Frieren: Reincarnated As a Demon

Chapter 3: Daily Torture of Each Other

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Aura's horns pierced through the wolf's soft abdomen, causing the wolf to whimper pitifully in pain. It also kept kicking and struggling, causing blood to splatter continuously.

But after a while, the out-of-control wolf finally died completely.

Aura, who was unable to raise her head with the wolf's corpse on her horns, stood in stunned silence for a long time before she sighed deeply, staring ahead with a depressed expression. "Are you being... polite? What do you take me for?"

"I want to ask you what you are doing?" Ash, feeling the blood flowing down his neck and all over his body, asked irritably, "Do you really want to be an orphan? If I were an ordinary human, I'd be dead right now, wouldn't I?"

"...You may not believe this, but it really wasn't me this time."

"I can see that, and I felt from the beginning that your control was slipping."

"Well, it does need some improvement. So, how about you handle it for me?" Aura said seriously, showing an unprecedented serious expression. "Don't worry, I won't really take control! And when my magic is perfect, I'll definitely repay you!"

"Aura..."

"Brother!"

The two of them locked eyes, with a sense of sibling affection hanging between them. At that moment, the corners of Aura's mouth seemed like they were about to curl up into a smile, but...

"—Keep dreaming." Ash lightly slapped her face and pushed her gently.

Unbalanced by the wolf corpse on her horns, Aura lost her balance and fell backward.

"Tsk... it still doesn't work? Just Ash... you're quite sharp..." Aura, lying on her back, clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction, staring up at the treetops in deep thought. Whether she was thinking about how to improve her magic or how to deceive Ash remained unknown.

But Ash also understood the drawbacks of being self-taught, something that was especially true for demons. His progress in exploring magic on his own had been slow, and the occasional mistake was to be expected.

However, at the moment, he wasn't focused on that. Instead, he squatted beside Aura, looking down at the girl who showed no sign of remorse.

"Aura, don't you think there's something you need to tell me?"

"I almost forgot! Ash, could you move this corpse off my head? My neck feels like it's about to snap."

"That's not what I meant."

"...A little blood on your neck won't kill you, so why worry about it? For us demons, we won't die from losing blood. We'll just get weaker." Aura smiled slyly, covering her mouth with her hands.

In Ash's opinion, it was the kind of smile that begged for a punch. His eye twitched as he barely managed to hold back his temper.

Aura, noticing that Ash was on the verge of exploding, quickly raised her hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, don't get so mad. I know I messed up. I'll do better next time. And I'll even make you something nice to eat tonight, okay?"

"Is this really the sincerity of your apology? Doesn't your attitude seem a little off?"

"Ash, think about it," Aura continued, reasoning with him. "When my magic is fully developed, we won't have to hunt for food anymore. You could just sit at home and wait for others to bring it to you."

"Doesn't that sound nice?"

"Now, can you please help me get this thing off? My horns seem to be stuck in the bone, and I can't free myself."

Aura rolled on the ground, trying to pull the wolf off his head, but her two horns were stuck in its ribs. She was forced to sit up with the wolf's body still on her horns, looking at Ash with an awkward but polite smile.

He glanced at the blood-covered figure in front of him, hesitated for a moment, and then looked at the wolf corpse beside him. "Actually... you could just leave it like this—it'll save me some energy."

"Hey! Isn't this a bit weird?"

"I was just kidding, but now..." As Ash said this, he turned his hand, conjuring a fireball in his palm. He picked up a branch from the ground and heated it until it glowed red before handing it to Aura. "Help me stop the bleeding first."

"Oh, I'm good at this! Leave it to me!"

Aura, who had been quite depressed, suddenly jumped up, the wolf's corpse still stuck on her head, and took the burning stick from Ash. She pressed it against his neck without hesitation.

With a sharp "sizzle" of searing flesh, the smell of burning meat filled the air.

Ash gritted his teeth, sweat beading on his forehead, while Aura shouted excitedly, "This is great! Ash! Are you shaking? I'm so excited my fingers are shaking!"

"—You're excited, aren't you?" Ash cursed as Aura's strange enthusiasm became too much to bear. "I told you to study healing magic ages ago! Why didn't you do it? You waste all your time on mental research, and now every time we get hurt, we have to torture each other like this! Are you a masochist and a sadist?"

"How could that be? I don't like pain—I just like seeing you tremble! This is really great! I don't want to study healing magic! Isn't this better?"

"And what about when you're hurt?!"

"No way~! No matter what, my answer is still no! Healing magic is too troublesome. You don't even want to study it yourself—you just want me to so you can bully me for the rest of my life! I'm not that stupid! Besides, isn't this way more fun?"

"....."

Aura's voice, completely unashamed of her excitement, left Ash speechless. His lips twitched as he silently vowed to give her a proper spanking when they got back home.

However, at this point, Ash had basically abandoned the idea of having Aura study healing magic. He couldn't do it himself, and it was obvious Aura had no desire to learn it either. Even if she got injured and had to cauterize the wound with a burning stick, she wouldn't change her research focus that easily.

Fortunately, thanks to their demon physiology, they didn't have to worry about infections or diseases.

The only real danger was the smell of blood attracting monsters or wild beasts. Even though they were demons, they couldn't communicate with monsters and might even be attacked by them, just as demons sometimes fought and killed each other.

At the moment, though, Ash was overwhelmed by pain, while Aura's excitement only grew. Her heavy breathing filled the air, making him lament the wild and unpredictable nature of demons.

At the same time, he couldn't believe that this bizarre situation was the result of his own teachings. After all, he'd once been an innocent child, as pure as a blank slate... or so he liked to think.