Black Iron Magician
chapter-29

Chapter 29 Breakout

The day after the students in Haruna’s class were transferred to this world, five boys disappeared from the royal castle of Adelheit. Those students are Satou, Suzuki, Takahashi, and Tanaka, who belonged to the delinquent group, and Itou, who’s usually bullied by them. Although Joseph was troubled about their sudden disappearances, many of the students were relieved because they didn’t have a good impression of that rough group. But then, it seemed that they have their own thoughts about the timid Itou who disappeared together.

The plan to escape from the castle was made by Satou, the leader of the delinquents in the class. He has strong self-assertion, so he couldn’t forgive the existence of Toue Akira, who became popular as a hero. Since Joseph favored Akira and the life here is bound with rules, he immediately gave up, calling his three followers and Itou, as an errand boy, and then planned a breakout. The three who originally had the same temperament as Sato immediately agreed, and Ito seemed to be at a loss, but he forced them to come along. The three, who were of the same nature as Satou, immediately agreed to it, and Itou, who seemed to be unsure of what to do, was forced to follow them.

The main force of the magic knights was on an expedition and the security was not as tight as before, but escaping from the castle was not an easy thing to do. Satou is a level 4 swordsman, and the rest are level 3. Suzuki is a warrior, Takahashi is a magician, Tanaka is a merchant, and Itou is a priest. Although Satou is skilled, it doesn’t mean that he’s superior to the other students’ abilities. But still, they were able to escape the castle without being discovered by anyone.

――――By using Satou’s unique skill, which he got when he got transferred here.

They escaped the castle safely, but they still don’t have a good understanding of this world. If they carelessly wander around the town, the soldiers will found them. That said, outside the castle town is a completely unknown world. It was also painful not to have the money of this world in possession. They were so busy trying to get out of the castle that they hadn’t thought about what to do afterward. Itou, the only one who had expected it, was not in a position to give his opinion, and from then on he began to act as a bystander.

They are good at stealing, extortion, and quarrel. Fortunately for them, their physical abilities were enough for them to do those kinds of things. They were able to do so safely while hiding themselves. They operate exclusively in a section of the town known as the slum. They would use the errand boy, Itou, to catch their opponents off guard and lure them to an unpopular place to attack as a group. If it’s a man, they take money and items, if it’s a woman, they do whatever they want.

In this place, there are no troublesome knights, and if they do a crime, they just need to hide it so it won’t be a big deal. It is far different from Japan, which is a law-abiding country. Satou and the rest of the delinquent group were slowly beginning to believe that this is the world where they can do whatever they want. They used to be ridiculed as the garbage of the society in the previous world, but they thought that they could be the king here.

Fulfilled desires create further desires, and they began to want more. The entertainment called violence became even more extreme, the appetite gradually became more demanding for top-quality food, and the target of their sexual desire moved to other sections of the city.

However, there is not enough power for them to execute them. There was a limit to how much they could do on their own, and Satou believed that they hadn’t yet gained a solid footing.

(We need something as a stepping stone――)

At that time, he remembered the information that a man, whom they beat up before, talked about around this area.

There are several organizations, large and small, that exist in this slum. The largest and practically controlling this quarter is the Midnight, led by Requiem. Although inferior to the Midnight in power, the Ash Rope has an extraordinary influence as a new force. These two organizations are something to watch out for if you’re going to live in the slum. That was the content.

Especially, the Ash Rope’s activities are more flashy compared to Midnight, Satou felt that they are overlapped with their policy. Also, the man, while shedding blood, said that around here becomes dangerous since the Ash Rope is preparing to wage war on Midnight in the near future.

(This is it!)

Maybe it was because of how simple his thought is, Satou acted quickly after he made up his mind. He kidnapped a girl from outside of the slum, which seemed to be the type that’s liked by the boss of the Ash Rope, Tron, and brought her to the Ash Rope’s hideout as a present. It was an action where he would have been sentenced on the spot if it were Midnight, but the boss of the Ash Rope, Tron, was happy about it. In addition, the merchant Tanaka, who is good at talking, made a passionate statement that they were strong and useful, and Satou demonstrated his abilities by fighting with Tron’s men. Perhaps because of that, they were able to join the Ash Rope and became Tron’s personal fighter.

Since then, their lives have clearly improved. A mansion that can’t be thought of inside a slum, a high-class meal that Tron is proud of, Ash Rope’s underlings, and pretty slave women―― all of it were something they couldn’t get in Japan, so all of it was the embodiment of their ideals. Thus, they were convinced that this is where they belonged.

―――― However, a dream is something where you wake up when things are getting good. Although Satou and the others are still in a dreamy state, the sound of footsteps of the one who will wake them up from their dream is surely approaching.

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In the relaxation space near Tron’s private room in the corner of the mansion where the Ash Rope is using as a hideout. Satou and the others are playing poker with the cards Takahashi had brought with him from Japan.

「… Hey, did you hear any strange sounds?」

「Ha? What’s with you all of a sudden?」

Suddenly, Suzuki let out those words.

「Hey, don’t you lie just because you’re losing. I’m not going to fall for that trick.」

「No, I don’t mean to do that. I mean, there’s no way I would do something like that when I have money this much!

「Yeah, we are elites after all.」

「Kukuku, damn right.」

They received a lot of money from their employer, Tron, and they have started to do dangerous work recently. After a memorable first job, they were well received by Tron. They are now preserving energy and preparing for the coming war with Midnight. That’s their current goal.

「Thake that, two pair!」

「One pair.」

「Tch, no pairs…」

「Too bad, straight.」

「Ugh, for real!?」

Eating, embracing, and beating. In this world where there is no other entertainment-ish entertainment, the existence of these cards is a big help. Eventually, they will mass-produce it and become a millionaire. It also helps them to fantasize about such things.

「Arg! I lost was because I worried about the sound before, so I can’t concentrate! Hey, Itou! Go run there and find out about it!」

「Well, uh…」

Itou, who was reading a book in the corner of the room, couldn’t say anything to Suzuki, who was angry. Itou didn’t think that someone would talk to him, so he couldn’t hear it properly

「Ha? Are you going to talk back to me?」

「N-no… I-I just couldn’t hear it properly…」

「Gahaha! You really are dull, aren’t you?」

「I-I’m sorry…」

After listening to the story again, Itou left the room quickly despite the abuse he received. Then, he crosses path with a slave girl who’s coming to serve Satou and the others. ‘Ah, they will do terrible things to her too,’ though he sympathizes in his heart, Itou takes no further action. All he can do is to leave quickly before he can hear any sounds.

「Haa, I wonder if we should really go on like this…」

Leaving a murmuring that nobody can hear, Itou tries to get down to the first floor where the sound was heard.

―――― A few moments are needed for him to realize what kind of disaster it was.