Reincarnated Devil's Strongest Hero Training Plan ~The baby he picked up has grown up so well that his father is confused~ - Volume 2 Chapter 16

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

Volume 2 Chapter 16   Scallop pouch

Around the time when Mermel, having left the heavenly realm and awakened to the task of egg hatching, set off on a journey to some volcano in the lower world.

Three years had passed since the first adventure, and the children of that generation, including Ekina, showed some signs of growth.

During these three years, Ekina had mastered various skills and had finally come to the adventurers’ guild with Fradalia to officially register as an adventurer.

Currently, she seems to be chatting with the party of a young boy she had saved in a previous adventure, who has recently become friendly with her.

Ekina was showing off a scallop-shaped pouch attached to her belt, taking out alchemical items that clearly shouldn’t fit in it, and performing magic tricks.

Imagining the amount and weight of the items coming out one after another from the small scallop pouch, the leader of the boys asked, representing the group, if it was an artifact, as it was an otherwise impossible phenomenon.

However, to Fradalia, who knew the trick, what was more impressive than the artifact itself was the item-making ability of the lower-class demon who casually made such things and gave them to his daughter Ekina.

She has been trying various ways to steal the magic circle that reduces weight after seeing the real thing, but even with Fradalia, who has invested everything in intelligence, it is too complex to understand.

The magic circle depicted is truly intricate and mysterious, and it was a complete mystery how he managed to embed a gravity-controlling technique into such a small pouch.

The lower demon is truly fearsome.

The wisdom of two thousand years of Hell’s history, where Earth’s science and magic have merged, was certainly not just for show.

“Hehe, how about this? Isn’t my pouch cute? I got it from Dad yesterday.”

“D-Dad…?”

“Yep! Do you want it?”

Ekina provocatively shows off the pouch attached to her backside and shakes her hips teasingly.

The appearance is just an eight-year-old kid playing around, so there is no inclination to be attracted to the seventeen-year-old boys who have already reached adulthood. However, whether one can remain sane when asked if they want this artifact is another matter.

The boys, or rather, since they are already adults, the young men.

If the young men were staring intently at the scallop pouch on her waist, it might look to an outsider as if a group of male adventurers were lusting after and about to sexually assault an eight-year-old girl.

Ekina, who knows this and still provocatively teases, is as much of a little devil as ever.

When the whispers from the surrounding people reached the young men, they realized they had been manipulated and left with a stereotypical parting shot of “Remember this!” as they walked away.

“Haha! Those guys are such fools!”

“You shouldn’t do that, Ekina-chan. Such pranks could lead to misunderstandings…”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. This kind of distance with those guys is just right.”

Since the time they were rescued three years ago, they have always been close and familiar with each other, so they understand each other’s feelings well.

Given their close relationship, there’s an element of playfulness in their interactions, but this time, it seems that Ekina must really like the scallop pouch.

From the smile that cannot be concealed by mere pranks, it’s clear that she’s overwhelmed with joy.

Knowing this, Fradalia doesn’t scold her harshly, but if their mother Elsa had witnessed this scene, it would definitely be a case for a spanking.

“However, I wonder how Ekina-chan’s tools are stored? From what I’ve observed, aside from what I suspect to be gravity control magic, it doesn’t seem like there are any specific magic circles engraved.”

In reality, Fradalia’s assessment is correct. Indeed, the scallop pouch only has the effect of zero weight, and there isn’t any space inside that could hold two or three carts.

But seeing the items taken out for performance, it wouldn’t be surprising if there were that much capacity.

So how does she manage the storage…?

“Well, of course, I just use storage magic to expand and shrink things~”

“St-storage magic…”

“Yep. It’s an application of alchemy that my dad taught me last year! He said I couldn’t be an adventurer until I learned this, which was such a drag. Well, the alchemy doll I got as a passing gift was cute like a wasabi doll, so it was worth learning.”

Ekina, the unconscious genius little devil, smiles with a mischievous grin, but for Fradalia, this is an extremely advanced magic that cannot be dismissed with a simple “good to know.”

After all, being able to alter the size of objects to a certain extent is no small feat.

From further questioning, it became clear that moving objects or living creatures are too difficult to calculate with this magic, but even so…

Just hearing a bit about storage magic was enough for Fradalia, a study monster, to concede it was a dangerous magic.

Ekina, who has intuitively mastered such magic, is truly a prodigy, a genius, and a suitable candidate for the title of a superhuman.

In her area of expertise, she seems to have reached a level that no other lower demons can compete with.

However, unless it’s a technology she’s interested in, Ekina tends not to use it correctly unless it’s absolutely necessary. Even though her father Kakyu has taught her various techniques, she tends to misuse them, such as turning healing potions into sprays that make eyes itch terribly or transforming slime gel for breathing underwater into a suffocating jelly that absorbs oxygen only in a small area and disappears.

She specialized in harassment to an extreme degree.

From an adventurer’s perspective, the itchy spray could become an item that disrupts an opponent’s concentration and vision if used over a long period. The suffocating jelly, on the other hand, would be a deadly technique with the power to knock out humanoid beings in its range with a single hit.

Considering that, it’s not entirely wrong growth, so Kakyu seems to think that if she can create what she aims for, it’s a talent in its own right. She could also create the genuine versions before adding her own twist, so she would be able to use them effectively when needed.

…However, considering her twisted half-demon nature, she likely wouldn’t rely on straightforward alchemy unless absolutely necessary.

After finishing her boasting and proceeding with the formal registration process at the Adventurers’ Guild, Ekina stared intently at the E-rank iron plate placed on the counter, her face becoming serious.

“Um…? T-this is Ekina-san’s E-rank plate…”

“I don’t want it.”

“Eh…?”

“I don’t want it.”

“Ehh~~!?”

Despite completing her formal registration, Ekina slapped away the E-rank plate the receptionist was trying to hand her, puffing up her cheeks.

She had forgotten until now, but it seems she still harbored a grudge from the fact that only Abel was approved as a D-rank without a test in the past. Previously, she had been given a single F-rank wooden plate, which was just a humble piece of wood, so she seemed a bit sulky about it.

Now, the stubborn little devil was turning her face away and insisting she didn’t want it, but seeing this, Fradalia patted her younger sister’s head, comforting her gently.

“Come on, Ekina-chan, you should accept it. If you’re recognized as an official adventurer, it will also improve the evaluations of your party members, Abel-kun and Granbelt-kun. Don’t you want to see their smiles?”

“M-mmm…!”

By the way, the first prince Granbelt has recently started joining their training sessions. Until now, they had been prohibited from adventuring by Kakyu until the age of eight, so he had been unable to move around much. It seems that the four childhood friends often gathered at the magic castle for their training days.

Recently, Granbelt has stopped getting too heated during mock battles, and it appears he is desperately trying to learn something beyond what can be measured in mock battles—an essential strength—from his rival, Abel. Ekina didn’t know what had happened to the first prince, but her true feelings were that it was good that things were peaceful.

“You want to see it, don’t you? Their smiles?”

“I-I want to.”

“Don’t you want to see it?”

“……….. F-fine!! I’ll take this E-rank plate!”

The little devil had fallen.

In the end, despite making a sulky face and sticking out her tongue, she couldn’t resist Fradalia’s persuasive words and the promise of making Abel and Granbelt happy. She ended up accepting the adventurer’s plate, albeit with the energy of snatching it away and quickly darting off.

Since she only brought Fradalia with her today, it seems she plans to start her adventuring tomorrow.

In any case, with her adventurer registration completed smoothly, Ekina was now officially ready to take on requests.