Black Iron Magician

「The losers will follow the words of the winners.」

Because they gave such an old-fashioned reply, the preparations of the employment forms and other documents to officially hire them went smoothly. It was so smooth that they probably had considered this development.

「Hey, why did you hire the mercenaries? Weren’t you aiming for a clean city?」

「I am. But, no matter how much I aim for a clean world, there are always bad guys in any era, right? They are versatile, professional, and can do everything from regular work to dirty work, right? Well, something like that. Our company will pay you in proportion to your work, so I want you to work hard and produce results! We also have good employee benefits!」

「「「S-Sure….」」」

Look, the Japita guys were having trouble responding.

「Well, their name value is considerable, so Alezel’s company will increase in value. As for them, they can have a connection with the Great Eight Demons. This is surprisingly a good relationship for both parties, right?」

「Lilyvia-han has good judgment after all. Deris should learn from her.」

「If I learn from her, my house will collapse….」

It won’t be a laughing matter if that happened.

「Hmm, Deris, Nell, and Lilyvia-han took disciples, so should I take one as well? No, maybe a secretary? Either way, he’s excellent and still has a lot of room to grow!」

Is he talking about the eye-patched man? If so, well, I can only say, ‘Don’t worry about it. I wish you good luck in your life from now on’.

「For the time being, our job is completed here, right? The sleeping guests won’t be awake for a while, so the people of your company can at least carry them out, right?」

「I don’t mind~, the Quitet’s cleaners are coming after all. We’ll be renovating the casino soon, so be sure to patronize us at that time~」

How can you say that near the crying Sango…? You sure are a merchant and the Great Eight Demons.

「Ah, do you wanna go out for a drink now?」

「No, not tonight. I was having a hangover not long ago.」

「Me too. Many things happened since the morning, so I’m going home today.」

「Then, I’m leaving too. Don’t wake me up at least until tomorrow noon, okay?」

「What, you’re no fun~. Alright, then, let’s have a welcome party for the new employees! I’m sure you are all fine now that Deris has healed you! Take a bath, get rid of the blood and dirt, and meet me at the store I’ve designated!」

With Alezel’s shouting behind us, I, Nell, and Lilyvia left the underground arena of the casino. No more unnecessary involvement. Good luck with your lives. Do your best. I strongly hoped so.

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

When we left Lily at the inn and returned to the hot spring resort, there was somewhat heated air. Kakonkakon, a continuous sound like that came from the room where Haru and the others are.

「Haa!」

「Shii!」

It was the sound of a ping-pong ball being rallied. Haru and Touko are fighting on a rectangular table while wearing a yukata. To put it simply, they are playing table tennis, or more specifically, hot spring table tennis.

「Deris, what’s that?」

「It’s a kind of sport called table tennis. It’s already in the realm of fighting, though….」

The rally between the two is of a high level. The moment Haru returned the ball, Touko already returned it, and then Haru also returned it―― such a loop is repeating endlessly. Touko is attacking with a full power smash and Haru is defending with a cut, but for some reason, the cut is as fast as Touko’s smash. In addition, when she returned the ball, she applied Graviton to the ping-pong ball, turning it into a super-gravity mass. Touko is amazing that she can return that kind of ball with a normal racket, but the burden on her arm is on another level and the fatigue will accumulate as the match goes on.

「Not yet!」

…… No, Touko is wrapping her whole body with ki, and it’s also wrapping around the racket. So that’s the reason why the racket isn’t destroyed even if it receives Haru’s ping-pong iron ball. Touko smashes the ball and spreads her ki to the ball at the moment of impact. This makes the rotation and trajectory of the ball unpredictable, and Haru receives it with a cut―― I see, it’s easy to misunderstand at first glance, huh. Let’s correct it, it’s a wonderful fight.

「Ah, Nell-shishō and Deris-san. Welcome back. You’re back sooner than I expected, huh.」

「Alezel did almost everything on her own after all. You guys… don’t tell me, you’ve been playing table tennis?」

「It’s only Haruna and Touko. Touko couldn’t win against Haruna in a normal match, so she proposed a special match where they can use their ability and magic. After that, it has been like this….」

「It’s been like this for about an hour. The rackets and table are this place’s equipment, so if they break it, they will have to pay the compensation, but… there’s no sign of that happening. Both of them are amazing.」

Zeta’s right, it’s indeed amazing. But isn’t this as hard work as the usual training? Physical and magic, various aspects are being trained at the same time. Even though they have just finished playing tag of hell with Alezel, they sure know no limit, huh.

「This is the end!」

「An opening!」

「What!?」

Was Haru’s newly acquired 『Instantaneous Force』 growing during this time and was showing its result? Even though Touko smashed the ball with all her power, it was picked up by Haru again at the last minute. In addition, the return ball bounced at a right angle when bouncing, and it slipped right beside Touko’s racket. The match is over.

「Victory!」

「What the hell was that magic ball!? It curved almost right beside my racket!?」

「I made the Graviton, which was spreading evenly on the ball, concentrated only on one point~. After that, I made some corrections to the rotation.」

「I-It’s an impossible game….」

「Touko, you’re the one who suggested it, you know?」

As soon as the game was decided, Touko fell to the floor. It seems that even Haru is tired, she’s unusually breathing heavily. Well, they were doing it for an hour after all. I’m confident I’ll die if I do it.

「Huh, Shishō? How long have you been there?」

「You didn’t notice, huh? I just came here. Both of you are sweating, but do you have the energy to go to the bathroom again?」

「A little rest and I’ll be fine!」

「Wha!? U-Ugh… M-Me too!」

Touko forced herself to get up in rivalry with Haru. Really, when this girl is set with Haru, she will do her best beyond the limit. I’m looking forward to the next status disclosure.

「Hmm. Deris, let’s do it!」

「…… Sorry, I didn’t hear you well. Can you say it again?」

「Let’s do it, let’s play that table tennis!」

Oh, my, God. I didn’t mishear it.

「N-Nell? Have you ever played table tennis before?」

「No, but I got the hang of it after seeing their fight. All you have to do is to hit the ball with this tool and it will go through the enemy, right?」

That’s not wrong, but you didn’t mean ‘penetrating the enemy’ when you said ‘go through the enemy’, right?

「Still, isn’t it too sudden?」

「We didn’t do anything today after all, and I want to get some exercise. Deris is the same, right? After all, you even had the time to see the naked disciples ♪」

…… Gobuo, I leave the rest to you. Please take care of my ashes.

「Please go easy on me….」

After that, I and Nell paid for all the equipment that had been burned up.