Black Iron Magician

Touko complains as she lies on the bed. This is one of the guest rooms in the mansion, mainly a room assigned to Chinatsu. Haruna, Chinatsu, and Touko, who were given a sudden rest time by Deris, had nothing to do, so they gathered in Chinatsu’s room to warm up their old relationship.

「No, I have a job for the Knight Order, so it’s not that I have nothing to do. More importantly, why in my room?」

「Well, it was just right in the middle room of us three girls.」

「It was easy to get together, I guess?」

Haruna and Touko talk to each other as if they had planned it. Chinatsu, who has been doing office work at the desk until then, stopped her pen and sighed in resignation. Her memories, about having a study session just before the school test back in Japan, suddenly resurrected. She had been doing it for Haruna, but Haruna had always taken Touko to study, even though she had no intention of studying.

「So, what are you going to do here? Do you want to study math?」

「Sorry to interrupt, Chinatsu.」

「I-If Chinatsu-chan wants to do it, I-I will do my best…」

Haruna trembles like a small animal and Touko went down from Chinatsu’s bed and tries to get out of the room with a prompt decision.

「Pfft. I’m just kidding. Anyway, you came to talk about what skills you should pick for the skill slots you got by leveling up, right? Come on, sit there.」

「Ahaha, you’re right. Chinatsu-chan saw it through, huh.」

「Damn, you have a bad personality there…」

After the success of her mischief, Chinatsu was satisfied and asked the others to sit on the bed and chair again. Chinatsu also moves her desk chair before that, and she sits there.

「Well, Haruna became a level 5 magician and Touko became a level 6 fighter, right? … It might too late asking this, but Touko, are you okay with showing your status to Deris-san?」

「It’s okay, it’s my way of attacking. Well, I will take him from Haruna and Chinatsu someday, so look forward to it.」

「I told you, we and Deris-san are not in that kind of relationship…」

Chinatsu has corrected the misunderstanding of Touko many times, but Touko never tries to believe it. It seems that Haruna’s first words, ‘sleeping together,’ are stuck in her head. Touko, who lives straight and tries to win love with her fist, is trying to beat Haruna (+ Chinatsu) in that sense.

「Deris-san is dating my master, the leader of the Magic Knight Order, you know? Are you still going to take him?」

「Oh, that Onee-chan with glasses, huh. That thing is bad news. Seriously. But it doesn’t matter. Rather, the higher the wall that separates me and Danna, the more excited I get.」

「Jeez, you really are―― eh, what? ‘Onee-chan with glasses’? Did you notice her disguise?」

「No, that was not a disguise… she just wore glasses and I’m not that stupid. Of course, I would notice.」

「… Well, yeah. That’s right.」

Why did she think that Touko couldn’t see through it? It was partly because everyone didn’t react in an exaggerated manner, but no one would get fooled by it when she thought it calmy, Chinatsu deeply reflected so. It seems that Touko was not pointing it out was simply because she noticed it. Still, it seems that only Oda who didn’t notice until the end, Touko added so and it was a salvation for Chinatsu.

「We are off the topic. We were talking about skills, right? For reference, are there any skills you two want?」

「I don’t have any. Shishō told me to think about it all day today.」

「I have decided on the skill I want, or rather, decided on my plan. You see, I’ve leveled up this time, right? So I’m going to aim for a level 7 fighter next.」

「「Uh-uh.」」

「Level 7 requires a total level 700 of related skills. So I think it’s essential to pick the related skill.」

「700, huh…」

With the exception of Haruna, who is benefiting from the 『Uncrowned Master and Disciple』, you normally can get a total of 7 skill slots at level 6. Touko currently has four related skills

for a fighter. If she adds one more to that, there will be five in total. Even so, in order to reach the number 700, she has to raise her skills to an average of 140, including the higher-ranked skills. If she makes mistake and picks an unrelated skill, the path will be even more difficult.

「It’s a lot of work to get 400 for level 6, so it’s a long way to get 700… Um, what are the related skills for a fighter?」

「Basically, there are a lot related to moving our bodies. It’s probably the kind of thing that Haruna likes to pick.」

「Like, Throwing!」

「Throwing? … Hmm, that somehow sounds different.」

「I see…」

「Haruna, why do you look so disappointed…?」

Anyway, only talking won’t get them anywhere, so they decided to search for something good while pressing the skill acquisition screen on the menu. It seems that Touko is not good with searching from a dictionary, so she has a sour look for this kind of work.

「What’s with that face, you hate it too much, you know…」

「But, I’m not good at things I’m not good at. My instinct (Berserk) appeals to me. I hate this kind of detailed work, not a chance…!」

「Touko’s unique skill, it’s losing its name.」

「Ah!」

Haruna suddenly shouted.

「What’s wrong, Haruna?」

「Did you find a good skill!?」

「Yes! Look!」

Haruna pointed to her own acquisition screen. However, since her menu screen can only be seen by herself, Chinatsu and Touko can’t see it. Realizing the indescribable gazes of the two, Haruna began to copy the text to her note.

「――Cooking!」

However, it has nothing to do with a fighter.

「Isn’t that just a skill you want…?」

「Ah, but, strength, dexterity, and luck, this skill is surprisingly well-balanced.」

「Yes! I remembered that Shishō told me to study cooking in the mansion. As my skills increase, the time to train each one decreases, but Cooking won’t be a burden because I cook every day. Besides, if the food tastes good, Shishō will be satisfied and I will also be satisfied! My daily motivation goes up and that’s a good thing! So, I’m going to discuss this with Shishō as a candidate.」

Haruna writes out the name of the Cooking skill as the first candidate while humming.

「I don’t mean to interfere, but… that’s not a related skill for a magician, right? Are you okay with that?」

「It’s a related skill for a magician, you know?」

「「…… Eh?」」

A magician and Cooking. At first glance, this combination seems unrelated. However, at this time, something flashed into Chinatsu’s mind. A witch wearing a pointed hat stirs a huge pot using a staff while laughing strangely. It was a popular sight as popular as a witch straddling a broom, and it was a sight that could be called a classic example for a magician.

(…… Was that cooking?)

It seems that it depends on the time and the situation.

Anyway, they still have time. In order to spend today meaningfully, they continued to look at their own path.