Alba Frühling (アルバ Aruba) is the main protagonist of the Senyū webcomic, manga, and anime series. He is the 45th of the 75 Heroes taking on the quest to defeat the Demon King. His motives later change however, when he and Ross, the Royal Soldier accompanying him, meet the Demon King.
Appearance
Alba is rather short for his age. He has light brown hair and dark brown eyes. His bangs are cleared from his forehead and frame his face from the sides.
His outfit is stereotypical of an adventurer. He wears a bright orange shirt with a high collar and short sleeves. He has a silver-colored armor piece over his shirt, covering his chest and sporting shoulder pads. He has a pendant around his neck, with a red stone inside, signifying his kinship to the original Hero. He also wears green wide shorts and a big, double-wrapped brown belt, with gray ornaments. His sword is attached to his belt on the back side. His boots and gloves are both dark brown. He carries a broad sword that he uses in Chapter 1 and 2.
In Chapter 2, he swaps his armor for something more lightweight. His outfit consists of the same green shorts and double wrapped belt, however his shirt is changed for a dark tee shirt with a short sleeved open front red jacket over top of it. He also has tied Ros's scarf around the back of his belt, so it sticks out like a tail, thus earning the nickname "Red Fox". Aside from the clothing changes, his hair sticks up a little more.
When Alba powers up near the end of Chapter 2, his outfit changes again. His shirt changes to a red tee shirt and he gets a demon cape, which is black with a high collar and holes in it. It has a chain with 5 links in front, likely to hold it in place. When he gets the Mana Maker-kun, one of his eyes turn red and half his bangs fall into his face.
Later, he changes back into his outfit from Chapter 1, without all the armor. In the finale of Chapter 2, Ros gives Alba the dagger that was used to stab Alba in Chapter 1, saying that a dagger would be more efficient for usage if Alba wants to continue being a hero, and that he bought the knife specifically for this purpose, but enjoyed watching Alba fight with the heavy broad sword.
In Chapter 3, his outfit stays nearly the same, with the exception of changing his black t-shirt to a white one with an orange symbol on it and getting rid of the belts.
In the end of Chapter 4, he has grown and does not wear the orange jacket anymore. In its place is a long, white robe that symbolizes Alba's position as The Great Mage.
For about half of his screen-time, both webcomic and anime, he wears prison clothing.
Personality
Alba is the Tsukkomi (突っ込み tsukkomi), or "straight man" of the series, and makes retorts at whatever weird things are happening, while Ross(and everybody else) is the Boké (ボケ boke), or the "funny man" who says or do things that make no sense. This nature of his makes even the narrator of the anime retort.
He is also shown to have low confidence in himself. He often has doubts about being the hero he wants to be and being strong enough for that role. Because of this, he has some kind of dependency on Ross.
It is noted by Haruhara that Alba is the type of person that would always help those in need, and is simply "a kind guy who cherishes his friends."
In Chapter 2, Alba still retains his retorting personality, but he now has grown more mature and responsible. He is also very strong, like a hero he had always wanted to be.
Plot
The King had sent Alba and seventy-four others on a quest to defeat the Demon King. Alba trains with some slimes and a Nisepanda, where he was nearly defeated until Ross' intervention. They then go to the Dark Caves to defeat some monsters, but found a tourist sight inside the Caves.
After coming out from the Dark Caves because Ross stabbed him with a dagger, Alba throws away the dagger and accidentally stabs a young girl. After having Ross heal her, Alba discovers her identity as the Demon King and accidentally tears off her clothes in stopping her. He gets put into jail for sexual harassment.
He later escapes from jail with her and Ross' help and the two make up. They came back to jail to have the charges were dropped, but the group was placed into jail again for aiding the Demon King.
Abilities
At the end of Chapter 2, during the boss battle with Rchimedes I, Alba is sent to the dimensional rift, where he gets the Mana left behind by Creasion and the 1st Rchimedes. This gives him a lot of power, however he does not know how to use it.
At the Chapter 3, Elf entrusted his Mana to Alba, causing him to die along with the crumbling dimension. The reason of his action is here.
Trivia
- "Alba" is Italian for Dawn, while "Frühling" is German for Spring.
- He is left-handed.
- When his name combined with Ross', it would formed the word "Albatross". Or in japanese 'アルバトロス' which translates to 'Alba and Ross'. Interestingly, "albatross" is a type of seagull, but this is unintentional on Haruhara's part.
- In his description page, Haruhara made a joke and called Alba "A prisoner character instead of the main character," alluding to the many times Alba has been thrown in jail.
- Alba is actually the one who created Mana, in Elf's timeline.
Quotes
"That's strange. There's sweat coming out of my eye."
"You're scaring me, legendary hero!" (Episode 25)
"I don’t care about the Demon King or the Hero, or the title or the money! I’m not going to save the world. I’m going to get my friend!" (Episode 26)