Black Iron Magician

「Shishō, your magic is very useful. It’s like being under the sun even though we’re in a hole!」

「It’s not a big deal. Even Chinatsu can use it. I’m just doing it since Chinatsu isn’t here.」

Radiant Magic level 20, 『Daylight』, is a support magic that brightly illuminates the area around the user. It is very easy on the eyes because it does not emit a strong light from a single spot, but rather spreads an appropriate amount of light to secure visibility. The range of effect depends on the ability of the user and the magic power used, and if handled skillfully, it can reach every corner of the nest.

「If you can use this outside, you don’t need lighting, right? Also, it can be used when cleaning a narrow space!」

「Ah, you’re right! It seems that you can wipe out even the smallest dust without missing it!」

The two hit it off and began talking passionately about cleaning methods. I can understand if it’s Haru, who’s good at housework, but the old Touko wouldn’t have paid much attention to such a talk. However, the current Touko is steadily on her way to becoming a first-class servant. On that path, it would be no exaggeration to say that she has completely surpassed her master, Lilyvia. …… Well, she wasn’t even inferior to her in terms of housework from the beginning.

Moreover, even in terms of battle, Touko recently shows movements comparable to Lily sometimes. Even now, when she’s talking about cleaning, she never loses her concentration on the enemies. Her fist pierces the body of the iron ant, and she accurately counterattacks the root monsters that tried to launch a surprise attack from all sides. Her movements and the flow of her ki

are flawless, and her combined offensive and defensive ki leave no opening. It is truly an overwhelming fighting performance that lives up to her level 9 title.

Needless to say about Haru. Although she doesn’t take out her Doggan Staff due to the narrow space, her skillful martial arts boast a more vicious degree of perfection than Touko. The magic operation, which she was relatively weak at until a long time ago, now has so little to point out. Taking advantage of the fact that roots don’t attack ants, she uses a stunned ant as a shield and pushes forward, and in the end, she throws it at as a bullet. No matter how superior she is, Haru never lets her guard down and she continues to ruthlessly take the best measures.

「Sei!」

「Hah!」

The monsters’ misfortune doesn’t end there. In addition to their strength, they overwhelmed the enemies with their teamwork. Even if the mimicking root suddenly attacked them, Touko calmly grabbed the tip of the root and immediately pulled it out of the ground. In the next instant, Haru took out a hunting knife from her pouch and cut the target from the root. The two of them did this without any word or eye contact. The way they efficiently dismantled only the monster part of the root made me fascinated by it. Yeah, they passed. The combination of Haru and Touko has reached the level of partners who have partied together for many years.

Thus, the dungeon capture is doing well. Yeah, it’s going too well that there’s no monster for me even though coming here was supposed to serve as my rehabilitation as well.

「You two are amazing. Yeah, you’re amazing. I’m fine with that, but I’d be happy if you could leave some for this old man’s rehabilitation.」

「「Ah.」」

‘Ah’, they said. They were so absorbed in the fight, huh?

「Well, as a master, I’m happy to see the growth of my disciple. Now, I’m not going to just stand by and watch, but I’m going to try to take action. By the way, we’re about to reach the middle layer of the nest, and titanium ants are starting to appear. The roots will become even tougher and denser, and the titanium root is equivalent to level 5. I’m not worried at all, but don’t let your guard down and don’t show any mercy.」

「Okay! But, Shishō, are there any stronger enemies? Level 5 won’t be enough for your rehabilitation, right?」

「Haru, could it be that you’re trying to steal my prey?」

「…… No way!」

Heh, I won’t be fooled even if you make such an innocent smile. After all, I know that you’re a girl who will force your way to some extent if it’s for the sake of becoming stronger!

――In the end, the scramble for prey took place in the middle layer. The strength of the enemy has been raised one level, but with me joining the front line in earnest, the rate of competition has been increased even more, and the speed of the dungeon capture has been increased even more. My rehabilitation is also progressing well. However, my true intention in this dungeon capture is not rehabilitation.

「…!?」

On the way, perhaps she realized it, Haru slowed down the pace of defeating the monsters and began to give some monsters to me. Since she’s concentrating with her all, she’s also carefully watching me and Touko in battle.

Haru has experienced various things so far. She once conquered the nest of monsters stronger than her, has experiences of fighting overwhelmingly superior opponents including me, and has acquired knowledge about magic by various means. On the other hand, even when we had the opportunity to dive into dungeons together, I rarely showed Haru directly how I fought. Even if I had shown Haru before, she wouldn’t have been able to master it. But now it’s different. Now that Haru has defeated Maria on equal terms, she will surely master it even if it takes time and it will broaden the scope of her tactics. He is already at that stage.

「Death Scythe.」

I took out my black staff and applied magic on it carefully. This is also one of the techniques I want to teach Haru. Haru chose to use a knife instead of her Doggan Staff because of the narrow space, but if she uses Abyss Magic that gives a super-slashing attribute, it’s possible for her to annihilate the enemies without minding the walls. To maintain this level of magic for a long time and to handle the black staff in such a way as to keep the nest from collapsing, the appropriate technique and magic power are indispensable. But once she mastered it, there’s no need for her not to use her favorite weapon just because the location is indoors, where it’s not favorable for long weapons.

I also revealed my other techniques one after another and let Haru see the ingenuity I’ve built up so far. Contrary to the upper layer, Haru is now devoted to watching how I fight. Thus, the dungeon capture in the middle layer continued like that.

I’m fine with teaching Haru in detail, but in her case, I think it’s best to let her steal the techniques from me by watching me. Haru is usually not good at studying, but her head is working well at a time like this. Without being bound by stereotypes, she can interpret and reproduce the scene she sees in her own way. If she comes up with a new idea that I don’t have, I can add an arrangement. Now, learn, steal, and think!

「Hmm? Haru, why are you slowing… down…? ――Ah, so it’s like that!? Deris-danna, I’m sorry that I was late to realize it! I’ll focus on watching now, so take me down as many as you want! There’s no need to hold back. I won’t get in your way!」

「Y-Yeah?」

After a while, perhaps noticing the change in Haru’s behavior, even Touko gave the monsters to me and observed my fight―― or rather, she was watching intently while being somewhat excited. Well, you don’t have to follow Lily’s example to that extent, you know?

Despite feeling a little uncomfortable, I tried my best to teach my disciple the techniques. And then, we reached the deepest part of the dungeon.