Chapter 101

#101 Episode: The Tin Knight and the Martial Arts Tournament (8)

Maximilian wasn’t an idiot.

He was fundamentally arrogant, had a nasty personality, and was filled with the conviction that he was doing the right thing, but he wasn’t particularly lacking in intelligence. In a way, that was even more problematic.

So, as soon as the mysterious masked woman revealed herself, Maximilian immediately realized her identity.

And he thought to himself.

‘Not a bad opportunity.’

For Maximilian, this act wasn’t some grand conspiracy.

One of the main duties of the Patriotic Youth Corps was taking down thieves and villains in the city.

With a free schedule and the news that there were villains to pound into the ground, he simply decided to head over.

It didn’t matter that the villain had already been dealt with by others, and what was left were the innocent people busy cleaning up the mess left behind by the villain. Originally, no one who declared themselves as “justice” would care about such things.

Just a simple stroll. A bit of fun. Killing time and boosting his reputation.

What was once a trivial matter had now escalated into an event of value at this very moment.

Thanks to the presence of that intruder.

Maximilian felt pleased with the situation and spoke in a teasing tone.

“Disruption? Is that what you call this? Why, that’s quite surprising!”

He looked up at the masked woman with exaggerated inflections and gestures, as if he were in a theatrical performance.

“This is a punishment! It is a penalty for the vile trading company that drains the lifeblood of innocent people for its own gain! And yet, to deny that it is a disruption, are you now turning a blind eye to the suffering of the victims and taking the side of the villains? Or have you perhaps received some dirty money?”

At Maximilian’s words, the gazes of those around him all turned towards the mysterious masked woman.

And the masked woman was rolling her eyes beneath her mask.

‘What now?’

She hadn’t had any particular thought in coming here.

Having been persuaded by her quiet and heavy-weighted master, she had just moved without thinking at all.

Her political and debate skills were at the level of a child’s school project, enough to receive a ‘Oh, you’ve done quite well!’ but lacking in substance to sway the crowd.

Arguing with Maximilian, who was loud, arrogant, and overflowing with confidence, would be a guaranteed disaster.

Thus, the masked woman stopped thinking.

And she started to translate the words of her quiet and solemn master in her mind and spoke them aloud.

“Answer me! Why is this just judgment—”

“Be quiet! I have nothing to say with a villain!”

“-Huh?”

Well, you started talking first, thought Maximilian, but that perfectly reasonable retort never saw the light of day.

The masked woman was faster with her words.

“First! You barged into a shop doing legitimate business, and in addition to that, you went so far as to threaten them for their property!

Second! The punishment of criminals is the clear authority of the Trakus Guards and the lord, yet you disregarded their authority and attempted personal retribution!

Third! While doing so, you refrained from touching any property yourself and scattered it around, so when responsibility arises, only those who received the money would be punished, while you and your companions get to slip away free!”

“What nonsense is that! Absurd—”

“The wrongdoings of A led to damage for B! After C, A’s colleague, dealt with A, he compensated B! But an unrelated X came and beat up C, stealing his property and trying to gain from it! What else could this be if not villainy? What else is evil if this isn’t evil? If you truly wish to act with justice, then instead of harming the innocent based on your personal speculations and claims, you should wait for the guards to arrive and clarify the merits and faults!”

The masked woman had no idea what she was saying.

As the bells in her head kept ringing with messages, she was barely managing to spit it out. Not biting her tongue was a miracle in itself.

Maximilian was flabbergasted.

The opponent’s words were filled with all sorts of distortions, exaggerations, fabrications, and assumptions.

Listening to what was more akin to a child’s tantrum than proper logic left him speechless.

In truth, what Maximilian normally did wasn’t much different, but he wasn’t the kind of person who could easily objectify himself or see things from another’s perspective. After all, mirror therapy required at least a minimum of decency to be meaningful.

And one more thing he hadn’t anticipated.

Murmurs. Whispers.

“Now that you mention it, that does make some sense…?”

“If I go along with that, will I be the one getting in trouble later?”

“Come to think of it, the wrongdoers are elsewhere, and he’s barking up the wrong tree!”

