Black Iron Magician

Chapter 155 Principal 「!?」

「And you are…?」

When asked by Dias, the man kept smiling slightly in front of the door. He is probably in his early thirties. Perhaps he is a guest invited to the academy since he is wearing expensive-looking clothes. The most distinctive thing about him is his hair color. His hair is jet-black as if representing the color of his heart. Kiel remembered something since it’s something rare here. At the same time, Noct also stepped forward.

「You are, Haruna’s master!?」

「You are the one who was together with Haruna Katsuragi…!」

When the opening ceremony was over, Haruna called him ‘Shishō’. The black-haired man, Deris, looked a bit surprised and immediately showed his smile.

「Oh, I’m surprised that your friend knows about me. Excuse me, but have we met before?」

「Don’t be silly! I greeted you before the first round, didn’t I!?」

「… I saw Haruna calling you after the opening ceremony.」

「Oh, at that time? You never know when people are watching, huh?」

「Aren’t you ignoring me? Hey, are you trying to erase the fact that we met before?」

Deris was looking only at Kiel since a while ago.

「In the first place, you didn’t speak with such an unpleasant honorific! Reveal yourself!」

「… Prince Dias. Would it be alright if I speak casually?」

「Well, I don’t mind.」

「Oh, is that so? I’m not good at being formal, so that helps. Noct-kun, good job.」

「I didn’t say it for your sake, and there’s a limit to being casual! On second thought, use honorifics!」

「Hahaha. Telling me to reveal myself and then telling me to turn back, you are interesting.」

Deris was completely messing with Noct. Noct seems to be the type whose emotions are easily come out, and when he gets angry, his face turns red like a boiled octopus, which is worth making fun of.

「Well, we won’t get anywhere like this. I will just quickly say my business. First, I will introduce myself. My name is Deris Fahrenheit. As that person says, I’m the master of Haruna, the girl who will be the opponent of Prince Dias in his next match. Haruna is strong, isn’t she?」

「… What, did you just come here to brag?」

「Well, maybe half of it. Anyway, she is one of the children summoned from another world by Mage Prime Minister Joseph. Just like my black hair, you thought it was unusual, right?」

「――!?」

Dias unintentionally got up from the bed he was sitting on. He is reacting terribly to the words of Deris just now.

「Another world? Summon? What is he talking about?」

「W-Who knows? Even if you ask me… Prince, do you know something?」

「… Summoning from another world is a special kind of summoning that calls forth heroes to fight against the Demon King. The heroes being called are said to have tremendous power, and the ancient kings used this during the national crisis. However, this is a method of forcibly summoning them without permission, and in some cases, it has caused conflict between the summoner and the heroes. It should have been established as forbidden magic.」

「As expected of Prince Dias, you’ve got the basics down. Did you learn this on your own?」

「I may have been disowned, but that doesn’t mean I’ve given up on being king. I’ve learned everything there is to know.」

「Good, I’m glad that you are quick to understand.」

Deris approached and Dias put himself on guard. Not minding about him, Deris took a chair, put it near the prince, and sat down. It’s as if he’s saying that they are free to be wary.

「Let’s get back to the topic that Prince Dias was about to say, the one that I interrupted earlier. The reason you want to win the graduation festival is so that you can be officially qualified and legitimately return to the royal castle, right?」

「… Yeah, that’s right.」

「And then, you will cut off the overgrown evil in the royal castle, and if necessary, become a new king to replace the foolish king and correct the foundation of the country. You recently heard some bad rumors and decided to do so.」

「… Really, who are you? Joseph doesn’t even know my existence. That’s a top secret that only someone close to the current king, such as Noct’s father, can know…!」

「I’m just a little more well-informed than others. Well, to make things easier to understand for the openmouthed students around the prince, Prince Dias is trying to win this graduation festival to correct the corruption of this country.」

「Corruption, in this country…? F-For example, what kind of corruption?」

「As I said a while ago, Mage Prime Minister Joseph put his hand on the forbidden magic and kidnapped innocent children from another world. After that, let’s see――」

Deris starts to talk smoothly. His disciple, Haruna, was a pitiful girl who was originally kidnapped by Joseph, judged to be useless, and then abandoned. Most of the other kidnapped children are still being held captive by Joseph. The foolish king has become a yes-man for his retainers, and the top brass of the country is in a position to do whatever they want. There, Nell, the leader of the Magic Knight Order, and Deris moved to solve the problem and recently succeeded in rescuing several people and releasing them from the castle. Chinatsu, who’s participating in the graduation festival, is one of the rescued girls and has been training under Nell as her disciple. She is participating together with Haruna to get the right to go to the royal castle so that they can reunite with their friends, etc. ―― Everything Deris said was true and not a lie.

「Today, you met a girl with gray hair and tan skin, right? She’s actually one of the victims…」

「B-But, that girl was trying to steal the right to participate from us!」

「It was for the sake of her friends who are trapped in the castle. After all, you can get the chance to break into the castle if you participate in the graduation festival and leave good results. She was by no means doing it for her self-interest, I think. That said, doing such a thing is not good and she most likely understands that. So, can you please forgive her?」

No, he lied a little. However, he lied to cover for Touko, and Solte and Kiel are being deeply moved with moist eyes.

「There are a lot of thoughts stirring around this graduation festival right now. Among them, I and Nell are involved in this graduation festival with the cooperation of the principal. In other words, we’re cooperating for the sake of rescuing those who are still trapped in the castle. I’m sure the principal feels the same since he loves children, the treasure of the nation.」

A cooperative order with the threatened principal was established without him knowing.

「At the end of this graduation festival, a hero alliance will be formed that gathers heroes from neighboring countries and moves to overthrow the Demon King. Then, of course, those who were kidnapped will be included in it. If we want to get into the royal castle, now is the only time to do it.」

「What do you want by telling me this? Sorry, but I have no intention of losing for whatever reason. Even I have my own beliefs to fulfill.」

「No, well, the wise Prince Dias has already figured that out, right? I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.」

Deris stood up again and extended his right hand to Dias. It was a sign of asking for a handshake.

「Whether you win or lose in the next match, how about we cooperating for the sake of each other’s goals? If the prince who worries about the country becomes the king, it will be easier for us to act. If it’s Prince Dias, you can replace the current king who can’t even think with his own head and eliminate the injustice Joseph. Will you let me help you become a king? I’m sure we can change Magic Kingdom Adelheit if we are together!」

「………」