I Became a Tin Knight Chapter 46 to 57

CH 46

It was natural to find someone from the Lennart family at the Lennart dojo.

However, Adelaide’s eyes widened in surprise—after all, she hadn’t expected one of them to be working as a receptionist.

Amused by this reaction, the receptionist let out a hearty laugh.

Their appearance was quite delicate, but their behavior was boisterous, making it difficult to determine if they were male or female.

“Great! Wonderful! I love people with rich expressions. Yeah, it was worth waiting for you to come.”

Adelaide asked in surprise, “Did you know I was coming?”

“I received a message from Ruben, the representative instructor at Lowefelt. This is the closest dojo from there.”

“But still, without knowing exactly when…”

“Let’s say it’s killing two birds with one stone. This is partly a hobby for me.”

The receptionist tapped the hat on their head.

“This is a magic tool with a slight perception interference effect. I’ve turned off the effect now, but normally, it has the effect of blurring the overall impression, including the face. As you know, our bloodline’s appearance is quite unique, isn’t it? Once people confirm the hair and eye color, they start bowing and flattering, so I can’t hear people’s pure evaluations. In contrast, when they think I’m just a regular employee, everyone shows honest reactions. Ah, but this is a secret, okay? If rumors spread in the city, I won’t be able to play anymore.”

“Ah, haha. Hahaha.”

Adelaide could only laugh.

Unlike Ruben, the instructor at Lowefelt, who was the epitome of a stern and strict warrior, the instructor here in Tik-Tok seemed quite eccentric.

“Um… well, um.”

“Oh my. Come to think of it, I haven’t told you my name yet. I’m René von Lennart.”

René winked, closing one eye.

When René pressed a button-like thing at the reception desk, an employee wearing the same uniform as René appeared from inside the management office.

At the Tin Knight’s remark, Adelaide carefully observed the new employee.

That was when she realized something strange.

Despite clearly being in front of her, it was difficult to grasp the person’s specific appearance.

More precisely, it felt like someone one would pass by on the street.

They were in her field of vision, but when she tried to recall their face, it was impossible to remember in detail.

If asked to describe their features, she could only say “a person wearing a uniform”.

“Did you call, Boss?”

“Take care of the reception desk for me. I think I need to guide our precious guests.”

“Understood.”

After giving instructions to the employee, René turned to Adelaide with an invitation.

“Well then, follow me.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

“Haha, no need for thanks.”

The place René guided them to was a fairly large training ground.

From the Tin Knight’s knowledge, it was about the size of a tennis court.

“The test content is simple. You just need to defeat the magic dolls we’ve prepared. There are seven difficulty levels in total, but I’d like to recommend starting from the basic level first.”

“Then, please start with the basic level.”

“Understood.”

When René gave a command to one of the dolls waiting in the corner of the training ground, the waiting doll stood up and walked to the center of the arena.

Its body was made from wood, and it carried no weapons.

Raising one arm horizontally near its chest, the doll bowed its head in greeting.

Adelaide, flustered, returned the greeting.

“When an effective hit is made, there will be a sound from the doll. Victory is achieved when a sharp sound rings out three times.”

“Understood,” Adelaide answered briefly.

She had already entered a state of concentration.

René, eyes shining at this sight, announced the start of the match.

Whoosh!

The wooden doll made the first move.

Stepping forward with its right foot, it swung its wooden fist widely.

Adelaide lowered her posture, then slashed at the wooden doll’s stomach in the gap of its failed attack.

– Beep!

Although no blood flowed, a sharp whistle-like sound rang out from the doll instead.

It tried to counterattack by swinging both arms, but Adelaide had already positioned herself behind the doll.

Slash!

One diagonal slash on the back panel.

One horizontal slash aimed at the nape.

With a fluid combo, the wooden doll rang out consecutive signal sounds, collapsing to the ground.

“Haha, as expected. This was too easy for you, I see. Shall we move on to the next level? Ah, of course, if you want to rest, you may do so at any time. There’s no rule saying you have to clear all levels consecutively.”

“I’m okay. I’ll continue like this!”

“Understood.”

Adelaide’s subsequent performance was exceptionally outstanding.

Level 2: Three exchanges to defeat a doll using basic swordsmanship.

Level 3: Five exchanges to defeat a doll wielding dual swords flamboyantly.

Level 4: Though she struggled against the joint attacks of two dolls, she managed to overcome them in twenty exchanges.

“Haah, haah.”

Adelaide breathed heavily.

She had experienced this prior in the labyrinth—the difficulty of facing multiple opponents compared to facing one was the difference between heaven and earth.

Not only was the stamina consumption high, but finding escape routes between enemy attacks was extremely tricky.

Of course, it was rewarding in proportion to its difficulty.

The admiring gazes of the disciples who had gathered around, René’s praise, and the Tin Knight’s cheering all excited Adelaide.

Clap clap clap.

When René clapped as if showing off, the surrounding gazes gathered.

“Excellent. It’s a skill that draws admiration. I mentioned earlier that the test consists of seven levels, but you don’t need to clear all seven. It’s considered a pass if you win up to the fifth level. This applies to the dojo’s disciples as well.”

Pass if you win up to the fifth level.

Those words flowed into Adelaide’s ears.

With her head a bit dull from the excitement, Adelaide thought vaguely.

I passed the test at Lowefelt in one try.

So, maybe this time too…

“How about it? Would you like to challenge it right away?”

“Yes.”

The deliberation wasn’t long, and Adelaide boldly issued her challenge.

And then…

Clang!

“Huh?”

She was met with a magic doll emitting mana from its entire body.

In a situation where she clearly slashed the body but heard a sharp metallic sound instead of the notification sound indicating an effective hit, Adelaide shouted in confusion, “Um, excuse me! I think this one is broken?!”

“Nope, this doll is functioning perfectly fine! We’ve just reactivated the reinforcement armor that was turned off until now!”

“Eck.”

Reinforcement armor.

If attacks don’t work even when slashing, what should I do?

Adelaide fell into confusion, but her opponent didn’t wait.

As if all the sluggish movements prior had been a mere feint, it pressed Adelaide with movements that seemed at least twice as fast, driving her into a corner.

“No, wait—kyaaaaaaaa!!”

Even while screaming, Adelaide somehow managed to succeed in dodging.

Watching this scene, the disciples exclaimed in admiration.

“Wow, she dodges well.”

“It’s admirable that she’s still trying to counterattack somehow, but just tapping it like that won’t mean anything. Does she know how to use body reinforcement but not sword energy?”

“But did she even use body reinforcement? I can’t see any mana fluctuations on her body.”

“Come on, it’s probably just hard to see. How could she move like that without reinforcement?”

“That’s true.”

Overhearing the disciples’ words, you thought.

These friends are quite sharp.

Clink.

With your arms crossed, you fell into contemplation.

In truth, Adelaide hadn’t yet properly learned how to handle mana.

She could move lightly to some extent thanks to the basics she learned from the Friedel family, but that was all.

However, you had never directly taught Adelaide how to handle mana.

The reason was clear.

The experience and wisdom of the “Tin Knight” deemed it too early.

Adelaide’s innate physical qualities were truly at a genius level—almost innate.

Even at this point, she was displaying abilities on par with average reinforcement users without mana, but how far she could rise if she continued to train was in the realm of speculation.

For now, learning how to handle mana would undoubtedly hinder Adelaide’s growth.

It was similar to giving soft shoes to someone who had been walking around barefoot well, causing the calluses on their soles to disappear.

Even if you told Adelaide to not use mana, there was no way to prevent unconscious use.

As a “player”, you judged this as a kind of build-up.

There were such things in games.

When a character reached a certain level, they became eligible for promotion to a higher class, and the player could then decide whether to promote the character immediately or continue growing in the current class.

If promoted immediately, the character becomes stronger quickly.

However, exclusive skills or bonus stats that could only be obtained by leveling up without promotion all evaporated into thin air.

Teaching Adelaide how to handle mana now would make her stronger in the short term, but thinking about the future, it would only hurt her.

That was the common view of both the “Tin Knight” and the “player”.

The problem was that because she couldn’t handle mana well now, Adelaide was on the verge of being defeated.

For Adelaide’s growth, she shouldn’t be taught how to handle mana now.

But it was also troublesome not to clear this sub-quest here.

There was an option to just pass it for now and come back later after Adelaide’s growth was complete, but in your opinion, that was a waste of time.

You came to a conclusion.

Originally, games were not necessarily cleared only by “orthodox” methods.

Even if the opponent was a boss that could only be defeated by weakening with specific items or performing specific gimmicks, if the player willed it, they could be beaten through brute force!

You decided to impart that “will” to Adelaide.

Before Adelaide’s reason could process the phrase that appeared in her mind, her instinct moved her body.

Right after Adelaide hurriedly rolled her body, the wooden doll’s leg stomped where she had been.

Whack!

Adelaide’s kick connected as the doll adjusted its stance.

The doll’s posture adjustment was delayed by one beat, while Adelaide, using the force of the impact, regained her posture one beat faster.

Adelaide lowered the sword she was holding with both hands diagonally downward.

It was a very strange instruction.

It meant swinging the sword towards empty air after creating distance.

Huh? Huh?

But Adelaide, who was in a half-dazed state, didn’t have the capacity to question such details.

Unaware of the happenings around her, Adelaide swung her sword as instructed and…

Thwack!

…the neck of the doll, which was charging towards Adelaide with perfect timing, lined up perfectly with the sword’s trajectory.

Adelaide’s body was sent flying backward from the force of the charge, but the result was clear.

Adelaide’s sword was embedded about one-third into the wooden doll’s neck.

The gazes of the spectators watching from the sidelines were awestruck.

While everyone was frozen in confusion, only one person—one voice was issuing instructions without hesitation for Adelaide to hear.

By this point, Adelaide’s reason had caught up with her instinct, but instead of being flustered, she followed the Tin Knight’s instructions.

Holding the mace in her hand, Adelaide sprinted across the ground.

The wooden doll, which had been trying to remove the sword stuck in its neck, seemed to consider the approaching Adelaide a greater threat and stopped its action to shift into a defensive stance.

The wooden doll’s right foot kick grazed Adelaide’s golden hair.

The left leg, which had been solely supporting balance, collided with Adelaide.

Whack!

A sharp pain shot up from Adelaide’s arm and shoulder.

Having collided bare-bodied with a body that could deflect even swords, it was natural that even Adelaide wouldn’t be unscathed.

But in exchange for that pain, the magic doll’s balance was disrupted.

The upper body of the doll, which had spread its two legs front and back as if stretching, tilted to the left.

Thud.

The tip of the blade stuck in the doll’s neck was driven deep into the ground.

Whack!

Adelaide struck the sword handle, driving the blade even deeper into the doll’s neck.

If this had been done in a normal state, the sword tip on the opposite side would have moved and come out, but that sword tip was now firmly embedded in the ground.

Whack!

Whack!

Whack!

Unable to withstand the consecutive impacts, the sword tip that had been buried in the ground came out.

Thud.

Adelaide collapsed to the ground—completely drained.

She had no more energy left to move.

Not that she needed to.

The wooden doll, with more than half of its neck cut off, twitched its limbs weakly with a creak, then stopped moving altogether.

– Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

Only the signal sound indicating effective hits kept ringing repeatedly from the doll’s body like a siren.

Or rather, it would be more accurate to say that everyone only now recognized the sound that had been ringing since the sword first lodged itself in its neck.

While everyone was dumbfounded, the Tin Knight alone nodded his head in satisfaction.

As expected, if you set your mind to breaking something, you can break it somehow.

---

CH 47

Adelaide thought to herself.

I thought I was going to lose…

A 5-round battle against various magic dolls.

The final opponent was especially formidable—its mana-filled body made it nearly impervious to blades, and its movements and strength were overwhelming.

Thanks to her rigorous training with the Tin Knight, she managed to endure somehow, but that was her limit.

To be honest, Adelaide had given up on the match halfway through.

If her sword couldn’t cut her opponent, victory was impossible.

Ah, this must be as far as I can go this time.

She thought.

She had been dodging attacks to avoid getting hurt, but in her heart, she had already accepted defeat.

At least, that was how it should have been.

She had been certain she had no chance of winning.

Yet, looking back at the result, victory was somehow in her grasp.

This was unbelievable to Adelaide.

Roll.

Unable to even think of getting up her tired body, Adelaide simply shifted her prone position to lay on her back.

Her golden hair touched the ground and got dirty, but she had long since abandoned the delicacy of caring about such trivial things on the first day of training with the Tin Knight.

Looking up at the ceiling, Adelaide replayed the recent battle in her head.

It was an incredible experience.

The sensation of her body moving with instinct ahead of reason.

A battle that had reached the realm of reflex rather than conscious thought.

Sir Knight’s instructions, they calculated even the gap between me hearing the instructions and actually moving.

Otherwise, such a result couldn’t have happened.

No matter how much Adelaide moved almost unconsciously according to what she heard, there would still be a subtle difference from the Tin Knight moving his own body directly.

And that wasn’t all.

With Adelaide’s strength and weight alone, it would have been impossible to lodge a sword into the wooden doll’s neck, even if it was a weak point in defense.

Yet the attack succeeded because it accurately predicted the timing of the opponent’s charge and countered it.

The Tin Knight had read in advance how the opponent would judge and act, supplementing the strength and momentum that Adelaide alone lacked.

It felt like it was teaching Adelaide that even if she lacked strength compared to her opponent, even if she were slower, even if she didn’t have a sharp weapon, optimally combining her arsenal could still lead her to victory.

Sir Knight is amazing.

Adelaide marveled once again.

Her teacher was indeed amazing.

Yes, really amazing, but…

Please, can’t you consider human limits?

I’ll really die at this rate.

Even now, my whole body was languid, and her shoulder that collided with the magic doll and both wrists that swung the mace were in excruciating pain.

Unable to voice her grievances against the Tin Knight who didn’t understand human feelings, Adelaide’s eyes slowly closed.

Before her consciousness completely faded.

She had the faint sensation of being held by something cold and hard.

“Wow, amazing. I can understand why Ruben was impressed.”

Clap clap clap.

René von Lennart approached you while applauding.

The instructor, whose gender was hard to determine, praised Adelaide, who was sound asleep on your back and offered words of admiration.

“It’s not that there haven’t been skilled people who passed the 5th level before, but she’s the first to pass without using mana. I’d like to create a hall of fame to commemorate this.”

You wanted to reply that it was a great idea, but unfortunately, you had no mouth to speak with.

It might be possible if you let the other person touch the brooch, but Dorothea had said not to use the brooch unless it was a special case, warning that if it broke from being handed to just anyone, there was no guarantee it could be repaired.

With this in mind, you nodded your head in response instead.

Satisfied with your reaction, René smiled and held out a fan-shaped piece.

Like the pass token received at the Lowefelt dojo, it was part of a circular picture divided into five pieces.

“In the name of René von Lennart, instructor of the Tik-Tok branch of the Lennart dojo, I declare. Adelaide von Lennart has sufficient qualifications to receive recognition from this dojo—“

“Who gave you permission!”

A rough voice forcibly interrupted René’s declaration.

The voice was so loud that most of the disciples spread throughout the amusement park-like dojo turned their gaze toward the main entrance where the voice came from.

René’s expression suddenly twisted.

“Those nuisance old men came again, never getting tired of it.”

“I can hear you, you cheeky brat!!”

An old man with a terrifying physique, his half-gray blonde hair and muscles visibly bulging even through his clothes, glared at René.

Behind the old man were dozens of middle-aged and elderly men with muscles that, while not as impressive as the old man’s, were nothing to scoff at.

The old man saw the token in your hand and growled like a beast.

“The dojo’s token is given only to those worthy of bearing the pride and honor of the dojo. And now you’re handing it over to this mere piece of scrap metal?”

