Black Iron Magician

Chapter 17 Uncrowned Master and Disciple

I tucked my bookmark into the book I was reading and looked up at the sky. The sky is turning orange and it’s time to go home. Well, Haru should be back by now. I was watching from the outside while making sure she didn’t notice, but somehow it’s hard to get used to having an apprentice. I feel like I’m worrying more than necessary.

「Shishou~, I’m back~」

Whoops, speak of the devil. Haru came running from the direction of the mining site while waving her hand.

「Good work, you were roughly on time. How was your first expedition?」

「It was very tough. But it was fun more than that!」

Haru enthusiastically talked about what happened at the mine site while using gestures. She sure is energetic even after fighting ash kobold boss and his minions.

However, the result was more than enough. To be honest, Haru’s fight was more than I expected. Although she tended to be a little too straightforward, she was quick to judge the situation, and once she decided to do something, she didn’t hesitate. I was astonished by her holding her guts at the decisive battle. I was going to help her at some point, but it ended up being completely unnecessary.

‘Were you really a high school girl a while ago?’, just how many times I did a self-tsukkomi in my mind?

…… Still, as her master, let’s say this now.

「Haru, well done. I’m glad I made you my disciple.」

「… Eh!? Umm, what’s gotten into you, Shishou? Do you have an ulterior motive?」

「Why is that…」

That reaction, isn’t that the most upsetting thing you’ve said this day? Just what kind of person am I in your mind?

「Oh, more importantly, Shishou. It’s about the black ore I collected, but, you know, the fragments’ size is smaller than I expected…. There is a lot of it, but is that okay?」

Haru apologetically took a piece of ore out of the bag and showed it to me. What was in Haru’s small hand was an even smaller piece than the one I had given her as a sample.

「Hmm? Ah, it doesn’t matter how small the ore is, as long as you have the quantity.」

「B-but, it’s a lot lighter than the ore I borrowed from Shishou, you know? It’s easy to carry around!」

「Well, that’s because you’ve grown up. Haven’t you confirmed your current status?」

「Eh?」

Yeah, she hasn’t. It’s supposed to show up when your skill level up… but I guess she was really focused on the battle. She also didn’t notice the boss’s mace struck against the ore until the last moment.

「Haru, take a look at your status first. Maybe your job level have risen.」

「S-seriously!> Wait a minute!」

「It won’t run away, so calm down. Ah, can I see it too?」

「Sure. You are my master, so it’s okay for you to freely look at it even without my confirmation.」

Uh, is that so? Then, I won’t restraint myself.

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Katsuragi Haruna | 16 years old | Female | Human

Job: Magician LV2

HP: 210/210

MP: 105/105 (+20)

Strength: 41

Endurance: 41

Agility: 41

Magic Power: 45 (+10)

Intelligence: 18

Dexterity: 1

Luck: 1

Skill Slot

◇ Hand-to-hand Combat LV40

◆ Dark Magic LV17

◇ Not set

◇ Not set

==============================

「… Level up~! Shishou, my job level went up and the skill slots increased!」

「Yeah, that’s right. So please calm down a bit.」

Haru, who got stronger, shook my shoulder with all her might and I felt a little sick.

Still, why did the hand-to-hand combat, which was supposed to be harder to raise, level up more than the dark magic? Was it because she was throwing the enemies with great vigor? Her growth rate is ridiculous as usual. No, the dark magic is also ridiculous enough.

「Huh? Somehow, there’s something different from what I’ve heard…?」

Oh, you sure are sharp, Haru.

「Well, it’s getting dark, so let’s talk about it when we get home. I’m telling you, Haru, you have an important task when we get home, that’s preparing the dinner. Are you okay?」

「I’m okay. Let’s do a quick run and go home. I’ve got that much energy left in me!

「I don’t think running on the mountain road is such a light thing… but when we get home, don’t forget to do stretch――」

「Shishou, I’ll leave you behind~」

She started running already….

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

The way back from the mine site was a normal jogging without encountering any monsters. After arriving home, I ate and bathed, and now I’m doing calisthenics with Haru. It’s been a long time since I’ve done this, I can’t help but notice how my body is deteriorating. That damn Haru, her body is ridiculously flexible…. Is that stretchhing? Are you sure that’s not yoga?

「Shihsou~」

「Hmm~?」

「I’ve been checking my notebook since then, but the skill slot that increased when your job leveled up is one, right? I got two, though~」

「Ah~, about that~」

After finished the unfamiliar stretch, we sat down at the usual table. On the table, there was a basket of sweets, which I don’t know where did she find it. The kitchen has been completely taken over by her.

「Do you remember when you signed a master-disciple contract with me before?」

「I remember. ‘Uncrowned Master and Disciple’, right? I thought that I will forget it, so I wrote it down.」

Haru proudly throws out her nonexistence chest. But, you can check that on the status screen, you know? Well, I’ll tell her about it later.

「That’s one of my skills. Well, it’s not that I tried to acquire it though. When you raise your job level, you can get unique skill if you are lucky enough, just like this one.」

「Unique skill?」

「Some people call it a unique skill or a gift from God. It’s separate from the skill slots, it has no level and has nothing to do with status. It’s been over a decade since I got this and I thought I’d never get a chance to use it, but life is a funny thing.」

When I learned this unique skill, I was like, overjoyed. I overjoyed, you know. Although I was overjoyed, I found out that it was a skill to take a disciple when I checked it. As a teenager at that time, I was really bewildered.

「Huh? Didn’t you have a disciple before? That freeloader person, right?」

「Hahaha, that’s an interesting joke. Unfortunately, Haru is my first disciple. I’m sorry I haven’t had much experience.」

「No, Shishou is a great master! I guarantee it!」

「O-oh.」

This girl can spit out poisonous words with a straight face, but she also can say something like this nonchalantly. It makes me feel embarrassed.

「That’s a bit of a digression. The matter about two skill slots being added at once, that was the effect of that ‘Uncrowned Master and Disciple’. The disciple who signed the contract can get two skill slots as the job level rises. You can get two when it should have been one. Pretty good effect, right?」

「Ohh! Isn’t that a good deal for a lot of things!?」

「A good deal, eh? Yeah, it’s a good deal.」

Far from a good deal, that effect is a foul play. However, there are restrictions on who can be a disciple. The reason why I shortened the trial period and made Haru my disciple in a rush was that there were problems such as the target’s job should be at level 1. Haru’s growth rate is extraordinary after all. If I started to train her magic without her being my disciple, I probably wouldn’t have been able to use this skill.

「Now, the mystery has been solved successfully―― Let’s treat ourself with the fun time to learn about skills.」