■ The Last of the Four Heavenly Kings □
The preliminaries ended more anticlimactically than expected.
Ozma and Gav, including myself, who are old-timers in the martial arts tournament, achieved perfect records.
We easily advanced to the round of 32 in the main tournament.
Since the preliminary matches required a total of three bouts, by the time all the matches were over, it was already evening.
Now, starting tomorrow, the main tournament will begin.
Ozma, whom I finally met again in the evening, extended her fist with a confident expression.
I lightly bumped fists with her and then asked how the level of this tournament was.
In response, Ozma bragged, saying,
“This year’s average level feels lower compared to last year. There weren’t many demons who could rival me. It must be proof that I’ve become much stronger.”
Well, Ozma started learning magic from me and has been rapidly growing stronger ever since.
Considering that, there probably aren’t many regular demons who can defeat her.
At most, someone of the Four Heavenly Kings’ caliber, right?
“Ah, now that I think about it.”
“What is it?”
“Isn’t it customary for one of the Four Heavenly Kings to sponsor the martial arts tournament? I don’t recall hearing who it was this time.”
“For this tournament, Nick Iron was the sponsor.”
“Nick Iron?”
It was unexpected.
Because he was the last of the Four Heavenly Kings I hadn’t encountered yet.
So far, I’ve met three of the Four Heavenly Kings: the first being Mephisto, the scarecrow of death—
Next was Dorothea, the calamity in the form of a girl.
And the third was Walter Leonhart, the Demon King’s right-hand man and ruler of the Great Forest.
“Nick Iron is a new name to me among the Four Heavenly Kings. What kind of person is he?”
Then Ozma shrugged and explained.
“Nick Iron is a full-body chrome golem originating from the munchkin tribe.”
“Munchkin tribe?”
“One of the minority groups in Doom Land. They’re short like imps but have excellent craftsmanship. Originally, Nick Iron was just an ordinary munchkin, but he modified his own body to grow stronger. That’s how he became one of the Four Heavenly Kings.”
If modifying one’s body alone could make someone one of the Four Heavenly Kings, the Demon King’s Army would have already conquered the world.
So, Nick Iron must have had great latent potential.
Though I asked out of personal curiosity, Ozma surprisingly gave a thorough answer.
“By the way, I was just about to meet Nick Iron tonight. If you’d like, Partarth, I can let you sit in on the meeting.”
“Is that really true?!”
Without realizing it, I exclaimed in surprise.
After all, I didn’t expect to actually meet the subject of our conversation just moments ago.
Indeed, the daughter of the Demon King isn’t ordinary when it comes to connections.
“I’ll follow you for life. Loyalty, loyalty.”
“Hollow words.”
Anyway, that’s how my meeting with the last of the Four Heavenly Kings, Nick Iron, was arranged.[[#]]The Four Heavenly Kings system of the Demon King’s Army is a fairly long-standing tradition.
It’s almost like a national rule; they select the four strongest members of the Demon Tribe from the army and grant them positions befitting their power.
“Walter Leonhart of the Lionheart,”
“The scarecrow of death, Mephisto,”
“Dorothea Gale, the calamity in the form of a girl,”
and finally, Nick Iron.
Nick Iron, whose entire body has been replaced with 100% pure chrome, is a sort of golem-like creature.
Although humorously, instead of being created by someone else, he chose to transform himself into a chrome human to grow stronger.
While I’ve seen others modify parts of themselves, I’ve never heard of anyone altering their body so drastically as to abandon their original identity.
Having discarded his original flesh and completely transformed into a steel body, he might as well be akin to Theseus’ ship.
There’s no real way to prove he’s the same person because only his spirit remains.[[#]]The location we arrived at following Ozma in the evening turned out to be a humble household in a corner of the village.
I thought someone of the rank of the Four Heavenly Kings would live in a grander place, but it was unexpectedly modest and surprising.
Dorothea’s taste leans toward garish opulence bordering on bad taste.
“Nick, are you in there?”
As Ozma knocked on the door, there was movement from inside.
Creak!
Standing slightly behind Ozma, I couldn’t help but look up as a massive shadow fell over me when the door opened.
‘Huge’
That was my first thought.