“Are your eyes malfunctioning? This person is merely receiving it on behalf of someone else, the real recipient is the girl carried on his back.”

René’s words and attitude towards the old man were utterly scathing.

And the old man, too, made no attempt to hide his contemptuous and disdainful attitude towards René.

“That’s just as problematic! All the real skilled people of this dojo are here with me. Who exactly did that girl prove her skills against? Did she beat those so-called ‘elite’ fancy toys you play with? If you hand over the token for such a trivial reason, the honor of this dojo will fall to the ground!”

“I am the representative instructor of this dojo. And I’m the one who sets the criteria for awarding tokens. Not you and your gang who were driven out after facing a collective petition for mistreating disciples with your outdated mentality!”

“Oh ho, that’s right. I was driven out. All because of those ungrateful bastards who betrayed their master and seniors without mercy, just because it was a bit physically demanding and difficult, even though I patiently taught them the basics of martial arts!”

As the old man glared around the dojo, the disciples couldn’t meet his gaze and looked at the ground.

There were some who looked back at the old man with displeased expressions, but they were few in number.

“Enough of this. I’ve tolerated you as a senior of the dojo, but my patience has its limits,” René warned in a cold voice, but the old man snorted.

“Who needs to know their limits will be decided soon.”

The old man threw a piece of parchment towards René.

René caught it and, while frowning, unfolded the parchment to examine its contents.

“Wow, shit.”

A vulgar curse, ill-fitting for such a delicate face, burst out.

Seeming relieved by this reaction, the old man laughed loudly and said, “You saw it well, did you not? It’s a direct order from the Duke himself. It revokes my dismissal as representative instructor and your appointment as representative instructor, and orders a re-judgment under the supervision of the lord of Tik-Tok to determine which side is truly suitable to lead this dojo. Do you understand? You are no longer the representative instructor, and therefore, the token you just rewarded is invalid!”

“You senile old man, really. I thought it was strange to see people not from here scattered about, did you bring all your connections and whine to the main family about being wronged? How can a person be so petty? Are you trying to overturn a settled match with backing?”

“Hmph, babble all you like. On the day the lord of Tik-Tok declares my victory, I’ll overturn this toy garden and turn all those damned pieces of metal into waste!”

“Hey, you damn bastard! Do you know how much money I poured in to get those precious things!! Cut the bullshit!”

“You should quietly step down, René!!”

“That’s right! Even if you pushed out the great master with your petty paperwork, do you think we’ll meekly accept defeat!?”

“What great master! You just arbitrarily attached that title after losing the name of representative instructor!”

“We like the current teaching method!! Get lost, you old geezers who only know how to abuse juniors!!”

The fight that started as an argument between René and the old man now escalated into a market brawl with each side’s followers joining in.

For now, it had somehow hadn’t devolved into a physical conflict yet, but even that was a precarious balance.

You fell into contemplation for a moment.

You were considering whether to slash all those old men and their hangers-on who kept spouting irritating words in front of you.

It was one thing for the old man to call you a piece of scrap metal—you could tolerate that given the “Tin Knight” was indeed an old model, however, him blatantly dismissing the token your pupil has earned through sheer effort was utterly unacceptable.

Honestly, if you weren’t carrying Adelaide on your back, you might have already split their skulls with your sword.

Perhaps sensing your mood, René bowed to you with an apologetic look.

“I apologize for involving you in this troublesome matter. I wouldn’t care with ordinary magic dolls, but I can feel human-like emotions from you. Please leave this to us and go back. You can ignore that old man’s nonsense. Once I regain recognition from the lord again, this will all be meaningless.”

You silently looked at René, then nodded.

It was just as you were walking towards the exit.

“Hey, you! Even if you’re leaving, you should leave that token behind!”

“No, what’s the point of reasoning with a hunk of metal? Let’s just take it back by force!”

Some of the old man’s followers suddenly grabbed you and started spouting nonsense without even apologizing.

Seeing this, René’s eyes widened.

“Hey, you bastards!! What do you think you’re—“

You hadn’t the slightest intention of listening to this pointless squabble any longer.

– Crack!

A middle-aged man who was hit in the shin by your swinging foot curled up, clutching one leg without even being able to make a sound.

Instead of your right hand carrying Adelaide, you stretched out your left, grabbed the back of the head of another wide-eyed middle-aged man, and slammed it down towards the crown of his companion on the ground.

With a sickening thud, the two crumpled to the ground.

Blood seemed to have been spilled, but that wasn’t your concern.

After all, they were the ones who dared rush at you.

---

CH 48

“Has this doll gone mad?!”

Some members of the old man’s gang, enraged at the sight of their comrades being taken down, drew their weapons in a frenzy.

It seemed their boasts about being skilled weren’t entirely baseless, as the angle of their sword thrusts and their footwork were quite fierce.

Moreover, sword energy was even rippling on their blades.

Grasp.

You gripped your shield.

Perhaps thanks to your improved mana circuits, it felt like the mana consumption was significantly reduced compared to usual.

After completely enveloping the shield with mana, you lightly struck the side of a sword with your shield.

Clang!

The sword broke, and the man’s eyes widened.

The price for reaching out carelessly was a shin bone and a mild concussion, so it seemed appropriate to collect a stronger price from someone who openly swung a sword.

You kicked between the man’s legs.

Oof.

Although you had no sense of touch, somehow you felt you could understand what was happening beyond the man’s pants at this moment.

Everyone around gawked with their mouths hanging wide open.

Some even trembled and reflexively shielded their own groin.

Of course, there were always one or two people who didn’t sync with others and did their own thing.

Seeing some who were trying to swing weapons at you with angry expressions instead of stopping their movements from the shock, you moved your shield once more.

It was quite a cumbersome task trying to move without bothering Adelaide.

One of the two men dropped his sword, and the other’s sword snapped in half.

If any of them had carried a spear, you would have stepped on the shaft and driven it into the ground, but unfortunately, they all wielded swords.

It seemed the saying about the sword being the king of all weapons wasn’t for nothing.

Clicking your tongue at these unoriginal fellows, you ended two other bloodlines in the same way.

Thud! Bang! Oof! Crack!

After thoroughly crushing every fool who dared take aggressive actions, such drawing weapons or shouting, against you, peace finally arrived.

Glance.

You locked glances with the old man who had been glaring at you with intense focus.

The old man’s wrinkled face was evenly mixed with anger and doubt.

“How can a mere toy have such skill… No, more than that, you, do you have emotions?”

What if I do, and what if I don’t?

You didn’t feel it was worth answering.

In fact, even if you felt like it, you couldn’t answer, anyway.

The old man spoke again, “Do you understand who you’re picking a fight with right now?”

Hearing the old man’s question, you glanced at Adelaide on your back.

Even though you had been as careful as possible, there must have been some impact, so you thought she might have woken up.

Not that it would have been an issue even if she had—after all, Adelaide wasn’t a baby who needed to be bottle-fed. However, it would have felt like you had failed to complete a surprise quest—not to mention the humiliation you would have suffered if she had woken up.

Snore, snore.

Fortunately, Adelaide was sleeping soundly.

To fall into such a deep sleep just from rolling around a bit, you felt the need to keep building up her stamina more and more.

Anyway, it seemed okay to do something a bit noisy.

Thanks to your improved mana efficiency, you still had plenty of mana reserves left.

You raised your shield and looked around.

You spotted a suitable rock.

Judging by how it protruded in the middle of the street, it seemed that it was too heavy to be moved or excavated, so people naturally accepted it as a decoration for the scenery.

You pointed at the old man with your finger, then pointed at yourself and Adelaide.

After confirming that the old man’s eyes twitched.

You raised your shield.

The remnants of the “Tin Knight” guided your body according to a predetermined sequence.

Lowering the shield to the left, you extended your right foot forward.

Then, untwisting your body while expelling mana through the back of the shield and your elbow, you swung the shield with that propulsion and rotation.

──Crash!!

Like the outer wall of a building hit directly by a wrecking ball attached to an excavator, the rock instantly shattered into numerous small fragments and three or four large pieces.

Had you been at the Tin Knight’s peak as seen in your memory, the rock itself should have been pulverized into dust, but whether it be due to the condition of your body, or the quality of your shield, the power was weaker than expected.

But, well, it at least seemed to serve as a sufficient demonstration.

Most of the people around were staring at you with abject terror.

The exceptions were René and the old man.

Perhaps those who stood at the top of an organization had a different level of skill and composure.

In fact, for all the old man’s flaws, his level seemed quite high, so you secretly wanted to fight him.

You repeated the earlier motion once again.

Pointing at the old man.

Pointing at yourself and Adelaide.

Finally, adding the motion of pointing at the shattered rock.

Earlier, the old man had said, “Do you understand who you’re picking a fight with right now?”

So you answered with actions.

Do you?

Judging by the old man’s face and forehead turning increasingly red, the meaning seemed to have been properly conveyed.

“Eek! Uh, um, eh?”

Having just regained consciousness after hearing the loud noise, Adelaide looked around frantically from your back.

You thought about telling her to get down but decided to just keep carrying her since it was a rare opportunity.

Discarding the shield that had become unusable due to being half-split and its handle tattered, you walked forward.

Fortunately, no one blocked your way this time.

Adelaide wasn’t hurt, and you had followed Dorothea’s warning of “don’t cause too much trouble” to the letter. Therefore, you were undoubtedly a very patient and wise familiar.

As long as no one died, it wasn’t a big incident, right?

“What the hell did you do this time, you damn tin can!!”

Clang! Clang!

Dorothea’s staff relentlessly struck your head.

You felt wronged and protested.

“As if all that matters!? What the hell did you do in broad daylight that made the guards come straight to the inn!? I nearly got arrested because of you!”

After saying that, you suddenly thought, “Oh? That actually makes sense.”

Nine-tenths of the reason Dorothea tells you not to cause trouble was because of joint responsibility and dealing with the aftermath.

But if being able to escape from prison was easy, consequences and aftermath be damned. It should be fine for you to run wild as you please—

“─Excuse me, Sir Tin Knight. Could you repeat that?”

Dorothea smiled sweetly.

She even used polite speech.

You surrendered immediately.

A deep, primordial fear consumed you as if watching every letter in an encyclopedia pop out of the paper in 3D and simultaneously start breakdancing.

For Dorothea—that witch—to speak gently!

It was a terrible experience that raised non-existent goosebumps.

“What’s this? This is unpleasant in its own way…”

Dorothea frowned with a puzzled expression but seemed satisfied with you bowing your head and didn’t raise her voice further.

“Haa. Anyway, the guards came and gave a warning, so seriously, don’t cause any more trouble. No, rather, wouldn’t it be better for you to just stay cooped up in the inn?”

“That’s troublesome. I’ve been waiting for my turn all this time. To suddenly say he’s not available.”

At Sophia’s words, Dorothea made a sulky expression.

“The only useful thing this guy is useful for is violence, bloodshed, and destruction. What exactly do you need this idiot for to prove your usefulness?”

You felt inwardly dissatisfied.

You had demonstrated excellent negotiation skills today.

It was troublesome not to add negotiation to your list of useful skills.

“Doesn’t our Dorothea excel in those areas best? Sir Tin Knight’s primary duty is to be a guard.  Most people won’t pick fights just by him being nearby. That alone is reason enough to have him along.”

“Hmm.”

Dorothea looked quite dubious, but she didn’t seem to want to go back on her promise, so she finally raised the white flag.

“Haa, fine. Go. Do as you like. It’ll take a few hours to take care of the exhausted Adelaide anyway.”

“If you give me a few more drops of blood, I could heal her with holy magic?”

“Absolutely not. Using that would disrupt the defensive barrier I’ve set up.”

Holy magic.

Sophia’s technique of literally drawing on holy power and Dorothea’s technique of using necromancy and curses as the source of power were not compatible.

You marveled.

What an ill-fitting party composition.

It felt like someone’s malice could be sensed.

That was why you became curious.

How would this vampire, who currently has no meaning or value to be with the party other than possessing one of the kingdom’s secret treasures inside her body, prove her usefulness?

You followed Sophia out of the inn.

The sky was dark.

In a sense, it was natural, as you had visited the doll workshop with Dorothea in the morning and done the dojo challenge with Adelaide in the afternoon.

Sophia’s eyes sparkled as she saw shops naturally lighting lamps and continuing business instead of closing at sunset.

“The Empire is truly a wealthy nation. Not just for some privileged class, but to brighten the ground with lamps lit throughout the entire street.”

“Well, oil was a luxury item. Since I could handle both mana and holy power, I rarely felt a lack of light. But for most people, sunset meant the end of the day.”

Sophia walked down the street with gentle steps.

Suddenly, she spun around to face you.

Her eyes, which had been hidden in her smiling expression, slowly opened and stared at you.

The impression that had felt friendly and approachable was instantly dyed in a new color.

A color more alluring, cold, and dark.

“─Wasn’t it worse in your era?”

Her eyes, shifting between pink and red, were ominous like blood droplets.

---

CH 49

Hearing Sophia’s question, you tilted your head.

The “you” Sophia was referring to likely meant the “Tin Knight”.

In other words, Sophia was asking about the era when the Tin Knight was still active—or the time when he was human.

You decided to answer honestly.

It was true that you inherited the Tin Knight’s power, but most of it was skewed towards combat-related elements.

While combat techniques engraved in the body, experience, and insight as a warrior remained, you didn’t inherit the Tin Knight’s memories or knowledge, so you couldn’t answer questions about the Tin Knight’s past life.

“Oh my.”

Sophia covered her mouth with her hand.

It was a somewhat exaggerated gesture, but it suited her quite well.

“Do you have no memories?”

“I see. ‘The soul of a human that enters a magic doll often develops mental abnormalities, unable to overcome the disconnect from its original body.’ Just as I read in the book.”

“Isn’t memory loss also one of the abnormal symptoms?”

Hmm.

You paused for a moment.

The reason you had no memories wasn’t for that reason, but explaining specifics would be quite troublesome.

Besides, insisting on memory loss might make things convenient in various ways.

“I have some guesses, but I’m not certain.”

“Hmm, to explain that, there’s somewhere I’d like to stop by for a moment… Ah, I see it.”

At Sophia’s words, you turned your gaze.

While the details were different from what was in your memory, there was a building that was generally similar.

If you had a sense of smell, you might have been able to smell paper, ink, and dust.

“Well then, shall we go in?”

In front of the largest bookstore in Tik-Tok, Sophia smiled.

“What? You want to read books here? Come on, don’t talk nonsense! I thought I might get one last customer before closing, but some weirdo shows up.”

The owner’s response, which was grumpy as if mocking them, changed to, “Oh my, please feel free to take your time reading. There are chairs over there for you to sit on. What? You’re asking if we’re not closing? Haha. It’s fine. I can just stay up all night reading books too! Hahaha!”

All it took was one hefty leather pouch to cause this change.

You felt puzzled by Sophia’s sudden action of handing over half of the funds borrowed from Dorothea.

“Reading books at a cheap price is like devaluing the knowledge contained in those books. Well, expensive doesn’t always mean good books, so you need to be flexible according to the situation to some extent.”

Winking playfully, Sophia picked up a book.

It was a language-related book recommended by the owner.

Sophia started to focus on the book silently, and you, with nothing to do, looked around the bookstore.

Since it was a rare opportunity, you thought about reading an interesting book if you found one, but…

At the very least, you needed to understand what was written on the cover to even choose a book, but everything looked like scribbles, so there was nothing you could do.

It wasn’t like someone was explaining the content to you, like when you made a contract with Dorothea.

No response.

No matter how many protest messages you sent, Sophia remained silently absorbed in her book.

It was very contrasting to Dorothea’s immediate reaction of telling you to be quiet because her head rang when you sent three consecutive messages when she was nearby.

With no choice, you decided to practice mana manipulation while settling in a corner.

You needed to familiarize yourself with the various changes brought about by the improvement in your mana circuits.

