Black Iron Magician

Early morning on the day of the expedition. I came to the front of the castle gate to see Haru and the others off (on the surface). However, there’s something here that gives off a bizarre presence. There’s a silver dragon carriage, proudly bearing the country’s crest and reflecting the light of the morning sun.

「Gwon.」

「Grr….」

And there are two earth dragons that overwhelm those who see them. It seems that they are pure carriers that have been raised since they were young dragons, and wow they have become splendid adult dragons that are two times bigger than the carriage. Earth dragons have no wings to fly, but instead, they have well-developed legs to kick the ground. Maybe it’s easy to understand if I say they look like famous carnivorous dinosaurs?

「Wow, they’re big!」

「They are earth dragons prepared for the hero party. Their names are Makam and Redon. They are smart enough to understand human language, so they will properly listen to your commands.」

Joseph, who came to see them off just like me, was giving a high opinion. Rather than for the sake of the hero, it’s more like for the sake of his granddaughter. He sure bought earth dragons that seem to be more expensive than the ones I saw at the elf resort. In addition, this dragon carriage is made from high-quality white silver ore. Using this much rare ore that’s said to be lighter and stronger than steel…! Say it, you used all of the money you were planning to spend for the transferred heroes, right!?

「They look scary, but they behave like a dog, huh.」

「Ahaha, they are showing their bellies!」

Haru, that’s probably some kind of submission pose to the strong. Normally, even domesticated dragons won’t do something like that. At most, they will just lick your face. In their case, they are afraid to do even that.

「They are good earth dragons…. If it’s them, we may be able to arrive sooner….」

「The dragon carriage is also quite elegant and elephant! I like it desuwa!」 (TLn: yes, she said elephant. I dunno, maybe she meant it’s big?)

「I know, right? Hohoho.」

「Desuwa! Ohohoho!」

I see them off while being bewildered by the unexpected duet. With Gobuo as the coachman, the dragon carriage starts running while making the earth rumbling. It’s obvious considering the size of the carriage, but it’s louder than I expected. This is not something to be ridden in the town.

「Master! I’m off~!」

「Make sure you get some information before you beat them~!」

Haru waved at us until she was out of sight, and went for her expedition with an innocent smile. The old geezer next to me, Joseph, also waved his hand with a smile that was so unlike him and saw the dragon carriage off for a while. The discovery of a new side of the old geezer really gave me goosebumps. Well ――

「Then, I’m going now.」

「Take care of Chinatsu too.」

「Deris, no matter how cute Weerel is, don’t you dare take advantage of this to put your hands on her. I’ve signed the agreement, but if you do that, I’ll chase you to the end of hell!」

「I won’t, and she’s together with our disciples! …… Recently, it’s been hard to grasp your character, but it’s not because you’ve gone senile, right? When that wicked old geezer becomes a normal doting grandfather, I get goosebumps, you know? Look.」

Mainly when Weerel is involved. Here, look at the goosebumps on my arms.

「I haven’t changed since long ago. It’s simply because I don’t have to worry about anything else anymore. King Dias is wise and Weerel’s position has been promised. I also know that you have no intention of taking over the country. As long as her future is secure, I don’t need anything else. All I have to do is support her from behind.」

「Joseph, you….」

Just like how I have my disciple, did the fact that the wicked, only thinking about profit, and self-centered Joseph has his granddaughter give him a feeling of trying to change himself? If so, the day may come when we can understand each other in the future. Well, if I had to describe my feelings right now, I would say this.

「That’s disgusting….」

「Yes, that’s disgusting….」

「Shut up! For me, the disgusting ones are you that you took disciples!」

The noise of our shouting echoed in front of the castle gate for a few dozen minutes.

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

The dragon carriage that departed from the Castle Town Diana is going west with Haruna and the others on board. The cabin of the dragon carriage is large enough to hold ten people, with several small windows on the sides that can be opened and closed. When windows are fully opened, the wind can be felt directly and it’s very comfortable. There’s probably a barrier applied on it, so the wind is adjusted moderately no matter how fast it is and the sound of the footsteps of the dragons are softened.

「Wow, it feels good!」

「It doesn’t shake as much as I thought it would, and the ride is very comfortable.」

「I heard that this dragon carriage uses the latest technology…. It hardly shakes at all….」

「Gobuo’s handling is also very impressive desuwa!」

In contrast to the quarrel between the grandfather and the masters, the mood here is really peaceful. However, they can’t relax forever. After all, the travel would take a lot of time, and it would be a waste to spend this precious time just waiting. Chinatsu immediately takes out the study tools given by Deris begins to spread them out on the table in the cabin.

「C-Chinatsu-chan, could it be…?」

「Yes. There’s only a short break before the border fort, so let’s get to a good point before then.」

「Uhh, I’ll do my best….」

When Haruna and Chinatsu begin to study magic, Therese and Weerel seem to be interested and they peek into the textbook from the side while putting their hands on the table.

「Ara, you’re studying dark magic! I specialize in earth magic, so this is quite fresh desuwa!」

「Hau…. Earth magic is not my specialty….」

Haruna is at her limit with just understanding the dark magic she uses, and she can’t fully manage that knowledge unless she’s in combat. However, Haruna now has the Calculation Skill. By using this, her learning speed has increased dramatically. Specifically, she went from a 2 in the grade report of her weakest subject to a 3. She’s finally like average people.

「If you train your Calculation Skill, you’ll be able to learn more easily! So, let’s do our best!」

「Y-Yes! I’ll do my best!」

Haruna renewed her determination while holding the ‘even a goblin can understand magic’ series in her arms. Next to her, Weerel was flipping through the pages of the textbook. The book was closed after she finished flipping through it. Then, Weerel looks at Haruna.

「………」

Her expression doesn’t change and she doesn’t say anything. However, such a gesture instills a sense of defeat. With a flame burned in her unyielding heart, Haruna moved on to the study with her own will.

「Darkness Magic, level 1 『Dark Enchant』, the effect is to give the dark attribute! Level 10 『Kellow Cry』, corrodes the target! Level 2 『Advaal』, creates a poisonous swamp! Level 30 『Vyetoll』, turns a corpse into a zombie without losing its abilities! How is it, am I correct!?」

「Yes, you got all the magic names and effects right. But so far, they are magic that Haruna has already acquired. It’s an unknown area from level 40. Let’s steadily learn them one by one!」

「Yes!」

Haruna and Chinatsu are getting fire up. Both of them are likely to improve their level on this journey. On the other hand, Therese is looking at the materials on the table.

「I-It’s amazing desuwa. You can’t easily find a textbook that describes the details of high-ranked magic skills even if you search all over the world, but… this hand-written document, all attributes are written on it desuwa. Waah, there’s even a rare magic scroll…. Isn’t this something that’s incredibly valuable…?」

She’s unexpectedly surprised. Therese Batten is a woman who understands the value. And then, she begins to study. As for Weerel, who keeps her expressionless face――

(Dark magic…. It’s not as beautiful as water magic, but maybe it’s cool…. Like, one wing or something….)

Weerel Joshua, 14 years old. She is around the age of admiring for such things.