Black Iron Magician

The battlefield, where Haruna and Chinatsu are fighting the panicked goblin army, is finally coming to an end even though it took some time.

「This is―― the last one!」

「Giyaah!」

Chinatsu, who went around behind the Goblin Commander like the wind, cut the enemy’s neck with her katana. The goblin soldiers couldn’t see Chinatsu’s figure who was running at a tremendous speed, and they were cut down with one slash. It seems that only the Goblin King could see her slightly, but it couldn’t deal with her sword.

「Chinatsu-chan, good work~」

Haruna, who was supporting Chinatsu while spreading poisonous fog, presented a towel and a water bottle that she took out from her pouch. After cleaning up the blood, Chinatsu sheathes the katana in the scabbard and receives them with a smile.

「Thank you, Haruna. How was it? Did I fight well?」

「Yeah! You were getting faster and faster as you defeated them. I think Shishō will praise you. Now, we have achieved our goal.」

「I’m glad that we’re both okay. I wonder if Nell-shishō has finished?」

「There was a big noise halfway, but I couldn’t hear it again. I think she has won already.」

「Then, let’s go back to the camp. Err…」

In the corner of her eyes, Chinatsu saw the headless corpse of the Goblin Commander, which she just killed, got up. For her, who’s not good with horror, the bizarre sight of the dead moving is a case that could make her scream. However, only this time, she only frowned slightly and didn’t scream. Or rather, she was already done that before.

「――These moving goblin corpses, we can leave them alone, right?」

「Y-yeah. It seems that Shishō cast magic around here to move the goblin corpses, just like my Weil. He said that it’s not good for hygiene to leave the corpses alone, so he’s making them jump into the incineration flame themselves.」

Moving corpses seem to be able to move as long as their limbs are still intact. The more severely damaged ones are gathered in one place and burned by these corpses. And those who had finished their work were forced to jump into the flame themselves, it’s quite a black labor.

「He made them follow orders even without touching them directly, so I guess the difference in our levels is so far. It seems to be a higher level magic, so I have to work harder.」

「I wonder if you can manipulate this much at once when you are as good as Deris-san… Ah, speaking of which, where is Deris-san?」

「He said he’s going to be away for a while. He said that we should go back to the campsite first after we’ve finished here.」

「I-Is that so. Let’s go back.」

「……Gobu.」

Leaving the cleaning up to the goblin corpses, they returned to the barbeque meeting place where Canon and the others were waiting.

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

The campsite is filled with the nice aroma of roasting meat. The pleasant tiredness after exercise and the fact that it’s almost time to eat make their mouths accumulate saliva.

The meats are probably supplied locally by Nell. In addition to Muno grilling meat in front of the iron plate, Daganov is also grilling a giant boar-shaped monster. It’s so big that he’s struggling to cook it all the way through. Next to them, a large number of boars, which will be used as ingredients, are lying. There, Canon is crying while draining blood.

「――Hm? O-Ohh! Haruna-dono and Chinatsu-dono! I see that you are both safe!」

It seems that Muno noticed them. Following him, Canon and Daganov also rush over to them.

「We are back. We are done with the north side!」

「Y-You guys really defeated them, huh? And here I was trembling with fear of being attacked at any moment…」

「My friend, I told you that was trembling with excitement. What a humble guy.」

「Well, anyway, I’m glad that you two are safe. I’m sure Danchō and Deris-dono will be back soon, so please take a rest in the tent until then.」

「No, I’ll help! If I had to say, this is where I show my real ability!」

「Haruna, you sure are energetic… well, I’ll help too. My sense is very clear right now, so I think I’ll be able to do a good job.」

「Is that so? Then, we’ll take your offer. …… By the way.」

With a dubious look on his face, Daganov turned his face next to Haruna.

「… Gobu.」

「What about this red goblin?」

「He’s Gobuo-kun.」

「Ha?」

「He’s Gobuo-kun.」

「Um, you can think that Haruna tamed a monster… also, Deris-san has approved this, so I think you can rest assured.」

Since Haruna’s explanation didn’t get the point across, Chinatsu explained it on her behalf. When he heard that he can get help in draining the monsters’ blood, Canon was greatly overjoyed.

After that, everyone immersed themselves in the work until Deris and Nell returned. Haruna helped to roast the wild boar, Chinatsu helped to grill it on the iron plate, and Gobuo-kun helped to drain the blood. In the meantime, the area began to darken and cooking was about to end.

「Oh, it smells good.」

「We’re back.」

「「Shishō!」」

Nell and Deris appeared from the east for some reason, not from the north or the south.

「Give me a status report.」

「Yes. Haruna-dono and Chinatsu-dono have defeated the goblin’s group, and the cooked meats are in good condition.」

「Good. Both of you, you did well. The orcs in the south also have been annihilated, so I guess we can say this expedition is a success. We have a lot of ingredients, so you can eat as much as you want today. Especially Haruna, you don’t need to hold back.」

「Are you sure!?」

Haruna is delighted at the announcement of free refills. Chinatsu knows that Haruna would eat more than usual after a big tournament, so she shows a wry smile but doesn’t say anything since she’s also quite hungry. Chinatsu herself believes that she will eat more than usual.

「Shishō, have you finished your errand?」

「Hmm, I guess it’s over, but I feel like there are more new troublesome things to do.」

「New things to do?」

「I will tell you when we get home. It’s said that on the way home is also an expedition, so don’t let your guard down until the end.」

「Don’t worry. I’ve never let my guard down before!」

「Haha, that’s right. Now, eat up! You can eat as much as you want!」

「Ya~y!」

Haruna raised her both hands in delight. Then, the feast began.

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

From the rooftop of the border fort, Commander Janet and Rize were looking at that scene through monoculars.

「… Apparently, they have successfully defeated them.」

「Yes. As expected of Black Iron, Massacre Princess, and their disciples. Also, looking at them having a feast right away, it seems that their boldness as adventurers hasn’t disappeared.」

「I even offered to prepare it at this fort, but Nell-danchō refused it. She said that the expedition is to train everything, including warfare and food.」

「H-How bold… Black Iron, Massacre Princess, and Awe. Oh my, I really miss the time when those three were traveling around as adventurers.」

「I’m ashamed to say that I’m not familiar with the stories of those days. However, Awe… is it? It’s the first time I’m hearing that name. What about that person now?」

When Janet said so casually, Rize’s expression became gloomy. Then, he slowly opened his mouth.

「…… It was more than ten years ago when I was still an adventurer. Awe is a nickname of an elf girl about this tall, and I remember her as a pretty girl with chestnut-colored hair.」

Rize’s hand indicates a height of roughly 150cm or so. It’s about the same height as Haruna.

「If she had grown up, she would have become a peerless beauty like Nell-danchō.」

「… ‘If’?」

「It seems that she passed away. I don’t know what kind of request they were taking, but only the two of them returned to the guild and they looked sad. Immediately after that, both of them quitted being adventurers―― well, I think your country know more about what happened after that.」

「T-That means… N-Nell-danchō lost at that time!?」

「Keep it down. At that time, the two of them kept silent regarding this matter and the atmosphere didn’t allow the others to ask. Please keep this story in your mind.」

「………」

If they lost their companion and came back like that, it’s obvious that they were defeated. Did they encounter the Great Eight Demons? There may be a stronger existence than the strongest knight in the kingdom. Janet was very anxious.