After about forty minutes had passed like this.

“Hmm. I understand roughly.”

Sophia got up.

After returning the language book to its original place, Sophia picked up another language book from the same section and started reading it while standing.

Thinking, “I guess that’s how it is,” you resumed your practice.

And ten minutes later.

Sophia exchanged the book she was reading again and started flipping through the pages.

You tilted your head.

The speed at which she was turning pages seemed too fast.

Before one page finished falling to the end, the next page was already starting.

In less than ten minutes, Sophia repeated putting three books in and out of the bookshelf, then moved and started doing the same thing from the books tucked in the farthest corner of the bookstore.

“Hmm?”

The store owner looked puzzled for a moment but soon lost interest and turned his gaze away.

It seemed he thought she was just skimming through several books to find one she liked.

You looked at Sophia’s eyes.

Usually, when people read books, their eyes move in a zigzag pattern, tracing the lines of the text.

But while constantly turning pages, her pink eyes showed almost no movement.

To put it more bluntly, it was as if she was just directing her gaze once at each page, like putting a dot on it.

Even then, from the middle, she often looked at two open pages at once.

How should it be described?

It gave the impression of capturing the entire page in her field of vision rather than reading the book.

Just like a scanner.

“Hmm. Good.”

Sophia closed the book.

It was the last book among all the books in the bookstore that Sophia hadn’t touched.

You, who had finished fine-turning your mana manipulation and were thinking about new training menus for Adelaide, turned and stared at Sophia.

“Hmm, are you angry?”

“My apologies. I originally intended to resume the conversation after reading only what was necessary, but it’s been so long since I held a book that I got carried away without realizing it.”

If it were Dorothea, she would have pointed out not to talk nonsense, and if it were Adelaide, she would have made a sour expression without affirming or denying, but Sophia just smiled and affirmed clearly, saying “Thank you.”

The sharp response you expected never came, leaving you slightly disappointed.

“Well then. Shall we continue our earlier conversation?”

Sophia’s gaze briefly shifted towards the owner.

After confirming that the bookstore owner sitting at the counter was dozing off, Sophia spoke, “As expected of a city famous for producing magic dolls even within the Empire, there was quite an extensive collection of related books. While manufacturing methods and detailed know-how seemed to be treated as industry secrets and were somewhat hidden, basic structures and characteristics were well introduced.”

Sophia approached the bookshelf and, while touching the cover of one of the books, said, “‘The core of a magic doll is the element called artificial or synthetic soul. This intelligence device, which can be created by a mana-handling craftsman or mage, was developed for the purpose of creating obedient and versatile familiars instead of homunculi that strongly inherit the nature of the base animal, spirits who are fickle or arrogant, or even vengeful undead, full of resentment towards the living.’”

Sophia’s hand touched another book.

New phrases flowed from her mouth, “‘The synthetic soul can be called the brain of a magic doll. The higher the skill of the creator, the greater the cognitive function and judgment. Although it can only show extremely passive movements at the beginning of creation, a synthetic soul that has accumulated many experiences sometimes exhibits spontaneous behavior. Whether to judge this as growth or as a functional disorder due to unnecessary information accumulation differs among experts.’”

Next book. And the next.

“‘There are various theories about who first developed the synthetic soul, but the most likely one is that the origin was the ‘Tower of Protection’, one of the magic towers of the Aeolia Magic Country.’

“‘The synthetic soul is a magic entity and requires mana for its existence to be maintained. A synthetic soul that does not receive mana supply begins to evaporate gradually, and while this speed can be somewhat slowed down in a dormant state, there is still a limit.’”

The vampire, who couldn’t read a single letter just like you until entering this bookstore, seemed to have put the contents of all the books in this bookstore into her head in just a few hours.

“The content is diverse, is it not? And yet, among all these books, there wasn’t a single one that had the content I expected.”

Sophia, moving away from the bookshelf, brought her face close to yours.

Her pink eyes gleamed with an eerie intensity.

“—The origin of magic dolls. Where magic dolls were first made, when they were made, and why they came to be.”

Sophia pointed her finger at your breastplate, or more precisely, at the vessel containing the soul inside it.

“I’ll give you the answer. Where were they made? In the Kingdom of Ionia. When were they made? In the Dark Ages. Why were they made? Out of necessity. They needed to survive against enemies threatening humanity, they needed to secure power—even at the cost of sacrificing human souls.”

“I can’t answer that.”

Sophia playfully said, “That’s exactly what I was investigating when I got sealed.”

“Using human souls as material for magic dolls was taboo among taboos even when I was human. The era when it happened most frequently was about five hundred years before I was sealed, which would be about a thousand years ago in the Dark Ages from now. So, I thought if Sir Tin Knight was perhaps from that time, you might know something… but if you have no memories, it can’t be helped.”

“Who knows? It’s just that ‘the era when they were made the most’ was then. There’s a possibility you could have been made later.”

You tilted your body with your arms crossed.

To your complaints, Sophia smiled brightly.

“I sympathize. That’s why I plan to investigate further in the future.”

—even if someone finds it uncomfortable.

The last words, muttered lowly, strangely stuck in your memory.

“Hmm? Oh, are you done with your business? Haha, thank you for your patronage.”

The dozing shop owner smiled brightly when you said you were leaving.

He seemed relieved that he could finally sleep comfortably.

The street was dark.

When you first entered the bookstore, some establishments including bars were still open, but now even those had closed.

Well, except for special cases like Albert that openly focused on entertainment and tourism, it was already praiseworthy to work a few extra hours after sunset.

“To some extent. The rest is about collecting information while moving through crowded places. If I become a walking map and encyclopedia of trivia, wouldn’t Dorothea find it convenient and make use of me?”

On the way back to the inn.

– …Clang…

A faint metallic sound from afar stopped your steps.

You turned your head.

– …Clang… Thud… Boom…

There was no doubt.

In the darkness where everyone was asleep.

Someone was fighting.

Judging by the sound, it was multiple against multiple.

Your eyes lit up.

It had the scent of a side quest.

The problem was that Sophia was beside you…

“Sir Tin Knight. Let’s go take a look. I’m curious about what’s happening. Ah, it would be too late if we match my speed. It would be better if you could carry me.”

You stared at Sophia blankly.

Sophia answered, “Either way, I won’t die, and you won’t lose. So shouldn’t it be fine?”

You were silent.

It was truly a crazy thing to say.

In other words.

It was exactly to your taste.

---

CH 50

Kumara, a silver-ranked adventurer of the Imperial Adventurers Guild, received a peculiar request from the guild one day.

“…So, you’re telling me to give a false testimony now?”

“False testimony? No, our guild merely wishes to correct your ‘misunderstanding’.”

Despite Kumara’s gruff, irritated voice, the guild employee maintained a businesslike attitude without showing any emotion.

“Silver-ranked adventurer Castor and his three party members, along with the same-ranked adventurer Peledos and his two party members, were killed in the Taros Labyrinth. It was undoubtedly a crime targeting the treasures they possessed. Our guild has decided to respond strictly to protect the safety and honor of our affiliated adventurers, and after a thorough investigation, we also uncovered the crime process and the culprits’ identities.”

The employee continued speaking with an unchanging expression and tone, as if reading from a predetermined manual, “The culprits are the exclusive explorers employed by the Halder Company. They ambushed the two parties aiming for financial gain and stole the treasures they had discovered. They quickly handed over the treasures to the company and fled after securing immediate compensation, fearing their crime would be discovered. Considering that they ignored repeated requests from the Halder Company to accompany them, they might have intended to shift all responsibility to the company.”

“You crazy bastards.”

Kumara’s patience finally reached its limit.

“I personally saw those Castor and Peledos guys alive and wandering around here and there even after those so-called Halder Company explorers had left. How the hell could people who had already left kill those who were in the labyrinth? Huh? If you’re going to do an investigation, do it properly!!”

“You must be mistaken.”

It was a rebuttal full of certainty—no, beyond certainly lied something else.

It was a firmness that seemed to leave no room for considering other possibilities.

Kumara’s face twisted grotesquely.

It was as if it wasn’t that “the Halder Company explorers are the culprits”, but rather “the Halder Company explorers must be the culprits”…

…Wait a moment.

Kumara’s spine chilled at a possibility that arose in his mind.

“Labyrinth exploration is an extreme endeavor. It involves tremendous physical and mental exhaustion, and since you can’t see the sun for a long time, your sense of time becomes vague. It’s not uncommon for memories to get mixed up. It’s such a common occurrence, a trivial mistake if you will.”

The employee’s empty eyes stared at Kumara.

“We’re not asking for anything grand. We simply want to prevent confusion in the investigation. After leaving this room, Kumara, you just need to say one thing to the adventurers asking about the situation: ‘I’m sorry. Thinking about it carefully, I seem to have confused the dates a bit.’ Then everything will be resolved. The curious adventurers will laugh it off saying ‘Oh, so that’s what it was’, and our guild will take care of the rest.”

Kumara realized.

This wasn’t a request for cooperation or consultation.

It was a threat to shut up and go along with the guild’s fabricated story.

“Ha.”

A hollow laugh escaped Kumara’s lips.

He wasn’t particularly a righteous person.

Honestly speaking, it wasn’t his business whether explorers he had only briefly passed by in the labyrinth were falsely accused or not.

But there was one possibility he simply couldn’t ignore…

“Don’t tell me, those guys. Did you bury them?”

He couldn’t forgive the act of the Adventurers Guild murdering their own affiliated adventurers and then using them as political fodder.

Kumara himself was an adventurer, after all.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Haa, right. Of course, you don’t. Sure, let’s go with that—I don’t know either.”

Kumara got up from his chair.

He didn’t want to stay here any longer.

As Kumara was about to leave, the employee’s voice was heard from behind.

“You’ll regret it.”

Kumara left the room without answering.

The first thing Kumara did after escaping the guild was to explain the situation to his party members—the mage Magia and the warrior Sitar—and apologize.

“I’m sorry. For deciding on my own.”

Magia and Sitar exchanged glances.

“Haa, it’s fine. What’s done is done.”

“You should have punched them once before coming back.”

“You guys…!”

The warm moment of confirming their camaraderie was brief.

The three soon began to act.

The first place they visited was the Halder Company.

Coincidentally, the Halder Company had just received the following “notification” from the guild:

Lorentz, the head of the Halder Company, interpreted the guild’s notification like this:

“They’re fucking with us.”

Lorentz Halder felt like he could understand what it meant for blood to flow backward.

There were two reasons he didn’t immediately declare all-out war:

One, the guild was an immensely powerful force.

Two, he still had reservations regarding the validity of the guild’s claims.

Lorentz’s judgment told him that Dorothea’s group wasn’t the type to commit such acts, but the time Lorentz had spent with Dorothea’s group was too short to stake the company’s fate on a once-in-a-lifetime battle.

To Lorentz, who was troubled by this dilemma, unable to acknowledge that Dorothea’s group was the culprit as the guild requested, nor able to give the guild the middle finger, Kumara’s party’s testimony was as precious as a treasure.

“We need to quickly inform the group we hired from our company about this fact. If the guild is set on fabricating this incident, they won’t leave the supposed ‘culprits’ roam free. They’ll try to silence them no matter what. The problem is that we don’t know their exact location…”

“Do you perhaps know what kind of carriage they were using?”

“It would be a carriage provided by our company. Why?”

“Then it should bear your company’s crest. I’ve seen the group’s appearance in person, so that should be enough to track them.”

“…I see. I’ll prepare the fastest horse. I’ll also give you a special herb. It’s an herb that shows tremendous stamina and endurance when fed to horses. Even while pulling a carriage, it moved at a speed similar to a person running, so riding bareback without a carriage should be even faster.”

After dividing roles, Kumara and his two companions began tracking Dorothea’s group.

Their goal was to inform the group about the guild’s scheme and bring them to a city where the Halder Company’s influence reached.

Kumara, who had been taught by his father who was in the Empire’s special forces, and Magia, who was from a fallen noble family, originally had horse-riding skills, and Sitar endured the forced march by clinging to the horse with his brute strength and endurance.

The problem came next.

“Damn it. It looks like there are already others following beside us?”

Seeing traces of the target carriage and traces of someone pursuing that carriage, Kumara gritted his teeth.

At this rate, the target might be caught before they could make contact.

Displaying abilities that would make an imperial general exclaim, “Why, why were talents like you rotting away as mere adventurers? Enlist immediately!”, Kumara’s party hastened their steps.

To meet Dorothea’s group before the guild’s pursuers.

They made contact.

Not Dorothea’s group, but the guild’s minions who were pursuing Dorothea’s group.

“Magia! Sitar! It’s them! Prepare for battle!”

“So you’re the ones who’ve been sneaking up behind us!”

In a strange situation where the two pursuing groups clashed and started fighting while the actual target, Dorothea’s group, was unaware they were being chased, Kumara’s party and the guild’s pursuers clashed with the night-stained Tik-Tok sky as the backdrop.

Slash! Boom!

Proving that they weren’t ranked among the top in the silver rank for nothing, Sitar’s axe and Magia’s magic knocked down the pursuers one after another.

As he plunged the dagger he usually used against magic beasts into an enemy’s neck, Kumara thought.

This is disadvantageous!

Individually, Kumara’s party was far superior, but they were heavily outnumbered.

Combined with the fatigue accumulated from the forced march, he could feel his movements becoming increasingly disorderly.

Damn it, if only we were a little, just a little faster…!

In fact, for Kumara’s party, who had started several days later, to arrive in the same city as Dorothea’s group with less than a day’s gap, their mobility was already at a level that would put most professional couriers to shame, but that was of no comfort to Kumara now.

Sitar, who was taking the vanguard, accumulated wounds on his body and Magia was gasping for breath.

Just as Kumara, judging that they couldn’t go on any longer, was about to order a retreat.

Clank.

It was in the midst of battle.

With weapons clashing against weapons, and the added explosions from magic, normally small noises from the surroundings wouldn’t be audible.

But why?

Clank.

That footstep treading on the ground in the darkness of night vividly resounded in Kumara’s ears.

Forgetting that they were in the middle of a battle, Kumara reflexively turned his gaze.

The heaviness of metal revealed its presence in the darkness.

Blue eye-lights glowed like will-o’-wisps.

The figure of a terrifying knight with someone slung over his shoulder like a sack…!

Huh?

Didn’t I just see something strange?

After blinking a few times, Kumara examined the intruder’s appearance again.

A knight in armor.

No, a magic doll.

It was good that the one they had been searching for so desperately was here.

He was so glad that he wanted to give a hug even though they weren’t particularly close.

If only the Tin Knight wasn’t carrying a person.

It wasn’t like the princess carry that people generally thought of.

Rather, it was more like carelessly slung over the shoulder or to put it more bluntly, it looked like the posture when forcibly dragging someone during a kidnapping.

At this bizarre sight, even those who were in the midst of battle unconsciously stopped their swords and blinked.

“Have we arrived? If so, I’d like you to put me down now. This position is pressing on my stomach, and blood is rushing to my head a bit.”

A calm voice rang out.

As the knight tilted one shoulder to the side, the woman hanging there slid down and fell to the ground with a light thud.

While everyone watching was dumbfounded, the woman who had tumbled to the ground got up as if nothing had happened.

And she said, “Nice to meet you all. We’re a pair of a wandering knight and a curious scholar. Could you perhaps tell us why you’re fighting?”

Silence fell.

The beautiful woman with green hair and pink eyes tilted her head, and then suddenly looked at the knight beside her.

“Ah, that’s right. Knowledge requires compensation.”

After nodding her head up and down for a moment, the beautiful woman spoke again, “I’ll offer a small reward to whoever tells me. Does anyone need gold coins?”

Kumara thought.

She’s insane.

The pursuers seemed to have reached a similar conclusion.

“The hell is this crazy woman saying? Kill them too!!”

Some of the pursuers rushed towards the beautiful woman.

