Black Iron Magician

Chapter 351 The Condition to Move the Lazy Demon

「Listen up, Danna! Lily-shishō is terrible! It’s a well-known fact that she’s a useless maid, but she’s too lazy!」

「I-I see. You have it hard, huh….」

When I was about to eat my lunch, I was caught by Touko. I was just one step away from taking my first bite of Haru’s creative cuisine. She seems to want to complain about something, and it’s very hard to eat. Lilyvia is more or less my summoned monster. I have a responsibility to supervise her. Therefore, I can’t refuse Touko’s consultation.

However, it’s also a fact that I’m hungry. Haru went to the kitchen with Zeta, and Nell is still training with Chinatsu, so it’s hard to pull Touko apart. No, Nell will make things more complicated, so it’s better not to let the two meet now.

「…… Touko, you seem to have a hard time with Lily. Aren’t you hungry? Now is your chance to eat Haru’s new dish, you know?」

「I will eat! Haruna, make some for me too!」

Touko has been chasing after Haru, so their basic behavioral principle is pretty similar. If you lure her with tasty food, there’s a good chance she will bite. If that’s the case, it won’t feel strange if I eat too.

「Hmm! As expected of my rival, her cooking ability knows no limit~ ♪」

A few moments later, a delicious-looking dish was automatically brought in from the ceiling. Even Touko, who was in a bad mood, felt happy when she ate this.

「So, what’s wrong with Lily? She’s sleeping soundly in her bed now, right?」

「*Nom nom gulp*―― Well, she was terrible. She ate sweets while lying on the bed, spilled the crumbs all over the place, and she pushed troublesome things to me, you know? Also, she even forgot why I’m dressing as a maid! I’m wearing this because she told me to damn it!」

Ah, so that’s why she’s dressed as a maid. Recently, she has been dressed like that except for training time. I personally thought that maybe I should take away the position of the head maid from Lily (self-proclaimed) and hand it over to Touko. I mean, she’s somehow able to deal with Lily.

「She has always been like that when she’s not acting. She’s lazier than me, but she can do anything when she’s acting, so it’s even. But still, I guess it’s too much of a burden for you. I’ll scold her next time.」

「D-Danna is going that far for my sake!? Ah, but, she also has good points, you know? She said that our next destination is dangerous, so she will train us when she woke up. She’s normally useless, but she’s capable sometimes!」

「…… Touko, you really have become a thoughtful woman, huh.」

「Huh?」

She complained, but she didn’t forget to praise Lily. I couldn’t imagine that figure when she was still a rascal. Ironically, it was the perfect Lily who trained Touko so far, and the troublesome useless maid Lily who polished her ability. In a way, she’s a good example of what not to do, I guess?

「Still, Lily in useless maid state said that she will train you, huh. That’s unusual.」

「I know, right? I was so impressed that I thought it was a joke.」

「She usually has no motivation…. Wait, maybe she has an ulterior motive?」

「Danna, Lily-shishō is pitiful if you think of her like that.」

I mean, she’s got a lot of priors.

「Hm? Wait. You said us, didn’t you? Does that mean Haru and Chinatsu are included?」

「The nuance was like that.」

Touko alone is unusual enough, but she’s also going to train the other two!? Could it be that Lily ate something bad… no, she will be cured if she sleeps.

「It’s not every day that I get the chance to fight Lily-shishō together with others. I’m going to give it my all to show what I’m capable of! Err―― that’s right, I’m going to settle the score!」

「Hahaha. I’m not sure if that’s the right word in this case.」

To show her motivation, Touko is squeezing the pile of food into her mouth. For her, eating is also training to raise her 『Big Eater』. Chew your food well and eat well.

Anyway, Lily against the disciples, huh…. Yeah, it may be just right in terms of time and ability. The girls are going to face the upper-rank members of the Great Eight Demons, so it’s an unavoidable path.

「Touko.」

「What’s wrong, Deris-danna? Your chopsticks have stopped since a while ago, you know?」

「When she wakes up, form a party with Haru, Chinatsu, and Hund-kun, and fight Lilyvia seriously. I think that you guys can win against her depending on your efforts.」

「「「「――!?」」」」

Clatter!

With a surprised expression, Touko stood up while making a loud sound. At the same time, Haru, who was carrying a pile of dishes that seems to be her share, Chinatsu, who was wiping the sweat from training with a towel on her shoulder, Nell, who was walking next to her with satisfaction, and Hund-kun, who happened to cross the corridor, happened to gather in this place. Hey, did you guys arrange it beforehand?

「Shishō! Is that true!? Are we going to have a serious fight against her!?」

「D-Danna trusted me so much…. W-Well, that’s embarrassing….」

「I heard what you said! It’s finally time to bring down divine punishment on Lily! Chinatsu, it’s a big responsibility! You have to win!」

「Nell-shishō, please don’t hit my back. It hurts. Also, I don’t understand the flow of the story. Deris-san, I demand an explanation.」

「…… For now, I will wait until the others have calmed down.」

How strange, somehow I lost my chance to eat my meal. I was planning to eat calmly, but before I knew it, the girls were pressing me for an answer. I can feel the kindness of Hund-kun who read the mood and decided not to ask anything.

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

That night, I went to Lilyvia’s bedroom and woke her up. Succubus is nocturnal, so I had a faint hope that she might be awake. But after all, she was sleeping comfortably.

「―― There you have it. I will have you fight them two days later.」

「Ehh~….」

When I told her what happened at mealtime, Lily’s expression clearly said that she doesn’t want to do it.

「Why do you hate it so much? I heard from Touko that you’re planning to train them.」

「No no~. I didn’t expect such a serious development. I was planning to have lenient training by playing with them~. I don’t like pain, moving too much is bothersome, and above all, it’s tiring.」

「That said, they are really motivated, you know? Especially Haru, Nell, and Touko are really motivated….」

「Why do you look tired, Goshujin-sama? Hmm~, I wonder what should I do~. It’s a request from Goshujin-sama, so depending on the condition, maybe I will accept it, you know?」

「………」

「Wow, you look very reluctant ♪」

I don’t want to hear it, but I have to hear it in order to make it happen.

「…… What’s the condition?」

「The battle is one against four, right? I’m at a huge disadvantage, right? So, if I win, I want a reward. Don’t worry, you’re going to like this one ♪」

On second thought, I don’t want to hear it….