Black Iron Magician

「I know this one…. It’s a magic item that Grandpa made…. It’s something quite rare….」

「Is it something like a simple video call? At least, we don’t have it at the knight order’s headquarters.」

「I’ll apply for it next time….」

「Ah, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to urge you.」

「No, it’s actually convenient after all…. It’s also easy to use…. Just replenish the magic power, set the communication destination, and talk…. It looks like it’s ready, so it’ll be connected if we speak to it….」

「Hee, it’s convenient!」

「Since Wee is the representative hero, it shouldn’t be a problem if she just speaks to it now, right?」

「That’s right. Wee, please do.」

「Okay…. Ah, aah…. Can you hear me….? This is Weerel Joshua, the one who’s dispatched to Tazarnia….」

When Weerel called out through the crystal, a slight noise started to run.

「Ohh, Weerel. It’s Grandpa ♪」

「「……!?」」

Next, a screen appeared and Joseph’s face filled the screen. Haruna and Chinatsu were surprised and dumbfounded. The fact that the screen appeared here means that the screen also appeared at Joseph’s side. Perhaps because of that, Joseph’s face on the screen is twitching and his mouth is trembling.

「……Cough. Heroes of Adelheit, can you hear my voice? It’s the Mage Prime Minister Joseph.」

((He pretends that nothing had happened!?))

Joseph’s face changed that as if nothing had happened. Probably thanks to his experience in facing against Deris and Nell, his shamelessness and spiritual strength are something you can set as examples.

「E-Err…. We’ve something to report. We’ve captured the executive of the Demon King’s army that attacked Tazarnia. We’ve interrogated him and succeeded in getting information from him about the enemy’s base and such. The majority of the enemy’s main force was defeated, and we’ve shared the information we got with Tazarnia, so we would like to end this expedition.」

「I see, thank you for your hard work. I’m sure our ally Tazarnia is saved with this.」

「So, Mage Prime Minister Joseph, we’ve heard from the hero of Tazarnia that the Hero Alliance has begun. What should we do now?」

「The news has already come to Adelheit as well. It seems that the alliance of the heroes from the six countries that exist on the continent of Jiba will finally be formed. I would like you to go to the flower country 『Crocus』, which is the designated place. If you use the dragon carriage, you won’t be late for the designated date and time. As for the details of the route and place――」

After receiving the necessary information from Joseph, Haruna and the others decided to head to Crocus, the convening place of the alliance.

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

「Gwon!」

「Gururu…!」

「There, there!」

Haruna is rubbing the bellies of Makam and Redon who are lying down. Her appearance is really innocent and she seems to be having fun. However, every time the earth dragons swing their tails, the ground is slammed with a force that if you get close carelessly, you would be smashed and break your bones. The soldiers of Tazarnia, who were entrusted with the dragons and the carriage, keep up their smiles at that charming sight that makes them don’t want to approach, but their eyes are not smiling. By the way, Haruna is dodging the tails, so she’s safe.

「Are you sure? There is still plenty of room in the cabin of the dragon carriage….」

「We can’t bother you that much. There’s still time until the designated day after all. We will go after we clean things up here. Also, there might be a blunder if we are mixed in a place full of girls. My wife will kill me for sure.」

「Hero Udberg, you sound like a hero with those words just now. It’s a really manly and pleasant line. What a smooth talker.」

「That’s right. As expected of our leader, Hero Udberg. It seems that your awareness of being a hero has finally sprung up.」

「We are happy for you, Hero Udberg. Ohh, Hero Udberg.」

「…… I will go after I tied them as well.」

Udberg’s three companions are doing a joyful dance while spinning around him. This scene of mid-30 old men crowding is quite something. Chinatsu decided to finish her greeting and prepare for the dragon carriage while diverting her gaze from them.

「Haruna~, it’s fine to interact with the dragons, but it’s time to prepare for departure.」

「Oh, it’s time already? Makam, Redon, the stretching is over!」

It was a substitute for stretching, huh…. Chinatsu tsukkomi-ed silently in her mind.

「Huh? Where’s Wee and Therese-san?」

「They said that are going to swim in the sea until the last minute. Well, Adelheit is a landlocked country, so they don’t have much opportunity to experience the sea.」

「I see. I used to swim in the triathlon every year, so it’s not unusual for me.」

「Japan is an island country after all. But seriously, isn’t it rarer to experience triathlon?」

「Really? I didn’t participate in the competition, but we did it as a family vacation. Isn’t it something normal?」

「No, we don’t do triathlon on a normal family vacation…. Haruna’s family sure is unusual, huh.」

「Ehh, we are normal.」

It seems that a triathlon is an annual event in the Katsuragi family. It seems to be a good interaction place where everyone participated.

(I thought they went on a trip for three or four days every summer vacation, but they were doing such things, huh….)

Still, they brought souvenirs such as local sweets, so Chinatsu thought they went on a normal trip.

「That’s right! We still have plenty of time, so let’s swim in the sea!」

「What’s the matter with you all of a sudden?」

「I mean, it’s rare to have this chance in this world, right?」

「That said, we don’t have swimsuits, you know?」

「Then, we could swim naked――」

「――Haruna, as a girl, you shouldn’t do that.」

「No, before that, you sure have the nerve to go into the sea that was filled with poison yesterday….」

As a compromise, they gave up swimming and decided to play at the beach. Therese’s sandcastle turned out to be just as good as the real thing, Haruna’s skipping stone jumped beyond the horizon, and Weerel brought a real shark with her. As for Chinatsu, she was watching them with a warm gaze (she gave up doing tsukkomi). Beside her, Makam and Redon were cheerfully running around on the beach.

After enjoying the sea to the fullest, Haruna and the others ride the dragon carriage and head for the country of Crocus, which is in the south of the Jiba continent.