Black Iron Magician

The girls camped out at the nest of the White Bastard Bear, and a night passed. The sky is clear and refreshing. As if yesterday’s blizzard was a lie, today is a perfect day for climbing with no clouds in the sky. The blue sky and the sunshine added to the white landscape make it feel like they are going on a picnic.

「Hmm….」

「Alright. Haruna, it’s about time to leave…. What’s wrong? It’s unusual for you to be spacing out.」

As Chinatsu packed her luggage and was getting ready to leave, she saw Haruna tilting her head while looking at the sky. Haruna normally would do light stretching, so Chinatsu questioned her.

「Ah, Chinatsu-chan. Last night, I felt like I heard someone calling for help, but I’m not sure. Did you hear it?」

「You heard a voice? Um, was it me or Zeta-san’s sleep-talking?」

「No, I think it was a man’s voice. Also, I think it sounded like Shishō’s voice. Chinatsu-chan, did your Divine Protection Skill react to it?」

「This Skill is basically only for me, so I don’t know if something happened to Deris-san….」

「I see~. Hmm, I guess there’s no use worrying about it~」

「Chinatsu-san, Haruna-san, thank you for waiting. …… Huh? Did something happen?」

Zeta appeared from the inner part of the cave after she finished her preparations. After waking up in the morning, the three had built a simple grave in the innermost room of the nest for the people and monsters that were killed by the bear. Following the traditions of the village where she was born and raised, Zeta was giving her final greeting to the grave.

「Well, I don’t think Shishō will die easily, so I’m sure he’ll be fine!」

「Eh? U-Um, I don’t quite understand, but… is he in critical condition?」

「Zeta-san, please don’t think too much about it. It’s probably just Haruna’s needless worry.」

Setting Deris’s life and death aside, the girls are finally able to leave the cave. Since they are already near the abandoned village, which is their destination, the distance is relatively short.

It took 1 hour to climb the mountain while hunting the unfortunate carnivorous monsters, which became food stockpiles, that attacked them on the way. Then, footprints with an unfamiliar shape begin to appear in the snow. They seem to have been left by something humanoid, but they don’t resemble the shape of a shoe sole.

「Could it be the trace left by the white monkey? The footprint is quite large, huh. 40… no, maybe about 50 centimeters.」

「Wow, it’s more than twice the size of my foot. It looks like a bigfoot.」

The huge footprints were heading towards a certain direction, and that’s also the direction where Haruna and the others are heading to. In other words, the white monkey was heading towards the abandoned village.

「It probably belongs to the white monkey. My memory is a bit hazy, but I think it was about this size.」

「I see. Let’s head to the village while keeping an eye on the surroundings. Haruna, considering the prohibited matters, be careful to not go forward.」

「Okay. Chinatsu-chan too, be careful to not use any magic.」

They follow the footprints and go further. Then, they see a wooden fence that’s clearly man-made, followed by a gate made of three wooden posts. The footprints passed through the gate and continued further.

「… Zeta-san.」

「Yes, that’s the entrance to the village. Originally, there was a wall surrounding the village next to that gate, but… it was probably pushed down by repeated heavy snowfalls or was destroyed by monsters, so only a gate with no door remains.」

「The snow piled up to one-third of the gate, huh. It might be hard to walk into the village.」

「How did the white monkey manage to walk on the snow without sinking? Does it have that kind of skill?」

The footprints that seem to be left by the white monkey only sink a few centimeters into the snow. There’s no trace of them sinking into the snow because of the weight of the body.

「Should we jump to avoid getting our feet sank into the snow? If we go to the top of that gate, we can see the whole village. Also, there should be roofs of the houses and trees with the right height further. …… Um, can you reach it?」

「I have 『Air Kick』, so there’s no problem at all.」

「If it’s there, I think I can reach it by jumping even without a run-up. Let’s go with that.」

「It’s decided. Then, I’ll take the lead.」

Zeta makes a big leap while holding the handle of the big sword on her back with her right hand. She jumped in a curved manner, and she reached a position far higher than the gate at the highest point. That’s why at this point, Zeta grasped the condition of the abandoned village.

――――Tap.

She suppressed the impact, and the landing was so quiet that it’s hard to believe it came from metal artificial legs. After that, Zeta doesn’t move from the spot and tries to see the situation. …… However, there’s no sign of monsters making noise.

(Please move quietly.)

Judging that it’s safe, Zeta instructed Haruna and Chinatsu to come to the top of the gate with a hand sign. Then, they nodded and jumped on the spot. Just like Zeta, they arrived at the top of the gate with the perfect amount of force.

(Huh, there’s no monster? The footprints are also gone midway?)

(At first glance, it looks like an abandoned village…. But, how should I put it, I get a bad feeling from around there.)

As Haruna and Chinatsu think, there’s no sign monster in the village. The only clue, the huge footprints, had suddenly disappeared in the middle of the village. There’s no footprint anywhere else, only snow piled up.

「… I think talking in a small voice won’t be a problem. As planned, let’s investigate it from a high place. I have a bad feeling about the ground.」

「No matter how you look at it, those footprints are unnatural. My detection skill is also telling me that we shouldn’t go down there.」

「Fufu.」

「Err, Haruna? Why are you making a smug face?」

While the others are crouching, Haruna stands up. She’s rummaging her pouch, probably plotting something.

「At a time like this is my turn. After all, I’m a magician.」

Haruna is holding a thick and heavy iron ball in her hand while smiling. At least, it’s not something that a normal magician would hold in one hand.

「Zeta-san, the ruins and other things might be destroyed. Is that okay?」

「…… It’s okay. No one lives here anymore, so you can go all out. Chinatsu-san, we should prepare for close combat.」

「Ah, I see…. Luring it out may be the shortest way. Haruna, Zeta-san said so, but you have to adjust the power properly. After all, it would be disastrous if the aftermath came to this scaffolding.」

「Got it! Worse Vitiate!」

Haruna’s iron ball is filled with black and ominous magic power. Dark Magic level 100, 『Worse Vitiate』, is a magic that brings poison, which Haruna is good at. Haruna stuffed this magic into the iron ball until the limit while doing a pitching form, trying to fulfill her role as a magician.

「One ball, incoming!」