Black Iron Magician

But recently, ever since he was allowed to go into town, he has a tendency to play too much with women. Not satisfied with the women Joseph offered, he went out to get them on his own. For Touko, it was an act she despised, so she avoided seeing him as much as possible when it was not necessary to see him. Therefore, it’s been a while since she talked face-to-face with Akira.

「I will ask you just in case. What do you mean with by that?」

「It’s exactly like what I said. If you were taken by surprise and defeated by a group, or being caught in a cowardly trap and had your ability reduced, then you still have an excuse. But from what I heard, you fought with Haruna head-on and by mutual agreement, right? And then, you were defeated in an equal situation with no advantages or disadvantages. For you who have equal power as me, isn’t that result too poor?」

「You are talking in a roundabout way as always…. So, what do you want to say in the end?」

Toward Touko who is beginning to get quite irritated, Akira shrugs his shoulders while sighing in amazement. Then, he opens his mouth.

「I mean, you are supposed to have the equal power as me, so I’ll be troubled if you mess around. It’s called reputational damage, isn’t it? If you lost against Haruna, who was the weakest until a while ago, my rank might be degraded. Also, your group was the slowest in the subjugation this time, and our valuable force, Fuchi and the others are freely going off on their own. Oi oi, isn’t that your job to stop them? What the hell are you doing?」

He sighs deeply again. At the same time, Touko’s instinct begins to tingle.

「Ah, I got it. You are picking a fight, right? You should have said so. I’m not good with my head after all.」

「That’s not what I’m talking about, you know? You need to look at the bigger picture.」

「That’s what I’m talking about. The way you talk, it’s been getting on my nerves since long ago. This is the perfect opportunity. Tell me about this rank of yours, the one you don’t want to be degraded.」

「Haa, this is why you are no good. You are too foolish.」

Touko clenches her fist and Akira puts his hand on the handle of his sword. The students around them cause a stir at the unusual atmosphere. Joseph, who’s also nearby, might have been able to stop it. However, he’s concerned about what kind of change Touko had by coming into contact with Deris.

「Listen, I’m going to hit you with my right fist. Right from the front, of course.」

「To think that you gave me a warning…… What are you plotting? Are you bluffing?」

「I’ve told you properly. Then, here I go.」

Touko spun her dominant arm and clearly told him that she is going to attack from now on. Because of such an easy-to-understand provocation, Akira didn’t know what she wants to do. Without minding him, who was trying to find her intention, Touko took a stance. Then, she started running.

「Hey.」

「――!?」

When Akira noticed, his right cheek was touched by Touko’s fist. He couldn’t see the motion of Touko attacking. He knew about Berserk, Touko’s unique skill, and of course he was wary of it to a certain extent. No one would present their cheeks to her if she says she’s going to hit them. However, on top of that, Akira couldn’t notice her until now.

It was only for a moment that he felt the swing of the fist, and the next thing he felt was a violent impact. It was Touko’s specialty, a penetrating hit that ignores the endurance value of the status. Berserk‘s activation was limited to a small amount, but looking from the side, its power was enough to make others worry about his neck bones. He was blown backward, hit his back against the floor several times, and finally stopped after a while.

「Ugh…!?」

「Oi oi, are you for real? Was your strength only this much? Well, it was only on the first day we came to this world that we measured each other’s strength. After more than two weeks, the difference would show, of course. You were just playing around after all.」

「「「「………」」」」

Everyone is stunned. They are speechless and some of them even forgot to breathe.

「Then, I’m going to sleep in my room, bye.」

「W-Wait…!」

Akira fell on his knees, but he is still conscious.

「Hee, you have the guts to get up on your own, huh? But, you know, the match is already over.」

「I can still go on…! If you show my strength as a hero, someone like you will――」

Akira’s unique skill, 『Brave Chain』. It is a skill that gives 100 to all status of those who have a sense of fellowship, a skill with extraordinary effect for a hero. Since Akira revealed it himself, Touko also knows its power.

「―― Then, how about you try to use that hero power of yours and fight me by teaming up with your followers? I hate troublesome things, so I will crush you first, okay? Do you really think they can stop me just because they got strengthened a bit?」

「Kuh…」

There’s no way she can be stopped. Touko’s agility is by far the best in the class. Even on the first day they got summoned, it was at the level where Akira and Chinatsu could barely grasp her speed. If the current Akira can’t keep up with her speed, no one can catch her even if he tries to team up to fight her.

「Also, you seem to be making a fool of Haruna from a while ago, but she’s already strong enough to fight head-on with me. The attack just now was just playing, you know? I used my Berserk completely but still lost. That’s the reality. In the first place, saying it can’t be helped if got caught by a trap or taken by surprise, just how naive is your thinking? It’s over if you die, you know…? Between Haruna and you, who were just sitting on the title hero, the numbers of piled up efforts and near-death experiences are different. Ah, Chinatsu is also amazing. Maybe she is as strong as Haruna. I also can’t let my guard down, huh.」

After that, Touko seemed to have lost interest in Akira and quickly headed to her room. The girls in the surroundings also followed suit and left the place where Akira fell down. The only ones left were Joseph, Akira, and the boys who were in the group with Akira.

「Hey… Akira, are you okay?」

「Y-Yeah…」

A boy lent him a shoulder to lean on, and the exhausted Akira walked away with an uncertain gait. Joseph was racking his brains while watching the situation. About the girl that he sent away on the first day who was actually an unpolished diamond, and that diamond fell into Deris’s hands. There’s also the matter of Touko, who had announced her withdrawal, and Chinatsu, who is under Nell’s wing and is probably a pawn of Deris. The situation is getting worse. It’s like he had helped Nell and Deris rather than opposing them.

(This may need to be rushed…)