Black Iron Magician

「Sorry, what did you just say?」

「Well, I’m thinking of having the girls destroy the Elderado Great Empires as the trial. You see, they have been invading my territory frequently these days. My men can handle them without me having to come out, but they are still a nuisance, aren’t they? I think it’s time to give them a good beating.」

「Don’t ask something like that as if asking us to do an errand.」

「Oh, is it a no? Is it too much to ask?」

Vakala looks like he’s fooling around, but he’s serious about it. No matter how cheerful and good-natured he may be, he is still a demon king at heart. He completely ignores human ethics.

「Fumu, it’s a nice weather today, isn’t it? Bulk, don’t you think it will feel good to have tea while bathing in the sunlight?」

「Yeah, that’s right. Let’s do that when the tea comes. I’m looking forward to it.」

The two old men completely decided to pretend that they didn’t hear it and they began to look at the scenery at the distance from the window. Considering the contents, I would do the same if I could. I want to ignore it if it weren’t my problem.

「To be honest, Maria’s trial was more troublesome than this one. However, the Elderado Great Empire is a country ruled by humans. No matter how evil they are, I can’t let the girls do such a foolish thing as destroying a human country.」

I mean, I won’t make it in time for the preparations. It’s fine if it’s just a local criminal organization like the Ash Rope, but Elderado is too big. Also, I don’t want any unnecessary resentment. After all, I’m a pacifist.

「Don’t worry, I don’t intend to leave everything to you. I just want them to fight as members of my country. I promise that I will take full responsibility for everything caused by the disturbance.」

「Oh, it’s a different story if that’s the case. Let’s discuss it right away.」

But at the same time, I’m also a realist. As much as my disciples do their best, I have to find a common ground and land on it. To get along in the world, even a pacifist has to use some dirty means.

「Hey, did you hear that, Bulk? That’s the 『Black Iron』. You should be careful.」

「I see. He’s competing with the Great Eight Demons like that, huh? His wiles are terrifying.」

Hey, you old men over there. I thought you were pretending not to hear it.

「Hohoho. I thought you were hesitating because the opponents are of the same race as yours, but you don’t care about that at all, huh?」

「Haru is so merciless that her eyes will sparkle when it comes to taking down bad guys, and Touko wouldn’t have a problem since she has the experience of dealing with Toue Akira. I’m not sure about Chinatsu, but well, I guess she will manage somehow. Our training is not so soft that they will hesitate because of that. But Vakala, isn’t the condition of destroying Elderado a little too vague? A nation as large as Elderado has a lot of soldiers. It is not realistic to annihilate all Elderado’s forces. I want a more specific goal.」

「If that’s the case, hmm…. Then, how about clearing the trial by taking the emperor’s head? It’s simple, clear, and easy to understand, right?」

「Is assassination allowed?」

「No assassination. Even my army reads the mood and fights head-on every time.」

「That said, it’s not going to be a battle between armies, right? Since we will be fighting with a small number of people, we have our own way to do it. In the first place, where are we going to start it? If the situation isn’t clear, we can’t make any strategy at all, you know?」

「Then, how about this? You let my subordinate accompany you――」

Both of us come up with plans to adjust the trial. As a reminder, I’m not doing this for fun. We’re exchanging proposals, where I’m trying to make it more beneficial to the girls and Vakala is trying to make it more interesting. This is the battle before the trial, so to speak. Kukuku, I’m sure Vakala is enjoying this as well, but I’m going to take advantage of his conceit.

「He’s making an evil face, huh? I’m already old, so I can’t really hear what they are talking about, but Deris is making an evil face.」

「I also can’t hear what they are talking about, but my head is starting to hurt. But hey… is it okay to keep ignoring it?」

「Well, we can’t hear it, so it can’t be helped.」

There’s nothing they can do, but Bulk seems to be remorseful. I wish Gramps Gior over there would behave a little like a head of the guild.

「But….」

「No. If we intervene carelessly, the guild might disappear at worst. If so, the best way is to have Deris, who has a bad face, do his best. His face might be bad, but I’m sure he will find a good compromise. His face is bad, though!」

…… Hey, are you gradually saying I have a bad face in a different meaning? Not only your ears, but have your eyes gone bad too?

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

It was after midnight when we returned to the castle after our negotiations with Vakala. After returning, I immediately collapsed into the bed in the guest room that was prepared for me (in the same room as Nell).

「「…… I’m so tired.」」

I didn’t expect the discussion to continue until this late, and I was very exhausted. This is why I don’t want to deal with an undead who never gets tired. In the end, the study session ended up being a mess. Seriously, please don’t come without an appointment. If it weren’t for Haru and Touko’s tea, I might have collapsed halfway through. I mean, the tea had a medicinal effect.

「So, why are you lying down, Nell?」

「Aren’t you the same? What were you doing until this late?」

Nell is lying on the bed next to me. I don’t know the cause, but she looks just as tired as I am.

「It’s unusual for you to be so exhausted, Nell.」

「Right back at you. Jeez, my head hurts….」

We explained what happened today to each other in a languid tone. Apparently, Nell got tired because she was accompanying Maria, a problem child, all day long. The same was true for Chinatsu and Clarius, who were also present. Yeah, well, it’s certainly hard to be with Maria all day.

「I guess it wasn’t peaceful for Deris too.」

「Yeah, I didn’t expect him to visit the guild.」

「So, will Vakala’s trial go well? You’re that exhausted, so there should be some good results, right?」

「…… Yeah. I did my best.」

「Hey, is it really going to be okay?」

It’s okay, I’m sure the future me will do something by that time. That’s why I’m going to rest today. I don’t have the energy to do anything, of course. So, good night.

――――The 74th day of training is over.