't sure how powerful this imitation magic could be, but he offered casual praise and turned back to his work, leaving his doubts aside for now. After all, normal demons had no interest in taking care of children; potential strength in the future meant nothing without power now.

No one in the demon clan looked to the future. They only associated with others of similar strength, or dominated those who weren't as strong but still capable. But Aura had taken in a child who, for now, was essentially useless, something that clearly went against the logic of demons.

So, in the end, was Aura the odd one here? And… why did he have to be the one stuck doing these menial tasks? Shouldn't the king just be free to enjoy himself?

"The previous king had the same idea. That's why you have to work now~" Aura overheard his grumbling, her eyes fixed leisurely on her magic book, legs crossed, a sarcastic tone in her voice that made him bristle.

It was clear as day that even if he threw his complaints at Aura, it wouldn't solve a thing. Angry and annoyed, Ash could only bury himself in work. He held Linie on his lap, writing with one hand, while gently stroking Linie's hair with the other, sighing inwardly.

"Well, since you didn't succeed with your first try, you should just keep practicing… Linie, be a good child—I mean it. I'll definitely train you into one!"

"…And then have lots of children for Ash?" Linie asked innocently.

The question startled him so much he nearly jumped. "W-what?! Where did that come from? Am I that corrupting? How could you think that?!"

"The women in the palace say all men think that way… isn't it true?"

"Of course not! I'm nothing like the men you've heard about! Don't go learning bad ideas from them!" he scolded, frowning. Linie nodded, looking up at him blankly. "Really? I'm sorry."

"Please, I want you to grow into an excellent manager and work for me! If you end up like Aura… I'll faint!"

Although he said this, Ash worried a little that palace life would have a negative influence on children. He wasn't exactly confident in his own ability to be a good role model either.

But… for now, he just wanted to train a serious subordinate, one who wouldn't die at the first sign of trouble—ideally someone as loyal and capable as Schlacht was to the Demon King. Otherwise, he'd be stuck dealing with one thing after another every day, with no time to rest, and he'd end up a merciless work machine, like he was right now…

If he wanted to see Frieren, it would probably be another month before he could even consider it.

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