Reincarnated Devil's Strongest Hero Training Plan ~The baby he picked up has grown up so well that his father is confused~ - Chapter 38

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

Chapter 38   An event in a certain demon world

On the other side of the world where humans live, in a different dimension known as the demon realm.

In such a place crowded with demon clans, there stood a conspicuously prominent royal castle, which seemed to embody the end of the world from a human perspective.

Yes, it was the demon king’s castle, known to those in the demon realm as the center of the world.

“Hmm, the sacrifices we’ve abducted from the surface world this time seem lively… Yes, these should satisfy the prince as well. It was worth paying a high price and sourcing them from slave traders. Well then, let’s take that half-elf first.”

“Yes! Hey you, hurry up and walk.”

“Eeek…”

And in a corner of that castle, the customary sorting of human foodstuffs was underway.

All of the captives brought here were beautiful women, with quality magical essence.

To vampires, ghouls who consume human flesh, or wraiths and liches who devour souls, these women were the epitome of a feast, possessing such value that even if presented to the prince of the demon realm, they couldn’t help but be eyed with longing.

“Ar-are you going to eat me? Will I be eaten?”

“Shut up. You’re only alive because you’re being offered to the prince. That’s all there is to it. And remember, if the prince deems you unnecessary, I’ll be the one to benefit from it. So watch your attitude, alright? Hehehehe.”

As if unable to wait any longer until delivering the prince’s meal, a zombie-like demon, with bloodshot eyes, grumbled.

It seemed he wasn’t particularly bright, lacking the discipline of a soldier.

And it seemed the half-elf girl had also anticipated such an unpleasant scenario.

In an attempt to keep some distance from the zombie demon who seemed ready to pounce, she dragged her chained feet and backed away.

“N-no! I don’t want that! Someone, someone help me!”

“Ah, well, once it’s come to this, there’s no helping it, right? If the offering meant for the prince isn’t properly trained, like this useless human, I’ll be the one scolded. Ah, well, it can’t be helped. …Well then, let’s have a bite.”

Whether it was an excuse for someone or not, the zombie demon, blurting out something irrelevant, opened his mouth wide, about to sink his teeth into the half-elf girl…

“What’s hopeless is your brain. You trash, consuming sacrifices without my permission.”

…and the zombie demon’s head vanished.

In its place appeared a beautiful boy dressed in a suit-like formal attire, with red hair and heterochromatic eyes of green and blue.

Though already over two hundred years old, by demon standards, he was still a fledgling prince of this castle. In human terms, he might appear to be around twelve or thirteen years old.

“A-ahhh! Please don’t eat me, please don’t eat me, please don’t eat me!”

“Oh. Sorry, did I scare you?”

And so, overwhelmed by the fear induced by the exploding head of the zombie demon that had tried to eat her, the girl lost her ability to think rationally and stumbled backwards away from the prince.

Given the despairing environment of the demon realm she had been brought to, coupled with the overwhelming power difference, it was a fairly normal reaction for a panicked human.

Hence, the prince couldn’t exactly blame the girl for her actions and found himself placing his hand on his forehead, wondering what to do next.

“Please don’t eat me!”

“No, I’m not gonna eat you, idiot! Who would eat garbage like you? Actually, I’ve been telling the old man that I don’t need human sacrifices. Monsters living in the demon realm are more efficient as food and taste better. I have no idea why those riffraff out there feast on humans! ”

“E-eat, eat? …Huh?”

The truth was, this prince had an issue with his taste buds. Furthermore, he had a strong resistance to consuming humans, considering them as a delicacy, since he had once bitten into the finger of an old woman considered the highest-grade food, only to vomit from the disgust.

Traumatized by that experience, he swore never to eat humans again, declaring to his father, the demon king, that humans were worthless.

The zombie demon knew about this, knowing he could benefit from it. However, handling the sacrifices in such a rough manner was an act of disrespect towards the royal family.

In other words, the earlier execution held the same significance as an ambush in the human world.

“Ah… I’m done with this. It’s annoying. Even if I told the old man the same thing a million times, he wouldn’t understand. At this rate, you’ll end up in the food storage, right? Well, this might be fate. I’ll help you just this once… Take care.”

“Huh? Um, wait!”

With that, the prince came to his own conclusion, activating a simplified teleportation spell before the girl could say anything, sending her back to the human world.

By the way, this wasn’t the first time the prince had saved a sacrifice like this.

“Tch. Teleportation magic really drains you… With me as I am now, my magic gets completely depleted after just one use. I heard that old man can use it repeatedly, but how many more monsters do I have to devour to reach that level…”

Though he spoke like that, the prince was, in fact, only able to use teleportation magic, a grand spell that only a few of the demon king’s close aides, the Four Heavenly Kings, could wield.

Even being able to perform such a grand spell after living for only two hundred years was remarkable, but he seemed unaware of this fact.

Furthermore, if there were someone capable of using magic to teleport multiple people at once, they would be suspect, perhaps not even a living being. Even his father, the demon king, would face considerable strain if such a thing were to happen.

Casually using such magic was something that should never happen.

“…Seriously though, who started calling me a prince? Don’t they know that demons in the royal lineage are genderless until they reach adulthood? Shouldn’t those lower demons just call me something like Lord Hades Lucifer? Or simply Lord Hades. Ugh, just thinking about it is irritating. I want to kill all those lower demons.”

With that, the prince, or rather, the royal, Hades, muttered to himself and was about to return to his room when suddenly he stopped in his tracks.

On his face was a mix of curiosity about the inhabitants of the human world he had just encountered and a recollection of rumors that had circulated a few years ago during his investigation of the surface world, rumors about a certain rogue demon.

“Speaking of humans, wasn’t there recently an incredibly powerful rogue demon born in the human world? I remember from the cockroach guy’s intel that it could disguise itself as a black-haired, black-eyed human and was accompanied by a child with blonde hair… Hmm, that sounds interesting.”

…Alright, let’s go have a little fun.

With a wicked grin on his face, Hades muttered to himself, leaving only his echoing laughter in the royal castle as he prepared to leave without permission from the demon king.