The woman stared at them blankly, then said one thing, “Ah, I’ll convey the message.”

Thud!!

With a swing of the Tin Knight’s shield, the charging pursuers were knocked down.

The beautiful woman, smiling, said, “Sir Tin says if you don’t like money, he’ll be more than happy to settle it with fists.”

---

CH 51

Originally, the one who best understood someone’s abilities was often their adversary rather than the person themselves.

After all, it was the one who had been hit that knew how much a punch hurt, not the one throwing it.

In that sense, Kumara’s group highly evaluated the pursuers’ skills.

At the very least, they were top-tier among the bronze rank. Not a few among them were even silver rank in ability, and their numbers were by no means small—around twenty in total.

Considering that silver-ranked adventurers were usually compared to knights of an ordinary domain, the guild had practically dispatched a quasi-knight-order-level force for this mission.

Then, what of the opponent facing this formidable force…?

Slash! Thud! Crack!

“Arghhhh!”

The single, deranged knight was mercilessly crushing this force.

This is ridiculous.

Kumara let out a hollow laugh.

Honestly, he had thought it was already impressive that the three of them alone had managed to “fight” against such opponents, but this Tin Knight was not only holding his own single-handedly but was actually carrying out a one-sided massacre.

“Somehow he seems even stronger than when we saw him in the labyrinth. Was there even a need for us to come help in the first place?”

After chopping down an enemy in front of him with his axe, the warrior Sitar spoke dejectedly, to which Kumara replied with a sour expression, “How do you know if he’s gotten stronger when we didn’t even fight back then? Besides, the fight’s not over yet.”

“There’s something called presence that only warriors can feel. If we intervene in ‘that’ now, we’d just be a hindrance. I’d rather not get cut down along with them.”

At Sitar’s words, Kumara looked to the front again.

He had to admit it.

“…You’re right, we’d probably just get in the way if we interfered unnecessarily.”

A literal one-strike one-kill massacre.

It wasn’t just about skill—the way he decisively ended each person’s life without mercy or hesitation made Kumara feel goosebumps rising up his arms.

He could understand Sitar’s feeling of not wanting to get involved by meddling from the side.

While Kumara’s party recognized the Tin Knight’s side as allies, they couldn’t be sure the feeling was mutual.

“At first I thought the guild had gone overboard with their response, but now I see it was the opposite. Well, I guess they didn’t expect the opponent to be this strong either.”

Whoosh!

As if deciding the tides of battle were turning unfavorable, some of the pursuers tried to sneak away, only to be struck down by white mana bullets.

Judging by how she kept glancing at the Tin Knight, Magia seemed a bit frightened as she spoke, “He’s stronger than gold rank, no?”

“He does seem stronger than the leader of Red Gold. I’ve never seen the leaders of Blue Gold and White Gold in action, so I can’t say if he’s for sure stronger than them.”

“Is this the time to be ranking who’s stronger? Men, really.”

“Hehe. Well, ranking debates are part of human nature. It can’t be helped.”

“Even so, there’s a time and place for…”

Huh? Something’s off.

With a strange sense of discomfort, Magia turned her head to the side.

There was a woman who had somehow joined the conversation, smiling gently.

“Eek!”

With a short scream, Magia quickly retreated and hid behind the men. In other words, she used the two as shields.

“Ahem.”

Kumara cleared his throat with a fake cough and then greeted, “I’m Kumara, a silver-ranked adventurer and currently acting as a messenger for the Halder Company. Are you… companions of that knight over there, by any chance?”

There was a peculiar lack of confidence when he uttered the word “companions”.

Well, considering the woman’s appearance when she first showed up, slung over the knight’s shoulder like luggage and then thrown to the ground, it wasn’t unreasonable.

Whether aware of this suspicious gaze or not, the woman calmly replied, “I’m Sophia Hubris. I’ve only recently started traveling with Sir Tin’s party.”

“I see.”

A member who joined after they left the labyrinth? Maybe she’s from this city.

Kumara naturally made such assumptions.

It was beyond Kumara’s imagination that the person in front of him was a vampire who had been sealed in the deepest part of the labyrinth they had frequently entered and exited.

Clank.

With heavy footsteps, the Tin Knight approached after finishing his fight.

The pursuers who had faced the knight were all rolling on the ground. Judging by the depth of their wounds, it seemed unlikely they would get up again.

Good thing we kept one aside beforehand.

After glancing at the one pursuer he had captured at his feet, Kumara spoke, “Since the story might be a bit long, shall we move somewhere else first?”

The thick darkness covering the sky was slowly fading.

No matter how remote this alley was, if multiple corpses were discovered in a pile, it would inevitably cause a big commotion.

They needed to hurry before that happened.

The place the group went to was the inn where Dorothea and Adelaide were staying.

Kumara replayed everything that had transpired so far to them.

That the Adventurers Guild was fabricating the incident and trying to pin it on Dorothea’s party.

That the purpose was likely the treasures discovered in the labyrinth.

That the Halder Company was preparing to fight against the guild’s unjust demands and also wanted to “protect” Dorothea’s party.

“Master Lorentz wants you to evacuate to the southern part of the Empire. If it’s Perdia, the headquarters of the Halder Company, even the guild won’t be able to act recklessly no matter how strong they are. We need to start moving quickly before they realize what happened to their pursuers and make new moves.”

“Who said we’re going there?”

“Huh?”

Kumara was dumbfounded by Dorothea’s response.

Regardless, Dorothea grumbled with a deeply furrowed brow.

“What’s with this and that person deciding other people’s whereabouts as they please? I’ll decide where I go. Who are they to tell me to come and go?”

“Wait, hold on. Are you in your right mind? The guild is after your lives!” Kumara shouted in confusion.

His carefully maintained businesslike attitude shattered in an instant, and his usual adventurer speech came out.

Of course, this didn’t make Dorothea change her words.

“So, if we go there, what then Will the guild suddenly apologize saying, ‘Oh, we’re sorry. Actually, we fabricated everything. We’ll quietly turn ourselves in and bow our heads’? Or will all the incidents be resolved at once, overturning everything just with your and my testimony?”

“That’s…”

Of course, that wouldn’t happen.

It was unclear why the guild had committed such reckless actions, but it was obvious that they wouldn’t back down easily after moving so boldly.

Therefore, the Halder Company’s goal was clear.

To secure Dorothea’s party to prevent the guild from manipulating the incident as they pleased, and to continue the standoff in that state to obtain “concessions” from the guild side.

That process would likely be a very tedious political and public opinion battle.

During that time, Dorothea’s party would have to be kept under control.

Kumara could fully understand why they didn’t like that.

However.

“Then what are you going to do? I understand that the current situation is unreasonable from your perspective. But there’s no other way to face a huge organization like the guild, is there? Or maybe…”

Kumara’s gaze turned to Adelaide, who was standing nearby with a blank expression.

Golden hair and violet eyes. Even as a mere adventurer, Kumara knew the power and status of the Lion Duke’s bloodline.

If the girl in front of him actually held an important position within the bloodline, and Dorothea was counting on that…

“Uh, eh? Uh? Ah, no. I’m not…” Adel, seemingly realizing the implication, stuttered in a fluster.

It was true that her hometown, the Friedel domain, was a highly valued domain, but if asked whether the current Friedel, which had lost most of its main force compared to its prime, could stand against the guild, one could only tilt their head in doubt.

No, even if she had the ability, Adel didn’t have the authority to move it, so it was impossible for her to be of political help.

“I never expected anything of her in the first place,” Dorothea cut off that speculation in one stroke.

Ignoring Adel, who was shrinking while muttering, “That’s sad in its own way…” Dorothea continued, “Let them come if they want to. Whatever the reason, once they’ve drawn their sword first, it’s the witch’s way to pay them back in kind. I’ve been trying to avoid fights and moving nicely according to the rules, but they took me for a fool.”

As if responding to Dorothea’s complaints, the knight beside her nodded his head.

Somehow, he looked very excited.

Faced with this extremely belligerent master and servant, Kumara was at a loss for words.

They’re much more dangerous than I thought.

If it were possible, he wanted to kidnap them and take them to the company by force, but considering the Tin Knight’s overwhelming, it simply wasn’t feasible.

On the other hand, he couldn’t just let them do as they pleased either. The moment Dorothea’s party was defeated by the guild and gave the “testimony” they wanted, Kumara’s party would be finished in one go as well.

It was truly an unwelcome shared fate.

“But, is the Adventurers Guild really the enemy?” at that moment, Sophia, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, stepped forward and asked.

Dorothea retorted with a frown, “They attacked us, didn’t they?”

“But these people here are also adventurers, aren’t they? The Adventurers Guild seems to be quite a large organization, so I think there might be quite a few people who would oppose this incident if we look for them.”

“How can we distinguish each one of them?”

“We don’t necessarily need to distinguish them ourselves. What’s important is the ‘justification’ that this incident is not right. Power struggles always occur within large organizations, and an easily understandable justification is the weapon most favored by politicians.”

Sophia continued, “If we can just find out who benefits the most within the guild when this conspiracy succeeds, the next step is to give justification to those who oppose that someone. Then they will spread the story on their own, disparaging the opponent and biting into their flesh with all their might.”

“What if it doesn’t go as planned? What if they’re all in cahoots and there’s no opposition?”

“Wouldn’t that be good in its own way, as it means there are ‘no innocent victims’?”

“Hmm.”

Dorothea made a nasal sound.

“Not bad. I like that we can get revenge for sure without being tied down.”

At last, their course of action was decided.

The first victim of the group became the pursuer who had been captured alive while all his comrades were killed.

“Ha! I have nothing to say to you! Just kill me instead!” the pursuer, tied up with rope, shouted with a somewhat solemn air.

It wasn’t that he had some extraordinary loyalty or had received professional training to endure pain that made him so bold.

The one fact he believed was…

No one else was captured alive besides me. If there’s no testimony from me, it’ll be troublesome for these guys, so they can’t really kill me or torture me to the point where I can’t speak properly!

That was right.

It was like the meta of a malicious debtor who, knowing the other party couldn’t collect, yelled that they had no money and dared them to try collecting.

That was the source of the pursuer’s confidence.

To this, Dorothea replied, “Oh? You have nothing to say?”

“That’s right!”

“Then die.”

“Huh?”

“Hey, Tin Can, cut off his head. If he won’t talk while alive, well, we can just make his soul talk after he’s dead.”

“Uh? Wait! Hold on! I’ll talk! I’ll talk!! So don’t come closer, eek?!”

Faced with the wicked witch and her deranged familiar, the pursuer quickly surrendered.

Watching this scene, Kumara muttered with a blank expression, “Guys. Are we perhaps screwed?”

“…”

“Haa.”

---

CH 52

In front of the monitor, you quietly fell into thought.

The City of Clockwork, Tik-Tok.

You reflected on the things you had accomplished there.

With Dorothea, you succeeded in partially restoring the Tin Knight’s power at the magic doll workshop.

With Adelaide, you succeeded in obtaining the pass token at the Lennart dojo.

With Sophia, you gained knowledge at the bookstore and learned a little about the Tin Knight’s past.

It had only been a day since you arrived in Tik-Tok, yet you had been incredibly busy.

But at the same time, you realized this was far from everything.

The doll workshop you visited with Dorothea. The sibling owners, Smith and Sinc, seemed to have some circumstances they couldn’t talk about.

And you were certain that resolving those unspoken circumstances would lead to further strengthening of the Tin Knight. That was simply how the flow seemed to be.

You were also concerned about Gale Elilaz, another witch you encountered in front of the shop.

The master of a player 2 color magic doll familiar. It couldn’t be anything but a deliberate composition.

From a highly meta perspective, you predicted that the opponent was very powerful and capable, and might even be stronger than the Tin Knight and Dorothea in terms of raw stats. That was how rivals usually were.

It was truly an exciting prospect.

How could you resist a type-variant mirror match?

Adelaide’s story also had some unfinished business.

René von Lennart, who made full use of the home advantage of the City of Clockwork to create a new dojo with a training system using magic dolls.

The old man and his followers, who were once driven out by René and his faction, returned with a sword of revenge.

A conflict between the new generation and the traditional generation, and a match to determine who would lead the Tik-Tok dojo.

Since the recognition of the token Adelaide obtained depended on the outcome of their victory or defeat, there was no option to pass by without intervening.

As a bonus, although it couldn’t be called the primary goal, you were also concerned about the 6th and 7th-level tests that you had yet to clear.

They practically screamed challenge quests.

What about Sophia?

The story told by the adventurers you rescued with Sophia was enough to stimulate your interest.

The conspiracy orchestrated by the Adventurers Guild. Unreasonable and coercive tyranny. You and your companions designated as its victims.

The opponent had come at you with swords rather than words, and once attacked, you had no choice but to retaliate.

Above all, according to your speculation, what those behind this incident were after was likely not simple money.

The guild was trying to prevent the “final room” of the labyrinth from opening, even distributing fake interpretations to adventurers. That room was where Sophia had been sealed.

This incident was carried out by the guild under the pretense of “recovering the treasures found in the labyrinth”, and it would be strange if Sophia had no connection to it.

Your eyes lit up.

It seemed there was still much to do in the City of Clockwork.

Throughout breakfast, Dorothea’s expression was distorted.

It wasn’t because the food from the inn was terrible.

To begin with, Dorothea wasn’t that picky about food taste—though there were limits, like the Tin Knight’s homemade cooking—and the onion soup provided by the inn was of excellent quality.

But no matter how good the food tasted, it was meaningless if the person eating was uncomfortable.

This is troublesome.

Dorothea recalled what happened yesterday, or rather, early this morning.

A suspicious vampire and an insane doll.

This extraordinary duo brought along three adventurers and one prisoner, and the content of their chatter was truly a spectacle.

What? Adventurer murder? Backstabbing ambush? Robbery and plunder?

From Dorothea’s perspective, it was utterly ridiculous.

If Dorothea had intended to do something malicious, there would have been no need for such troublesome, cumbersome, and inefficient actions.

She could have just raised an army of corpses from nearby graves, slaughtered all the guild staff with poor attitudes, blocked the entrance to the labyrinth, sent down smoke mixed with poison and curses to sweep away everyone inside—whether it be human or magic beast—and then walked in as if taking a stroll to monopolize all the treasures for herself.

It wasn’t that she “couldn’t do it” due to lack of ability, but that she “wouldn’t do it” because dealing with the aftermath would be troublesome.

She had been reluctant to clash with the massive organization called the guild and tried to achieve her goal in the most moderate, legal, and reasonable way possible, only to suddenly hear accusations like “You killed them! You wicked witch!”

She couldn’t help but feel furious.

Had Sophia not suggested a new method last night, she might have seriously considered dropping all social decorum to prepare for a large-scale battle, even at the cost of slightly lowering her social reputation.

Avoiding fights that could be avoided, but always striking back if the opponent drew their sword first, was Dorothea’s principle.

All the pursuers were from the Schwartz branch. There’s a high possibility that the Schwartz branch manager is behind this. But there was no physical evidence, is there? Sophia said she’d come up with follow-up plans.

Recalling the information blurted out by the terrified pursuer, Dorothea almost unconsciously moved her spoon to put food in her mouth.

At that moment, she suddenly felt a gaze staring at her from the corner of her vision.

“What? Do you have something to say?”

“It’s none of your business how others eat.”

“You can’t even eat in the first place, so saying such things—“

After saying that much, Dorothea paused for a moment.

She remembered that the Tin Knight was originally human.

It wasn’t difficult to endure not knowing something.

But ignoring something you knew was incredibly difficult.

Especially if it was something one could never have again.

Once upon a time, long, long ago, the Tin Knight must have eaten and drunk things normally in the past, enjoying their taste and feeling of fullness.

How must it feel for someone who used to do that to become a body that can’t eat anything, just watching others eat?

