Black Iron Magician

Popura’s voice echoed in the conference room. She’s really surprised and can’t believe it, wondering why the country approved them.

「Hey, are you serious? Even if it’s a magic kingdom, there’s a limit, you know!? Even we Galdevalan don’t learn only martial arts, which is the national policy, but we also learn magic, you know? You have to think about the balance of the party, you know!?」

「Too close….」

Popura approached Haruna and the others to find out the truth. Maybe the blood of her father, who’s a scholar, that runs inside her is urging her to do so against someone she doesn’t understand.

「Now, now, Ojou-chan, calm down.」

「It is Popura, not Ojou-chan! My name is Popura Frau! Just so you know, I also have something to say to you guys! What do you mean by everyone is a hunter!? Even adventurers nowadays don’t form such an unbalanced party, you know!? You’ll die someday, you know!?」

「Uwah, she’s targeting us now. Well, we never thought that we would be a hero when we decided our job.」

「Yeah, you were the Cleaner Udberg at that time. It was a tough job, but it was fulfilling.」

「Hahaha, you are right! Still, I think you don’t need to worry about the heroes of Adelheit. After all, they have already defeated one of the enemy’s generals, the Four Heavenly Kings of the Sea Demons.」

「…… Haa?」

Then, Udberg and his friends began to talk about the battle that took place on the west coast of Tazarnia.

The girls stopped the rushing mermen, pushed them back along with the seawater, threw poison into the sea to weaken the enemy, etc. The one-on-one battle with the enemy general, the Four Heavenly King, was fierce. Punching each other, slashing each other, and throwing. At the end of the battle, which seemed to be equal, Haruna splendidly grabbed the victory. They also announced the interrogation technique to torture the Four Heavenly King and to get the information from him.

「Well, to put it simply, it was like that.」

「Yeah, we could only stand still and watch.」

「Yeah, that was crazy. Everything was crazy.」

They were saying whatever they want.

「U-Uwaah… Even though you have those innocent faces, you did something pretty brutal, huh….」

「W-We didn’t! We properly removed the poison from the sea, and the interrogation was―― err, that may have been overkill… anyway, it was the result of doing our best!」

「Ah, about punching each other, slashing each other, and throwing, those are the truth!」

Popura frankly drew back, Chinatsu objected, and Haruna agreed. But for the time being, it seems that they have come to recognize the achievements of Haruna and the others.

「*Cough*. Once again, I’m Chinatsu, a level 6 Priest. I can use light magic and sword better than average people, so I can attack and support while adapting to the situation.」

「I’m Haruna, a level 6 Magician! I think I can do everything from short-distance to long-distance battles! Ah, I use dark magic, and my familiar Gobuo-kun is also level 6!」

「Ohohoho! It seems that my turn has finally come desuwa! I’m the daughter of the Batten family, my name is Therese Batten desuwa! I’m a level 5 shield-user Magician! My favorite magic is earth! I can attract enemies with my Unique Skill 『Beautiful Voice of the Star』, so you can leave the protection to me!」

「Weerel, a level 6 Magician… I’m good at water magic….」

After Haruna’s group finished their introduction, everyone other than Fuchi’s group are dumbfounded.

「…… Ahh, well, they sure are amazing. There are three level 6 people, and one of them has a Unique Skill.」

「Y-Yeah, it’s amazing that even the goblin is level 6. After all, Adelheit is an ominous place….」

「Asebi, you’ve revived, huh. Well, it sure is surprising. I didn’t think that there are so many level 6 comrades like me. It’s really reassuring!」

While everyone was expressing their impression, Fuchi took up his pen again. Adelheit’s Heroes, Priest (Sword) Level 6, Magician (Dark – All Range Physics) Level 6, Magician (Earth – Shield) Level 5, Magician (Water) Level 6, have an achievement of defeating the Four Heavenly King of the Sea Demons!

「After all, Adelheit is crazy…. What’s wrong with them….」

When transcribed into letters, the difference is conspicuous.

「Let’s leave the introduction at that. Anyway, these 14 people have to deal with one of the Great Eight Demons and his two aides. How are we going to fight them? I can’t say for sure since I have never met them, so I’d like to hear Katsuragi-san and Udberg-san’s opinions.」

Fuchi lightly taps the table with the tip of his pen.

「My impression of Gustus-san, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, is that he was almost on par with me, I guess? He was one of the strongest in level 6!」

「It’s embarrassing to say this in front of Haruna, but we couldn’t win even though the four of us fought together. So, I think her guess is correct.」

「「「Same as Hero Udberg.」」」

To summarize it, the Four Heavenly Kings of the Sea Demons are at least level 6, and the Great Eight Demons Hund is probably even stronger. The best strategy would be to defeat Hund with the biggest fighting force while keeping the two of the Four Heavenly Kings at bay.

「If so, we’ll have to split into three groups, right?」

「Then, I think it’s better if we Crocus group and Tazarnia group are fighting together. Udberg-san said that they alone were having a hard time, and I think we are also not that different.」

「That’s true. If these two parties are combined, I think we can compete with one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Sea Demons.」

「Yeah, I have no objection.」

A line is drawn between Tazarnia + Crocus and the Four Heavenly Kings of the Sea Demons ①.

「Looking at the remaining fighting force, we Galdevalan will take on the other one of the Four Heavenly Kings.」

「Eh, wait, are we not going to fight the Great Eight Demons!?」

「Popura, analyze it carefully. The level, number of people, achievements―― no matter how you think about it, Adelheit is uehhh….」

「O-Okay, I got it, so don’t vomit here, okay? Absolutely no, okay?」

「Alright. So, here are the remaining matchings.」

Fuchi draws a line between Galdevalan and the Four Heavenly Kings of the Sea Demons ②, and a line between Adelheit and the Great Eight Demons.

「Eh, are you sure? Is it okay for us to fight the Great Eight Demons?」

「What are you saying with those sparkling eyes? We can’t leave everything to you, of course. After we defeat the Four Heavenly Kings, we will come to support you.」

「It’s important to defeat the enemy quickly and rush to your companions, huh….」

While Haruna is excited, Chinatsu is earnestly hoping that they will come to help as soon as possible. However, it’s just a strategy when things go according to their expectations. There’s a good chance that it will be a free-for-all fight from the beginning, and the enemies’ abilities are still unknown. It’ll only work if the enemies are stupidly honest and will fight fair and square like the demon king’s army so far.

「Then, about the plans of when something unexpected were to happen――」

Therefore, Chinatsu estimated the possibility of fighting in this form to be small, and everyone also considers other various cases. However, there are some people who seem to think about something else.

(The Great Eight Demons, huh~. I wonder if he’s as strong as Lily-senpai~?)

(After the duel, we’ll have an outdoor party desuwa! Yesterday’s enemy is today’s friend!)

(I want to go to the toilet….)

……… It’s unknown whether this is just right. Anyway, the day of the decisive battle is near.