Despite being from the munchkin tribe, which typically doesn’t exceed 150cm in height, Nick Iron towered over 2 meters.
I’m 178cm tall, considered quite tall in this world, but I realized I couldn’t compare to him.
Nick Iron, whose whole body gleamed gray, greeted Ozma.
“Welcome, Lady Ozma.”
“It’s been a while, Nick.”
“Please come in. I’ve prepared dinner in advance.”
“In that case, I’ll intrude.”
After exchanging brief pleasantries, we entered the house.
He paused halfway in and looked at me and Camilla standing awkwardly behind.
“Who are these two, Lady Ozma?”
“They’re part of my group from the Demon King’s Castle. They wanted to meet you, so I brought them along.”
“I see.”
He extended his right hand toward me.
“My name is Nick Iron.”
“Oh, I’m Partarth.”
I reflexively used a pseudonym, but fortunately, Nick Iron didn’t seem to notice.
There seems to be an information gap even among the Four Heavenly Kings.
Or maybe Walter, the Demon King’s right-hand man, was an exception.
The fact that I defected to the Demon King’s Army is an ultra-secret matter even unknown to the top-ranking officers, the Four Heavenly Kings.
Following him inside, the house revealed itself to be an ordinary home, as I had expected.
Judging from his knightly tone and attitude, he appears to be a very frugal person.
He truly gives off a heavy impression like solid steel, fitting his name.
He led us to the kitchen where a feast was laid out.
Well, just because someone lives frugally doesn’t mean they eat frugally too.
Moreover, maintaining such a physique would naturally require immense stamina.
“Please, help yourselves. It’s nothing fancy.”
Nick Iron, seated at the head of the table, encouraged us to eat.
Though the atmosphere was a bit awkward, the food was indeed delicious.
Being food fit for the Four Heavenly Kings, it was obviously prepared with the finest ingredients.
While subtly lowering my mask after sensing Nick Iron’s demeanor, I shoveled food down my throat when suddenly Nick Iron asked,
“By the way, Lady Ozma, is it permitted by the Demon King for you to bring humans as followers?”
Cough! Cough!
I nearly choked and sprayed the contents of my mouth.
Fortunately, such an incident was avoided, but I hurriedly searched for water.
“Here.”
Thankfully, the perfect maid Camilla was standing behind me, allowing me to quickly handle the emergency.
Meanwhile, Ozma smoothly lied,
“On the contrary, it wasn’t me who recruited this person, but Father. So rest assured, it’s not what you think.”
“That is fortunate.”
Nick Iron silently nodded and took a large bite of grilled trout into his mouth.
Looking at him externally, one might doubt if he even has a digestive system, but surprisingly, his body seems to satisfy all three basic human desires.
I fiddled with the WD-40 I had brought as a bribe.
I had intended to offer it to him as a gift for his mechanical body, but unfortunately, that plan won’t work now.
After the meal concluded, Nick Iron personally entertained us in the living room.
“Please, take this.”
“Yes.”
I slightly bowed my head and sipped the steaming cup of tea offered to me.
Surprisingly, his tea-making skills were better than expected.
Sipping the tea he poured for himself, Nick Iron asked Ozma,
“Lady Ozma, do you think you’ll win this tournament?”
To which Ozma nodded confidently while munching on a cookie.
“Of course. This time, I feel exceptionally good. Since I began studying magic recently, I’ve grown much stronger rapidly.”
“Hmm, magic, you say?”
Nick Iron showed interest in her statement.
Ozma proudly smiled and pointed at me.
“This guy, Partarth, is my magic teacher. He’s surprisingly good at teaching despite appearances.”
Hearing this, Nick Iron’s gaze briefly rested on me before he chuckled and said,
“Nevertheless, physical strength built through hard work often proves more helpful than magic. Relying too much on magic may lead to trouble later.”
I listened quietly until I heard that and couldn’t help but bristle slightly.
“Hey, I can’t just let that slide.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Didn’t your comment imply that magic isn’t very helpful?”
“Are you saying I’m wrong?”
“Isn’t that the case?”
“…Then I suppose I’ll have to prove it with my body.”
Nick Iron placed his teacup back on the table.
“Let’s step outside. I’ll teach you a thing or two.”
