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 9

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 9   Depart for the first request

“Ugh… I’m so sorry. I’m the only one getting a ride from Wasabi-chan…”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Big sis isn’t good with exercise, so just stay put.”

“Okay…”

As they traveled from Rador to the Onos Ruins, Fradalia sat despondently on a floating scallop. She had hoped to show off as the leader of her younger siblings, but as soon as she encountered the unstable, rugged natural terrain outside the city, her stamina quickly ran out, and she kept tripping over herself.

To avoid exhausting their magic by constantly using spells to restore her stamina and heal her injuries, they decided to use Wasabi as a steed instead.

Despite her lack of stamina, Fradalia has been incredibly useful so far, guiding them and providing information about the monsters they encounter. Ekina and Abel are actually relieved to see this more vulnerable side of their otherwise admirable big sister.

From her stable perch on Wasabi, Fradalia can unleash powerful magic capable of obliterating low-level monsters. For Ekina and Abel, there has been hardly any chance to do anything themselves—they’ve even thought it might be easier to just let her handle everything.

However, her magic isn’t unlimited, so whenever they can handle E-ranked monsters with physical attacks, Ekina and Abel step up to conserve Fradalia’s energy.

“But how do you manage to move so easily with that huge backpack? It must be really heavy. Is there a trick to it?”

“Oh, this?”

Abel was referring to Ekina’s oversized, bulging backpack. The contents, partly visible, seemed to include camping gear for emergencies and alchemy tools prepared for this adventure.

Despite the enormous load, Ekina moved more nimbly than Abel, maintaining stealth techniques honed as an assassin. With the strength inherited from the low-class demon, Ekina’s physical power surpassed that of an average adult farmer, but Abel still found it remarkable that her movements were unaffected.

“I know it might sound odd coming from someone as unathletic as me, but Ekina’s agility is comparable to the top students at the Royal Academy of Magic. Given her strength, that backpack should hinder her and reduce her precision somewhat…”

Fradalia, despite her lack of athleticism, agreed with Abel’s assessment. Believing there must be a trick, she observed closely. Her broad knowledge and understanding led her to the answer.

“Oh, I see… While I can’t fully understand the complexity, is that perhaps an alchemical bag with weight-reducing enchantments?”

“Hehe, you got it! That’s right!”

“I knew it. That explains everything…”

Hearing Fradalia’s guess, Ekina revealed the truth with a mischievous smile, as if her prank had succeeded.

In this world, magic that manipulates gravity falls under dark magic, a field with little research and almost no adept users due to its extreme difficulty.

Carving a magic circle into a simple backpack and reforging it into a magical tool through alchemy was beyond the realm of human knowledge by the standards of this world. The two who highly regarded Ekina’s alchemy skills were left speechless by such an out-of-place artifact.

Abel, forgetting to keep watch, was staring at the magical backpack in the shallow forest. The alchemy involved in creating this item required vastly more magical power, control, and knowledge than the simple explosive bombs they usually handled.

“You seriously made this? No way…”

“Huh? Of course not. I borrowed it from my dad’s room. We need stuff like this for adventures, right? Hehe.”

With a face that seemed to ask, “Am I not great?”, Ekina looked at her childhood friend, who sighed and looked to the sky.

There was no hiding it; it was clear she had “borrowed” it. Abel couldn’t help but feel sympathy for Ekina, imagining her crying when their grandma Elsa scolded her upon returning.

He didn’t think their grandpa Kakyu would scold her; rather, knowing how lenient he was, only he could stop their grandma from being too harsh.

As they continued, the forest finally opened up, revealing the entrance to the Onos Ruins in the shallow forest. Fighting monsters continuously had taken a toll on the five-year-olds’ stamina, so Ekina used a dragon-scent spray to repel them. For the aggressive monsters unaffected by the spray, Wasabi dealt with them using water tentacles.

The dragon-scent spray was created by Ekina after observing that Abel, smelling like the dragon Ballus from their previous adventure, was less likely to be attacked by monsters. She had polished Ballus scales while he napped at the magic castle and used the towel’s scent to make the spray with her alchemy skills.

Ekina’s pure-hearted act of caring for her pet had garnered much gratitude from Ars and Hades, raising her evaluation significantly—a memory fresh in Abel’s mind.

Abel had found it uncharacteristic of Ekina to engage in such charitable activities, but upon seeing her use the dragon-scent spray, he couldn’t help but exclaim, “So that’s what it was…!”

Ekina’s mischievous but clever antics were always helpful, so even Abel, a paragon of virtue, couldn’t bring himself to reprimand her strongly.

“Sigh… If only Ekina were a bit more girlish, she’d be incredibly popular. She’s good-looking enough for someone like Granbelt to fall for her.”

“Hmph! I’m not so cheap as to wag my tail at that suave jerk! Besides, I’m already popular enough.”

Including his childhood friend Granbelt, Abel understood that Ekina tended to be doted on by their peers. While he somewhat agreed, he couldn’t fully accept it. By “popular,” he meant becoming admired in a more refined, ladylike way.

Unfortunately, this was a naive boy’s fantasy, ignorant of reality. Abel, who didn’t yet understand what love was or what girls desired, was too young to comprehend what being popular truly meant.

To be blunt, he was overly romanticizing it in a naive way. Interestingly, Fradalia seemed to like this naive side of Abel, diligently noting down his words with her glasses gleaming. Perhaps there was a niche demand for this sort of behavior.

Of course, Fradalia’s note-taking was incredibly fast, contrary to her clumsiness in physical activities, so no one noticed her doing it.

The only one who did notice was the perceptive little devil, who, despite being five years old, could sense emotions well. She observed that her sister Fradalia seemed happy, though she couldn’t quite understand why.

“Now, from here on, we start the main part of the investigation. Since there’s been a report of newbie hunters appearing, let’s stick together and avoid acting alone. Basically, Wasabi-chan will handle the monsters, Ekina-chan will stay alert, Abel-kun will protect Ekina-chan, and I’ll have my magic ready in case of emergencies. Any objections?”

Thus, with the affirmative responses from the group, the serious part of their mission began.