Black Iron Magician Chapter 31

「It hurts, it hurts!」

「My fingers, my fingers!」

The two members who launched the surprise attack are still rolling around the floor. This is because when the axes were flicked by the girl's black staff, their fingers and arm were bent in a direction where they shouldn't have been bent. The man who came into the mansion after the girl frowned at the scene.

「Don't make a fuss about it if you are a grown man. You're a human who lives in a world like this, right?」

「Ah, I'm sorry, Shishō. I'll finish them.」

The girl, who said so the man, swings the black staff in her hand like a golf club, making a full swing at the fallen man's head. A vivid popping sound of flesh dominates that place, and then the other man is disposed of in the same way. Deep red fireworks bloomed on the left and right walls of the entrance.

「…I was still talking to them. Well, I didn't expect to get a reply, though. Still, you are really merciless, aren't you? The way of killing of the villains you can find anywhere are still cuter, you know?」

「It's fine if I think that they are monsters, yes!」

「I-is that so? How reliable…」

The girl said that the members of the Ash Rope are similar to monsters. A chill ran down the spine of the group when they heard this. They felt that the girl declared that they are not humans. The fear from the girl's words gnaw at their hearts, but there is no sign of anger from them. It's unclear whether they thought somewhere in their hearts that she hit the mark or not. However, it is the fact that sometimes they do something crueler than monsters.

「One, two, three―― sixteen people, huh? Setting aside the quality, they are all armed. Can you do it within a minute?」

「I wonder about that? I don't know, but I'll do my best.」

「Okay, now go.」

The man standing behind the girl clapped his hands. At the same time, the girl rushed towards the members with the black staff in her hand. The expression she had earlier that was suitable for her age changed completely, and you can't see any emotion from her now. 'We'll be killed if we just stay silent,' perhaps because of the fear that reached the limit, the members who were guarding the first floor begin to run one after another while yelling loudly. 'If all of us attack at once, maybe…' they have such thought.

「Uooooo――!」

They scream with all of their might to erase the fear from their heads. They encourage themselves and give up on thinking. Otherwise, they would be consumed by the fear of the devil in front of them. The sixteen people fired up their souls and launch a suicide attack with the preparedness for death.

When Itou left the room and walked toward the stairs leading to the first floor, he suddenly felt something strange on the wall. It's not unusual for a mansion like this to be decorated with the so-called hunting trophy like a deer's head or another animal's head. However, it is quite normal for people to wonder why there are iron axes with bare blades stuck into the wall.

「Are these some new kinds of ornaments…? Many people here have a strange taste after all… ugh, is this real?」

When he lightly touched his finger to the blade, a sharp pain came from his fingertip. Immediately after he felt it, he let go of his finger and saw his blood dripping from it little by little. 'It might be better if it's a fake, but what kind of people that decorate with the real iron axe?' while wondering about it strangely, the priest Itou healed his finger and left the place.

「It's healed now…. But still, the mansion is unbelievably so quiet today. Normally, there would be a quarrel going on.」

The one guarding Tron's mansion is the members of the Ash Rope. Rather than a gathering of comrades, it's more like a gathering to satisfy one's own desires, so there's always a fight even among their own people. They can be called ruffians from their appearance, but for Itou, they are just mobs.

So why is Itou still among them? Unlike the royal castle, this place is surprisingly easy to get out of. In short, Itou can escape at any time as he likes. However, Itou has no intention of returning to the castle.

Even though he is in a weaker position than Satou and the others, Itou is still a level 3 priest. He is somewhat useful, so he is in a position where he is being treated accordingly. It's mainly Satou and the others who get their hands dirty directly, he just needs to fulfill his role in logistical support. As long as he can endure their bullying, he will be left in charge of his own work. It's a far more gorgeous role for Itou than in high school, and it's something he had never been able to accomplish before. In his mind, he can't keep going like this. But, that's all there's to it. Itou is drowning in this situation. He's somehow glossing things over, but in fact, he's in the same hole.

It's the same with the slave girl from earlier. On the surface, he feels sorry for her. But underneath that, he has lowly thoughts that he might have a chance if he approaches her gently after the deed. The hierarchy won't change even if he returns to the castle. If that's the case, it's better to enjoy the current situation―― Itou, who has discovered the taste of evil, has no desire to go back.

「The sound was from the front door, wasn't it? They will just say some snide remarks even if I finish this quickly, let's do it slowly―― hm? What's this strange smell…?」

The strange smell grows stronger as he approaches the entrance. Each time he moves his foot, he has a clearer picture of what that smell is.

――It smells like iron.

It was the smell of blood, which is not so unusual in this workplace. However, the thickness of the smell is not unusual. He feels unpleasant by the smell that fills his nostril. It's clearly not emanating from the amount of blood of one or two people.

There is a railing in front of him that allows him to see the entrance on the first floor. If he peeks out from there for a bit, he can know what this iron-smelling thing is. He can know, but he won't be able to turn back. Not logically, Itou felt so instinctively.

(Should I go back and come together with Satou and the others? … No no! If something happens, they will use me as a sacrifice. I'll just take a quick peek, and if it looks bad, I'll run away by myself. Yeah, I should do that!)

Itou approaches the railing fearfully. Gathering up his courage, he peeks at the first floor.

「……Ha?」

Blood. There's only blood spreading out. The floor and walls of the mansion, which were gorgeous, are stained with red blood. A sea of blood, a gruesome murder scene, you can make many metaphors from this. He had read those words enough to get tired of them, but this was the first time he'd actually seen such a terrible scene,

On the floor, several bodies that seemed to be the source of blood have fallen with some parts of their bodies missing and visible fatal wounds. No one was safe, and there are some people who had an exchange with him this morning within them. He's not sure if it's a good thing that he can't really tell who is who from the second floor, but the worst case is that there are some with their heads that have been blown off. It's like an archipelago floating in a sea of blood.

「Ugh…」

Itou vomited, he made an unpleasant sound that he knew he was making. The smell of iron mixed with the vomit, and if he isn't careful, he will likely to vomit again. 'This is bad, this is bad, this is bad,' his trembling legs won't move at all even when he thinks so desperately. Nevertheless, at such times his ears pick up unnecessary sounds. What the trembling Itou's ears heard was the footsteps of someone climbing the stairs.

(I-I will be killed…!)

He has to go back to the way he came quickly even if he has to crawl. That's the only best plan he has. But as if to mock him, the devil who created this disastrous scene smiled at him.

「Ah, it's Itou-kun.」

「Eh…?」

Itou unconsciously turned around when he heard the clear voice that's like a bell. There was a figure of a female student whose whereabouts were unknown on the first day they came to this world, Katsuragi Haruna.

Chapter end

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