Black Iron Magician

The thunderous roar, which had been spreading fear around, stopped. And the reason for it is that Makam and Redon have stopped. Then, Gobuo knocked on the door of the dragon carriage, waking up the sleeping girls.

「Gobu.」

「Hnn, Gobuo-kun…? What, our destination? Are we there? Hmm?」

Inside the dragon carriage is so comfortable that you can fall asleep without worrying about the noise, but the smell from outside would pass through normally. That’s why Haruna, who is sensitive to smells like a dog, noticed it very quickly. She realized where they are and what’s around them.

「This scent―― it’s the scent of the seawater!」

With the sleepiness being blown away at once, Haruna jumped out of the dragon carriage. It’s just before the west coast of Tazarnia, a place near the front line where Tazarnia’s forces engage the Demons King’s army. There’s still some distance, but the sea is already visible.

「Gobu gobu.」

「You thought about waking us up just before the destination? Yep, that’s right. We might surprise the soldiers again after all.」

Normally, they would stop and properly camp for the night. However, perhaps because they were about to arrive at the destination, Makam and Redon offered to continue running last night. Gobuo doesn’t need sleep and the girls thought they can just do the night watch in turn, so they agreed to it. Thus, they kept running through the night and arrived much earlier than planned.

…… By the way, Deris was also chasing them through the night. He’s completely exhausted. However, he can’t sleep. And now that the carriage is finally stopped, he finally can have a breather.

「Fuwaah… Haruna, good morning. It seems that we’ll arrive at the coast soon.」

「Desuwaaa….」

Chinatsu and Therese also woke up and came down from the dragon carriage. However, it’s 5 o’clock in the morning now. They seem to be still sleepy and are yawning.

「Good morning, you two! Where’s Wee-chan?」

「She’s still sleeping. It seems that she fell asleep when she was on guard duty.」

「Ahh, so that’s why we were all asleep together.」

「If you think about it, it was a mistake to let a 14 years old child take turn for the night watch.」

「Wee is weak to sleepiness and morning after all. She probably won’t wake up for a while.」

Haruna looks around again. Perhaps because it’s early in the morning, they can’t hear the sound of fighting. If they want more information, they’ll have to move on.

「Alright, everyone! Let’s have breakfast!」

「Right, I don’t want to stand on the battlefield while feeling hungry. Therese-san, can you and Gobuo feed Makan and Redon together? I and Haruna will make the breakfast quickly.」

「Okay desuwa!」

「Chinatsu-chan, do we still have the wild board meat that we dismantled yesterday?」

The three started preparing for the morning skillfully. On the other hand, Deris is eating the meat-only lunchbox that his beloved wife made a lot. His beloved wife’s lunchbox, which he kept in the bag with a storage function, is warm and very delicious, but it’s really heavy for the morning. In his current state, it’s really lying heavy on his stomach. It’s about time he longs for Haruna’s well-balanced meal, but he can’t appear in front of the girls…. Thus, his suffering continues for a while.

「Wee-chan! It’s time to wake up, it’s morning!」

Haruna and the others welcomed the refreshing morning next to the battlefield. Today’s breakfast is Haruna’s signature sandwich made with wild board meat, herbs, and eggs. The girls are enjoying the simple meal while gazing at the beach where the battle will take place.

「Delicious….」

「Delicious, desuwa!」

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

Instead of running, the earth dragons are walking toward the coast so that they won’t make a loud noise. Haruna and Therese are sitting next to Gobuo, so even when other people look at them, no one will think they are from the Demon King’s army. With such consideration, the dragon carriage entered the frontline base of Tazarnia.

「The carriage over there, eh, dragons…!? A-Anyway, please stop!」

Perhaps it was the result of their consideration, the soldiers were not as surprised as when they crossed the border. But still, they were stopped. The representative, Weerel, took out the letter she received from Rize and explained the reason for their visit. When the soldiers understood that she’s the hero of Adelheit and saw the emblem on the carriage, they changed their expression and went to report to their superior.

「I’m sorry to have kept you waiting. We’ve confirmed it, so please go inside!」

After leaving Makam, Redon, and the carriage, the four followed the soldiers of Tazarnia. Even though it is a frontline base, it is not a fort, but a simple facility with tents crowded together. Injured soldiers are lined up in the open tent, indicating how fierce the war is.

The girls are guided to a particularly large tent. Normally, it would make you hesitate to enter, but the girls are entering without any hesitation with Weerel in the lead.

Contrary to the large appearance of the tent, the number of people inside is only three. When asked, everyone is a commander class, but many of them are in the front line so they are not here. The same goes for the hero of Tazarnia, they are not here.

「We are grateful that the hero of Adelheit came here so quickly. Still, it is surprising. The fact that all of you are girls is one thing, but I didn’t expect you to be so young.」

「We’ve heard about you from Joseph-sama. However, we also want to make sure….」

Apparently, the commanders are slightly doubting the girls’ abilities. Even if there’s a guarantee from Joseph, they are wondering if it would be okay to send such girls on the battlefield where their subordinates are putting their lives on the line. In this world where the more experience you have, the stronger you become, it is very rare for young people like them to become a hero who represents the country.

「It’s natural that you doubt us. However, even if I look like this, I’m the vice leader of the Magic Knight Order and a disciple of Nell Lemure. The others are of equal ability, so could you believe in us?」

「W-What!? You are a disciple of that Knight Leader Nell!?」

「Is that the truth…?」

Thus, Chinatsu decided to use her master’s name here. Even here in Tazarnia, Nell’s name is extremely effective. It’s obvious from the reaction of the commanders. The name with the greatest deterrence is not just for show.

「E-Excuse me, but what is your level?」

「Since it’s Adelheit’s highly classified information, I can’t tell you about it….」

「Chinatsu-san, if it’s just my level, it won’t be a problem to tell them. No, according to my belief, there’s no need to hide it desuwa!」

「……… *Nods*」

Chinatsu thought for a while and nodded.

「Listen well! I’m level 5, the lowest in this group! I’m inexperienced that I’m at this level, but I’ll do my best to help you desuwa!」

「「「Level 5!?」」」

As if they have arranged it beforehand, their shouts of surprise overlapped.

「M-Moreover, you are the lowest…. Well, if you are a direct subordinate of Leader Nell, that’s understandable….」

「Bring the Sacred Stone, ah, no…. I don’t think it’s necessary to do such a thing to the hero of our allied nation. Please excuse us for the rude question. If we could get started right away, I’d like to explain the current situation. This way please――」