Black Iron Magician

As long as the magic item itself is not broken, it can be used for a long time as long as it is well maintained and replenished with magic power. Still, the greatest advantage of magic items is that they can be used by anyone, as long as they know how to use them. 『Make the impossible possible』, this advertising campaign, launched by a certain Damaya company at that time, caused an explosion of sales all over the world.

「Don’t stare too much. Also, cover your ears.」

「「「?」」」

Nell took out a fist-sized cylindrical object from her pocket and threw it at a distant wall. The object was thrown with great force and exploded the moment it collided with the wall. Then, it filled the space with tremendous light and sound for several seconds.

「U-Ugh! What’s with this noise!?」

「It’s making me dizzy…」

「Also, it’s blindingly bright…! W-Was that a stun grenade?」

「Oh, so you knew about it. The one you just saw is a kind of bomb made by Deris. It doesn’t have much lethal power, but it can incapacitate those around it alive with its intense sound and light―― or something like that, I think? He said that he reproduced it as a magic item based on his memories from his previous world.」

After a while, the girls recovered from their dizziness and ringing in their ears.

「Deris’s main job after retiring from adventure was to analyze, adjust, and repair magic items that were damaged or excavated at the request of the country, but he also can create magic items from scratch like that bomb. This is just my guess, but… I’m sure Deris will bring in a large amount of magic items that will be the weaknesses of the three of you on the day of the battle. If he can’t set traps on the battlefield and can’t interfere with his opponents until the day of the battle, he’ll have to make other preparations to compensate for that so that he can play as many cards as he can. That’s how Deris do things.」

「Bringing in magic items…. Certainly, it isn’t against the rules presented by Agalia-san.」

「I think it’s so like Shishō to prepare so carefully!」

「Hey, if that’s the case, maybe Danna will bring even modern weapons, won’t he? If he can make bombs, he can make guns as well, can’t he?」

「A gun, huh~. I’ve never been hit by a bullet. When I traveled abroad with my family, I was unlucky and never get a chance to be attacked by someone with a gun. Well, we always went deep in the jungle, in rugged mountains, or in other natural places that need survival skills.」

「No, that wasn’t unlucky…. Also, why did you go to that kind of place?」

「Dad’s hobby! And work!」

「W-Work…?」

「Y-You see, Haruna’s father was an explorer. He was probably teaching about survival while having a family trip.」

「…… Chinatsu, you say that with a serious face, but are you aware that what you are saying is out of the ordinary?」

「I’m aware of it and I think it’s strange, but it’s the fact, so it can’t be helped. When I was in elementary school, Haruna gave me a mask of some tribe as a souvenir.」

「M-Mask….」

The Katsuragi family was full of mysteries. Anyway, back to the magic items.

「I don’t know what a gun is, but if it’s something that Deris knows, it’s better to think that it’s possible. And if Maria’s blood is used on a magic item, I honestly can’t imagine what kind of magic item will be created.」

「Um, instead of using Maria’s blood as a catalyst for magic, should we also use it for magic items like Deris-san?」

「Oh, that’s――」

「――No, that would be difficult~」

Alezel suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

「Alezel-san, you always suddenly appear, huh?」

「Hmm, you ain’t surprised, huh? The surprise appearance is ruined~. When I was in Damaya, everyone showed a better reaction~」

「We were desperately fighting against Nell-neesan after all. I can finally follow her with my eyes, you know?」

「More importantly, what do you mean when you said it would be difficult, Alezel-san?」

「Ah, that’s right. You can use Maria-han’s blood to make magic items, but in that case, the level of 『Magic Item Creation』 required for it is too high. None of our employees can handle it, and even if you searched all over the world, Deris is probably the only one who can do it.

「Eh!? Shishō was that amazing as a craftsman!?」

「That’s right~. Unlike combat jobs, it’s hard to level up as a craftsman. Even the highest level is level 5 at best! Deris may look like that now, but he worked very hard after he retired as an adventurer, y’know? I even tried to recruit him many times. Well, it all ended in failure, though.」

「Wait, I’ve never heard about that recruit thing.」

「Eh, is that so? Well, ain’t it fine? It was a long time ago~」

「It’s not. I joined the Magic Knight Order at that time, you know? If Deris moved to a different country, I might not have been able to visit him easily…!」

「Let’s put aside the what-if story~」

‘Come to think of it, Gan-san is also level 5, right?’, while thinking about such things, Haruna watches the verbal battle between Alezel and Nell. At any rate, it seems that they can’t use Maria’s blood to create a magic item.

「It doesn’t seem like their quarrel will end soon. Until then, let’s think of a way to use this blood.」

「Okay!」

「You’re going to use it for magic, right? Then, I don’t need it. You can’t use it for magic items, but if you use it to raise your magic power, it might reach Danna’s level. Besides, I will fill what you’re lacking with my ki, just like how Danna fills what he’s lacking with his magic items. It’s not that I’m telling you to relax your guard, but you should trust in the training you’ve done so far.」

「Ooh.」

「Hee.」

「W-What’s with you two? Why are you making that strange face?」

Touko’s face frowned as if she wasn’t comfortable with the two who let out their voices.

「No, I just thought that Touko has grown up too. Yes, it’s exactly what Touko says. We should believe in our own strengths, cover for each other’s shortcomings, and do what we can.」

「Yes, I will do my best too! It’s a rare chance that Shishō will come to crush us for real! I will punch, kick, break, slash, crush, throw, umm――oh, magic too! Anyway, I will hit him with everything I’ve accumulated so far! I’m going to knock him down! Alright, I’m going to pull off the biggest giant-killing of the century!」

「Good grief, she was supposed to be in the most unlucky position at first, but she hasn’t changed at all, huh.」

「Of course. She’s my best friend I’m proud of.」

「Yeah. Haruna is Haruna. She’s my eternal rival.」

「Hmm?」

Thus, both camps spared no effort to make every possible preparation for the trial. A week passed. Finally, the final battle between the black iron master and disciples begins.

――――The 89th day of training is over.