Chapter 15

#15 Chapter: The Tin Knight and the City of Indulgence (9)

Once a banquet hall for thieves, the Black Pig Tavern had now become a stronghold for their victims.

Around it, a huge crowd of people was gathered.

“Roni, is it really okay for us to accept this?”

A middle-aged man, the village chief who had been attacked by the thieves, cautiously asked as he examined the pouch handed to him by Roni.

He also served as the representative to return the victims to the Friedel Territory on behalf of Roni.

“If we want to safely return to the Friedel Territory, we’ll need at least this much. Normally, I would have protected you all myself, so I apologize for sending you off like this.”

Roni said apologetically, to which the chief waved his hands in fluster.

“No, no! You’re staying behind to rescue the lady, so what is there to feel sorry about? Honestly, it’s us who should feel guilty for receiving support without being able to help!”

The number of people led by the chief was quite large.

In addition to those rescued from the thieves’ hideout, they had also gathered slaves sold throughout the city of indulgence.

Amongst them were also some who wanted to stay and assist in rescuing the lady along with Roni, but Roni shook her head.

She recalled Dorothea’s advice to keep everyone as far away as possible before the auction began.

Though she hadn’t shared specific strategies, Roni had never seen Dorothea’s “advice” be mere empty words.

She couldn’t outright say it to them, but it made sense to Roni that the witch’s advice was wise.

After all…

‘…It costs way too much.’

The number of freed slaves had long since exceeded a hundred.

Every action of treating them, dressing them, and feeding them, all of it cost money due to the hardships they suffered while being captured.

Although they were making do with what they recovered from the thieves, it was obvious that if they kept spending without earning anything, they would end up running out.

Initially, Roni had dreamed of gallantly returning with everyone after rescuing the lady, but with the current situation, attempting that would only result in “the heir’s grand return” turning into “the heir and the beggars.”

Seeing that scene was less appealing; yes, it was wiser to just send everyone back immediately.

After sending everyone back, Roni headed to the second floor of the tavern.

“Excuse me.”

Knock knock.

She knocked on the door at the back of the second floor, but there was no reply.

Roni hesitated for a moment, then sighed briefly and opened the door.

Whether she had entered or not, both the Tin Knight and Dorothea were absorbed in their tasks without even glancing her way.

It might have seemed like they were ignoring Roni, but having grown accustomed to this over the past few days, Roni didn’t mind and spoke up.

“I have returned all the captured lords. Thank you once again for your support.”

“Yeah.”

“Is there anything else that needs to be done?”

“Did you take care of the transportation?”

“I’ve prepared two horses and a wagon.”

“Then take a rest. Once the auction starts, we may have to keep moving without a break. It’s best to conserve your energy.”

“Ah, yes.”

Roni nodded, then hesitated before eventually sitting down in a corner of the room.

She observed Dorothea’s actions.

After the battle at the thieves’ base, Dorothea had seemed busy for the last few days.

One day, she had crushed a large animal bone into powder.

The next day, she set fire to a lidless lamp with a distinctive striped leaf and collected the ashes.

On another day, she boiled snail shells in an unidentified liquid until it turned into a gray gel and stored it in a small bowl.

She had also channeled magical power into a still-lively plant stem to wither it, mixed different types of powdered stone, and even chanted spells for nearly half a day over a tray filled with blood.

‘Is this what magic was like originally…?’

While Roni had met several wizards employed in the Friedel Territory, the “magic” they practiced felt quite different from Dorothea’s “magic.”

To put it bluntly, Roni had never seen the wizards of Friedel go through such “troublesome” preparations.

And she had also never seen a wizard exhibiting the diverse skills that Dorothea possessed.

Until now, the magic Roni had seen mostly specialized in shooting fireballs, throwing icicles, creating blades of wind, or breaking something.

‘Just like swordsmanship has various styles, I guess magic does as well.’

While she was curious about many things, Roni decided not to ask any questions.

In the world of warriors, prying into others’ skills or styles was considered highly disrespectful. Wizards likely felt the same way.

Roni then shifted her gaze toward the Tin Knight.

Unlike Dorothea, who was busy with various preparations, the only task the Tin Knight was performing was one.

He held a gently curved sword, emitting a silver magical power from its blade.

The silver magical power sometimes shimmered, thin and faint, evoking the image of a veil, while at other times, it was thick and clear to the point that the sword’s shape was barely visible, sometimes even stretching out like threads.

An involuntary smirk appeared on Roni’s face.

‘…Managing to control the sword aura like that is something even the late lord couldn’t do.’

The previous lord, though lacking somewhat in political skills, was held in high regard for his prowess as a warrior in the kingdom.

If even that lord couldn’t accomplish it, it meant none of the knights in the kingdom could either.

Even if the kingdom itself was not that powerful, the title of representing a nation was not something to take lightly.

By Roni’s understanding, that should be the case… but here, it seemed a tad different.

