Black Iron Magician

Chapter 226 Alliance Formation

―――― The 41st day of training.

After that, they promised to keep Gobuo away from Popura and the commotion was settled somehow. The next day, the heroes of Tazarnia, Udberg and his friends, also arrived at Crocus Castle. The heroes from each country have steadily gathered here, but things were going well up to this point――

「Eh? The heroes of Han and Snowtail are not coming?」

「Yes. A moment ago, we received a call from the magic item we borrowed from Udberg-sama….」

Queen Clarius apologizes to the heroes who gathered in the throne room.

The heroes of Han, the country of arts, were attacked by those who seemed to be from the demon king’s army when they were on the way to Crocus, and they were annihilated. Hero Gregor, the only survivor, was injured and the others were wiped out, so they are in no condition to join the alliance.

「Attacked…. A surprise attack, huh! Damn, they sent a letter of challenge, but they did something underhanded in spite of that!」

Oda, who has overcome a crisis due to yesterday’s injury, is angry at the tragedy. It’s also the moment when Hund’s army is framed for a crime they didn’t commit.

「Still, it’s weird. When we were fighting the demon king’s army, they were fighting head-on fair and square.」

「That’s right, it’s as Hero Udberg says. That’s why we also responded head-on like heroes.」

「That battle will be handed down as a legend later.」

「Gregor is famous as a fighting bard. I wanted him to sing about us….」

In the meantime, there are some who doubted the story of the surprise attack by the demon king’s army. The heroes of Tazarnia and Clarius are one of them, and they expressed the opinion that it might be an intervention by another force.

「Whether it was the demon king’s army or another force, we can’t let our guard down just because they have been fair so far.」

「That’s right, I agree with Rokusai-san’s opinion. If we were to accept the challenge, we should consider the possibility of surprise attacks and other schemes. So, what about Snowtail? Were they also attacked by the demon king’s army?」

「No, but….」

Clarius seems to be having a hard time saying it. Apparently, a messenger of that country came to the neighboring country Adelheit this morning. When Mage Prime Minister Joseph saw the letter, he found a surprising sentence.

「『The hero has gone into hibernation, so we can no longer participate in the alliance. I hope other countries will do their best for our sake as well.』 It’s said that such things were written on it.」

The throne room went silent. In such a situation, the first one to show emotion was Oda.

「I see~, hibernation~. Then, it can’t be helped―― as if! Is it a bear!? Is the hero of Snowtail is a bear or something!?」

「O-Oda-kun, calm down…!」

He sure is sharp today.

「But if this is the case… among the six countries, it will be only the heroes of four countries who will fight the Great Eight Demons, right…?」

「Unfortunately, yes. But if we miss this opportunity, it’ll be very difficult for the heroes of each country to gather in one place again. There’s a possibility that it’s a trap, but if the demon king himself will appear as what stated in the letter, we can’t just throw away this opportunity.」

「Then….」

「Yes, I’ve talked with the leaders of the participating countries and it’s decided that the alliance will be formed. With Oda-sama’s party representing our Crocus, and then Adelheit, Galdevalan, and Tazarnia, the heroes of these four countries will defeat the 8th demon Hund Lind!」

Queen Clarius loudly declared the formation of the Hero Alliance.

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

On the tree that has become my home position, I was eavesdropping the talk inside the castle using the 『Book of Hawk Eye』.

「Seriously? Snowtail isn’t coming as well, huh.」

I’ve also thought about that possibility, but I didn’t think they would refuse for some stupid reason like hibernation. It makes me want to ask what did the white country choose as a hero.

「I didn’t have high hopes for Han, but I didn’t expect Akira to beat you to the punch.」

While scratching my head, which recently hasn’t been bathed properly, I looked at the maid who came to give me a report. It’s Lilyvia who has completely removed the demon king mode and has returned to the usual good-for-nothing maid. I called her with summoning magic and asked her the details, but it was unexpectedly linked to the story of the hero.

「W-Well, I was rushing in my own way, you know? But lately, I have a lot of work to do and I have to train Touko-chan….」

「Well, it’s not that I’m angry. Just like with the case of Touko, you’ve been doing a great job lately. If possible, I want you to be always in that state.」

「Ah, that’s impossible. I want to have a serious relationship with Goshujin-sama, not playing. So, look at the real me, not the fake me!」

「…… Your sensibility is unique, huh.」

Still, Lily in this state is unlikely to be useful for a while. She can’t cook just like me, and I feel like she will make a blunder if I keep her nearby. It would be wise to return her to her base where Touko is. Ah, come to think of it, Touko is in Han, right?

「Lily, how about you make Touko the hero of Han? With your power, you can make Han’s higher-ups do so, right?」

「Ehh, do I have to work again? I want to stay in the house for a while and live a lazy life~. Ah, if Goshujin-sama joins and makes my life more fulfilling, I will――」

「I see, I’ll give up then.」

「Ahh, that’s too quick! But that’s fine!」

She has been working too hard so far that she may have seriously become useless.

「Well, setting the hero’s case aside, it seems that Touko has been well trained. Akira was no match for her, right?」

「What are you talking about, Goshujin-sama? That thing was no match for her in the beginning, you know~? Besides, most of what I did was to correct her nature. Like, making her work in the red-light district and having her read what the other person wants~」

「Oi, red-light district, you said…. You are not making her do anything weird, right?」

「Don’t worry. I’m just making her talk to the customers and I’m not making her do anything weird. Each of our stores has its own rules, and we are strict around that. No touch is absolute!」

Isn’t that just the kind of thing a shady store would say? I’m so worried.

「Rather, at the beginning, there were many cases where Touko-chan was about to put her hands on the customers, you know? That girl, even if she looks like that, she’s innocent and has no resistance to it.」

Rather than hands, it was fists, right?

「So, I patiently, gently, and physically! … made her understand. Now she’s become the number one girl in the store who can draw the heart of the other person! She will splendidly dodge any indecent talk and reply with a cool face! Yeah, she’s large-hearted!」

She’s become able to stop her instinct with reason, huh. Still, should I obediently be pleased with this? It’s just that the content is dangerous.

「That’s good, but you are really not making her do anything weird, right?」

「Goshujin-sama is a worrier~. I trained her while I was acting, you know? There’s no way a mistake would happen, ahaha~」

Where did that nonsense confidence come from…?

「Hmm, that expression, it seems that you are still dissatisfied. But don’t worry! As for the technical side, I trained her to the fullest in her dream after all! Of course, the other party was Goshujin-sama. And since it was inside a dream, it didn’t――!?」

For the time being, I kicked Lily off the tree.