Osoegawa vs. Ice is the second chapter of the The Mage Next Door manga series, written and illustrated by Hideaki Nabe. It was released on November 10, 2025.
Summary[edit]
Chapter begins with Toya Osoegawa and Mini Magus walking down a mountain road, searching for evil mages. Toya complains that randomly searching is a "tall order" and wishes they had a base of operations to gather intelligence. Toya and Mini Magus decide to hitchhike a ride to the next town, and they are picked up by a man who turns out to be Boss Shuei, the leader of a local gang. He takes them to his office, where he is in a confrontation with a rival from another gang. Shuei introduces his "new friend," who is revealed to be a mage named Sagae. Sagae dispatches the rival by using ice magic to freeze and shatter his arm. Sagae clarifies he is not Shuei's friend but instead, a mercenary, and he raised his price to one million for his services. After being dropped off in the human town, Toya decides to gather information and approaches a police officer at a Koban. He asks the police officer if he has seen any mages around, and the police officer takes it as a joke. However, the officer does mention that the Shuei Gang has been causing trouble ever since they hired a new bodyguard. Toya then heads directly to the Shuei Gang's headquarters and walks straight in. He introduces himself and thinks a mage might be involved with all the trouble the gang has been causing. Sagae then steps in, recognizing Toya as another mage. Toya then explains his mission from the Divine Magus is to capture mages committing evil acts. Sagae explains that he is only doing this for money, and that the humans need his power. Then, the two mages start their battle. As Sagae is distracted, Toya uses his daily life magic to restrain him with a simple rubber band that can stretch to an incredible length, and the battle concludes as Toya defeats Sagae. With the evil mage Sagae now gone, Toya solves his earlier problem of needing a base. Toya and Mini Magus decide to take over the gang's now empty office, turning it into his new base for gathering intel on mages. The chapter ends with Toya talking to the local kids from the park, asking them if they've seen any mages.
Characters in Order of Appearance[edit]
- Toya Osoegawa
- Mini Magus
- Unnamed Truck Diver
- Shuei
- Sagae
- Unnamed Shuei Gang Members
Color Pages[edit]
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Color Page
Trivia[edit]
- Toya's average body temperature is around 35 degrees, as stated in the color page.
Cultural References[edit]
- The Koban (police box) is a common thing to see in Japanese neighborhoods.