“If you’re so displeased with how I eat, go to Adel. Her side should be more interesting to watch.”

But Dorothea wasn’t honest and obedient enough to simply follow the Tin Knight’s suggestion.

To Dorothea, who waved her hand dismissively with a grumpy voice, the Tin Knight said.

“Earlier you said you’d teach me if I wanted. I never asked, you know?”

“Haa.”

Weighing her options of grabbing and swinging the staff leaning against the wall or satisfying this persistent audience’s demands, Dorothea, who was contemplating which to choose, finally chose the latter.

After all, even she was too lazy to exert herself at the dining table.

It had nothing to do with learning about the Tin Knight’s past. Probably.

After dipping the dark bread in the soup and putting it in her mouth, the bread that had felt a bit hard became much softer.

Every time she chewed, moving her teeth up and down, the soup that had soaked into the bread leaked out and spread throughout her mouth.

It certainly wasn’t a bad taste.

But it’s not so amazing that you need to go on about secrets or whatever.

Dorothea, who was about to complain that he was making too much fuss, decided to just keep her mouth shut when she saw the Tin Knight nodding his head up and down as if satisfied.

…Well, I guess it’s fine. The more enthusiastic he is, the safer my body becomes.

After rationalizing her actions like that, Dorothea finished her meal and got up.

“Why?”

“Hmm. Well, alright.”

Dorothea nodded readily.

…I can leave the guild matter to Sophia for now.

It wasn’t that she fully trusted Sophia.

Quite the opposite, in fact.

If things went south and brute force became necessary, there was a need to raise the Tin Knight’s combat power as much as possible.

“What we need is a huge jewel that can serve as a mana container. Let’s go take a look first.”

“Welcome! What kind of accessory are you looking for? Jewels? Of course, we have them! Oh, you mean bigger than this? I’m sorry, but what I just showed you is the largest one we have…”

“Welcome to our general store, young lady. What are you looking for? A large jewel? Miss, I think you might have mistaken the shop.”

“Welcome to Samson’s Doll Workshop! Mana container? This way, please. Hmm. This is the best quality item available in this city, but it doesn’t satisfy you?”

“Hehehe, to come all the way to this remote place. Young lady, you’ve got quite the nerve. I don’t have jewels, but I have something just as good. If you just taste this drug once, you can reach nirvana—gack! I’m sorry, please spare me! Gack!”

About 3 hours after leaving the inn.

Dorothea irritably scratched her head.

“There’s really nothing useful here.”

They had been scouring various places in Tik-Tok all morning, but no jewel suitable to be the Tin Knight’s new mana tank was in sight.

There were one or two jewels that seemed to have quite a large capacity, but even those fell short when compared to the vessel the Tin Knight originally had.

…It doesn’t seem easy to increase mana capacity. What’s left is just improving efficiency further.

— Hey, if we can’t do it, we can’t do it. What’s with this ‘right now’ nonsense? It’s unsightly.

— If it was in grandfather’s workshop, not this corner room, we could definitely do it!

Dorothea recalled a certain pair of siblings in a back alley of Tik-Tok.

If there was any room left to further enhance the Tin Knight in this city, that place seemed to be the only option left.

As Dorothea was about to move her steps again, a strangely familiar voice reached her ears.

“I’m telling you, I have nothing to do with it!”

“Last night, a mass murder occurred in a back alley. According to witnesses, the culprits were a duo of someone wearing suspicious armor and a young woman. There’s also testimony from the innkeeper that you were absent during the estimated time of the crime. Do you still intend to deny it?”

“I’m telling you, it was just a walk. And what do you mean by suspicious armor? What’s suspicious about our Sig’s armor? It’s so cool!”

“No, that’s not—“

A girl in a white dress with blonde hair and blue eyes and a white knight guarding such a girl’s side.

This familiar duo that seemed to have been seen somewhere was surrounded by guards and having an argument.

Dorothea turned her head to look at the Tin Knight.

A duo of suspicious armor and a young woman. Mass murder in a back alley.

She was hearing many keywords that sounded suspiciously familiar.

It seemed that due to the incident caused by Sophia and the Tin Knight, an unrelated party was being suspected as the culprit.

Well, judging by the complete omission of Kumara’s party from the story, the credibility of that eyewitness testimony didn’t seem very high either.

“What else?”

Dorothea puffed out her chest and boldly stepped forward.

—Right in the opposite direction from where Gale was.

“I’ll need to increase the output of the perception interference magic further. You try not to do anything conspicuous if possible.”

CH 53

“Damn it. This is getting messy,” Smith Geppetto, the master of the doll workshop, complained.

The parts of magic doll parts came in all shapes and sizes, and many of them were particularly vulnerable to moisture.

One of the doll craftsman’s tasks was to inspect these parts to prevent damage—a task so routine for Smith, it was practically second nature.

But today, the work he repeated daily just wasn’t going well.

The cloth used to wipe off rust would tear, he accidentally spilled the maintenance oil container, and just as he tried to sit down and work steadily, the city guards came and rummaged around. Nothing was going right.

“Haa.”

A sigh escaped from Smith’s mouth.

In fact, he knew.

While the previous incidents were unpleasant, when he reflected on them calmly, none of them were particularly significant.

The problem was Smith’s own state in dealing with them.

Just as an ailing person reacted sensitively and got irritated by trivial things, Smith was the same.

It wasn’t a physical issue, but a mental one.

More specifically, two recent visitors were disturbing his mind.

— This old piece of junk isn’t in good shape, so I want to repair it. Is that possible?”

— I want to give my knight a wonderful gift, but other shops just don’t satisfy me. Can you show me your skills?”

The doll that came with the black witch was unimaginably ancient, yet the mystery and craftsmanship left on its body were as beautiful and intricate as a masterpiece painting.

To use an analogy, it was like a masterpiece created by several ancient genius artists working in perfect harmony.

The doll brought by the white witch was the opposite.

From head to toe, it was the epitome of cutting-edge technology. If the Tin Knight was “I understand the method, but the level is too high to replicate”, this one was closer to “I can’t even guess what kind of technology was used”.

Even the latest products touted in this city would all be considered outdated compared to the doll the white witch had.

Considering that Tik-Tok’s magic doll-related industry was the finest in all of the Empire, it was truly astonishing.

Black and white.

As if planned, the two contrasting witches each entrusted their magic dolls to Smith, and Smith responded to their requests as a craftsman.

The result was disastrous.

At least, that was what Smith himself thought.

Of course, he hadn’t made any mistakes, nor failed to complete the request.

He had neatly repaired the Tin Knight’s mana circuits, which had been a complete mess, and he had also cleanly adjusted the white knight’s body, which had been out of balance overall, perhaps due to too much focus on the performance of individual parts.

Both clients nodded with little complaint, but as far as Smith was concerned, even being generous, it was only about 70 out of 100 points in terms of achievement.

The fact that the missing 30 points were due to equipment and conditions rather than Smith’s own capabilities made him even more depressed.

If it was purely a lack of skill, he could humbly acknowledge his shortcomings and strive to further improve his skills, but external limitations were beyond Smith’s control.

If only he had his grandfather’s workshop, things would have been different, but this was an unattainable dream.

Smith’s grandfather, Pollen Geppetto, was a legendary doll craftsman hailed as the best in Tik-Tok.

Even mages, who typically held low opinions of magic dolls, would come from all over the Empire, saying they could trust dolls made by Pollen.

Some even offered enormous compensation to try to hire Pollen as their exclusive craftsman, but Pollen rejected all these offers.

This was why Smith constantly cursing his grandfather, calling him a damned old man.

If he had accepted even one of those offers, the Geppetto family wouldn’t have been in such a tight spot, he thought.

In fact, despite Pollen’s renown, the Geppetto family wasn’t very wealthy.

When important guests came, one should flatter them appropriately and make them open their wallets, but Pollen was hopelessly inept in that aspect.

He was an excellent craftsman, but he couldn’t become an excellent businessman.

Pollen himself had no problem with that.

No matter how eccentric his personality was, as long as he had the skills to back it up, people highly valued even that as craftsmanship spirit, and noble dignity.

But Smith’s father couldn’t do the same.

Unable to match his father Pollen’s skills, Smith’s father had to suffer under the tremendous pressure of constant comparison. When business declined after Pollen’s death, and customers became scarce, he had to worry about financial difficulties as well.

The expectant gazes of those around him.

The impatience to achieve something quickly.

The ideal conditions for being scammed were set.

Swindlers wagged their tongues, promising wealth and fame no less than his grandfather’s, and his father fell for their temptation.

The result was predictable.

Various legacies left by his grandfather all became the property of others, his parents, fallen into despair, ended their lives at an early age, and Smith and his younger sister were driven out of the workshop their grandfather had used and ended up barely scraping by in this back alley.

In business, location was everything.

No matter how skilled Smith and Sinc were, only oddballs or low-quality customers would come to this back alley with poor security.

Even then, it was fortunate if anyone came at all, and there were many days when only dust stirred.

Yet they couldn’t move the shop to a more visible location either.

Not only did they lack the capital to do so, but the swindlers who had taken their grandfather’s workshop wouldn’t allow it.

Unless some kind of favorable miracle occurred, Smith was destined to remain trapped in this back alley for the foreseeable future.

“…Damn it. What a pathetic thing to do.”

Smith roughly scratched his disheveled hair.

He had pointed out to his younger sister, “If you can’t do it, you can’t do it. Don’t act ugly by blaming the equipment,” but here he was, lamenting his situation with thoughts like “If only grandfather had been a little more friendly to others,” or “If only father hadn’t been deceived by swindlers.” Even he thought it was pathetic.

He blamed his idle hands for these pointless thoughts, and as he was just staring at the shop door…

A creaking hinge resounded, announcing the arrival of a customer.

Like a fisherman feeling a long-awaited bite, Smith quickly stood up.

“Welcome—oh my.”

Smith, who had greeted out of habit, involuntarily flinched.

Standing before him was the black witch—one of the very women who burdened him with these thoughts.

Her striking presence left no room for error.

A beautiful face with an undeniably cold edge, yet even that felt charming.

A form-sitting black outfit, clearly accentuating her well-proportioned body line.

To Smith, who lived in the back alley, it looked like a trouble-causing device itself.

Like flies to a Venus flytrap, he could already picture the dick-for-brains men swarming towards her.

And yet, he found it strange that he heard nothing.

With such an eye-catching woman walking around the back alleys, rumors should have spread, but none of the local idiots around had talked about her.

Smith wasn’t capable of imagining that something like “magic that makes it difficult to see her appearance unless she wants to talk to you” might exist.

Is it because she covers herself with a cloak? No, honestly, this doesn’t seem like something that can be solved to that extent.

Smith snapped back to his senses as he was thinking that far.

What was important now wasn’t the customer’s appearance.

“Ahem. What brings you here?”

Smith, determined to be different from his grandfather who had the worst customer service skills, greeted the customer with a somewhat friendly attitude.

Due to his rough appearance, he looked more like a muscular bouncer guarding the entrance of an entertainment establishment no matter how one looked at it, but Smith himself didn’t realize this.

The witch answered, “I came to request additional enhancements.”

“Oh? Did you find a jewel in such a short time?”

Smith’s doubt was natural.

The Tin Knight’s mana container had significantly decreased in capacity due to being overworked for many years, but even so, its performance was superior to most things circulating in the market.

Finding something better than that was certainly not an easy task.

Sure enough, the witch shook her head at Smith’s question.

“Not that, but the mana circuit side. Didn’t you say there improvements could still be made?”

Smith was disappointed.

“If you’re talking about the detailed circuits, I can’t do that either. And I told you that implementing that wouldn’t have much significance anyway.”

“You said it yourself. The distinction between thin and thick circuits is similar to blood vessels in humans. It might not mean anything to ordinary magic dolls, but it could be something significant to magic dolls close to human.”

“That’s… well.”

Smith was at a loss for words.

Although Smith prided himself on his knowledge and skills regarding magic dolls that were second to none in Tik-Tok, the issue of “a magic doll with a human soul” was in a realm unknown even to him.

Being in an unknown realm, he couldn’t outright deny the witch’s hypothesis as incorrect.

However.

“…Even if that’s true, it’s impossible to recreate those detailed circuits in our workshop.”

So give up.

Smith spoke with a nuance implying not to cling to something that couldn’t be achieved anyway.

Perhaps those words were directed not at the witch in front of him, but at himself.

“Then can’t we just make a new one? One no less than what your grandfather used.”

Smith’s eyes widened.

There’s a craftsman here skilled enough to repair the Tin Knight.

However, having lost the high-grade equipment they originally used, it’s impossible to fully demonstrate their skills.

To this, Dorothea’s conclusion was simple.

Then isn’t it solved if we just give them good equipment? What? History and tradition? A building with family memories? Can you eat that?

Of course, there was a protest from the Tin Knight.

“No, as long as the tool’s performance is similar, it doesn’t matter whether there are memories or not.”

“You’re talking about standards. Where in the world does such a thing exist?”

Dorothea knew nothing of the Geppetto family’s detailed circumstances.

Truthfully, she wasn’t the least bit interested, either.

What was important to her was the fact that if she provided Smith with a suitable environment and tools, she could entrust him with the work she wanted.

“I’ll give you the created workshop, as is. However, all future work related to this guy will be done for free. How about it?”

Smith was flustered.

“W-wait. What do you mean? You’re saying you’ll create a workshop for me? Just to entrust one job?”

“Whether it’s ‘just one job’ or not is for me to decide. So, do you have any thoughts?”

Of course he did.

But.

“…Haa. It’s impossible. If I try to crawl out, the Stromboli Company won’t sit idly by. They’re one of the big shots in the magic doll industry, and they have a count’s family backing them up, so everyone trembles before them.”

“Does that list of trembling people include this city’s lord?”

“Huh? Uh, well. That wouldn’t be the case. Tik-Tok is a big city, and the lord isn’t someone who can be disrespected anywhere.”

The Stromboli Count family and the lord of Tik-Tok.

Smith, himself didn’t know exactly which side held more sway, but at least it wasn’t a level where one side could easily bow to the other.

And for Dorothea, that was enough.

“As long as Tik-Tok’s lord doesn’t personally step in to take their side, it doesn’t matter. At least there won’t be any obstacles through official procedures.”

“It’s not that simple! All the related technicians will be watching those guys, and even if we recruit workers, only drifters will gather. Do you think we can build a proper workshop like that!? I know you have a lot of money, but this kind of thing requires the specialized skills of those involved!”

“I can solve that. You just need to decide whether you’ll do it or not.”

Smith couldn’t understand why the woman in front of him was so confident.

What kind of confidence…

…Could it be?

No, there was one possibility.

That was…

Is she actually a noble? And a big shot who could take the Stromboli Company lightly!

Thinking that way, everything seemed to fit.

The way she spoke casually to anyone, that arrogant attitude, the suspiciously large amount of money!

Right, I’ve heard that among nobles, many try to turn their children into superhumans who can freely handle mana, like excellent knights or mages, even if they have to pour in money. That staff. And the magic doll. If we consider that somewhat strange outfit as a mage’s clothes…!

Smith trembled.

The “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” he had been longing for was right in front of him.

And Smith, who thought his family had suffered because of his grandfather’s stubbornness, had no intention of making the same mistake.

Let’s just ignore the fact that Smith’s father had also been scammed through a similar thought process. People tended to believe they’d be fine even without much basis, after all.

“I’ll do it! I’ll do it! If you can really create a proper workshop, I’ll do all repairs and improvements for free!!”

And so, one naive craftsman fell for the witch’s persuasion.

“You’re worrying too much. Have you forgotten where this city is?”

Dorothea raised her staff with her right hand.

At the same time, she rotated her left hand counterclockwise, transforming the chain ring into a cage.

And she said, “Those who pride themselves on having learned some professional skills in their lifetime, gather around. If you’re uncomfortable being compared in skills with others, you don’t have to come out.”

