Black Iron Magician

Since Damaya, the city of money, and Al Nova, the machine country, are located within the same continent of Zen, it will take less time than crossing the sea from the continent of Jiba. But even so, it would take until this evening to get there, so I, Nell, and Lily, who’s unusually awake, decided to watch over our disciples and wait for the ship to arrive at the destination.

「Haru, your right hand is losing its control.」

「Y-Yes! I’ll fix it right away!」

Yeah, we’re watching over our disciples’ training to defeat the Great Eight Demons. We have checked the status of the three a moment ago, and based on that data, we’re making them focus on raising the Skills that seem to have room for growth, and the leveling up methods are something safe that can be done in the airship.

In Haru’s case, it’s the newly acquired 『Magic Power Preservation』 Skill. This is a suitable Skill for a magician, and I want her to train as hard as she can so that it can move up to the next rank as soon as possible. To be more specific, I’m having her stand up straight, spread her arms out to the left and right, bend one leg about 90 degrees, and keep her balance. While maintaining this position, I’m having her cast different kinds of magic simultaneously with her left hand, right hand, and the sole of the foot that’s bent. This makes a total of three types of magic, and all she has to do is to keep the magic active in this state. There is no need to strengthen the power. Rather, the purpose is to maintain it, so it is better to switch to eco mode. It’s simple, right?

「It’s the leg that’s getting loose this time. You have the Calculation Skill, so use it like Chinatsu and show some guts.」

「Yes!」

Still, it seems that Haru is not good at magic parallel chanting. She can do it gravity and poison magic, but she’s not stable enough. For me, it’s hard to keep the balance on the airship due to the vibrations, but Haru completely overcame it. It’s like trying to balance on one leg in a train. It’s hard for this old man. But if it’s Haru, I think she can do it even if she stands upside down with one hand. She’s a sports monster after all.

「Chinatsu, are you dropping it again.」

「I-I’m sorry!」

On the other hand, Chinatsu is sitting at the table across Nell. Her training is to move tiny beans from plate to plate with chopsticks, over and over again. I’m sure you’re wondering something like, ‘What kind of training is this?’, but of course, this training has been devised in various ways. First is that the chopsticks she’s using are about twice as long as normal chopsticks. And then, the beans are not only small, but they are all soaked in oil. In other words, they are slippery. The difficulty rises even higher when the shaking of the airship is added to it.

「……… *Smile*

」

「……… *Tremble*」

And as the final blow, Nell is watching her with a smile, giving off a silent pressure. Even though the conditions are hard, it’s even harder since Nell is watching right in front of her. If Chinatsu continues to make mistakes, Nell’s pressure will gradually get stronger without her changing her smile. Well, it is an attempt to create such an adversity situation to train Chinatsu’s mental state. There’s no physical damage, but I’m worried whether she will get mentally ill.

「Come on, you’re slowing down, Touko!」

「Nom nom nom!」

「Nom nom…!」

The other side is a training ground for Touko and the special participant Zeta. The person in charge is the perfect Lilyvia, who has become a professional cook. Since she will act when Alezel is present, it seems that she decided to train Touko, who has been left alone until now. The goal is to level up 『Super Eater』 Skill, which corrects the limit of eating and drinking. Setting aside the question of why she has that Skill, this was the one that was most likely to grow.

「Here, another large serving! If it’s Haruna, she can eat up this much in an instant!」

「Mugaah! Nom nom nom!」

While wielding the frying pan, she doesn’t forget to ignite the fighting spirit of Touko by occasionally saying Haru’s name. As expected of the Great Eight Demons Lilyvia, she can do it if she tries. I wonder if that movement is based on Haru when she’s cooking? I tried to taste her cooking a bit, but it was really delicious.

「Nom nom nom!」

Perhaps Zeta originally could eat more than Touko, she doesn’t seem to be struggling and she’s keeping the same pace as Touko. Hey, there’s no need to increase the gluttony character, you know? The food expense in our house is terrible with just Haru alone, you know? I still think about that because I haven’t gotten rid of the habit of being single. Ah, how wonderful it is that you don’t have to worry about food expenses.

――Well, just like this, each one is currently in the process of raising their level. Even on the ship, we can do it if we want to.

「They are motivated, huh~」

「Oh, Alezel. Are you going to watch over them?」

「That’s right, but… you’re serious about defeating the Great Eight Demons, huh?」

「And one of the Great Eight Demons is helping in the training, which is a funny situation.」

「Hahaha, that’s true!」

The essence of Alezel is the same as mine. She will poke her face into something that seems to be interesting without thinking about profit and loss. She declared yesterday that it’s impossible, but now she promises full support for the girls. A friend is a good thing to have after all―― is what I want to say, but I can’t let our guard down around the black-hearted elf Alezel. Yeah, I won’t let my guard down.

And even though she promised to help, I don’t think she really believes that the girls can win. ‘In case the girls go against the upper ranks, I’ll at least prepare an escape route’, Alezel, who took a liking to the girls, probably thinks something like that.

「…… If it’s the current Haru, I think she can fight equally against Hund in a one-on-one battle.」

「Eh, really?」

「It may be difficult to understand since you’re specialized in speed, but considering the potential, Chinatsu and Touko are also the same. Only a few days ago, even though they fought together as a party, the result was a draw at best. Our disciples sure have a tremendous growth rate.

「Hmm~, I don’t see them often after all~. Are you sure you didn’t judge them like that because you favor your disciples?」

「Even if I did, it would only be to the extent that you would do it to your own employees.」

「Well, that’s a fair point. I don’t mess with only personnel evaluations after all.」

Hou, that must be a wonderful white company. However, the ‘only’ part is quite disturbing. Nevertheless, the girls are growing at an unstoppable pace. If Hund were here, I seriously want them to have a one-on-one mock battle with him. Once they get used to fighting him on land, I want them to fight him underwater next time. Hmm, I want the sparring partner Hund.

「If Deris is so sure, should I call him?」

「Ha? Calling Hund? To Al Nova?」

「That’s right. While we are at it, I’ll call all the other Great Eight Demos who are not busy, kufufu!」

「Hey, you’ve got to be kidding me. We just had a meeting before and they were gathering at our wedding ceremony, so they shouldn’t be free now, right?」

「That’s right~」

What’s with that monotone…? Well, Hund is a newcomer in the Great Eight Demons, so he probably will respond if Alezel, his senpai, calls him. Even so, the success rate is probably low.