Black Iron Magician

Chapter 145 Lottery

Just before the lottery started. Joseph, the highest guest invited from the royal castle, was in the audience seat in a private room located at the top. Nell of the Knight Order was seated in a different room and there were only people under Joseph’s influence in this room.

「Hmph, you said about using a lottery, but you are tampering with it cleverly, right?」

Joseph asked so to Hao, the principal of this Adelheit Magic Academy. To the public, the principal came to greet the mage prime minister, but in reality, he was there to give a report about him tampering with the lottery.

「Yes. Just like every year, the tournament is divided equally into two blocks so that the strong players are not inclined into one side. The lottery is decided by this principle. If we violate this, there’s a risk that Deris would try to get involved in some way, so we are tampering with it in a natural form.」

「Ideally, I would like Haruna and Chinatsu to fight each other in the early stages though.」

「It would be difficult because they are temporarily in 17th place. Besides, I’m sure that Knight Leader Nell knows about this principle since she is invited to this graduation festival every year…」

By the way, Nell shows up at this graduation festival every year, but she doesn’t care about this principle. Even if they arrange it so that the forces are not inclined, it doesn’t change much for Nell since the top rank and the lower rank are more or less the same for her. However, since Deris has completely researched this matter, the principal’s judgment was correct as a result.

「It’s fine. Tell me the details.」

「First, as long as Weerel-sama keeps winning in order, she won’t face those girls until the semifinal. Until then, we will have them fight our students who have high results in succession and make them exhausted.」

「That’s just a mere consolation. Looking at the previous match, Haruna has become extraordinarily strong after trained under Deris. After all, she won easily against the favorite child of the ruined Machete family. Of course, the same goes for Chinatsu who was taken away by Nell. It seems that the talk about Touko lost to her was true…」

「Touko?」

「…I was just talking to myself. And then?」

「The tournament will have a maximum of four rounds. The standard is to let them fight the top rankers such as Nevel, Karua, and Dry. The problem is about who will fight who…」

「Even if Weerel defeated one of them, there’s a possibility that the other one will survive to the final from the other block, huh… I want to be sure. At worst, as long as Weerel wins, the predominance of the Demon King Subjugation Army will incline toward us. Put Haruna into the opposite block of where Weerel is, make both Haruna and Chinatsu exhausted, and make both of them defeated by Weerel. Make them fight the top rankers equally.」

「Understood. I will do as you say.」

Thus, the lottery was being tampered and the tournament chart was decided just as what was arranged beforehand. Now, who will the goddess of victory smile at?

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

「Shishō~, I’ve drawn the lottery!」

The lottery on the stage was over and Haruna returned to the main guest seat where Deris was waiting. On the way, she was about to be approached by government officials and industry leaders several times, but no one could keep up with Haruna’s running speed. Also, Haruna herself didn’t even notice it, so there’s nothing happened.

「Oh, how did it go?」

「I’m in a different block from Chinatsu-chan. If we are going to fight, it will be in the final!」

「Hmm. It means that they follow the minimum rules, huh.」

「What’s wrong?」

「No, just talking to myself.」

「……? I don’t know what you are talking about, but here is the paper of the decided tournament chart!」

Deris receives a piece of A4 size paper from Haruna and looks at it thoroughly. First is the position of Haruna and Chinatsu, which is the most important thing, and then the position of Weerel, the temporary top student.

「Chinatsu and Weerel are on the opposite block of where Haru is, huh.」

「Unfortunately, yes…」

「Good grief. It’s a waste to have them crush each other in the semifinal. But on the other hand, the even-numbered group is in the block of our side. Let’s make the most of it.」

「Nevel-san and Dry-san! I’m looking forward to fighting them!」

The fact that Weerel and Chinatsu are in the other block means that the participants who have an even number, such as 2nd and 4th, are placed in the block where Haruna is. Looking at the tournament chart, she can fight all of them as long as she keeps winning. Of course, this is because Principal Hao had set it up that way. But for Deris, they still got their prey and Haruna is pleased that she can fight strong opponents.

「Ahh, but, your opponent in the first match is the 6th-ranked Noct Norland, the son of a countryside noble… He is not a miss if we look at the whole, but he’s questionable as your opponent…」

「Is that so? The 6th place is relatively high, so I think he’s strong.」

「Haru, you… Think carefully. This year’s graduates are said to be a group of prodigies called the Golden Generation. But in the end, it’s just an extension of the student level, you know? For the average year, level 2 is normal and they finally became level 3 full-fledged people after working in society. Try to think of it about the level of Canon who seems to be the representative of the last year and Muno who was defeated by him. What can you expect from him who is a bit better than them?」

「Ahh, err, uhh. Hm…?」

Haruna seems to have guessed something and is hesitating to say it. However, Deris’s explanation doesn’t stop.

「The 5th-ranked Therese and above are finally reached the passing mark. Rather, Therese may be the most promising one since I trained her directly. Starting from the second round, you will fight students from that level, but the first round will be an easy victory. Perhaps, the girl you fought in the qualifying is still bett――」

「Um, Shishō… There’s a visitor behind you…」

「Hm?」

When Haruna pointed behind Deris with a wry smile, Deris looked back. A boy with a vein on his head and with the corner of his mouth twitching was standing there.

「Y-You didn’t come to say your greeting for the first match so I came here to say the greeting myself, but this person sure said a lot of things about me. Haruna Katsuragi, is this person your acquaintance?」

「…… Do you know this boy, Haru?」

「No, I don’t know him, but maybe――」

「――I’m Noct Norland, the one who will be her opponent in the first match! Those rude things you said, I will have you correct it!」

He pointed his finger at right before the tip of Deris’s nose.

「More importantly, how about you apologize for entering this main guest seat without permission? Or should I turn you in to the management?」

「I-I’ve properly shown my student ID and got permission! I just forgot to knock!」

Delice is convinced at this point, that nothing can be expected from him.

「I don’t know who you are, but you don’t look like someone I would see at a dinner party or a ballroom. Not knowing about me is a solid proof!」

「Well, I wouldn’t want to go to such a troublesome place after all. Also, I know about you, you know? As I said earlier, you are a son of a countryside noble――」

「――We are not from the countryside! We just live in a place among the mountains! I’ve been studying hard at the academy to succeed my father and become a proud and respectable lord! Insulting me and the Norland family is unforgivable!」

「…Them, how about you show your abilities in the match? If you beat Haru, I will apologize wholeheartedly.」

「Interesting. Alright! You, fight me with all of your might in the next match! This is a duel with our pride at stake!」

The door was closed exaggeratedly and Noct left the room of the main guest seat.

「Shishō, aren’t you being a bit too mean? You knew he was there from the start, didn’t you?」

「It’s his fault for letting his emotions get the better of him. I don’t know how he can participate in high society like that… Well, in both good and bad ways, he acts like the standard noble of his age. Haru, he said you can go all out, you know?」

「I gave my all even in the previous match, you know? I gave my all to defeat her while protecting the rules, making sure that she’s alive even while making her wandering between life and death.」

「I-I see…」

Just for a bit, Deris felt pity toward Noct.