Yabuko the Mage is the third chapter of the The Mage Next Door manga series, written and illustrated by Hideaki Nabe. It was released on November 17, 2025.
Summary[edit]
The chapter begins at the newly opened Osoegawa Consultation Office, where Toya Osoegawa hopes to relax. His rest is interrupted when a girl crashes into the room, she introduces herself as Kazura Yobuko, a mage sent by the Divine Magus to serve as Toya's backup, Toya and Yobuko immediately clash over their methods. Toya prefers to wait passively for requests to come in, while Yobuko wants to actively patrol the town to find enemy mages. After completing several boring tasks such as finding lost cats, they finally receive a lead via email regarding mysterious cash thefts from vending machines. Using the lead, they track down a enemy mage named Katao Hitomi in a warehouse. Hitomi uses magic to control small dolls to steal money. Upon being discovered, Hitomi fuses his many small dolls into a massive Humanoid giant to attack Toya and Yobuko. Yobuko attempts to use summoning magic to fight back but only manages to summon Maganbo, a tiny insect which is known as the weakest in the magic world. After Yobuko struggles with her confidence and fails her initial summon, Toya intervenes by using magic to create the scent of aroma oil, telling her to relax. This allows Yobuko to calm her nerves and focus, leading her to successfully summon a massive, powerful creature called Beast. The summoned monster completely overwhelms the enemy mage's giant doll construct, shocking the opponent before destroying him. Following the battle, Yobuko celebrates her success enthusiastically, though Toya worries she might have used too much force and actually killed the enemy.
Characters in Order of Appearance[edit]
- Toya Osoegawa
- Mini Magus
- Kazura Yobuko
- Katao Hitomi
Trivia[edit]
- Throughout the chapter, Toya wears a T-shirt with the large Kanji characters "開店" on it meaning "Opening Office".