《Guooooo!!》

At the witch’s provocative call, the souls of Tik-Tok began to stir.

---

CH 54

“So, you’re saying we should return Geppetto’s workshop to those siblings, young lady?”

“Yes.”

The blonde girl nodded without hesitation at the middle-aged man’s question.

The man involuntarily laughed at her nonchalant demeanor, as if demanding something so obvious.

Considering the man’s usual temperament, it wouldn’t have been strange if he had already shouted in outrage or ordered her to leave, but most people in this world were lenient toward the beautiful.

Faced with the girl’s appearance that seemed to be a feast for the eyes, the man decided to listen to this bold girl’s story a little more.

“Why should I do that?”

“When Pollen Geppetto was alive, his workshop was indeed the most advanced and prestigious. But it’s been over a decade since that old man died, and magic doll technology has continued to develop in the meantime. Honestly, with Stromboli’s abilities, it wouldn’t be difficult to create a workshop equal to or better than his without clinging to a dead old man’s workshop, right?”

“Haa…”

After uttering an ambiguous sound that could have been admiration or a sigh, the man lit a cigar.

After savoring a slow puff of the hazy tobacco smoke, the man nodded readily.

“Well, you’re not wrong. Indeed, it wouldn’t be difficult to construct a workshop of equal or better caliber now. Unlike when we first acquired the workshop, we’ve finished interpreting various secret techniques. But that’s that, and this is this.”

Blowing cigar smoke near the girl’s face, either unconsciously or intentionally, the man smiled provocatively.

“Just because my wallet is overflowing with gold coins, does the value of silver coins diminish? ‘The posthumous work left by the legendary master, Geppetto!’ ‘A masterpiece magic doll created in the workshop imbued with Geppetto’s spirit!’ There are nobles everywhere who fall for such impressive titles. That old man’s name value is still quite usable. It’s too precious to give away to those scraps.”

Fanning away the cigar smoke with a hand fan, the girl calmly replied, “If it’s for commercial reasons, wouldn’t it be better for your reputation and image management to create a touching story of actively supporting the bloodline of a legendary craftsman rather than mistreat them?”

“You really know nothing of business, young lady.”

The man twisted the corner of his mouth while tapping his cigar on the ashtray.

“Among those who covet Geppetto’s name, no one gives a damn about his personal history. No one cares whether that stubborn old man’s grandchildren starve to death somewhere or not. Do you think those who wear the name value of a master’s posthumous work as a luxury item would give even a few coins to those beggars?”

“I see, I understand now.”

The girl smiled gently.

“You belong to what people commonly refer to as ‘trash’.”

At the girl’s assertion, not only the man’s but even the surrounding guards’ expressions were greatly distorted.

“What did you just say!?”

“Master, we must correct her manners at once!”

At the urging of his subordinates, the man quietly rolled his eyes.

The man’s gaze turned towards the white knight quietly waiting behind the chair where the girl sat.

“Tsk. Forget it. It would be undignified to be swayed by the words of a young girl.”

After making such an excuse, the man leaned back in his luxurious chair and waved his hand dismissively.

“I think I’ve done enough to repay the gift. You may leave now.”

“Yes, let’s do that. I have nothing more to say, either.”

After the girl and the white knight left proudly.

The man called for his personal mage nearby.

“Let me ask you once again. Is this thing really valuable?”

What the man held in his hand was a flat, square cloth pouch with strange characters drawn on it.

Inside the pouch were several stone-like pieces, each engraved with the same pattern as drawn on the cloth.

The middle-aged man had a very dubious expression on his face.

To the question of Charles Stromboli, the head of Stromboli, the mage answered in confusion, “Yes, it’s a talisman imbued with powerful defensive magic. Although it’s consumable, just possessing it has the effect of a professional mage’s defensive spell, so its value is incredibly high. Even considering the entire Empire, mages who can create such things wouldn’t reach even 10%.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

At the mage’s firm answer, the displeasure that had filled Charles’ face softened slightly.

“Well, that’s fine. I don’t know where that girl got such a thing, but if it’s in exchange for acquiring such valuable items, I suppose I can forgive some impertinent words.”

“Um… Master. But is it really alright to let her go like that? Considering she’s walking around with a magic doll and readily offered such precious talisman as mere bargaining chips, she might have an extraordinary background.”

“There’s nothing to worry about. Among the influential families of the Empire I know, there’s no name like Elilaz. It could be an alias, but using an alias itself means they can’t come forward openly, doesn’t it? Besides, I sent her away nicely without intimidating her just in case, so nothing should happen.”

That didn’t seem particularly nice at all…

Such a thought crossed the mage’s mind, but just as he was about to speak to his master again, another subordinate approached.

“Master, we’ve received word from our person planted in the lord’s mansion. They say a document requesting permission to establish a workshop has been submitted.”

“Location?”

“In the northwest district.”

“A place neither particularly good nor bad. Which company?”

“It’s not a company.”

“What? Is it an individual business? Then there’s no need to report it to me. We already control all the best locations in the city anyway, and the guides who deal with travelers will only introduce our places, so they’ll wither away soon enough.”

“Well, the one who applied is Smith Geppetto, that guy.”

“What?”

Charles’ face suddenly contorted.

“Where did that beggar get the money? He should be tightening his belt just to maintain that shabby warehouse.”

“We don’t know. But he’s already put out job postings for workers, so it seems he’s seriously trying. What should we do?”

“Why ask the obvious? Tell our people to spread the word—anyone who tries to reach out unnecessarily won’t be in for a good time.”

“That might work for established craftsmen, but drifters only look at the immediate money, and we can’t stop them without separate compensation. Should we allocate funds?”

“Forget it. Why should I give my precious money to incompetent fools? A workshop is meaningless without professional technicians, anyway. We just need to hold on to the core personnel on our side.”

A sinister smile appeared on Charles’ mouth.

“This actually works out perfectly. When we drove them out before, we couldn’t finish things clearly because the previous lord of Tik-Tok intervened… But if their newly opened shop goes bankrupt, this time he’ll surely go bankrupt for good.”

“Still, Smith must have some plan to come out like this. He might have found a wealthy sponsor.”

“Hmm.”

“Perhaps we should… take some additional measures.”

“Oh, my friend. Don’t say such scary things. We’re a company, not bandits. Should we bury everyone we don’t like?”

At Charles’ words, his subordinates all exchanged knowing looks.

“What’s with those expressions?”

“It’s nothing!”

“As expected, Master, you are truly a moral and exemplary merchant for others!”

“Hahaha! Yes! That’s right!”

The wicked capitalist, Charles Stromboli, laughed loudly.

There was nothing to stop his laughter.

Not yet, at least.

Dolton, a young man from Tik-Tok, carefully looked around.

In the wide open space.

According to the public notice he had seen, about thirty workers had gathered at the site where a new workshop was to be built soon.

The faces of the “workers” were quite familiar.

They were the usual idlers who hung out with Dolton without any particular business.

Dolton thought.

Only drifters have gathered.

Naturally, this assessment included Dolton himself.

The workers were generally young or on the younger side, and there wasn’t a single “skilled worker” who should have been playing the role of the backbone of a site such as this.

They might have decent physical strength, but that was their only advantage.

Seeing only people without proper skills or experience gathered, it seemed impossible for this construction to be completed properly.

Well, what does it matter? As long as I get paid, that’s all.

As Dolton was thinking this, the noisy surroundings suddenly fell silent.

Wondering what was happening, Dolton followed the workers’ gazes and gaped in surprise.

There stood a beautiful woman unlike any Dolton had ever seen in his life.

The workers, who had been chattering idly, were blankly staring at the beautiful woman’s face and figure, and not a few of them were so entranced they didn’t even notice insects on their cheeks or drool flowing from their mouths.

Towards these workers, the beautiful woman calmly delivered her message.

Although her tone was cold and seemed to speak bluntly regardless of age difference, perhaps due to the beautiful woman’s aura, none of the workers dared to argue.

The content of what the beautiful woman said can be summarized as follows:

Workers would be divided into three shifts: morning, afternoon, and night.

Work hours would be 8 hours, but workers who arrived 1 hour earlier than the originally scheduled time would be provided with meals and alcohol.

Their activities outside of work hours didn’t matter, but leaving during work hours was forbidden.

Wages would be paid on a daily basis. If vacancies occurred, additional personnel would be recruited to fill the empty spots.

Listening up to that point, Dolton gaped for a different reason than when he first saw the beautiful woman.

“So, um… you’re saying you’ll give us alcohol? And right before work starts?”

“Both alcohol and food. But there won’t be any breaks during the eight-hour shift, and if you come late and ask for food, you won’t get any.”

That doesn’t seem to be the important part here.

The workers were at a loss for words.

There had always fools who drank during work hours only to get beaten by their superiors, but this was the first time they had seen a workplace encouraging it.

If they were told they would be offered drinks after work, they might just say the employer was kind-hearted and generous, but what kind of situation was it to tell them to drink before work?

After the beautiful woman left, the remaining workers started to discuss their own rational hypotheses.

“Ah, it’s probably just a trick to prevent tardiness. If they provide meals separately from wages, and even alcohol on top of that, many people will come to eat. If they eat and then go straight to work, they can’t leave in the middle either.”

“But do they usually give alcohol before physical labor? What if an accident happens?”

“It’s probably just a glass of beer at most. That much won’t make much difference, right?”

Dolton nodded.

He thought it sounded plausible, too.

And it wasn’t a bad deal either.

For someone like him who had no clear occupation and was either eating reluctantly at home or going hungry, the idea of being given food without additional charge was a big merit in itself.

It’s still physical labor, so they probably won’t skimp on portion size, right?

He thought.

The next morning.

When Dolton went to the work site, he was astonished once again. At this point, astonishment was becoming routine.

“Come on! Come on! Quickly get your bowls and receive your rations! If it’s not enough, you can get seconds later, so don’t force yourself to take too much from the start!”

The menu itself was simple.

Bread. Stew. Alcohol.

Although not luxurious or outstanding, the bread was generously sized.

Each loaf was about the size of two adult male fists, so it seemed like, eaten sparingly, it could easily cover two meals.

The real surprise was the stew.

Apparently, the beautiful employer had made it herself.

It had a tantalizing smell and was riddled with a plethora of ingredients.

Large chunks of meat, sweet onions, mushrooms with a chewy texture, and various unidentified herbs chopped finely and added in.

“Wow.”

The moment they put the stew in their mouths, the workers all exclaimed in admiration at the intense flavor spreading throughout their mouths.

Not only was the taste excellent, but the sensation of the body warming up and becoming energized with just one bite was truly superb.

They already felt full, but still wanted to eat more of it.

“I-is this all wine?”

The alcohol was beyond words.

A strong aroma of alcohol, incomparable to the cheap beer they usually drank.

Just one sip made their throats tingle and the tips of their noses feel tipsy, indicating it was extremely high-proof wine.

Is this really okay? Is it really alright?

Even while thinking this, Dolton couldn’t stop his hand.

He eagerly chewed the bread, slurped the stew, and gulped down the wine.

Moreover, they prepared beer and rum separately for those who disliked wine, suggesting it as an alternative. The alcohol content of these drinks was also uniformly high.

When the meal time ended and work hours were supposed to begin, none of the workers could bring themselves to get up.

With full stomachs, warm bodies, and plenty of alcohol in their systems, they all laid face down on the ground, snoring away.

Although it was a situation where an employer should be furious, Dorothea—the beautiful employer—didn’t seem displeased.

Rather, she smiled as if she had been waiting for this situation.

Dorothea swung her staff.

And.

The workers collapsed on the ground began to rise one by one.

[Hey, you lazy bastard! How dare you shovel like that! Are you determined to ruin your back!?]

[You don’t use a pickaxe with strength! It’s about technique, technique! Now, like this!]

[Damn it, a healthy young bastard can’t move better than that!? When I was your age, I could split wood with my bare hands! You know!?]

“Gasp.”

Dolton woke up from sleep.

It felt like he had an incredibly terrible nightmare.

For an incredibly long time, being scolded in real-time by a terrifying old-timer. No, beyond simple scolding, it was as if that old-timer was moving his body at will…

“Morning shift is over. Take your wages and go. Don’t be late tomorrow.”

After receiving the pile of coins handed over by the employer, Dolton tilted his head.

Did I… work?

Objectively speaking, it seemed like he had.

The employer had handed him his daily wage, saying he’d worked hard, and his body, which had been so full of energy until just before starting work, now felt as heavy as lead.

It also felt like he had consumed physical and mental energy beyond his limits, but had forcibly endured it with the effects of some drug.

“Damn, I’m exhausted. Did I drink too much? I can barely remember what happened.”

“I think I was shoveling and moving loads like crazy too, but the details are… Maybe we should drink moderately?”

“You idiots, that’s the good part. You don’t remember the hard parts, and when you wake up from drinking, the work is done, and you get paid, so why hesitate? You think you’ll ever get to drink such high-quality alcohol again?”

“That’s true.”

Looking at the words of the passing workers and the wad of money in his hand, Dolton thought.

Yeah, what’s good is good. That’s right.

---

CH 55

In this world, there were many stories of people being possessed by ghosts.

The protagonists in these stories often shared some similar characteristics, one of which was that many of them were in a psychologically unstable state.

Whether it was due to extreme stress, fatigue from a difficult daily life, or anger and frustration from human relationships, it was said that people were more susceptible to being possessed by ghosts when they were in various “difficult” states.

And in this world, there existed a liquid that could make even a sane person’s mind unsound, yet when shared with others, instead of being scolded or arrested, one received gratitude and praise—it was called alcohol. Disclaimer: this excluded cases where it was forcibly received at company dinners.

Therefore, as the witch said, “First, we’ll make them drunk and half-asleep, and then have the souls do the actual work. The body is healthy and new and the skills are those of experienced workers.”

It was a wicked plan to use people’s bodies without their consent, but Dorothea didn’t care.

She reasoned that the workers would eat well, drink well, and earn money without difficult memories—the souls get to feel the world through living bodies after so long, and Dorothea achieved her goal. So, wasn’t it a win-win for everyone involved?

It was fortunate that Dorothea’s greed for wealth wasn’t that strong.

Otherwise, the heartless evil capitalist of the century might have been born.

“Haa.”

At the Tin Knight’s words, Dorothea sighed openly and shook her head.

“How do you expect a pile of bones to handle precision work? Could you move if only your bones were left?”

For a rare moment, the Tin Knight was left speechless.

Well, Dorothea had a point, but was it okay for a necromancer to say that? Wasn’t this denying some fundamental law of the world?

“What people typically think of as a ‘necromancer’s army of the dead’ is quite inefficient. Unless it’s right after death when all the muscles and everything are still intact, then how would they move if only bones are left? I’ll tell you how. It’ll all be fueled by mana.”

“If we’re talking about whether it’s possible or impossible, it’s not impossible. Souls with intense negative emotions like resentment spew out mana on their own, so the burden on the necromancer is less. But these guys are full of hostility towards the living, and radiate curses just by existing. Try making them do construction work. The day after moving in, the residents will either be carried out sick or become new earthbound spirits.”

Dorothea continued, “Moreover, this isn’t some remote mountain village, are you suggesting we use skeletons for construction in the middle of the city? Do you want fully armed guards to come to exterminate us within 10 minutes of starting construction? Even if we somehow get past that, rumors would spread, and the new business would only attract flies. Above all, my image would be ruined. It’s absolutely out of the question.”

No matter how one looked at it, the things mentioned earlier seemed to be mere afterthoughts, and the last bit about image seemed to be the genuine issue.

The Tin Knight held back from asking why a young lady who was so concerned about public perception dressed like that.

Criticizing the fashion sense of others, especially when they believed it was “cool”, was the cruelest thing one could do.

And besides, he had no complaints—her current outfit was far more pleasing to the eye than if she were all wrapped up. Who could resist the charm of the outfit of an evil organization female executive?

