Black Iron Magician

「O~i, Haru. Are you done shopping over there?」

After finishing the meeting with Gan-san, I returned to the Bristly Beard storefront to see if Haru had finished her shopping. On both sides of Haru, who was waiting at the store, there are the bags that she seems to have purchased. Both of them are pretty big.

「Shishou, mission complete!」

「Is that so, well done!」

We gave each other a big thumbs up. Next to her, Anita was lying face down on the counter and turned pale.

「N-no way… I should have attained an easy victory, but on the contrary, she beat down the price thoroughly…」

It may have been too shocking, even her language has returned to its original form. It’s quite a contrast to the humming Haru. I want you to learn from this and work harder.

「Well well, it looks like she awfully did a number to you, Anita.」

「Booossss, who is this girl…? It’s the first time I’m being defeated like this….」

「She’s nothing but a customer. If I must say, she’s Deris’s first disciple. You can’t win in a normal fight.」

「No way…」

「Well, if we include the custom-made request from Deris, it’s more than enough to make a profit. Ojou-chan, you sure did a good shopping.」

「Yes! I’m glad that Anita-san was very kind.」

「Demon, that girl is a demon…」

Well, now that we’ve done our business here, let’s go to our next destination. Oops, but before that――

「Haru, that will be a hindrance if you keep it as it is. Put that luggage inside my bag. We still have a place to visit.」

I urged Haru to put down the luggage she’s carrying and hand it over to me.

「Umm, I can handle this much. And there’s no way a disciple letting her master to carry her luggage.」

「Don’t worry about it. Besides, my bag is a magic item.」

「A magic item, is it? It looks like an ordinary bag, though…?」

「The look is. But this thing is connected to another space, and it will stop the time of the stored items. I think the size is about the same as this store. Also, it takes the weight off. It’s quite convenient, isn’t it? Ah, you can’t put in living things though.」

「Hee, it looks like it can be used as a refrigerator. If so, then please do!」

「Yeah, hand it over.」

Haru gives her luggage and I store it in my bag.

「Wow, ain’t that a bag with a storage function!? That’s super rare, ain’t that!? Lucky you! I’d love to get one of those someday.」

Maybe Anita sensed the scent of gold, she stood up and brightened her eyes. Her revival was unexpectedly quick, huh. It will be troublesome if we stay like this, so let’s get out of here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adventurer Guild. This facility, which is a mediation office that handles various requests, is basically installed in every country. After a simple registration, anyone can use it unless they are criminals. There are a lot of people who work in it as the main job, but there are also a lot of people who work to earn extra money that day only.

The requests are posted on a huge bulletin board with different types of paper depending on the contents. There’s a wide variety of them, starting from house cleaning, collecting materials, and powerful monsters subjugation.

What should be noted is the penalty and the deadline for failure to complete the mission. I remember a fool who took a request with the deadline until tomorrow, but the destination can only be reached at the day after tomorrow so that fool had to pay penalties for that foolish reason.

If you examine the area and choose one that suits your strength, then you just need to take the paper from the bulletin board and go to the reception desk to complete the preparations. After that, all you have to do is to get the job done.

「There are various requests, huh. Shishou, is this my training for today?」

「That’s right. Needless to say, you’ll have a subjugation request.」

For Haru, this will be her first real battle. Normally, a rookie’s legs would be shaking with nervousness. Especially if it’s a girl.

「Understood! Battle, actual battle~ ♪」

Despite that, it seems that my disciple is in a very good mood. She’s swinging her fist while saying ‘actual battle’ rhythmically. Yep, she’s not worried at all. This girl’s head screws are stuck in a slightly different place.

「Let’s see… ah, here it is.」

「Shishou, I can’t see it….」

Haru is standing on tiptoe, trying to peek at the paper I took. But with Haru’s petite height, she wasn’t very high enough to look into it.

…… She feels like a small animal just a little bit.

「Let’s go to the reception desk first.」

「I haven’t seen it yet …」

You’ll confirm it later at the reception desk anyway.

Still, it’s been a while since I came here. There are about ten reception desks to accept requests, as you would expect from a guild in the castle town, that’s considerably a lot. Even so, there are still a lot of lines of those whose demands haven’t been dealt with yet.

However, there is one reception desk that is empty. Instead of a beautiful receptionist like the other desks, a dirty old man is sitting there. Well, if you’re a man, you will go to the beautiful one.

「Yo, this counter is empty as always, huh.」

「Hmm …? Ohh, look who we have here! Long time no see, Deris!」

The old man at the reception desk, Giorgia, suddenly became very excited and exchanged a hard handshake.

「I’m relieved that you are still alive.」

「Hmph, I’m still on my active duty. Even today I’m observing people.」

「Do your job. You are more or less a receptionist, aren’t you?」

「This is also a praiseworthy job. I’m checking whether there’s a suspicious people or insolent people who would mess with us.」

What are you, a security guard? What about your main job?

「Umm, Shishou. Who is this person?」

「Oh!? …… Oi, she’s relatively cute, isn’t she? Where did you kidnap her? I’ll accompany you, so let’s go to the guard office.」

「Why do you people always react like that…!? This girl is my disciple, you know!? My disciple!」

Do I have to explain the details each time? This is damn bothersome….

「Ahh, Haru. This old man is Giorgia. Even though he looks like this, he’s more or less the head of this guild. He’s a weirdo whose hobby is being a receptionist.」

「That last one is unnecessary. Everyone calls me Gramps Gior. Nice to meet you.」

「Yes, nice to meet you.」

「… Well, it’s always empty here, and there’s nothing wrong with making a connection with the guild’s representative. You should befriend him in moderation like I did.」

「I understand!」

「I’m the one who gets befriended!?」

Well, there won’t be a progress in the conversation if we keep joking, so I put the request I took from the bulletin board on the counter and show it to Gramps Gior. At the same time, Haru also stared at the paper on the counter.

「Extermination of Ash Kobold’s nest?」

「Hoo, you are quite a spartan, aren’t you? Choosing a nest of troublesome monsters for a subjugation request… this girl must be pretty good, huh?」

「No, she’s still a level 1 magician. She was a chick when she asked to be my disciple several days ago.」

「…… This subjugation request is for level 3, though?」

The appropriate level is indicated on the request posted on the bulletin board. At level 3, it is a level of difficulty that every adventurer should challenge with a party.

There is no level restriction, but if the guild decides that it is impossible to accomplish the task, they will ask you to pay the penalty in advance. This is because it is difficult to collect the penalty when an adventurer is killed by the subjugation target. By the way, if you escape without paying the penalty within the period, you will be put on the wanted list.

「A strong opponent! I can’t wait to show my skill, Shishou!」

「Ahh, I see. Well, if Deris is coming too, then even a newcomer can handle――」

「No, I’m not going. It won’t be a training after all.」

To my words, Gramps Gior is stunned and Haru has sparkling eyes.