Black Iron Magician

Happy New Year~

Also, I have an announcement

The update will be a lot slower for some time

That’s all

Being shaken by the carriage lasted about an hour. It was unexpectedly comfortable in here, and I haven’t had any pain in my butt from sitting so far. Haru and Chinatsu are looking out the small window of the carriage, enjoying themselves like children on their first train ride, saying something like ‘what is that?’ or waving their hands to people. No, it’s probably their first time going outside with a carriage in this world, so that might be the right reaction.

Canon and Muno-kun are sitting at the front as coachmen. Canon seems to be quite nervous, probably because Nell is here too. On the other hand, Muno is shining for some reason. Like, his eyes and the aura around him. I wonder what is that? Is that a crystallization of knight’s honor, or what? After all, Muno-kun is a bit different.

Well, the problem is Nell…. At first, she didn’t even try to look at me. Elder Daganov, who usually doesn’t talk much, felt the unusual atmosphere and then brought up various subjects to soften it. I took his helping hand and sometimes I tried to direct the conversation toward Nell. Thanks to it, Nell got back to her normal state a little.

「Come to think of it, Nell-san, I haven’t asked about the details of this expedition. Is it quite far?」

「Ah, now that you mention it, I also haven’t asked about it.」

Suddenly, Haru and Chinatsu asked something like that.

「You haven’t told them yet?」

「I guess I haven’t. Hmm, please tell them, Daganov.」

Ah, she left the explanation to her subordinate since it was bothersome.

「Then, I will explain it. We are now heading to the border between our Magic Kingdom Adelheit and Tazarnia, the west neighboring country. We received news from a nearby fort the other day. They said that two monsters that called themselves Demon King, from two different groups, have appeared.」

「There are two self-proclaimed Demon Kings? I thought that there was only one.」

「Don’t worry, it doesn’t change much.」

Nell can say so with a smile, but that’s a serious matter in the general sense. It may be due to the appearance of a real Demon King on this continent, but being able to call themselves as Demon Kings is proof that they have that much intelligence. If they lead their group to attack neighboring villages, the resident soldiers won’t be able to handle it. Moreover, this time we received a request for support even though there is a fort nearby. That’s how urgent the situation is.

「According to the news, the race of the monsters that called themselves Demon Kings are Orc and Goblin. Perhaps, they are superior species, Orc King and Goblin King… It seems that other races such as ogres and subspecies are also mixed within the monsters group, so don’t let your guard down. Both of them are currently on the move, leading their armies.」

「Two self-proclaimed Demon Kings of different species…. There’s no way they won’t fight each other, huh.」

「Yes. They are both aware of each other’s existence, perhaps because of the smell of other races. However, it will still be a few days before the two groups collide. I’m sure we will arrive on time.」

If it’s Nell, I’m sure that she will crush them at once after they collide with each other.

「Since Deris is here, how about we take the position in the center of the battlefield before them? We won’t be short on preys if we do that, right?」

「「Eh?」」

「I think that’s a very good idea! We can fight both of them like that!」

「「Eh?」」

Chinatsu and Elder Daganov are perplexed by Nell and Haru’s strategy. I see, she’s planning to take a position in the center in advance rather than wait for them to collide, huh? It seems that I’m still lacking in the study. Yeah, that’s interesting.

「By the way, what are the superior species and subspecies of monsters?」

「Ah… first, the superior species is an evolved version of a monster that has grown to a certain extent. Normally, you don’t have a chance to see the status of a monster, but people whose job is a tamer or summoner can make monsters obey them. It has been confirmed that the monsters they train can evolve into a higher species. That’s a phenomenon we humans don’t have.」

「Hee~, that’s interesting. So, monsters don’t have a job like us?」

「No, they have. I don’t know how they get them, but if it’s a wolf-like monster, its job is a hunter or something like that. The goblins we were talking about earlier can be a pretty wide range of types.」

「Ehh, monsters have jobs…?」

Hmm? Come to think of it, Chinatsu hadn’t fought any monsters yet, huh? Haru has experience fighting a group of ash kobolds before, so it’s easy to imagine since they were using various weapons.

「Yeah. The tamer I know said that the monster evolved at the stage where the job level went up. Well, in that sense, the self-proclaimed Demon Kings this time might have a high job level. They are the Kings after all.]」

「W-well, since they are the Kings, they are high-leveled, I guess…?」

Yeah, something like that. You did well for not emitting black smoke from your head there.

「The ash kobold that Haru defeated before is a sub subspecies of the kobold with brown fur. It’s not a superior species and small in number, but the ability is exceeding the normal one. It’s a race that’s adapted to the local climate, or so they say. In the case of the Ash Kobold, they are often found in caves.」

「Shishō, it’s about time I had a headache…!」

Hey, my disciple. You are giving up too soon. Also, the hand that’s holding the note is shaking, you know?

「W-Well, it doesn’t really matter to us who don’t have tamer-related skills. It’s not like you’re going to come across a monster evolving in the middle of the battle. Haru, Chinatsu, all you have to do this time is defeat the enemies! Just focus on that.」

「Yes!」

「Y-Yes!」

Compared to Haru, who becomes more energetic as soon as the topic of the actual battle comes out, Chinatsu is a little nervous. Well, looking at her status that Nell showed to me yesterday, I’m not that worried. It seems that she’s quite ambitious, so it will be okay if she gets used to it.

「Hey, Deris. Why did you give instructions to Chinatsu too? She is my disciple, you know?」

Nell interjected sullenly while releasing pressure.

At that moment, Elder Daganov and Chinatsu sweated like a waterfall, and the horses pulling the carriage screamed and rampaged.

「Uoohh!? What’s gotten into you guys!? Are you going through a rebellious phase!?」

「Mu-Muno, are you not feeling anything even with all this!? On the contrary, that’s amazing!」

Muno and Canon’s voices reached here.

Still, she finally returned to normal, eh. After all, this woman should be violent, intimidating, and outrageous.

「Then, Nell-danchou. Give instructions to Chinatsu like a master.」

「… Ah, yes! Shishou, please!」

Chinatsu, who came to her senses, nervously turned to face Nell.

「Cough…. Kill all the enemies you see. Exterminate every enemy you see!」

「Y-Yes…」

「You’re just rephrasing my instructions in a dangerous way…」

「It’s totally different. She’ll be more motivated if I say it this way, right?」

I think that feels like you will kill her from behind if she doesn’t do it.

Well, I will just support her there. I think Nell will act by herself in the battle, so helping Chinatsu a little won’t be a problem, right?

「D-Danchou, about that plan, could it be that I, Muno, and Canon are included…?」

「Of course. Don’t worry, they’ll get a lot of courage with this.」

「… I understand.」

Could it be that I have to support the knights too? Eh, I’ll be busy this time, won’t I?

「T-This is weird. I can’t stop trembling since some time ago….」

「That’s what you call trembling with excitement, my best friend!」