“So just hiring people and having souls possess them is the most efficient and stable method. There’s no need to worry about surrounding gazes either.”

“There will be some side effects from the possession, and the people’s energy and physical strength will rapidly drain as a result of moving beyond their original capabilities. But that’s why we fed them well. I put in plenty of specially blended herbs, so there won’t be any problems for about a week. Beyond that, there might be aftereffects.”

Dorothea and the Tin Knight looked ahead.

With expert technicians who could dominate a workshop alone, competing with each other and working tirelessly, the workshop was taking shape at a terrifying pace.

It was a truly satisfying sight—hard, fulfilling labor at its finest.

However, if there was one complaint Dorothea had…

“Hohoho. So necromancy can be used like this too. How fascinating, how fascinating.”

“Hey.”

“My name isn’t ‘hey’, it’s Gale, Dorothea.”

“Never mind that. Why are you hanging around here?”

At Dorothea’s words, Gale sipped her tea.

In her hand was a long cylindrical cup with various strange characters engraved on its surface.

Interpreting Dorothea’s gaze somehow, Gale casually shook the cup in her hand.

“Would you like me to make one for you? It has the effect of preserving the temperature of the liquid inside, so it’s convenient in many ways.”

At Gale’s words, the Tin Knight was startled.

Gale couldn’t hear the Tin Knight’s fuss, and Dorothea ignored it as usual.

“I don’t need it.”

“It’s a gift of goodwill, so I won’t charge for it.”

“Stop changing the subject and answer why you’re here.”

“I’m also interested in the Geppetto siblings’ techniques.”

Gale flicked her wrist and swept her gaze across the surrounding city with a nod.

Dorothea’s eyes narrowed.

This girl called Gale Elilaz looked like a princess straight out of a fairy tale, but somehow her actions were strangely plebeian.

Charitably speaking, she was friendly without formality; viewed a bit more critically, she was like a street ruffian.

Both her appearance and behavior were in stark contrast to Franka Aglaia, who was and looked like a rich, naive young lady.

Whether aware of Dorothea’s silent impressions or not, Gale freely shared information that wasn’t even asked for.

“One of the reasons I came here in the first place was because I once saw a magic doll made by Pollen Geppetto when he was alive. It was such a masterpiece that it was hard to believe it was made by a doll maker from the Empire.”

The blatant regional discrimination in her words didn’t particularly bother Dorothea.

To begin with, it was a well-known fact that the Empire’s magic doll technology lagged behind that of the Magic Country.

“Isn’t that rumor extremely late? I heard that old man died over a decade ago.”

“I thought there would still be something left in the same city. But the result was the worst. At best, people with only apprentice-level skills were strutting around calling themselves masters. The only ones worth seeing were those siblings, but even they couldn’t show their full skills due to their working conditions. So what could I do? I had to create an environment that matches their skills. Originally, I was going to return Pollen’s workshop to them, but the current owner turned out to be more of a trash than I expected!”

Gale pointed at Dorothea with the hand not holding the long cylindrical cup, or in Tin Knight terms, the tumbler.

While Dorothea felt a violent impulse to snap her finger in half, Gale, oblivious, continued, “Meanwhile, Dorothea. I saw what you were doing. It’s an excellent strategy. A truly excellent idea. Of course, new models are better than old ones. If there isn’t one, make a new one. I decided to gladly participate, as well.”

“Who asked you to join? You keep sticking to me like we’re friends or something. I have absolutely no intention of becoming friends with you, so get lost.”

“There’s no need to be so shy.”

Dorothea thought.

Should I just fight her? I’m not sure if she has the kingdom’s sacred treasure right now or not, but if I eliminate her, I can remove one competitor, so wouldn’t it be beneficial in the long run?

Ironically, what calmed Dorothea’s fighting spirit was the sight of the Tin Knight beside her, practically begging to be called into action.

As a rational and intellectual witch, the self-restraint of not wanting to fall to the same level as that madman suppressed Dorothea.

“Besides, just as you received a request from the older brother of the siblings, I also received a request from the younger sister. Aren’t we equal in terms of qualifications?”

“What good are qualifications without results? I’m going to build the entire workshop.”

“Even if that’s true for the building, isn’t there a limit to the equipment that can be used in the workshop with the current method? To make tool A, you need component B, and to make component B, you need facility C. Even if the souls remember their skills from when they were alive, that alone isn’t enough to prepare everything.”

At this point, Gale placed her hand on her chest.

“This is where my rune magic comes into play. Although I might be slightly lacking compared to professional alchemists, I have my own expertise in this field. In other words, if I’m here, we can make better equipment, and as the quality of the workshop improves, your doll and my Sig can receive better maintenance. Isn’t this beneficial for both of us?”

“…”

The furrow between Dorothea’s brows deepened, showing her contemplation.

Charles Stromboli couldn’t comprehend the current situation.

“Didn’t I clearly tell you to contact our people?”

“Yes, Master. We did.”

“Then which bastard had the audacity to ignore my words and side with those guys?”

“None, Master. Not a single skilled workers ignored your words. Those mobilized for their construction are all drifters without proper skills or steady jobs.”

“Is that so? Then riddle me this.”

On a hill overlooking the northwest part of the city.

Pointing at the new workshop being built in the center, Charles raised his voice with veins popping on his neck, “How is that building being built so properly over there?! The exterior was practically finished in a single day!”

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a mere day but a day and a half, but no one dared to point that out in front of a boss who was already bad-tempered and seemed to be in a foul mood.

“W-well, it seems they’re working about twenty people in three shifts, working 24 hours without rest.”

“No, no. That alone doesn’t explain the impossible work speed!”

In the mind of Charles, the evil capitalist, workers were inherently lazy beings.

One gave them wages for eight hours of work? Then the hired workers would slack off for eight hours while sneakily watching their surroundings.

Since they got paid as long as they filled eight hours, there was no reason to work hard.

The wise—in his own opinion—Charles observed such people, and either kicked them out saying there was no money to pay because they didn’t work properly, or increased work efficiency by attaching supervisors to provide continuous motivation, which the public called verbal abuse, violence, and threats.

But even with such “sophisticated” techniques, that work speed didn’t make sense.

Moreover, they weren’t even skilled workers—they were just a bunch of riffraff with no expertise!

“They weren’t simple drifters. They had excellent skills but deliberately acted incompetent…!”

Charles shuddered.

What he dismissed as the last struggle of back alley beggars turned out to be some grand scheme.

Had they been preparing for this moment for years?

“Now that I think of it, for the city’s best doll craftsman, it was too little, even without Pollen’s assets. He must have hidden his assets somewhere, and that rat Smith discovered it. Damn, he’s been acting like a beggar while secretly building his forces? That cunning bastard!”

It was a delusion that would have made Smith ask if he had taken some especially potent drugs.

“Do you think I’ll go down easily? You’ve made quite a bold move, but I’ll show you that this industry is ultimately a battle of capital!”

Charles, with his eyes bulging, ordered his subordinates.

“Hire every single worker—no, hidden craftsman—currently employed on that project. Hire them all for our company. Give them top-tier treatment. No, give them whatever they ask for. They must have quite strong loyalty or friendship, so they won’t submit easily.”

“If we try to bring in all those people with such treatment, it will consume considerable funds…”

“They’re not only highly skilled, but also thorough enough to deceive a city for years. This is where investments should be made. Now stop whining and make it happen!”

Charles let out a sinister laugh.

“I can’t wait to see the look on that bastard’s face when he loses all the connections he’s secretly built for nearly a decade! Hahahahaha!”

The worker Dolton and his colleagues clinked their glasses and shouted, “To another day of hard work—cheers!!”

““Cheers!!””

---

CH 56

“Brother Smith, how could you plan something like this without consulting me? What if you get scammed!?”

“Hey, Sinc, how could you bring in someone like that without saying a word? What if the shop goes under because of this!?”

The Geppetto siblings’ glares clashed fiercely in the air, but only briefly.

Soon, both of them averted their gaze.

They had both acted on the idea of “let’s do it first and tell the other when results come out!” so there was no point in blaming each other.

After clearing her throat several times as if to dispel the awkwardness, Sinc said, “Ahem, well, isn’t it fine, anyway? Thanks to the cooperation of Miss Gale and, um, Miss Dorothea, was it? Anyway, the construction of the workshop is going smoothly! And there are these incredibly amazing workers from who knows where! At this rate, it won’t even take a week until completion!”

“Well…”

“What’s with that gloomy answer? Are you worried that customers won’t come once we start business in a good location? Lacking confidence, are we?”

“Shut up. As if that could be the case.”

Smith scratched his head.

“It’s that bastard Stromboli I’m worried about. To someone who’s been freely using Grandpa’s name for profit, us, the real bloodline, becoming competitors must be extremely annoying. He won’t just leave us alone like this.”

“Come on. That’s why we’re deliberately putting up the sign later and trying to act uninvolved by staying away from the construction site as much as possible. He probably doesn’t even know this shop is ours, so what’s the problem?”

“He’s not that easy to deal with. He’ll definitely use some petty and vicious tactics… Damn, I’m anxious.”

Smith’s anxiety was spot on.

Stromboli’s deceitful and violent scheme was descending upon the construction site workers.

“What? Why would the Stromboli Company want someone like me…?”

“Haha, your modesty is excessive. No matter how much you try to hide it, a nail in the pocket will eventually stick out. It would be troublesome if you underestimate our company’s discernment. We know your abilities very well, and we promise to treat you accordingly.”

“Well, I’m very grateful for your words, but I’m already employed, you see…”

“Now, here are the specific contract details. I dare say it’s undoubtedly the highest amount in the industry.”

“Gaaah!”

Although the workers were satisfied with the working environment where they could eat and drink as much as they pleased and the work wasn’t very hard—or, more precisely, they vaguely remembered it that way—they were still only temporarily employed.

Few could resist the tempting amount offered by the Stromboli Company.

The conditions were so good that some even suspected it might be a scam, but…

“Wait a minute, isn’t this a scam? Aren’t you just going to take us away like this and then pretend nothing happened and not pay us later?”

“With our company’s reputation? We could never do such a thing.”

“Still, I can’t trust it. The place I’m working now isn’t bad either, so there’s no reason to betray them.”

“Hmm, can’t be helped. If you agree to the contract, we’ll give you an advance payment.”

“I must’ve been too suspicious! There couldn’t be a more trustworthy company than this!”

…Even such suspicions crumbled helplessly in the face of more money.

The Stromboli headhunters felt puzzled.

“Are these really elite workers hiding their skills? They just look like random street riffraff to me.”

“Weren’t they supposed to be incredibly loyal and devoted people who endured years of contempt and disregard from others while hiding their skills? They seem too eager to jump ship, no?”

“No matter how I look at it, it seems like the boss has misunderstood something…”

Stromboli was the top company in the Empire’s magic doll industry.

Of course, since magic dolls themselves weren’t such a hot commodity in the Empire, the company wasn’t that large in terms of scale, even so, being at the top of the industry meant that talent naturally gathered there.

The headhunters, who had brains instead of spaghetti in their heads, realized that something was going wrong and reported it to the higher-ups.

“Master, reports are coming in that all the newly hired craftsmen are complete idiots…”

“Master, the existing craftsmen are expressing dissatisfaction after learning about the contract terms of the newly recruited craftsmen.”

“Master, the team leaders from each department are claiming that all those hired this time are incompetent fools.”

And here, a truth of the world revealed itself once more.

The truth that even if the employees working on-site had brains, it meant nothing if the higher-ups didn’t accept it.

“Tsk tsk, everyone’s judgment has fallen so much. I’m truly worried about how our company will run after I retire.”

Charles Stromboli, sitting arrogantly on the sofa, took a big puff of his cigar and then spoke.

He began to lecture his foolish subordinates, “In the end, what moves people is money. But there are not a few people in the world who are swayed by trivial sentiments even after gulping down the contract money. Since they betrayed their friends for money, don’t they need some self-justification?”

“Self-justification, you say?”

“Yes, it would be a bit awkward for them to work hard on our side right after betraying. They might also be unsure whether their skills were really discovered or not. We should consider that they’re currently observing the situation.”

“But Master, if we show people receiving good treatment without working properly, it could negatively affect our existing employees.”

“How about creating a separate team to operate them apart from the existing employees?”

“Or should we pressure them to work properly?”

“Oh my, you clueless friends.”

Charles clicked his tongue while grinding his cigar in the ashtray.

“If we don’t mix them with existing employees and keep them together, will they try to adapt to the new workplace or conspire with each other? They need to see others working hard around them and feel some pressure to quickly come to their senses. And pressuring them? What if they go back to that Smith bastard because of that?”

Charles spoke so confidently that even the employees listening began to tilt their heads, thinking, “Is that so?”

It seemed to make sense when they heard it.

In fact, it was more accurate to say they hoped it was right.

Although he hadn’t inherited the title or domain, being pushed aside by the eldest son, Charles was still a member of the Stromboli Count family.

If he said so, his subordinates had no choice but to believe and follow him.

Charles smiled with satisfaction.

“And even if they don’t work properly, so what? Now that we’ve taken those workers away, it’s only a matter of time before that shop goes bankrupt! Hahahahaha!”

“Hmm, is it just you this time?”

“Ah, yes.”

Faced with the cold gaze of the black beauty—the construction site workers had yet to learn Dorothea’s name—Dolton felt his body involuntarily stiffen.

It wasn’t simply because of the employer-employee relationship.

Although her physique was clearly more slender and frail than Dolton’s, the beauty’s eyes were full of intense will and formidable charisma.

When looking from afar, he had the leisure to chat idly with his colleagues about her beauty and figure, but now, facing her and having a conversation, he felt like a frog in front of a snake.

Rationally speaking, Dolton hadn’t done anything wrong, but he couldn’t help but feel like shrinking.

Damn, did everyone really go over to Stromboli? Should I have gone too?

Dolton found himself inwardly sinking with regret.

He, too, had received an offer from Stromboli, but ended up refusing it to come here instead.

Of course, it wasn’t because Dolton had any particular loyalty or strong work ethic.

Dolton knew well what his abilities were.

He also knew how a craftsman who received treatment beyond his abilities was treated by others.

If someone with Dolton’s abilities entered a large company—at least by Dolton’s standards—like Stromboli, he would become a prime target for contempt and ridicule by those around him.

That was right.

Dolton had refused the offer simply because he didn’t want to be cursed at.

“Hmm. Well, it’ll be hard to work alone.”

The beauty made a slightly sulky expression, but then shrugged nonchalantly, as if she had expected this outcome.

“Then you. From now on, you’re the manager.”

“Pardon?” Dolton reflexively asked back.

“I said you’re the manager now. There’s not much to do, just help with food distribution and sometimes hand out money when I’m not around. Leave the heavy lifting to that guy over there.”

Saying this, the beauty pointed to a knight in full armor nearby.

Only then, realizing that what he had heard wasn’t a misunderstanding, Dolton waved his hands in confusion.

“W-wait a moment! Manager? Why me?”

“Because the manager ran off. I’ll pay you more, so do a good job.”

“Do a good job? But there’s no one here!”

“I told you at the beginning, didn’t I? We’d hire new people if vacancies occurred. There were people who couldn’t join last time due to overcapacity, so we’ll gather people quickly. Ah, you can bring people you know if you wish. It’s fine as long as they’re physically strong. Also, today’s a break. We’ll start again tomorrow after gathering people.”

Dolton’s mouth gaped open.

Something… something about this situation was unfolding in a completely different direction that he had initially anticipated.

Although Dolton had initially tried to refuse somehow, while he was stammering, the beauty had unilaterally said what she wanted to say and left, and he had gained a new title as the site manager.

The following day.

“Um, Manager sir. Can we really eat this before working? All this food and alcohol?”

“Uh, well. Yes. Just eat it all.”

