Reincarnated Devil's Strongest Hero Training Plan ~The baby he picked up has grown up so well that his father is confused~ - Chapter 119

Reincarnated Devil’s Strongest Hero Training Plan ~The baby he picked up has grown up so well that his father is confused~

Chapter 119   You can do it if you try

Time rewinds slightly, back to the moment when the captured Mermel was fainting in the grasp of the low class demon.

Frustrated by his son’s reluctance to push beyond the limits, Kakyu posed a single question.

◇

“Let me tell you a hypothetical story. Suppose, when the time comes, you find yourself in a situation where you can only save either your family or your comrades.”

“…”

Hello there!

Pointing a finger, here’s Kakyu, the devilish rogue who poses what’s known as the “trolley problem”.

The trolley problem refers to a god-awful question where there are two branching tracks on the path of an uncontrollable trolley, and there are hostages on both sides.

Naturally, the uncontrollable trolley cannot stop. So, no matter which track you switch to, you inevitably end up killing one of the hostages.

I take this and replace it with the concepts of family and comrades, creating a scenario where one side has your family and the other has your comrades as hostages, and I ask you: if you can only save one, what would you do?

Of course, there’s really no need to raise such a meaningless question.

But I thought this would be the most efficient way to push Ars beyond his limits.

Of course, Ars, being asked such a question, is bewildered and falls silent, but in a sense, that’s fine.

Because that’s the proof of strength, something that might surpass even me.

The inability to come to a conclusion is refusing to give up on ideals.

Ars isn’t someone who sacrifices something to make the best choice; he’s someone who carries important things to make the best choice.

An indescribable strength, witnessed neither in hell nor in my previous life.

If there’s someone who can do that, they’re truly the best in the world.

It’s a choice that only the world’s strongest hero, who I, as a low-class devil, can’t compete with, can make.

And besides.

If, hypothetically, I were to pose this question to myself, the answer is clear.

Because I choose the one with the highest probability of survival, if only one can be saved.

In a sense, it might be rational.

This, too, is one answer.

But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s also the limit of my existence.

Or rather, maintaining this unique world where that meddling goddess keeps poking her nose is becoming quite a hassle.

Hey, Ars! Get serious already!

…Well, I guess I could share some of Dad’s experiences here.

“Let’s talk about a man’s past.”

“…Huh?”

I’m telling you this because I expect something from you.

I don’t know how Ars will feel about this stain on my record, but still.

“The man was once just an ordinary person. He lived each day desperately, tossed around by the rough waves of society. He was just someone who could do a little more than others.”

This man had a friend, one could even call him his best friend. Despite having no special abilities, he was a kind-hearted fool who believed in people indiscriminately, a bottomless idiot. But the man respected his friend as someone proud and strong, someone he couldn’t imitate.

But perhaps because of that.

One day, that kind-hearted fool was deceived by scum and ended up burdened with debt.

Before he knew it, the amount of debt had skyrocketed, and he was in a situation where he didn’t know left from right.

…And yet, that kind-hearted fool didn’t ask the man for help. Not only that, he tried to keep him away to protect him from any backlash.

The man was outraged.

Not at the friend who didn’t rely on him.

Not even at the scum or the underworld figures he was probably associated with.

But at himself, for not being able to take precautions even though he knew this would happen someday.

“So the man took it out on others. He used every means, connections, and information network available to thoroughly crush his friend’s enemies. He even destroyed all the companies associated with them. All out of anger. And fortunately, the man had the ability to do so.”

“W-wow, that’s amazing, that person…”

“But that’s not the point.”

And so, the matter was settled.

That’s what I thought, just then.

The next day, however, the friend disappeared.

Probably, the resolution of this incident was not a salvation for the friend.

Why do you think that?

Of course.

Because the man’s friend, the kind-hearted fool, wasn’t just being deceived.

To prevent the friend from intervening, the enemy had hostages—family members, fiancée. They had set up traps.

Unaware of this, the man obliterated the enemy, and as a result, couldn’t protect what was most important to his friend.

In the end, it was all futile.

Instead of saving one, he should have saved both.

That’s all there is to it.

“Ars, don’t become like that man. You have to surpass him. You’re going to save Hades-chan, right? Protect your comrades, right? Then, don’t lose sight of what’s important.”

“…!”

Oops, looks like this guy is starting to figure out who that man is. Well, it’s not like it’s a big deal if he finds out, but I’ll pretend not to know for now.

So, I lifted up Chibisuke, who was still unconscious in my arms, and continued the story.

“Look at this Chibisuke. Living faithfully to desires, considering self-preservation… But she never loses sight of what’s important. A rare and peculiar creature.”

Yes, a peculiar creature.

A peculiar creature, but not just that.

“As you can see, this creature is the opposite of you… However, in the aspect of desiring everything without discarding or separating anything, she shares the same ideology. And she’s also a lucky girl who always manages to perform miracles beyond their own abilities.”

────Now then.

────Can you do the same as this Chibisuke?

“Now is the time to surpass your limits, Ars!!! Show me your power, my boy!!! Show me the answer!!!”

When I finished speaking, an unprecedented golden gleam burst from Ars’ eyes, and energy surged out so intensely that it threatened to destabilize the unique world.

That’s right, that’s how it should be.

If you try, you can do it, right?

As for the answer to the trolley problem…

In the end, if you have the ideal power to smash through the problem trolley and everything else, it will be resolved.