Black Iron Magician

「Touko-chan also liked sweets, right? On holidays, I often saw you went to such shops――」

「―― T-That’s for the karate club! I just stopped by and bought it as a captain! I’m going now! Also, thanks for the treat! See ya!」

「Don’t mind it. Be careful~」

「Bye bye~!」

After they finished their chatting, it was information gathering for me, Touko left with a considerable amount of souvenirs in both hands. She looked like a gal, but she was an honest girl. Thanks to her, I was able to grasp the current situation of the heroes. Yeah, she’s a good girl.

「Touko-chan hasn’t changed, huh. For me, she’s a worthy opponent!」

「Oh, Touko got your acknowledgment, huh. It seems that she was conscious of you, was there something between you?」

「Well, I and Touko-chan entered the school as sports scholarship students. I was in the kendo club and Touko-chan was in the karate club. Touko-chan became the captain of the karate club even though she was a first-year student, but then she had a practice match with me, err…」

「And she lost to you?」

「Yes, and I beat her up pretty badly…」

「Beat her up badly, huh…」

Well, it was Haru after all.

I’m wondering why you, who were in the kendo club, were playing in a karate practice match. But, to put it in words, she was probably being asked as a helper by other clubs because of her physical ability. After all, this girl was also engaged in boxing, aiki, kenpo, and so on.

However, there was no way that Touko could be convinced by such words. Karate is the road that she has been walking on. Her achievements were acknowledged and she enrolled as a scholarship student, but then she was totally defeated by someone in a different club, and that someone had more ability than her. I’m sure she lost her face and it’s not surprising that she sees Haru as a rival.

「You see, there’s is this thing called holding back…」

「Nope. It’s rude to the opponent.」

「Right.」

Haru is like this after all. I’m sure that she defeated Touko with all her best in the match. No, rather, I should praise Touko’s strong spirit that she continuing to have a rematch even after facing that Haru. Uh-huh, anyway, she’s an attractive capable person.

「Now that we are in the town, let’s go to the guild to see the requests. The actual battle will help you learn magic faster after all.」

「I agree!」

Thus, we head to the Adventurer Guild.

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

「―― There you have it. Is there any monster that can be Haru’s opponent?」

「Have what..?」

「Please!」

We came to our exclusive receptionist, Gramps Gior, and asked if there’s any suitable subjugation request. Bulletin board? There’s no suitable request anymore there. At best, it’s about the same rank as the Ash Kobold Boss that she defeated before or maybe lower, so it’s not enough to be Haru’s opponent now. That said, the request to subjugate monsters with the level that can shake the country like Gobuo will be passed to Nell. If that’s the case, the only way to find out is to ask the guild master, Gramps Gior, for a request that hasn’t been posted on the bulletin board because of some issues. We’re aiming for something in between. Level 5 is fine, so give me that kind of request, Gramps Gior!

「It’s hard to refuse if Haruna-chan is the one asking. But, the requests that have some issues, huh… Recently, the knight leader, Nell-dono, has cleared up troublesome things thoroughly. The only thing left is―― uh.」

「So there is one. Give it to me.」

「Wait, I said wait, you idiot!」

I reached out my hand across the counter, trying to snatch the request where he stopped his gaze slightly. However, not losing to his age, Gramps Gior was agile. My outstretched hand vainly cut through the air.

「Hah. As expected of the one called 『Devilish Swordman』 when he was on active duty!」

「Deris, you… Not to mention about before, you sure are awfully active lately…」

「You can say that I’m shining every day.」

「Are you not embarrassed saying that?」

「Just a little.」

Looking at his reaction, I have to push this much to ask about it. I want to at least hear the contents even if I have to force it.

「So, what kind of request is it?」

「Good grief… It’s a high difficulty subjugation request. The location is the Gibeon Ruins, a dungeon that was excavated several years ago.」

「Gibeon Ruins, that place is near the Magic Academy, right?」

「Yes. Unless you go down to the lower layers, most of the monsters that appear are small fries of level 1 or 2. Since the difficulty level is low for adventurers, it is now used for training by the students of the academy.」

「I heard that too. So, why is there a high difficulty subjugation request in that newbie dungeon?」

「I heard that a closed door on the lower layer has been destroyed. A large four-legged golem is said to have appeared there. It looks like a stone statue of a lion.」

「So that’s the subjugation target. Okay, I take it.」

「I said, wait!」

I swung my excellent right arm and missed again. He’s awfully stubborn today, huh.

「This request was already taken by Duke Ortho a few days ago. At the same time, he told me not to let other adventurers accept the request.」

「Duke Ortho―― He is the Lord who governs the area around the academy, right? If I’m not wrong, he’s a very influential noble. So, why did that Duke Ortho do such a thing? To ensure the safety of the land he governs, isn’t it better to let the adventurers do it?」

「I heard that he wants his daughter to gain prestige by accomplishing that request.」

「His daughter?」

「Yes. It seems that she’s a self-proclaimed once-in-a-century prodigy. Well, I’m sure that she’s accompanied by bodyguards.」

「Self-proclaimed, huh…」

「Unfortunately, yes. I think that they want her to pass the selection of choosing the representatives for the graduation festival that will be held two weeks later.」

「Hey, if she’s a prodigy, she doesn’t particularly need prestige, right? The teachers at the academy will evaluate her on their own.」

「I told you she’s self-proclaimed.」

「Ahh….」

The ability of that self-proclaimed prodigy daughter is probably to a degree that she will fail the selection. But then her honor as the daughter of the lord will be crushed. So I guess that he is planning to make his daughter, accompanied by the bodyguards, defeat the golem and use the achievement to force her way through the selection. I guess it’s better since he doesn’t bribe the teachers, but that monster seems to be quite tough. It may be at the level where Nell has to be dispatched. I think it’s better to value life more than honor, though. Nobles sure are troublesome creatures who mind about their appearances.

「I get the gist of it. But why did you tell me, though unwillingly, this confidential information?」

「If the lord’s daughter dies, as the one who provided the request, my position will be in danger. It’s not a problem if you can sneak in and accidentally kill the golem without being known by Duke Ortho. I didn’t offer the request to you. You just happened to encounter the golem and just responded to its attack. There’s no problem, right?」

「How sly…」

「Not as much as you. Don’t worry. In case it got revealed, I’ll protect only Haruna-chan.」

「Yeah, sure, how reliable. Be sure to prepare the reward. After all, we might accidentally defeat it and accidentally bring the proof.」

「In that case, I will have no choice but to pay the reward. Yeah, that’s inevitable.」

Contract established. Since we have a business at Adelheit Magic Academy, let’s take care of it while we are at it.

「―― In short, it’s okay to defeat the golem, right!?」

「「………」」

I was wondering why Haru was silent from a while ago, so she was waiting for the conclusion to come out, huh? It ended without her having to think about it and she didn’t emit black smoke. Alright, you sure have grown up, Haru.

「After all, we don’t know about the request, so there’s no problem. If anything goes wrong, we’ll have Nell to back us up!」

「Wow, isn’t it sly to use the leader of the knight order as a shield…?」

There’s no such thing as sly in this word if we use the usable authority perfectly!