“Manager sir. Is it really true that it’s okay even if we have no experience or skills in this field? If they don’t pay us later saying we couldn’t do the work, we won’t stay quiet.”

“That won’t happen, so just eat your meal.”

“Manager sir. Who exactly is that beauty over—mmph!”

“Enough, just eat your damn food!! Here’s some alcohol while you’re at it! Pour! Chug!!”

Stuffing bread into the mouth of a worker trying to spout nonsense, Dolton glanced at the beauty and the knight guarding her side.

Whether they hadn’t heard or simply didn’t care, there was no particular reaction.

Only after somehow finishing the food distribution and seeing the workers one by one lying on the ground snoring, did Dolton finally breathe a sigh of relief.

And then, one fundamental question arose.

But when do we start working? They’re all passed out. I didn’t notice when I was eating, but looking from the side, this is a complete mess?

“Um, er, employer…?”

“Good job. You’re doing well. Just keep doing this.”

Although Dolton couldn’t understand at all what he had done well, the incomprehensible events for him were just beginning.

The beauty who had moved towards the center of the workers clapped her hands.

Despite it not being a particularly loud sound, all the workers lying down flinched at once.

Some even trembled and convulsed, but when the beauty clapped once more, they soon settled down.

“Now, start work.”

At the beauty’s words, the workers sluggishly rose to their feet.

As if it was a lie that they had been drunk just a moment ago, they casually started stretching or inspecting the surrounding materials, preparing for work.

Some of them were Dolton’s acquaintances, and Dolton was left speechless, seeing people who had never done carpentry work in their lives skillfully handling wood.

“Employer. What, what is this…?”

To Dolton’s question, the beauty answered simply, “I’ll explain if you want to get deeply involved. Or do you want to just accept it as it is and move on?”

Dolton’s mouth closed.

And then opened again.

“How should I handle scheduling? I can’t stay here 24 hours, after all.”

“You can leave now if you wish. Just come back again at mealtime. Understand?”

“Yes.”

“Master! The construction has resumed!!”

“Ha, so what? We’ve already taken away all the core talent-“

“There’s no change in the work speed! No, it seems to have gotten even faster!!”

“What!? What nonsense is this…? Ah! I see, were the first ones just a disguise? The real employees were separate!”

“Indeed, that would explain the incompetence of the newly hired employees!”

“But Master. Not a few people are seeing those employees moving and working directly!”

“Hmm… They might have mixed real and fake ones to deceive our eyes.”

Charles made a decision.

“Bring in the new workers, too.”

“The financial drain will be too severe!”

“I’m not saying to bring them all in. Watch carefully from the sidelines and pick out only the capable ones. Then, after that, put our own people in the empty spots to observe the internal situation, and after that, scouting will be easier, won’t it?”

“Oh! How wise!”

“No, these bastards are clearly idiots no matter how you look at them, so why do you keep telling us to hire them!?”

“Beats me. What can we do when they won’t listen, no matter what we say? They made the mess, so they’ll have to take responsibility for it.”

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CH 57

When a person touched something hot, they’d instinctively pull their hand away saying, “Ouch, it’s hot!”

This reaction stemmed from the hand sending an urgent signal to the brain, warning that if one kept touching this, something bad would happen.

But what if the brain ignored that signal?

Moreover, what if the spinal cord, which acted as a middle manager, ordered to remove the hand immediately without considering the details, but the brain stubbornly ordered it to go back and touch it again?

What if it kept saying to hold on to it regardless of whether it was hot or not—after all, it wasn’t its concern?

It would surely lead to disaster.

The soft, fluffy palm wouldn’t end up just being warm—it would end up golden brown and crispy.

This was precisely the plight faced by Stromboli’s on-site workers.

“What? You want us to watch them work and only bring in the skilled ones?”

The headhunters couldn’t hide their bewilderment at the instructions from above.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t understand the meaning of the directive itself. It was more rational than just telling them to bring everyone in like before.

But.

“…How are we supposed to observe the work process?”

If it had been at the early stages of construction, it might not have been an issue.

At that time, the focus was on external construction, so most workers were moving around outside, working away.

But now?

The building exterior was already over ninety percent complete, with only finishing touches remaining. Most workers were inside the building.

As long as the building walls existed as an obstacle, it was impossible to observe the interior unless the headhunters suddenly developed x-ray vision.

If the Stromboli Company had a constructive and healthy corporate culture, such anguish from the field workers would have reached higher up and requested new orders, however..

“That’s for you to figure out how to do. Isn’t that what you’re getting paid for?”

Unfortunately, Stromboli’s corporate culture was far from healthy.

No, on most days, it was relatively healthy, but now? How could it be healthy when the “Master” was grinding his teeth, saying he had to finish off that bastard Smith?

The middle managers, who had previously made suggestions similar to this a few times and only received scathing remarks from the master in return, ignored the suffering of their subordinates to avoid further scolding. Even when some conscientious middle managers attempted to escalate the issue to the upper levels, they found themselves blocked by higher middle managers and failed.

The headhunters had to find a way somehow while cursing “shit, shit” under their breath.

Sneaking in directly was impossible due to the two knights, one gray and one white, patrolling around the building.

Trying to observe from afar with telescopes was also impossible due to strange black smoke-like haze filling the areas near the windows.

The headhunters, who had to produce some results, eventually opened their own wallets to hire a mage.

“Please do your best.”

“Hmm, consider yourself lucky to have found me. Even within the Empire, those who can use both clairvoyance and farsight magic are extremely rare.”

“Yes, of course.”

The headhunters inwardly gritted their teeth at the mage who put on airs despite being hired for money, but they held their tongues.

After all, the mage’s words weren’t lies.

The majority of imperial mages were of the Wizard type, and while they excelled at destroying enemies on the battlefield, few bothered with the finer art of utility magic.

The reality of the Empire’s magic world was that there were many who would rather invest time in increasing the power of their fireballs than learn minor auxiliary magic.

“Well then, shall we begin?”

As the mage stretched out both hands into the air, a large ring made of mana and a slightly smaller ring appeared side by side in front of him.

A moment later, the scenery of the street began to appear inside the large ring.

The headhunters let out exclamations of admiration at the sight that looked as if they were seeing it right in front of them, despite being far away.

At least it seemed their money hadn’t evaporated into thin air.

With a wave of the mage’s hand, the small ring in front of the large ring began to move around, and the scenery reflected in the large ring changed accordingly.

Soon, the farsight magic reached their target—the newly constructed workshop.

“Good, now I’ll add the clairvoyance magic here.”

As the mage conjured a new spell, the thick wall disappeared and beyond it…

“Huh?”

…nothing was visible.

For the first time, cracks appeared on the mage’s smug face.

As if to dispel the puzzled gazes around him, the mage cleared his throat repeatedly.

“Ahem, just a moment.”

The mage drew up even more mana.

The magic he had honed for decades finally pierced through the wall this time.

And.

“Gaaaaaah!?”

Immediately after, the mage suddenly had a seizure, clutched his chest, and collapsed.

“Uh, uh?”

“Are you alright? Try to come to your senses!”

The headhunters called out to the mage in confusion, but the mage couldn’t easily regain consciousness with foam in his mouth.

The only fortunate thing was that there seemed to be no danger to his life.

The headhunters exchanged glances.

They simultaneously recalled the same scene.

Just before the mage collapsed, the rings had briefly shown something—black stains and strangely glowing characters filled the entire view.

To the headhunters’ report, their superior clicked his tongue.

“Tsk, tsk, got yourselves scammed, huh? How are you going to manage with such poor judgment? What? Business support expenses? You idiots blew company money on your own and are now demanding for the company to cover it?”

Truly, words of strength and encouragement.

With their superior’s words warming the depths of their hearts to the point of setting them ablaze, they, too, made their decision.

Let’s just write down a random list and send it. They’re all the same, anyway.

I should look for a new job.

And thus, the Stromboli Company welcomed a batch of newly recruited, “extremely excellent” employees. The existing employees groaned in “admiration” at the newcomers’ “outstanding competence”.

Regardless of anyone’s opinion, the construction steadily progressed.

And finally.

The Smith & Sinc Doll Workshop newly opened its doors.

Charles Stromboli spoke, spitting out the words with blazing eyes, “Tell the workshops under us to lower the prices of all products.”

“When you say lower, to what extent?”

“Isn’t it obvious!? Lower than those damned bastards’ shop! Lower them so much that travelers visiting Tik-Tok won’t even glance at their shop!”

“Master, if it were just a branch of two, that’s one thing—but if we do this in all workshops, the impact on sales will be enormous!”

The subordinates were anxious.

The supposed “skilled” workers they had poached were all useless duds, and no matter how much time passed, they couldn’t fulfill their roles.

The existing employees, who would normally have scolded and pressured them to teach them work, had long since given up on this matter due to the upper management’s order to “avoid doing anything that might upset the new employees if possible” and their own resentment at seeing those worse than themselves receiving better treatment. The newly hired employees were either just killing time while watching their surroundings or even putting on airs, as if they were something special.

The headhunters, who had been called “incompetent fools without any discerning eye” despite their desperate efforts, now openly showed poor attitudes and didn’t hide their intention to quit if things went wrong. The finance department managing the company’s funds wailed that there were no more reserve funds.

Even if we go this far to drive Smith Geppetto’s workshop into the ground, what exactly does our company gain?

It’s not like all our workshops will immediately go bankrupt just because his shop opened. Our location and recognition are much more advantageous.

Even if they somehow succeed, we’d only lose a fraction of the market. Wouldn’t it have been much more profitable to just leave them alone?

Of course, it wasn’t that Charles didn’t know this fact.

Although his background as a count’s bloodline played a significant role, Charles did have the minimum capacity as an owner leading a company.

But that was exactly why Charles couldn’t stop here.

After things have escalated this far, if it ends without any results, I’ll have to take all the responsibility…!

If the Stromboli Company had been built from the ground up by Charles’ own abilities alone, it might have been different, but this was clearly an organization with a proper owner, the Stromboli Count family.

Charles’s older brother, Count Stromboli, was the type of person who’d rather cut Charles off when responsibility issues arose. He’d then settle public opinion within the company and appoint a new head. It wasn’t like there weren’t other figures in the count’s family, after all.

Obsessing over sunk costs was a shortcut to ruin, but with his position as company head at stake in those sunk costs, Charles couldn’t withdraw from this matter whether he liked it or not.

“I’ll give you this, Smith. You’re the first to corner me like this. I underestimated the blade of revenge you’ve been sharpening for over a decade. But in the end, I’ll be the one with the last laugh!”

It was fortunate that Smith had never heard these words.

If he had heard it, he probably would have just had a question mark over his head.

Smith Geppetto and Charles Stromboli.

The once-in-a-lifetime match between these two men! Let’s just ignore the fact that one side didn’t even know the match had begun.

Due to Charles’s final gambit, an untimely festival broke out in Tik-Tok.

“Come one! Come all! A once-in-a-lifetime chance to buy the best products at the lowest prices!”

“Our Stromboli Workshop Branch No. 1 has decided to start a shocking service to repay the support of our valued customers who have patronized our company!”

“An unparalleled opportunity to get magic dolls that can be used for guarding, labor, odd jobs—anything you need! Even if you’re not a mage, you can become the master of a magic doll by using this exclusive mana battery!”

Kumara, an adventurer listening to the enthusiastic sales pitches of the Stromboli employees, asked Magia, the mage in his party, “Could non-mages always use magic dolls?”

“Technically, they can use them.”

“Your tone is full of implications?”

“Even if they call it a battery, it’s still a consumable. Ordinary people don’t have the skills to handle mana, nor do they have enough mana to move a doll. Sometimes there are people who naturally have a lot of mana without training, but those cases are rare. In the end, every time the doll stops moving, they’ll have to buy a new battery from the shop. At that point, it’ll just be cheaper to hire a mage than to bear that cost.”

Magia added, “Magic dolls are too expensive in production and operation costs for mass production, and too inefficient compared to the resources invested for high-end use. There’s a reason the Empire doesn’t adopt them as a primary force.”

“I see. In other words, they’re mediocre.”

Kumara nodded, then turned his gaze to look in a certain direction.

“Then are those two also mediocre?”

Looking at the two knights in the direction of Kumara’s gaze, Magia answered simply, “Don’t bring up special cases when I’m talking about generalities, you idiot.”

Unlike Albert, which was surrounded by towering city walls, the City of Clockwork, Tik-Tok, had no walls to speak of except for the lord’s castle in the center.

But even Tik-Tok had a place that could be called the city’s “main gate”, and there were checkpoints and guards protecting that place.

One guard asked the captain, “Is it really okay to cooperate with this?”

“What’s the problem? It’s not like they’re doing it on their own. They even politely asked for permission in advance. Besides, cooperation just means watching from the side,” the guard captain answered, recalling the blonde girl in a white dress with a polite yet bold atmosphere.

“Won’t Stromboli make a fuss?”

“Let them if they want to, I’ll happily flip them off. I’ve had enough of those nobodies putting on airs. Ah, what I wouldn’t give to see them get a taste of their own medicine for once.”

“Can’t argue with that.”

The guard also agreed with the captain’s words as he recalled the image of the Stromboli Company sneering about why guards were needed when magic dolls could replace guard duties, anyway.

Whether heaven heard the guards’ wishes or not, passersby on the street also began to stop and whisper when they saw “that sight”.

“What’s that? They’re holding weapons, isn’t it dangerous?”

“It should be fine, since the guards are watching nearby.”

“There are a lot of tools, is it some kind of show?”

When it seemed enough attention had gathered in front of the Tin Knight and the White Knight.

Sinc Geppetto, co-owner of the Smith & Sinc Workshop, tensed her stomach and raised her voice, “Ladies and gentlemen! Our Smith & Sinc Doll Workshop is celebrating our grand opening! To commemorate the occasion, we’ve prepared a special performance, so please come and watch!”

Saying this, Sinc threw the daggers she was holding in both hands to each of the two knights.

With two clanging sounds, a sword and a spear deflected the daggers.

When the daggers that had soared high into the sky were about to fall to the ground, the sword and spear moved again, bouncing them high into the sky.

Sinc continuously tossed in new daggers, and each time, the number of daggers soaring into the sky increased.

Sometimes the daggers flew in odd directions, perhaps because Sinc herself wasn’t well-versed in this kind of thing, but the two knights never faltered

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!

With rhythmic metallic sounds, the daggers kept rising into the sky and falling back down.

Faced with this strange juggling performed by sword and spear, the passersby’s eyes widened.

“Wow, how is that possible?”

“Their skill is no joke!”

The two knights performed this technique, which looked difficult even while standing still, effortlessly while walking forward.

Then, the Tin Knight pointed at one passerby with his empty left hand.

“Huh?”

The pointed-at passerby was flustered, but when the Tin Knight repeatedly pointed at a suitably sized stone at the passerby’s feet and then at himself, they soon understood the meaning.

“You want me to throw this?”

The Tin Knight’s head moved up and down.

The passerby hesitated a little, but soon carefully tossed the stone.

With ease, the Tin Knight batted the stone into the air.

The stone seamlessly joined the juggling parade of daggers.

The cheers from the surroundings grew louder.

The Tin Knight’s gaze turned towards the White Knight.

At first, the White Knight showed no particular reaction, but someone in the crowd shouted towards the unresponsive White Knight, “Sig! Don’t lose!”

With that shout, a shiny glass bottle flew towards the White Knight.

Everyone expected it to shatter, but as the White Knight gently moved his spear, the glass bottle soared skyward—unbroken.

By this point, the audience was also getting excited.

“Catch this too!”

“Here, this one too!”

“Wait, please! Everyone! Please calm do—eek!?”

Like children enchanted by the sound of a magic flute.

The enormous crowd began to move forward, following the two knights—no, magic dolls towards the Smith & Sinc Doll Workshop at the end.

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