Black Iron Magician

Chapter 442 Sigh

Jet-black threads were clinging to both walls of the canyon. I called it like a spider thread, but it is so black that I think I should have used something else as a metaphor. In fact, it was located in the abyss of the dark canyon, and was so assimilated with the darkness that it was almost imperceptible to the naked eye. It also had a strong adhesive property, so if you touched it by mistake, it would catch you on the spot. It was like something to catch prey, but almost nobody would venture down to such a place. If anything it was more of a trap to prevent intruders from entering the castle.

「Ah, I found Alezel.」

「Oh, Alezel, are you alive? You didn’t touch the black thread, right?」

「I managed somehow by kicking the air…. Wait, is that the first thing you say to your important friend!?」

Alezel lost her footing and fell, but she was unharmed. Well, it was a matter of course. From the very beginning, we understood that Alezel wasn’t someone who would die from something like this. Therefore, we didn’t worry about her that much. When she dies, it’s either being drowned in gold or being crushed to death by it.

「Muu.」

「Come on, don’t sulk. It’s like a proof that we believed in you that you wouldn’t die from that, you know?」

「Hmph! I won’t be fooled by your sweet words! I’m not like Nell!」

「Well, now that we’re right next to the castle, maybe we should jump over.」

「Hey, wouldn’t it be quicker to burn the threads that support the castle? We can defeat them in one go this way, right?」

「Being ignored is hurt, you know!?」

It would be troublesome if she sulked more than this, so we took a short break and apologize to Alezel (only me). After Alezel’s mood was restored, we decided to try to infiltrate the castle. By the way, we had a movable soundproof and invisible magic-blocking barrier, she there was no danger of our conversation being leaked to the outside. The two were making all this noise, but they were well aware of the line and didn’t step outside.

「About before, burning the threads that support the castle is a no. These threads were made by Darka’s ability, and they have the ability to detect anything they come in contact with, regardless of whether it’s physical or magical. It is said that it is more resistant to fire than anything else, so while we are trying to burn it, they will be aware of our presence.」

「I also can’t steal it if it’s this sticky~. Besides, I don’t want to touch it.」

「Good.」

「Then, what about cutting them?」

「It’s the same as burning them. Nell probably can burn and cut them, but I don’t think you can cut or burn the threads that are laid in all directions of the castle in one go. If Darka detects us, it will ruin our chance to do a surprise attack. In the first place, I don’t think the Great Eight Demons will die when the castle is dropped.」

「I guess you’re right. Even Alezel was still alive!」

「Hey, stop using me as a measure!」

When everyone was convinced, we chose a route that did not touch the threads and jumped directly to the castle. Everyone could detect the threads, so it wasn’t a problem.

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

After safely infiltrating into the castle, we proceeded while acting flexibly such as taking great care so as not to be spotted by the patrolling monsters, hiding our presence, and doing something before they make a fuss. The black threads were inside the castle as well, so we had to be careful not to touch them. Good grief, I really hate a cautious guy. At this point, I was convinced of the bad character of the owner of this castle. …… Is it hate for similar people, you ask? No, no. I was just making an objective judgment. Nothing more, nothing less.

「Oh, this part is going to sell for a lot of money ♪」

At the ceiling of the passage dominated by darkness, Alezel was ripping off the head of a bipedal insect monster that passed by. She was demonstrating her specialty of stealth and assassination to regain the honor that she lost when falling into the canyon. However, the sight of an elf dismantling an enemy with her bare hands was bizarre. By the time she landed on the ground, she had already finished dismantling the whole body.

「Hey, look! The shell seems to be durable enough to be sold at a high price as a material for armor, right!?」

「Even if you asked me that, I can’t agree sincerely when you showed me the scene of that durable monster being dismantled with your bare hands. It has reached the level of assassination, hasn’t it? What kind of finger power do you have?」

「I-I didn’t use power to steal, you know!? If you master the skills of 『Theft』 and 『Dismantling』, you can do something like this! It’s not brute force, but the work of such a mastery!」

It’s a terrifying mastery that I don’t want to experience.

「Hey, we don’t have time to waste on idle talk, you know? I think we are about to arrive at the innermost part of the castle. I can feel three large presence.」

「Right. Alezel, it’s time to get serious.」

「I’ve been serious from the beginning! Setting aside the presence of the Great Eight Demons, I’ve located the treasure house perfectly!」

「Let’s get serious, okay?」

Alezel was faithful to her desire. With stealthy footsteps, we arrived at the corridor just before the target point. Collecting materials―― I mean, conquering the castle was done by Alezel.

「Well~, they unexpectedly didn’t notice us, huh. Is it because I work so fast?」

「Uuh, I want to kill some monsters too…!」

「Nell, calm down. Your firepower is the best in the party, but the fighting sound can’t be hidden. Just leave it to Alezel for now.」

「Even I can take them down soundlessly if I try! The one noisy is this sword!」

「That said, it’s been quite a while since you started using that magic sword, right? Besides, you’ll definitely need that magic sword in this battle.」

「Uuh, actually, I wanted to fight with the sword that Deris gave me….」

Nell suddenly muttered her true feelings. I had cleaned my ears, so I heard it well.

「Come on, Deris. It’s a scene where you can say a pick-up line, isn’t it?」

「…… Pretending not to hear it is also kindness, right?」

「Sigh~! Deris is still Deris after all! Even herbivorous elf is more aggressive nowadays! Sigh~!」

Alezel sighed twice and exaggeratedly shrugged her shoulders. I could only stand still when she showed an exasperated look at me.

「… Okay, attention! Before we rush in, let’s take a quick peek at the state of the Great Eight Demons.」

Saying so, I chanted 『Claire Lens』, a level 40 scroll magic of Radiant Magic.

「Ah, he ran away.」

「Eh, the enemy ran away?」

「They didn’t run away! And I didn’t run away either!」

「Sigh~, I’m worried about their future…」

「?」

There were some discrepancies in the conversation, but it wasn’t the time to worry about that. With a strong heart, I give them the crystal I made at hand.

Claire Lens is a magic that allows you to project a scene from a certain distance onto a crystal. Although there are some disadvantages, such as the inability to move the image from the point once projected and requires a lot of magic power to maintain it, I like this magic because it’s a very useful magic that can perform reconnaissance through obstacles such as walls. It was worth buying a bargain scroll. Long live the scrolls!

「Let’s see…. Hee, so they are the Great Eight Demons…!」

As Nell gazed at the crystal image, the maiden component was completely gone from her eyes, and instead, a fighting spirit began to dwell in them. Despite what she said, she was at the age where she loved to swing the magic sword flashy.