Frieren 50

Title: The Main Character (Aura) Failed, So Let’s Train the Side Character (Linie)

In this medieval-like world, unchanged for a thousand years, the high-ranking clergy of the Goddess’s church always held a prominent position among the leaders of every nation.

In such a situation, if a bishop couldn’t be controlled, it would certainly become a significant problem.

After all, Aura’s magic had a major flaw—people with strong willpower could sometimes break free from her control.

That’s why she would behead those she controlled.

Fortunately, there were no high-ranking officials with strong willpower in this nation, and most nobles in other countries were likely the same.

But after controlling two or three nations, a rare noble with strong willpower might emerge.

If they inadvertently contacted a bishop within the country, it would be trouble. And even if they kept killing new bishops or detaining those from newly conquered nations, it would surely draw the attention of the Goddess’s church.

Though the church wouldn’t know why their leaders were being targeted, over time, with enough cases, they might organize a crusade from the holy capital.

This would contradict the original goal. After all, Ash didn’t come to spark a large-scale human civil war.

Even without a large-scale civil war, if Aura’s existence were exposed, humans would surely form an elite force and launch an attack against them both.

Thus, it was better to stabilize this nation first and develop it well. This could minimize risks as much as possible. As for time… they had nothing but time.

Ash taught her as such. After planting this chess piece, he planned to proceed steadily.

Aura, on the other hand, seemed a bit reluctant. But having lost to her brother, she couldn’t refuse. She prepared to rest in the castle for a while.

Not long after, she even brought the weakest demon girl among her followers—Linie—to prevent her from dying accidentally outside… while the others went to guard the old castle with the undead army. After all, bringing too many demons would increase the risk of exposure.

◆━⊰✧⊱━◆

Half a month had passed since they took control of the kingdom.

Linie, the child who always hid in dark corners, had been quietly observing Ash ever since arriving at this castle.

This made Ash, who was replacing the previous woman-obsessed and utterly disorganized king, unconsciously pause his work. He crouched in front of Linie and looked at the little girl seriously.

Linie didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. She just munched on a fresh apple and returned his gaze with a blank expression.

After a while, she gradually stopped eating the apple and asked, confused: “What’s wrong, Master Ash? Did I do something wrong?”

“…Not really.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“……”

Their conversation ended there. But seeing Ash still staring at her, Linie instinctively offered the apple: “Does Master Ash want some apple too?”

“No, thanks. But… you really love apples.”

“Because my birthplace was an apple orchard. When I was little, I always ate apples…?”

“…I see. By the way, what are your interests?”

“Interests… observing?”

“That’s… a great interest…?”

Facing the child who tilted her small head in confusion and stared at him without blinking, Ash genuinely didn’t know how to communicate with her now.

Was he getting old and bad at talking to kids? Was this what they called a generation gap? But… Aura wasn’t this cold back then, was she? Was this kid the weird one, or was Aura the weird one?

Ash unconsciously patted Linie’s head. His feelings were a bit mixed. He didn’t know whether to suspect Aura or Linie.

What could he do? He’d met too few demons… and their types were too extreme.

“By the way, what magic do you specialize in?”

“Mimicry… Her Majesty Aura said I have exceptional perception, so I can read and memorize others’ movements and use them myself.”

“That’s really… Hmm, seems pretty good?”

Honestly, Ash didn’t know how far this mimicry magic could go. He just praised her casually and returned to work, puzzled.

Normally, demons wouldn’t care about a child, as having future potential meant being powerless now.

In the demon world, no one looked to the future. They only interacted with those of equal strength or dominated those weaker but still capable.

Yet Aura brought home a child who was essentially useless now. This clearly didn’t align with demon logic.

So, was Aura the abnormal one? Besides…

“…Why am I, who’s supposed to be the king’s ruler, doing this weird work now?? Shouldn’t a king just enjoy life?”

“The previous king thought that way too, which is why you’re stuck working now~” Hearing his complaints, Aura casually read a magic book, legs crossed, saying annoying things. She looked very comfortable.

Since Ash knew that even if he handed this work to Aura, the problems wouldn’t be solved, he couldn’t do anything to her despite his frustration. He could only work hard alone, feeling suppressed.

Ash also casually lifted Linie onto his lap. One hand wrote, the other patted Linie’s hair. He grumbled to himself: “The main character failed, so let’s just train the side character… Linie, you have to be a good kid—No, I’ll definitely train you to be a good kid!”

“…And have lots of kids for Master Ash?” Linie asked with an innocent expression.

This shocked Ash, nearly making him jump: “What kind of dirty thoughts are those?? Am I so great that I corrupted you this fast??”

“The women in the palace said all men think like that… Isn’t that true?”

“Of course not! That king wasn’t a good person. Do you think his concubines are good people? You can’t imitate them!”

Ash stared at her sternly, making Linie nod in confusion: “Really? Sorry.”

“…Please. I hope you can become a great manager and take over my work! If you turn out like Aura, I’ll really faint!”

Though Ash said this, he was actually a bit worried about whether being in a place like the royal palace would badly influence kids.

Of course, he wasn’t too confident about whether he could positively influence children either.

But… for now, he just wanted to train someone who wouldn’t die quickly and could be a serious follower. Ideally, Linie would be loyal and capable like Schlacht was to the Demon King.

Otherwise, Ash worried he’d have to handle everything daily, leaving no time to play. He’d become an emotionless work robot, like now… To go see Frieren, he might have to wait another month.