Normally, it’s hard to understand the noisy chatter of many people at once, but Maximilian, who had unnecessarily excellent specs, was able to catch every bit of it.

Maximilian shouted furiously.

“Don’t be deceived! Everything that woman says is pure nonsense!”

“The lord’s words are correct! She’s trying to resolve the victims’ grievances, how can you fall for such absurdities!”

“Even without doing anything, she’s attempting to bestow wealth upon people, and yet you can’t even bring yourselves to accept it…!”

While the youths of the Patriotic Youth Corps rallied to side with Maximilian and tried to shift the atmosphere, the crowd was not easily swayed.

They weren’t genuinely convinced by the masked woman.

Well, there were some who were, but the general tide was somewhere else.

They didn’t want to get involved.

They didn’t know who was right.

They just wanted to be told the conclusion later because they didn’t want to deal with the hassle.

Indifference, apathy.

Those gathered here weren’t exactly filled with great zeal or a sense of justice.

They were simply watching an interesting situation unfold, and in the meantime, they were excited that Maximilian was scattering goodies.

If someone offered free giveaways, they’d accept them without a second thought, but if there was a chance receiving those giveaways could result in some disadvantage, they couldn’t help but hesitate.

“So, which side is really right?”

“I don’t know.”

The masked woman dragging out uselessly long speeches only contributed to dampening their enthusiasm.

People didn’t want to step into a long debate and seriously weigh out who was right or wrong. They might have done that if there was nothing to do and were bored, but right now Trakus was in a constant festive state, with plenty of entertainment everywhere. Few would want to tire themselves out on something so headache-inducing given all the other fun options available.

“Phew.”

Seeing that, Lorenz Halder quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

When the masked woman first barged in, Lorenz had been anxious about how things would unfold, but thankfully it seemed the atmosphere was shifting towards resolution.

Letting a hype man loose to subtly spread supportive words for the masked woman seemed to have some effect as well.

After glancing at the Tin Knight, who appeared satisfied with his arms crossed, Lorenz asked his subordinate.

“Are the guards still on their way?”

“We’ve already reported it, but due to various smaller incidents happening throughout the city, it seems it’ll take a bit longer for them to arrive.”

“Tch. It can’t be helped, but it’s frustrating.”

If they were in the southern part of the continent, where the influence of the Halder Trading Company was strong, they’d have maintained close relationships with local lords (mostly through bribery), allowing for faster responses like this. But Trakus still lacked that foundation.

Still, they had managed to prevent public opinion from tipping into dangerous territory; if they could just stall for time, the guards would arrive, and the situation would be sorted, or the other side would give up and retreat.

Lorenz prayed that Maximilian would choose the latter.

While he had no choice but to confront things this time due to Maximilian’s excessively reckless demands, Lorenz also did not want to sever ties with the House of Heidern.

After all, the opposing faction was quite a massive entity, and the notoriety of this drug incident being widely known would be a loss for the Halder Trading Company.

The problem was that Maximilian was a far more self-centered individual than Lorenz had anticipated.

‘How dare you…!’

He was furious.

He was angry at the way things weren’t going his way, at the crowd’s lukewarm response to his supposed benevolence, and at the masked woman who had sprinkled ashes on what was to be a perfect meal.

Rationally speaking, the best option here was to withdraw, but like a troublesome customer who believes being convinced by a staff member would be a loss, Maximilian began to act out.

“Adelheid von Lenart! Do you know what you are doing right now? You must understand what it means to shield merchants who distribute poisonous substances to people and exploit filthy money! Or does this behavior reflect the intentions of the Lenart family?”

For a brief moment, the murmurs stopped.

The audience murmuring around started to glance around in concern, but the youths of the Patriotic Youth Corps all wore ashen, horrified faces.

If it were just some trading company, it wouldn’t be a big deal if Maximilian went on the offensive, but bringing in the Lion Duke’s bloodline was a whole different matter.

And the masked woman replied.

“I’m Adelheid von Lenart. Who is that? I’m just a common thief who admires the Lenart family, the Lenart Mask!”

Uh… no, that’s a bit much, isn’t it?

As the people around began to collectively feel dumbfounded, the Tin Knight, who had no relation to the masked woman, nodded his head alone.