Whoosh.

The sword aura, which had been shifting freely, suddenly dwindled and vanished.

The Tin Knight’s gaze turned towards Dorothea, who had also paused her work and sharply turned her head to glare at him.

“Hey, didn’t I tell you not to waste my magic power! That’s the third time already today!”

Buzz buzz.

“What’s this nonsense about ‘enlightenment’? Change your excuse pattern!”

Buzz buzz.

“Power-up event or whatever it is!”

Buzz buzz.

The witch, expressing her frustration with all her might, and the Tin Knight, waving his arms as if protesting against her.

Their movements, akin to a child throwing a tantrum, showed no trace of the dignity expected from a national representative.

It was hard to believe this was the same knight who had ruthlessly slaughtered the thieves with cold and efficient swordsmanship.

Dorothea’s gaze shifted to Roni.

“Hey, you said you were a knight, right?”

Roni jumped in surprise and shook her head.

“A… a knight? I’m just a mere attendant.”

“Well, you should know to some extent. Is sword aura typically wasted like this?”

“It’s hard to say definitively. It can vary depending on swordsmanship style, individual traits, and habits, and besides, I have no way of knowing how much magical power you possess.”

“Will just knowing the amount of magic power suffice?”

Huh?

Roni’s question almost escaped her lips.

The moment Dorothea grabbed her wrist, an overwhelming magical power surged into her.

Everything in front of her spun, her body felt light, and a surge of vitality overflowed within her as if she could do anything.

“…Hmm, I haven’t even infused half of what I might give you, and you’re already full. If I keep pouring, you might burst.”

Dorothea frowned, as if dissatisfied, and released Roni’s wrist.

Feeling the magical power filling her body, Roni was stunned.

“W-What did you do? Infusing magic power into someone else’s body should be impossible unless you’ve learned some kind of related technique!”

“That’s merely because different magical powers will repel each other. I’ve adjusted it to fit with your body, so you don’t need to worry about that. More importantly, if you use this for sword aura, how long do you think it will last?”

This seemed like an issue that shouldn’t be passed over so lightly.

Even while thinking this, Roni quickly focused on managing the magical power.

This was only her second experience dealing with magic this way in her life.

She clearly remembered the time a “lady” who pitied her, left alone as a mere attendant while her juniors, who joined the knight order after her, earned their recognition as trainee knights, shared her portion of potions for training.

During that time, as she was terribly clumsy in handling magical power, she had exhausted all her energy creating a sword aura and collapsed immediately after, but for some reason, she could create a sword aura more easily this time, likely due to that previous experience.

While it was infinitely rough and clumsy compared to the artistic sword aura made by the Tin Knight, the simple fact that she could maintain her sword aura so effortlessly was a fresh experience for Roni.

“So, how long can it last?”

Of course, Dorothea had no idea about Roni’s joy.

It was true that compared to the grace Roni had received from the lady when she was in pain and distress, the magical power handed over to her now didn’t seem as impactful, allowing her to contemplate Dorothea’s question with a cool head.

So she arrived at a conclusion.

“…If I’m doing nothing and just sitting here maintaining the sword aura, I think I could manage for up to six hours.”

It was a long enough time, but Roni believed that this result wasn’t because of her outstanding abilities.

After all, she wasn’t even in complete control of the magical power within her body, and any excess was leaking out as if evaporating.

If a proper expert had received the same amount of magical power, they could maintain the sword aura for a much longer time than she could.

That’s how immense the magical power Dorothea had provided was.

And thinking about this, Roni suddenly felt incredulous.

‘Didn’t she say it was only a fraction of what she’d give to the knight earlier?’

A fraction. It meant the Tin Knight was currently receiving four times the amount of magical power that was filling Roni’s body.

No, given that Dorothea had replenished that magical power thrice, it would actually be twelve times that amount.

Then how much magical power does Dorothea possess herself?

From her tone of voice, it seemed like she still had quite a bit left.

Roni looked at Dorothea with a newfound sense of awe.

Both the Tin Knight, with his sword aura surpassing even the kingdom’s best knight, and the girl beside him were extraordinary in their own right.

“Did you hear that? You waste magic power like crazy when using sword aura! It’s better to just rely on your body to make up for it, so don’t use it unless it’s an emergency!”

Buzz buzz.

“Style or whatever—what if you run out of magic power in the middle of a fight and drop dead? Not like you can supply it remotely, you old-fashioned thing!”

Buzz buzz buzz buzz!

Well, whatever.

Though their behaviors seemed rather childish compared to their abilities.

Ultimately, the fact that they were benefactors remained unchanged.

Watching the bickering duo with a bemused expression, Roni soon came to a resolution.

‘I guess I should train too.’

***

And a while later.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the grand auction, the highlight of the city of indulgence, Albert!!”

-Wooahhh!

The day of destiny had arrived.

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