Land of Death, a short distance away from the residence of Isis, there’s a training ward created by Polaris, one of the subordinates. Found in that place were Polaris and Sirius…… two of the Death King’s subordinates who were particularly enthusiastic about their training.
The two of them, however, were now looking at Eulpecula, who was sitting at the edge of the ward with a slightly troubled expression on their faces.
[……Eulpecula, it’s not safe for you to be there, so how about you play somewhere else?]
[Kyukyuu!]
[I don’t think it’s much fun to watch but…… What should we do, Polaris-dono?][It can’t be helped. I don’t really feel comfortable forcing her out……]
Hearing Sirius asking her opinion, Polaris lightly sighs and mutters, before turning to Eulpecula. Thereupon, she deployed a translucent ward.
[Eulpecula, you can watch if you want…… but it’s dangerous, so make sure you don’t leave that ward.]
[Kyuu!]
[Hahaha, that’s a fine reply. If you get hurt, Isis-sama will be sad, so make sure you don’t leave that ward.]
After reminding her again not to leave the ward, Polaris begins training with Sirius. This time, they didn’t engage in any particular mock battle, but trained with each other while focusing on the basics.
After about an hour, they stopped training and were discussing issues with each other when they heard a cry.[Kyukkyuuu…… Kyuu!]
[……Hahaha, it looks like Eulpecula wants to train too. It’s brandishing its tails like they were fists, it’s so adorable.]
[It looks charming. It also seemed like it’s still inexperience in Body Strengthening Magic———- Unnn?]
[……Ahhh…… When did our Little Princess learn Body Strengthening Magic?]
Out of the corner of their gazes, they saw Eulpecula doing some kind of shadow boxing with its tails, which was a charming sight in itself…… but she was clearly clad in magic power, and although it was poorly done, she was still using magic to strengthen her body.
It’s true that monsters with a certain degree of intelligence may be able to use magic, and Body Strengthening Magic is one of the most basic and easy-to-use magic.
However, it was astonishing to see Eulpecula, who at least, when Isis first brought it here, shouldn’t have been able to operate magic, let alone use Body Strengthening Magic, but in less than a month, she had become capable of using Body Strengthening Magic without anyone teaching her.
[……I heard from Rasal that Eulpecula has been reading various books and accumulating knowledge but……]
[No, she may have learned it just now.]
[What?]
[I think she learned it just by watching us train, acquiring knowledge and actually strengthening its body. Of course, it may have already practiced using magic power while reading books.]
[……Fumu. It has a wonderful desire to improve itself.]
While listening to the astonished Polaris’ words, Sirius seemed somewhat impressed. For her part, she liked what Eulpecula was doing, showing her desire to learn Body Strengthening Magic on her own.
Thereupon, after thinking about this for a moment, she called out to Eulpecula, who continued to practice shadow-boxing.
[……Eulpecula.]
[Kyuu?]
[If you’re gonna train, it would be better training if you actually had an opponent. I’ll be your opponent…… I won’t fight back, so strike as you please.]
[Kyuu!]
[Good answer. Now, come!]
When Sirius said she would be her training partner, Eulpecula nodded her head and headed toward her with her body strengthened. Polaris sighed as she watched over them.
[……Good grief. Well, Sirius is very skilled, so she won’t hurt it, so in that sense, I guess I can rest easy.]
Although Rasal calls her a musclehead, Sirius is a top-notch swordswoman with well-developed techniques and strategies, and is naturally capable of adjusting her strength to suit her opponent and of providing guidance.
In fact, Polaris herself had asked her to teach her some things about swordsmanship to the extent that it didn’t interfere with her training, so Sirius had a certain amount of talent as an instructor.
[Think about the flow of magic power throughout the body, not just on certain parts of your body. The key is how densely and rapidly your magic power can circulate.]
[Kyuu!]
[Hoh…… That’s good, definitely better than the last one. Keep it up, keep it going!]
While gently defending against her attacks so that the recoil of Eulpecula’s attacks wouldn’t strike back at her, and giving advice on her still rough Body Strengthening Magic, Sirius often accompanied Eulpecula’s training.
[……Kyuu…… Kyuuu……]
[That’s enough for today…… Even so, you did great. You definitely have a remarkable natural talent. In just a short tie, your movements have become beyond recognition.]
[That’s quite a big deal. The way she handled her magic power visibly improved. At an incredibly fast speed at that…… Good grief, as someone who isn’t talented at all, I couldn’t help but feel envy.]
[If Polaris-dono isn’t talented, then most living beings in the world must be incompetents……]
As they watched Eulpecula lay down on the ground exhausted, Sirius and Polaris looked on in admiration the whole time.
[Due to its young age, it isn’t able to use most of the huge magic power it has, but I guess it will have to get used to it as it grows up.]
[Yeah, the speed at which it learns skills is amazing. The more advice I gave it, the more its movements visibly improved…… I’m looking forward to its future.]
[You’re right. Now, Eulpecula…… If you want to rest your body, let’s go back to the castle first.]
[Kyuuu……]
Polaris carried the laid down Eulpecula in her arms, and the two subordinates and their family’s fox returned to the castle.
<Afterword>
『Eulpecula』
She’s basically the youngest under the Death King’s subordinates, so she’s adored by the other members of the Pleiades. She’s a prankster, but her pranks are usually played on Sirius or Rasal, not on others.
Spica is often unaware that she was being pranked and without care about what she does, Polaris just smiles and reacts a little, and when she plays her pranks on Iris, she gets less food for breakfast and dinner…… And so, most of her pranks are played on Sirius and Rasal, who were giving her interesting reactions……
Putting aside if the other party is ordinary people, the pranks that she plays are all of a level that wouldn’t be a problem for the two Peak Count-ranks. She is smart and dexterous, and her cunning pranks often catch even the most alert and wise Rasal.
However, she doesn’t play pranks that can’t be detected, only pranks that are easily detected, so she’d often end up being chased around by an angry Sirius or Rasal after she played her pranks.
It’s not that she looks down on Sirius and Rasal or makes fun of them, but rather, it’s more like a little sister playing with her big sisters.
She often makes fun of Rasal and Sirius, but she also shows her anger when someone other than a Death King’s subordinate speaks ill or insults the two of them, so even with all her actions, she’s quite fond of them.
