Black Iron Magician

「Here, Kiel-kun. Say ‘aah’.」

「H-Hey, Solte… You see, Karua is here right now…」

「I don’t mind. Here ♪」

「A-Aah…」

The two of them, Kiel and Solte, who lost to Haruna and Chinatsu in the qualifying, are flirting. While everyone was concentrating on the match, it seems that the relationship between the two had progressed considerably. Sitting in the same room, Karua is eating her lunch while uncomfortably being exposed to the pink mood.

「Haa… If they are like this, maybe I didn’t need to give them a push?」

Karua turned her back on them and tried to keep them out of sight as much as possible. The sight of other people flirting can only be enjoyed by the people in question. If it goes too far, it will only make the ones looking at them annoyed. Karua wants to get out of the infirmary if possible, but she was told not to leave the room because of the injuries she got from her own magic. Her self-destruct attack had now backfired again and had a double disappointing result.

「Oh! Why do I sense a pink and black aura in this room, Prince?」

「The former belongs to Kiel and Solte, and the latter belongs to Karua. Just get in already.」

Such a conversation could be heard outside the room, and then the door was roughly opened. Because Karua was turning her back on Kiel and Solte, she immediately met the gaze of Dry and Prince when they came in.

「Yo, Karua! That was a wonderful defeat!」

「I’ll never forget the look on your face when you lost. You looked stupid that it was amusing.」

「Okay, get in line. I will beat you guys!」

「Ah, Prince and Dry! Help me, Solte won’t let me go!」

「Don’t wanna!」

After the five of them calmed down, they eat their lunch together in the infirmary. Some are having a review meeting and some are celebrating their victory. As the losers and the winners, each of them has their own thoughts.

「I never thought that it’s only me and Prince who made it to the second round. The teachers and spectators outside were making a fuss, you know?」

「Hey, are still talking about it? I’m going to get angry, you know?」

「T-That’s not what I meant! I’m thinking about those girls who beat you guys! After all, I will be fighting one of them in the second round.」

Dry is scheduled to fight Haruna in the second round. So far, Haruna ended all of her matches as soon as they started and the details of those fights were not clear because of the smokescreen. The reason he came to the infirmary is not only to visit his friends, but also to hear from Solte who had fought Haruna.

「So, Solte. What do you think about her after you fought her directly?」

「Me? Hmm… as you can see, I lost immediately. If I had to say, I think that not only her magic, but her physical ability is quite high. After all, she was fighting while carrying such a huge staff and I was in that state with just a kick from her. Even the staff I used to defend was broken.」

「Hm? Solte, weren’t you defeated by that strange staff?」

「You see――」

Solte told everyone everything she knows about what happened in the qualifying. Something like, the eyes that could kill people, and so on.

「Hohou…! I heard it from the rumor, but to think that it’s that much!」

「What the hell is this muscle head being happy about?」

「Hmph. In the same generation, there’s no one who can rival Dry in close combat. It’s a wonder that he’s like this even though he’s a magician. Well, even if there is, it would be someone like me.」

「Yeah, sure. You can stop talking about yourself now. Anyway, if she’s as strong as Chinatsu whom I fought before, it’s seriously bad, you know? Dry, do you have any chance of winning?」

「Haha! I have these trained muscles! I will accompany her in any kind of physical combat!」

「No, use your magic…」

While the academy’s powerful students are thinking about countermeasures against Haruna, actually there’s another student on the opposite side of the infirmary separated by the curtain. It’s Noct Norland, the 6th ranked man who lost to Haruna in the first round.

(I-I missed my chance to come out…)

He is desperately looking for an opportunity to join the conversation.

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

「I’ve made a lunch box!」

「「「「Ooh!」」」」

Cheers reverberated in the main guest room reserved for Deris. It seems that lunch has begun here as well, and the opening ceremony of the lunch box that Haruna and Gobuo made early in the morning was about to be held. When Haruna opened the lid of the lunch box, Deris, Nell, Chinatsu, and Lilyvia shouted with joy. In front of the door of the room, a watchdog (with teary eyes) is sitting there as a punishment for something and was given the task of removing anyone trying to enter the room without permission. The watchdog is wearing a full armor costume that Lily bought, so there’s no danger of its face being revealed.

「Wow, it’s amazing…! Did you really make it this morning?」

「Ehehe, I was so excited that I woke up early.」

「A good meal is exactly the sustenance of life! A good meal can make you motivated! Be grateful for it!」

「Hey, why is Deris being so arrogant? I feel grateful to Haruna, though.」

「Goshujin-sama, please let me eat already! Please!」

The lunch box that Haruna prepared is a lavish one that’s piled up in layers and the contents are neatly packed with a large number of side dishes that one would bring on a picnic.

The appearance is so beautiful that you want to take a picture with a camera and each dish is a delicious one that was prepared with extra effort. She probably calculated how much she would eat and then cooked such a large amount of food. You can say that it’s a masterpiece just by looking at it.

「We are already halfway through the match, huh. Looks like it’s going to end sooner than expected.」

「You two don’t seem to be struggling so far. Instead, I expect the final will be long. A battle between Haruna and Chinatsu, don’t think that it will end in a day!」

「Ah~, now that you mention it.」

「Come on, Shishō and Nell-san are too hasty. We still have the second round and the semifinals after all!」

「Even if you say so…」

「… I know, right?」

Deris and Nell, who chew on somewhat sweet tamagoyaki almost at the same time, agree with each other with their words.

「Um, as for our opponents in the second round―― Haruna’s opponent is the 4th ranked Dry Van-san and my opponent is the 5th ranked Therese-san.」

「Waah, you are lucky, Chinatsu-chan. You will fight against Therese-san!」

「… Is it something to be envious of?」

「Chinatsu, your opponent is Therese, Deris’s disciple No. 2! You must win! I will take her into the Knight Order even if she lost, so you don’t have to worry about her!」

「She’s not my disciple. I just taught her the basics a little. Still, I’m certainly curious to see how much Therese has grown since then. Chinatsu, I will pay attention to your match, so don’t lose~」

「Chinatsu-chan, we promised to meet in the final after all!」

「Everyone, I’ll do my best…」

While lunch was going on like that, Deris secretly beckoned to Haruna.

「Haru, leave some for Touko. She is being punished now, but I don’t know what she will do if she’s being left out.」

「Don’t worry. I’ve also prepared an extra-large lunch for Touko-chan!」

「As expected of Haru.」

By the way, Dry was not mentioned after that.