Black Iron Magician

「―― That’s the whole story. So, we rushed to help Tazarnia under the instructions of Mage Prime Minister Joseph. We have met the commanders at the base earlier and received their permission. We will be joining the fight against the Demon King’s army from now on.」

Chinatsu, who’s completely assigned as the negotiator, explained the details briefly in a way that’s easy to understand. It was logical and Udberg could understand right away that the girls have been officially approved by both countries. He’s ashamed of himself that he had unconsciously regarded them as inferior, and now he’s changed the way he sees Haruna and the others.

(It’s very rare, but there sure are prodigies. A one-in-a-million thing, was it? Even though they are so young, they have gone through battlefields quite a lot…. But well, I want to complain why those prodigies are gathered in one country. But it’s the country where Nell Lemure is, so I will just shut my eyes.)

From his many years of fighting experience, Udberg can intuitively know the strength of the others. As a result of relying on his intuition, he roughly understands that they are strong. At least, they won’t be a burden. His friends are supposed to be able to ascertain the ability of the others, but they seem to react differently than Udberg.

「I understand, I understand, but… we can’t let girls like you go out into the bloody battlefield like this.」

「Yeah, the commanders sure are in a difficult situation. However, this is the real front line. It’s not a place to joke around.」

「We’ll just accept your feelings. Thank you…!」

「「「「……?」」」」

They refused and then thanked with a gesture as if holding their tears. Haruna and the others have a big question mark above them.

(You guys, you guuuuys! Why the hell are you acting like heroes even though you were hooked by the bar’s women recently! Use your intuition!)

Udberg wanted to say that out loud, but his position prevented him from doing so.

「W-Well, just calm down! It was a sudden talk just before the battle, so these guys were on edge. Please pretend you didn’t hear that.」

「Hero Udberg, what are you talking about? We are always serious, you know?」

「That’s right, Hero Udberg. It’s as Hero Johnny says.」

「Haha, Hero Udberg. Is that what you call trembling with excitement? Your body is trembling, you know?」

‘Why did they put ‘Hero’ in front of every name?’ Udberg couldn’t keep up with the peculiar rule that has been established without his knowledge, and he felt a slight headache. Meanwhile, Weerel is checking the height of the sun from the window of the tent as if worrying about the situation outside.

「Um, I don’t really understand why you are talking about, but… it’s about time, so we’d like to start preparing for the battle….」

「That’s right desuwa! The coast is so vast, so we don’t know where they are going to come from! Therefore, preparation is important desuwa!」

「You two, don’t forget about warming up! Training is something that starts with a warm-up and ends with a cool down.」

「――There you have it. We’d like to get started on our preparation. We don’t need any help, so just put us on the front line.」

As if saying there’s no more time, the girls stand up all at once and go outside.

「H-Hey! What are you going to do on the front line?」

Udberg stopped Chinatsu, who’s the last one to leave the tent.

「They sure are girls who like to play with fire.」

「Good grief, we have to protect them.」

「Hero Johnny, Hero Gonzales, this Hero Big will help you.」

His friends are having such a conversation, but he has no time to mind about it now.

「What are we going to do, you ask? We can just exterminate the enemies that come attacking, right? It’s a good opportunity to show our abilities, so we are going to do that.」

「What…?」

Chinatsu said so with an expression that as if saying it’s natural they can do something like that. Even though he’s bearing the hero title, Udberg was very shocked.

「Now, we have to go too.」

「Yeah. If those girls are going to the front line, we should go there as well.」

「Let’s make today the last day of the Demon King’s army. After all, we’ve already surpassed what we were yesterday.」

…… In a way, these three people who are trying to be heroes might be a big deal.

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

Haruna and the others moved to the coast. There’s not much time before the attack of the Demon King’s army, so they began to prepare. And the first thing to do would be to do this.

「One, two!」

「Three, four, desuwa!」

「O-One… two….」

It’s warming-up exercises, an important ritual before training that prevents injuries and promotes maximum performance. For Haruna, it’s a start signal to her body.

「Please keep away from the coast as much as possible. We’ll hit them in a large-scale attack, so it’ll be dangerous if you are close.」

「B-But, we can’t just let you fight them alone….」

「Thank you for your concern. But, this is the best way to avoid unnecessary casualties.」

On the other hand, Chinatsu is negotiating with the frontline field commander. She is always dealing with the robust knights and Nell, who can make small animals faint when she’s irritated or make them die due to shock of the bloodlust she’s scattering, so her attitude is gallant and dignified. She doesn’t take even a step back when facing a commander who’s about as old as her parents. Anyone who sees her would agree that she’s a spending vice leader of the knight order regardless of her age.

「Warming-up is done! Now, we’re ready anytime!」

Haruna and the others have finished the first stage of their preparations for battle. Haruna and Therese seem motivated, but Weerel is already out of breath and exhausted.

「*Wheeze*…. I-It was hard….」

「Was it? Wee, I’m sure you’re not getting enough exercise desuwa. Not only studying magic, but you also need to properly do exercise regularly.」

「I do staff practice and swimming regularly, but… a human body can’t bend that much….」

It seems that Weerel was completely beaten by the warming-up of Haruna, who has amazing flexibility like a gymnast, and Therese, who unexpectedly could keep up with Haruna. The joints of her body are screaming.

「… H-Hey, you were in a hurry, but comparatively, you seem to be relaxed. What about the preparations?」

Udberg, who was watching their backs, called out while worrying about the time. After Haruna and the others went to the west coast, the only thing they did was telling the soldiers to step back. Also, a careful warming-up exercise. Udberg instructed the soldiers to cooperate with them first, but it’s not that he’s not worried.

「What are you talking about, Udberg-san! Warming up is a splendid foundation! There are countless people who have suffered lifelong injuries because they neglected to do it. Even if not, the small injury during training will be a hindrance when you fighting later! It is strictly forbidden to neglect it just because it is troublesome, absolutely no!」

「Ah, yes….」

Being rebuked by Haruna who talked passionately, Udberg naturally gave a word of apology. Feeling that he somehow has the same atmosphere as her, Chinatsu cheered on him in her heart.

――――Then, the time for the decisive battle is approaching.