Black Iron Magician

Chapter 400 News from Master

「Nell, calm down. It won’t be too late to draw a conclusion after hearing the explanation.」

「Is that so?」

「No, it’s as Leader Nell said desuwa. That’s exactly what we’re looking for, the overwhelming destructive power that can destroy the barrier. The adventurers who were fed up with the border blockade tried to destroy a part of the barrier, but they couldn’t even put a scratch on it. After discussions, we have come to the conclusion that even if our knights or royal magicians were to try it, the result would be the same.」

「I told you.」

What’s with that smug face? Therese was only trying to back you up, you know? Don’t misunderstand.

「Well, I understand about the dark red barrier that separates the borders. I’m sure the one who uses such a powerful and wide-ranging magic is not an ordinary person. However, you lost contact with Crocus, right? How did you know that it was the work of the Great Eight Demons? Was there a notice from the culprit?」

「No, there was no such thing. The one who caused this disturbance hasn’t declared anything and is still silent.」

「However, we received a letter from someone who’s currently in Crocus, informing us of the current situation inside there. He must have written it in a great hurry. The urgency of the situation was painfully conveyed in the letter desuwa. …… And unfortunately, there has been no further news since then.」

「He sent a letter through the barrier? It would take a lot of work just to send a text, but he could do something like that in this situation, huh. So, who was it from?」

「It was from Master Mani desuwa!」

M-Master? …… Aah, Master Mani, huh? He was the big, plump, but timid-looking guy who was with Oda, the glasses boy with a desire to be a protagonist, and Fuchi, the detective wannabe who loves mysteries. If I’m not wrong, Therese saw the earth magic used by Mani and started to pursue that path as a magician.

「Mani, huh…. Ah, I see. It was his Unique Skill, the ability to deliver items to any place through the earth. So he used it to deliver the letter through the earth to this place.」

「Is that so? I didn’t know that he has that kind of power…」

「I also didn’t know even though I was in a party with him for a while. As expected of Danna, your information-gathering ability is amazing!」

「Eh? Well, yeah. I don’t know the name of the Unique Skill, though.」

…… I knew about it simply because Mani used that ability to deliver the scrolls that I had requested to Fuchi. Mani Delivery Service can reach you anywhere as long as it’s on the ground, and it’s convenient because it can be used on a daily basis.

「I see. Deris-dono knew about it, huh.」

「Noct-kun, it’s somewhat ticklish if you use 『dono』 to call me. I miss the day when you challenged us to duel when we first met.」

「I remember it too! Those burning eyes are unforgettable after all. If you want to have a duel again, I will accept it anytime!」

「D-Deris-dono, Haruna-dono, please don’t tease me about that. Please forget about that time. The timing was bad, and I was young at that time.」

Your age is still the same, you know?

「I would like to ask you about that interesting story of Noct-san in detail, but let’s save the fun for later. Let’s get back to the story. As for the contents of the important news, it’s better for you to see it directly. This is Master Mani’s letter desuwa.」

Therese took out a piece of paper and presented it to us. According to our positions, Nell or Weerel should be the one to receive it, but for some reason, their eyes were on me. Okay, okay, I will read it. I will read it on your behalf.

Here’s the summary of Mani’s letter. In the early morning when the sun hadn’t even risen yet, Crocus was suddenly attacked by people who appeared out of nowhere. The number of assailants was extremely small, but the level of each of them was on a whole different level. Oda and Mani fought them back together, but they were defeated as if they were being toyed with. Thus, the entire territory, including the castle of Crocus, was conquered in an instant, and Queen Clarius was captured. Even if they tried to call for help, the land of Crocus was covered with a dark red wall, and even the light of the stars could not pass through. Fortunately, no one died in this attack. At worst, they were only suffering from anemia. When he was writing this letter, the number of enemies they have confirmed was five. All of them were female with silver hair. The one who seemed to be the leader was a petite girl who was sitting on the huge throne that was made for Clarius. She was called 『Mama』 by the enemy forces. Her identity is completely unknown, but it’s said that she has tremendous pressure that doesn’t fit her appearance.

Well, the information about what happened in Crocus is about this much. Perhaps he didn’t have a pen at hand, all the text in the letter was written in blood. It seems that Mani was instructed by Fuchi to hide in order to convey this information just before Oda and Fuchi were captured. I don’t know whether he hid in the castle warehouse or made a hole under the ground, either way, he managed to temporarily take refuge and send this letter to Adelheit. Well, it was a great achievement.

From the content of the letter, Mani didn’t know who the enemy was. However, it’s obvious with all these characteristics. They must have judged it as the Great Eight Demons from that.

「Lily, do you have anything to say?」

「Hey, it wasn’t me, you know!? Lily is a very healthy being. I won’t take over a country, unless Goshujin-sama orders hmph hmph!」

「Okay, Lily-shishō, zip your mouth for a minute.」

Touko is doing a good job as usual. Really good. However, the enemy this time is the worst.

「It seems that Deris-san has noticed. A little girl called Mama, who has the power to conquer a country in a single night and control a group of women with distinctive silver hair―― in all probability, there’s no doubt that she’s the third rank of the Great Eight Demons, the 『Vampire Princess』 Maria Irygal.」

Right~.

「Yeah, I’m sure it’s her.」

「Yes, Maria is the only one who would do something like that among the Great Eight Demons.」

「That’s right~. Maria-chan is everyone’s cute idol and couldn’t be bound by anything after all~」

「Hey, the last part was unnecessary, right?」

A joke-like line came out from the seat across from me, so I turned my gaze there while being amazed.

「Ya~y, peace, peace~」

「「「「「………」」」」」

How strange. I felt like I saw the root of all evil smiling while making a double-peace sign across from me. It seems that I’m tired from the long trip. I need to quickly go back to Nell’s mansion and sleep.

…… I know, I have to face the reality. I’m going to make the first move before everyone else does――

「Maria, what are you doing here? I will burn you depending on the reply.」

――and picking a fight before I could do anything is Nell’s style. Nice, that’s not something I can imitate.

「Well, we made a promise to play a long time ago, so I came to fulfill it. Let’s have a serious playing house (war) with me!」

(TLn: the kanji is war, but she said playing house.)