Black Iron Magician

Katsuragi Haruna is a girl who has never spared any effort since she became old enough to understand what’s going on around herself.

There are many factors that make us think that we should do so in today’s competitive society―― like, examination war, sports, etc. However, it was not such difficult things that became Haruna’s foundation, but from the words that her beloved mother said. Not unusual words, just words you can find anywhere.

『You see, Haruna’s name has a very nice meaning. Anywhere, she won’t give up no matter what. She’ll do her best anytime. Mom will be happy if Haruna become like that.』

Anyone would want to hear their name’s origin when they were young. When Haruna heard these words, she received a tremendous impact that cleared her mind. Haruna wasn’t that smart compared to other people, so she didn’t understand all the meanings of her words. But, she was honest to a fault.

『Yes! I will do my best at doing my best!』

Her mother laughed happily. At that reaction, a fire suddenly lit in her heart. Then, she stopped giving up on that day.

She asked her teachers and friends to teach her the things she wasn’t good at in her studies, and even if she wasn’t at the top of the class, she was able to keep the middle rank. When her both parents were working together and there were many days when neither of them were around, she took the initiative to help with the housework and mastered it quickly. When her little brother cried that he couldn’t clear the game, she made him happy by clearing it even until the hidden stage boss.

She’ll do everything with all my might. With this belief, Haruna’s greatest talent blossomed in athletics. When she was in junior high school, her childhood friend, Chinatsu, invited her to join the kendo club with her.

Haruna, who had no idea how to move her legs or how to hold a bamboo sword, diligently learned it with her unusual concentration. Since she originally had good reflexes, her progress was remarkable. In one month, she was able to win against Chinatsu, who had experience since elementary school. The next week, she won against the upperclassman regular. And another next week, she made the captain surrender the ace seat.

At this time, Haruna realized that she began to feel indescribable pleasure from the bottom of her heart. Her efforts appeared in a clear form. That was a pleasant thing for her. Simply put, these are competitions that decide the winner. She worked hard, learned, absorbed it, lost, worked harder, and then defeated her enemies―― Haruna, who felt pleasant about this flow, was convinced that her mother’s teachings were correct. Then, she more and more accepted it blindly.

After that, Haruna’s rapid progress didn’t stop. No one in the school could win against her, not only the girls but also the boys. In a match, overall victory is normal for her. A player who fought against Haruna said this in an interview with a magazine,

『Her eye color is different from mine. Her atmosphere is horrifying. It was like a duel with a real sword, not just a match… err, just what am I talking about? Please forget it, ahaha.』

The reporter who heard that story just took it as a joke, but the faces of the other experienced players around her were serious and having a cold sweat. They are saved because it was a match with rules. But if it was a battle without rules, a battle to kill each other, she would do it without hesitation, wouldn’t she? With all her might as usual――

Haruna, who trained herself with preparedness to die through Kendo, gained even more mental strength here. Haruna also built a legend in ball games competitions and full marathons that are open to the public and her name scattered widely.

After graduating from junior high school, Haruna and Chinatsu went to the same high school together, and naturally, Haruna decided to join the kendo club. However, there is no way that other sports clubs would leave such Haruna alone. The started with their solicitation activity.

『Then, just observation.』

By the time such a line came out, it was too late. There’s no option to stop midway for Haruna who had stood at the starting line of sports. While participating in various club activities, Haruna could no longer focus on just one club. Still, since she had a better result than the other members, there were no clubs that want to let her go.

『Haruna is greedy after all. On this occasion, why don’t you participate in everything by taking turns?』

『There’s that way! As expected of Chinatsu-chan, you are so smart!』

『Eh, you are serious…? Err, it was a joke――』

There was such a background. Only her name belonged to all activities and she participated as a helper in turns. It is said that Chinatsu, the one who managed the dispute over Haruna, was severely bewildered because she was thanked by the club’s captains.

Haruna, who made frantic efforts on an extensive scale, was not able to win the national championship in the same way as the Kendo club in her junior high school days. However, the skills and experience she had cultivated in her small body have steadily led her into the realm of the inhuman.

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「Cut off the tail, and now we are done.」

Haruna used the hunting knife she took out from the bag to cut the tail of the freshly killed ash kobold. She only thought ‘do I have to drain the blood?’ when she saw the blood that gushed out, it was just like when she took down a fish. Now she only thinks about ash kobold as a material.

「I guess the mine site is a little further away. I should hurry a bit more, I want to go back before the sun goes down after all.」

After ran again for a while, Haruna discovered the location of the entrance to the mine. At the same time, she saw two ash kobolds that seemed to be guards. Their appearances almost the same with the previous ash kobold, both of them are carrying a club. There are no trees around them that can hide Haruna’s body, so she will have to expose herself if she’s going to fight.

(They’re watching each other’s blind spots and they have weapons. I guess it’s better to think that they have that level of intelligence. It might be classic, but let’s use that.)

Haruna took out the stone, that she picked up on the way, from the bag and set her aim.

「Sh…!」

The thrown stone flies far above the ash kobolds over an unguarded area and then falls to the back of the mine entrance.

――Rattle.

「Guo?」

One of them reacted to that sound and made a gesture as if saying ‘did you hear that?’ to the other one.

「Guo guo.」

「Guoon.」

「Guo.」

Eventually, one of them left to find the source of the sound. The only one remained is the other ash kobold. And at this time, Haruna had already loaded the next round.

「N…!?」

The stone thrown by Haruna collides with the ash Kobold’s throat. Its throat blocked and it raised its voice without sound. Then, it sees someone is approaching. No, she’s already before its eyes.

Haruna, who made a big leap, grabs its head and give it a knee kick without killing her momentum. The ash kobold might already dead at this point, but she doesn’t let go of her hands and knee, letting its head hit the ground and using it as a cushion.

Once one of them is gone, there is no more hard fight. Haruna, who started to run at the moment she landed, has a stone again in her hand. She headed for the other ash kobold that disappeared and came back at the entrance after a short while. And what in her hand was not a stone, but the ash kobold’s tail.

All the hard work she made so far will pay off, and she will demonstrate her superiority against higher rank enemies. ‘Hard work is justice. It’s right more than anything else and it’s fun more than anything else.’ It’s unknown whether Haruna is thinking so. But at any rate, she steadily learns how to defeat monsters with the preparedness to die, and while smiling.