Black Iron Magician

「…… Mizuhori-san.」

It was Mizuhori Touko who talked to them after hearing Oda’s voice. Her skin is moist and wet, perhaps she has just finished her usual training. To be honest, Oda and Mani are not good at dealing with her. She has a manly appearance, a manly personality, and above all, she’s stronger than a man. They are not good at dealing with her because she’s more manly than them in everything.

「Yeah, we were talking about Katsuragi-san. What about it?」

Oda and Mani wouldn’t open their mouths, so Fuchi answered the question of Touko instead.

「… Did you meet Haruna too?」

「Too?」

Touko and Fuchi explain to each other what happened today. She happened to meet her at the store, and he saw her at the Headquarters of the Knight Order―― and with the two details combined, the things they didn’t understand gradually became clear.

「That noble-looking man was probably Haruna’s master. I heard it from Haruna herself today.」

「Master… I see, it makes sense.」

「What do you mean by ‘it makes sense’?」

「Well, I was wondering. The first day we were summoned, the status of Katsuragi-san was so poor that everyone was being sarcastic to her. However, the power I felt from her a while ago―― I felt she was as strong as Mizuhori-san.」

At that moment, Touko’s eyes became sharp. Oda did not miss the change and hurriedly covered Fuchi’s mouth with his hands.

「H-Haa!? Y-You, how could you boldly say it to Mizuhori-san, ah, no, I’m not thinking anything, okay? Yeah, this is just Fuchi’s feeling and not a fact so I’ll be glad if you don’t mind about it. Come one, apologize to her now!」

Oda machine-gun talked at an unthinkable speed. Fuchi, on the other hand, was a little annoyed because he was stopped halfway through his own talk.

「…… Continue.」

「Eh? A-Are you sure?」

「Yeah. Now, quickly.」

Oda nervously took his hand away from Fuchi’s mouth.

「Oda, get your hands off quickly. Good grief! So, what was it again? The talk about the power of Katsuragi-san was it? Well, even if you told me to continue, I just felt it using my ability. In fact, I don’t really know how is her status and what kind of power she has. I can only grasp the total power after all.」

「No, that’s enough. Haruna was Haruna after all. Starting later, the difference in experience and the likes are trivial things for her. If you are slacking, she’ll be right behind you when you turn around, at a distance where she can reach with her hand. Hahaha. But this time, I’m not going to be careless or conceited! I won’t lose to you…!」

「「「………」」」

The three of them could only silently look at Toukou who was burning with fighting spirit. They also know that Toukou was defeated badly in karate by Haruna and know that she is looking at Haruna as a rival. They don’t really understand her sport-mindedness, but they understand the feeling that she doesn’t want to lose in her specialty.

「――Anyway, I’m relieved to know that our classmate girl is safe. At that time, the only people who didn’t criticize her were her best friend Rokusai-san, Mani-kun, and I. My~, worrying about her was worth it. Right, Oda?」

「Ah, no… at that time, I was getting hyped up and couldn’t see the surroundings… No, that’s just an excuse. I have to apologize when I meet her nex time…」

「About that, Haruna wasn’t angry, you know? I bowed my head when I met her today.」

「Haa!? No way, that Mizuhori was――ugh!?」

The fist of Touko sunk into Oda’s stomach. Oda, who had difficulty breathing, rolled around on the floor.

「O-Oda-kun, are you okay?」

「What a bore. She didn’t hold a grudge against Oda, huh…」

They were supposed to be best friends, but there was a stark difference in the way Mani and Fuchi treated Oda.

「What are you talking about? Fuchi, you are completely her target as well.」

「Eh?」

「Not only you, but everyone in the class is the target. You see, Haruna has a tendency of wanting to challenge strong opponents. When we came to this world, we one-sidedly got powers and Haruna became the weakest. However, she absolutely won’t give up. I’ve never seen her give up. I can’t even imagine it. Should I imitate you and give reasoning? For Haruna, we are all prey. The higher the target, the more it is like the finest food for her. If you are taking it easy, you will be eaten one after the other, starting from the most behind one. That happened to me in the past.」

「… Thanks for the advice. It’s not just about her having a good mentor, huh.」

He intended to surprise Oda a bit, but on the contrary, he was threatened by Touko.

「Ah, right. I heard that there was an announcement from Joseph after I left the castle. It seems that there’s outdoor training starting from today. We are going to learn how to fight monsters along with a party.」

「Oh, we hadn’t heard of that either. No wonder no one else is here.」

When Fuchi looked around the floor, there seemed to be no one other than Touko.

「The party is made up of 4 to 5 members and each party will head to the designated dungeon.」

「D-Dungeon…?」

Mani’s large body trembled in fear. This is because they have not fought any monsters yet and there are many unknown enemies.

「Don’t worry. From what I heard, it’s the kind of place a beginner would go, you know? Also, since we got a late start, we were automatically formed as a party. The destination is Gibeon Ruins. Let’s do our best.」

「Ahh, I see. Yes, let’s do our best.」

「I-I’m looking forward to working with you, Mizuhori-san.」

「You can call me Touko! In return, I’ll call you by your first name too!」

When Touko laughed cheerfully, Mani, who was not good at dealing with Touko, felt a warmth from her, contrary to her appearance, and felt that they can become friends. Those other than Oda, who fell to the floor, seem to be safely accepted as friends.

「Just to confirm, what kind of jobs do you guys have? Can I ask them? I want to grasp them while I can.」

「That’s no problem. My job is ninja, level 4. You can think of it as a spy role that is agile and good at hiding. Also, I can tell how strong an opponent is just by looking at them, so I can tell if it’s safe to fight them or not.」

「I’m a level 4 magician. I’m good at earth magic, I guess? You can count on me for support.」

「Yeah, I’m counting on you!」

「Oda, who is dying there, is a level 4 warrior, so you can use him as a shield to your heart’s content. I’m sure he’d love to be a shield for a girl.」

「Hahaha, that’s very manly. Needless to say, I’m a level 5 brawler. You can count on me for attacking!」

「O-Oi, don’t go on without me…」

The resurrected Oda also greeted Touko once again, and a new party of four people was born here. Even though he complained, Touko is a girl too. So Oda was a little in high spirits.

「S-Still, Katusagi-san’s master, Deris-san was it? In the end, we don’t know what kind of person he is.」

「Ahh, please keep it a secret. It seems that he is going out with Haruna, you know?」

「「「Eh…?」」」

Not only Oda and Mani, but it seems that Fuchi was surprised too by this information.

「Also, to tell you the truth, it’s said that Chinatsu, who left the other day, was living together with Deris-danna. I heard that she slept together or something like that. How envi―― ah, I mean, I was surprised!」

「… Haa!?」

Oda died for the second time today.